Embedded Systems for Industrial Automation
We engineer the hardware, firmware and embedded software for industrial equipment: HMIs, panel PCs, edge gateways, protocol converters, and control and I/O boards. One carrier board we designed, for an industrial Ethernet gateway and a touch panel PC, is in series production and in use in the field.
What We Deliver
Which parts of an industrial product can we hand over to you?
The electronics, the firmware and the embedded software, separately or together. Beyond the case studies below, we helped a precision gauging company in India build a battery-powered wireless gauging handle, and designed the HMI for a CNC machine.
What we build
- HMIs and touch panel PCs
- Edge gateways and protocol converters
- Control and I/O boards
- Embedded Linux on industrial processor modules
- A battery-powered wireless instrument
- A DALI-2 building automation controller
What you receive
- Schematics, PCB layout and the bill of materials
- Firmware and embedded software source
- Prototypes assembled and brought up on our bench
- Test reports
- Support into manufacturing and production
- Firmware updates in the field, including over the air
Industrial Protocols
Which industrial protocols do you work with?
We design a gateway or controller around the protocols it has to speak. Our industrial Ethernet gateway carries a plug-in module for PROFINET, EtherNet/IP or EtherCAT beside a gigabit port, and the DALI-2 controller we built runs four lighting buses at once.
Industrial Ethernet
Industrial Ethernet for controllers, drives and plant networks.
- PROFINET
- EtherCAT
- EtherNet/IP
Fieldbus and device level
Established fieldbus and sensor links, often in installed equipment that has to keep running.
- PROFIBUS
- DeviceNet
- CAN and CANopen
- IO-Link
Serial and building automation
Serial links and building protocols that connect sensors, meters and lighting.
- Modbus
- RS485 sensor networks
- DALI-2 lighting buses
- BACnet
Where one product must speak several protocols, we design around Anybus and other plug-in industrial communication modules, so one board can serve more than one network.
Case Studies
Which industrial products have you built?
Three are written up as case studies, with client names kept confidential.
Case study
An industrial Ethernet gateway and a touch panel PC for a Swiss industrial automation company, with the full scope delivered in 22 weeks.
Case study
A four-bus DALI-2 interface for a building automation company in Asia, DALI-2 certified with the DALI Alliance (DiiA) and installed in buildings.
Case study
The master controller for a smart locker company in Malaysia, deployed in the field with no field failures reported.
Standards and Certification
Which approvals will an industrial product need, and how do you design for them?
We design for CE, UL and RoHS and support certification with accredited laboratories. We agree the markings your product needs at the start, so they shape the design instead of surfacing at the test laboratory.
Designed for
- CE marking
- UL
- RoHS
- Functional safety to IEC 61508 or ISO 13849
- Protocol conformance and certification testing
Certification results
- DALI-2 certification with the DALI Alliance (DiiA), at the first attempt
- Niagara certification, with no re-submission
Quality
How do you keep an industrial product running in the field?
By designing for the conditions it will meet from the start: electrical noise, long cable runs and years between site visits.
Isolation and protection fit for a plant
On our industrial Ethernet gateway, that meant a 5 to 24 V input with galvanic isolation, ESD protection on every port and a functional earth.
Tested against the requirement
On the smart locker controller, a full test suite covered normal and fault cases, with written reports and regression testing before release.
Updates without a site visit
Firmware can be updated in the field, over the air where the product allows, so a fix does not wait for an engineer to travel.
Certification planned in
Conformance testing is part of the schedule, not an afterthought.
Why Pinetics
How do you know an industrial electronics partner will deliver?
100,000+ engineering hours delivered and counting.
The gateway in our case studies went from accepted prototypes to series production, and that client has since given us further projects.
Expertise
Industrial work from protocol gateways and panel PCs to lighting controllers, smart lockers and a wireless gauging handle, led by founders who are engineers.
Technology
Embedded Linux on industrial processor modules, real-time microcontroller firmware and battery-powered wireless designs.
Transparency
Time booked against each task, review findings you can read, and the source, schematics and layout handed over as yours.
Common Questions
What do buyers of industrial electronics ask us first?
Pinetics designs the electronics, firmware and embedded software for industrial equipment: HMIs and touch panel PCs, edge gateways and protocol converters, control and I/O boards, and connected controllers. Our case studies include an industrial Ethernet gateway now in series production and a DALI-2 lighting controller certified at the first attempt.
Yes. We design the schematic, PCB layout and firmware for control and I/O boards, with isolation and protection fit for a plant, and bring the prototypes up on our own bench.
Yes: PROFINET, EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, PROFIBUS, DeviceNet, CAN and CANopen, IO-Link, Modbus, DALI-2 and BACnet, among others. Our industrial Ethernet gateway carries a plug-in module for PROFINET, EtherNet/IP and EtherCAT, and we also design around Anybus modules.
Yes. A new controller often has to work with equipment already in the field. For a smart locker company, we worked out the protocol of the existing locker boards from the boards and their code, so they kept working under the new master controller we built.
Yes. Designs are prepared for manufacturing, and we support the move into production. The industrial Ethernet gateway in our case studies is in series production, and the DALI-2 controller is installed in buildings.
By designing for the conditions the product will meet: isolated and protected interfaces, functional testing with written results, and designs prepared for CE, UL and RoHS. Where a product has a safety function, we design it to IEC 61508 or ISO 13849. We support certification with accredited laboratories.
Yes, and most first conversations start that way. Send yours or ask for ours.
A multi-role core delivery team, with specialists engaged per phase. Our founders, who are engineers, take part in the design reviews.