LoRaONE

Introducing: LoRaONE The one solution to connect all the things, all the time. 

What is it?

LoRaONE is all you need to create your own IoT solution. An Arduino compatible board packed with features and sensors, making it the ideal solution for makers and creators that can’t wait to make the Internet of Things a reality. It is easy to program, connected to its surroundings through numerous sensors and ready to go. 

The board has the size of a matchbox, so it can be placed anywhere you can think of. But best of all, it is connected everywhere through LoRa® technology. When it comes to building the IoT, there’s nothing like LoraONE.

For the past months we've worked hard to get LoRaONE to the final stages of development. The first beta-users are already working with LoRaONE. To make the final step and start mass-production, we need your help. If you back us, not only do you help us to get LoRaONE out in the world, but you'll also receive one yourself in July 2016. So this summer you can start building on your LoRaWAN™ connected IoT. 

What can YOU do with LoRaONE?

So what is LoRaONE capable of? Well, the cool thing is, that is totally up to you. But we like to do some tinkering ourselves, and came up with some ideas that we tried out. This is just a tiny sample, and we can’t wait to hear what you come up with.

LoRaONE can be anything. Like a solar radiation sensor to measure at what sun intensity your plants grow the most.

·    We’re currently working closely with the park rangers in northern Tanzania to protect endangered rhinos from poachers who try to get their hands on the valuable horn. For years, the rangers have been struggling to track the rhinos effectively through a range of sensors. Radio waves are unsafe as the poachers can track the rhinos as well. Satellite equipment is big and bulky for an animal to carry around. And cellular service is spotty at best. LoRaONE proves to be the solution. With only ten gateways, the huge park is fully covered. The LoRaONEs are small and light enough so they do not hinder the rhinos and the connection is secure, so poachers can’t eavesdrop. Thanks to small solar panels and sunny African weather, the LoRaONEs never run out of juice, giving the rangers 24/7 information about the whereabouts of these magnificent animals. 

·    LoRaONE can serve as an excellent remote alarm system for anything ranging from a bicycle to an expensive painting. The accelerometer detects any movement and the LoRaONE can notify you instantly. Follow it’s location in near-real time and get back what’s yours! 

·    With the built in button it works as a wearable, for instance a panic button for seniors. If anything happens, a push of the button notifies loved ones or caretakers, who can immediately read out the location. Thanks to LoRa® this is not limited to one building: it is connected everywhere, all the time. 

·    We’re working with local government to attach the LoRaONE to outdoor trashcans. LoRaONE can detect and send information about whether they are full or not, saving the city cleaners tons of time (and money). 

·    The Netherlands is home to a couple of huge harbors, each shipping millions of sea containers each year. One or two LoRa®-gateways can be enough to blanket the area in a network. Attach the LoRaONE to the containers with a strong magnet and they’re instantly traceable. Thanks to the magnetometer, the magnetic field of the LoRaONE detaching from the container can be sensed, so it can even notify the owner and warn that something is wrong. Nothing gets accidentally lost, ever again. 

What’s inside?

This board is based on our successful Autonomo. It has a proven 32 bit Arduino compatible platform that is currently the first choice of millions of programmers around the world. Not only is it versatile, it is also extremely small, measuring only 40 x 25 millimeters. One of the characteristics of ARM Cortex M0 based boards is that they can be programmed to run extremely energy efficient, which is essential for your next IoT-project.
But maybe even more essential is the connection. We chose LoRa® as we fully believe this is where the Internet of Things will come to full bloom. LoRa® networks are easy to set up, have extremely long range and are rapidly being rolled out around the world. It works both indoors and outdoors. LoraONE connects easily and safely with your local LoRaWAN™ network, making the IoT a reality.
We’ve include a GPS-antenna in the LoRaONE, so it can track its location precisely. But this is not just any GPS. To make it ideal for the IoT, we have chosen the state-of-the art u-blox Eva GPS module. Why is it state-of-the-art? Because it can be made to use less power than any other GPS we looked at. After switching off, the module keeps the almanac in memory. So when switching on, it can get a fix in just a few seconds. This allows us for instance to get a GPS fix every 5 minutes at less than 1% of the power needed for constant positioning by regular GPS. We call this near-realtime tracking and it is essential for our rhino-tracking project, which you can read about below. 
Included on the tiny board is also an accelerometer, opening up a wide range of possibilities. If there’s movement, the LoRaONE will know and can act accordingly. You can even let the sensors cooperate. So the GPS can safely switch off, until it the device detects movement. This minimizes energy usage even more, and will also keep you up to date about what’s going on with your LoRaONE.
Want more? LoraONE has a magnetometer, so it is able to detect magnetic fields. There’s a MicroUSB connector, so it can connect to your computer straight out of the box. There’s 14 I/O pins, to connect other sensors or devices. All can be used for digital and 12 for analog It has a button and LED, making it perfect for that wearable you always wanted to create.

Still not enough? If you opt for the Starter Kit, you’ll get some really cool extra’s. The ONEbase extension board makes this device a creators dream. Simply click the LoraONE on the base and you can directly connect all sorts of Grove modules, just like with our previous projects Autonomo and Mbili boards. It also comes with a 800mAh rechargeable LiPo battery. And if you really don’t want to worry about losing power, you can use the 500mW solar panel, also included in the package. 

LoRaONE Tech specs

Microcontroller: ATSAMD21G18, 32-Bit ARM Cortex, M0+
Compatibility:  Arduino M0 Compatible 
Size:  40 x 25 mm 
Operating: Voltage 3.3V 
I/O Pins:  14, All can be used for digital, 12 for analog and 8 for PWM, plus UART, SPI and TWI (I2C) 
Analog Output Pin:  10-bit DAC 
External Interrupts: Available on all pins 
DC Current per I/O pin: 7 mA 
Flash Memory: 256 KB 
SRAM:  32KB
EEPROM: Up to 16KB by emulation
Clock Speed: 48 MHz 
Debug: Serial Wire Interface 
Power: 5V USB power and/or (optional) 3.7 LiPo battery 
Charging: 
Solar charge controller, up to 500mA charge current 
LED: RGB LED 
LoRa® Microchip:  RN2483 or RN2903 Module (depending on your region) 
GPS: u-blox EVA 7M 
Accelerometer/Magneto: LSM303D 
USB: MicroUSB Port 

Why LoRa®?

The future of the Internet of Things lies in LoRa®. That’s not something we made up, just to get you to buy the LoRaONE. It is actually the opinion of some very bright minds from all over the world. “LoRaWAN™ is to IoT as 3G/4G is to smartphones”, wrote The Verge. “[IoT] devices require a stable, reliable and cheap approach, which opens up a whole new world”, said techsite Tweakers. The different networks are currently regulated by the non-profit LoRa® Alliance, there’s more information on their website.

LoRaWAN™ is a low power network that works over long distances. One gateway can reach up to 10 kilometers around, depending on obstructions. It is cheap to set up, organizations like The Things Network are currently working on new gateways which cost as less as €200 euro’s. This makes it extremely easy and cheap to set up a city-wide network, but it can be just as easy to connect remote places to the internet. One of the great advantages is that the signal can be used indoors and outdoors.

LoRa® is also energy efficient. Connected devices, like the LoRaONE, can go on for years on a small battery. Or they need only a small solarcell to continue working forever.

Note that for the LoRaONE to communicate you need a LoRa® network. This could either be a network operated by your local Telco, like KPN in the Netherlands, Proximus in Belgium or Orange in France. Or it could be your local The Things Network. A third option would be to run your own private LoRa® network, but this would require a LoRa® gateway and LoRa® server which are available through various different sources

Where are you: pick the right band!  

Due to national regulations, LoRa® networks use different frequencies in different parts of the world. Most common are 868Mhz for Europe and South Africa, while the Americas use the 915Mhz band. Other parts of the world are undecided, unregulated or there simply is no LoRa®-network available yet. So when ordering the LoRaONE, please fill in which frequency you require, so we can make sure to send you the right hardware.