December 7, 2023

peaq, Bosch, and Fetch.ai reveal a cross-DePIN all-in-one sensor device running AI Agents

What’s happening?

peaq, Bosch, and Fetch.ai unveil a smart device tapping Web3 and AI tech to enable anyone, anywhere to earn rewards in crypto by collecting and monetizing all sorts of valuable data.

Why is it important? 

Accurate real-world data collection is important, and with 8 sensors in one small frame, the Bosch XDK device spares anyone the need to buy multiple sensors to collect and sell data across multiple real-world Web3 apps (known as DePINs) — and uses an AI Agent to optimize the owner’s rewards.

What does it mean for the community?

The implementation shows how Web3, AI, and IoT converge to create a new open paradigm for data-based services in the Economy of Things on peaq, paving the way to more opportunities for DePIN projects — and for the peaqosystem. 

Bosch’s first DePIN device

From gauging light pollution to measuring noise levels, crowd-sourced data is a major use case for decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN). That said, your mic isn’t going to double as a photosensor. So if you’d like to join both DePINs, you’d better be ready for the hassle of buying and setting up two devices… Or should you?

 Meet the Bosch XDK110 Rapid Prototyping Kit — an all-around sensor kit that can collect all sorts of valuable data, including (but not limited to!) the two above. The new collaboration between Bosch, the world’s largest sensor manufacturer, Fetch.ai, a Web3 platform for the new AI economy, and peaq enables the XDK to work with multiple DePINs and to monetize this data.

Practical applications

The Bosch XDK device incorporates 8 sensors in one tiny frame. These are:

  • Magnetometer, for measuring magnetic fields,
  • Gyroscope, for measuring angular velocity,
  • Accelerometer, for measuring speed,
  • Acoustic sensor, for measuring noise levels, 
  • Humidity sensor,
  • Temperature sensor,
  • Pressure sensor,
  • Light sensor.

Does this mean that the device can only work with 8 DePINs? Nope, not at all. It means it can collect 8 kinds of data and monetize them across any number of DePIN its owner decides to connect it with. This concept of a machine or device connecting with countless decentralized applications to create value is known as machine composability, and you can read more about it here.

In other words, the device is DePIN-agnostic, or able to work with any given relevant DePINs. The Fetch.ai AI Agent it runs will make sure to pick the best possible DePINs to work with at any given time, maximizing the owner’s rewards, so you can be sure that the weather data you collect will be monetized at the highest possible value.

As part of the project, the XDK got its own peaq ID. This enables it to interact with the network, using peaq to store the data it was collecting. With the ID, the device can easily join DePINs and monetize this data through them, earning rewards for its owner.  

By running a Fetch.ai AI Agent, the device can provide the best rewards for the owner. Furthermore, if you were to register the agent with Agentverse, a virtual hub for engaging with AI Agents, you’d be able to chat with it via Fetch.ai’s AI-based interface DeltaV the same way you text your friends on WhatsApp or Telegram.

This project has already gone through its proof-of-concept trial. We took it to the Find & Connect hackathon hosted by the University of Applied Sciences in Saarbrücken, also attended by a team of talented developers and tech leaders from Datarella. There, the device proved its ability to work as a multifunctional and powerful enabler of community-powered data services.

“The Internet of Things is quickly turning into the Economy of Things, where devices get more autonomy and economic agency. This XDK implementation with Bosch and Fetch.ai is a great example of this transformation, leveraging blockchain and AI to turn a device into an economic agent optimizing rewards for its owner across multiple DePINs on peaq. We are looking forward to seeing DePINs and users adopt the XDK and to building on the momentum from this successful PoC and seeing XDK power the crowd-sourced data markets of the future. We believe this to be just the beginning in terms of Bosch and other large manufacturers pivoting to cater to the burgeoning DePIN market.”

– Leonard Dorlöchter, co-founder of peaq.

A new paradigm for data-based services

The coolest thing about the collaboration is how it comes down to one small device that enables anyone to turn into an active provider of diverse valuable data. The XDK can measure things like seismic activity, humidity, and multiple other parameters, providing monetizable hyper-local data. Written between the lines here is nothing short of a paradigm shift for the future of data-based services. 

As an example, imagine a smart city: Data-based services are part and parcel of living in one. You want to know if it will rain tonight, if the restaurant you picked is in a quiet area, if your flight is departing on time… All of that takes data, and with implementations like the one enabled by peaq, Bosch, and Fetch.ai, this data won’t have to come from centralized infrastructure. It can all happen peer-to-peer, on a decentralized backbone run and owned by the community. You can earn by providing a range of services to other people in your community, via apps (DePINs) you can co-govern, with no Big Tech companies in the way.

“DePINs have the potential of transforming the way we manage and interact with connected infrastructure. The Bosch XDK device is where DePINs meet AI and IoT excellence to produce a one-of-a-kind versatile device capable of taking on a whole variety of roles. With peaq’s blockchain as the data and identity backbone and Fetch’s AI Agent as its ‘brain,’ autarkic IoT devices like the XDK may result in a breakthrough that decentralized ecosystems, like the DePIN space, needed.”

– Peter Busch, Product Owner Distributed Ledger Technologies Mobility at Robert Bosch GmbH
“The XDK implementation confirms the versatility of the Fetch.ai Agents. It is a gateway into the future where our devices seamlessly leverage smart algorithms in the background. Using natural language to find and connect with the AI agents on the DeltaV platform helps us deliver great user experiences. With Bosch and peaq, we are building the infrastructure and hardware that will bring this future to life.”

– Maria Minaricova, Director of Business Development at Fetch.ai

By the way, if all of this sounds like a lot of familiar names, kudos to you for paying attention. peaq’s been working with Bosch and Fetch.ai as part of Gaia-X moveID, a Bosch-led global consortium also involving such industry leaders as Airbus, Continental, and DENSO. The project is building the standards and framework for the future of smart mobility, developing a Web3-powered, peer-to-peer paradigm for an otherwise largely centralized industry. The XDK collab is not part of the work on moveID, but comes parallel to this wider collaboration. 

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