Experience
Examples of Electronics Packaging include nearly every electronic item you can think of: vehicle radio, rack-mount computer, wireless router, etc. What they all have in common is that the core functionality is an electronic circuit. Packaging that functionality into a robust, attractive, and cost-effective device is a system-engineering challenge that represents the bulk of our extensive Product Portfolio.
Some interesting sub-categories discussed on this page include:
Wearable devices are quite small. Think smartwatch. They are characterized by their very dense, compact architecture. They typically incorporate excellent power management because the batteries are so small. Wearables are robust enough to be worn, often continuously. They are typically not quite as tough as Handheld Electronics.
Some good examples from our portfolio include:
Handheld devices are small, but not nearly as small as most wearables. Think walkie-talkie. The balance of priorities are generally pretty common for handhelds:
Handheld devices usually incorporate a user interface that is big enough to permit data-entry or to display information. Designing that interface is its own challenge… try typing with gloves.
Handheld electronics can incorporate batteries that are big enough to permit impressive feats, like broadcasting a radio signal to an orbiting satellite.
They are often used (or left in) environments that would destroy a wearable device. A fireman’s radio, for instance, must be both waterproof and fireproof.
Some good examples from our portfolio include:
Electronics devices can generate a lot of heat.
Porticos has two complementary capabilities in this field:
- Thermal Design Experience. The “toolbox” available to address an electronics cooling problem is deep. We know all about heat pipes, thermal interface materials, heat-sinks, spreaders, fans, coolants, etc. We know what the options are, and have a good feel for which option is appropriate to which problem.
- Analysis. We can predict how a system will behave by employing sophisticated computer simulations. The experience to do this efficiently can save a lot of time and money.
The word adherence is used to describe how consistently a patient is taking their medication. Poor adherence results in poor patient outcomes. Devices to address the problem employ two strategies:
- Sensing: The goal is to record that a medicine has been dispensed, and when. That information is logged and, perhaps, made available to a care provider.
- Notification: Remind the patient to take their medication at the right time.
A Pill Dispenser accomplishes both. It dispenses some pills and records the time that it did so. It also provides audible or visual reminders to the patient to actually ingest those pills. It might even record some user-activity implying that the pills were taken: opening a door or pressing a button.
Porticos has also worked on many devices in this field. A few examples of our work in Medication Dispensing are:
Modern health care is based on the presumption that we can measure physiological parameters. A nurse may take your temperature or measure your blood pressure. A cardiologist might order an Electrocardiogram. Some measurements are instantaneous (blood pressure.) Others are taken over time, to give the care-provider an idea of how your physiology varies over an hour or a week.
Porticos has much experience designing medical monitoring instrumentation.
Continuous monitoring of temperature, vibration, electrical current, and other parameters allows a Machine Learning algorithm to predict mechanical failure days or months ahead of the event.
This technology is commonly applied to motors, pumps, compressors, power turbines, jet engines, grinders, etc.
Some examples of our work in this field are:
Technically, electro-optics deals with the interaction between light and specialized materials. Colloquially, it includes the implementation and integration of electro-optical devices into new products.
Porticos has successfully implemented custom cameras on many products, each of them the result of combining some image-sensing technology (e.g. CMOS or CCD) with lenses, illumination, optical filtering, and digital processing to achieve a unique goal.
Some examples of our work in this field are:
Dimensional tolerances specify the limits of acceptance. The more we can accept, the less expensive it is to produce a product or device.
Porticos has developed a proprietary tool that allows us to perform detailed statistical tolerance analyses, and to keep up with the implication of making changes to specified tolerance. We work with fabricators to determine the Process Capability for each dimension, and employ that knowledge to optimize the tolerance chain.
Electric Vehicle chargers represent a specific balance of priorities. From the aesthetic point of view, the device is attractive, compact, and intuitively easy to use. But it also represents high voltage, high power, and immense resilience to abuse. We’ve provided product engineering to several EV Charger companies, including:
Siemens e-mobility
Atom Power
- Heliox Energy
Porticos is honored to have been retained by many surgical robotics firms, including:
Precise motion control combined with state-of-the-art thermal design are critical to success. An intimate knowledge of the many regulatory hurdles can minimize the “blind alleys” one must navigate to find the best technical solution.
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