13 kV RMU Fault Detection
Partial-discharge sensing on live grid assets, with evidence-rich alerts for the utility team.
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Capability
Embedded Systems Development in Australia
We design and ship embedded systems - the boards, the firmware and the integration between them - from first schematic to the production line. One Melbourne team owns the whole result, so when hardware and software have to work as one system, there’s no seam between vendors for the project to fail at.
Scope
What embedded systems development covers - and what it doesn't.
An embedded system is a computer built into a product to do one job under real constraints: a latency budget, a power budget, a thermal envelope, a certification date. Embedded systems development is the discipline of designing the electronics, writing the firmware, and proving the two work together in the environment the product actually lives in - not just on a bench.
In scope
- System architecture from the binding constraint backwards
- Schematic capture and multi-layer PCB design
- Firmware: RTOS, bare metal and embedded Linux
- Sensor integration, calibration, industrial I/O and CAN
- Ruggedised carrier boards and system-on-module designs
- Board bring-up, hardware-in-the-loop testing, field validation
- DFM, pilot production and manufacturing handover
Honestly out of scope
- Pure software projects with no device behind them
- Board fabrication itself - we design for fabs, we are not one
- Custom ASIC design (we design around proven silicon)
- Staff-augmentation body shopping without design ownership
Outcomes
What you get out of it.
The point of hiring an embedded team is not a board that boots. It’s a product that survives unit 100, a pilot deployment, and the auditor. Across our 15 production programs, the outcomes that recur:
A system sized to its real constraint
Our weld-inspection cell had a 45 ms index window; the system we shipped grades every weld in 38 ms, on the line, without a network. The architecture was chosen to hit that number - not retrofitted to it.
Fleets that stay online
Devices we designed run on farms, factory floors and 13 kV substations across Australia, with OTA update paths and telemetry designed for the links they actually have - not the links a spec sheet says they should.
A production path, not a demo
Designs leave here with DFM review done, test fixtures specified and a pilot run behind them - because the hard problems surface at unit 100, not unit one.
Documentation the next team can inherit
Schematics, firmware, test procedures and a handover pack written for a team that does not exist yet. Your IP transfers to you on payment - it’s in the contract, not the sales pitch.
Process
How a embedded systems program runs here.
Four phases with a real deliverable at each gate - you always know what you paid for and what ships next.
PHASE 01
Discover (paid week)
We start from the constraint that binds - power, latency, thermal, certification - and design backwards from it. You leave with a written architecture, a budget range and the risks named, whether or not we build it.
PHASE 02
Design
Schematics, mechanical and firmware architecture proceed in parallel. High-risk blocks get simulated or breadboarded before the full layout commits.
PHASE 03
Build
Iterative revisions against real bench and field testing. You see every revision, not just the last one. Integration is continuous, not a phase.
PHASE 04
Deploy
Pilot in the field, closure with the contract manufacturer, production test procedures, and a commissioning-grade handover pack.
Technologies
What we build on - chosen per constraint, not per preference.
The platforms we reach for most. If a project needs something not on this list, we say so - the tool is chosen for the constraint, never to fit our habits.
STM32 (Cortex-M0..H7)ESP32 (Wi-Fi/BLE)Embedded Linux (Yocto/Buildroot)NVIDIA JetsonFreeRTOS & ZephyrLoRaWANNB-IoTCellular (4G/LTE-M)CAN + industrial fieldbusesAltiumKiCadSolidWorks
Industries
Where embedded systems we ship runs today.
AgriTech
Autonomous hydroponics holding 6,500 plants under continuous control.
Energy
Partial-discharge sensing inside 13 kV ring main units, catching faults before outages.
Smart manufacturing
Line controllers and inspection cells inside live production windows.
Automotive & fleet
CAN-integrated telematics feeding a multi-tenant platform.
Deliverables & IP
What ships to you at handover.
Every embedded program hands over source schematics and layout files (Altium or KiCad native), fabrication and assembly packages, firmware source with build system and CI configuration, bring-up and production test procedures, calibration records, compliance evidence gathered to date, and a written handover document. All foreground IP transfers to you on payment - it’s in the contract, not the sales pitch. Pre-existing tooling and libraries we bring in are licensed to you perpetually so nothing under your roof depends on us being reachable.
Case studies
Programs we shipped in this space.
Every entry links to the full case study - constraints, what we built, and what it measured afterwards.
Inline Weld Seam Inspection
Every weld graded in 38 ms inside a 45 ms line window; coverage from 2.5% sampling to 100%.
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Autonomous Zero-Turn Mower
Ground-up autonomy platform: 360° perception, RTK-grade positioning, safety interlocks.
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Compliance
Certification designed in, not bolted on.
Australian products carry the RCM; radio products add ACMA class-licence or approval obligations; export products layer CE and FCC on top. We design for EMC from the first layout - stackups, return paths, filtering - and run pre-compliance checks before formal test, because a failed chamber day costs more than the design discipline that avoids it.
For safety-adjacent systems we design with the relevant functional-safety expectations in view (IEC 61508 / ISO 26262 principles as the target dictates) and say clearly where formal certification consultants need to join. Battery-powered products with lithium chemistries get thermal, cell-balancing and transport (UN 38.3) considerations designed in from the first cell pick. When a design is heading somewhere it should not - a proposed enclosure that will fail HALT, a wireless section that will not pass emissions in the intended market - we say so in the design review, not the chamber report.
FAQ
Embedded Systems Development in Australia - straight answers.
A bounded proof of concept typically runs AUD $8,000-$20,000; a prototype-to-pilot program AUD $20,000-$60,000; production engineering with compliance from AUD $30,000. Every program starts with a paid discovery week (from around AUD $1,500) that produces a written architecture and budget range you own either way.
A working prototype usually lands 8-16 weeks after discovery. Certification, custom tooling or long-lead silicon extend that; we pull those items forward in week one so they are not what delays you.
Both, in the same team. Most embedded projects fail at the seam between the board and the code; we hold both sides so there is no seam to fail at.
You do. All foreground IP - schematics, layouts, firmware, test procedures - transfers to you on payment. We retain only pre-existing tooling and libraries we bring in, licensed to you perpetually.
Yes, and it is common. We start with a paid design review of the schematics, firmware and test evidence, tell you plainly what is salvageable, and quote the path forward - including when the honest answer is a respin.
We take designs through DFM, pilot runs and production handover, working with contract manufacturers in Australia and overseas. We do not own a factory - we make sure the design survives one.
Why Incendio
One team, no seam between vendors.
Because the alternative is three vendors and a seam where the project fails. One team here owns electronics, firmware and the cloud above them; one person answers the phone; and the proof is public - open our live demos and judge the build, not the pitch. If the fit is wrong we say so in the first call.
Related practices: PCB design, firmware development, IoT development, hardware product development.
Start
Tell us the constraint that worries you most.
A latency budget, a power budget, a certification date. We reply within one business day - and we’ll say so if we’re not the right team.