IoTeX
Sub-GHz
Nordic Semiconductor
Pebble Tracker
A secure, battery-operated, blockchain-ready, cellular-IoT prototyping platform based on the nRF91
IoTeX
Sub-GHz
Nordic Semiconductor
Pebble Tracker is a secure, battery-operated, cellular-IoT prototyping platform designed for blockchain-based applications. Built around Nordic Semiconductor’s latest low-power nRF9160 System-in-Package (SiP) and driven by open-source firmware, Pebble Tracker is equipped with GPS support, a variety of rich sensors, NB-IoT/LTE-M connectivity, and advanced security features that make it ideal for sophisticated logistical applications where trust is paramount. In combination with the IoTeX blockchain, its on-board capabilities allow developers to design and build innovative, decentralized IoT solutions that go well beyond conventional asset tracking. Don’t trust, verify!
Pebble Tracker is equipped with an expansive array of sensors — internal/external GPS, climate (temperature, humidity, air pressure, air quality), motion (acceleration, angular velocity), and light intensity — that deliver verifiably trustworthy insights about an asset’s environment and movement. All data is cryptographically signed, making it verifiable and tamper-proof right from the source, and then transmitted in real-time to the IoTeX blockchain or MQTT endpoint of your choice. Pebble Tracker does the work of converting real-world phenomena into verifiable digital data so that you can focus on building innovative asset tracking, remote monitoring, and automation solutions! Whether you are interested in utilizing verifiable data, experimenting with secure hardware and IoT protocols, or diving into the world of blockchain + IoT, Pebble Tracker is the ideal platform for your next big idea.
Pebble Tracker incorporates Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF9160, a compact and fully-integrated System-in-Package (SiP) that makes advanced processing and security accessible for low-power, cellular-IoT use cases. The nRF9160 SiP utilizes an ARM Cortex-M33 dedicated application processor, a multimode LTE-M/NB-IoT modem, and power management capabilities to deliver high performance, energy efficiency, and unparalleled security.
The nRF9160’s powerful 64 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 processor provides 1 MB of on-chip flash and 256 KB of RAM to make advanced cellular-IoT applications possible with a single-device solution. An integrated cellular-IoT modem for LTE-M & NB-IoT allows Pebble Tracker to operate globally and to connect with mobile network operators via SIM card, removing the need for regional variants. The nRF9160 SiP supports power-saving features, such as eDRX and PSM, as well as IPv4 and IPv6 communication, including TCP transport and TLS security.
Pebble Tracker offers best-in-class security with trusted execution capabilities via Arm TrustZone to secure and isolate the most critical processes and peripherals for your applications. Arm CryptoCell-310 further enhances the security of Pebble Tracker by offering cryptographic and security resources to protect your applications from various attacks.
Pebble Tracker integrates seamlessly with the IoTeX blockchain to empower decentralized IoT solutions with end-to-end trust. The combination of blockchain and secure hardware is incredibly powerful, allowing verifiable data from trusted devices to enforce the execution of verifiable smart contracts on the blockchain. While tamper-proof hardware like Pebble Tracker offers trusted data, tamper-proof software like blockchain offers trusted execution of code. When combined, blockchain + IoT ensures both the provenance/authenticity of data and the verifiability of data processing without the need for centralized, error-prone intermediaries.
Pebble Tracker was built by developers, for developers. Accompanying the hardware is a suite of open-source tools that provide everything you need to get started, and much more. Pebble Tracker utilizes open-source firmware and integrates seamlessly with developer-friendly tools, including ThingsBoard, an open-source IoT platform for device management, data processing, and data visualization. And setup is a breeze with our extensive hardware, backend, and firmware documentation.
Pebble Tracker offers two backend configurations: hosted and custom. The hosted backend utilizes open-source software including hmq (MQTT broker), minIO (K8S storage), and ThingsBoard (data visualization) to facilitate ideation and development in a convenient plug-and-play environment. You can review our hosted backend framework here. For production usage, you can configure Pebble to send data to any custom backend of your choice, such as AWS IoT Core (device management), AWS S3 (object storage), and ThingsBoard (data visualization) — this configuration supports SSL/TLS client certificates, offering maximum security and scalability.
All solutions in the table below are battery-operated, nRF9160-based boards with support for NB-IoT/LTE-M connectivity.
| Pebble Tracker | Thingy:91 | Icarus IoT Board | nRF9160 Feather | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | IoTeX | Nordic | Actinius | Circuit Dojo |
| Built-in GPS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Accelerometer | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Environmental Sensor | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Ambient light Sensor | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Buzzer | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| External GPS | ✓ | |||
| Gyroscope | ✓ | |||
| Blockchain-Enabled | ✓ | |||
| Back-end Architecture | Self-Hosted or AWS | nRF Cloud | nRF Cloud | nRF Cloud |
| Onboard LEDs | 1x RGB | 1x RGB | 1x RGB | 1x Blue |
| Price | $215 | $126.25 | $130 | $99 |
Your Pebble developer kit contains the following:
Produced by IoTeX in Menlo Park, CA.
Sold and shipped by Crowd Supply.
Pebble Tracker, along with molded case with OLED display, plastic enclosure, lithium ion battery, LTE antenna, Micro-USB-to-USB-Type-A cable, and a label with your board's IMEI number.
