[ Services · Electronics & firmware ]
Electronics and firmware,
built into the product.
The circuit, the code, the link to the app and the battery, designed inside the enclosure the industrial design gives them.
Our electronics specialists draw the block diagram of your product, choose and connect its components in the schematic, lay out the circuit board in the space the enclosure leaves, write the firmware that runs it, link it to a phone or the cloud, build its companion app, size its battery and charging, and prepare it for the FCC and CE testing your markets require. They work on the same model as our industrial designers and mechanical engineers, so the board, the sensors and the antenna fit the product rather than the other way round.
Since 2017: 150+ projects and 50+ products shipped, with electronics prototyping in our own workshops.
What's inside your product?
Switch on its blocks. The page below becomes your electronics plan.
Your product · one boardYour board: sensors, a radio and a battery. FCC and CE testing: yes, for a radio and a battery, sold in the United States and in Europe.Your plan ↓
[ Your plan ]
What does your
electronics plan cover?
Each block of your product, through the board, the firmware and the enclosure. Tap Details on a block.
Your electronics plan takes each block of your product through the board, the firmware and the enclosure, with a project where we did it. For a product with sensors, a radio and a battery, it starts from the blocks marked below; the others stay one click away.
Every block adds work in three places. On the board, it is a part of the schematic and of the layout. In the firmware, it is something to read, drive or show. In the enclosure, it needs a place the industrial design agrees to: a sensor where the product touches the world, an antenna behind a window in the shell, a battery where its weight and heat belong.
- B1
Sensors
It measures somethingOn the boardEach sensor is chosen for what it must read, wired in the schematic and given its conditioning on the board, so a weak signal is cleaned up close to where it is read.
In the firmwareThe firmware reads each sensor at the rate the product needs and turns the readings into a decision: start a motor, change the music, warn the owner.
In the enclosureA sensor sits where the product touches what it measures: the scalp, the soil, the air. Industrial design decides that surface, so the sensor and the shape are placed together.
As on OrpheyTen dry electrodes, four in the headband arch and three in each ear cup, with no conductive gel and on-board conditioning, hidden so the headphones never read as medical. The case study →
- B2
A radio
It talks to a phone or the cloudFCC and CEOn the boardA Bluetooth or Wi-Fi module goes into the schematic with its antenna, and the layout keeps the antenna where the signal can leave the enclosure.
In the firmwareThe firmware pairs with the phone, sends what the product measures, receives what the app decides, and knows what to do when the link drops.
In the enclosureThe antenna needs a window in the shell, away from metal parts and the battery. Placing it is a decision taken with industrial design, not after it.
As on OrpheyBluetooth and Wi-Fi from the headband to a smartphone app and an AI in the cloud, and the adapted music back in both ear cups. The case study →
- B3
A battery
It runs unpluggedFCC and CEOn the boardThe battery, its charging and its protection, and the power distribution to every load, are drawn and sized in the schematic, from the products you compare.
In the firmwareThe firmware manages the power states: what runs, what sleeps and what the product does when the charge runs low.
In the enclosureA battery is the heaviest and most rigid block inside. Where it goes sets the balance, the heat and the shape around it.
As on PhotonixWe drew its power path: a solar panel under the clear hood feeds the batteries through a charge controller, and the batteries, low in the chassis, run everything that moves. The case study →
- B4
Motors
It moves, pumps or blowsFCC and CEOn the boardEvery motor, pump, fan or servo gets its driver on the board and its share of the power budget, sized for the load it moves.
In the firmwareThe firmware drives them from what the sensors read or what the user presses, in the modes the product offers.
In the enclosureA motor brings noise, heat and vibration. Its mount and the path of the air, the water or the drive are worked out with mechanical engineering.
As on KORU ONEThe fan and its filter stack under the plant, the reservoirs in the base: placed when we drew the whole object in section, before the shell was final. The case study →
- B5
Controls
Buttons, lights, a screen, soundOn the boardButtons, lights, screens and speakers are the inputs and outputs the user sees and touches; each one is wired in the schematic and placed on the board where the shell shows it.
In the firmwareThe firmware is the behavior the user meets: what each press does, what the lights say, what the screen shows.
In the enclosureIndustrial design places every control; the board follows, so a button lines up with its switch and light comes through the shell where it should.
As on PhotonixOne button on the handlebar panel sets the cutting height by driving the servos at both axles, and two screens on the panel were lit on the prototype in the field. The case study →
FCC and CE testing: yes, for a radio and a battery, sold in the United States and in Europe. FCC testing is the United States check on electronics that can emit radio energy; CE is the mark that says a product meets the European Union's rules.
[ TIME AND COST ]
How long does it take,
and what does it cost?
Electronics run inside development and prototyping. As orders of magnitude, phase by phase:
Electronics and firmware run alongside development, about 16 weeks at $5,000 to $25,000 as an order of magnitude for a molded consumer product, then into prototyping, about 16 weeks at $7,500 to $30,000. A product with electronics, a battery and certification takes more than a simple one: a board, firmware and heat add a discipline to every step.
Orders of magnitude, not a quote: you get a fixed price once the brief is written.
A water bottle and a jet ski are not the same project. From one product to another, the effort can range from one to fifty times.
A small batch of 10 to 200 units for testers, certification samples or the first backers is quoted per project. Production molds are paid to the factory, separately.
Proof of concept, when the product needs it. Some products depend on something not done in that form before, such as a sensor in an unusual place or heat in a small volume. That one function is tested on its own, with development boards and parts bought off the shelf, scoped with development, before the final design is built around it.
The seven steps from idea to launch, each one timed and priced, in our guide ↗
What moves the budget
- Number of parts
Each part is designed, drawn, prototyped and later tooled.
- Electronics and a battery
A board, firmware and heat to manage add a discipline to every step.
- Certification
FCC, CE or UL testing adds preparation, samples and lab time.
[ WHAT YOU GET ]
What does each phase
of electronics work deliver?
Seven phases, each ending with something you can check. Swipe the cards: the drawing above follows them.
Each phase of electronics and firmware work delivers something you can check: a block diagram, a schematic, a board laid out in the enclosure, firmware that runs it, a link to the app, a power system sized for the product, and a product ready for its tests. Each phase ends with a decision point, where you approve the result before the next one starts.
Most of this work sits inside development, about 16 weeks on a molded consumer product, beside industrial design and mechanical engineering, and carries on into the works-like prototypes, where the real electronics and battery run in the real volume. The architecture starts earlier, in the brief and the concept, because the shape has to hold what goes inside.
The drawing follows the electronics inside three of our products, each where it shows a phase best: KORU ONE in section, Orphey in front elevation, Photonix in plan, traced from the geometry published in their case studies. The phases that touch the blocks of your product are marked.
Starts with the brief and the concept
System architecture
A block diagram of everything the product reads, decides, drives and shows, then each block placed in the volume before the shape is final.
The architecture lists every block (sensors, board, radio, battery, motors, controls), how they connect and how much power each one draws, then finds each one a place in the product. KORU ONE had to hold two machines in one body: a purifier with its fan, a washable photocatalytic filter under UV LEDs and an air quality sensor, and a self-watering planter with a reservoir and pump in the base, a soil sensor in the root ball and a level sensor. We drew the whole object in section first, then merged it with the client's parts in one systems CAD on 1 September 2020.
You getA block diagram, a first power budget and every block placed in the 3D architecture.
Development · About 16 weeks in allYour sensors
Sensors and schematic
The sensors chosen for what they must read, and the schematic, the drawing of every component on the board and how they connect.
Some products are their sensor. Orphey reads brain activity (EEG), so its electrodes had to reach the scalp through hair, with no gel, in a headphone nobody would mistake for medical equipment. Before the headphones had a shape, four electrode studies in two weeks, from 16 November to 1 December 2020, settled how: four electrodes in the arch that comb through the hair when the outer arch is pressed, three fixed contacts under the foam of each ear cup. Ten electrodes in all, hidden, each signal conditioned on board before it is read.
You getThe sensor choices, the schematic of the board and a first bill of materials.
DevelopmentYour radioYour controls
PCB layout in the enclosure
The circuit board laid out to fit the space the enclosure gives it, its place in the product decided with the shape.
A board does not go where there is room left; it goes where its connectors, its heat and its antenna can live with the shape. Photonix's architecture study of November 2021 set the batteries low in the chassis and tried three places for the electronics under the clear shell, from the nose to the handlebar, before the body was drawn around them. The CAD model then carried the chassis, the solar panel and the electronics together. The layout itself follows: board outline, mounting holes and connectors to the 3D model, components placed so the parts that run hot have a way to lose their heat.
You getThe PCB layout fitted to the 3D model, with its outline, mounting points and connectors.
Development, then prototypingYour sensorsYour motorsYour controls
Firmware
The firmware, the program that runs on the product's own chip and makes the board do its job: reading the sensors, deciding, driving what moves.
Firmware turns a board into a behavior. On Photonix, one button on the handlebar panel drives the servos at both axles, so the deck rises or settles level with the blade, while the batteries run the drive motor on each front wheel and the blade motor, with two screens beside the button on the panel. We wired the bare chassis and ran it, with its battery, blade motor and electronics in place, before the body went on. The firmware is written against the real board as soon as it exists, and tested in the works-like prototypes, on real grass.
You getFirmware for the prototype boards, its behavior described and tested.
DevelopmentYour radio
Connectivity and the app
The radio and the link to a phone or the cloud: what the product sends, what comes back, and what happens without a connection.
Orphey's loop runs out of the product and back into it: the electrodes read the wearer, the reading goes over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi through a smartphone app to an AI in the cloud, and the music comes back adapted in both ear cups. The brief named four states to read, stress, attention, relaxation and engagement, to be confirmed on a prototype. Interpreting in the cloud kept the headband light and the battery honest, and lets the model improve after shipping; it also makes the product useless without a connection, which is why that choice is made in the architecture, not discovered later.
You getThe link specified end to end: radio, the data in each direction and the behavior without a connection.
Development, then prototypingYour batteryYour motors
Power and battery
The battery, its charging and the path of the power to every load, sized from the products you compare.
Power decides how long the product runs, how heavy it is and how it charges. For Photonix, we did the electronics: in November 2021 we compared blade motors, lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries, two solar charge controllers and two panel sizes. Our recharge estimate showed the panel adds little while mowing and tops up the packs while the mower stands idle in the sun. On the prototype, the panel under the clear hood feeds the batteries through the charge controller, and the batteries run the drive motor on each front wheel, the blade motor and the two height servos, as our electric diagram of June 2022 sets out.
You getThe battery and charging chosen, the power path drawn, and the choices in the bill of materials.
Prototypes and small batchYour radioYour batteryYour motors
Testing and certification
The works-like prototype tested where the product will be used, then the product prepared for the FCC and CE testing its markets require.
A product with a battery, a motor or a radio sold in the United States and in Europe needs FCC and CE testing. FCC testing is the United States check on electronics that can emit radio energy; CE is the mark that says a product meets the European Union's rules. KORU ONE, with a Wi-Fi radio, a fan and a pump, is that kind of product. We plan for the tests from the brief, then test the works-like prototype where the product will be used: a board that runs hot costs a revision there, not a mold. Before production, a small batch of 10 to 200 units by vacuum or gravity casting gives the certification lab its samples.
You getTest results of the works-like prototypes, the design revised, and the product prepared for the lab.
01/KORU ONE, every block in one body
KORU ONE traced from our CATIA section, Orphey from the V9 model, Photonix from the fairing CAD, as published in the case studies. Signal and power paths, and the three board locations, are drawn as principles, not to scale.
[ THE SHORT ANSWER ]
What is electronics
and firmware design?
Electronics and firmware design gives a product its nervous system: the sensors that read the world, the circuit board that carries them, the firmware that decides what to do, the radio that talks to a phone or the cloud, and the battery that runs it all. It turns what the product must do into a board and a program that do it, inside the shape it was given.
It starts with the block diagram, then the schematic, the drawing of every component on the board and how they connect. The schematic becomes the layout of the PCB, a printed circuit board, the board that carries the electronics, shaped to the space the enclosure gives it. The firmware is the program that runs on the product's own chip and makes the board do its job: it reads the sensors, drives the motors and lights, and keeps the link to the app.
At ONMOTIO it runs alongside industrial design and mechanical engineering, on the same model, from the first architecture. The brief names the markets early, because a product with a battery, a motor or a radio sold in the United States and in Europe needs FCC and CE testing, and knowing it then shapes the electronics from the first sketch.
Since 2017 that work adds up to 150+ projects and 50+ products shipped. The steps around it, from the brief to the launch, are laid out in our guide, how to develop a physical product.
[ THE RIGHT STEP ]
When is electronics and firmware
the right next step?
Start here when the product has to sense, connect, run on a battery or drive a motor.
Electronics and firmware is the right next step when your product has to sense, connect, run on a battery or drive a motor, and the board, the code and the power have to fit a shape that exists or is being drawn. When something else has to be settled first, start there.
Start with electronics and firmware when
- Your product has to measure something, connect to a phone or the cloud, run on a battery or drive a motor.
- A development board proves the function on the bench, and it now has to fit inside the real product.
- The industrial design is set or sketched, and the board, the sensors and the antenna need a place in it.
- You plan to sell in the United States or in Europe, and need to know what FCC and CE testing will ask of the product.
- Your prototype works, but its battery, its heat or its wiring will not survive a second round.
Start with another service when
- The product has no form yet, and its appearance is what will sell it.
Industrial Design → - The open question is a mechanism, a structure or how the parts hold together.
Mechanical Engineering → - One function has to be proven to work before anything is designed around it.
Which prototype do you need first? → - You are still deciding what to build, for whom and at what price.
Product Strategy →
[ WHAT WE COVER ]
What does our electronics
and firmware work cover?
Nine skills, from the block diagram to the bench, each shown on a project of ours. The ones that weigh most for a product with sensors, a radio and a battery come first.
02Sensors and signal
Key for yours
Sensors chosen for what they must read and placed where the product touches it, with the signal conditioned on the board.
Orphey: ten electrodes through the hair →03Schematic and components
Key for yours
The schematic, the drawing of every component on the board and how they connect, and the components compared and chosen for the product, down to the bill of materials, every part and component of one unit.
Photonix: motors, batteries and controllers compared →04PCB layout for the enclosure
Key for yours
The layout of the PCB, a printed circuit board, the board that carries the electronics, fitted to the space the enclosure gives it, with its connectors, mounting points and heat.
Photonix: three places tried for the board →05Firmware and control logic
Key for yours
The program on the product's own chip: reading the sensors and buttons, the modes, the logic that drives motors and servos.
Photonix: one button to the servos at both axles →01System architecture
The block diagram of the product, what each block draws in power, and a place for each one in the 3D architecture, before the shape is final.
KORU ONE: two machines in one body →06Connectivity and the app link
Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, the antenna's place in the shell, the data in each direction, what the product does without a connection, and the companion app itself, built in-house.
Orphey: from the scalp to the cloud and back →07Power, batteries and charging
Battery chemistry and size, charging, from a wall or the sun, and the power path to every load, weighed against weight and runtime.
Photonix: solar charging and two packs →08Electronics prototyping
Boards wired and run in our own workshops, first on the bare chassis or the open shell, then closed in the works-like prototype.
Photonix: the chassis wired and run →09Testing and certification preparation
The markets named in the brief, the product designed for its FCC and CE testing, and the small batch that gives the lab its samples.
The guide: certification, step by step →[ THE WORK ]
Which connected products
have we worked on?
Orphey, KORU ONE and Photonix: the architecture, the decisions and where each product went.
Our electronics work is behind the Orphey EEG headphones, the architecture of KORU ONE, an air purifier and planter with six sensors, and the electronics and firmware of the Photonix solar mower. Each case study shows the architecture, the decisions and where the product went.
Luxury headphones that read brain activity
Orphey
Ten dry electrodes, four in the arch and three in each ear cup, hidden in a headphone that never reads as medical; their signal conditioned on board and sent over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi through an app to an AI in the cloud, which adapts the music played back in both cups.
A validated proof of concept, with the product and its AI architecture delivered.
Read the case study
Air purifier and self-watering planter
KORU ONE
Two machines in one body, drawn in section first: the fan and filter stack under the plant, the reservoirs in the base, six sensors integrated in a pot that reads as furniture.
Funded at over 1000% of its goal on Indiegogo, raising $110,000+, then sold for four years.
Solar-powered mower
Photonix
The electronics and firmware: motors, batteries, charge controllers and panels compared, the power path from the panel to the motors and servos, three places tried for the board, one button driving both axles, a chassis wired and run before its body went on.
A working prototype, tested on real grass for traction, blade performance and efficiency.
[ WHY ONMOTIO ]
Why work with ONMOTIO
on electronics and firmware?
ONMOTIO designs the electronics inside the industrial design, not after it, with electronics specialists in a team of nine and prototypes built and run in its own workshops. Since 2017: 150+ projects delivered and 50+ products shipped.
Our team of nine brings designers, mechanical engineers, electronics specialists and branding people together, small enough that the person who answers your email is the person doing the work. Eduardo Leardini, our head of product development, leads engineering execution. About us →
Electronics inside the design
The circuit board has to fit the space the enclosure gives it, so our electronics specialists work on the same model as the industrial designers. Orphey hides ten electrodes in an arch and two cups because both were drawn together.
One team, one point of contact
Industrial design, mechanical engineering, electronics, firmware, companion apps and prototyping sit in one team. When a product needs a specialty outside it, such as AI model development, we bring in a partner we have worked with and coordinate them for you.
Wired and run before it is closed
Electronics prototyping is one of our in-house capabilities, in two workshops of our own. Photonix's chassis was wired and run with its battery, blade motor and electronics before its body went on.
Testing named in the brief
The markets are named in the first three weeks, so a radio, a motor or a battery that brings FCC and CE testing shapes the electronics from the first sketch, not the week before the lab.
With ONMOTIO we found the perfect Design partner for our project KORU. Clement was leading our project in a very structured, transparent and professional way. Great communication and the result speaks for itself.
Friedrich EickhoffCEO of Botany Labs, PlantKORU[ Questions ]
Questions founders ask
about electronics and firmware.
Ordered for your plan: the 4 marked first are the closest to a product with sensors, a radio and a battery. Open a question to read its answer; something else? Ask us on a call.
How do the electronics fit the industrial design?For your plan
They are designed together. The circuit board has to fit the space the enclosure gives it, sensors sit where the product touches what it measures, and an antenna needs a window in the shell. Orphey hides ten electrodes, four in the arch and three in each ear cup, because the electrodes and the shape were drawn at the same time. Industrial design →
Does my product need FCC or CE certification?For your plan
A product with a battery, a motor or a radio sold in the United States and in Europe needs FCC and CE testing. FCC testing is the United States check on electronics that can emit radio energy; CE is the mark that says a product meets the European Union's rules. We name your markets in the brief, so the electronics are designed for the tests from the first sketch; a small batch of cast units gives the lab its samples.
How much does electronics and firmware design cost?For your plan
As orders of magnitude for a molded consumer product, development costs $5,000 to $25,000 and prototyping $7,500 to $30,000, shared with industrial design and mechanical engineering. Electronics and a battery add a discipline to every step, and FCC, CE or UL testing adds preparation, samples and lab time, so we give a fixed price once the brief is written.
Do you build the companion app?For your plan
Yes. We build companion apps in-house, alongside the firmware, so the product and its app are designed as one link: the radio, the data the product sends and receives, what the app shows and does, and what the product does without a connection. The same team writes both sides, so you keep one point of contact.
What does electronics and firmware design include?
It covers the system architecture and block diagram, the sensors, the schematic and the choice of components, the layout of the circuit board in the enclosure, the firmware, the link to a phone or the cloud and the companion app, the battery and charging, and the testing that prepares the product for FCC and CE. At ONMOTIO it runs on the same model as the industrial design.
What is a PCB, what is firmware, and what is a schematic?
A PCB is a printed circuit board, the board that carries the electronics. Firmware is the program that runs on the product's own chip and makes the board do its job. A schematic is the drawing of every component on the board and how they connect. The schematic comes first, the PCB layout turns it into a board that fits the product, and the firmware makes that board read, decide and act.
How long does electronics and firmware development take?
For a molded consumer product, electronics and firmware run alongside development, about 16 weeks, then into prototyping, about 16 weeks, as the tests send changes back to the board and the code. The architecture starts in the brief and the concept. A product with electronics, a battery and certification takes more than a simple accessory.
What is a proof of concept for electronics?
For electronics, a proof of concept (POC) is a rough test of the one function the product depends on, built from development boards, 3D printed brackets and parts bought off the shelf. It answers one question before the final design, such as whether a sensor can read through hair. Orphey's electrodes were studied on their own, four architectures in two weeks, before the headphones were drawn. Which prototype do you need first? →
What is a works-like prototype, and why does it matter for electronics?
In short, a works-like prototype has the real mechanism, electronics and battery in the real volume, even if it does not look finished. It is where the board meets the product: the heat, the wiring, the battery and the antenna in the shell they will live in. A board that runs hot costs a revision at this step, not a mold. Prototyping →
Can you start from our development board, prototype or existing design?
Yes. Many products arrive as a development board that proves the function on the bench, or a prototype whose wiring will not survive a second round. We start from what you have, keep what works, and turn it into a board and firmware that fit the real product, alongside your engineers if you have them.
Who owns the design and the firmware, and will you sign an NDA?
You do: under our standard contract, the intellectual property, the schematics, layouts and firmware included, is transferred to you once all invoices are paid. We sign an NDA from the first exchange if you want one. If you plan a patent, speak with a patent attorney before you show the product in public, a crowdfunding page included.
[ NEXT STEP ]
Have a connected product
to build?
Send us what you have: a block diagram, a development board, a sketch or a prototype. A first call takes thirty minutes and costs nothing. You leave it with a view on feasibility, a rough order of cost and the next steps worth taking.