Use the Lab to de-risk your project before you commit. Prototype with industry-leading technology, collaborate with our engineers, and leave with a developed concept your team can act on.
Most manufacturing projects start the same way: a process that needs improvement, a capability that needs to be added, or a question that needs answering before a capital commitment is signed off.
Concept Development at Lehnen Lab exists for that middle step. A space to test components, build physical prototypes, and pressure-test your approach before you commit.
Build physical prototypes on-site using our machine shop, 3D printing capabilities, and access to cutting-edge partner components.
Test industry-leading automation technology from our partners before you commit to purchasing it. See how specific vision systems, motion components, robotics platforms, and control systems perform in your actual use case.
Open to students, teachers, and learners who need space, equipment, and mentorship that they may not have access to elsewhere. Home to ongoing programs with Keene State College and a growing roster of partner institutions.
Assess how components from multiple manufacturers work together as one system.
Work directly alongside Lehnen’s engineers and partner technology experts. Their input on your concept becomes part of the output you take back to your team.
Leave the Lab with a developed concept, documented and ready to present to your team for internal review.
You are defining requirements for a capability your organization does not yet have. Lab time helps you see what is possible before you write specifications you cannot revise.
You are assessing whether a new technology, component, or approach is worth rolling out.
You are investigating technologies that may or may not fit your future roadmap. The Lab is the lowest-risk place to find out.
You need proof beyond a vendor pitch before a capital request gets approved. A documented concept development session at the Lab is evidence.
Tell us what you’re working on, what you’re trying to learn, and when you’d like to come in. Request Lab time through our contact form.
We prepare the components, partner technology, and workspace configuration for your specific project. You arrive ready to build, test, and learn.
On-site collaboration with Lehnen’s engineers and partner experts. Physical prototyping, component testing, integration work, and iterative refinement of your concept.
You go home with a developed concept, documented in a form your team can review. Photos, notes, CAD files, or technical documentation, as appropriate for your project.
Our technology partners make their equipment available in the Lab at no cost to visitors. That gives you hands-on time with real automation components in real configurations, so your concept development is grounded in how technology actually performs.
Partner categories:
Robotics and motion systems | Vision systems and inspection technology | Pneumatics and automation components | Control systems and industrial computing | Specialty automation for feeding and handling
Concept Development at Lehnen Lab is free to visitors. There is no requirement to commit to a future Lehnen project, no purchase obligation on partner technology, and no contractual strings attached.
We run the Lab because we believe accessibility to testing and automation technology makes the whole industry better, and we trust that valuable collaboration tends to turn into future work on its own.
Free workshops, trainings, and Lunch & Learns hosted by our technology partners and industry experts. Open to engineers, operators, students, and anyone curious about what’s happening in industrial automation.
Schedule Lab time to work on your concept, or talk to one of our engineers to scope the session before you come in.
