If you could send/receive 100KB of data from anywhere on the planet via satellite; what would you send?
I work for a company called Ground Control, we design, build and manufacture satellite IoT and tracking solutions (mostly utilising the Iridium satellite network). We work with technologists and conversationists across the world on various remote monitoring/tracking/sensor projects.
We're soon to be releasing a new satellite IoT module - TLDR, 5 x 5 x 1cm module capable of sending/receiving up to 100KB messages anywhere on the planet. Many will be familiar with RockBLOCK and other Iridium SBD devices - this new module is the spiritual successor and built around an all new Iridium service; with data delivery into all the major cloud-providers etc.
Naturally, we're preparing integrator/developer resources, examples and guides etc. This is where we need your help!
We'd love to produce a complete end-to-end tutorial guide demonstrating the product in a real-world scenario; where this technology would have an impact to the work that you do - how would you utilise such a module?
For the best idea: my team will produce a prototype solution and use it to showcase the new module; we'll include a detailed step-by-step guide and open-source all associated source code, schematics, 3D models etc. We're especially keen to hear about applications/projects that would be unlocked by the 100KB message size capability - 100KB opens the door to sending small images, audio and sensor data etc.
Thank you for your time - happy to answer any questions! :)
7 February 2025 1:36pm
This is super interesting and important question, I would like to hear from innovators here what we can do. Maybe data from biologger or accelerometer? images are probably still costly?
based on your website that 100KB is allowed able per month that comes with this price?
Iridium Messaging Transport (IMT) Pricing | Ground Control
IMT is the successor to SBD, with users enjoying larger message sizes, faster throughput and lower data costs. Get a quote here.
7 February 2025 2:39pm
Depends on the latency? Close to instantly? Then images for sure!
There are animal-human conflicts zones, such as in Thailand where elephants enter fields with crops and farmers gets frustrated and can’t do anything about it. The solutions they use right now are drones and online cameras to get early alerts before the elephants enter the crops, where they go with motorcycles and flashlights (as often happens during night) to scare the elephants back into the jungles.
Issue? Well, no 4G near the dense jungles, and getting early predictions and indications would help significantly. This human/animal conflict alone has caused both human and animal lives.
Remote places where 4G is not available but the essence of real-time exists in several scenarios, such as poacher detection in Africa, animal observation close to the artic etc.
Where can I read more about the satellite IoT module?
19 February 2025 1:56pm
Hi, are images/sounds a good use-case given the data size?
I'm wondering if this capability would better work with sending data from e.g. moisture sensors, dbh, LAI, etc any kind of tabled data.
By the way I'm not running any project like this but EO vegetation monitoring could benefit from data streams from the ground and some sensor + communication that you can deploy and leave seems great?
Herdhanu Jayanto
KONKLUSI (Kolaborasi Inklusi Konservasi - Yayasan)