Droid technologies LLC

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of BoxDark and inventor of the ProSteer, the world’s first handheld analog steering input device for PC and game consoles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Droid Technologies?

We needed rapid development of a HID printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), custom fit to our existing enclosure. We also needed design of a USB-C charge cable, play connectivity, Bluetooth connectivity, firmware, and computer-aided design for enclosures.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of the project was to develop a market-ready gaming input device with plug and play connectivity.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After much research I narrowed my search to two potential development partners, Droid Technologies and one other, larger organization. Upon further consideration, Sergii (CEO and Owner, Droid Technologies) showed a strong understanding of our needs and gave me confidence in their ability to execute the task.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They designed our PCBA and integrated the main logic board with Bluetooth, USB-C charge, and play connectivity. They incorporated a micro switchboard to allow three-phase function switching and 2x2 daughter boards to extend control input functions through two enclosure hinges. They created a computer-aided design (CAD) for enclosures to adjust and improve our existing analog enclosure design. They created firmware to enable and calibrate multiple digital and analog potentiometer functions through specific ranges.

What was the team composition?

We worked with Sergii as our project manager. We worked with a PCBA hardware design and manufacturing resource, a firmware developer, and a CAD developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Working with Droid Technologies has significantly improved our timeline to commercialization, which is critical for a hardware startup.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Sergii handles project management and has done a very good job of managing milestones and the overall timeline of our project. There have been a couple of delays, but we have been completely informed throughout, so we’ve been able to plan and adjust. Any issues have been overcome in a professional and timely manner, and the communication from the team at Droid has been forthcoming and of high quality. They are very easy to collaborate with and they provide excellent advice and guidance throughout the process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’re willing to dive in and help. We quickly found ourselves working with very motivated experts across all the relevant areas of our project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The only areas of delay were the result of a third-party manufacturer’s issues. The only area of improvement for Droid Technologies might be to increase their pool of trusted manufacturers so they have more alternatives in the future.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

ALLTEC is a German-based company dealing with laser marking systems. I’m the engineer for a specific brand of our products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Droid Technologies?

We’re currently working on an IoT project. We’re also connecting all our products to a cloud service and needed help from an external partner for this task.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Droid Technologies has worked on an edge server IoT component running on our laser systems using C++. Part of this project consists of developing the cloud server, which we’ve done in-house.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager on our side, but it was important for us to have direct communication with the developer. Droid Technologies’ developer is part of our virtual team, which is set up in different locations across Europe.

How did you come to work with Droid Technologies?

We’d had good experience outsourcing software work to Ukrainian freelancers.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $25,000–$50,000 on this project so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Droid Technologies in September 2018. We’ve integrated them more and more into our software development. It’s an ongoing, sprint-driven process that requires keeping the team as consistent as possible. We’re looking to finish this project at the beginning of June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’re still in development at the moment, so it’s too early to provide metrics, but it’s been a good experience. We’ve enjoyed working with Droid Technologies, especially with the developer we’re using, whom we’ve integrated into our team. He is well-educated around all the technologies needed to execute this project.

How did Droid Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

We employ an agile, test-driven approach, and have a very good collaboration with the developer. He takes part in our team meetings on a regular basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve typically worked with freelancers in the past. With Droid Technologies, we have management support, so our resource is given the right training on all relevant technologies.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s always good to have face-to-face meetings with the people we’re working with, and we plan to have the developer over for one week to collaborate a bit more deeply beyond just teleconferences. Doing this at the very early stages of a project would be an improvement for Droid Technologies.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We're a small US-based manufacturer of a high-tech pet product called Felik.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Droid Technologies?

We needed a team to create all of the electronics for our device. It consists of four different printed circuit boards (PCBs), which contain components like a Wi-Fi adapter, a USB hub, a microcontroller, and power management.

What were your goals for this project?

To develop the electronics for our product, including the internal wiring harness and the motor and laser control.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I've learned about them through a colleague who owns a local product design firm.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They've developed a total of PCBs for us, working on multiple revisions as we requested them in order to help assembly. They took our very loose requirements and turned them into a functioning product, working with our computer-aided design data to make sure everything that fits in the enclosure with high precision. They've also ensured that all components will pass the Federal Communications Commission’s radio frequency inspection.

I sent over an 8–9-page document with requirements and a prototype circuit, and we communicated over Skype a few times to clarify things or provide missing information. After that, I simply received my files and was ready to manufacture the boards.

What was the team composition?

I've worked with three engineers from their side.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

They’re very fast and don't require any hand-holding from us: they produced their solutions in a matter of weeks, based on our requirements. That timing was a huge plus for us, and they’re also very cost effective.

They do work that is of excellent quality, the communication is very good, and they are responsive. I also work closely with a local product design firm and I know that their other customers have used Droid Technologies for firmware and electronics development with great success.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

It was fairly hands-off and easy because they understood the requirements very well and executed on them perfectly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They understood what were quite loose requirements very well, without the need to constantly figure things out with us. They’re very professional and easy to reach, should there be a need.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We're 100% satisfied and will continue to work with them for all our electronics and firmware needs and future products.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of a UI design firm. We specialize in hardware, software, industrial design, and mechanical design.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Droid Technologies?

We were working on a project for our customer and we needed help with software design. Droid Technologies did a great job, so we continued giving them work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We do custom designs on behalf of our customers and Droid oversees firmware and software design for the user interface. Our in-house engineering team does the architecture of the design and Droid breaks down our projects into finite elements, which they’re delivering on a weekly or monthly basis. Then, our engineers integrate those components into a larger application. They've also helped us with electrical design and worked on some Android applications. Currently, they're building an internal development platform for us so that we can test out advanced technologies and materials.

What is the team composition?

I mostly work with Sergii (CEO, Droid Technologies), who has a team underneath him. They've assigned at least six people to our project.

How did you come to work with Droid Technologies?

I found them through a Google search. I started working with Sergii and I loved what he did for me, so I continued my relationship with Droid.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent between $40,000–$70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2016 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They work quickly and provide a lot of infrastructure that we need on a regular basis. The first project we had them do was a proof of concept for a major small appliance customer, and Droid completed that project within two months.

How did Droid Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They do an excellent job. They create a lot of videos to update us on the progress, but their written documentation sometimes could be a bit better.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're always there for us. They're very responsive and keep their commitments. If we're pushing for something that is unrealistic, they'll let us know and tell us what timeframe would be more realistic to complete the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

My only recommendation for them would be to improve their written documentation, but that's a very minor issue.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep an open line of communication. Also, provide a thorough statement of work and have clear goals, timelines, and a way to measure success.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of TP Engineering, a private engineering firm. We work on electronics, mechanical, and software for companies, taking their products from concept to prototype and sometimes prototype to first article. We work in addition to their engineering departments.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Droid Technologies?

We needed a partner to augment our team, mostly for firmware development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

One of our projects with Droid Technologies was an accessory for a third-party data logger. It had a USP interface, and our client wanted a display. We did all the electronics for the hardware plugin, and Droid Technologies built the firmware.

Another project was an automated client growing system. Droid Technologies did the firmware for a Linux system, which included the device drivers and some graphical interface for the display.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is the project manager, and we’ve worked with four different firmware developers.

How did you come to work with Droid Technologies?

A friend referred them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We partnered in October 2017, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I’m happy with the quality of their work. If I’m not, I’ll let them know, and they always fix it.

How did Droid Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re fairly responsive and accomplish what we ask of them. The time difference makes communication a bit difficult, but we’ve adapted. They use Jira to track tasks and stay organized. I have to keep tabs on them and record how much work they’ve done each day.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They make high-quality firmware, even when the products are complicated. Their code is consistent across the team members, which makes our job easier.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be more independent, but they do good work.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Be specific on your requirements or you might waste a lot of time and money figuring things out as you go.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a development company. We create models and different solutions for startups in their early stages.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Droid Technologies?

We wanted to partner with a development company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started out by working as the backend of our company by incorporating talented engineers to our team. Later on, we started offering services to our customers instead of just giving them a ready-made product, which included design and development. We’re the face that client’s see and Droid Technologies is the tech provider for our company.

We know how to find business, market ourselves, and how to create a lot of things, whereas Droid Technologies knows how to build them. Most of the time, we collaborate on the development of microcontrollers. The product we made was very easy to integrate, so we’re more focused on the integration of the components into a very small, tight design, which is their area of expertise. They know how to make small designs based on sensors, connectivity, microcontrollers, and power.

After that, they also developed it as a Windows application. Currently, they’re working on software electronics, Windows application development, and Linux development.

What is the team composition?

We’re up to 12 people now, and it became really hard to manage them all at the same time, so we decided to bring on a project manager to monitor the process. I’m in Israel and the team is scattered in three locations in Ukraine.

How did you come to work with Droid Technologies?

We tried a few companies in Ukraine, which were a big disaster. One couldn’t take on a long-term engagement and another wasn’t professional enough. A friend told me how Droid Technologies had talented engineers, so we tried one project and it was a success.

After that, we worked together more and eventually partnered. They’re pretty expensive for me, but the level of support I get from them is worth it.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested over €200,000 (approximately $227,770 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2017 and the collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

As soon as Droid Technologies joined our team, we were able to take on five projects at a time. Two weeks ago, we finished six projects at the same time. If we launched two projects during three years and an additional six to eight projects the following year, we’ll accelerate our time to market now with the additional team.

How did Droid Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication is really good. Finding the best way to work was a process, but we’re at a place now where documentation is really great. We put everything on Google Drive for everybody to access and read, and once we approve a strategy, we execute it. If we have a problem, we can change it, and everyone is involved.

The project manager oversees the tasks being done by the developers, as well as when they will be completed. He also sets conference calls with my customers to discuss requirements so we can better understand their needs. We use Jira to manage tasks.

The project manager also supervises how many hours they've worked, when additional actions are needed, and when internal conference calls between the teams are required. It’s very complicated, but we manage to work well together. They are part of my company and if I were to lose them, it’d be a huge loss. I’d love to buy them in the future.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team members are focused and care about finishing their work on time. They understand that we’re a startup and that we’re struggling, and really care about me and about bringing value to my company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There aren’t any areas they could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Understanding the culture of Ukrainian engineers is important. If a company wants to work with Droid Technologies, they have to adapt their mind to a different culture.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of operations and technology for PDP Associates Inc., a highly specialized hardware and software design and integration firm. We work in highway traffic and safety products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Droid Technologies?

I’d built a rudimentary prototype of a new radar vehicle speed detection product, and we needed a company to make a more formal and manufactured prototype.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The physical product Droid Technologies is building is a custom-printed circuit board that has an LCD touchscreen, third-party radar unit for speed detection, GPS chip with a built-in antenna, 4G LTE micro modem, and solar chargers. It’s a sophisticated piece of hardware with its own microcontroller unit and custom software, which Droid Technologies also made.

The product plugs into some backend cloud-based Windows servers that we already had, but Droid Technologies help integrate them together. They also work with a Chinese manufacturer to get the printed circuit boards (PCBs) delivered to our final assembly location.

What is the team composition?

I mainly work with a software programmer, a circuit designer, and an expediter who interfaces with the Chinese PCB manufacturer.

How did you come to work with Droid Technologies?

We found them on Upwork.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since February 2017. We’re currently in our third design revision and are working on adding remote firmware updating functionality.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

My prototype wasn’t nearly as good or cohesive as the product they’ve built. They’ve increased the amount of product we can ship, which has allowed us to find more business and max out sales. Now, this product accounts for about 25% of our company’s revenue.

How did Droid Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m happy with their level of documentation and responsiveness. There’s some lag because of the different time zones, but they’re relatively easy to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They gave us helpful feedback right away, before we’d even signed a contract. They helped us change the scope of our initial product to make it much better than it originally would’ve been. I’m not experienced in this type of work, but Droid Technologies made it accessible and easy to understand.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could provide more documentation on their software versions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a company that develops office productivity solutions for the workplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Droid Technologies?

We needed a partner to manage our hardware and firmware development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Droid Technologies manages our hardware and software solutions, all in one team. We no longer have to turn to separate freelancers to get the services we need. Droid Technologies helps identify hardware components that are needed to fulfill our requirements, such as PCBs and test boards. They then develop the firmware to make the hardware function properly. They’ve developed 32-bit apps and web apps, using C#, C++, and HTML5.

What is the team composition?

They have six team members, including a project manager, designer, and firmware specialist.

How did you come to work with Droid Technologies?

We found them on Upwork.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $35,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since April 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We recently launched our product, and we were trending on Twitter. The reception has been positive.

How did Droid Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Droid Technologies has all the experts we need in one spot. They’re able to take our project from start to finish much quicker than our previous workflow, and their communication is great. We have a weekly meeting with the project manager and developers to discuss what was accomplished the prior week and what will be accomplished in the upcoming week. We also use Slack to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They quickly understood our requirements and clearly communicated any questions or confusion. Because they so thoroughly prepared for the task, they didn’t waste any time during the actual build.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Develop specific requirements that provide detailed instructions for their team.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated on October 17th, 2019 by the client. New content is below.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a hardware company with resellers in over 25 countries worldwide. We provide office productivity solutions geared around the workspace and the availability of the user.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Droid Technologies?

We needed expertise in hardware design and firmware programming.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Droid Technologies manages our hardware and software solutions, all in one team. We provide them with the project requirements, and they expand on the technical documentation for areas that we couldn’t cover.

From there, they come up with the hardware design and associate it to a printed circuit board (PBC) design. Then comes testing, prototyping, and development for the firmware to confirm that we can meet our initial requirements.

In terms of technologies used, they work with AutoCAD for the industrial design and another tool to produce Gerber files for the PCB designs. We finished the first part of the project in December 2018, and we’ve continued to revise on their work since.

What is the team composition?

I interact with the developers, and the project manager does, as well.  

How did you come to work with Droid Technologies?

We chose them based on our first interaction. They’re experts and understand requirements quickly.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve now spent $150,000 to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2017, and the first part of the project ended in 2018. Currently, we’ve reengaged them for ongoing work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The product we’ve put in the market is in high demand. Customers are buying the solution, and all initial issues were eventually resolved in time.

How did Droid Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is perfect because they understand requirements so quickly. The team under promises and over delivers, working really hard to make sure we make our timeline.

Their communication is great, too. Everyone speaks English well, especially the project manager, and they’re always keeping us up to date during our weekly meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The developers are passionate about their work and deliver to our expectations. They all love what they do, going above and beyond rather than providing the bare minimum. I appreciate how they make sure that the work done is high-quality. They’re happy to work weekends and extra hours to meet deadlines.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing they need to improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a retail solution. We are developing an AI-based assistant for retailers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Droid Technologies?

My project involves hardware and software. I needed hardware designers and embedded software developers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed custom hardware for us, taking a system module from the open market and developing a carrier board. The chip can be used to develop supporting network devices and connections.

Once the custom board was developed, they put in the software and the drivers. It was very intricate, high-level engineering work. I was fortunate to have the right team at the right time.

What is the team composition?

Their team was integrated with our team and we managed it on our side. I consider their team to be rock stars.

How did you come to work with Droid Technologies?

We required a very niche skillset. I found them on Upwork and felt they were the right fit after interviewing three or four companies. They were very professional and the depth of their experience showed from day one.

How much have you invested with them?

 We spent $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They finished the hardware successfully, while the software has come on well. I’m very happy with the team.

How did Droid Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication is good and I’m happy with their level of documentation and availability. We use Jira, chat rooms, and Google Docs. All the product management is based on our systems.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I give them a lot of credit for the ease of doing business. They’re very approachable, highly professional, and technically talented. They’re very easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re doing great. However, there are challenges with them being a growing company. They need to improve response time and do more resource planning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

There’s a tendency to jump into a project. You need to have clear requirements to make the engagement successful. If your requirements aren’t strong and clarity isn’t there, you lose time and money.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Sinapse Energia is a Spanish company developing internet of things (IoT) hardware products. I’m responsible for development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Droid Technologies?

We needed a specific program for a new hardware project. We didn’t have the resources in-house to develop it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built a gateway for reading data from sensors through a radio frequency channel, which also sends the data to a server by MQTT protocol. We used C and C++ for this initial project. We continued working together with the same microcontroller and with the same languages, but with new features. Their team handles software development inside the device.

What is the team composition?

I have a main point of contact that I coordinate with. There are also two developers involved, though we’ve had up to four at times.

How did you come to work with Droid Technologies?

I found them on Upwork. I spoke with two other companies, but Droid Technologies left a good impression.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $15,000–$25,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2017 and the collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The impact of their work is remarkable. We didn’t have any experience in firmware development, and they now handle this almost entirely. They’re very important in our company. The product’s quality is better, we’re more efficient, and we have new features that weren’t possible for us to deliver on our own.

How did Droid Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Their documentation and availability are good. While there are some days they aren’t online much, I normally can reach them. We use Slack to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a deep knowledge of the technologies that we need and their code quality is great. Some providers told us that they could handle the work, but they really didn’t know how to. Droid Technologies has the expertise we require.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could let us know when their team won’t be available. Everything else is great.