Firmware stabilisation engagement
Who it is for: Product companies and OEM engineering groups that have shipped at least one hardware revision, can reproduce a firmware-related failure (or strong suspicion), and need an external embedded specialist without hiring full-time.
Outcome: A documented root cause, firmware changes in your repository (feature branch or patch series), validation notes from bench and—where agreed—a short soak test, plus a handover call with your firmware owners.
Scope
- Intake call and access to schematic PDF, BOM critical parts, toolchain export, and failing units or remote debug access
- Fault reproduction on our bench in Walmer or via your probe (J-Link, ST-Link, CMSIS-DAP)
- Analysis across startup code, clock config, interrupt priorities, heap/stack, and communication stacks you already use
- Up to two corrective firmware iterations within the agreed window
- Written report: symptom, hypothesis tree, fix rationale, and suggested regression tests
Excluded unless added by change order
- Hardware redesign or EMC remediation
- Green-field firmware for a new product
- Formal safety certification or notified-body submissions
- Long-term maintenance retainer (available separately)
Provider & process
Led by a senior consultant from Lumen Circuit, often paired with a mid-level engineer for trace capture and test automation. Week 1: reproduce and instrument. Week 2–4: fix and validate. Week 5–6 (if scoped): soak, manufacturing witness, or OTA rollout support.
Timeline & location
Typically two to six weeks calendar time, depending on part availability and your review cycles. Remote-first with optional Eastern Cape travel. You retain IP; we work under your NDA template when provided.
Preparation
Ship two failing and two known-good boards if possible. Grant read access to the firmware repo tag matching field failures. List environmental conditions (temperature, supply voltage, RF environment) where the bug appears.
Pricing basis
Fixed fee from R 185 000 excluding VAT for a two-week minimum scope; extended timelines quoted after intake. See rates for factors that increase effort.
Next step
Send a short fault description and MCU part number via contact. We respond within two business days with either a clarifying questionnaire or a proposed statement of work.