Sol Oriens, LLC

Product engineering is the process we use for converting an idea at Technology Readiness Level Zero to a mature product that can be manufactured and effectively used in a stringent environment. Our technology transition experience allows us to start with an idea at some TRL and move it forward in a defined product development structure. We complete and evaluate laboratory tests, assemble and instrument prototypes, configure brassboard systems for demonstration, help plan and execute field tests, study and compile results, and push design maturity.

We also complete producibility analysis to guide how and where a product must be manufactured, what its price point needs to be, and how its quality must be defined for a successful product launch.

Industrial Applications

We use industrial imbedded microprocessors, actuators, communications protocols, and software to prototype data acquisition systems, servos, robotic systems, autonomous platforms, and surveillance systems. The level of complexity in these systems has dramatically increased, and a number of off-the-shelf technologies can be used to prototype systems and algorithms more quickly. Some of these we use for fun; some of them for learning, and some applications are made for clients with exotic needs.

We are studying autonomous aerial vehicles as potential test and evaluation platforms for outdoor testing and dynamic evaluation of sensors and other technologies. Although there is considerable activity in the commercial market, we believe that our knowledge and background in weapons and surveillance will allow us to use these tools for testing and insert these technologies into interesting problem sets.

Component Prototyping

We design and fabricate small electronic circuit assemblies, starting with requirements and concepts then moving to breadboard and prototyping techniques, then designing circuit boards for manufacture at commercial facilities.

Our recent entre into additive manufacturing finds us designing components and structures with tools like Sketchup, Solidworks, Netfabb, and Rhino. We prototype these on experimental printers in various plastic media, and work with larger-scale firms to mass-produce them.