We design and deploy automated hardware testing infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and Embedded Board Farms (EBF) for hardware-software integration teams. Operating as fractional Platform Architects, our team provides high-leverage advisory and implementation services to eliminate QA bottlenecks, automate physical hardware validation, and accelerate release cycles.
The Challenge: A development team faced inconsistent build artifacts and hours-long compilation times due to localized, host-dependent Xilinx and Yocto environments.
The Solution: We architected a fully containerized build environment using Docker. Extracted and isolated the cross-compiling toolchains, allowing the build system to spin up ephemeral containers for CI/CD runners without relying on heavy host-machine configurations.
The Outcome: Achieved 100% reproducible builds across the engineering team, reduced CI pipeline execution time by caching intermediate build layers, and eliminated environment-specific defects for embedded Linux deployments.
The Challenge: Firmware updates for nRF52 BLE peripherals required manual regression testing, delaying release cycles and allowing regressions to reach production.
The Solution: We designed an Embedded Board Farm node utilizing a pytest-driven framework. The test suite automatically flashed the MCU over SWD, stimulated GPIO inputs, and validated BLE advertisement packets against the defined system requirements matrix over a serial interface.
The Outcome: Transformed a multi-day manual regression cycle into a 15-minute automated pipeline triggered on every pull request, ensuring firmware releases mapped continuously back to validated requirements.
The Challenge: A local network environment comprising independent hardware nodes, media servers, and off-grid power components lacked centralized command and control.
The Solution: We developed a custom management hub using Python and the Flask framework. Created RESTful APIs to interface directly with local network hardware (including Chromecast protocols and custom sensor endpoints), containerizing the application for easy deployment.
The Outcome: Provided a unified, low-latency control plane that automated routine tasks and allowed for rapid integration of new hardware nodes into the existing ecosystem.
We specialize in low-hour, high-impact engagements. We partner with engineering directors and lead developers who need senior architectural guidance to unblock their teams without the overhead of full-time staff augmentation.
Tell us about the bottlenecks in your build environments or hardware testing pipelines.