I have a product idea and need it designed, built and made
Product electronics from idea to manufactured units, one engineer for hardware, firmware, test and manufacturing handoff. Feasibility week AUD 6,000, then fixed-price stages. Whole products typically AUD 40,000–170,000 over 6–18 months.
Where you are
You know what the product needs to do. Maybe there’s a breadboard or an off-the-shelf module proving the idea; maybe there’s a spec and a customer waiting. What you don’t have is the electronics, the firmware, the test rig and the manufacturing package — or you have three separate contractors and nothing joins up.
I’ve taken products through this whole path for eleven years, inside companies that ship them: from circuit and firmware to the contract manufacturer’s pilot run and the yield issues after it. Here it is as a service, in stages, each with a written scope and a price before it starts.
The numbers, up front
Swipe the diagram sideways to see all of it.
| Stage | What it is | Price | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Feasibility week | Your idea → a written plan: architecture, parts and cost at 100 and 1,000 units, radio and certification path, the risks, a schedule, and a realistic budget range for everything below | AUD 6,000, credited in full against stages 2–4 when they come to more than AUD 20,000 and start within 90 days (terms) | 10 business days |
| 2. Proof of concept | First board and firmware proving the hard parts — the radio link, the power budget, the sensor, whatever the feasibility week flagged | Fixed-price two-week sprints, AUD 15,000 each; usually 1–2 | 2–4 weeks |
| 3. Prototype | Full-function units in an enclosure, firmware complete, EMC pre-scan, design verification against a written test plan | Fixed quote from stage 1 | 2–4 months |
| 4. Pilot and handoff | Production test fixture, BOM and assembly data, programming and test procedures, support through the contract manufacturer’s pilot run | Fixed quote from stage 1 | 1–3 months |
| Whole product, typical | Simple sensor or controller at one end; radio, battery and certification at the other | AUD 40,000–170,000 | 6–18 months |
If those numbers are a surprise, say so on the form: a prototype built from off-the-shelf modules might be the right first step, and the feasibility week will say so if it’s true.
Why one engineer
When the hardware, the firmware and the test rig are three contractors, the bugs live in the gaps between them and everyone’s contract says it’s someone else’s. Here the same person designs the board, writes the firmware, builds the fixture and talks to the factory. Nothing falls between.
What I need from you
- What the product must do, for whom, and roughly how many a year.
- Anything that exists: sketches, a module prototype, a competitor’s product, a customer’s spec.
- Your constraints: target price, size, battery life, where it lives, which markets (Australia only, or CE/FCC too).
- One person who can make decisions by email.
What’s not included
- Mechanical design of a custom moulded enclosure. Off-the-shelf enclosures (IP-rated boxes, DIN-rail, extruded aluminium) cover most products at this volume and I design to them. For a custom moulded part I bring in a mechanical designer and manage them; it’s quoted separately. I’d rather say that now than at tooling time.
- Certification testing at the accredited lab, registrations, and tooling — you pay those directly; I get you there with margin.
- Apps, cloud back-ends and web dashboards. I’ll define the interface and work with whoever builds them.
- More than one product at a time, from me. Each stage runs as two-week sprints alongside a small queue, and that’s stated in the schedule.
How it works
Intake form → written scope for the feasibility week → paid → plan delivered in 10 business days with a fixed price for stages 2–4 → you decide, stage by stage, with the feasibility fee credited once the stages you go ahead with pass AUD 20,000 and start within 90 days.