Element Products is proud to have helped a diverse group of companies bring their products to market. A few examples are shown below.
Element Products is proud to have helped a diverse group of companies bring their products to market. A few examples are shown below.
Element developed the innovative Model X advertising beacon for Roximity (Denver, CO). The new beacon design extended the previous model's battery life from 6 months to over 5 years by utilizing an extremely efficient switching power supply and advanced battery technologies. Element continued to support Roximity through product launch by building an initial batch of 250 beacons, enabling Roximity to demonstrate and test the new beacons while mass production ramped up. Initial reception of the new Model X hardware has been extremely positive. CultureMap is planning to deploy over 200,000 beacons at restaurant and retail locations across the US.
The ShotTracker wearable device automatically tracks basketball player shot attempts, makes, and misses. Working closely with the ShotTracker team, Element rapidly developed hardware prototypes for the BTLE-connected wrist sensor, net mounted shot tracker and charging electronics. The development effort by Element accelerated the product's launch, enabling the team to meet key demonstration deadlines and raise additional funding. Teamed with professional players such as Klay Thompson and Mario Chalmers, ShotTracker provides customized training programs and personalized feedback for players.
Parallax, Inc. (Rocklin, CA), a technology and education company, was interested in adding a lower-cost robot to their existing line of programmable robots. Element's extensive robotics experience and mass production expertise made it a natural partner for Parallax. Element worked with Parallax to create a complete product concept and specification for the new Scribbler Robot. Element then completed the entire mechanical, electrical and software design for the Scribbler from scratch. Utilizing its network of Asian manufacturers, Element was able to produce the Scribbler in the volumes required and at an attractive price point. Another success story for both Parallax and Element!
The Scribbler is a fully programmable robot that works right out of the box. It is the perfect tool for learning about robotics and programming, at home or in the classroom. It has an array of sensors, including light sensors, obstacle avoidance sensors, stall sensors and line-following sensors.
The Scribbler was such as success that second and third versions were designed and manufactured. The new versions offer a variety of improvements, including a Propeller processor, additional sensors, wheel encoders and a rechargable battery. These changes dramatically increased the capabilities and value offered by the product. The Scribbler comes complete with a graphical programming environment as well as the text-based programming, so users of any skill level can program it with ease.
One unique aspect of the Scribbler product is that Parallax decided to offer the entire electrical design to the open source community. Element always maintains the highest confidentiality of all our customers' intellectual property; however, we are fortunate to be able to offer the Scribbler's Electrical Design as an example of our work.
Apogee Imaging Systems (Roseville, CA) manufactures highly sensitive CCD cameras for professional astronomers. Apogee contracted Element to develop the control electronics and firmware for a new product line. The Filter Carriage precisely and repeatedly positions any one of seventeen possible filters in the camera's optical path, enabling an astronomer to perform a spectral analysis of the telescope's image. Element worked closely with the Apogee engineers to design both the electronics and firmware to meet the tight mechanical constraints. Element's experienced engineers developed the control firmware in a modular way so that the same firmware image could be used by all eight different filter carriage models, thereby reducing development time and manufacturing complexity.
The Department of Defense's advanced research agency DARPA (Arlington, VA) contacted Element Products to solve an urgent problem for them. DARPA needed custom interface electronics designed and manufactured for their LANdroid project on an extremely tight schedule. The project's goal was to create a sophisticated autonomous robotic WIFI network for soldiers going into battle. The work of over a dozen independent research teams would soon come to a standstill if the electronics could not be rapidly acquired. Element designed, manufactured and delivered the hardware in a matter of weeks, rather than months typically required, enabling the research teams to stay on schedule. Element was proud to be a part of a program developing technology to protect our soldiers. The project was a success with the iRobot Corporation starting production of the LANdroid product in 2012.
iRobot Corp (Bedford, MA), a leading provider of robots, has sold over 6 million Roomba Vacuuming Robots since 2002. iRobot's engineers were looking to quickly develop their growing line of consumer robots. They contacted Element Products to design a new diagnostic tool to help them develop and test their prototypes. After working with iRobot to define the specifications, Element Products designed and built USB devices that can record data from the Roomba onto removable USB flash drives in real time. The device has made the robot testing process more flexible, portable and convenient for the iRobot engineers.
While designing their new Board of Education for the Propeller processor, Parallax contacted Element to help design an electrical subsystem for the product. In order to meet the challenging power specifications, Element designed a high performance SEPIC switching power supply. Element even went so far as build a small test PCB to demonstrate the design's performance, enabling Parallax to quickly integrate the circuit into their design. This project is a great example of how Element's design expertise can be utilized to accelerate your product's development.
DLH, Inc's (Ocean, NJ) Dave Hammond needed to add voice capabilities to his patented line of innovative first aid kits -- these kits are not just medical supplies; they also show users how to apply first aid correctly in an emergency situation with a clear list of written instructions and pictures. Element Products helped him do that. Now, when you buy one of Dave's new kits, the instructions are read out loud to you by the kit itself, so your hands, eyes and attention are free to work on what is most important: the patient in front of you.
Dave came to Element Products with his idea, and Element Products quickly designed a first prototype to prove out the concept. The prototype was a hit and allowed Dave's company to bring in additional capital to fund its expansion. Element Products then worked with Dave to develop a manufacturable design that was loud, clear and easy to operate and that met his cost requirements.
The serial LCD is an easy-to-use LCD module that is controlled through a serial link. Element Products worked with Parallax to define the specifications for the product, choosing the best features, electrical interface and command set. We then met these specifications in a quick development effort, delivering complete design files, firmware, documentation and two working prototypes. Element has continued to support the product since 2005 including a complete redesign after the main processor was obsoleted.
Element Products has developed two educational robot kits for The McGraw-Hill Companies. The kits are sold in bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com worldwide. The “Build Your Own Robot Kit” is the first kit we designed and manufactured for the 2001 Christmas sales season. The “SumoBot Robot Kit” was introduced for Christmas 2002 as a follow-up for the successful first kit. Both products were a success and have won technical innovation awards within McGraw-Hill. Each kit consists of a sheet metal chassis, injection-molded wheels and gears and control electronics. The kits are assembled and programmed by the user. Over 35,000 kits have been sold to date.