OTS Hardware Advantages

A great deal of engineering and testing has gone into our designs. Our OTS Arduino compatible hardware products have unique circuitry to provide multiple levels of protection. These value adds and innovative features are also integrated into our custom designs. We believe things should be built to last.

Case in point, the table below displays the differences between a standard Arduino Uno R3 and the Rugged Circuits Ruggeduino. These differences equate to performance, durability, and longevity. These qualities are what make our products, well, RUGGED. Our Ruggeduino microcontroller is compatible with the Arduino IDE and has the same shape, form factor, and header profile as the Uno. The Ruggeduino however with these circuitry advantages can be used in more demanding applications including 24 Industrial systems where regular Arduino boards will simply fail.

Custom Design Program Advantages

Here are a couple of important advantages when considering Rugged Circuits for your next custom build.:

Approachable

Rugged Circuits is a small business located in Michigan. While we have the capacity to produce thousands of units per day, we don’t require large minimum order quantities. Many design companies have no interest in small to medium sized builds. They usually won’t even reply back to an inquiry if quantities are small. Our size allows us to accommodate smaller jobs. Please note that not every inquiry is a good fit for our program and projects must be reviewed for fit.

Size

Again our smaller size provides huge benefits when it comes to flexibility. An analogy we like to use is a ship. Larger companies are like larger ocean liners. If a course correction needs to take place the large ship is slow to react and requires a lot of room to make course corrections or come to a stop. The smaller size of Rugged provides a more nimble and quick response to any deviations along the way.

Arduino Knowledge Base

Rugged Circuits has a lot of Arduino experience with our OTS hardware solutions. This allows your company to leverage our acquired knowledge when constructing an Arduino based product. Many customers decide to invest in a custom Arduino shield to complement one of our OTS microcontroller boards. This grants them the specific functioning they require but helps keep costs to a minimum.

Non-Arduino Expertise

Our hardware and software engineers are extremely proficient outside of the Arduino ecosystem. This is great for projects that may have outgrown the Arduino ecosystem or have demanding requirements. Our team actually has much more experience designing Non-Arduino platforms. Arduino is great for what it is, but it does have its place. We are ready and capable of handling your more demanding projects.

Engineering Oversight

We are able to provide exceptional attention to your project at every interval. All of the engineering services are provided under one roof which is extremely important. The design engineer assigned to your project will be at the facility where prototypes and final PCBAs are manufactured. Should something arise that requires immediate attention, the dedicated engineer will be able to properly assess the situation. The design engineer will also be the engineer who conducts all prototype testing. This is the best way to ensure that the board functions exactly as it was designed to function.

Build and Design Quality

The build quality and design of our Rugged Circuits OTS hardware is what put Rugged on the map. This same level of attention and pride goes directly into your project/product. We only use the finest components which are acquired through proper distribution channels. We go through extra measures to ensure that the components used are not counterfeit. Our assemblies are handcrafted in Grand Rapids, MI with some of the final assembly actually being completed by hand. We pride ourselves in that almost all of the core engineers and managers of the Rugged team have been with us since the very beginning. Having long term team members you can trust and communicate with effectively is key to quality and satisfaction.