Michael Kraft - Embedded Systems Engineer and Co-Founder

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Hamburg, Germany

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Experience

Oct 2024 - Jan 2025

4 months

Bytec Medizintechnik

Developed solution to filter heavily noisy analog sensor data by combining high-speed sampling with digital firmware filtering
Increased battery life of a battery-powered medical device from about 10 days to about 18 months
Supported the overall project up to initial clinical tests and TÜV approval

Jun 2023 - Jul 2023

2 months

Portugal

Azorean Biodiversity Group CE3C (University of the Azores)

Developed a pilot project for real-time communicating pest traps for insects
Implemented real-time communication of the traps for monitoring and data transfer

May 2023 - Jun 2024

1 year 2 months

Portugal

Co-Founder

JSIO Lda

Developed a platform-independent interface to simplify and reduce costs for new IoT hardware
Designed and implemented a modular driver system (MDS) as a standardized framework for quick implementation of new hardware
Integrated more complex software modules like edge computing, AI and ML
Used JSON as the sole data protocol for easy configuration with JavaScript or Python skills
Ported firmware from 32-bit MCUs from Espressif to embedded Linux systems
Successfully funded by ESA BIC Portugal in September 2023

May 2021 - Nov 2021

7 months

Portugal

ImpactWave

Developed a measurement device for LoRa(WAN) applications to optimize existing LoRa networks
Hardware design with Semtech LoRa module (433/868/915 MHz) and RISC-V MCU with BLE and USB
Implemented a native Android BLE app with a complex user interface, ported to iOS
JSON-based communication over USB (CDC ACM) and created a Python module for user programming
Had sole responsibility for the project

Oct 2019 - Aug 2020

11 months

Q-Connex

Smart home IoT application on a poorly documented, low-cost Chinese SoC
Analyzed the SoC components before starting firmware development
Implemented a TLS-protected TCP socket firmware and an integrated MQTT server & client
Developed a UDP socket for provisioning broadcast to quickly connect devices and apps

May 2018 - Sep 2018

5 months

Plexus

Development of the embedded USB high-speed driver for the Dräger X-act 7000 on ARM Cortex M4 (STM) in C++ and integration into the uC-RTOS
Implementation of a complex control protocol in parallel to video data transmission at up to 80% USB utilization
Development of a Windows application for unit and production tests

Jan 2016 - Dec 2018

3 years

3onics Systems Inc

Development of a battery-powered DC motor controller with a self-learning, fast-adapting algorithm for precise speed control under varying load conditions
Platform: low-cost ESP32-C3 module
Implementation of a Bluetooth BLE GATT server to transfer usage data
Integration of a genetic algorithm (AI) into the firmware for control
Control and data access via Android and iOS apps

Jan 2007 - Dec 2007

1 year

Italy

Società Italiana di Biologia Marina

Development of an underwater audio recorder with hydrophone for 24-bit delta-sigma ADC and up to 220 kHz sample rate
Circular buffer with about 80 seconds of recording time for pre-buffering until the trigger event and continued writing to SD card
Design of a custom memory management scheme for FAT32 file system to avoid memory fragmentation

Industry Experience

See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time.

Experienced in Manufacturing, Information Technology, Biotechnology, Healthcare, and Telecommunication.

Manufacturing

Information Technology

Biotechnology

Healthcare

Telecommunication

Business Area Experience

See which departments and functions this freelancer has contributed to most.

Experienced in Product Development, Research and Development, Information Technology, Quality Assurance, and Project Management.

Product Development

Research and Development

Information Technology

Quality Assurance

Project Management

Summary

For over 20 years developer of

Embedded Systems
IoT
DSP (Audio)
Digital and mixed-signal electronics
Simulation
Schematics, PCB Layout
Prototyping and commissioning

Skills

Experience In Software And Firmware Development
Programming Languages: C And C++ (20+ Years), Java And Embedded Java (2 Years), Kotlin (2 Years), Rust (1 Year), C# (1 Year), Various Assembly, Scripting Languages: Python (4 Years), Javascript / Typescript (4 Years), Lua (1 Year)
Rtos: Freertos, Uc, Emdos, Mbedos, Zephyr, Vxworks
Bare Metal: Arm Cortex M4 (Stm), Processor-Optimized Audio Dsp Applications
Microcontrollers: Arm Cortex M0 To M7 (Stm, Nxp, Infineon Etc.), Aurix (Infineon), Esp32 (Espressif), Risc-V (Espressif), Tensilica Xtensa, (Audio) Dsps (Texas Instruments, Sharc), Various 8-Bit And 16-Bit Mcus
Low-Level Drivers: Dma, Usb, Spi, I2c, Uart, I2s And Tdm, Can, Lin, Rs485 And More
Single Board Computers: Raspberry Pi, Beaglebone, Various Arm Cortex A Derivatives
Embedded Linux: Yocto, Pantavisor
Networking: Encryption Over Ssl/Tls, Aes Etc., Low-Level Tcp And Udp Sockets, Http(S), Ws(S) (Websockets), Ota Secure Firmware Updates
Communication Hardware: Wi-Fi (Ieee-802.11), Ethernet Including Tsn, Bluetooth & Ble, Gsm (Lte Cat 1 To 4 And Nb-Iot), Zigbee, Nfc, Lora & Lorawan
All Common Data Protocols: Json, Mqtt, Modbus & Profibus, At, Matter (Csa-Iot) And More
Desktop Apps: Linux, Windows
Cross-Platform Guis: Qt/Qml, Webview Api (Html5, Css, Angularjs)
Native Mobile Apps For Android In Kotlin Or Java, Including C++ Integration
Version Control: Git (Github, Gitlab, Bitbucket), Svn
Unit And Integration Tests
Hardware Bench Testing
Experience In Hardware Development
Product Development From Prototype To Production
Own Lab For Prototyping And Testing With All Common Lab Devices
Circuit Design: Digital, Analog, Mixed Signal, Spice, Pcb Layout And Board Bring-Up
Eda Experience: Altium, Kicad, Eagle, Orcad, Target
Robotics: Stepper, Servo, Sync And Bldc Motors
Sensors Of All Kinds
3d Cad: Rhino, Moi, Plasticity
Software Architect In Various Projects And Product Developments
Comfortable With Customers And Stakeholders
Leadership Role In International Teams, Lots Of Experience With Interns
Management Tools: Polarion, Confluence, Agile/Scrum, Jira
Multiple Startup Experience, Strong Problem Solver
Author Of English Documentation And Fiction (Novel: "The Bomb")

Languages

German

Native

English

Advanced

Italian

Advanced

Spanish

Intermediate

Portuguese

Intermediate

Education

Oct 1984 - Jun 1989

TU Berlin

Telecommunications · Berlin, Germany

Statistics

Experience

Total positions 8

Experience in Manufacturing 3 y

Avg length 10 m

Longest experience 2 y 11 m

Global Experience

Countries worked in 2 (Portugal, Italy)

Primary country Portugal

Expertise

Recent roles Co-Founder

Main industries Manufacturing, Information Technology, Biotechnology

Main business areas Product Development, Research and Development, Information Technology

Profile

Created

June 2025

Last Update

June 2026

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Frequently asked questions

Have questions? Find more information here.

Michael is based in Hamburg, Germany and can operate in on-site, hybrid, and remote work models.

Michael speaks the following languages: German (Native), English (Advanced), Italian (Advanced), Spanish (Intermediate), Portuguese (Intermediate).

Michael has at least 7 years of experience. During this time, Michael has worked in at least 1 role and for 8 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 1 year and 10 months. Note that Michael may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

Based on recent experience, Michael would be well-suited for roles such as: Co-Founder.

In recent years, Michael has worked for Bytec Medizintechnik, Azorean Biodiversity Group CE3C (University of the Azores), JSIO Lda, and ImpactWave.

Michael is most experienced in industries like Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Biotechnology. Michael also has some experience in Healthcare, Telecommunication, and Education.

Michael is most experienced in business areas like Product Development, Research and Development, and Information Technology. Michael also has some experience in Quality Assurance and Project Management.

Michael has recently worked in industries like Information Technology, Telecommunication, and Healthcare.

Michael has recently worked in business areas like Product Development, Information Technology, and Research and Development.

Michael attended TU Berlin for Telecommunications.

Michael is immediately available full-time for suitable projects.

Daily Rate Distribution

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The rates shown represent the typical market range for freelancers in this position based on recent contracts on our platform.

Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.

Average rates for similar positions

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Daily rate avg. 928 €

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Median rate 896 €

The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.

Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.