The Foundry Alley

Join an in-depth discussion with Grant Chapman, Co-Founder and CEO of Glassboard Product Development on why hardware is hard, how to take products from zero to one, design for manufacturability, scale and yield. Glassport Product Development - https://www.glassboard.com/ Grant Chapman - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gchapma/

What does hardware development actually look like from concept to commercialization? How do we design for manufacturability, scale and yield? In this in-depth interview, Grant Chapman, CEO of Glassport Product Development, shares his journey into hardware innovation, the unique challenges of building in hard tech, and the evolving ecosystem in Indiana and beyond. Discover insights on manufacturing, supply chains, and the future of hardware with AI and vertical integration.Reach out to Glassboard for questions and partnerships on how to build and take your products from Zero to One to N.Chapters00:00 Navigating the Technical Landscape of Hardware Development03:06 Understanding Hardware and Hard Tech06:06 Challenges in Medical Device Development09:00 The Hardware Lifecycle: Mistakes and Misconceptions12:03 The Founding Journey of Glassboard14:51 Building an Ecosystem in Indiana17:53 Investor Sentiment and the Rise of Hardware Investment29:45 The Renaissance of Hardware in the Age of AI30:44 Bridging the Digital and Physical Worlds33:16 Capitalism and the Evolution of Robotics35:45 Manufacturing Challenges in Complex Systems39:07 The Cost of Logistics in Hardware Production43:17 Supply Chain Dynamics and Market Fluctuations45:40 Vertical Integration vs. Modular Supply Chains49:56 Reusability and Waste in Hardware ManufacturingResourcesGrant Chapman - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gchapma/Glassboard Product Development - https://www.glassboard.com/Hive - Hardtech Ecosystem - https://hive.glassboard.com/The Hardtech Podcast - https://www.thehardtechpodcast.com/

This is Part 2 of my conversation with Ted Lutkus, the Founder and CEO of Onyx Robotics. Robotics and physical AI get challenging in the real world because we start dealing with unmodelled forces. This is a non-trivial and expensive problem across anything that moves: cars, drones, collaborative arms, humanoids and much more. Onyx is developing the controls and simulation layer and the tooling to empower controls engineers. We talk about how to train your controller, foundation models, data and real world testing.Whatever your background, I’m sure you’ll have a lot to take away!00:00 - Intro01:59 - Train With Onyx: Product Walkthrough06:21 - On Foundation Models8:38 - Real World Testing 10:03 - Why Build In RoboticsCheck out Onyx Robotics: https://www.onyx-robotics.com/Follow Ted Lutkus: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-lutkus-787904137/______ References:Marco Hutter & ANYMal, ETH Zurich: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.16084 https://raisim.com/sections/ArticulatedSystem.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJfAWiylpxwSystem Identification: https://www.mathworks.com/help/ident/gs/about-system-identification.html

Robotics and physical AI get challenging in the real world because we start dealing with unmodelled forces. This is a non-trivial problem across all dynamic systems: cars, drones, collaborative arms, humanoids and much more. In this conversation with Ted Lutkus, the Founder and CEO of Onyx Robotics, we talk about the problems in controls and why it’s so hard to get your modeling right. Onyx is developing the controls and simulation layer and the tooling to empower controls engineers. We talk about what companies struggle with when building their own controls stack and system identification to understand where you need AI and learning.Whatever your background, I’m sure you’ll have a lot to take away and if you’re a developer in this space, you’ll probably nod along. Timestamps:00:00 - Intro01:50 - PhD to Building A Product06:10 - Challenges of Hardware8:15 - The Pivot To Controls, Simulation & Tooling12:04 - Onyx Robotics Now15:30 - Where does AI come in?Check out Onyx Robotics: https://www.onyx-robotics.com/Follow Ted Lutkus:   / ted-lutkus-787904137  ______ References:Marco Hutter & ANYMal, ETH Zurich: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.16084 https://raisim.com/sections/Articulat...   • Planning and Control of Skating Motions fo...  System Identification: https://www.mathworks.com/help/ident/...