What we do
We are a custom development shop that connects the physical and digital worlds together to ensure better decision making and smarter automation.
We design and build mechatronics solutions:
- sensors
- coordinated networks
- control systems
- software
- process automation
- data systems
- electronics
- robotics
- autonomous flight systems
Our solutions are for:
- homes
- farms
- factories
- facilities
- warehouses
- safety
- military
- law enforcement
- and other purposes
With decades of experience we anticipate edge cases and ensure resiliency and security to minimize failure and downtime.
When should you contact us?
If any of these resonate, let's talk: sales@criticalshift.io
- You've seen some tech that is almost what you're looking for, but it needs tweaks for your use case
- You can't find the tech that you think should exist
- You have a prototype solution that you need converted to a scalable production solution
- You're doing something repetitive and you're not sure how to automate your way out of it
Our Specialities
IoT Edge-to-Cloud Solutions
Monitor and affect the physical world. Make better decisions, faster.
Selection, Integration & Lifecycle Management of IoT devices, including the control systems that help you collect data, make the best decisions, and manage fleets of physical devices.
- Distributed and edge processing
- Smart devices, homes, farms, factories, warehouses, etc.
- Observability
- Mechatronics systems
- Command and control systems
- Access control
Physical and Digital Collection Systems
We build the Things in the Internet-of-Things.
Prototyping, Design, and Manufacturing of data collection, processing, and cyber-physical systems that monitor or actuate on and off-network systems.
- We’ll build custom sensors or find and integrate compatible third-party devices
- Stable or Bleeding edge.
- We excel at resilience in challenging environment operations
- With decades of experience, we anticipate future needs and control future costs
Business and Data Operations Automation
Buy back your time.
We excel at automating existing businesses to enable them to shift into a new gear of productivity and profit. We understand how to navigate and blend the physical and digital worlds.
- Manufacturing
- Data processing
- Business operations
Case Studies
Makerpass
We designed and manufactured an access control safety system for manufacturing facilities and makerspaces that controlled tool operation using employee ID cards, as well as the web-based control system that integrated with the ERP system. Example use case: ensuring dangerous equipment can only be operated by qualified and trained personnel.
Cloud Conduit
We built a data conduit that enables any legacy hardware devices (ex: cameras, door controllers) to become cloud-connected. This device works in wired, wireless, and even on battery-only or weatherproofed installations. Example use case: networking legacy and remote camera systems into a central surveillance system for site security.
Email Outreach
We automated a successful advertising company’s entire workflow to enable it to scale operations 10x above what it could previously accomplish, including more informative dashboards and analytics to drive better business decisions and cost controls. Example use case: email and sms communications management with members and constituents.
Drone Swarm
Assembled and managed the Red Team to provide testing fleet of fixed-wing and multi-rotor Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), including automation software to manage flight operations and Air Traffic Control (ATC) with multiple airspaces. Example use case: DARPA Mobile Force Protection (MFP)
Agtech Gateway
Designed and built a weatherproof hub that collects and aggregates data from various types of environmental and agricultural sensors used to monitor crop and garden productivity for better cultivation decision making.
SDK and API Development
Designed and delivered the cross-platform (Linux, macOS, Windows) SDK for interacting with a popular hardware authentication device using .NET Core.
Designed and developed an API for intuitive management of software-defined, fault-tolerant storage within a cluster as if you were only managing a single server. A complicated cluster feels as easy as a single computer.
Windows Storage Management
Designed and developed the storage management capabilities within Windows that currently power Windows Server, Windows Storage Spaces, and billions of computers worldwide.
Distributed Storage Cluster Assurance
Designed an algorithm that enables applications to define and ensure storage consistency across clusters of compute during operating system backup and restore events.
Multi-form-factor Hardware Provisioning System
Designed and manufactured a system that consolidated multiple hardware provisioning systems (firmware loading) into a single configurable production line with equal throughput at one quarter the capital expenditure and in one quarter of the manufacturing facility space. The system is highly automated, enables resilient failover at a fraction of the cost, and uses primarily off the shelf components to minimize capex and maintenance costs.