Product Roadmap

Like all products, the SHARC began as an idea many years ago. It was only after our own headaches with integrating numerous hardware and software technologies that we began to understand that we needed to make industrial data acquisition simpler. Machine connectivity all boils down to sensors that detect movement of some type or another. Amazingly, we have brought our product from concept to market in a little over a year. There are still many hurdles to overcome, but the journey has been fruitful for what we perceive as a much-needed industry change and many new business relationships.

With so many prospective variations of the SHARC possible over the next few years, we thought we would share our current roadmap and some of the reasoning behind our choices. Keep in mind that the first market version of the SHARC is meant to only support a single input (Discrete or Analog) as we gain feedback from customers and mature our product before branching off into something like multiple inputs.

Quarter 1

Between beta testing hardware revisions we envision the SHARC release date to the public by mid June 2023.

Quarter 2

Beta testing is still ongoing with select customers. For our production release, we have many processes in action behind the scenes. The SHARC is configurable by both a website that is in progress as well as an app for iPhone and Android. To prepare for the release we are also trying to ensure that OTA (Over The Air) updates are possible to update the firmware as new versions are released. We are also configuring an enclosure that allows for 3-4 SHARCs, a router, and IPC all powered by a single POE line. We hope to add this as an option to our website near the release date.

Quarter 3

This version of the SHARC will introduce numerous value-add features including an OUTPUT pin. These additional features will make the SHARC a more robust product offering to the industry.

• Removal of the rotary switch and addition of software-controlled switch for selecting Discrete PNP/NPN or Analog 0-10 VDC / 4-20 mA.

  • This allows customers to select which sensor type the SHARC is configured to support through the mobile app or our website. This will also be a step towards an IP67 rating.

• Switchable sensor supply voltage (on/off).

  • This will allow us to shut off power to the sensor if we detect electrical anomalies OR if you would like to “tap” an existing sensor you can set this to “OFF” to ensure no power is supplied to the sensor.

• Switchable pin on M12 connector.

  • This would be a general-purpose, user definable, output pin.

• Sensing functionality for sensor supply current

  • Allows us to detect electrical anomalies and shut off the power to the sensor if required.

Quarter 4

This version of the SHARC will revolve around adding serial connectivity to our device. With such a large volume of serial devices still in the market it only makes sense to offer the SHARC with a serial interface.

• Featuring RS232/485 interface

• Modbus-RTU

• Output pin to actuate serial device or remotely configure the sensor.

2024 Roadmap

2024 will revolve around introducing SHARC devices with multiple inputs and attempting to shrink the form factor of the single-input SHARC.

Our current roadmap is based on industry experience, customer feedback, and natural product evolution. This roadmap is not set in stone while we value every customer’s opinion any changes to the roadmap will be ultimately determined by majority feedback.