The hardware development workspace

Build hardware.
With intent.

Research, industrial design, and engineering. One workspace to explore concepts, direct AI, and carry your design intent from the first idea to manufacturing.

A project, in your handsOrbit · select · explore
Explore the product. Understand its decisions. Carry intent into the details.

From first question to manufacturing

One project.
Every consequential decision.

Move between research, industrial design, engineering, and physical learning. Keep the reason behind a choice close to the work it shapes.

Give the idea a direction.

Bring the people, context, and purpose into focus. Connect references, requirements, and the experience you want to create.

What moves the project forward
  • People & context
  • Research & references
  • Product requirements
  • Design intent

Start where your project is. Return to any decision as you learn.

Industrial design & product decisions

Shape the product.
Keep the intent.

Explore form, physical experience, and construction together. Compare directions and carry the decisions that matter into engineering.

Aeris / Design study
Aeris / Room monitor

Preparing the design study…

01 / Form

Explore a different character.

Compare a precise outline with a softer enclosure. Keep the display and electronics in place.

Intent carried forward

Same display. Same electronics. Your direction.

One product. Connected design decisions.Bring material into the picture

Material & manufacturing intent

How it’s made belongs
in how it’s designed.

Connect material, finish, process, and assembly to the product—and carry those choices into production.

Connected sourcing

Bring JLCPCB, DigiKey, and Mouser into electronics decisions, alongside plastics and metal suppliers for mechanical parts.

Enclosure · Making intent

PETG

Learn quickly. Keep it editable.

ProcessFDM printing
Quantity10 units
FocusFit & assembly
Design considerations

Review wall thickness, layer direction, and clearance. Use the first physical parts to refine the fit before committing to a production route.

Illustrative manufacturing scenarios.

ProtoAgent alongside the model · Captured in Protobench

Your judgment. More room to work.

Direct the change.
Preserve what matters.

Tell ProtoAgent what to explore, what to keep, and which constraints to respect. Inspect alternatives and understand their consequences before choosing a direction.

Your intent, in context

“Keep the front silhouette and selected electronics. Explore two ways to improve rear access.”

Explore ProtoAgent

Connected tools. Continuous development.

Specialist tools.
One central workspace.

Build in Protobench, from concept to manufacturing. Optionally refine in Fusion 360, FreeCAD, or KiCad, and bring saved revisions back into the same project. More connected apps coming soon.

  1. DevelopProtobench
  2. Optional refinementFusion 360 · FreeCAD · KiCad
  3. ContinueProtobench

A few practical details

Before you dive in.

Who is Protobench for?

Hardware builders, product designers, engineers, and small hardware teams who need a central place to think, make, evaluate, and iterate on physical products.

How do materials and manufacturing fit into the workflow?

They shape the design from the start. Material properties, process, quantity, tolerances, and finish help frame the choices you make about geometry, fit, performance, sourcing, and handoff.

Can I keep working in other tools?

Yes. Take mechanical models into Fusion 360 or FreeCAD for precise adjustment, or refine electronics in KiCad. Return the updated files to reflect those changes in Protobench and continue from the same project—from concept through manufacturing.

For people making physical things

Bring the thing
you want to make.

From an early question to a product taking shape. Tell us what you’re building and where a better workbench would make a difference.

Discuss your project
PROTOBENCH / CONTACT

Tell us what
you’re building.

Tell us what you want to make, the decisions you’re working through, and what matters to the outcome.

We’ll use your email to reply to your message.

A hands-on introduction.

This interactive walkthrough uses the website’s demonstration geometry inside a presentation inspired by the actual application. Explore the same four sample projects—Aeris, Flux, Kestrel, and Atlas—with linked part selection, exploded views, section cuts, mesh bounds, PCB views, and guided prompts.

The Making panel lets you try material, process, and quantity choices for individual parts. These choices stay in this website session. The design study explores two illustrative enclosure directions while retaining the display and electronics. These demonstrations do not run CAD edits, engineering calculations, or live AI generation. The application images further down the page are genuine, unretouched captures.

Protobench