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Electronics Product Design Darwin

Product design & engineering · Winnellie, Darwin

A complete electronic product from one workshop: the circuit board, the firmware, the software, the comms link and the case. Designed, made and tested in Winnellie.

Industrial controllers, remote monitoring, fleet and dispatch systems, websites and web apps, custom relay and I/O boards, home automation, and replacements for equipment nobody makes any more. One-offs and small production runs.

In-house

Design & fab workshop

Free first conversation and a written scope before any work

What we build

Every layer of the product, under one roof.

You talk to the people who design the board, write the code and cut the case. Nothing is subcontracted out of sight.

Electronics design and PCB fabrication

Schematic capture, board layout and boards made in-house, so a design change is a day, not a shipment. Sensor inputs, analogue and digital I/O, relay and motor control, power supplies for 12V, 24V, solar and mains-derived systems.

Firmware and embedded software

Deterministic real-time control, safe sequencing and fault recovery, watchdog and power-fail logic, over-the-air updates, and a web page on the device for setup and monitoring.

Software, dashboards and apps

Web dashboards, phone apps, APIs and the backend that ties devices, users and data together. Hosted by us or on your own servers.

Networking and communications

Ethernet and Wi-Fi, 4G/LTE, LoRa for kilometres of range on a battery, and custom radio links where nothing off the shelf reaches. Modbus RTU and TCP, MQTT, REST and SCADA-ready outputs so it fits what you already run.

Enclosures and mechanical

3D-designed cases, mounts and panels made here by 3D printing, CNC machining and laser cutting. DIN rail and panel mount, IP54 to IP67, sealed or vented, with corrosion protection for coastal and marine sites.

Testing and validation

Functional test, burn-in and thermal margin checks, then humidity, salt spray, vibration and submersion where the deployment calls for it. Field trials before we call it finished.

Custom industrial controllers

When a stock PLC has the wrong I/O count, the wrong form factor or no local support: relay panels, multi-channel I/O boards, motor and actuator drives, data loggers and PLC-style controllers built for the job. See industrial automation.

Replacement boards for obsolete equipment

A machine that runs the business but whose controller died and can’t be bought. We reverse-engineer it and design a replacement that fits the same hole, with documentation this time.

Small production runs

Once the prototype is proven: sourcing, assembly, programming and test for tens to hundreds of units, with a bill of materials planned around what can actually be landed in Darwin.

Websites and web apps

Designed, built, hosted and kept ranking, on your own domain. From a shop site to a portal with logins, payments and a backend.

Fleet and dispatch systems

Dispatch backends, driver apps, in-vehicle devices and the comms between them, for taxi, towing, courier and trades fleets. Built here, managed here.

Reverse engineering

Undocumented machines, dead controllers, protocols nobody wrote down. We work out how it works, document it, and keep it running.

Remote access without a fixed IP

Machines and sites on 4G or Starlink with no static address, reachable securely from anywhere: manage the controller, watch the sensors, and move files on and off the machine’s drive without opening it to the internet.

Machine retrofits

Old machines with dead or obsolete controls, from a pipe bender to a pump station. New relays, sensors, controller and web management fitted to what you already own.

Scope. Prototype. Build.

  1. Scope

    Free first conversation. We work out what it has to do, where it lives and what it talks to. Then a written scope and a fixed-price quote.

  2. Prototype

    Schematic, board, firmware and a first case. You get a working unit to try in the real environment, and we change what needs changing.

  3. Build and hand over

    Tested units, the design files, the source code and the documentation. Optional hosting, monitoring and support from $300 a month.

What it costs

Parts lead times to Darwin are built into every quote. Where a component is hard to land, we design around one that isn’t.

First consultation and written scope Free
Design, prototype and build Fixed scope, quoted in writing. Design files and source code are yours.Quoted per project
Small production runs Priced per unit once the prototype is signed off.Quoted per run
Hosting, monitoring and support Optional. Per month, scaled to how critical the system is.$300

A few jobs, to give you the idea.

The scope is wide on purpose. If it has electronics, software or a network in it, we’ve probably done something like it.

Alabanos Taxi fleet system

Dispatch backend, driver and customer portals, the in-car devices and the comms link to the meter. Built by us, managed by us, running every day.

Car wash coin dispenser

Reverse-engineered a banknote-to-coin dispenser the manufacturer no longer supports, and kept the car wash earning.

broaderworld.com vessel tracking

A boat-tracking app using AIS and GPS, with a live position you can share with family or the marina by scanning a QR code.

Eazy Towing NT

24/7 online towing bookings, a live dispatch board, automatic SMS to customers and drivers, and an Android driver app.

Offshore aquaculture controllers

Networked relay controllers in IP67 cases, Modbus over Ethernet with 4G fallback, switching feed equipment at sea.

Aesthetica By Andy

Booking, content management and a storefront that replaced a monthly Square subscription. The owner runs it without us.

PawAWhere

A QR pet-tag service with per-tag subscriptions, a vet lookup portal and the full Stripe billing lifecycle.

Steel-mill pipe bender revived

Dead controller, manufacturer gone. We built new relays, sensors and a controller with web management, plus secure remote access over 4G with no fixed IP. Files move on and off the machine from anywhere.

Digital signage fleet

Thin-client display players with remote scheduling and a private VPN hub, replacing a box that kept falling over.

More case studies

The longer write-ups on the live systems we build and run for Darwin businesses.

Common questions

Do I own the design?

Yes. The customer holds the IP on development work. Schematics, board files, firmware, source code and documentation are handed over in a repository the next engineer can pick up. See IP and exit.

Can you build just one?

Yes. Most of our work is a one-off or a run of tens. The process is the same; a single unit just skips the production step.

Can it talk to the systems I already have?

Usually. Modbus, MQTT, REST APIs, SCADA and historian systems, and plain old relay contacts are all normal. Tell us what it has to connect to and we design for it.

My machine’s controller is dead and the manufacturer is gone. Can you help?

Yes. We reverse-engineer the original, repair it where sensible, or design a replacement that fits the same enclosure and wiring. See electronics repairs.

How long does a project take?

A simple controller can be prototyped in a few weeks. Parts lead times to Darwin are usually the long pole, so we plan the bill of materials around what we can actually get.

What happens after handover?

You can run it yourself with the documentation, or keep us on for hosting, monitoring and support from $300 a month. No lock-in either way.

Darwin workshop, deployed across the Territory and beyond.

Design and fabrication happen in Winnellie. Commissioning and field trials happen wherever the system lives: Darwin industrial sites, rural properties, remote communities, vessels, and interstate by arrangement.

Start with the problem

Bring a sketch, a broken unit, or a description of what keeps going wrong. We’ll tell you what it would take and roughly what it would cost.

The first conversation is free, by phone or at the Winnellie workshop. Site visits are quoted separately.

Narrow it down

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