Progress So Far

Hello backers,

Only a week is left in our campaign and we are thankful to you all for supporting our project thus far. During this campaign, we have partnered with various IoT platforms and entities to which our users can now connect to and manage their Stratus kit from. These platforms include:

• Memfault: Stratus users can connect up to 100 devices to the Memfault platform for free to remotely observe, update and manage their fleet.
• Golioth IoT: we joined Golioth in their beta release and now are fully supported by the Golioth cloud. More on this later in this update.
• Edge Impulse: as previously mentioned in last week’s update, AI and machine learning enthusiasts can build their ML models using the Edge Impulse Studio and directly execute them on the Stratus device for free.
• Datacake: the Stratus kit is now fully compatible with the no-code IoT platform, Datacake, where users can easily visualize their device data using drag and drop widgets.
• Qubitoro: last week we also partnered with the Qubitro platform which will now support the Stratus kit to send and visualize data.
• Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF Cloud: the Stratus kit is fully compatible with the nRF cloud that provides services such as cloud connectivity, firmware over-the-air updates, location services, and data visualization.

With support for so many platforms, our users are free to choose, prototype, and test their ideas in all sorts of ways using the Stratus kit.

Post Campaign

Even after the campaign ends, the Stratus kit will remain available for purchase from Crowd Supply. So do not worry, if you happen to miss our crowdfunding campaign, you will still be able to pre-order one of yourself. At this point, we also encourage our backers to sign up for the newsletter on the official product page, through which we will be updating you with future hardware releases and product updates.

Production Schedule

We have already acquired most of the electronic components for our board in order to reduce the lead times for production.

Here’s a sneak peek into our Stratus kit production plans.

Ongoing Work

We will continue working on the hardware and the software side of the Stratus kit up until we ship (and well beyond!) This work mainly involves:

• Creating more sample applications using Stratus kit and ways it can be used for various product development. Check out our git repo for all the latest sample applications.
• Adding more drivers for various sensors and modules compatible with the Conexio Stratus kit and the shield.
• Writing and releasing product documentation for our DIY forks and also for end-users.

Between now and January 2022

• Improve and finalize our PCB design for production and release it as open-source for the community.
• Order the leftover electronic components.

February 2022

• Begin production of Stratus mainboard and the shield
• Order Stratus accessories

After production

• Test each board in-house to verify the functionality of the kit
• Assemble, test, and package the Stratus kit
• Ship everything to the warehouse of Crowd Supply's fulfillment partner, Mouser Electronics
• Mouser will then start shipping to our backers in May 2022 or, if all goes well, possibly earlier.

Tutorial of the Week: Connecting Conexio Stratus to the Golioth Cloud

Uptime is important for embedded devices, but guaranteeing uptime is challenging. Having embedded devices that can work independently is a great time saver because you can leave them to the task they were designed for. Therefore, remotely located devices need to be monitored to maintain visibility and provide a status report on the performance of these devices. Such remote management tools can alert administrators when errors occur or devices fail to work at all so admins can identify and resolve the errors quickly.

One such observability platform is Golioth. Golioth allows device makers to deliver on the promise of cloud-connected IoT by enabling hardware developers to build end-to-end IoT-connected products using their choice of hardware and connectivity, all without the need for a team of cloud engineers. From device messaging to security, firmware updates, analytics, and more, the platform provides device services that work with every developer’s hardware and firmware requirements. At the moment, Golioth supports embedded IoT devices running ZephyrRTOS. And the good news is that Golioth is now open to use for developers.

This week’s post demonstrates how to connect your Conexio Stratus device to the Golioth platform. Specifically, how to:

• Set up the necessary toolchains and the Golioth SDK.
• Connect the Stratus kit to the Golioth cloud to periodically send environmental data and monitor the device.
• Perform a Stratus Device Firmware Upgrade (DFU) procedure over the cellular network.

So how to get started?

Head over to our tutorial post to learn more. The full application for this tutorial can be found in the conexio-stratus-firmware repo on GitHub. Make sure to check it out!

For questions and discussion, contact us via the technical page. We are more than happy to help and guide you.

Thank you!

-Rajeev