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Scientific Instruments and Lab Equipment Software: Precise and robust

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Embedded software and firmware development

From super-resolution microscopy to automated workflows: laboratories everywhere are undergoing a digital revolution. Meeting this change, scientific instruments and lab equipment product teams with products going into life sciences, clinical diagnostics and research fields need compliance and precision focused embedded software developers.

Bluefruit Software is the trusted embedded software partner for numerous clients across a range of products. Projects have included software development for gas chromatography systems, secure module communication, UV spectroradiometers, lab water delivery systems, chemical dosing in pumps and more.

What Bluefruit Software brings to your product

The skills and experience of our embedded teams match the demands of today’s evolving research and diagnostics environments. If you need high-quality embedded software to bring in modular automation, to add new features to an existing system, or to develop—we can help.

Here’s how:

  • Enable trusted data: Embedded Software Engineers experienced in ensuring software is 21 CFR Part 11 compliant.
  • Real-time: From real-time event handling to data collection, our engineers have experience in sensors, controls, alerts, and data capture.
  • Precise dosing: Development knowhow to bring precision to systems involving fluids and other materials.
  • Artificial Intelligence: Expertise in machine vision and machine learning for clients and internal neural network R&D, sees the team ready for AI in embedded projects.
  • Connectivity solutions and Internet of Things (IoT): Extensive IoT and connectivity experience, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RS232/RS485, cloud, cellular, edge computing, Embedded Ethernet, RFID and more.
  • Cyber security: Risk-aware cyber security experts ready to assess software with an eye to global regulatory standards and evolving threats.
  • Reimagining user interfaces: With Embedded Linux and Qt, led by the latest UX thinking.
  • Software that’s easy to update: Past client projects have included custom secure bootloaders, USB based updates, and cloud-based updates.
  • Quality focused Lean-Agile development processes: Test-first approach to software that creates habitable and maintainable code.

The support you need

Bluefruit Software’s teams can fit and flex with your project needs:

  • Scale your team: We can work with your existing teams and plug in at any point in your product lifecycle, from initial development to ongoing release updates.
  • Multidisciplinary teams: Our teams include Embedded Software Engineers, Testers, Quality Analysts and UX experts.
  • Regular releases, release reports and demos: After each software sprint, you’ll be provided with a release report and the latest iteration of your software. Teams can provide demos as needed.

Working with R&D teams

Our Lean-Agile practices and processes mean we’re well-suited to working with R&D teams or start- ups who are looking to innovate with cutting edge scientific instruments or laboratory equipment. On some of our recent projects we’ve incorporated advancements in AI within diagnostics, machine vision and computer vision, using cameras within handheld devices.

We’ve also looked at how to build products that can increase the customisation of laboratory environments, using a modular system approach. Our full stack embedded team includes UX and design specialists who can help with user driven innovation, focused around the lab technicians who will be using your products.

Through working on a sprint-based work cycle, we can support proof of concept and prototyping of embedded systems, so that you can get working demos tested by your users and then in front of stakeholders and investors quickly and reliably.

Development for existing systems

Conversely, our teams have experience with taking on existing software for systems on the market or software developed as part of academic projects. Again, our Lean-Agile approaches to development and experience of 21 CFR Part 11 means that we have experience in expanding device features as well as making sure you have high-quality, reliable code.

Projects for existing systems have ranged from coping with technical debt, adding new features within an existing code base and all the way up to complete rewrites for products with reliability or safety issues. Our team take a pragmatic approach to picking up legacy projects, working with you to understand what changes you might need and how we can make the most of what’s been done before. We will start with a review of your current situation and then suggest the best course of action based on your business needs, budget, and product requirements.

Embedded software development insights

Trusted software partner

❝ Bluefruit provide a professional, innovative and technical team in a very friendly environment. They display a culture of continuous improvement in everything they do for us, this and their positive approach to every challenge makes them a great partner to work with. ❞

Nancy Ashburn, Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group

❝ Paul and his team have worked with us on a number of projects and bring an extra dimension to software product development in terms of their commitment and technical expertise. ❞

Richard O’Neill, AGC Instruments

❝ A 'can do' approach shines through on each project, with customer satisfaction very much at the top of the list. ❞

Clive Wilson, Drayton

❝ With years of working together, we regard Bluefruit as a valued extension of our internal product development team. ❞

Lee Underwood, ELGA LabWater

Quality-focused embedded software development

Bluefruit Software has been the software partner of choice for clients in a range of industries, working on over 100 products since 2020. No matter the project—Bluefruit has a multidisciplinary team of embedded specialists for you, including Embedded Software Engineers, Test Engineers and Quality Analysts.

Set up a call with our engineers