The middle of every prototype: cable maps, torque notes, the first successful boot, and the log line that means the system is alive.
Integration is where schedules usually break. Mechanical stack-up meets connector gender, firmware meets the wrong pull-up, and nobody wrote down the ground reference. We run this phase like a short production line for one unit.
Every harness gets a map. Every board revision gets a label. Bring-up is scripted: power rails, clocks, buses, then the application. First light is not a celebration — it is the start of measurement.
When something fails, we keep the unit on the bench and change one variable. That discipline is what turns a pile of good parts into a machine you can trust in a demo.