SOIL Launches Cutting-edge IoT Solution in Partnership With Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners
ATLANTA, GA — Leading cleantech startup SOIL announced the launch of Griot, a next-generation IoT solution that brings fast, reliable internet access even to the farthest reaches of the world. Unlike terrestrial connectivity solutions, this hardware-software platform uses low-orbit smallsats to provide total planetary coverage. Griot’s nationwide commercial release is set for Q4 2021.
The system was launched in partnership with Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners, a publicly funded living lab designed to provide a real-world test environment to advance next-generation intelligent mobility and smart city technology. With this alliance, SOIL was able to accelerate the design, testing, and production of Griot, which it hopes will help bridge the ever-widening digital divide. At Curiosity Lab, SOIL is currently testing high bandwidth and low bandwidth applications that will span support for smart cities to agriculture.
SOIL founder Kenyon Hall notes that four billion people do not have access to the internet, representing over half the world’s population. This lack of connectivity deprives people of valuable economic, educational, and technological opportunities, causing them to fall behind in an increasingly digital-first world.
Hall adds that internet connectivity is largely a matter of infrastructure — a costly endeavor that many developing nations cannot afford to undertake. Griot offers a plug-and-play system that can be quickly set up and deployed, providing internet access to areas that cannot be served by terrestrial connections such as cellular, WiFi, and Bluetooth technology.
The core of SOIL’s cutting-edge platform is the Griot X AI-IoT gateway. With its AI-at-the-edge capability, all computing is done at a device and network level, removing the need to process tasks in the cloud. Advanced machine learning also assists in automating and optimizing tasks.
The hardware gateway can be controlled via a mobile or web app, which comes with a comprehensive dashboard. From this single interface, users can monitor key metrics such as access tokens, connectivity speeds, transmitted data, and device state, among others.
Through this combination, the Griot platform can make IoT implementation possible whenever and wherever. With internet access in rural areas, for example, farmers can use sensors that monitor vital growing conditions such as soil moisture, lighting conditions, temperature, and humidity, thereby maximizing crop yield.
Griot can also be deployed in disaster zones, where terrestrial internet connections are often damaged and rendered unusable. Through it, rescue teams and local governments can communicate efficiently, leading to faster response times and fewer casualties.
This technology can also be used to make cities around the world smarter. Possible implementations include informational kiosks in tourist-heavy locations and drone-powered product deliveries.
Information that passes through Griot’s system is secured by blockchain-like technology, which employs a decentralized, distributed ledger technology. As such, all data is simultaneously validated by an expansive network of nodes, drastically reducing the likelihood of hacks, leaks, and falsifications.
Hall says: “What we have created is a scalable solution that sits at the intersection of hardware and software. Griot’s integrated design allows users to implement IoT in places and scenarios they previously could only dream of. Griot empowers communities, businesses, and environments with IoT from anywhere.”
Aside from technology that provides equal-access connectivity, SOIL also develops cleantech solutions such as solar-powered power stations. For more information about the company, visit: http://www.soildesigngroup.com/griot
ABOUT SOIL
SOIL combines cleantech and IoT to produce products for on and off-grid consumers with the main focus of bringing power and connectivity everywhere. SOIL is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.
