Who We Are
Hrulabs is an independent private laboratory built on a simple premise: the most interesting engineering problems require expertise that crosses disciplinary boundaries.
We work across mechanical design, additive manufacturing, and computational methods — building the models, prototypes, and tooling that a design needs before it becomes a product.
Our focus is the path from geometry to physical part: parametric modelling, simulation-informed design, and the increasingly capable set of AI methods that make both faster.
How We Think About the Work
Engineering knowledge is most useful when it is written down in a form that can be re-run. A drawing captures a decision; a parametric model captures the reasoning behind it. We prefer the second, because it survives the next revision.
That principle applies equally to a printed bracket, a machined housing, or a geometry generator written in Python. The domain changes; the standard does not.
Our Approach
Model Before You Build
We model before we build. Significant designs go through structural, thermal, or manufacturability analysis before a part is ordered or printed. This saves time, reduces waste, and catches failure modes while they are still cheap to fix.
Design Intent Lives in the Model
Geometry is built from constraints and parameters rather than hard-coded dimensions, so that a change in requirements propagates cleanly instead of forcing a redraw.
Documentation as Deliverable
Every project ships with complete source files and the reasoning behind the design. Clients can reproduce, modify, and build on the work independently — without us.
Technologies We Use
We work in free and open-source tools, so everything we deliver can be opened and changed without buying a licence.
- 3D Printing: FDM, in-house
- CAD: FreeCAD, OpenSCAD
- Code-Driven Geometry: OpenSCAD, Python generators on the FreeCAD API
- Simulation: FreeCAD FEM (CalculiX), custom numerical codes including particle-in-cell
- Embedded: C/C++, embedded Linux (Yocto)
- Electronics: KiCad (schematics and PCB layout)
- AI / Agents: Python, Anthropic Claude API, Claude Agent SDK
- Programming: Python, C/C++
We take on a limited number of external projects at a time. If your challenge fits our capabilities, we'd like to hear about it.