DCU Alpha and the European Space Agency have issued a call to makers, hackers, radio enthusiasts and companies for machine-to-machine and Internet of Things projects using satellite communications technology.
The 18-month challenge-based scheme will offer funding between €5,000 and €30,000, office and lab space for teams tackling specific challenges using embedded systems, software defined radios and open source programming boards already used in orbit.
It is estimated there will be as many as 26 billion Internet of Things devices by 2020 requiring both terrestrial and satellite communications connectivity.
Three of 12 challenges have so far been opened for entries looking at satellite communications, cloud radio access networks and wearable tech.
“As Ireland’s University of Enterprise, DCU is looking forward to engaging with innovative Irish inventors, entrepreneurs, companies to develop new ideas and services in the field of satellite communications for M2M/IoT,” said Prof Brian MacCraith, President of Dublin City University.
“We hope to stimulate and support new innovations that can be further developed by Irish companies, with additional research and development support from DCU’s researchers in IoT, sensors and communications.”
ESA technical officer Frank Zeppenfeldt said: “With modern satellite communications, many design challenges are unique, requiring testing and experimentation to reveal what does and does not work. For this reason, fast prototyping of promising technology concepts is absolutely essential. An additional goal is to encourage spin-in from terrestrial technology and convergence with satellite communication.
“Through the maker space initiative, ESA aims to engage and work with a wide variety of parties with whom ESA has never worked to enable new ideas, boost innovative technologies and prepare for future satcom products.”
For more on the scheme visit http://tinyurl.com/y7vleew8
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