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If/when the software gains traction and phone modules are developed, would it be possible to add the BeeChat hardware inside phones?
It seems pretty unrealistic to expect a mesh network to take off, due to the hardware costs: a raspberry pi zero, solar panel kit and BeeChat module.
I’m very interested in the technology and I think it has potential, and the fact that everyone carries a phone gives the BeeChat network a far better chance of being ubiquitous.Another idea: could the BeeChat modules be inserted into cars, and have the radio antenna of the car serve as the node?
Hi Robert. It’s definitely possible, as Digi develops modules today that are already embeddable on motherboards and could work on phones. We were thinking of launching a Linux based phone that has a SIM card AND a beechat module already in it eventually.
Regarding the cars, yes, that’s definitely doable. What purpose would the car node have, is it for IOT reasons you mention this or something else? Sounds like an interesting concept, and whatever it is, I’m sure we’d all be interested in hearing more about it.
I was thinking about it purely from the point of increasing the reach of the mesh network in a cost effective way. If you had, say, a raspberry pi zero with the BeeChat dongle plugged into the glove box/behind the radio of the car (my car is old, maybe newer cars would have it directly in a USB/3.5mm socket). The car’s battery would power the device, while the antenna of the car would be used for a wider signal reach.
This solution would mean that the car only acts as a node when the engine is on, but if this solution was combined with a mesh of smartphones, it would make the network range much bigger.
I run a Tor relay, and am working on making that whole process alot more viable to increase the reach of the Tor network, and I’m hoping to be able to help with this network as well, the financial aspect however (70+ dollars, 200+ with pi and solar panels) of setting up BeeChat nodes made me think of alternative options.
For setting up a relay, that is, a mid-point device that acts only as a range extender, you do not need any raspberry pi. You only need the dongle, an antenna, and a source of USB power, since the dongles automatically route data from a firmware level.
A computer is only needed to decipher the information, which means you would only need a raspberry pi or computer at the sender and receiver devices. This also means that a bridge device is much cheaper than a dedicated device.
I didn’t know that, it’s great to hear that setting up the infrastructure for the network is financially viable.
Sure thing. Do you think it’s worth mentioning in the front page? You are right, maybe it should be mentioned somewhere.
Can’t do any harm to specify, it might help people understand what the concept is about faster/easier.
