Electronics and mechanical hardware, designed and built together.
Tango Five Solutions develops connected devices and the mechanical parts that house them. Electronics, enclosure and firmware are handled by the same shop, so the pieces are designed to fit each other rather than assembled from separate suppliers.
What we do
Connected devices
Sensor nodes, data loggers and controllers developed for a defined application, from schematic through to firmware. Power consumption is designed around the service interval you require, whether that is mains supply or several years on a battery.
- 2–4 layer boards, through-hole and SMD
- ESP32, STM32, nRF52
- LoRa, Wi-Fi, BLE, MQTT
- Battery and solar power budgeting
Part design
Mechanical design from a sketch, a photograph or an existing component. Fit and tolerance are verified before anything is produced, and parts are drawn for the manufacturing process they will use, allowing a printed prototype to move to machining or moulding as volumes increase.
- Reverse engineering from a physical part
- Enclosures, brackets, jigs, fixtures
- Tolerance and clearance checks
- STEP files released to the client
3D printing
Functional parts produced in engineering materials, for components that carry load, accept a thread or remain outdoors. Orientation and wall thickness are selected for the load path of each part, in quantities from a single unit to short production runs.
- FDM and resin
- PETG, ASA, PA6-CF, TPU, PLA
- One-off through short production runs
- File review for client-operated machines
FFS EFB GPS Gateway
In serviceA gateway that supplies a full flight simulator's own position to electronic flight bags in the cockpit, so that charts track the aircraft during training exactly as they do in flight. The benefit is most apparent in IFR training, where geo-referenced approach plates give the crew the same situational awareness they rely on in the aircraft.
Crews increasingly train with the same electronic flight bag they use in the aircraft, but in most simulators the tablet receives no position at all. Without own-ship display, the geo-referencing that makes a Jeppesen plate useful in Garmin Pilot or ForeFlight is unavailable, and the chart work that occupies a crew through an instrument approach cannot be practised as it is flown.
The gateway takes position from the simulator host and presents it to the tablets in the same manner as a portable GPS receiver. Applications that already support one require no configuration beyond joining the network. The unit operates on the network it creates, with no route to the internet and no connection to the training centre's own systems.
The board, the firmware and the enclosure were all developed in house, which makes the gateway a fair illustration of the work described above.
Compatibility with a particular simulator is confirmed before any order is placed. Enquiries are welcome.
- Coverage
- Up to 8 tablets at once
- Position
- Continuous, with no perceptible lag behind the simulator
- Connection
- One wired link to the simulator host
- Network
- Its own isolated Wi-Fi, no internet route
- Power
- 5 V USB-C, under 3 W
- Enclosure
- Printed ASA, 96 × 62 × 28 mm, DIN rail or hook-and-loop mount
- Tablet apps
- ForeFlight and Garmin Pilot, including geo-referenced Jeppesen charts
- Integration
- Read only. Position is taken from the host and nothing is returned to the simulator.
- Install
- Under 15 minutes, with no software installed on the tablets
How a project runs
Enquiry
A drawing or written specification is not required to begin. A photograph of the component concerned, or a description of what the device must achieve, is sufficient. A fixed scope and price are issued before any work starts.
Design
The part is modelled in CAD, the schematic drawn and the materials selected. Renders and a dimensioned drawing are issued for approval before anything is produced or ordered.
Prototype
A physical part or a bench tested board is supplied for assessment. Most projects require one or two revisions at this stage, which are anticipated and included in the quoted scope.
Production
On approval the design is assigned a part number and revision, so that repeat orders are produced identically. Source files remain the property of the client, whether or not further orders follow.
Manufacturing
Printing, machining and laser cutting are carried out in house for prototypes and short runs. Processes and volumes beyond that capacity are produced through established suppliers, working from the same drawings and under the same revision control, so the specification does not change when a part moves to volume.
- Processes in house
- FDM 3D printing, CNC machining and laser cutting
- Through suppliers
- Volume machining, sheet metal, casting and injection moulding, printed circuit board fabrication and assembly
- Part size
- Determined by the part rather than by a fixed capacity. Larger work is routed to the appropriate process at quotation.
- Tolerance and finish
- Specified for the application and confirmed before production
- Materials
- Engineering polymers including carbon filled grades, resin, aluminium and steel
- Electronics
- Assembly, bench test and burn in
- Quantities
- Single units through to production batches
- Files accepted
- STEP, STL, 3MF and DXF, or a photograph with a scale reference
- Lead time
- Quoted per project, with prototypes prioritised
Start a project
Enquiries are welcome at any stage, including those still at the idea stage. Quotations are fixed before work begins, and there is no charge for establishing whether a project is viable.
The business is based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Delivery within Thailand and the wider region is measured in days rather than weeks, and shipping further afield is arranged on request.
Drawings, photographs and existing files can be sent to the address above at any point. There is no need to attach them to the form.