CircuitHub is using a robotic manufacturing system at a Massachusetts factory to produce printed circuit boards for customers with varied electronic designs. The company calls the system The Grid and describes it as “one large robot” because its equipment works together to move and process boards through the facility.
Levitating platforms transport each board between stations for solder-paste application, component placement, heating, soldering and automated inspection. Machine-learning models, AI agents and optimization software coordinate the process, allowing individual boards to follow different routes through the factory.
Unlike a conventional assembly line, The Grid does not require production equipment to be reorganized when a new circuit-board design is introduced. CircuitHub says the system can handle an order containing 100 different designs as easily as an order for 100 copies of one design. The same equipment is also used for prototypes and larger production runs.
The company says this model is intended for hardware developers ordering limited quantities for testing, research, manufacturing tools and product development. CircuitHub reports that its customers include a major electric-vehicle manufacturer, an artificial-intelligence laboratory and established technology companies.
CircuitHub compared The Grid with a typical quick-turn manufacturer in Shenzhen using an order for five assembled motor-controller boards. Each four-layer board had 118 components across 38 component types. According to the company’s example, the US order cost $630, including manufacturing, components and delivery, and arrived at a US address in four days.
The comparable Shenzhen order cost about $465 after shipping and US import tariffs, with a median delivery time of nine days. The Grid was therefore approximately $165 more expensive, but delivered the boards five days sooner. CircuitHub presented the comparison as an illustration based on one order, rather than independent evidence covering manufacturers or orders more broadly.
CircuitHub says The Grid has operated commercially for five years. The company reports delivering more than 2.2 million circuit boards, installing over 150 million components and serving 26,000 engineers. It also says demand currently exceeds the factory’s manufacturing capacity.
In a blog post, CircuitHub said it planned to increase capacity fivefold during the year, followed by another significant expansion in 2027. The company’s stated long-term aim is to make hardware production as fast as the design process.
Sources: TechRadar.