Our Embedded Software Development Experts
The success of your connected product relies on flawless software integration from the outset. Our embedded software team collaborates closely with designers and engineers throughout the development process, mitigating the risks and delays associated with integrating technologies and software from multiple vendors and platforms.
Trusted to develop manufacture-ready connected products for Companies, Start-Ups, and Entrepreneurs
Our Software team creates the production code for your new product (the physical device)
We specialize in developing cutting-edge embedded software solutions tailored to the unique requirements of your devices and applications. Our fully integrated software and hardware design teams work closely together with you to create innovative user experiences and custom apps. We have extensive project experience integrating advanced sensors, enabling real-time data analysis and control at the network edge.
The Design 1st Software Engineering Team
Our Software Engineering team will:
- Create Embedded Software that lives inside the physical product (production firmware)
- Update your embedded production firmware in development and after product is launched
- Create "concept" smartphone apps to interact with new product and visualize user tasks
- Create "concept" desktop/server apps, to visualize the product operation before a third-party Smartphone/Desktop/Server App development team is in place
- Work closely with your third-party "Production Apps" development team to define protocols for communications between device and apps, test functions, update code.
Production apps for smartphones, desktops, and servers communicate with your new product. These apps will require a third-party software development team to create your production software. The same team will also support the updates to your production apps that interact with your product, after the product is launched.
Embedded Software Development Specialties
Wired and Wireless Connectivity
We help you develop seamless wireless connections between physical devices and apps:
- Wired Communication: Ethernet, RS422, RS485, USB 3.x, Modbus ASCII/RTU, CAN
- Network Protocols: HTTP, COAP, MQTT, Websocket, REST, XML-RPC, TCP/IP/UDP
- Communication Protocols: Bluetooth BLE 5.x, WIFI, LTE/NB-IoT/Cat-M, 6LoWPAN, Contiki, IEEE 802.15.x, Thread, Mesh, Lora, ANT, Zigbee, Matter
- Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Connectivity: BLE is a wireless communication protocol that allows for low-power connectivity between devices.
- Wi-Fi Connectivity: Wi-Fi is a popular wireless communication protocol that provides high-speed connectivity between devices.
Sensor Selection and Integration
Providing you assistance in sensor selection, design and testing for new devices:
- Sensor Technologies: Sensors and peripherals: IMU, MEMS accelerometers, gyroscope, magnetometer, load/force, pressure, flow, ultrasonic, biometric (fingerprint), gesture, microphone, camera, gas, photodiodes, piezoelectric, time-of-flight, UWB, RFID, NFC, GPS/GNSS, RTK, stepper/servo motor/actuators, LCD, capacitive touch sensing, GSR, EEG/EOG
- Sensor Interface Development: Once sensors are selected, embedded software experts can develop software interfaces that enable the device’s software to communicate with the sensors.
- Sensor Calibration: Sensor calibration is critical to ensure accurate and reliable data measurement.
Embedded Systems Technology:
Tap into our deep expertise across the entire technology stack of embedded design, including:
- Coding Languages: C/C++, C#, Python, Java, Javascript, Typescript, Angular, React, Flutter/Flow, SQL
- Cloud Infrastructure: AWS IOT/Lambda, Azure, Google
- AI Machine/Deep Learning: TensorFlow/Lite/Keras, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, Yolo, OpenCV, Sensors MLC (sensors machine learning core), Smart Devices
- Operating Systems: FreeRTOS, Zephyr, Linux, Android, Arduino, VxWorks, QNX, CMSIS-RTOS
- Microcontroller and microprocessors platforms: STMicroelectronics STM32, ST8, STM32MPx, Espressif ESP32, Nordic NRF52/53, Microchip PIC10/12/18/PIC32, Atmel ATMega8/16/32/64, ATSAM9, Cypress PSOC, Silicon Labs EFM, NXP i.MX 6/7/8, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm Snapdragon, Raspberry PI, Nvidia Jetson, ARM Cortex, RISC-V
Power Management Development:
Power management is an essential aspect of embedded systems design, as devices often operate on battery power. We help optimize your new product’s power by:
- Low-Power Components: Choose hardware components that are designed for low power consumption, minimizing energy drain and enhancing overall device efficiency. We also have experience in wireless power technology.
- Sleep and Idle Modes: Utilize sleep and idle modes to temporarily disable non-essential functions when they are not in use, conserving battery lie
- Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS): Employ DVFS techniques to adjust voltage and clock frequency of the device’s components based on workload, matching power usage to processing needs.
What Clients Say About Working With Design 1st
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Richard Mineo CEO, Swabbot Solutions LLC 
Design 1st Exceeds Expectations in Responsiveness
Read Case StudyDesign 1st took our Cobot from initial concept through final product testing, handling electrical, mechanical, software, and manufacturing needs all in one team. They efficiently developed our tank access system, finalized our swabbing robot, and created a benchtop version, keeping us updated and responding quickly to every change request.
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George Tsintzouras Director of Product, Christie Digital 
Immediately understood what was needed
Read Case StudyWhen we wanted to transition our older generation projector models to a more modern look and feel, Design 1st was a valuable asset. Given the depth of their design and engineering experience, Design 1st immediately understood what was needed. They worked with our internal engineering team through the process to provide us with compatible solutions to meet our needs.
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Stephen Rayment VP Engineering, Ericsson 
Our trusted engineering partner for six years
Read Case StudyDesign 1st has been our trusted industrial design and mechanical engineering partner for over six years and they have proven themselves to be valuable, competent and committed to our success. They add value because they understand the tradeoffs between user value and cost, the need to balance both the business and product objectives, along with excellent knowledge of materials and manufacturing / tooling options.
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Mike Tettenborn VP Engineering, Caframo 
Right balance of art and engineering
Read Case StudyWe selected Design 1st because their designers and engineers demonstrated the right creativity and technical understanding. With their CAD and modelling tools they were able to address the numerous design challenges encountered with this type of product. The end result was an easy-to-install, powerful marine hatch fan – unlike any on the market.
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Kurt Francis Co-Founder, CTO, Molecule 
Deepest bench of technical talent
Read Case StudyI did a lot of due diligence on product development companies and Design 1st had the deepest bench for technical capability. They worked on such a broad range of products with successful commercialization. Design 1st’s early efforts in prototype development helped us move from a powder substrate into a commercial product for testing.
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John Lupton Director of Engineering, GeoSight 
Got up and running fast
Read Case StudyThe whole design was my idea and I had patents on them. The team’s main work was to solve the functionality issue of a piece of my design. On top of that, they helped identify one of our manufacturers.
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Didi Horn CTO, SkyX 
Exceeded Our Expectations
Read Case StudyThe Design 1st team exceeded our expectations and helped us deliver an exceptional product to the market. As a startup, we were working within a budget but expected the highest quality product. Design 1st identified the risks up front, had the vast network of partners to find the right components, and customized it to meet our unique needs.
Connected Device Development Done Right
Connected device projects often stumble not from lack of vision, but from poor collaboration between hardware, software, and design teams—leading to bugs, delays, and higher costs.
Avoid Costly Delays with a Fully Integrated Software Engineering Team
When software, hardware, and design teams from different organizations collaborate for the first time, integration challenges often emerge late, resulting in costly delays and potentially compromising the final product. Examples include:
- Late-stage software issues derailing product launches
- Hardware and software teams working in silos across different geographic regions and time zones
- Integration challenges between design and engineering including complicated product/software interfaces
- Difficult transition from prototype to manufacturing
- Unpredictable development timelines
Full Service Software Engineering Expertise to Power Your Connected Devices
From wireless connectivity and edge AI to advanced user interfaces and real-time sensor integration, our embedded software team solves the toughest challenges—ensuring your product is smart, responsive, and market-ready.
Navigating Complex Wireless Ecosystems
Modern devices demand seamless connectivity across Bluetooth and WiFi protocols. Each standard brings unique certification requirements and implementation challenges that can delay product launches.
Our embedded team delivers reliable cross-platform communication solutions while optimizing for the critical balance of power consumption and range.
Video: How we implement AI into products
Bringing AI Intelligence to the Edge
Bringing intelligence to resource-constrained devices requires careful balancing of performance, power, and cost. TinyML and edge processing demand sophisticated optimization techniques most development teams haven’t mastered.
We implement efficient AI solutions that make your product truly intelligent without compromising battery life or user experience.
Enabling Advanced User Interaction
Today’s users expect sophisticated touch, gesture, and display interactions that feel natural and responsive. Implementing features like haptic feedback, force-sensitive touch, and adaptive displays requires deep expertise in real-time processing and sensor integration.
We deliver intuitive interfaces that delight users and maintain reliable performance within your power budget.
Custom Build Software Tools to Accelerate Your Product Development
Our custom in-house tools streamline firmware deployment, hardware integration, and testing, enabling rapid prototyping, iteration and fine-tuning.
Refined over 20 years and hundreds of connected device projects, our infrastructure gets your software up and running quickly—increasing software quality/reliability, reducing delays and keeping development on track.
Our Software Design Process
Developing software for physical products, especially those involving custom electronics like circuits, displays, keys, switches, and embedded custom components, requires a collaborative, iterative process that aligns software with hardware electronics constraints. The software controls the device’s functions, interfaces seamlessly with peripherals (via drivers for sensors, displays) and communicates (wired, wireless) with other products and systems.
Design & Planning
- Functional Requirements and Specifications: gather function and performance targets and specifications.
- Architecture Design: High level block diagram breakdown including key silicon component selection.
- Component Selection and Sourcing: Research and choose electronic components based on the requirements.
- Bill of Electronics Materials: generate detailed list of electronics components and related interconnect components.
Circuit & Layout Development
- Schematic Design: Create a digital circuit diagram (schematic) that represents electrical connections and logic.
- Analysis and Simulation: Simulate key circuit functions, signal integrity, thermal, iterative routing optimize signals, find issues.
- PCB Layout Design: Transfer the schematic to a physical board layout. Place components and design interconnect copper routing.
- System Interconnections: Define interconnection to off-board components: Antennas, switches, LEDs, displays, buttons…
- Mechanical Integration: Integrate the PCBA and interconnections, to fit product size and shape and function requirements.
- Design Reviews and Checks: Design Rule Checks, review fabrication and manufacturing, create check list.
Manufacturing & Validation
- Generate Manufacturing Files: Export files for production: copper layers, solder mask, drill files, component list…
- PCB Fabrication: Send all PCB specification files to a manufacturer for bare board production.
- PCBA (Assembly): Send PCBA specification files to a manufacturer to populate the fabricated PCB with components.
- Testing and Validation: Test the assembled board functional integrity and performance, debug and correct issues.
The idea to software release process is iterative based on user feedback requests and hardware changes may affect software states. Modeling tools, version control, and simulators enable methodical early software testing with the evolving hardware circuit design.
The Only Team You Need to Build and Launch Your Connected Device
Design 1st’s in-house team of experts works as a single unit across design, engineering, software, and manufacturing to reduce risk, streamline development, and launch your connected device faster.
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Mechanical Engineering
Find creative mechanical solutions to technical challenges.
Mechanical Design Team
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Industrial Design
Transform your product concept into a refined manufacture-ready design.
Industrial Design Team
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Electronics Engineering
Add power, secure connectivity, and interaction control to your products.
Electronic Design Team
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Portfolio of Projects
Across every industry, our team excels at developing technically complex projects.
Fully Certified and Award-Winning
Our company and staff are professional engineers with multiple industry certifications.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Types of Devices Require Embedded Systems?
Embedded systems are the unsung heroes behind a wide variety of devices we encounter daily. These systems are like the behind-the-scenes magicians that blend software and hardware seamlessly to supercharge the functionality and user experience of all sorts of gadgets. Here are a few examples that highlight how crucial embedded systems are for different device categories:
Consumer Electronics: Think of smartphones, smart TVs, and wearables. Embedded systems make these devices tick by enabling touch interactions, wireless connections, and impressive multimedia capabilities. They’re the reason you can smoothly scroll through your favorite apps and enjoy seamless streaming.
Automotive: Cars nowadays are rolling with embedded systems that handle everything from engine performance to entertainment systems. These systems help optimize fuel efficiency, ensure safety features work like a charm, and even power those fancy infotainment screens.
Medical Devices: Imagine MRI machines, pacemakers, and infusion pumps. Embedded systems make these medical devices smart and reliable, ensuring accurate readings, timely drug delivery, and, most importantly, patient safety.
Industrial Automation: Robots in factories, precision manufacturing equipment, and those intricate systems that control production lines? Embedded systems are the brains behind them, making sure everything works in perfect harmony, improving efficiency, and maintaining quality.
Smart Home Devices: From smart thermostats that know when to adjust the temperature, to security cameras that keep an eye out, and voice-activated assistants that respond to your every command—embedded systems drive these devices, making your home smarter and life more convenient.
These examples show how embedded systems are the secret sauce that turns ordinary devices into extraordinary ones. They seamlessly blend code and hardware to create devices that can perform complex tasks, connect to networks, and offer advanced features that have become integral to our modern lifestyles.
Is Embedded Software the Same as Firmware?
No, embedded software and firmware are related concepts in product development for new high-tech devices, but they have distinct roles.
Embedded Software: Embedded software refers to specialized code crafted to control electronic components within a device. It empowers devices to perform functions and interact with users or other systems. Embedded software’s complexity can vary, handling tasks like data processing, user interfaces, and component communication.
Firmware: Firmware, on the other hand, specifically pertains to software permanently programmed into a device’s non-volatile memory. It’s responsible for initializing hardware during startup and managing basic operations. Firmware offers low-level control, overseeing tasks like booting, power management, and hardware communication.
Understanding these distinctions is crucial when developing new high-tech devices. Both embedded software and firmware contribute to a device’s functionality, with embedded software focusing on user interactions and higher-level functions, while firmware manages low-level hardware control and initialization. This knowledge fosters a cohesive software-hardware system, delivering a seamless user experience.
How Much Will My Project Cost?
Designing a new hardware product starts with defining one or two possible Concept Designs (CD), based on requirements and business targets. Our technical sales team create the first CD budget with the major activities. When the work starts, we capture key product requirements, research opportunities, and unknowns, then together with you, we determine the best solution to develop.
Our experienced development team will then facilitate and help you define the many product requirements, carry out the creative design and engineering process, examine manufacturing feasibility, and provide an ongoing estimate of the direct product cost as details are filled in and decisions on features, functions, parts, and quality are made. For a new product concept of moderate complexity, the CD design exploration and architecture definition stage takes 200+ hours. This timeline depends on many factors, including uncertainty about first users and buyers, the uniqueness of the design relative to products in the market, the number of custom components required for design and manufacturing, product safety requirements, manufacturing setup, and the amount of documentation required.
Professional, experienced Product Design and Engineering teams in North America charge $125 to $400 USD per hour. Our rates are competitive at the lower end of this scale. After a phone discussion on your needs, we will provide a detailed design budget for review and signature.
Call us: 1.877.235.1004 x229 or schedule a meeting with Ian Kayser, our VP of Sales, who will help answer questions.
Who owns the firmware code developed during our project?
At Design 1st, we operate as a service for hire. All code developed during your project, including firmware code and associated intellectual property, is fully handed over to and owned by you, the client.
This includes:
- Source code
- Build files
- Documentation
- Development history
- Associated intellectual property rights
We have no ongoing ownership claims to any firmware or software developed for your product. Our business model is to provide complete development services that result in deliverables that you own entirely.
The Measures Taken To Ensure Your Embedded Systems Devices Succeed
Design 1st integrates our knowledge and expertise with yours to bring your product idea to life.
