Engineering R&D | The Pilot Group

ENGINEERING R&D AT A PACE & PRICE OUR CUSTOMERS LOVE

SERVICES

Machine

Design & Fab

While no two machine design tasks are identical, the process of cost-effectively designing and building machines has many constant elements.

From simple mechanisms to computer-controlled robotic marvels, The Pilot Group is expert at performing design, analysis and fabrication on a schedule and for a fixed price.

Control Systems

Design

Control systems require expertise in both the physical system and the theoretical underpinnings.

The Pilot Group can bring a broad range of abilities to bear on most projects. As a result, we are able to cost-effectively design and integrate almost any control system needed.

Electronics

Design

The Pilot Group has in-house expertise to design and fabricate custom electronics, both analog and digital. We also have the experience to know when off-the-shelf solutions are available.

ABOUT

The Pilot Group has been incorporated since 1990. The early work of The Pilot Group ranged from Hollywood special effects, to high-temperature metal forming, to professional astronomical instruments.

Over the years, we have relied almost solely on word-of-mouth recommendations to bring in our business. We have grown organically to meet the demand for the services and products we offer.

The Pilot Group has achieved notable accomplishments in the course of meeting the needs of their clients. These include:

Design of the world's largest digital servo control system (at the time) used for the two hydraulic snakes in the movie "Anaconda", each having 120 coupled degrees of freedom.
Design of the optics mounts for some of the world's largest spectrographs for the Keck and other telescopes.
Design and fabrication of the highest performance gas pressure control system in regular industrial use, accurate to 0.1 psi over a 1000 psi range with a resolution better than 0.02 psi.
Design and fabrication of the world's fastest research telescope mount, used in the RAPTOR and ROTSE programs.
Design and fabrication of the highest precision MTF measurement system used in a production environment.
Design and fabrication of a linear actuator capable of supporting 100 kg (220 lbs) with a position resolution of 2 nm over a stroke of 5 mm. The actuator has no rolling or sliding parts and dissipates less than 2 Watts.