Design Services

Analogue circuit design

  • AC amplitude and frequency detection/measurement.
  • DC control of motors, solenoids, LEDs, and power switching.
  • Low power design for battery operation, including voltage and current monitoring.
  • Instrumentation/operational amplifiers and active/passive filters.

Digital circuit design

  • Combinational and sequential logic, using discrete CMOS/TTL devices, for safety critical alarm monitoring and control.
  • Rotary position and angular rate sensing using incremental encoders.
  • Hysteretic control of solenoids and high power LEDs.

Embedded Micro-Controller design

Intercole specialise in the use of 8/16/32-bit Microchip PIC devices as an integral part of a circuit design.  These low cost and yet powerful microprocessors offer a tremendous degree of flexibility by allowing the design to evolve without having to commit to expensive PCB modifications.
Intercole develop PIC firmware in a reduced command-set version of the standard language 'C', which is then converted into machine code using an efficient professional grade 'C' compiler.  The language 'C' is used to minimise design time and is written at a low level to avoid the potential pitfalls associated with some compiled high level commands on microprocessor performance.
Firmware is initially programmed into a PIC device during factory test and can be conveniently updated in the field using a low cost programmer.
Intercole can offer extensive experience and provide PIC solutions in the following areas:
  • Accurate timing signal generation and logic functions.
  • Accurate timing signal analysis and frequency/pulse-width measurement.
  • Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control of motors, solenoids, and high power LEDs.
  • Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) servo motor control.
  • Low power design for battery operation, including sleep modes and wakeup mechanisms.
  • Serial data communication interfaces and protocols, as follows;
    • RS232 for short distances.
    • RS422 (4-wire) for long distances.
    • RS485 (2-wire) bus architecture for connection of multiple devices at high data rates and/or over long distances.
    • USB (Universal Serial Bus) for connecting to modern computers.
    • SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) for connecting to all manner of electronic devices.
  • ASCII-decimal Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) for simple menu-based controllers.
  • Review of existing micro-controller designs and 8/16/32-bit PIC firmware development.
  • Digital Signal Processing (DSP) techniques; ADC, DAC, filtering, and signal measurement.

Power supply hardware design

  • Resettable fuses and over/reverse voltage protection.
  • DC-to-DC switch mode voltage converters, for efficient use of power and for isolation.
  • Linear voltage regulators, for low noise applications.
  • Zener voltage references, for high accuracy.

Electronic products

Intercole can design PCBs to fit into your existing product or into any size, shape, or style, of enclosure to suit your specific requirement.  An Intercole speciality is the design of automated or semi-automated test fixtures, for the testing of PCBs and electronic systems, which incorporate all of the above key disciplines.

Technical drawing

Intercole can provide technical draughting expertise in support of its design of electronic products or to document your existing products.  We use AutoCAD to prepare professional drawings for manufacture, such as for the machining of enclosures and artwork for labels.

Electronic consultancy services

Intercole can provide an Electronic Design Engineer (on a sub-contract basis) to assist in the following areas:
  • Fault diagnosis.
  • Research and design.
  • Technical analysis of electronic systems.
  • Testing of electronic systems.
  • Installation and commissioning of electronic systems.
  • Provision of technical training for you or your customer.
Intercole has considerable experience in this area, having been involved in the installation and commissioning of power station monitoring systems and communication systems, such as Digital Terrestrial Television transmitters (Freeview) and microwave link networks, including the provision of training for maintenance teams.

Recent projects

  • Reverse engineering of obsolete PCBs and the design of semi-automated test fixtures for a computerized monitoring system at two Nuclear Power Station, as a sub-contractor of Thales UK and on behalf of EDF Energy.
  • Replacement of an obsolete data logging system at a Nuclear Power Station, including hardware and software engineering, on behalf of EDF Energy.
  • Design of an electronic module to safely pre-charge, power, and discharge the large input capacitance of an isolated 400Vdc/100A automotive motor controller, including hardware control inputs and alarm outputs, incorporation of an Insulation Monitoring Device, and remote monitoring of both the Pre-Charge Module and the insulation resistance of the high power conductors, on behalf of Jaguar Land Rover.

A unit that harnesses the body’s natural ability to respond to a gentle faradic current - when the current is applied to the chosen muscles of the face they become toned, tighter and firmer thus reducing facial sagging, re-emphasising lips and achieving lift.

The product was designed  and  manufactured by Intercole. 
A controller module for use in disability lifts in commercial premises.
 
The product was designed and engineered by Intercole.