BUILT FOR THE REAL WORLD

Hard problems.
Hard places.

Engineering that holds up.
When the conditions don’t.

Hardware, software and systems built for difficult conditions, constrained resources and the realities of working in the field.

Atlantic waves breaking against Rockall, with the patrol vessel LÉ Róisín in the distance
ROCKALL / NORTH ATLANTIC
57°35′ N   13°41′ WTHE ENVIRONMENT SETS THE STANDARD.
01 / A NAME TO LIVE UP TO.A small rock. An unforgiving ocean.

The world doesn’t operate
in laboratory conditions.

Salt water. Limited power. Unreliable communications. No easy way back to the workshop.

These are design inputs. We work from the physical constraints up, building systems that can be understood, maintained and trusted in the field.

From the first
principle to
the last bolt.

Across disciplines.
Accountable for the whole system.

01

Systems engineering

Make the problem explicit. Understand the interfaces, expose the assumptions and turn an ambitious brief into a system that can actually be built.

ARCHITECTURE / INTEGRATION / VERIFICATION
02

Hardware & embedded

Electronics and embedded software designed together. From sensing and control to power and communications, with the operating environment considered from the start.

ELECTRONICS / FIRMWARE / INSTRUMENTATION
03

Software & infrastructure

Software that meets the hardware and infrastructure that keeps it useful. Built around constrained resources, interrupted connections and the people who have to operate it.

PLATFORMS / NETWORKS / EDGE COMPUTING
04

Field engineering

Close the gap between a working prototype and a working installation. Test the failure modes, solve the practical problems and feed what happens in the field back into the design.

TESTING / DEPLOYMENT / FAULT FINDING

Clear thinking.
Hands-on engineering.

The details matter. So does getting it done.

[ 01 ]

Start with the physics.

Understand the environment, the constraints and what failure means. Get the fundamentals right before adding complexity.

[ 02 ]

Build. Test. Find out.

Put assumptions on the bench. Prototype the difficult parts early. Measure what happens and let the evidence shape the design.

[ 03 ]

Stay with the problem.

Take it through integration and into service. Leave behind clear documentation, maintainable systems and a proper understanding of how it works.

GOOD ENGINEERING STARTS WITH A HARD QUESTION.

What are you
up against?

A difficult brief. An awkward constraint.
A system that needs to work.
Start with the problem.

START WITH THE PROBLEM

The difficult bit.
Tell us about it.

Put a short brief together and save a copy. Nothing is sent or stored by this website.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Rockall, in the real world.

“LÉ Róisín at Rockall”, Irish Defence Forces, 12 October 2012. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Licensed under CC BY 2.0. Displayed cropped and in monochrome. Use of the photograph does not imply endorsement.