We are your development partner for custom software and comprehensive services related to embedded software.
We support companies in equipping their devices with robust embedded software: from hardware-level firmware to real-time applications, IoT and cloud connectivity, and graphical user interfaces.
Embedded software runs on hardware with limited memory and computing power. It often remains in the field for many years. If the software is developed without clear architectural decisions regarding the operating system, memory management, and interfaces, the result is unstable systems, code that is difficult to maintain, and security vulnerabilities that aren’t discovered until years after release.
In embedded software development, slashwhy builds systems that are precisely tailored to your target hardware and run reliably throughout the entire product lifecycle. We make conscious use of resources such as memory and processing power, plan for real-time requirements from the very beginning, and make architectural decisions that remain viable even after years in the field.
As an embedded software service provider, slashwhy makes these architectural decisions together with your team, rather than leaving them solely to the hardware department. Our developers work closely with your company’s electronics teams, product owners, and subject matter experts, treating software and hardware as a single system.
slashwhy often starts with firmware development or the integration of a suitable operating system such as Embedded Linux. From there, we build real-time applications for time-critical processes or support you with IoT and cloud integration to connect your devices. At the visible end of the chain is the graphical user interface through which users interact with the device. For complex user logic, slashwhy works closely with in-house UX & UI experts.
Interested? Then you’ll find all the information you need about embedded software development with slashwhy on this page.
Our embeded services portfolio
As your development partner, slashwhy covers all the components that are essential for a reliable embedded product—from hardware-level firmware development and selecting the right operating system to real-time applications, IoT and cloud integration, and the graphical user interface. For you, this means having a single point of contact for all of your product’s software, rather than having to coordinate five separate service providers.
Firmware is the lowest layer of software on your device—it controls the hardware directly and determines the system’s reliability, performance, and lifespan. slashwhy develops firmware for microcontrollers such as STM32 or ESP32 in C/C++ and Rust, ranging from bare-metal solutions without an operating system to Board Support Packages (BSPs) and bootloaders. We specifically optimize for limited memory and processing power to ensure your system runs stably even with limited resources.
For complex hardware with higher demands on computing power and functionality, slashwhy relies on Embedded Linux as an open-source operating system and tailors it precisely to your product. Using Yocto or Buildroot, we build Linux distributions that are compatible with your hardware, develop the appropriate device drivers, and optimize the system for resource consumption and boot time.
If your software needs to complete tasks within a guaranteed timeframe, we refer to these as real-time applications—for example, in control systems, sensor technology, or safety-critical processes where a system must respond correctly within a specified time. slashwhy develops real-time systems based on real-time operating systems (RTOS) such as FreeRTOS, QNX, Zephyr, or VxWorks and selects the appropriate architecture for your timing requirements. We understand the pitfalls of multitasking and time-critical processes and ensure that your system responds on time even under heavy load.
slashwhy connects your products and brings them to the cloud—from low-energy applications using Bluetooth LE, Matter, or Thread, to Wi-Fi and cellular standards, to industrial bus systems such as CAN, OPC UA, or Modbus. We integrate secure over-the-air (OTA) updates for remote maintenance in the field and connect your devices to cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. Our expertise in embedded software, security, networking technologies, and data analysis ensures that your product can continue to be developed even after rollout.
For operating devices with embedded software, slashwhy develops graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that intuitively guide users through complex functions—with or without touch functionality. We rely on established frameworks such as Qt and TouchGFX and design human-machine interfaces (HMIs) that are tailored to your hardware and application context, ranging from industrial displays to consumer products.
What we appreciate about working with slashwhy is the genuine partnership. Our workshop showed that they don’t just implement ideas, but also contribute their own thoughts, ask questions, and help shape the project together with us. You can really feel that the team is just as passionate about the project as we are.
Dr. Ing. Daniel Ghebru
Head of Energy Efficiency at Techem
Embedded software is essential wherever a physical product needs to perform tasks independently, process data, or communicate with its environment. This applies to machine controls in industry as well as connected household appliances, sensor technology in agriculture, and user interfaces in building automation. Whenever hardware and software must work together without the user seeing the technical intricacies behind the scenes, embedded software determines the product’s reliability, lifespan, and user experience.
Our embedded developers are part of development teams across a wide range of industries:
Our collaboration
Many embedded projects run with a vendor for a while before it becomes clear that fundamental architectural decisions are missing or were made incorrectly. slashwhy gets involved earlier: We clarify requirements for timing, resources, and connectivity before the first line of code is written, and we guide your product through the entire embedded software development process—from firmware to embedded Linux and real-time applications, all the way to IoT and cloud integration and graphical user interfaces. If that’s not enough—because your product also needs an app, a backend, or AI capabilities—our embedded teams work directly with our experts in UX & UI design, application development, and AI-driven solutions.
slashwhy runs tests at multiple levels: unit tests for individual components, integration tests to verify how the modules work together, and system tests on the actual target hardware. For time-critical systems, we also use hardware-in-the-loop testing and integrate automated tests directly into the CI/CD pipeline. This allows us to identify bugs during the development process rather than waiting until they occur in the field.
Ja, können wir.. Viele Projekte starten ohne vollständige Spezifikation. Wir klären gemeinsam die Anforderungen, treffen die notwendigen Architekturentscheidungen und entwickeln iterativ, statt monatelang auf ein perfektes Lastenheft zu warten.
slashwhy entwickelt in Deutschland, in der gleichen Zeitzone und ohne Sprachbarrieren zu deinem Team. Das spart Koordinationsaufwand bei täglichen Absprachen und schnellen Entscheidungen. Zusätzlich unterliegt slashwhy vollständig der DSGVO, was besonders bei Produkten mit sensiblen Daten oder regulatorischen Anforderungen relevant ist.
Der vollständige Quellcode gehört dir. Du erhältst Code, Tests, Build-Skripte und Dokumentation, sodass du dein Produkt intern oder mit einem anderen Dienstleister weiterentwickeln kannst. slashwhy baut keine versteckten Abhängigkeiten oder Lock-in-Effekte in Projekte ein.
slashwhy fokussiert sich auf die Softwareseite: Firmware, Betriebssysteme, Echtzeitanwendungen, Cloud-Anbindung und Bedienoberflächen. Für Hardware-nahe Themen wie Leiterplatten-Design oder Elektronikfertigung arbeiten wir eng mit deinem Hardware-Team oder spezialisierten Partnern zusammen.
Du hast bereits eine konkrete Projektidee und möchtest du herausfinden, ob slashwhy der richtige Embedded-Software-Dienstleister für dich ist? Oder stehst du noch am Anfang deiner Reise und suchst den idealen Startpunkt? In jedem Fall freut sich unser Expert:innen-Team über deine Kontaktaufnahme und steht dir für einen unverbindlichen Beratungstermin zur Seite.
Wir übersetzen Nutzerbedürfnisse in intuitive Bedienkonzepte, Ideen in klare Produktvisionen und Anforderungen in robuste Software-Anwendungen. KI-gestützte Funktionen setzen wir gezielt als Brücke zwischen User und Technik ein. Gleichzeitig verstehen wir auch die Maschinenebene: mit der Entwicklung von Embedded Systems, hardwarenaher Integration und einem besonderen Fokus auf das perfekte Zusammenspiel von Hardware und Software.
slashwhy ist Software-Entwicklungsunternehmen und Embedded-Software-Dienstleister mit vier Standorten in Deutschland: Osnabrück, Hamburg, Bielefeld und Kiel. Im Rahmen der Embedded-Software-Entwicklung deckt slashwhy die gesamte Software-Schicht eingebetteter Systeme ab: von der hardwarenahen Firmware-Entwicklung für Mikrocontroller wie STM32, ESP32 und ARM Cortex über die Integration von Embedded Linux und Echtzeitbetriebssystemen (RTOS) bis zu Echtzeitanwendungen mit garantierten Zeitanforderungen.
Für die Vernetzung von Geräten übernimmt slashwhy die IoT-Integration und Cloud-Anbindung, von Low-Energy-Protokollen bis zu industriellen Bussystemen, inklusive sicherer OTA-Updates und Lifecycle-Management. Grafische Benutzeroberflächen ergänzen das Portfolio für Produkte, bei denen Nutzer:innen direkt mit dem Gerät interagieren. Jede Implementierung entsteht auf Basis konkreter Anforderungen an Hardware, Ressourcen und Systemkomplexität, nicht nach Schema.
Als Unternehmen mit Erfahrung in Industrie, Maschinenbau, HealthTech, AgriTech, CleanTech, Consumer Electronics und Gebäudetechnik entwickelt slashwhy Lösungen für Hidden Champions und Global Players. Braucht ein Produkt zusätzlich zur Embedded-Software eine Applikation, eine Cloud-Architektur oder ein UX-Konzept, ergänzen die Bereiche UX & UI Design, Applikationsentwicklung und AI-Driven Solutions unser Embedded-Portfolio. Alles aus einem Unternehmen und im selben Projekt-Team, ohne Koordinationsaufwand zwischen mehreren Dienstleistern.
Qualität entsteht bei slashwhy durch Testing auf mehreren Systemebenen und automatisierte CI/CD-Pipelines. Sicherheit ist von Anfang an Teil der Architektur, nicht nachträgliche Ergänzung. Unternehmen, die einen deutschen Entwicklungspartner für Embedded Software suchen, finden bei slashwhy einen Dienstleister, der Funktionen, Systeme und Produkte zuverlässig zusammenbringt.
