What is High-Consequence Prototyping?

Most software can ship with bugs and get patched later. Hardware and embedded systems often can’t. When a device is used in a clinic, on a buoy in the ocean, or on a factory floor, “we’ll fix it in the next release” isn’t an option. High-consequence prototyping is building with that in mind from day one.

For me that means:

• Design for reliability and environment — hermetic sealing, power budgets, thermal and EMC considerations up front.
• Firmware that fails safely — defined behavior on fault, watchdog strategies, and testable state machines.
• Traceability — from requirements to design to test, so stakeholders and regulators can follow the thread.

I’ll write more here about patterns that work: board bring-up, RTOS choices, and how to scope projects so the first prototype is something you’d be willing to put in front of a user or a review.