• Demo
  • Contact
  • Portfolio
  • Team
  • About



Take your factory automation from brittle to flexible


Old way: Automation tools that only engineers can use Our way: Tools that leverage existing factory talent and hardware
Old way: Having the same behavior for the life of the machine Our way: Changing behavior of a cell on the fly
Old way: Relying on cryptic error messages to troubleshoot and maintain systems Our way: Graphic interfaces with touchscreen and drag-and-drop interaction modes


Meet our team

Amy
Eric
Craig
Bri
Amy LaViers
Co-founder / CEO / CTO
Amy is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in the Mechanical Science and Engineering Department with a research focus in supervisory control for sequencing and modulating robotic motion primitives. Amy has her PhD and MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech and has a BSE in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.
Contact: amy@aemachines.com
Eric Minnick
Co-founder / CFO
Eric worked as a software developer for eVestment, a web-based data analytics company, where he specialized in algorithm and database design for all facets of the platform. Additionally, Eric spent time at Edison Partners as an associate on the Financial Technology team focusing on deal sourcing and investment due diligence. Eric has a BS in Computer Science from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Contact: eric@aemachines.com
Craig Milling
Development Engineer
Craig worked in a variety of roles at Protasis Corp. providing hardware and software add-ons to high resolution magnetic resonance spectrometry (MRS) equipment, including web-based sample submission and management. Craig received a PhD and MS in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a BS in Engineering Physics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Contact: craig@aemachines.com
Brianna Drennan
Development Engineer
Brianna is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a BS in Computer Engineering. She is interested and experienced in both hardware and software, and is excited about making automation more accessible to industry and individuals! In addition to her work at AE Machines, Brianna works as an Embedded Software Engineer in the Mission Systems division of Northrop Grumman.
Contact: brianna@aemachines.com

AE Machines is a start-up founded by a husband-and-wife team of engineers. Our product, the AE Design Tool, empowers manufacturers to program and reprogram simple automated systems, even utilizing legacy hardware, without relying on large, expensive engineering teams. The tool achieves this by abstracting the tedious process of programming a microcontroller to one of arranging action and sensing oriented graphical code blocks (primitives) with corresponding actuators and sensor hardware blocks (parts). The tool allows users to build and program an automated cell with minimal training and shows how important we think people – including those already employed in factories today – will be in the factory of the future. Our dream is for factory workers to manage and automate lines with skills they already have.



Our approach is proven and award-winning


We are proud winners of the Product Design of the Year, which recognizes a product design that is unique, improves user experience, and impacts productivity as well as the greater good, at the first annual Fourth Revolution Awards in Chicago, IL.

2X Hydro-Demolition
Interface allows workers – without programming experience – to change behavior of machine for each job. System has been up and running on active concrete demolition jobs (where every job is slightly different) for over two years.

"The solution these guys designed has allowed us to cut concrete on lots of different job sites with different needs. They listened to our needs on the interface and customized something that works well with our way of working” - Chad Simpson


MakeCrate
Our design tool allows customers to program and reprogram an Arduino microcontroller – without programming experience. This gives educational kits life beyond the first "how-to".

"Our vision at MakeCrate has always focussed on accessibility for all. Our kits are designed to remove the barriers to circuit building on Arduino that a new user might find, and the partnership with Amy and AE Machines gives us a way to breakdown the barriers to coding in a fun and engaging way as well” - Katie Stephens





Let us help you implement flexible automation in your workplace


 
 
 
 
 


Check out our demo



The AE Design Tool works with an Arduino microcontroller and associated hardware like simple servo motors, LEDs, motion sensors, and buttons. You can create your own simple, customized automation cell, automatically download needed Arduino code, and shop for the needed parts online. Our industrial solutions will model this approach with robust, industrial hardware.



The tool is compatible with:



  • Demo
  • Contact
  • Portfolio
  • Team
  • About



Take your factory automation from brittle to flexible




Old way: Automation tools that only engineers can use Our way: Tools that leverage existing factory talent and hardware


Old way: Having the same behavior for the life of the machine Our way: Changing behavior of a cell on the fly


Old way: Relying on cryptic error messages to troubleshoot and maintain systems Our way: Graphic interfaces with touchscreen and drag-and-drop interaction modes


Meet our team

Amy
Eric
Craig
Bri
Amy LaViers
Co-founder / CEO / CTO
Amy is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in the Mechanical Science and Engineering Department with a research focus in supervisory control for sequencing and modulating robotic motion primitives. Amy has her PhD and MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech and has a BSE in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.
Contact: amy@aemachines.com
Eric Minnick
Co-founder / CFO
Eric worked as a software developer for eVestment, a web-based data analytics company, where he specialized in algorithm and database design for all facets of the platform. Additionally, Eric spent time at Edison Partners as an associate on the Financial Technology team focusing on deal sourcing and investment due diligence. Eric has a BS in Computer Science from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Contact: eric@aemachines.com
Craig Milling
Development Engineer
Craig worked in a variety of roles at Protasis Corp. providing hardware and software add-ons to high resolution magnetic resonance spectrometry (MRS) equipment, including web-based sample submission and management. Craig received a PhD and MS in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a BS in Engineering Physics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Contact: craig@aemachines.com
Brianna Drennan
Development Engineer
Brianna is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a BS in Computer Engineering. She is interested and experienced in both hardware and software, and is excited about making automation more accessible to industry and individuals! In addition to her work at AE Machines, Brianna works as an Embedded Software Engineer in the Mission Systems division of Northrop Grumman.
Contact: brianna@aemachines.com

AE Machines is a start-up founded by a husband-and-wife team of engineers. Our product, the AE Design Tool, empowers manufacturers to program and reprogram simple automated systems, even utilizing legacy hardware, without relying on large, expensive engineering teams. The tool achieves this by abstracting the tedious process of programming a microcontroller to one of arranging action and sensing oriented graphical code blocks (primitives) with corresponding actuators and sensor hardware blocks (parts). The tool allows users to build and program an automated cell with minimal training and shows how important we think people – including those already employed in factories today – will be in the factory of the future. Our dream is for factory workers to manage and automate lines with skills they already have.



Our approach is proven and award-winning


We are proud winners of the Product Design of the Year, which recognizes a product design that is unique, improves user experience, and impacts productivity as well as the greater good, at the first annual Fourth Revolution Awards in Chicago, IL.



2X Hydro-Demolition
Interface allows workers – without programming experience – to change behavior of machine for each job. System has been up and running on active concrete demolition jobs (where every job is slightly different) for over two years.

"The solution these guys designed has allowed us to cut concrete on lots of different job sites with different needs. They listened to our needs on the interface and customized something that works well with our way of working” - Chad Simpson



MakeCrate
Our design tool allows customers to program and reprogram an Arduino microcontroller – without programming experience. This gives educational kits life beyond the first "how-to".

"Our vision at MakeCrate has always focussed on accessibility for all. Our kits are designed to remove the barriers to circuit building on Arduino that a new user might find, and the partnership with Amy and AE Machines gives us a way to breakdown the barriers to coding in a fun and engaging way as well” - Katie Stephens





Let us help you implement flexible automation in your workplace



 

 

 

 

 


Check out our demo



The AE Design Tool works with an Arduino microcontroller and associated hardware like simple servo motors, LEDs, motion sensors, and buttons. You can create your own simple, customized automation cell, automatically download needed Arduino code, and shop for the needed parts online. Our industrial solutions will model this approach with robust, industrial hardware.



The tool is compatible with:


Use a tablet or larger device in landscape mode to try our demo.