Industrial Automation & Robotics
We design custom hardware and develop software for industrial automation and robotics vendors and companies.
Our engineering team creates solutions for industrial automation systems, robotics, instrumentation and control for Industry 4.0.
Our Expertise
You can rely on our expertise in robotics and automation engineering: starting with a proof of concept and finishing with the implementation of a complex system at your production site.
The Upper Level: SCADA & HMI
Design of HMI panels, including human-machine interface development.
Software development for SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition): we develop HMI systems, such as Simatic WinCC, to enable our clients to build custom SCADA systems.
Development of OPC UA data acquisition servers and software.
Controller Level: Automation Devices & PLCs
Automation engineering: hardware design and software development.
Electronics, enclosure and firmware development for programmable logic controllers (PLC).
Development of data acquisition systems (DAQ) and distributed control systems (DCS).
Design of interface converters and media converters.
The Lower Level: Sensors & Motor Control Devices
Turnkey sensor design: enclosure and mechanical design; software development, maths and algorithms for the primary measuring transducer, schematic diagrams and PCB design.
Electronics, enclosure and firmware development for motor control devices: soft starters, frequency converters (VFD), servo drives, stepper motor controllers.
Design of Instrumentation and Control Systems
Protective shutdown devices.
Emergency automatics. Bay controllers / substation PLCs.
Measurement equipment to ensure power quality: technical and/or commercial energy accounting system (EAS).
Fault recorders, emergency oscilloscopes, fault locators, and software systems for the recording and analysis of fault processes based on fault waveforms from multiple sources.
Time servers and time synchronisation systems for devices based on various reference time sources and tools, such as “pulse per second” measurements with adaptive interfaces.
Managed switch routers, support for the IEC61850 and RSTP protocols, and communication redundancy boxes (HSR/PRP).
Power line communication systems (PLC). Smart power management systems: distributed energy management, industrial solar power systems, etc.
Automatic transfer switches (ATS) / commutated switchgear.
Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), battery chargers, back-up power controllers.
Power supplies and power converters (inverters).
We help our customers transform their business with the help of Industry 4.0 solutions by developing and implementing mobile and industrial robots. These solutions help manufacturing plants significantly increase the efficiency and safety of their processes and free the human employees from complex, tedious, and dangerous tasks.
Our business partners have experienced first-hand that using co-bots (collaborative robots) can bring a business’ productivity to the next level or even serve as the foundation for new business ideas. The Promwad engineering team is inspired by these success stories, yet we realise that mass deployment of robotics can only be achieved with the advanced development of sensors, connectivity, power components, security systems, and miniaturisation of electronics.
We are passionate about industrial equipment and robotics design and would be happy to help you with the following tasks:
Design of complex mechatronic systems, such as lifts, conveyors, co-bots, servo drives, CNC, printers, etc. — full development cycle, from the first prototypes to mass production.
Schematic diagrams and PCB design, industrial and mechanical design (new enclosures) for robotics.
Robotics software development: firmware, drivers, and software based on Linux and ROS*.
* ROS (Robot Operating System) is an open-source robotics middleware suite for software engineers.
Our Services
We are ready to guide you through every step of your automation journey – from proof of concept to mass production.
Our Tech Stack
Platforms
ARM, RISC-V, MIPS, FPGA/CPLD
Tools & Languages
С, C++, Python, Rust, Qt, JavaScript, Verilog, VHDL, HLS, LLVM
Industrial Interfaces
IEC 60870-5-101/104, IEC 61850, EtherCAT, PROFINET, POWERLINK, EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP, OPC UA, MQTT, HSR/PRP, HART, IO-Link, PROFIBUS, Modbus RTU, CANopen, RS232, RS485, SNMP, IEC 62056 (DLMS/COSEM)
Vendors
Texas Instruments, Microchip, NXP, STMicroelectronics, Renesas, Infineon, Intel, Xilinx, Lattice, Analog Device, NVidia
OS
Baremetal, Linux (+RT), ROS, RTOS: FreeRTOS, ChibiOS/RT, eCos, CMSIS-RTX, RTEMS, Segger embOS, Mbed OS, TI-RTOS
Build Systems
Buildroot, OpenEmbedded/Yocto Project
HMI/SCADA/Web SCADA/Dashboard Dev
Microcontrollers: TouchGFX, EmWin, uGFX, lvgl | Linux: Qt (QML, Widgets), JavaScript, C++, Rust, WebAssembly
Asymmetric Multiprocessing (Linux + RTOS)
OpenAMP, OpenMCAPI, jailhouse, Xenomai, rpmsg
About Us
Since 2004, we have completed hundreds of electronics design projects for global brands and local manufacturers, which helped them to transform their business with cutting-edge technologies. We are primarily focused on Industry 4.0, IIoT, telecom, adaptive computing systems (FPGA + AI), and the automotive industry.
Industrial automation and robotics are an essential part of our key R&D activities. We work with many other calculations, such as the analysis of frequency deviation, currents and voltages, and calculation of active, reactive, and apparent power.
Our engineering team has fundamental knowledge in these areas:
the theory behind automatic controls & electric drives
algorithms on FPGA, Embedded Linux, MCU
V/F, field-oriented control for PMSM, ACIM, BLDC
mathematical physics equations & DSP mathematics
algorithms for electric power systems
Why Promwad
Cost-Effective Approach
We allocate an engineering team with a tech lead & management to work together with our client’s teams. Therefore, our clients do not have to bring in their own in-house specialists or an expensive external integrator.
EtherCAT Group Member
As a member of the EtherCAT Group, we follow all the established industry standards. Our customers can access the necessary data at any time and can improve the efficiency of their machines and equipment.
Turnkey Product Development
At Promwad, you can to cover all the bases of turn-key product design with a single contractor. Also, you can use our cross-industry expertise in the IIoT, telecom, adaptive computing, and automotive industries.
Our Case Studies in Industrial Automation
Our Cooperation Models
Flexible approach to suit your current needs
Dedicated Team
We will form a team to fit your specific engineering task. You are free to manage it and provide additional resources.
Project-Based
We can join you at any stage or take on the entire project, including our management and risk control.
Fixed Price Model
This contract fixes the price so that it does not depend on resources used or time expended by our engineering team.
Time and Material
A T&M contract is the best option for your flexible set of tasks that are difficult or impossible to fix and assess in advance.
Do you need a quote for your industrial automation and robotics development?
Drop us a line about your project! We will contact you today or the next business day. All submitted information will be kept confidential.
FAQ
Who are your clients? Who do you develop devices and software for?
We work with startups and mature companies that are producing their own products in the field of industrial automatics and robotics around the world. Our team helps them solve specific engineering problems within hardware and software development projects. Here are a few examples of our current and potential customers:
- Manufacturers of drive electronics (frequency converters, servo and step controllers, soft starters).
- Manufacturers of DCS/PLC/PAC and data acquisition (DAQ) systems.
- Manufacturers of industrial interface converters.
- Power supply companies and those focused on power electronics and systems for power engineering.
- Companies that need customized software development for IA, HMI, SCADA, OPC/OPC UA, ROS, etc.
- Companies working with green energy solutions.
- Telecom companies focused on industrial networks.
- Developers of DAQ/IO systems and safe controllers.
- Companies in predictive maintenance and Edge AI for IA.
- Manufacturers of elevators, conveyors, and crane manufacturers.
- Manufacturers of CNC and batching systems.
- Manufacturers of relay automation (RPA, PA, etc.).
- Developers of mobile robots for various applications.
- Manufacturers of air conditioning/cooling systems.
- Companies focused on smart homes and building automation companies.
Even if you don't find yourself on this list, we're still happy to discuss your potential engineering challenges. So don't hesitate to contact us.
What is the difference between the IIoT and the standard approach in industrial automation systems and the power sector?
The standard approach solves certain tasks in the control of industrial processes. While, IIoT is an autonomous predictive system that is usually not directly included in the production process. With IIoT, processes can be monitored by measuring the metrics needed for predictive maintenance to make faster decisions at the business level. It involves edge processing, when data is transmitted to the cloud system, bypassing the transmission level to the PLC and the SCADA system.
Why is real-time networking important for industrial automation, and what technologies and tools do we use to achieve this?
For most systems in industrial automation, time is crucial: they must be well-coordinated and react in real time to external influences at critical moments to guarantee the safety and efficiency of the whole process.
To ensure this parameter, we use safe real-time operating systems, and for supercritical systems, we offer FPGA-based solutions.
What is the lifecycle and temperature grade of components in industrial automation?
The solutions that are created for industrial automation have a long lifecycle of components. In this area, innovations must be considered from many perspectives because, when selecting a new device or embedded system, planning and its integration into the production chain can take years (even decades).
The temperature grade in industrial automation usually ranges from -40 to +85 degrees Celsius. Our developers are guided by these time and temperature frames when selecting components.
What is SIL? How is security defined at the hardware and software levels?
The SIL abbreviation stands for Safety Integrity Level and refers to the certification of software and hardware components to ensure their reliability and security.
SIL certification identifies all process hazards, assesses the risk of failure, and determines that if a failure occurs, the component will "fail safely". For the same process, there can be four safety levels, from SIL 1 to SIL 4 that are determined by calculating the hazard risk reduction factor (RRF).
The SIL level is ensured in terms of software, hardware, and descriptions of possible situations. Each level has an acceptable failure rate: the higher the level, the lower the failure rate.
Why is industrial automation a conservative industry?
Plants are critical facilities. Reliability and resilience are crucial for systems that are implemented in manufacturing because they directly affect people's lives — from industrial injuries to technological disasters. To avoid attacks on industrial facilities, systems must be minimally vulnerable at the device and communication protocol levels.
The new technology takes time to industrialise, and standards take a long time to adopt, so change comes slowly. For example, HMS Networks' research shows that, at the beginning of 2022, the share of wireless protocols was only 7%, and the bulk of data transmission still went through wired networks.
The hardware is changing, but popular networking technologies remain. All industrial protocols are closed as proprietary ones, so engineers have to join the organisation that develops them to find out how a particular standard works. This high entry threshold is due to the high demands placed on the reliability of the systems to be implemented. This is what makes the industrial automation industry so conservative.