Product production resources for the lowly inventor?

February 18, 2005 8:31 AM

So all of us mad inventors now know about eMachineShop and PIC microprocessors and interesting connectivity devices. And some of us have designed truly wicked little systems just begging to make it onto the front page of Engadget.

...the internets are less capable when explaining how to get from A to B. Assuming that I've got a working circuit board diagram, a list of chips, resistors and capacitors...how do I get fully-populated circuit boards, ideally assembled and tested inside a machined enclosure, and even more ideally packaged in a cardboard box with a country-specific power supply and cheaply printed instruction manual, and even more ideally, built and shipped to customers on a build-to-order basis? Does such a thing even exist? If not, how close can I get? My soldering skills are not remotely adequate and likely never will be.

posted by felix to technology (2 comments total)

eMachineShop's sister site Pad2Pad will build and assemble short run boards for you. And when you are ready for the big time that's when you get in touch with Flextronics.
posted by dirtylittlemonkey at 8:42 AM on February 18, 2005

pad2pad looks like a good resource; don't know how I missed it. Thanks, dirtylittlemonkey.

I'm also interested in any higher-level-than-board-manufacturing resources anyone might have, such as board design assistance, mechanical/packaging design assistance, and anything else of that nature -- anyone else in the same boat?
posted by felix at 9:04 AM on February 18, 2005