If you've been visiting Elektor for a while, you'll probably remember Opulo. We've been featuring them in the past, and we think their LumenPnP – an open-source pick-and-place machine for small/medium scale manufacturing – is a great product. In this latest episode of Elektor Engineering Insights, we’re excited to share an excellent interview with Stephen Hawes, Opulo’s founder and CEO.

Watch the video below and join us as Stephen shares his inspiring journey, where he blends innovation, entrepreneurship, and a commitment to sharing knowledge, all while building a sustainable company. Stephen opens up about why he chose to keep everything he develops open-source. Despite early corporate skepticism toward open-source solutions, Stephen shares how businesses in various industries are beginning to embrace the benefits of this approach.

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He shares how collaboration and openness drive innovation, and discusses how the LumenPnP, a $2,000 pick-and-place machine, is transforming small and medium businesses by offering affordable automation. It helps bridge the gap between manual assembly and full-scale manufacturing. Stephen explores how the LumenPnP also meets the needs of the prototyping stage in a product development cycle. Its ease of use and time-saving benefits make it a valuable tool for a variety of applications. 

For those looking to enter embedded systems, Stephen recounts his own journey from tinkering with Arduino to running a company. His path offers a practical example of how hands-on experience can lead to expertise and success. Lastly, Stephen reveals exciting upcoming updates for Opulo. He talks about the latest developments and improvements to the LumenPnP over the past two years and hints at upcoming releases that promise to further enhance the machine’s capabilities.

Whether you're interested in the LumenPnP or simply curious to learn more about Stephen's professional and personal journey as an energetic entrepreneur, this video below will have something for you.

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