Craig and his team have proved to be an exceptional resource for us. The ability to see the big picture and engage at a high level is highly valued. EES excels at modern microprocessor and wireless communication platforms and has provided valuable advice on best practices and security standards. EES’s ability to develop quickly and iterate has been crucial to our project’s success.
Embedded Systems Design
Whether you need a fully engineered embedded system design or enhancements to an existing design, our team delivers scalable, high-performance solutions tailored to your needs. Let’s bring your embedded vision to life with precision and reliability.
Embedded Systems Design
Sometimes you’ve got a blank slate. Other times, you’re halfway in and just need the tricky parts nailed down. Either way, we’re here to make sure your embedded system isn’t just functional—it’s smart, scalable, and built with the future in mind.
We have found that the best designs come from asking the right questions up front. Who’s using it? How’s it talking to the outside world? How long does the battery really need to last? We dig into all that before a single line of code gets written.
Embedded Systems Design Services
At EES, embedded systems design isn’t just something we offer, it’s what we’ve been living and breathing for years. Whether you’re starting with a napkin sketch or wrestling with an existing system that’s giving you headaches, we’re here to help you build something solid. Hardware, firmware, system-level thinking, it all has to come together, and that’s where we shine.
We’re not here to overcomplicate things. We’re here to make sure your device does what it’s supposed to do, without wasting time or money on unnecessary complexity.
The Kinds of Projects We Take On
If you look strictly at our client count, the majority are solo inventors and startups. However, project volume tells a different story, because established companies usually bring us larger projects with more scope, which evens things out. The needs of each stage are different, but we have the experience to help you regardless of what those needs are.
- Solo inventors and proof-of-concept: you’ve got an idea in a field you know well and need to find out if it’s actually buildable. We help isolate the core function and prove it works before anyone spends money on manufacturing.
- Startups turning a proof of concept into a real product: the one-trick pony that proved the concept now needs a user interface, a power strategy, connectivity decisions, and everything else that makes it an actual product. We scope the full gap and work through it with whatever internal team you have, including none.
- Established companies: often a legacy product that needs updating because parts went obsolete, a side project tangential to the core business, or straightforward staff augmentation when your team is capable but needs more hands for a defined stretch of work.
Our team has also worked with past clients through the entire arc of a project, from the idea to the product design to the manufacturing and even to next generation redesigns. We do not have a fixed engagement model and are able to adapt to what you actually need from us.
So What Is Embedded Systems Design?
It’s where hardware meets firmware, and the magic (or mess) happens. In simple terms, you’re building a product that does something smart, often in a small package, often under tight constraints. Here’s the breakdown:
- Hardware – That’s your buttons, sensors, displays, radios, and anything you can touch or plug in.
- Firmware – That’s the invisible stuff. The logic. The brains. The thing that decides what happens when someone pushes that button.
Good embedded design isn’t just about stacking components and writing code. It’s about making smart choices between hardware and firmware. Some features could live in either. So we step back, look at power usage, cost, complexity, and decide where it really belongs.
In our experience, getting those trade-offs right early saves you a ton of pain down the road. That’s why we like to be in those early conversations to ask questions most folks wouldn’t think to ask until it’s too late.
Industries We've Worked In
EES has worked with clients in medical, defense, industrial, and consumer products, among others. We don’t specialize narrowly in one vertical category, and we don’t exclude any either. If your product doesn’t fit neatly into a category, that’s perfectly normal, and it’s not a problem for our team.
A Holistic Approach to Design
Designing embedded systems isn’t just about making the electronics work. It’s about building a product someone can actually use; something that fits in their hand, makes sense to operate, and holds up in the real world.
We take a step back and look at the whole thing to understand how it functions, how it feels, how it’s going to live in the field. Because in our experience, if you don’t think about the big picture early on, you will end up patching things later… and that gets expensive fast.
Here’s what we look at:
- Technical Design – Picking the right parts, sketching out how everything talks to each other, and making sure the system architecture supports what you’re trying to do—not just on day one, but version two and beyond.
- User Interaction & Ergonomics – Can someone use it without a manual? Does it feel natural in their hands? We want it to work and make sense.
- Mechanical Design – The physical form matters. It’s gotta fit, protect the guts, and survive real-world abuse—whether that’s a factory floor, a toolbox, or a hospital cart.
Whether you’re building a rugged industrial sensor, a slick handheld tool, or some next-gen IoT widget, we’ll help shape the whole product so it not only performs, but actually makes sense out in the real world.
Supporting Clients Every Step of the Way
Not every client comes in with an engineering background, and that’s totally fine. In fact, that’s where we do some of our best work. A lot of folks have a great idea but aren’t sure what’s actually possible or how to get there. That’s where we come in.
Here’s how we help:
- Clarifying Functional Needs – We take your idea and start shaping it into real engineering requirements. What should it do? Who’s using it? What are the must-haves?
- Exploring Options – We walk you through what’s out there. Different technologies, component choices, what’s reliable, what’s cost-effective.
- Working Iteratively – We break things down. Sketch out block diagrams, define subsystems, then refine as we go. No black boxes, no hand-waving.
Whether you’re working on a Wi-Fi-enabled gadget, a piece of test equipment, or an industrial sensor, we tailor the approach to fit your product and your goals. The goal isn’t just to build something that works. It’s to build the right thing, the right way.
Full Lifecycle or One Piece, Your Call
We have no fixed engagement model for our clients. The design requirements change for each project, and we will work with clients who want us to do a design review of their internal team’s work, or clients who want us to take a product from idea to production. Most clients fall somewhere in between those two extremes, and it is fairly common that the first project we do for a client is just one small piece, until trust is established and we begin working more closely. And if we aren’t the right fit for your specific needs, we will say so and point you to someone who is.
Why Work with EES on Embedded Systems Design?
- We Know the Whole Stack
Hardware, firmware, user experience, it all has to come together for the product to work in the real world. We’ve done it all, and we know how to make all the pieces work together. - We Collaborate, Not Dictate
We don’t just take specs and disappear. We work with you, ask questions you might not have thought about yet, and shape the design together. Your goals drive the process. - We’re Flexible and Practical
Starting from scratch? Already knee-deep in a half-built prototype? Either way, we meet you where you are. We adapt to your needs without overengineering or overpromising.
Our Embedded Systems Design Services
We have a passion for quality technology-driven products
FAQs
What is embedded systems design, and what decisions should be made before coding?
Embedded systems design is the architecture work that defines what you are building and how the major pieces fit together. Before you write meaningful firmware, you typically want a clear definition of system boundaries, timing and performance constraints, interfaces, power budget targets, and the test strategy that will prove the design. If you are starting from a concept, the preparation checklist on Getting Started helps you capture the right inputs early.
How do I decide what belongs in hardware vs firmware?
Put requirements in hardware when you need deterministic timing, low power, or guaranteed behavior that should not depend on code complexity. Put requirements in firmware when you need flexibility, field upgradability, or multiple product variants without redesigning hardware. The right split is a tradeoff between cost, schedule, risk, and how easy the design will be to debug and maintain. The downstream implementation typically lands in Hardware Design and Firmware Development.
How do I choose interfaces and connectivity for an embedded product?
Start with real constraints: range, data rate, power, environment, security expectations, and production cost. Many projects fail because connectivity is selected for convenience rather than reliability in the actual use case. A good architecture decision also includes how you will test and validate the link in the field, not just on the bench. Related services include Firmware Development and Software Development.
How do I set a realistic battery life target and power budget?
Battery life is an engineering target that has to be translated into a power budget per mode and per subsystem. The fastest way to get realistic is to define operating modes, measure current draw early, and treat radio and sensor duty cycle as first-class design inputs. If battery life is a primary risk, plan for early prototypes and measurement. See Prototyping and, for tuning later, Firmware Optimization.
What are common embedded architecture mistakes that make v2 painful?
Common mistakes include unclear requirements, ignoring power and test strategy until late, selecting parts or radios without validating supply and compliance impacts, and building a firmware structure that cannot scale. Another frequent issue is making interface decisions that work in a prototype but fail under real noise, temperature, or manufacturing variation. A disciplined process that de-risks early decisions is outlined on Our Process.
How do I define requirements for an embedded system when the idea is still evolving?
You do not need perfect requirements to start, but you do need a small set of testable statements that define success and constraints. A practical approach is to define the top risks, write measurable acceptance criteria for them, then build a prototype plan that answers those questions first. This keeps early work from turning into rework later. The entry path and scoping approach is covered on Getting Started and Services.
Do you work with companies that already have an internal engineering team?
Yes, regularly. We can slot in alongside your team for the piece you need help with, or we can take on the whole project if you don't have in-house engineering at all.
We just have an idea and no engineering background. Can you still help?
Yes. That's actually where we do some of our best work: shaping a rough idea into real engineering requirements, then working through the design with you.
What industries have you designed for?
Medical, defense, industrial, and consumer products, among others. If your product doesn't fit neatly into one category, that's normal too.
Do you take over projects that already have hardware or firmware built?
Yes. We regularly step into an existing design, whether that's a legacy product needing an update, a prototype ready to become a real product, or a project a previous team left unfinished.
Have an idea and want to know if it's actually buildable, or ready to plan a full system?
Talk to a senior engineer. Start with a free Engineering Reality Check if you’re still validating the concept, or a Scope It Right architecture session ($199, creditable toward future work) if you’re ready to blueprint the build.
HT Snowday | Head of R&D | midmark