The costs of modifying an existing ‘off the shelf’ motor controller depend largely on the extent of the modifications that you require. As a basic guide we would split this cost up into the tooling costs involved in making changes to the board and then the design and testing time required to ensure the controller meets the exact specifications you require.
Any modifications that are made will require custom made tooling to be made in order to then deliver them as full production units. Typically the cost of this is £800.
The development time required to deliver your modifications obviously depends on the complexity of what you require and how different it is to the standard version. To provide a basic idea our charges for this are £40/hr for design and testing time and £80/hr for any on site work that may be required. If it is as simple as adding one or two onboard features then this may only require 1-2 days work to get done. For more complex changes it could take several days. Please note that we are more than happy to provide fixed price quotes for changes if preferred.
For some applications it may be more cost effective to use an existing controller and purchase a custom made plugin board to deliver the features you require. This is generally the case where modifications are much more about physical user interfaces such as additional buttons, pots or displays and is often also true where additional communications types or similar are required. If you are anticipating relatively high volume (500+ a year) then it will probably be lower cost to get a custom made board. For anything below this, adding a plugin board could save you money.
If this is something that you are considering then the first port of call is to talk to one of our engineers about your requirements. They will advise on the most cost effective method for achieving your project requirements and we can then take the project from there.
