Sensor System Engineering Services

Think Circuits develops advanced sensor systems for products that rely on accurate, real-time input from the physical world. Whether your device concept is intended to interpret motion, pressure, proximity, light, biometrics, or environmental signals, we engineer the embedded systems that capture, clean, and process sensor data reliably.

A well-designed sensor stack can provide real-time feedback to a robotic limb, track biosignals in a wearable medical device, detect user intent in a brain-computer interface, or monitor ambient light for adaptive displays. We help companies build sensor systems that deliver reliable, actionable insights under tight power, size, and latency constraints.

For information about our services, or to discuss your vision in greater detail, get in touch.

Signal Capture to Embedded Insight

Sensor system engineering is often the link between hardware design and algorithm performance. Our work begins with understanding what the product is supposed to observe, and what downstream components will do with that data. Your device may need to start a motor, log environmental conditions, interpret gestures, feed an ML model on the edge, or something else. 

We start by clarifying what the sensor needs to detect and how that information will shape the device's response. Once we've identified the performance requirements, we choose components that fit the task and design the supporting electronics around them. This includes power regulation, signal routing, and noise management. We also develop the firmware that collects, filters, and prepares the data for use elsewhere in the system.

What Applications Rely on Real-Time Sensing?

Sensor systems show up across nearly every product class we support. In robotics, multiple sensor types work together to provide context: accelerometers measure motion, LiDARs map space, and IMUs help track orientation. In medical devices, biosensors measure heart rate, oxygen levels, muscle activity, or brainwaves, and that information guides behavior in real time.

Our work in the wearable space often involves combining multiple sensor inputs into a compact, low-power package. That includes touch sensors, motion tracking, temperature monitoring, and more. And in edge AI products, we support sensor fusion pipelines that integrate audio, visual, or haptic input for fast local inference. We can also support the development of  smart consumer devices, and for those, we engineer systems that respond to the environment automatically by adjusting displays, triggering alerts, adapting controls without user input, and other functionality.

Regardless of the specific project, our sensor systems collect meaningful data and produce stable output.

Engineering Services for Sensor-Based Devices

Sensor Selection and Qualification

We help clients choose the right sensor components based on application requirements, power budgets, signal type, and environmental constraints. Our process accounts for noise performance, sensitivity, latency, temperature stability, and supply chain availability. We also evaluate whether custom calibration is needed during manufacturing, or if onboard self-calibration is available.

When a product uses multiple sensors that overlap in function (such as an accelerometer and gyroscope) we model how they'll interact and whether the signal paths require fusion, redundancy, or filtering to support real-time use.

Analog Front-End Design

For sensors that produce analog output, front-end circuitry plays a big role in maintaining signal quality. We design amplifier stages and filtering circuits that protect signal integrity before conversion. Each interface with the ADC is built with care, taking into account noise levels, available bandwidth, and the expected range of input.

Layout matters just as much. We keep analog traces isolated from digital lines and maintain clean grounding to reduce interference. Material choices and trace geometry are selected with the signal path in mind. In high-resolution or low-frequency applications, we use layout techniques that preserve even minor variations in voltage, which helps maintain accuracy without requiring a larger board.

Embedded Software for Data Acquisition

For sensors with analog output, the front-end circuitry directly affects signal quality. We design amplifier stages and filtering circuits that stabilize the signal before it reaches the converter. Each ADC interface is tuned to the application, with careful attention to noise, bandwidth, and input range.

As far as the layout is concerned, we separate analog traces from digital lines and maintain solid ground references to avoid interference. Materials and trace shapes are chosen to support signal flow rather than just fit the board. In systems that demand high resolution or handle slow-changing signals, we apply layout strategies that preserve detail without increasing the overall board size.

Real-Time Signal Processing

In many projects, raw data isn't usable on its own. It needs to be cleaned, transformed, or interpreted before it feeds into a decision-making process. Think Circuits designs digital signal processing (DSP) pipelines that run on embedded hardware. These can include frequency analysis, smoothing filters, peak detection, or motion classification algorithms.

Our experience with BCI, wearable, and robotics applications gives us a practical sense of which transformations can happen in firmware, which need hardware acceleration, and which are better handled offboard. We also support integration with edge ML models where applicable.

Sensor Fusion and Multi-Sensor Integration

We build sensor systems that don't rely on a single input, but rather combine several data streams into a cohesive picture. This includes fusing gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer data into a stable 3D orientation estimate, combining vision and proximity data for object tracking, or correlating biosignals across sensors to improve accuracy.

Sensor fusion strategies depend on use case and hardware capability. We can apply weighted averaging, Kalman filtering, or machine learning-based fusion depending on what the system demands and what the processing platform allows.

We Design for the Full Product Lifecycle

We can support validation, calibration, and tuning for production. That includes test jig development, calibration protocols, and reference signal generation to verify system behavior over time. We help our clients build systems that keep performing long after launch, even across units with slight component variation or environmental exposure.

We also collaborate across disciplines from day one. Our electrical engineers coordinate with firmware, mechanical, and product teams so that sensor location, mounting orientation, and enclosure behavior don't degrade performance. We think about light paths, airflow, surface texture, and vibration, and not just the electrical signal.

Build Smarter Devices With the Right Sensor System

Think Circuits brings deep experience in building hardware that responds to the world around it. From compact wearables to mobile robots, we've helped design sensor systems that make products more useful, more adaptive, and more intelligent. If your device needs to listen, measure, track, detect, or interpret, our engineering team can build the system that makes it happen.