Sparrow Labs Incorporated

Like most successful start-ups, Sparrow Labs, Inc.™ began in June 2010 in a garage in Raleigh, North Carolina. Sparrow Labs’ initial focus was to develop embedded hardware and associated software to capture road survey data.  The projects quickly moved from dsPIC MicroControllers (by MicroChip (R)), to daughter cards with ARM processors running Linux and an FPGA fabric to handle high speed data collection and signal processing to drive external sensors.

Most recent projects include using Bluetooth (R) modules to communicate with local sensors and forward received data to online servers using local WiFi routers.  The latest projects are going beyond the need for WiFi router communication and using Cellular Modems to get data to online servers. (Removing the need for local routers and freeing our Client's products to be truly mobile.)  See the projects page for more information.

Sparrow Labs, Inc. is a licensed Professional Corporation (C.3582).

Mission

Sparrow Labs, Inc. is dedicated to helping your project succeed.  We take a no nonsense approach to customer service, standing behind our word (even when it isn't on a written signed, notarized .... contract.)  Our future success is dependant upon our Client's present success.  

Team

Robert "Bob" Shankle holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master’s of Science in Industrial Engineering with an emphasis on computer simulation from Texas A&M. Bob has over 25 years of experience in software development on Linux RTOS systems as well as bare metal embedded systems.  Bob is a licensed Professional Engineer (NC 36920) in the area of Electrical Engineering (Electronics Depth).

Location

Sparrow Labs, Inc. is conveniently in Raleigh, NC between the Research Triangle Park (RTP) and North Carolina State University (NCSU). This allows us to quickly bring in additional resources ranging from senior engineers down to engineering interns as needed. (We've had multiple projects where we've brought on Engineering Students to make sure our future engineers get an opportunity to use classroom knowledge in the real world.)

Testimonials

“"Bob is one of the rare individuals who can develop both hardware and firmware, bridging what is often a divide in electrical and software engineering teams.  I have enjoyed collaborating with Bob and also appreciate how he prioritizes his customers' product development needs." - Dominic Germana | Founder and Chief Engineer, Impact Embedded LLC

“Bob has always come through with sound and innovative suggestions.  When supply chain issues surfaced recently he adeptly found a workaround that kept production moving with limited disruption.  For an entrepreneur, this is the sort of service and outside-the-box thinking that I find most valuable when looking for a firmware developer.” - Hank Jones | Founder/CEO. 21st Century Creations.

“I've worked with Sparrow Labs for some time now and have consistently found them flexible to changing project demands and very methodical in their approach to solving technical challenges. I would highly recommend them to anyone.” - Jeff Hurley | Senior Software Engineer, Avtec Inc.

“Bob Shankle of Sparrow Labs, Inc. joined our team for a pair of short duration tasks building software infrastructure on top of FreeRTOS running on the Cypress Semiconductor PSoC 5 LP processor. The event/data logging library and graphics drivers Bob created have been crucial to both our internal debugging as well as support for our customer requirements. Bob is a highly skilled and adaptable engineer who was able to jump right in; interact very well with a diverse team of hardware and software engineers; and produce high quality, well documented source within our tight schedule.” - Ben Heard, PE | Lead Software Engineer, Earl Energy

“We have worked with Sparrow Labs for nearly a year now. They have validated our existing code, developed software architecture and strategies, and developed new code for a major project we are developing. They are very skilled in their art and have always been very responsive to our changing needs. We plan to continue working with them for the duration of our project and beyond.” - Mike Golden | Founder/CEO, Gigaband LLC

"Bob joined us for a number of consulting projects in mid 2015. We found his flexibility in the face of shifting requirements and his broad range of technical experience to be great assets to both our team and the client's projects themselves." - Glen Kimsey | Software Engineering Manager, Device Solutions Inc

Tools/Capabilities

Among the many tools we have at our disposal, we've been using Altium's Designer software for PCB design for over 10 years.  Click on the Altium logo below for more information.

Thank You!

Thank you for reading about us, now we'd like to hear more about you and how we can be support your team.  Please send email to rshankle@sparrow-labs.com   Thanks much and have a great day! Bob