Product prototyping & engineering · Denver, CO
From first sketch to first article.
Rodeo Orbital is an independent studio of designers, engineers and machinists. We turn early product ideas into working, tested hardware, and hand you everything you need to take it to production.
01 · Services
Every discipline a physical product needs, under one roof.
Industrial design, mechanical, electrical, firmware, fabrication and test sit in the same building, so problems get solved at the bench, not over email.
Concept & Industrial Design
Form, ergonomics and CMF that survive contact with engineering.
Learn moreMechanical Engineering
Enclosures, mechanisms and structures designed for the factory floor.
Learn moreElectronics & Firmware
Schematics, layouts and embedded code, brought up on our own bench.
Learn moreRapid Prototyping & Fabrication
A full machine shop, print farm and electronics line under one roof.
Learn moreTest & Validation
Test plans, custom rigs and the data that proves a design is ready.
Learn morePilot Production & NPI
Bridge builds, supplier qualification and a clean handoff to scale.
Learn more02 · Selected work
Hardware that left the bench and went to work.
Most of our projects are under NDA. These are a few our clients have allowed us to share, with names withheld.
All case studies03 · How we work
A process built to retire risk early.
Every engagement follows the same five phases. Each one ends with a decision you make on evidence, not a slide deck.
Our approach- 011-2 wks
Frame
We pin down what the product must do, who touches it, and what “done” looks like for this build. You leave with a requirements sheet, a risk register and a fixed plan for the next phase.
- 022-4 wks
Explore
Parallel concepts, sketch models and works-like rigs that retire the scariest technical risks first. Cheap, fast and deliberately rough.
- 034-10 wks
Engineer
Full mechanical, electrical and firmware design with DFM baked in from day one. Every drawing and schematic is reviewed by someone who will actually build it.
- 04Iterative
Build & test
Our in-house shop turns revisions in days, not weeks. Each build runs through a written test plan (functional, environmental and abuse) before it reaches your desk.
- 052-6 wks
Transfer
Pilot builds, supplier qualification and a clean NPI package your contract manufacturer can quote against without phoning us.
04 · The shop
14,500 square feet of tools, ten steps from our desks.
Owning the machines means a revision can go from CAD to your desk in days. It also means our engineers design with a machinist looking over their shoulder, which shows in every part.
Machining
- 5-axis CNC machining center
- 3-axis VMC (40″ travel)
- CNC lathe with live tooling
- Manual mill & lathe
- Wire EDM (via partner, 48 h)
Additive
- Industrial SLS (nylon PA12 / PA11)
- High-resolution SLA (6 printers)
- FDM farm (22 printers)
- Multi-material PolyJet
- Metal DMLS (via partner)
Electronics
- Pick-and-place + reflow line
- Hot-air & BGA rework station
- 4-ch 1 GHz oscilloscopes
- Spectrum analyzer to 6 GHz
- Programmable DC loads & supplies
Fabrication
- 150 W CO₂ & 50 W fiber lasers
- Sheet-metal brake & shear
- Vacuum former
- Urethane & silicone casting
- Paint & finishing booth
Test & metrology
- Thermal chamber -40 °C to +150 °C
- Electrodynamic shake table
- IP ingress spray & dust rig
- Portable CMM arm & 3D scanner
- Drop & tumble fixtures
05 · From our clients
“They told us in week two that our sensor stack wouldn’t survive the drop spec, then showed us the fix in week three. That conversation saved our launch.”
“Rodeo Orbital is the rare shop where the people designing the part are standing next to the machine that cuts it. Revisions that took a month elsewhere took four days.”
“The NPI package they handed our CM was the cleanest our supplier said they had seen from a startup. Zero RFIs on the first quote.”
Next step
Tell us what you’re building.
Share as much or as little as you can. A senior engineer reads every inquiry and replies within one business day, usually with a few sharp questions and a suggested first step.