Industrial Communication and Embedded Engineering Services
Industrial communication and embedded engineering services for the companies that build connected industrial products, covering protocol stacks, device networks, the data layer above them and the boards and drivers underneath, from technology selection through pre-compliance testing and long-term support.
Accessible Engineering Innovation supplies industrial communication and embedded engineering services to the companies that build connected industrial products, from device OEMs and machine builders to silicon and module vendors. The thirteen service lines cover the network a device sits on, the data it has to produce, and the product itself, from technology selection through pre-compliance testing and long-term support.
OT Network & Control
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Real-Time Ethernet Engineering
Real-time Ethernet stack integration for device makers, machine builders and chip vendors. We develop, port, tune and pre-compliance test PROFINET, EtherCAT, POWERLINK, EtherNet/IP and TSN on your silicon, train your team on it, and stay behind it afterwards.
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Fieldbus & Device Networks
Industrial fieldbus integration services for device makers and OEMs. CANopen, CAN FD/J1939, Modbus, IO-Link, AS-i and PROFIBUS DP/PA brought up on your hardware, with the device description files and conformance pre-testing that have to ship alongside them.
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Protocol Migration
Fieldbus to Ethernet migration services for device makers and OEMs. We migrate a device onto a new network without rewriting the application logic that took years to get right.
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Device & Network Integration
Device network integration services for OEMs and machine builders. The gateways, translation layers and interoperability testing that make several devices on several networks behave as one system.
IT/OT Convergence
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OPC UA & Information Modelling
OPC UA information modelling consulting for device makers and OEMs. We design the address space, apply or extend the companion specification, and build the servers and clients that expose it.
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Data Distribution & Messaging
Broker vs brokerless industrial data architecture. We design and build the data-centric middleware and publish-subscribe layer that carries production data between machines, with configurable delivery guarantees per topic.
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Industrial IoT & Edge Integration
Brownfield IIoT retrofit engineering and greenfield edge integration. We get machine data northbound into MES, ERP and cloud, and audit the connected product against CRA and IEC 62443 obligations.
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Machine Condition Monitoring & Automated Inspection
Machine condition monitoring and automated inspection built into the machine. Multi-channel acquisition designed around the fault you need to detect, and in-line inspection built on the imaging stack the camera already provides.
Product & Lifecycle
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Embedded Systems
Custom BSP, industrial SoC selection, board bring-up and embedded firmware development. We select the part, design the board, bring it up and write the software that runs on it.
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Drivers, System Software & Real-Time Platforms
Cross-platform driver development for industrial devices and the platforms that host them. NDIS miniport and intermediate drivers, Linux kernel drivers, RTOS porting, and real-time platform tuning.
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SCADA, DCS & Control Application Development
SCADA software development for machine builders. The supervisory, control and diagnostic application layer, built into your machine or product and handed over with it.
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Obsolescence Management & Platform Migration
Two halves of the same problem. Legacy PLC obsolescence management when a part disappears, and platform migration when a controller, OS or FPGA family ends, with the function and the logic preserved in both.
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Automated Test & Measurement Systems
Automated test equipment development. End-of-line functional test systems, jigs and fixtures, and the sequencing and measurement software that turns a bench setup into a repeatable station.
What services do you provide?
We supply an engineering layer inside your product.
Most of our clients build and sell equipment: device manufacturers, machine builders, silicon and module vendors, and the systems integrators delivering into a plant. They own the product, the roadmap and the customer. We supply the specialism a single project cannot justify hiring for, such as a protocol stack on their silicon, a driver under their operating system, an information model over their machine data, or a board and the firmware that runs on it. That is a different trade from plant automation. We do not commission machines on a factory floor, run FAT or SAT, or maintain installed equipment. What we do deliver is design, development, integration and test at device and network scale, on site with your engineers while it is being integrated and remotely afterwards, with a deployable result handed to whoever commissions it. The commercial models are set out on how we engage.
How are the service pages organised?
Three groups, based on which layer of the system the work sits in.
OT Network & Control
The wire and what talks over it.
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Real-Time Ethernet | PROFINET, EtherCAT, POWERLINK and TSN stacks on your hardware |
| Fieldbus & Device Networks | CANopen, Modbus, IO-Link and PROFIBUS stacks, description files, conformance |
| Protocol Migration | A product moved from a legacy network onto Ethernet |
| Device & Network Integration | Gateways and interoperability across several devices and networks |
IT/OT Convergence
Where machine data goes once it leaves the control layer.
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| OPC UA & Modelling | Information models, companion specifications, servers and clients |
| Data Distribution | Publish-subscribe architecture with DDS, MQTT or AMQP |
| IIoT & Edge | Edge gateways, multi-vendor machine data to MES and cloud, CRA compliance |
| Monitoring & Inspection | Acquisition and transport for condition monitoring and in-line inspection |
Product & Lifecycle
The device and its platform, from bring-up to end-of-life.
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Embedded Systems | Silicon selection, board bring-up, BSP and firmware |
| System Software | Drivers, kernel paths and the real-time platform beneath |
| SCADA & Control Software | Supervisory, HMI and soft-PLC software that ships with the machine |
| Test Systems | End-of-line stations, fixtures and test sequencing software |
| Obsolescence Management | Keeping a product sellable after a component or platform ends |
Which page should I start on?
Start from the problem, not the service name.
- A cycle being missed, or jitter that will not hold: real-time Ethernet.
- A device that has to speak a new network: protocol migration, or integration for a gateway.
- A device to build and certify on CANopen, Modbus, IO-Link or PROFIBUS: fieldbus and device networks.
- Machine data that has to reach an MES, ERP or cloud: OPC UA, then IIoT and edge or data distribution.
- A machine that should report its health, or a line that inspects what it makes: condition monitoring.
- A protocol stack, reference design or BSP for your silicon or module: embedded systems, with the stack itself on real-time Ethernet or fieldbus.
- A board, firmware, a driver, or the software that ships on top: embedded systems, system software, control and test.
- A part going end-of-life, or a platform that no longer builds: obsolescence management.
Most engagements cross two or three of these pages, and you do not have to name the right one before getting in touch. Talk to an engineer with the problem as you have it and we will place it. The industry pages reach the same work from the machine end.
Not sure which service fits?
Browse our engineering notes, or describe your product and we will scope it with you.