WanderSoil — Decision Log
Running log of every keep/swap/drop decision across Stages 0-10. Refined + extended from the local-LLM 2026-04-24 draft (validated 100/100). Citations per entry.
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Source — local-LLM draft (preserved for audit)
Draft DECISIONS.md (10 items, validated 100/100 by _TEMPLATES/validate-draft.py) cited: 1. User-swappable battery in 3 minutes — T5 Torx screws, no glue; parts available for 7 years at cost+10% [rule: 7yr-parts] 2. Saffron accent and matte finish — no exterior wordmark; signature engraved inside back cover [rule: saffron] 3. Covert mode + duress code activation — panic wipe ensures safety for at-risk users [rule: identity-aware] 4. Mode 1 standalone operation first — all features available without phone or account; Mode 2 integrates with third-party apps; Mode 3 unlocks WanderNode Hub pairing [rule: dual-mode] 5. Zero cloud by default — data stored locally on device; opt-in cloud sync requires user-held keys [rule: zero-cloud] 6. Dual-source silicon ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 + Nordic nRF52840 — ensures no single-vendor lock-in for critical components [rule: dual-source] 7. Ambassador-assembled with signature inside the back cover — provides provenance and community engagement [rule: ambassador] 8. Community Pool revenue split 60/30/10 per unit sold — Ambassador wages (60%), PrideFund HYSA (10%), WWP nonprofit (30%) [rule: 60/30/10] 9. Invisible mode and duress code options — critical for at-risk users to maintain privacy and safety [rule: identity-aware] 10. LoRa uplink with Semtech SX1262 primary, alternative source as backup — ensures reliable community mesh communication without vendor lock-in [rule: dual-source]
Refinement notes:
- Items 3 + 9 (covert / duress / invisible / panic-wipe) are misapplied to WanderSoil. WanderSoil is an outdoor garden stake — there is no covert/duress threat surface (the device lives in the dirt, has no microphone, no camera, no presence sensor, and no household-identifying payload). Covert + duress + invisible-mode patterns belong to WanderShield + WanderBand + WanderAway, not the soil probe.
- Item 1 (user-swappable battery in 3 minutes) is kept and adjusted to garden context — the cell is a single 18650 (not pouch); access is under T10-Torx solar cap; 2-min DIY (faster than the draft's 3-min target because the form factor is simpler).
- Item 6 (dual-source ESP32-S3 + Nordic nRF52840) is partially kept — ESP32-S3 is the primary; Nordic nRF52840 is NOT a fit for WanderSoil because we don't need ultra-µA standby (solar harvest covers our duty cycle and ESP32-S3 deep-sleep is sufficient). Dual-source happens at the module level (Espressif ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 first source, alt second source via Mouser/Digi-Key channels), NOT a different silicon vendor. This matches Wanderbreath's MCU strategy.
- Decision: keep items 1 (adjusted), 2, 4, 5, 6 (adjusted), 7, 8, 10 verbatim or adjusted; replace 3 + 9 with Standard 3 minimum-disclosure for an outdoor sensor (anonymized data export + encrypted LoRa packets + no household ID in payload).
- Add wear-item recalibration cadence (probes 2-yr; cell 5-yr) to honor
[rule: 7yr-parts] framing for a wear-prone outdoor product.
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Stage 0 — Feature-parity sweep (2026-04-24)
- Scope: outdoor garden + soil probe; single SKU; LoRa community mesh + solar harvest first
- Competitive set: Xiaomi Mi Flora ($30) · Gardena Smart Sensor ($129) · Vegetronix VG-METER ($150) · Ecowitt WH51 ($30 multipoint, weather-bundle) · GroPoint Profile ($300 industrial) · SwitchBot soil ($39) · ZIGBEE-soil-sensors generic ($25-50)
- Primary differentiator (unique): "Solar-powered LoRa community-mesh garden probe with anonymized WeatherKit / OpenWeatherMap contribution + WanderGarden sprinkler trigger + 7-year parts" combined with cream-saffron premium ID
- Secondary differentiators: EC sensor head (most consumer probes skip nutrients/salinity); 3-probe capacitive (not resistive); user-swappable 18650 + solar (not coin cell death); cross-product irrigation triggers
- 9 LEADS / 4 MATCHES / 2 LAGS per
_COMPETITIVE-AUDIT-2026-04-24.md
- LAGs: brand recognition (Gardena + Xiaomi have Lowe's / Best Buy shelf); GroPoint multi-depth profile (we are surface + root-depth only)
Stage 1 — Intake + freeze (2026-04-24)
- Source inputs:
- Local-LLM DECISIONS draft (validated 100/100; preserved for audit per Standard 4)
- Hero image (slim vertical garden stake; 3 stainless probes; cream aluminum body; integrated solar; saffron LED ring; saffron pinstripe upper bezel) — locked as visual identity
- WanderAway Trail DECISIONS — borrowed solar + LoRa + sapphire window + Maxeon C60 + BQ25180 + 18650 + Gore vent + IP-rating discipline
- WanderBreath DECISIONS — borrowed cream-anodized aluminum + saffron pinstripe + Cree CLM3C-AKA saffron LED + ESP32-S3 + ESPHome upstream pattern
- WanderVerse master plan v5 — confirms outdoor garden device SKU + WanderGarden sibling target
- Decision: WanderSoil is single SKU — no Lite/Pro/Ultra sprawl. One product at $79. Resists tier-fatigue.
- Device IDs:
WV-SOIL-STD
- Ship targets: 2027-Q3 (one quarter behind WanderBreath + WanderAway Trail to ride shared supply chain)
- Revision:
v1.0-candidate
Stage 2 — Component selection
MCU + PMIC:
- Espressif ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R8 — primary MCU (16 MB flash + 8 MB PSRAM; WiFi + BLE; ESPHome-supported; LoRa via SX1262 SPI peripheral)
- Reasoning: shared with WanderBreath + WanderAir Monitor (~70% firmware reuse at sensor + LoRa + power-mgmt layers); ESP32-S3 deep-sleep at ~10 µA combined with solar harvest is sufficient for outdoor duty cycle
- Dual-source per
[rule: dual-source] adjusted: Espressif primary; secondary source through Mouser + Arrow channels; NOT swapping to Nordic nRF52840 (Nordic is the right call for WanderAway emergency beacons where µA standby on a 7-day-battery target rules; WanderSoil has solar + larger duty cycle so ESP32-S3's mature LoRa+WiFi+BLE combo wins)
- TI BQ25180 single-cell USB-C / solar-input charger — shared with WanderAway Lite/Trail; programmable charge curve via I²C; covers our 5 W solar input
- TI TPS65086100 multi-rail PMIC — shared platform component (3.3 V / 1.8 V / 5 V switched rails)
LoRa radio:
- Semtech SX1262 — kept verbatim from draft item 10. Industry-standard for 2025-2026 designs; 150 dB link budget; -148 dBm sensitivity; 22 dBm TX. Used by Meshtastic, RAK, Heltec, LilyGO. Shared with WanderAway. Alt: SX1268 (China variant, not needed for US/EU) flagged for future-proofing.
Solar harvest:
- Maxeon C60 5 W monocrystalline IBC cell — shared with WanderAway Ultra; high efficiency in low-light (good for partial-shade gardens); ~22% conversion efficiency
- Sapphire-glass cover (Swiss Jewel Co) — shared with WanderAway Ultra; scratch-resistant under 7 yr of weather + bird droppings; tempered-glass alt evaluated and rejected on long-term clarity (sapphire is the hardware-IDsignal of premium).
- MPPT not needed at this power level: BQ25180 linear charger is sufficient for ~1.2-1.8 W harvest target; TI BQ25798 MPPT considered but adds $1.70 BOM and complexity for marginal gain; deferred to v1.1 if field data supports it.
Battery:
- Samsung INR18650-30Q Li-ion (3000 mAh, 15 A continuous; -20 °C discharge supported) — shared with WanderAway. User-replaceable via T10-Torx solar-cap access. 5-yr typical capacity threshold under solar-charge cycling.
- Alt: Sony VTC6 18650 (qualified second source; same form factor)
Sensors:
- Capacitive moisture probes (×3) — NEW component, custom-fab:
- 304 stainless steel pads, ~3 mm OD, ~150 mm insertion depth, 120° spaced
- Capacitive (NOT resistive — resistive corrodes in months in EC-rich soil; capacitive is the consumer-grade industry standard since ~2018)
- Three probes (not one) for soil-volume-averaged moisture + cross-validation
- Vendor menu (Stage 4): Vegetronix VG400 ($28 each) vs custom-fab via PCBA + plated SS rod ($8 each at 1k volume) vs Mi-Flora-class commodity ($3 each, low quality)
- Decision pending Stage 4 sourcing: custom-fab is the cost-target line; vendor RFQ at Stage 4
- 316L SS option for EC-rich / salty / coastal soils — $5 BOM upgrade; offered as "Pro probe upgrade" configurator add-on (NOT a separate SKU)
- Maxim DS18B20 1-Wire digital soil temperature — industry-standard; ±0.5 °C; thermal-paste mounted to one of the SS probe bodies for root-depth soil temp read
- EC sensor head — NEW component, custom-fab:
- Two stainless electrodes, 3.16 mm spacing, AC-excitation (avoids electrode-poisoning DC drift)
- Reports µS/cm (linear up to 5000 µS/cm; useful range 0-3000 µS/cm)
- Vendor menu (Stage 4): DFRobot Gravity EC ($30) vs Atlas Scientific EZO ($60) vs custom-fab (target $4 BOM)
- Decision pending Stage 4 sourcing: custom-fab targeted; Atlas Scientific qualified as Pro alt
- Vishay VEML7700 ambient light + UV-index proxy — mounted under sapphire window; tells the gardener "this corner gets 6 h direct sun"
- Bosch BMP390 barometric + air temp — shared with WanderAway; barometric reference + ambient air temp at the stake's solar-cap level
- No RH/humidity sensor in air: intentionally excluded — soil moisture is the user-facing metric; ambient air RH adds BOM cost without garden-decision value. SHT40 considered and rejected.
Status indicator:
- Saffron LED ring (×6 Cree CLM3C-AKA single-color) — NOT WS2812B RGB strip, NOT a single dot. Six LEDs in a ring honoring the "saffron LED ring just below solar" image element. Daylight-readable at typical garden viewing distances (1-3 m).
Connectivity:
- LoRa 915/868 MHz primary (shared SX1262 + Taoglas GW.71.5153 whip antenna external; replaceable RP-SMA per WanderAway pattern)
- BLE 5.0 commissioning (ESP32-S3 native)
- WiFi 4 opt-in (2.4 GHz) for direct OpenWeatherMap / WeatherKit / HA when garden has WiFi coverage; OFF by default to save power
- No Matter native: WanderSoil itself does not speak Matter (Matter-over-Thread on a solar-LoRa device is overkill; aluminum cylinder is also a partial Faraday cage). WanderStation hub re-publishes WanderSoil readings as Matter for Apple Home / Google Home / Alexa via custom outdoor cluster (Matter 1.4 standardization pending). See D-04.
Input:
- Single tactile button (Omron B3F or equivalent) under T10-removable solar-cap; short-press wakes display; long-press = garden tour mode (LED ring fill); 10-sec hold = factory reset
Chassis:
- 5052 aluminum cylindrical body, type II anodize matte cream — same finish family as WanderBreath
- Saffron pinstripe upper bezel (anodized contrast band; matched to WanderBreath Pro pinstripe execution)
- Sapphire-glass solar cover (~28 mm OD disc, 1.5 mm thick)
- Three stainless steel capacitive probes at base; 316L SS welded base joints (food-grade-compatible for vegetable gardens; corrosion-resistant)
- Gore PMV-001 pressure-equalization vent (shared with WanderAway)
- Silicone Shore 70A face O-ring at probe-base interface + solar-cap interface
- Overmolded TPE cable-gland bumper at probe entry
- T10 Torx fasteners (no Pentalobe)
- IP67 main body / IP68 probe section (probes are designed for permanent burial)
- UV-stable: ASTM G155 1000 h validation at DVT (cream anodize fade test)
Stage 2b — Configurator axes (2026-04-24)
5 axes per SKU. See CONFIGURATOR.md. Key axes: probe upgrade (304 vs 316L Pro), mount, Ambassador signature, custom engraving, warranty, WanderAssist.
Stage 3 — Compatibility review (2026-04-24)
Resolved:
- ESP32-S3 + SX1262 LoRa SPI bus + I²C sensor bus (BMP390 + DS18B20 1-Wire + VEML7700) — no address conflicts
- Power budget: solar harvest ~1.2-1.8 W typical; standby ~50 mW; LoRa TX peak 120 mA @ +22 dBm (1.2 sec burst); duty cycle ~1 reading per 15 min nominal — comfortable on 18650 + solar
- Aluminum body + LoRa antenna: external whip antenna mounted at top via RP-SMA; aluminum body acts as ground plane (a feature for LoRa monopole, not a Faraday-cage problem)
- WiFi BLE PCB antenna for opt-in WiFi mode: same approach as WanderBreath (PCB trace antenna in a small RF-transparent window in the bezel area; less critical because WiFi is opt-in / occasional)
Deferred:
- Saffron LED ring visibility under direct sunlight — Stage 5 prototype daylight test
- Capacitive probe vendor decision — Stage 4 sourcing
- EC sensor head vendor decision — Stage 4 sourcing
- Sapphire vs tempered glass for solar cover — Stage 5 cost-vs-scratch tradeoff (current decision: sapphire)
Stage 4 — Sourcing (2026-04-24)
See SOURCING.csv. Key bets:
- ESP32-S3 + SX1262 + BQ25180 + TPS65086100 + BMP390 shared with WanderAway + WanderBreath — platform commonality benefit
- Maxeon C60 + sapphire window shared with WanderAway Ultra — long-lead items pre-committed in family Q4 RFQs
- Capacitive probes + EC head custom-fab through PCBA partner; Vegetronix + DFRobot + Atlas Scientific qualified as alternates
- Anodized aluminum cylinder: Protolabs US (primary) + Xometry (secondary) for tariff-resilient supply
Stage 5 — DFM/DFA/DFT (2026-04-24)
See DFM-DFA-DFT.md for detailed plan. Headline:
- Aluminum cylinder + sapphire window + saffron pinstripe — the visible-tooling bet (anodize + window quality is the most visible quality signal)
- Ambassador assembly target: 12 min/unit
- DFT: 13 production tests per unit (incl. capacitive probe baseline + EC null-cal + soil-temp DS18B20 verify + sapphire window seal pressure-decay test + LoRa TX power)
- Capacitive probe calibration fixture — 4-soil-type bench (sand / loam / clay / peat) cross-cal vs gravimetric reference
Stage 6 — Thermal / EMC (2026-04-24)
- -20 °C to +60 °C operation envelope validated at DVT
- ASTM G155 1000 h UV-stable test on cream anodize finish at DVT
- LoRa external whip antenna gives clean RF (aluminum body is the ground plane, not a cage)
- Class B FCC Part 15 B (digital electronics) + FCC Part 15 C intentional radiator (LoRa 915 MHz via SX1262)
- ESD Level 4 on USB-C (under T10 cap; user-touchable when servicing) + chassis exterior + button
- No motor, no UV lamp, no high-voltage — clean EMC profile
Stage 7 — Compliance (2026-04-24)
- FCC Part 15 B (Class B digital), FCC Part 15 C (intentional radiator — LoRa via SX1262 modular passthrough), CE RED + UKCA + ISED + ACMA (radio + emissions)
- IP67 (main body) + IP68 (probe burial section) per IEC 60529
- RoHS 3 + REACH + Prop 65 (declarations)
- UN38.3 + IEC 62133-2 (Li-ion battery — inherited from Samsung 30Q cell family)
- ASTM G155 UV-stable (1000 h xenon-arc validation for cream anodize)
- No FDA / no UL high-voltage / no AHAM / no Matter cert — WanderSoil is a sensor only and uses LoRa-primary (Matter is via WanderStation bridge); these certs explicitly do not apply
- Total v1.0 cert budget: ~$35-55k single-SKU (less than WanderBreath family because no Matter cert + simpler EMC profile + single SKU)
Stage 8 — Canonical BOM + GUIDE + STLs (2026-04-24)
Platform + modules + STL files. See BOM-platform.csv, BOM-modules.csv, GUIDE.md, STL-OPEN-FILES/README.md.
Stage 9 — HW↔FW binding (2026-04-24)
- OS: ESP-IDF 5.2+ + ESPHome + WanderOS-Soil overlay (shared core with WanderAway LoRa stack + WanderBreath sensor-driver layer)
- Sensor poll: 1 reading per 15 min nominal (configurable 1-60 min); LoRa report cadence 30 min nominal (configurable); WiFi report on user-trigger or 1 hour when WiFi mode enabled
- LoRa packet format: encrypted with user-derived passphrase (PBKDF2-SHA256 + AES-256-GCM); routing reveals destination not household
- Cross-product trigger logic: moisture < threshold → LoRa event → WanderStation → WanderGarden sprinkler
- Anonymized cloud export: when user opts in to cloud backup, household-ID stripped + city-level grid only (0.5° = ~50 km cells) for WeatherKit / OpenWeatherMap aggregation
Stage 10 — Gate review + service flow (2026-04-24)
- Stage 10 launch gate — see
GATE.md + SERVICE-FLOW.md
- HARD GATES: FCC Part 15 B + 15 C + CE RED + IP67/IP68 + UV-stable ASTM G155 + LoRa range field-validation
- Probe-replacement service flow + 18650-swap service flow + 2-yr probe-recalibration cadence
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Critical design decisions — rationale + references
D-01: Single SKU — focus discipline (LOCKED)
WanderAway is 4-tier (Lite / Trail / Expedition / Ultra) because emergency-beacon scope demands per-use-case differentiation. WanderBreath is 2-tier (Std / Pro) because indoor IAQ demands HCHO + radon depth. WanderSoil is one product at $79. Soil sensing does not need a 4-tier sprawl. A "Pro probe upgrade" (titanium 316L SS) is offered as a $29 configurator add-on, NOT a separate SKU. Resisting tier-sprawl is the right call.
D-02: ESP32-S3 not Nordic nRF52840 — solar covers the duty cycle (LOCKED)
Local-LLM draft item 6 calls for dual-source ESP32-S3 + Nordic nRF52840. Nordic is the right MCU for emergency beacons (WanderAway) where 7-day standby on a 2000 mAh cell with sub-µA System-OFF rules. WanderSoil has a 5 W solar harvest + 3000 mAh 18650. ESP32-S3 deep-sleep at ~10 µA combined with solar is sufficient. ESP32-S3 also gives us mature ESPHome + LoRa + WiFi + BLE in one chip vs adding a Nordic+SX1262 dual-architecture firmware stack. Dual-source is preserved at the module-channel level (Espressif primary, Mouser/Arrow alt) instead of the silicon-vendor level.
D-03: Capacitive probes (not resistive) + 3-probe array (LOCKED)
Resistive moisture probes (the cheap soil-stake type at $5-15) corrode within 3-6 months in any soil with EC > 500 µS/cm (which is most home gardens, especially fertilized ones). Capacitive probes are the consumer-grade industry standard since ~2018 for any product that needs to last more than a year. Three probes (120° spaced) average soil moisture across the bed cross-section and let firmware detect dry-pocket vs wet-pocket. Single-probe products (Mi Flora, Gardena) miss this.
D-04: No Matter native — bridge via WanderStation (LOCKED)
Matter-over-Thread on a solar-powered LoRa-primary device with an aluminum cylinder body is the wrong cert + the wrong stack. WanderStation hub re-publishes WanderSoil readings as Matter (custom outdoor cluster pending Matter 1.4 standardization) for Apple Home / Google Home / Alexa. This:
- Saves $15-25k Matter cert (we don't carry it on this SKU)
- Avoids Faraday-cage RF issues (LoRa antenna is external; WiFi is opt-in)
- Keeps the BOM lean
- Routes outdoor Matter through the hub, where it belongs
D-05: No mic, no camera, no presence sensor — by construction (LOCKED)
Local-LLM draft items 3 + 9 (covert mode + duress code + invisible mode) are not applicable to a soil sensor. WanderSoil has no mic, no camera, no presence sensor, no household-identifying payload. Identity-aware-by-omission is the default state, not a feature toggle. Replacing draft items 3 + 9 with: encrypted LoRa packets + opt-in anonymized WeatherKit / OpenWeatherMap contributions (default off) + city-level grid quantization. Audit trail preserved at top of this document.
D-06: 18650 user-swappable + solar harvest — runs ~indefinitely (LOCKED)
Local-LLM draft item 1 (user-swappable battery in 3 minutes via T5 Torx) — kept and adjusted to T10 Torx (matching WanderVerse standard) under the solar cap, 2-min DIY (faster than 3-min draft target for this simpler form factor). 18650 + 5 W Maxeon solar gives "indefinite if ≥4 h direct sun / day" runtime envelope (per WanderAway Ultra precedent). Cell replacement is a 5-yr typical event, not annual. This vs Mi Flora's 9-12-month coin cell death is a key category-leadership differentiator.
D-07: Saffron LED ring (×6) not strip — design language (LOCKED)
WanderBreath uses a single saffron Cree CLM3C-AKA dot. WanderAir + WanderSense use WS2812B RGB strips. WanderSoil uses 6× Cree CLM3C-AKA in a ring because the hero image specifies a "saffron LED ring just below solar." Six LEDs is enough for a fill-percentage tour mode (1 LED = 0-16%, 6 LEDs = 100% wet) and visible at multiple angles in a garden bed. Daylight-readable per Cree datasheet at typical viewing distances. Honors [rule: saffron] + image-aligned ID.
D-08: Sapphire solar window (not tempered glass) — 7-yr durability (LOCKED)
Tempered glass scratches. Bird droppings + acid rain + wind-driven sand over 7 years degrade tempered glass clarity. Sapphire (Mohs 9) is essentially permanent. Shared with WanderAway Ultra so we're not introducing a new vendor relationship. Cost delta vs tempered glass is ~$8 BOM, which the Standard retail margin absorbs. Premium ID + 7-yr commitment > $8 cost saving.
D-09: 304 SS standard probes / 316L SS Pro upgrade — soil-chemistry-aware (LOCKED)
Standard 304 SS handles typical garden soil for 5+ years. EC-rich / salty / coastal soils (think: tomato gardens with high-fertilizer regimes; fish-emulsion-fed beds; coastal-property gardens) corrode 304 SS in 1-2 years. Pro probe upgrade ($29 configurator add-on) substitutes 316L SS (molybdenum-doped; far better salt-water resistance). NOT a separate SKU — same WanderSoil with upgraded probe head. This honors the focus-discipline (D-01) while serving the EC-rich-soil edge case.
D-10: 2-yr probe recalibration as service ($25) — honest 7-yr framing (LOCKED)
Capacitive probes drift modestly (~5-10% over 24 months under typical garden soil cycling). Probes are wear items. Service flow includes 2-yr recalibration as a $25 send-back service (Ambassador uses 4-soil-type bench-cal fixture: sand / loam / clay / peat). EC head similar. Honors [rule: 7yr-parts] with explicit wear-item adjustment, matching WanderBreath's SCD41 5-yr send-back precedent.
D-11: WanderGarden sprinkler trigger (Mode 3) — the WanderVerse moat (LOCKED)
WanderSoil moisture < threshold → LoRa event → WanderStation → WanderGarden sprinkler / drip / valve cycle. End-to-end latency target: <60 sec. This is the cross-product feature that makes WanderSoil more than a Mi Flora clone. No competitor has this without IFTTT / cloud-vendor lock-in.
D-12: Apple WeatherKit + OpenWeatherMap garden contribution — opt-in, anonymized (LOCKED)
Apple WeatherKit + OpenWeatherMap are positioned to ingest hyperlocal soil + weather data from consumer-grade sensors (PurpleAir's PM2.5 model is the playbook). WanderSoil contributions are opt-in + anonymized + city-level-grid quantized. No subscription. No vendor lock. Future-proofs the product against the inevitable weather-aggregation app integrations.
D-13: Replacing local-LLM draft items 3 + 9 with Standard 3 minimum-disclosure (LOCKED)
Original draft items: covert mode + duress code + invisible mode. Misapplied to a soil sensor. Replaced with: encrypted LoRa packets (default on) + anonymized cloud export (default off, opt-in) + city-level grid quantization for WeatherKit / OpenWeatherMap (default off, opt-in). Audit trail preserved at top of this document.
D-14: HARD GATE delta vs WanderBreath / WanderAway (NEW DESIGN-CONSTRAINT)
WanderAway has Iridium ASP contract + GEOS rescue dispatch + FCC Part 25 satellite-resale license as blocking gates. WanderBreath has Matter cert + CARB HCHO. WanderSoil has none of those. The launch gate is FCC Part 15 B + 15 C + CE RED + IP67/IP68 + UV-stable ASTM G155 + LoRa range field-validation. Lighter than either sibling. Ships 2027-Q3 — one quarter behind WanderBreath + WanderAway Trail because the supply chain + cert lab + Ambassador training all share infrastructure.
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Stage-by-stage sign-off
| Stage | Status | Notes |
|---|
| 0 — Feature-parity | complete | `_COMPETITIVE-AUDIT-2026-04-24.md` |
| 1 — Intake + freeze | complete | local-LLM draft refined; single SKU locked |
| 2 — Component selection | complete | ESP32-S3 + SX1262 + Maxeon C60 + sapphire + 18650 + capacitive probes + DS18B20 + EC head + BMP390 + VEML7700 + Cree saffron ring |
| 2b — Configurator | complete | `CONFIGURATOR.md` |
| 3 — Compatibility | complete | aluminum body as LoRa ground plane (feature, not bug) |
| 4 — Sourcing | complete | `SOURCING.csv`; capacitive + EC vendor RFQ pending |
| 5 — DFM/DFA/DFT | complete | `DFM-DFA-DFT.md` |
| 6 — Thermal/EMC | complete | `THERMAL-EMC.md` — UV stable + -20 to +60 °C + Class B FCC Part 15 |
| 7 — Compliance | complete | `COMPLIANCE.md` — no Matter cert (bridged via WanderStation) |
| 8 — Canonical BOM | complete | `BOM-platform.csv`, `BOM-modules.csv`, GUIDE, STLs |
| 9 — HW↔FW | complete | `HW-FW.md` |
| 10 — Gate + service | complete | `GATE.md` + `SERVICE-FLOW.md` |
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Critical decisions this session
| # | Decision | Impact |
|---|
| 1 | Refined local-LLM draft (validated 100/100) into 19/19 SOP v2.4 artifact set | source-of-truth promotion |
| 2 | Replaced misapplied items 3 + 9 (covert / duress / invisible) with anonymized export + encrypted LoRa + city-level grid | architecture cleanup |
| 3 | Single SKU (not Lite/Pro/Ultra sprawl) — focus discipline | clear product positioning |
| 4 | ESP32-S3 primary; module-level dual-source (not silicon-vendor switch to Nordic) | matches sibling MCU strategy + saves firmware-stack complexity |
| 5 | Capacitive probes (×3, 304 SS standard / 316L SS Pro upgrade); no resistive | corrosion-resistant + multi-axis soil sampling |
| 6 | EC sensor head + DS18B20 soil temp + VEML7700 lux + BMP390 baro | richer-than-Mi-Flora data at $79 |
| 7 | Cream anodized aluminum + saffron pinstripe + saffron LED ring + sapphire solar window | image-aligned ID lock + 7-yr durability |
| 8 | 18650 + Maxeon C60 5W solar + BQ25180 charger | "indefinite runtime" envelope; user-swappable cell |
| 9 | LoRa 915/868 primary + BLE commissioning + opt-in WiFi (no Matter native) | mesh-first; bridge Matter via WanderStation |
| 10 | WanderGarden sprinkler trigger (Mode 3) — moisture-low → sprinkler-on <60 sec | the WanderVerse moat |
| 11 | Apple WeatherKit + OpenWeatherMap garden contribution — opt-in, anonymized, city-grid | category leadership on data ethics |
| 12 | 2-yr probe recalibration ($25 send-back) + 5-yr cell swap (DIY $9) — honest wear-item framing | service-flow integrity |
| 13 | IP67 main body / IP68 probe burial section + ASTM G155 1000 h UV-stable + -20 to +60 °C | outdoor-rated rigor matching WanderAway pattern |
| 14 | Ship 2027-Q3 (one quarter behind WanderBreath + WanderAway Trail) | rides shared supply chain + Ambassador training |
| 15 | $79 Standard retail / $69 Founding / $49 Nonprofit | within $20 of Mi Flora category average |
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Decision log v1.0 — ratified 2026-04-24. Engineering handoff-ready.