Legacy Equipment Modernization
Extend your equipment’s lifespan and capabilities— without expensive rebuilds or replacements.
We replace or supplement outdated or unavailable electronics with modern solutions that maintain or enhance legacy equipment.
Ideal for operations that depend on unique, older equipment where downtime or replacement costs are critical.
Some example scenarios include:
Replacing an unobtainable control board
A control board fails in a critical piece of equipment and replacement parts are unavailable due to age, price, or scarcity.
1. First, we define the intended functionality of the original hardware and the urgency of the delivery. Solution feature levels and development methodologies will be adjusted to meet the defined urgency.
2. Then we analyze and document electrical characteristics, physical dimensions, connections, signals, protocols, environmental requirements, and tolerances; Reverse-engineer components when information is unavailable
3. Next we design and propose a modern drop-in replacement module
4. If the client approves of the proposal, we implement and test the solution. Otherwise, we re-evaluate the clients requirement’s and adjust our available solutions
(Optional) Fabricate additional modules as future replacements
(Optional) Develop supplemental hardware/software enhancements/integrations to extend the functionality of the module
Adding modern connectivity to legacy machinery
A client is utilizing older equipment and must physically visit the interface panel to monitor the status of the machine. The client would like to evaluate adding modern networking capabilities to the equipment to enable remote monitoring and alerts.
1. First, we discuss the specific information the client would like to gather from the equipment
2. Then we evaluate the machinery and its technical design including: data interfaces, user interfaces, sensors, control systems, model numbers, bus signals, ROM dumps, and documentation (if available).
3. Next we design and propose a hardware interface solution (and supporting software solution if required)
4. If the client approves of the proposal, we implement and test the solution. Otherwise, we re-evaluate the clients requirement’s and adjust our available solutions
(Optional) Fabricate additional modules for identical hardware (no additional evaluation fees)
(Optional) Develop additional hardware/software enhancements to extend the functionality of the solution
Replacing a magnetic data tape drive with an SD card reader or network share
A client is currently using an older piece of equipment that only accepts magnetic data tapes for reading and writing CAM programs. The tape drive has become unreliable and the tapes are practically unavailable.
1. First, we evaluate any adjacent hardware, software, and processes with the client to ensure we pursue the ideal solution.
2. Then we perform a technical evaluation of the current hardware and its operations to derive the hardware and software requirements
3. Next we design and propose a modern drop-in replacement module
4. If the client approves of the proposal, we implement and test the solution. Otherwise, we re-evaluate the clients requirement’s and adjust our available solutions
(Optional) Fabricate additional modules as future replacements
(Optional) Develop supplemental hardware/software
Integrating a piece of legacy equipment with a modern system
A client has upgraded to a modern Product Data Management (PDM) solution to manage their CAD and CAM setups. However, this new system isn’t able to communicate with some of their older machines. The client would like to evaluate integrating the machines with the modern system to avoid purchasing compatible replacement equipment.
1. First, we evaluate the functionality of the recently acquired PDM solution and the business requirements of the affected equipment. We discuss the client’s goals and ideal solution outcome.
2.Then we perform a technical analysis of the software and equipment, the limitations between them, and the possible integration solutions.
3. Next, we design and propose an integration solution
4. If the client approves of the proposal, we implement and test the solution. Otherwise, we re-evaluate the clients requirement’s and adjust our available solutions