Partner Profile: Oxeltech
Website: oxeltech.se (verify) Contact: Fahad Bhatti (CEO / Founder), Hassan (engineering) Origin: Sweden Specialty: Hardware design services (wearable / IoT) Stage: NDA Signed (Apr 27, 2026) → Architecture Discovery proposal received (May 13, 2026) Met at: Embedded World Nuremberg 2026
Strategic role
Candidate hardware design partner for the Member ear-tag and Cowbell Leader carrier electronics + ruggedization. Engagement is structured to de-risk the architecture before committing to full development rather than jumping to a build.
Per ADR 0008 — COTS-First MVP, Oxeltech sits on the post-validation custom-hardware path, not the immediate MVP critical path. The Architecture Discovery workshop is appropriately Phase-0 work — it produces the blueprint that the post-validation hardware build will execute against.
Engagement model — proposed
Architecture Discovery workshop - Cost: €500 / 10 hours of work - Purpose: Resolve key trade-offs and define a feasible architectural path before committing to full development - Process: Structured workshop driven by a Q&A pack - Deliverable: Architectural path with feasibility assessment, timelines, and cost estimates
This is the right shape for a Phase-0 engagement: low capital outlay, high information yield, no commitment to the larger design contract.
Meeting log
2026-05-13 — Introduction call (31 min)
Attendees: Juan Andrés Antoniuk (JAAB), Fahad Bhatti (Oxeltech)
Oxeltech read of the technical brief:
- Core challenge identified: the +3-year battery-life mandate vs. continuous IMU streaming. Power consumption on the Member tag is the dominant constraint.
- Open trade-offs they flagged: Mesh vs. Star topology · Relative positioning accuracy (RSSI vs. Time-of-Flight) · Data transmission frequency and latency.
Their proposed approach:
- Phased development. Defer the more complex and expensive NTN (satellite) integration; start with the local herd network.
- Modular communications. Decouple the comms module from the core design via a standard interface — exactly the carrier-and-comms-module pattern we documented in the strategic brief (II.2 Leader Gateway). They explicitly cited the future-proofing benefit: "easy upgrades to new technologies (e.g., Skylo, MyoT) without a full redesign".
- Energy harvesting. Open to solar or other methods to extend life beyond a primary battery.
The convergence between our written architecture and their unprompted reading is a strong signal.
Action items
| # | Action | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Email Fahad & Hassan: Blues link + consolidated research pack (translated/organized) | Juan | Open. The "research pack" is the two strategic-partner briefs (market landscape + technology & stack) plus the main strategic brief and a Blues Notecard reference link. |
| 2 | Email Juan initial discovery questions (positioning, IMU, exceptions, comms) | Fahad | Open — awaiting their reply. Will form the basis of the Architecture Discovery workshop Q&A. |
| 3 | Run the Architecture Discovery workshop using the Q&A as input | Both | Pending #1 and #2. €500 / 10h scope. |
Strategic notes
- Workshop output feeds ADR 0008's "open items" list — specifically Member silicon selection, Leader carrier-and-comms-module spec, and the closure of the Star vs. Mesh decision against measured power budget.
- Modular Cowbell validation. Oxeltech independently arrived at the carrier + hot-swap comms module pattern. This validates the design direction and means the Architecture Discovery is unlikely to surface a competing design philosophy.
- Vendor compartmentalization holds. The research pack we send (the two
partner_*briefs) names public competitors but redacts our partner shortlist (Skylo, Sateliot, Blues, Quectel, Nordic, etc.). Maintain that compartmentalization through the workshop and the design contract. - Cost-of-entry is low. €500 for 10 hours is well-scoped to find out whether Oxeltech is the right deeper partner without a meaningful capital commitment.
Open questions for Oxeltech (to seed the workshop)
(Fahad will lead with their discovery questions; this is what we should bring from our side.)
- Their experience with +3 year zero-maintenance wearables in livestock or comparable environments.
- Their reference designs for carrier-and-comms-module patterns (have they done a Notecard-equivalent before?).
- Their typical NRE / NRE-to-tooling ratio for a ruggedized two-class platform (Member + Leader).
- Regulatory cert experience: ICAR, FCC Part 15, IP67/IP69K.
- Their take on Star vs. Mesh given the 1 km between-cow design target and the body-shadowing constraint.
Related documents
- Strategic brief — the source of truth for the architecture.
- Partner-facing market landscape — competitor research pack (item #1 of the action items).
- Partner-facing technology & stack — technology-categories pack (item #1 of the action items).
- ADR 0008 — COTS-First MVP — explains why this engagement is Phase-0 and what "validated" looks like.
- Partnership matrix entry: partnership_matrix.md, Section 1 (Oxeltech row).