Asking a product development firm whether you should hire a product development firm or build out your internal team can feel a bit like asking a barber if you should get a haircut, or asking the waiter if you should get dessert. But here’s a plot twist: most of the time, it may be the …
Mission to Market Share: When You Should (And Shouldn’t) Hire a Product Development Firm Read More »
Introduction So you’ve launched a new IoT product, perhaps using the IoT framework provided by AWS, Azure, or another major cloud provider, and your devices can now send and receive data from the cloud. Now, how do you process that data to get valuable insights, such as device health telemetry or user behavior tracking? There …
Building and Scaling IoT Projects Quickly with Serverless Applications Read More »
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you’re building low power electronics. There are so many different components and technologies to learn that it can be hard to know where to begin. Recently, a MistyWest client wanted to redesign their field-deployed IoT environmental monitor to a smaller, lighter, and more power-efficient package with longer battery life …
Choosing The Right Computing Device For A Low Power Sensor Application Read More »
Looking to bridge the gap in meaningful connections due to 2 years of virtual social interactions, MistyWest cofounder Leigh Christie sought a new opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of the hardware and intelligent connected device community. Christie conceived the inaugural ‘Top 20 Leaders in Intelligent and Connected Devices’ awards, affectionately known as the Misties, to …
The Top 20 Leaders in Intelligent and Connected Devices Read More »
Although popular in the software industry for years, remote work was uncommon in hardware development until the start of the pandemic. Manufacturing physical products requires testing, debugging and iterative design, which often relies on specialized equipment and sufficient space. These factors have limited the growth of hybrid and remote work opportunities in hardware. So, how …
It’s a tale as old as time – you build your hardware prototype design in CAD and everything fits perfectly, but when your parts arrive from the manufacturer, some parts are jamming and others are rattling around. What happened? Often, the underlying problem comes from how the mechanical connections between parts constrain how …
Make Parts Fit Right the First Time with Exact Constraint Analysis Read More »
“Technology. The cause of–and solution to–all of life’s problems.” – Homer Simpson While the above quote is not exactly what Homer said, it’s certainly applicable when we consider the incredible advancements technology has brought us in the last 150, or 50, or 10 years. Who now can imagine life without smartphones, let alone without electricity …
5 Novel Technologies Enabling a Healthier Planet Read More »
Intelligent connected device development firm MistyWest has decided the best way to align with its purpose of enabling a healthier planet and bringing prosperity to all humankind is by focusing all of its resources on manufacturing skimboards. “After months of analysis of future trends in technology and social development, it became clear that …
Has your business spent time and money developing a hardware product that failed at the commercialization stage because it didn’t meet customer expectations? Have you wondered at what point in product development you lost sight of the user story? A design thinking methodology can help to address these common issues that product development teams face. …
What is Hardware Prototyping? When MistyWest was approached by VodaSafe prior to developing the AquaEye, founder Carlyn Loncaric had a proof-of-concept (POC) and a goal: to develop a life-saving piece of technology that can quickly scan underwater to locate drowning victims. Through iterative prototyping, our engineering team was able to develop a hand-held device that …
As I write this from my home office during quarantine, I am reflecting on what has become the new normal. I don’t think many of us thought we’d live to see a day where massive, global layoffs occur and nearly every single country would close its borders, restrict domestic travel, and order us all to …
Written by Phil Tsao, former Westie. Introduction Last week, we brought you the first part of our Dyson Airwrap series where we looked at the surface of this achievement in product development, and then used it to deliver a bomb makeover for Ryan Walker. By now you’re probably familiar with what the Dyson Airwrap …
This is the first of a two part series on the Dyson Airwrap. Part II features our technical teardown. Origin Story If you’ve ever used a hand dryer in a public washroom, you’re probably familiar with Dyson. Famously known for their vacuums that defied the standard expectations for vacuum cleaners in the 1990s–featuring dual-cyclone …
Written by Phil Tsao, former Westie. Introduction In our 3D Printing series, we brought you an Introduction to 3D Printing, a Guide to FDM, SLA and SLS, and a Guide to the Exotic. As a tailpiece to this series, we’ve compiled a guide to emerging tech and cool trends within the 3D printing and additive …
Written by Phil Tsao, former Westie. Introduction In this series, we’ve covered the history and growing popularity of 3D Printing and the various types of technologies available on the affordable scale that garage tinkerers or smaller businesses can use in-house. We’ve now arrived at Exotics and Metals, consisting of more expensive options that are usually …
Written by Phil Tsao, former Westie. Introduction When we left off Part 1, we had just taken a look at the recent history of 3D printing technologies, and requested quotes from various vendors on a custom part to compare pricing for different technologies, and had introduced a chart that identifies the different materials available in …
Written by Phil Tsao, former Westie. About Phil I have been 3D printing for years and was an early adopter into the industry with Printrbot. Through my career, I’ve gained a wide array of hands-on prototyping and manufacturing experience ranging from 3D printing to machining, and now own two filament printers as well as a …
Written by Phil Tsao, former Westie. Introduction MistyWest’s mechanical and physics team recently put their skills to the test on a fluid dynamics project that required a low cracking pressure check valve designed to withstand harsh outdoor conditions, and allow passive draining of water. During research, we came across a family of elastomer check valves …
Written by Angela May We had the recent opportunity to tear down a Sensirion SPS30 Particle Matter Sensor. This was an exciting opportunity for us, as we have experience developing particle sensors, and we haven’t seen air quality sensors in such a tight form factor. The device boasts “superior accuracy” in an “ultra-slim package”, and …
CES always seems to hit us like a fever dream; the bright lights of the Vegas strip, the deafening noise of the conference centre, the fast-paced rush of trying to see as much as possible on never-enough sleep–it comes and goes in the blink of an eye. And then we find ourselves groggy, bodies aching, …
Written by Justin Lam, former Westie. Disclaimer: Light therapy is one method of easing seasonal affective disorder (SAD); some people swear by it whereas others remain unaffected. This blog post does not intend to refute the effectiveness of light therapy, but rather to dig deeper into the technology behind these light therapy lamps to better educate …
Written by Senzeni Mpofu As a team, we are pretty comfortable developing products that can withstand even the most extreme of environmental conditions. We have made electronics for use in extremely dusty conditions. We tackled innovation for prolonged exposure to subzero temperatures – both in the Arctic and on ski slopes. We have even contributed …
Written by Senzeni Mpofu, former Westie Way back in June 2016, MistyWest acquired a super-neat thing called the HTC Vive, which is somewhat old news now but was the coolest kid on the block virtual-reality-wise at the time and we thought that was pretty peachy. Many wows were had, and the Westies rejoiced as we …
Written by Justin Lam, former Westie. Virtual reality pushes the envelope of bleeding edge technology, allowing us to explore and experience worlds beyond our mortal imaginations. It gives us immersion in another dimension, providing an unprecedented medium for communication and story telling. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then virtual reality must be …
