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SODAQ N3 Tackling COVID-19, Environmental Sensing, and Biodiversity Loss


Monday, December 14th, 2020

Three talented contestants from the SODAQ N3 launch competition have received 10 brand new SODAQ N3 boards to further develop their concepts.

Poised as one of the first development boards on the market supporting Cat NB2; SODAQ N3 combines the latest IoT technologies from SODAQ and uBlox; the SODAQ SFF and the uBlox N310. SODAQ N3 leverages the advantages of upcoming LTE Cat NB2 networks such as mobility enhancement, E-Cell ID, larger TB size, two HARQ processes, multi-carrier enhancement, single-tone and multi-tone uplink.

The SFF board features an integrated Microcontroller (Microchip Atmel SAMD21), GPS (uBlox EVA 8M for GPS (Galileo, GLONASS, and Beidou support) and sensors including LSM303AGR digital magnetometer and accelerometer. Now boasting higher data rates at lower power consumption and at a cheaper price than previous models (only €69.95), SODAQ N3 is a market-leading choice for numerous low-power IoT applications.

The N3 Competition


SODAQ, u-blox and Deutsche Telekom IoT creators organised a competition for the launch of the new board. Contestants were invited to develop a solution to an issue falling into one of three categories, namely, COVID-19, Environmental Sensing, and Habitat Destruction. The three winners all leveraged the main features of the new N3 board and introduced the SODAQ POWER PRINCIPLE wherever they could.

Winner - Trackerbia


The first solution is a project called Trackerbia, which is the brainchild of telecommunications engineering student Fernando de Peroy Rodríguez and graphic designer Brais Bernardez Rivas.
Trackerbia is a solar powered crowd monitoring device which aims to tackle the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic through real time crowd control. Through the use of SODAQ N3, Trackerbia is able to access LTE networks and relay collected data to an online dashboard, which allows for prompt intervention should the capacity of a designated area be exceeded. Moreover Trackerbia is designed to be portable, so the GPS function of SODAQ N3 allows for the device to recognize its location and begin monitoring crowds with relative ease.

Winner - Safe Cycling


The second solution to be selected was Safe Cycling, created by Wietse Hof and Lara Leijtens the small device is attached to a bicycle and then immediately begins to transmit accelerometer and GPS data to highlight hazardous areas on the road network. On account of SODAQ N3’s low power consumption, the device will be able to function on solar power alone. Moreover, the built in features of the N3, such as the accelerometer and GPS will measure sudden velocity changes indicating swerves or stops and pinpoint the location in which they occurred. This will allow the ‘Safe Cycling’ project to carefully track the cycling behaviours of cyclists. Data collected by the ‘Safe Cycling’ project seeks to improve transport infrastructure in major cities, and give the local governments the insights they need to detect and improve high risk areas for cyclists.


Winner - Smart Pot


The third winning solution was Smart Pot, developed by the engineering student Chris van Wijk. This concept is targeted at solving a significant ecological challenge: declining plant species diversity within habitats. The pot monitors the environmental conditions surrounding the plant with the use of a moisture sensor, humidity sensor, pollution sensor, temperature sensor, and light sensor, and includes a water pump for automatic watering of the plant.

As the physio-chemical conditions that plants undergo tend to be highly variable (changes often), it is important to record this information frequently to ensure they have the ideal conditions for survival. SODAQ N3’s power-optimized ublox N310 module ensures that Smart Pot can stay low power while continuously communicating the plant’s conditions to the user, meaning they can act upon any sudden changes in environmental conditions.

We would like to thank all participants of the SODAQ N3 challenge, and invite all IoT creators to take a look at our cutting-edge SODAQ N3 board.


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