Sigfox | Aaltra

Context

The Internet of Things is taking the industrial world by storm, but it takes a lot of crucial networks to innovate.

Engie wanted to prove the commercial value of its Sigfox network, so we developed a platform to help Engie’s clients create proof of concepts. Next to the web platform, Aaltra made a mobile application that can demonstrate the power of Sigfox.

APPROACH

Sigfox's IoT network operates in more than 70 countries worldwide. The network mainly focuses on projects with low bandwidth and long battery life.

In Belgium, for example, it is used for the industrial track & trace of roll cages. Here more than 250,000 devices are connected to the network, which Engie operated for a long time.

These "0G networks" are suitable for, among other things, digital water meters, track & trace applications but also for hard to reach locations such as concrete or underground structures.

Sigfox sends small data packets over low frequencies that go further than, for example, WiFi.

OUR PROOF OF CONCEPT

Engie asked Aaltra to build a platform called Luzidia. With the help of this platform, Engie’s clients could easily create proof of concepts on Sigfox.

By proving that developers could use the network to register a large number of devices and visualize the data immediately, Engie could prove to buyers the potential of Sigfox.

Together with the management, we explored the value of Sigfox and how we could launch the platform in three months

We focused on a project with trackers whose batteries can last ten years as a first use case. These trackers transmit mac addresses based on WiFi signals, and then we translate them into a GPS location.

Aaltra acted as Product Owner: we determined the budget, timeline and features of this web platform.

In addition, we also developed a mobile variant that allowed us to demonstrate the power of Sigfox. With the mobile version, you can install a sensor and track its location in one minute.