Hardware, firmware, and the software that ties it together.
VHIM is an embedded systems studio in Bengaluru designing custom IoT hardware, production-grade firmware, and the desktop tools engineers actually use — from PCB to deployed device.
Full-stack embedded, under one roof.
Most products fail in the seams between hardware, firmware, and software. VHIM owns all three, so the handoffs simply don't exist.
Firmware Engineering
Production firmware on low-power wireless SoCs and 32-bit MCUs — Zephyr-based, with secure boot, OTA, and rock-solid BLE and Matter-over-Thread stacks.
Zephyr · MCUboot · OTAPCB & Hardware Design
Schematic capture and multilayer PCB layout — from first prototype to a clean, manufacturable, sourced board.
Schematic · DFM · BOMIoT & Connectivity
Matter, Thread, BLE, and Wi-Fi devices that are native to Home Assistant — with thoughtful fallback chains for the real world.
Matter · Thread · BLEDesktop & Mobile Tooling
PySide6 desktop apps and Kotlin / Compose Android tools — inventory, serial debug, automation — built on a shared design system.
PySide6 · Kotlin · ComposePower & Reliability
Rugged, isolated supplies and high-reliability design, with wide input and temperature range, built to keep running where conditions get hostile.
Isolated · wide-rangeAutomation & Robotics
Motion control, motor drivers, CNC, and smart-home automation — the moving, physical end of the stack.
Motion · CNC · HAFrom connected devices to the tools that build them.
The categories VHIM designs and engineers end-to-end. Detailed project briefs available on request.
Connected Products
Custom IoT hardware and the firmware that runs it — designed, prototyped, and taken all the way to a manufacturable, production-ready device.
Smart-Home & Automation
Devices and controllers that join modern smart-home ecosystems natively, with connectivity and fallback paths built for real homes — not just the demo bench.
Engineering Tools
Desktop and mobile applications that streamline real hardware workflows — from component data to device bring-up — built on a consistent, themeable design system.
Power & Motion
Reliable power supplies and motor / motion control engineered for demanding environments and wide operating ranges, where failure isn't an option.
A clear path from idea to device.
Scope & architecture
We pin down requirements, pick the right MCU and radios, and map the hardware / firmware / app boundaries before a single trace is drawn.
Design & build
Schematic, layout, and firmware develop in parallel against real hardware — prototyped, instrumented, and iterated until it behaves.
Integrate & hand off
Bring-up, range and reliability testing, Home Assistant integration, and a clean handover — documentation, sources, and reference builds included.
From silicon and firmware to the product in your hand.
VHIM is led by Boopathy Prabhaharan, an embedded systems engineer with 20 years developing products end to end — from controller silicon and firmware to validated, commercialized hardware.
That career spans principal-engineer roles across the semiconductor and storage industry — enterprise and mobile storage for AI/ML, automotive memory, networking, and power and test equipment — with deep work in controller development, post-silicon validation, and hardware/firmware architecture.
VHIM brings that same rigor to studio engagements: requirements through architecture, firmware, board design, and bring-up, handled by someone who has owned products at scale rather than handed off at each seam.
- 2021–25MicronPrincipal Engineer — owner for enterprise SSD lab setup & bring-up
- 2019–21Western DigitalPrincipal Engineer — post-silicon validation
- 2018–19Juniper NetworksCore Engineer — non-volatile storage roadmap
- 2012–18Samsung SemiconductorChief Engineer — controller development, integration & firmware
- Led controller development for the first successful commercialization of UFS technology.
- Built the first UFS host validation platform for identifying controller defects.
- Established an enterprise SSD lab from the ground up.
- Enclosure & mechanical design3D modelling and detailed drawings in SolidWorks & AutoCAD — housings, brackets, and fit around the board
- Design for manufactureTolerancing, material selection, and producible parts — ready for machining, moulding, or sheet metal
- Manufacturing & qualityVendor coordination, internal audit, and ISO-standard processes through to production
- Programme & project managementScope, scheduling, and delivery across the design-to-production pipeline
John Thomas leads business development and the mechanical side of VHIM — turning electronics into finished, manufacturable products with a proper enclosure around them.
A mechanical engineer and experienced project manager from the design industry, John handles the physical product: enclosure and mechanical design in SolidWorks and AutoCAD, design-for-manufacture, and the move from prototype to production.
With a background spanning manufacturing, internal audit, and ISO standards, he also coordinates vendors and quality — so a VHIM build arrives as a complete product, electronics and housing together, not just a bare board.
Have an idea that needs to become hardware?
We take products from concept through electronics, firmware, and enclosure to a finished build. Tell us what you're working on — whether it's an early concept or a product that needs finishing — and we'll figure out how to get it done. We work under NDA and keep client work private.
Basavanapura Main Road, Krishnarajapura,
Bangalore 560036, Karnataka