Electronics and Technology

Renfrew Group International has been developing and adapting new technologies in product design for many years. Much of our work includes electronics development and this is often embedded in the working mechanism or the user interface, but we also design and develop systems based on prevailing scientific theory and fundamental principles. These often involve adapting materials with special properties or the modification of a production process.

As a technology development company, we devise electronic systems that exploit new technologies and produce working prototypes either as simulations or complete hands-on products. Sometimes there’s no off-the-shelf solution to the problem being addressed by the proposed product, and so we design and develop new hardware to address the core need before designing the product around the technology.

We have the ability to develop embedded software using applications such as Lab-view which means we can support research projects requiring computer control and data acquisition, in addition to the design of completely integrated consumer products. In the last few projects we’ve designed products with custom sensors and actuators, micro heaters, vaporisers and special optronics. If the technology is wanting, we can provide the skill and competence to develop it from the ground up.

In recent times we’ve contributed to a deepening pool of new and valuable intellectual property for clients in every sector of commercialised technology.

Renfrew Group International is accredited to ISO:13485:2016 and ISO:9001:2015.

Optronics, imaging & illumination

The consultancy has significant experience in the areas of imaging, illumination and optical instrumentation, Game changing technologies have already been exploited through new devices manufactured by our clients.

Novel sensor development

Sensor development now represents a significant percentage of the electronics design development we offer across a broad range of sensor types including optical, acoustic, electromagnetic, thermal and flow.

The benefits of an integrated approach

Renfrew Group International brings a wealth of scientific and engineering experience, with electronics, software and electro-mechanical development to our client’s projects.

We have a highly experienced inhouse team of engineers covering electronics design, embedded software, Lab-view and mechanical engineering, and can support the whole product development process from end-to end.

Clients

We work with organisations across the world, from optronics clients in the USA, to commercial and research organisations in central Europe, to start-ups in Israel and educational establishments in the Gulf States. Recent projects have included the development of cutting edge technologies in logistics, AI driven medical devices, smart diagnostic systems, image capture devices and XR personal interactive displays.

The way we work

Electronics Engineering

RGI’s experienced electronics engineering team develops solutions for all scenarios, whilst covering design and board layout, testing protocols, prototyping and batch manufacture of populated PCB’s

We’re happy to work at any stage of the product development cycle, from early concept generation through to design for manufacture and cost engineering.

Successful product development is all about leveraging ideas that take advantage of new technology, new materials or new manufacturing processes…..sometimes all three together.

We excel at turning concepts into proof of principle prototypes and prototypes into working systems, and we iterate quickly to ensure the new product gets to market as swiftly as possible.

And finally we offer full support from the initial ideas and concepts all the way through to design for manufacture including assembly nests, test jigs and fixtures for boxing and packaging.

Acoustics & Ultrasound

Acoustics and ultrasonics have also featured heavily in recent project assignments and have provided our clients with valuable intellectual property. These have included quiet products, sophisticated acoustic sensor systems and novel short-range communication systems.

Fluidics & Microfluidics

The exploitation of fluid dynamics in large mass flow systems, or microscale fluidics circuits are equally familiar to the development teams at RGI. With our practical knowledge of fluid handling technologies such as pumps, valves, ejectors, pipetting, circuits and manifolds, we use CFD to design our systems, but we also build practical prototypes to verify the results.

The Detail

We have significant experience in developing products for consumer electronics applications, and our input is often sought throughout the development cycle from initial prototyping to initialising volume manufacture in the Far East.

RGI has experience with, PLC’s, SCADA, and Gerber Generation, Design for Manufacture, Flex PCB design (including Flex-hybrid), Exotic PCB’s, Ceramic, Metallic, Printed. Design software packages include Altium Designer, Autocad Electrical and Easy-PC.

Microcontroller based designs, control systems, high voltage, fast digital, analogue, RF, audio, optical and optronic design, design for EMC, CE and UKCE marking are all components of a comprehensive design and development offering.

Software Engineering

We work in embedded C and Lab-View, which allows us to develop the firmware to run our electronics and develop human interfaces for PC connectivity and test rigs for example.

Cutting Edge Science & Technology

RGI specialises in solving complex problems by combining the fundamentals of science with the practical application of engineering principles to create ground breaking products. We employ specialists in physical and optical sciences, electronics engineers, software developers, systems engineers and materials scientists.

Our project teams are inter-disciplinary and can be assembled as needed to deliver an entire programme, or as adhoc specialist input at the appropriate point during an assignment.

Many of the projects we undertake involve fundamental research and development, reviewing new technologies or exploring new ways of exploiting the basic principles of operation of a mechanism or system. The advantages of taking an oblique approach to R&D is the very real possibility of robust intellectual property being generated, and this is borne out in the numbers of patents our clients now hold as a result. Technology remains theoretical until science is exploited and applied in a way that solves a given problem.

Thermal engineering

Temperature control in macro and micro systems. RGI has experience in temperature regulation in electronics systems and more recently in perishable goods logistics infrastructure. We use the latest software to model the effects but physical prototypes to verify those findings.

Materials science

The RGI team is experienced in the material properties and criteria for selection across a wide range of applications. Our industry perspective can add significant value to the materials selection process, both in terms of the commercial case and the broader functional requirements standpoint.

Wireless connectivity

Wireless connectivity is now almost derigeur across personal, domestic and commercial products with diagnostics and data sharing access. RGI has wide experience and expertise in wireless technologies like Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy and MICS and we can advise on spectrum ranges and other criteria for selection and implementation

Autonomous vehicles

RGI has recently embarked on the design and development of Autonomous Vehicles including the engineering, electronics and software design. Included technologies: SLAM (Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping), LiDAR, omnidirectional vision and motion, IOT/Cloud connected and collision avoidance.