AMERICAN HARDWARE // PROJECT 0001 // COLORADO

BUILD THINGS
HERE.

Help build an independent electronics, prototyping, and small-scale manufacturing lab where ideas become boards, machines, tools, and working hardware.

2,400 founding backers. $20 minimum. No equity or promised financial return.

THE2400PROJECTFOUNDING RUN // 01
ELECTRONICSPROTOTYPINGEMBEDDED SYSTEMS3D PRINTINGROBOTICSSMALL-RUN MANUFACTURING
THE FOUNDING RUN
0FOUNDERS
2,400FOUNDING POSITIONS
$0BACKED
2,400POSITIONS REMAIN

Baseline goal: 2,400 people × $20 = $48,000. Backers may contribute more; the campaign is not capped at $48,000.

THE FUTURE ISN'T
GOING TO BUILD ITSELF.

American Prototype exists for one reason: turn practical ideas into physical hardware. Not another slide deck. Not another app pretending to be a factory. Real electronics, real tools, real prototypes, real failures, and real machines on a bench.

The 2400 Project is the first push. We are looking for 2,400 founding backers willing to put at least $20 behind the creation of an independent hardware lab. The money goes into capability: test equipment, components, fabrication tools, prototype runs, enclosures, materials, and the infrastructure needed to build.

02 // THE LAB

A SMALL LAB.
SERIOUS CAPABILITY.

The American Prototype is being built to take ideas all the way from electronics and firmware to physical prototypes, testing, fabrication, and small production runs.

DESIGN BUILD TEST ITERATE
01

ELECTRONICS + PCB

Embedded controllers, PCB development, soldering and rework, sensors, power electronics, motor control, test equipment, firmware bring-up, and board revisions.

02

PROTOTYPING + FABRICATION

3D printing, laser work, enclosures, mounts, fixtures, mechanical assemblies, CAD, rapid revisions, and the tooling needed to turn concepts into physical hardware.

03

ROBOTICS + CONTROL

Motors, ESCs, servos, telemetry, wireless control, embedded displays, machine interfaces, RC systems, sensors, and custom control electronics.

04

SMALL-RUN PRODUCTION

Moving successful prototypes toward repeatable assembly, testing, quality control, documentation, packaging, and limited production runs.

THE GOAL FROM IDEA TO WORKING HARDWARE WITHOUT LEAVING THE SHOP.

Electronics. Firmware. Fabrication. Testing. Revision. Assembly. The lab exists to bring those steps together in one place and keep building until the hardware works.

Electronics prototyping bench
ELECTRONICS DESIGNPCB BRING-UP // REWORK // EMBEDDED
PCB assembly and prototyping
PCB PROTOTYPINGBOARDS // COMPONENTS // ASSEMBLY
CNC machining
CNC & FABRICATIONPRECISION PARTS // FIXTURES // TOOLING
3D printing and rapid prototyping
RAPID PROTOTYPINGPRINT // TEST // ITERATE // REPEAT
Electronics test equipment
TEST & VALIDATIONMEASURE // DEBUG // VERIFY
Hands assembling prototype hardware
HANDS-ON ASSEMBLYREAL PEOPLE // REAL HARDWARE
CAD and electronics design workstation
DESIGN TO HARDWARECAD // CIRCUITS // PRODUCTION FILES
Prototype product shipping
BUILT TO SHIPPROTOTYPE // PRODUCE // DELIVER

$48K IS THE
STARTING LINE.

Every dollar above the $20 minimum increases what the lab can buy, build, test, and finish. The baseline is simple enough to audit and concrete enough to understand.

35%COMPONENTS / PCBs / SENSORS
25%TOOLS / TEST EQUIPMENT
20%FABRICATION / PROTOTYPE RUNS
10%INFRASTRUCTURE / DOCUMENTATION
10%FEES / SHIPPING / CONTINGENCY

AMERICAN IDEAS.
REAL HARDWARE.

YEARS OF BUILDING BEFORE THE LAB

THE LAB IS NEW.
THE BUILDING ISN'T.

The American Prototype did not begin with a fundraising page. It grew out of years of designing, repairing, programming, fabricating, testing, breaking, and rebuilding real systems.

Over the last three years we have worked across electronics, embedded systems, robotics, fabrication, networking, software, automation, vehicle systems, wireless communications, and prototype manufacturing.

The goal of this lab is simple: put those skills and capabilities under one roof so an idea can move from a sketch to working hardware without getting stuck at the "someday" stage.

01

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

ESP32, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, microcontrollers, sensors, GPIO, I2C, SPI, UART, real-time control, state machines, displays, and purpose-built embedded hardware.

02

CUSTOM ELECTRONICS + PCBs

Circuit development, custom board concepts, component selection, power regulation, motor control, connectors, board layout, prototype fabrication, soldering, debugging, and revision work.

03

ROBOTICS + RC SYSTEMS

Servo control, ESCs, motor controllers, RC systems, flight-control concepts, tracked vehicles, robotic mechanisms, telemetry, and compact integrated control hardware.

04

WIRELESS + TELEMETRY

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LoRa, Meshtastic, ELRS, MQTT, wireless sensor systems, remote telemetry, device status, command systems, and field communications.

05

SENSORS + SIGNAL SYSTEMS

Environmental sensing, electromagnetic sensing, motion detection, telemetry sensors, monitoring systems, signal experiments, and custom data-acquisition projects.

06

VEHICLE ELECTRONICS

Custom dashboards, ESP32 touch displays, telemetry, GPS, audio integration, sensors, vehicle interfaces, digital gauges, and experimental command-console systems.

07

DIGITAL FABRICATION

CAD, 3D printing, printed enclosures, mounts, fixtures, laser cutting, rapid physical prototyping, mechanical integration, and small-run fabricated parts.

08

SOFTWARE + INFRASTRUCTURE

Arduino C/C++, Python, web applications, APIs, Linux, Node.js, databases, Nginx, production servers, device dashboards, payment systems, and deployment.

09

NETWORK + FIELD SYSTEMS

Routing, switching, structured cabling, wireless systems, VoIP, cameras, access control, VPNs, VLANs, monitoring, troubleshooting, and critical-system support.

SOME OF THE THINGS WE HAVE WORKED ON

REAL PROJECTS.
REAL PROBLEMS.
REAL ITERATION.

CUSTOM FLIGHT + MOTOR CONTROL

Flight-control concepts, ESC development, motor drivers, servo control, telemetry, sensors, and integrated embedded control.

UNDERWATER THRUSTER ESC

Compact bidirectional high-current ESC concepts for underwater propulsion, including embedded control, power electronics, sealing considerations, and prototype PCB development.

GATEWATCH / FARMER'S FENCE MESH

A low-power LoRa and Meshtastic field-monitoring system using ESP32 hardware, fence sensors, motion detection, solar power, event logic, firmware, and remote status.

VEHICLE COMMAND SYSTEMS

Touch-screen ESP32 vehicle displays combining telemetry, GPS, audio, wireless communications, custom graphics, gauges, sensors, and control interfaces.

ROBOTICS + MECHATRONICS

Servo-driven mechanisms, animated builds, robotic heads, motor control, custom electronics, wireless control, sensors, and experimental machines.

RECYCLED FILAMENT MACHINE

Development of a machine for shredding, drying, extruding, cooling, measuring, and spooling recycled PLA, with embedded controls, heaters, motors, sensors, and quality-control systems.

CONNECTED HARDWARE

IoT devices, MQTT telemetry, wireless sensor rigs, LoRa nodes, mesh communications, dashboards, remote monitoring, and hardware-to-cloud systems.

PROTOTYPING + SMALL-BATCH FABRICATION

3D-printed parts, enclosures, fixtures, laser-cut pieces, electronics integration, repair work, prototype assembly, testing, documentation, and repeatable-build workflows.

THE NEXT STEP

STOP BUILDING ONE PROJECT AT A TIME
WITH WHATEVER TOOLS HAPPEN TO BE AVAILABLE.

The American Prototype is about building the capability to do this properly: electronics benches, test equipment, fabrication tools, prototype materials, PCB runs, machining capability, assembly space, and the ability to keep iterating until the hardware works.

AMERICAN IDEAS SHOULD HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BECOME AMERICAN HARDWARE.
03 // HARDWARE IN DEVELOPMENT

THIS IS WHAT
THE LAB IS FOR.

The American Prototype is being built around real hardware projects. One of the first is VOID RIP — a family of compact control boards designed to reduce wiring, simplify builds, and put more control into a single piece of hardware.

Void Rip RC controller board
VOID RIP // RC

ONE BOARD.
LESS COMPLEXITY.

An all-in-one RC control-board concept combining an ESP32, ELRS connectivity, motor control, servo control, and auxiliary connections into one compact electronics package.

Void Rip flight controller and ESC development board
VOID RIP // FC + ESC

MORE HARDWARE.
SAME MISSION.

The Void Rip platform is expanding into additional controller hardware, including integrated flight-control and ESC concepts built around the same philosophy: smaller, cleaner, and easier to work with.

WHY WE NEED BACKERS

A RENDER IS THE EASY PART.
BUILDING THE BOARD COSTS MONEY.

Prototype PCB runs, components, assembly, test equipment, thermal and load testing, failed revisions, firmware development, and the next hardware revision all cost real money.

Your support helps move these boards from development concepts toward tested, working hardware.

PCB FABRICATION Prototype boards and revisions
COMPONENTS MCUs, power electronics, connectors and sensors
TEST EQUIPMENT Electrical, thermal and load testing
SMALL PRODUCTION RUNS Turning prototypes into repeatable hardware
HELP BUILD THE NEXT REVISION

2,400 FOUNDERS.
STARTING AT $20.

BACK THE LAB — $20

Project support funds development of The American Prototype. It is not a product preorder, stock, equity, debt, profit sharing, or a promised financial return.

PUT YOUR NAME
ON THE FIRST RUN.

Choose your level of support. Every backer helps put real tools, parts, and equipment into the lab. One person receives one founding position regardless of contribution level.

  • Numbered founding-backers certificate
  • Signed founder's letter
  • Optional name on the permanent Founders Wall
  • Build logs and project updates

CHOOSE YOUR BACKING LEVEL

CONTINUE TO STRIPE — $20

Secure checkout powered by Stripe.

AP

NO SINGLE PERSON
HAS TO CARRY THE MACHINE.

Twenty dollars is deliberately ordinary. Spread across 2,400 people, it becomes enough capital to establish meaningful hardware capability. Some will put in $20. Some will put in more. Every one of the original 2,400 will be recorded as part of the first build.

FAQ

Am I buying part of the company?

No. A founding-backer contribution does not provide equity, debt, profit sharing, repayment rights, or ownership of company intellectual property.

Can I contribute more than $20?

Yes. $20 is the intended minimum. Larger contributions increase the amount available for equipment, materials, prototypes and lab development, while still occupying one founding position.

What happens after I back it?

After verified payment, the production version will assign a unique founder number, issue the founding certificate, record Founders Wall preferences, and add the backer to project updates.

Is the $48,000 guaranteed to produce a particular product?

No. The campaign supports development of the lab and its project pipeline. Individual products may later have their own launches, preorders, or sales terms.

THE AMERICAN PROTOTYPE // FOUNDING RUN 01

2,400 PEOPLE.
ONE LAB.
LET'S BUILD.

BECOME A FOUNDING BACKER