How accurate are the simulations?

HardLabs combines SPICE-grade behavioral models for analog blocks with cycle-aware digital models for buses and MCUs. They're tuned to expose integration and timing bugs — not to replace final sign-off characterization.

Which MCUs and peripherals are supported?

At launch we cover common Arm Cortex-M families and the I²C, SPI, UART, GPIO, timer, and interrupt subsystems firmware leans on most. Peripheral and sensor model coverage expands every release.

How is this different from plain SPICE?

SPICE simulates the circuit — it doesn't run your firmware. HardLabs executes your actual firmware image in the loop with the simulated circuit, so you test the hardware and the code together.

How is this different from a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) rig?

A HIL rig needs physical hardware and bench instruments that don't exist until late in the program. HardLabs is a hardware-in-the-loop alternative that runs entirely in software, before any board is fabbed.

Do I need any physical hardware?

No. The whole point is to start before a prototype exists. When real hardware arrives, the same firmware and test suite carry straight over to the bench.

Yes. The loop runs headless, so you can gate every firmware commit on the same circuit-level tests you'd otherwise only run by hand at bring-up.

Can we run this on-prem or air-gapped?

Yes — talk to us. Self-hosted and on-prem deployment is available for export-controlled and IP-sensitive teams. Your netlists and firmware stay yours; we don't train on customer designs.

Which EDA tools do you support?

Cadence, Altium, and KiCad at launch — plus SPICE netlists and BOM/CSV imports. Allegro and Xpedition direct import is on the roadmap. Send us your netlist, schematic PDF, and BOM to get started.

What do I provide to get started?

Your netlist, schematic PDF, and BOM — plus your firmware (image or source). HardLabs builds the simulation and runs your code against it; you write no models.

Simulate firmware without hardware — honestly

Adam Szefer · Co-founder & CTOJuly 22, 2026Updated July 23, 2026

Prev. Bloomberg · Gyfted. Systems and simulation infrastructure — the engine that runs your firmware against the circuit.

“Run STM32 without a Nucleo” is a solved demo. The hard question is whether the simulation can disagree with your firmware the way a wrong schematic would. That is the difference between a teaching emulator and a bring-up tool.

What QEMU-style flows get right

Fast boots, great for OS bring-up and pure software logic. If your risk is scheduler behavior or middleware, stay there.

Where idealized peripherals hide respins

Register models that ignore clock-stretch limits, ignore which GPIO is actually CS, or ignore that two devices share an address will green-bar a driver that bricks the first article. Board-level simulation starts from the netlist so those facts exist.

A practical workflow at schematic freeze

Export netlist + BOM, generate a platform, load firmware, run the bring-up tests you already planned for the lab. Keep the suite. When hardware arrives, you are debugging sensors — not discovering that PB8 was never I2C1_SCL.

HardLabs

What HardLabs does — join the design-partner pilot

We build a digital twin from your netlist, schematic, and BOM, run your real firmware against it, and fail CI when pinmux, buses, or timing contracts break — weeks before bring-up on hardware.

A digital twin of your hardware, built from your netlist, schematic, and BOM.
A virtual lab: scopes, logic analyzers, and firmware debuggers in simulation.
Auto-flagging of power-sequence errors, output contention, and race conditions.

Pilot details · App

Firmware-in-the-loop
Firmware-in-the-loop against your netlist — not stubs. Run unmodified .elf images on MCU simulation with board-aware I²C/SPI models and CI assertions.
Renode board platforms
Generate Renode board platforms from KiCad or Allegro netlists. Attach peripheral models, surface coverage gaps, and load a .repl without hand-maintaining every CS line.
I²C clock stretching
Diagnose I²C clock-stretch and t_HIGH violations before fab. Why STM32 masters and slow sensors disagree — and how simulation catches it early.
HardLabs vs QEMU
HardLabs vs Renode

All topics

Simulate firmware without hardware — honestly

What QEMU-style flows get right

Where idealized peripherals hide respins

A practical workflow at schematic freeze

What HardLabs does — join the design-partner pilot

Related