Cellular IoT Challenge on Hackster.io
Written by: Rick Kawamura
Published: February 4, 2019
We’re excited to announce the launch of our Cellular IoT Cloud Challenge on Hackster.io going live today! Soracom developers already know there’s almost no limit to what you can build with cloud-native cellular connectivity, and we can’t wait to see what the hackster community will build. The grand prize winner will be invited to join us in Japan to celebrate and promote their winning project at our 3000+ user event in Tokyo later this summer.
Co-sponsoring the contest with us are our friends at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Seeed Studio who have made generous donations to make the contest #nextlevel for both free hardware and contest prizes.
There are a lot of synergies running an IoT contest together AWS and Seeed Studio on Hackster.io.
- Soracom provides the smart connectivity
- AWS has the world’s leading cloud computing platform
- Seeed Studio offers great development hardware and production expertise
- Hackster.io has the most creative community of makers and developers in the world
- Together, we offer a fun yet challenging contest that stretches contestants imagination, adds cloud computing, and up levels the contest to include scalability and security
- We are spreading the word about everything fun and interesting about cellular IoT and the cloud
- We let everyone see for themselves the ease and benefit of connecting devices to the cloud
And although not part of the official contest, we are always looking to meet and help any great startup ideas through Soracom’s Accelerator Program and IoT Fund.
Connecting IoT and M2M devices with cellular is much more than just using a SIM card for connectivity. Applying cellular connectivity together with our SORACOM Air User Console and API opens up a world of possibilities that have the ability to change the dynamics, economics, and business models of businesses around the world.
Our User Console and API allow you to control the connections in your network of devices. You can monitor data usage across your network as well as start, stop, and pause any SIM. You can also use ICCID, IMSI, or IMEI to manage devices. In addition, more advanced Soracom services include:
- Data optimization to let you save money by reducing bandwidth and extending battery life
- Data visualization on the fly
- Secure connection to your cloud of choice
- Remote device provisioning to help scale up from prototype to full production
- Specialized private connection services including AWS Virtual Private Cloud peering and even leased-line connections if needed
Here are just a few project ideas from a few of our 12,000+ customers around the world taking advantage of cellular IoT connectivity with Soracom:
- Smart Cows (internet of animals) – monitor pets or livestock. Can you tell when animals are being bullied?
- Smart vending machines – monitor inventory and remotely manage the price of the contents.
- Ride share – track location of cars, ebikes, and escooters with cellular connectivity.
- Farm monitoring – take photos of plants and upload to cloud to show customers.
- Device tracking – monitor windsurfers or delivery trucks with their speed and location.
- Smart door locks – control a remote door lock by sending key codes and also provide security by wiping codes once used.
- International voice translator – a device that listens in one language, connects to online translation services, then translates in a different language.
- Parking availability garage space indicator – use a proximity sensor to determine if a car is in a parking space.
To help developers get started with cellular IoT, we are offering eighty (80) free hardware starter kits as part of the contest. There are 20 Seeed Studio WIO LTE kits, 20 Raspberry Pi kits, and 40 Huawei 3G dongle kits. Each kit comes with a Soracom SIM card and AWS credits. Apply early to get your choice of starter kit – we’ll be awarding kits to approved project submissions in the order received, so apply early to get your choice of free hardware.
To reward the efforts of those that submit the best projects to the contest, we’re also offering ten fantastic prizes valued at over $10,000. Our grand prize is an all-expense paid trip to Japan, followed by category prizes including Parrot Drones, HTC Vive VR gaming kits, video gimbals (stabilizers), Seeed Studio gift baskets, and hundreds of dollars in AWS credits!!!
Joining us as judges of the contest are Jeff Barr, VP and Chief Evangelist at AWS, and Seth Welday, Product Marketing Manager at Seeed Studio. We’re excited to have both Jeff and Seth as judges, and look forward to working with them!
Please check out the contest over on Hackster.io, apply for free hardware, and submit your project before the deadline. And best of luck to all contestants.
