Below-the-Line Product Ideas in Manufacturing
“Below-the-line” projects refer to strategic new product opportunities that fall just below the threshold where internal engineering capacity ends. These are not low-value projects—in fact, they often offer significant long-term ROI, represent new markets, or satisfy unmet customer needs. However, because they originate outside the core engineering roadmap and exceed in-house bandwidth, they are deferred or dropped. […]
Rapid Prototyping of a BLE Sports Wearable Using an Off-the-Shelf Smart Button
This article outlines a rapid prototyping project for a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) sports wearable using a commercially available smart button. Firmware was developed swiftly to repurpose an existing healthcare-focused device, enabling a sports technology client to validate their product concept efficiently and cost-effectively. Introduction Sports technology often requires discreet and efficient wearable devices to […]
Choosing the Right Firmware Architecture: Main Loop vs RTOS vs State Machine Kernel
The architecture you choose for your embedded firmware has long-lasting consequences. It impacts how quickly you can add features, how easily your team can debug and maintain the system, and how confidently you can scale. While main loops and real-time operating systems (RTOS) are common, a third option — the state machine kernel — often […]
Innovating Commercial Food Preparation: Award-Winning Grill Technology by Wolff Electronic Design
Client Overview Garland Commercial Ranges, a leading global manufacturer of commercial kitchen equipment, sought to create a revolutionary double-sided grill that could meet the precise cooking needs of major clients like Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s. The project demanded an adaptable, reliable, and cost-effective platform to handle diverse requirements across multiple product lines. Project Objectives Key Challenges […]
Solving the Challenge of Safe, Reliable Food Preparation with Wolff Electronic Design’s Electro-Mechanical Control System
Overview A client come to us with the challenge of designing a system that could reliably and safely prepare food using robotics for commercial restaurant. They needed a solution that would reduce the complexity of cooking and ensure hot food was always prepared safely, regardless of the skill level of the labor force in the […]
Outsourced Development of Electronic Control Design
OverviewA company with deep expertise in software, electronics, and mechanical engineering wished to outsource development of a new product line that was outside the scope of their core technology offering. Project DetailsApplication is counter-top chemical-safety- interlocked FDM (3d-printing) support-material chemical removal ‘dishwasher’ to be used with alkaline ‘soap pods’. The electronic controls were designed by […]
Fixing Audio Design in a Complex Device
Software DevelopmentIOS14, audio unit, core audio, swift 5, C++ Project DetailsThe client encountered problems implementing real-time audio signal processing in their iOS application. The client contracted Wolff Electronic Design to develop the real-time audio signal processing code and to provide them with a working demo that could be incorporated into their application. The signal processing […]
Developing a Proprietary Secure Wireless IoT System for Specific Use Case
Software DevelopmentIEEE 802.15.4, Lonworks, RS-485, Panel design, Printed membrane keypad, STM8 (low cost, low power), Submeter power measurement, PIR sensor. ClientA New York based venture-capital-backed energy management systems (EMS) startup. The company centered on bringing wall-street market prediction techniques to the energy sector by predicting and preventing peak-energy power consumption for commercial real-estate heating and […]
