Innovations & ideas, 5/14

Boulder outfit breaks in new gear

Keeping electronic devices free from defects is the mission of a small Boulder company.

The eight engineers at Percept Technology Labs run myriad failure-analysis tests on products ranging from cellphones to toy helicopters.

Most of the company's analyses are done before a product hits the market. Standard alkaline, rechargeable and coin-cell batteries are also tested in the lab.

Percept's clients include Microsoft, Maytag, Hewlett-Packard and Gibson Audio.

"We do the intricate testing of circuits and all the things that go wrong," said Jennifer Sleek, spokeswoman for Percept. "If a company launches a product that isn't fully tested or doesn't meet market expectations, warranty costs can really eat their lunch."

The company tested the battery life of a wireless mouse for Microsoft and designed a robotic arm to simulate repetitive mouse movement.

Privately held Percept was founded 10 years ago and has 16 employees. The company originally focused on testing data-storage equipment for businesses such as Storage Technology Corp. but has broadened its reach in the past two years to take advantage of the growing consumer electronics market. –

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