One out of three pets go missing during its lifetime, and out of these pets, around 16 percent are dogs. Most pet-owners only look for their pets in their home neighbourhood and are therefore not able to find their dog if it has strayed further away.

Spåra is a company that sell tracking devices and together with OSM we have develop a solar-charged dog tracker, using Exeger Powerfoyle as the power source, to help dog owners track down their lost best friends.

Having designed and developed several Powerfoyle integrated products previously, OSM was well placed for the challenge of ensuring people’s best friend wouldn’t get lost in the wilds.

– This is a true example of advanced engineered soft goods melding with electronics. The nexus of the design was Powerfoyle itself, as the drain and gain study sun, ambient light captured, balanced with power consumption to ensure none or little mains charging had already been conducted and cell size determined. The key challenge was integrating the cell and connecting to the tracker dock, within an IPX6 fabric-based ‘housing’, says Simon Masters, Senior Director, Design & RD, OSM GROUP.

Owner does not need to think about changing batteries

Spåra Hundens GPS is easy to put on the harness, and with the Powerfoyle it is charged both with inside and outside lighting, which means that the owner does not need to think about changing any batteries.

What is the Key function of this product?

– The key factors to make this product work were protecting connective elements between the cell and the dock, waterproofing the cell, and the removable tracking device inside its housing. We also thought about the ease of assembly and how easy the positioning on the animal as well as being robust in the field, says Simon Masters.

The overall construction and assembly decided upon was a series of various material layers, one being semi-rigid to act as a chassis for all other materials to fix and bond to, the others adding padding or circuitry protection. Sealing the cell for IPX6 was achieved by the use of a 600D ripstop polyester, curtain kiss coated with TPU and Bemis bonded to the frame of the cell.
Internally, the cell was sealed in the same manner to create a waterproof envelope around the cell and FPC and dock connections. Attachment to the harness itself was buying more traditional means of cut, and sew, Velcro, and various hardware.

About OSM Group

OSM Group is Swedish Original design manufacturing (ODM) partner for global OEM’s making complex on-trend engineered soft goods, consumer electronics and industrial products. We offer end-to-end Design, R&D, Product development,and Engineering capabilities, Retail packaging capabilities and supply chain management solutions
We have more than 1,000 employees, and operate in Hong Kong, Philippines, Sweden, USA & India.
Since 2004 have created hundreds of millions of successful, high-quality products shipped to our growing roster of clients worldwide. We specialize in creating cutting-edge engineered soft goods, consumer electronics, and industrial products for renowned global brands. Our passion lies in crafting complex, on-trend creations that captivate consumers and push industry boundaries.

Products we design, develop and manufacture:

• Headphones
• Wireless
• Audio
• Bluetooth Speaker
• ANC Headphones
• Portable speakers
• Electronics
• Design
• Soft Goods
• Outdoor products
• Back Packs
• Coolers
• Tablet covers
• Computer bag
• Waterproof bags
• Sports bags