Tom Forshaw · Engineer · Hamburg
Hand me the problem.
I’ll make it work.
I’m a mechanical, controls and electronics engineer. For twenty years I’ve designed, programmed and commissioned machines, test rigs and products that had to work: on Airbus final assembly lines, the VW ID.4 line in Emden, in a European space test lab, and in my own development work.
Right now I’m taking on contracts for SolidWorks design, Siemens TIA Portal programming and commissioning, remote or on site. Bigger, messier problems are welcome too.
SolidWorks design & drawings
Parts, assemblies, manufacturing drawings and FEA. A new design from a sketch, or a hand finishing the model you’ve already started.
Bring me
- A sketch, a requirement or a rough idea
- A part that exists but has no CAD
- A half-finished assembly or a drawing backlog
You get
- Clean, properly constrained models
- Drawings and BOMs a workshop can build from
- FEA where it matters, printed parts to check fit
Done before
- Certified SolidWorks Professional, CAD & FEA.
- Reverse-engineered a specialist product range with no CAD and built a parametric SolidWorks system: customer dimensions in; assemblies, drawings and BOMs out.
- Spacecraft-mechanism test rigs, from SolidWorks and FEA through supplier manufacture to commissioning.
SolidWorks · Simulation / FEA · CATIA · AutoCAD · 3D printing · DFM
Siemens PLC, HMI & commissioning
TIA Portal on S7-1200 and S7-1500 in Ladder, SCL and FBD, plus WinCC HMIs and process flow. I’m good at getting things to talk to each other, and at getting them running on site.
Bring me
- A machine or process to automate
- A line that stops too often
- Someone else’s S7 project to finish
- Equipment to commission
You get
- Structured, readable PLC code and HMIs
- Drives, vision, metrology and Profinet / OPC UA integration
- Simulation before site
- Commissioning, fault-finding and handover
Done before
- 9–11 hours → 15 minutes: eight-axis closed-loop load balancing for Airbus A320 assembly, in Ladder and SCL.
- Key technical authority for a fleet of 28 mobile tool platforms on the A320 final assembly line, through entry into service.
- Commissioned VW ID.4 conveyor and material handling in Emden: drives, lifts, HMIs and safety.
- Built a virtual-commissioning platform with S7-1500, S120 drives and Node-RED.
TIA Portal · STEP 7 · WinCC · S120 · Profinet · Profibus · OPC UA · Safety · Servo motion · CODESYS
Process automation & optimisation
Whole processes, not just machines. I turn a chain of manual steps into a sequence the PLC runs, so the operator supervises the process instead of driving every move.
Airbus A320 final assembly · the big green button
Airbus asked for “a big green button that does everything” for the operator. We delivered the closest thing to it: a process sequence stepper running on the PLC that automated the segments of aircraft assembly: the takt, fuselage join, wing join and the process steps around them.
Bring me
- A process that relies on operator experience
- Hand-driven steps between machines
- A takt you can’t hold
- Production data nobody uses
You get
- A step sequence that runs on the PLC
- HMIs that show what’s happening and what’s next
- Interlocks, recovery and restart built in
- Takt and fault data to keep improving it
Done before
- Airbus A320: automated build and takt sequences across the final assembly process, through entry into service.
- VW ID.4, Emden: an automated wheel delivery system: unloading, separation, identification, tracking and routing across two factory areas, with no operator interaction.
- 9–11 hours → 15 minutes on a critical assembly step, by modelling the process and closing the loop in the PLC.
- Takt analysis and fault investigation from SCADA production data, feeding continuous improvement.
S7-1500 · TIA Portal · SCL · Sequence design · WinCC · SCADA · OPC UA · Takt analysis
- S1Takt move in
- S2Position & level
- S3Fuselage join
- S4Wing join
- S5Checks & release
- S6Takt move out
Prototypes & electronics
From an idea to something you can hold and test: mechanical design, PCBs, firmware, printed parts, and a bench to prove it works.
Bring me
- An idea that needs a working model
- A proof of concept that has to become a product
- A test you can’t currently run
You get
- A working prototype
- KiCad schematics and PCBs
- ESP32 / PIC firmware
- Test rigs, data and analysis
Done before
- A precision-instrumentation prototype, end to end: SolidWorks, custom PCBs, PIC/ESP32 firmware, machining, assembly, calibration and test.
- CNC machine-tool retrofits: mechanical refurbishment, control-panel design and commissioning.
- LabVIEW test automation and data acquisition for spacecraft-mechanism testing.
KiCad · ESP32 · PIC · Embedded C/C++ · Python · Node-RED · LabVIEW · DAQ · 3D printing
Load, torque & calibration
When a measurement can’t be trusted, I find out why, through the mechanics, the electronics and the software, and fix it.
Airbus A320 line · in-situ calibration
The line’s load measurement system needed calibrating, but taking the machines out of service wasn’t an option. I designed a tool that calibrates it with the aircraft still loaded on the machine: high-accuracy calibration, zero downtime.
- Characterised load-cell front ends against traceable references: drift, hysteresis and long-term stability.
- Load and torque test rigs for space tribology, including automated Kistler amplifier control over RS-232.
My calibration tool, shown with a Kistler charge meter.
Bigger problems, end to end
The work I’m really built for is the problem that doesn’t fit one discipline, where the mechanics, controls, electronics and people all have to come together. Hand it over and I’ll take it from “this doesn’t work” to running in production.
- 01UnderstandFind the real requirement behind the request, and the constraint that actually matters.
- 02ModelLoad models, CAD and simulation before anything is built.
- 03BuildDesign, code, wire, print, machine.
- 04CommissionOn site, under production pressure.
- 05Hand overDocumented, so it keeps working without me.
Aircraft load balancing
9–11 h→15 min
Eight coupled axes, a load model and closed-loop PLC control.
Automated aircraft alignment
days→≈30 min
Fixed laser trackers, best-fit metrology and servo positioning in a measure–move loop.
Vision line following
10–20 stops→0
Interruptions per takt eliminated, with repeatable tracking to about 0.5 mm.
Tell me what’s stuck.
A SolidWorks job, a TIA Portal project, a machine to commission or an idea to build. Tell me where it stands and where you need a hand.
website@forshaw.cc