Custom test fixtures & measurement engineering.
Alongside the laser service work, Porcaro Dynamics takes on instrumentation jobs. My background is instrumentation and R&D engineering: optics, analog electronics, firmware, and the mechanical design around them.
The ones that work are well defined: a fixture, a measurement front end, or one instrument, with a deliverable we agreed on at the start and the documentation to run it without me.
Typical examples: a test fixture that holds a part the same way every time so a measurement stops depending on who took it, a data acquisition setup that logs a sensor through a whole test run instead of someone writing numbers on a clipboard, or a small instrument built for one job that nothing on the market quite fits. I work with manufacturers and test labs in Wichita and remotely where the work allows it.
Discuss a fixture or DAQ projectTest Fixtures, DAQ and Instruments
Measurement Fixtures
Fixtures for a measurement that is currently done by hand, done badly, or not done at all.
- Fixtures and staging for mechanical, electrical and optical measurement
- Repeatability data for the fixture, measured rather than assumed
- Calibration and verification procedures handed over with the hardware
Sensor & DAQ Work
Sensor front ends, signal conditioning and logging, built around one specific measurement.
- Sensor selection and analog front-end design
- Data acquisition and logging for test and process monitoring
- Error budget and uncertainty analysis for the measurement chain
Custom Instruments
A purpose-built instrument when nothing off the shelf does the job, handed over with its design package.
- Instrument design: optics, analog electronics, firmware, and enclosure
- Full design package (schematics, BOM, firmware source, drawings) so you own it
- Calibration procedure and a validation report showing it holds up
Instrumentation Projects
Instrumentation
Optical Test System
Automated optical and mechanical test system for measuring angular deviation of transparent materials.
View project →Write-up in progress
Resistance Translator Instrument
An STM32-based instrument that presents a synthetic resistor output for compliance testing. Write-up to follow.
What You Get
Every fixture or instrument leaves with the documentation to run it without me: schematics, firmware source, a bill of materials, calibration procedure, and a validation report with the measured numbers in it.
You own the design package outright and can manufacture or modify the hardware later, with or without me.
Contact me about a measurement projectLaser Services
- Laser engraver & laser cutter repair
CO2 cutters and engravers, fiber markers and diode engravers. Weak cutting, no fire, crooked engraving, tubes, power supplies, controllers. Maintenance visits too.
- Laser safety consulting & training
Hazard evaluations, NHZ calculations, written SOPs, operator training, labels and interlock testing for Class 3B and Class 4 lasers.