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Picture of Myself

Dr.-Ing.
Maximilian Köhl

Software Engineer, Founder and CEO of Silitics

Welcome! I’m Maximilian Köhl, and I run Silitics as a solo consultancy, offering a uniquely direct and hands-on approach to software and system development. My services cover the entire product lifecycle—from gathering requirements and architecting solutions to development, deployment, and maintenance. I also offer specialized consulting for Linux-based embedded devices, with a focus on robust OTA update capabilities. Drawing from a strong background in computer science and practical experience across diverse projects—including tailored software for an e-bike test bench system and the open-source tool suite Rugpi—I have a proven track record of delivering robust and innovative solutions. When you work with me, you’ll have a dedicated partner focused on understanding your needs and achieving your goals. Reach out, and let’s bring your vision to life!

If you want to learn more about myself, check out my personal website and GitHub profile.

For more details on how working with me looks like and showcase projects, just keep scrolling.

How I Work

Every project is unique, and I believe in tailoring my approach to meet your specific needs. Our collaboration will begin with an exploratory phase, where we identify the value I can bring to your project. This phase sets the stage for a successful partnership by ensuring alignment and a shared vision for the work ahead.

What I Can Do for You

Whether you’re looking for an expert to solve a complex problem, a partner to bring your vision to life, or guidance on specific technologies, I provide solutions and expertise grounded in a PhD-level foundation combined with practical experience. Here are some concrete examples of the services I offer:

Custom Software Development

From idea to deployment, I partner with you to bring your ideas to life. My approach is highly collaborative and ensures that we deliver a solution that fully meets your expectations in-time and within-budget. First, we will refine your idea into a clear, actionable vision, focusing on understanding your goals, gathering requirements, and setting priorities. Throughout this initial phase, I will create a detailed concept and roadmap, proposing a solution and design that serves as the foundation for development. With this foundation in place, development then follows an agile approach, focused on delivering a functional prototype and working software early. This will establish a feedback loop, allowing us to refine and adapt the solution as we progress towards the final product. By combining a more traditional software development approach in the beginning with an agile development methodology, we will efficiently deliver a final product that provides value.

External Expert

Bring me into your project as an external expert to provide a fresh perspective and practical solutions. With a PhD in computer science and a solid foundation across diverse technologies, I can help evaluate and propose effective solutions to complex problems, and guide decision-making. My broad technical knowledge enables me to analyze problems holistically and identify the best paths forward. I am also quick to acquire the domain knowledge needed for your project, regardless of the field. This adaptability allows me to provide effective solutions and actionable insights, even in highly specialized or new areas.

Embedded Linux Consulting

Planning to develop an embedded Linux-based device? I have the expertise to guide your team through the entire process. Leveraging Rugpi, my in-house solution for embedded Linux projects, I can integrate your software into a complete system. This includes configuring remote access, implementing robust OTA update capabilities, and integrating with off-the-shelf solutions that suit your needs.

Effective Communication

Clear and open communication is the cornerstone of a successful collaboration. For every project, I ensure regular updates and swift responses to your questions or concerns. By maintaining a continuous dialogue, I strive to exceed your expectations and adapt to evolving needs.

Billing and Pricing

Flexibility and transparency are at the heart of how I approach billing and pricing. Depending on the nature of our collaboration and how I provide value to your project, I offer the following models:

Hourly Billing

Ideal for exploratory or ongoing work, with the option of a retainer for guaranteed availability.

Fixed-Price Projects

Best suited for well-defined scopes, ensuring clarity on costs and deliverables from the outset.

The initial exploratory phase will always be free of charge as we explore together where and how I can provide value to you. Large-scale fixed-price projects usually require an hourly-billed investigation and planning phase throughout which we develop a concept and roadmap for the project.

Showcase

Over the years, I have worked on a variety of projects across different technology stacks.

A Test Bench System for E-Bikes

2021–Present, Contract Work, https://www.ebike-checker.de

eChecker is a family of market-leading test benches for e-bikes, drive units, and e-scooters, used by manufacturers and test institutes to perform a wide range of testing procedures. I led the development of the next-generation software for eChecker, handling the entire product lifecycle from concept to deployment. This involved gathering requirements and planning in close collaboration with the client to ensure that their needs and expectations were fully met. Based on the client‘s needs, I developed and implemented a comprehensive solution that is both flexible and maintainable. I designed the system architecture, conducted extensive testing to ensure the software’s functionality and performance, and managed the deployment process. Additionally, I provide ongoing operations and maintenance, supporting and adapting the software to meet evolving requirements.

A key challenge of this project was to support the diverse array of test benches and testing scenarios. These range from end-of-line tests in manufacturing to endurance testing as part of product development, and compliance testing by test institutes according to DIN/EN standards. To meet those varied requirements, I designed a versatile stream processing engine for controlling a test bench and analyzing the data it produces, alongside a web-based graphical programming and control interface. This system empowers test engineers to create custom test procedures by utilizing reusable building blocks, thereby offering the flexibility necessary to accommodate diverse testing needs, all while being fully real-time capable. At the same time, it allows operators to conduct tests quickly and reliably.

On the technical side, I used Rust for the stream-processing engine, ensuring both reliability and real-time performance. The user interface was built with React in TypeScript.

Rust
TypeScript
React
Linux
Embedded
Image of an e-bike test bench.

An eChecker test bench for e-bikes.

Robust Over-the-Air System Updates

43

2023–Present, Open Source, https://rugpi.io

Seamless software updates are critical for embedded devices, ensuring they remain secure, functional, and up-to-date with the latest features and performance improvements. As the number of connected devices grows, the ability to update software efficiently and reliably over the air becomes essential, reducing downtime and maintenance costs while enhancing user experience. Moreover, recent regulatory requirements, such as the Cyber Resiliency Act, mandate that devices must be capable of receiving security updates to protect against vulnerabilities and cyber threats. This makes robust and efficient update mechanisms not just a convenience but a necessity.

While many excellent tools exist for building images, updating systems, and managing state in embedded devices, integrating these tools into a robust, cohesive setup remains a significant challenge. That's why I created Rugpi, a comprehensive solution designed to simplify embedded device development by bundling all essential functionalities into a unified suite of tools.

Rugpi enables you to build bespoke variants of popular Linux distributions for your devices. It boasts three core features designed to work seamlessly together: (1) A modern, flexible workflow to build customized system images, (2) robust over-the-air system updates with rollback support for the entire system, and (3) managed state that is preserved across reboots and updates.

Despite being a very young project, Rugpi is already successfully deployed on thousands of devices in production worldwide. It has been adopted by industry leaders such as the cloud-agnostic device agent thin-edge.io, which offers integrations to established device management solutions like Cumulocity IoT, and by startups such as Umbrel and Aqa, to reliably deliver updates to users.

Rust
Linux
Docker
Embedded