Exploring Cellular IoT with the Hologram Nova and RaspberryPi

The challenge

UPDATE: The project submission deadline has been extended to January 22, 2018 and Hologram has added some sweet goodies to each prize category - $100 Hologram data credit and the Hologram Advanced Kit with Raspberry Pi 3 SBC.

We have partnered with Hologram.io to bring you a brand new cellular gateway contest!

The Nova Cellular USB Modem is the newest piece of hardware announced by Hologram.io, a leading company dedicated to enabling worldwide connectivity. As the world of IoT grows, the ways our devices communicate is changing just as fast.

We want to see what you can accomplish using both the Nova Cellular USB Modem and the Raspberry Pi Zero W. Use cases for this pairing can include but are not limited to vehicle fleet/ride share monitoring, ocean tide tracking, remote controlling delivery drones, and more.

Using Hologram's Cellular Network via the Nova Cellular USB Modem allows for new ways to connect. The Nova supports all Debian based systems and all cellular generations and global bands including:

• Global 3G w/2G fallback, leveraging the ublox Sara-U201

• U.S. 4G LTE CAT-M, leveraging the ublox Sara-R404M

The announcement of the Nova is followed with Hologram's announcement of their new Python SDK. Python abstracts the complexity of cellular AT commands and will make working with the software much easier, allowing you to accomplish your project goals faster.

We are happy to announce that we are giving away 200 Raspberry Pi Zero W Kits and Hologram's newly launched Nova Cellular USB Modem! To apply for free hardware, just submit an idea before the idea submission deadline.

If you did not win a Raspberry Pi Zero W Kit and the Nova Cellular USB Modem, you can purchase them separately here and here.

We are looking for developers interested in cellular gateways and networks - whether you're new to cellular connectivity or an expert, we want to see what you can do!

Required Hardware:

• Raspberry Pi Zero W Kit

• Hologram Nova USB Modem

Suggested Hardware/Software:

• Hologram Python SDK

• NodeMCU ESP8266

• u-blox GPS breakout

• MCP 3008 analog to digital converter

Hologram is most interested in and will reward prizes to projects top that concern one of the following four categories:

• Gateways back-hauled through cellular (wifi nodes to cellular, BLE nodes to cellular, LoRaWAN nodes to cellular, etc)

• Asset tracking (bike, vehicle, kid, pet, etc.)

• Remote controlling (drones, rovers, boats, robots, etc.)

• Remote monitoring

Timeline:

Project Submission Opens: Oct 5, 2017 at 8:00 AM PT

Idea Submission Deadline: Oct 27, 2017 at 11:59 PM PT

Project Submission Deadline: Jan 22, 2018 at 11:59 PM PT

Winners Announced: Jan 30, 2018 at 8:00 AM PT

Keep checking this page for updates & announcements and good luck!

Prizes

Best in Gateways

2 winners

Apple Watch Series 3 + Hologram Advanced Kit + $100 Hologram data credit

-

$750 value

Best in Remote Controlling

2 winners

Apple Watch Series 3 + Hologram Advanced Kit + $100 Hologram data credit

-

$750 value

Best in Asset Tracking

2 winners

Apple Watch Series 3 + Hologram Advanced Kit + $100 Hologram data credit

-

$750 value

Best in Remote Monitoring

2 winners

Apple Watch Series 3 + Hologram Advanced Kit + $100 Hologram data credit

-

$750 value