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You are here: Home / Guest Appearance / #427 – An Interview with Maarten Engelen

#427 – An Interview with Maarten Engelen

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Welcome Maarten Engelen, founder and CTO/MD of Hiber!

(Not discussed, but relevant: an article about the launch late last year)

  • Chris met Joris last year while in Amsterdam, who now works at Hiber and introduced him to Maarten
    • 0h 0m 46s
  • Maarten had no previous experience in satellite tech
    • 0h 0m 55s
  • Space industry in the Netherlands
    • 0h 1m 8s
  • Not just Amsterdam
    • 0h 8m 34s
  • Delft University
    • 0h 8m 55s
  • ESTEC – ESA research center in Noordwijk
    • 0h 9m 13s
  • Iridium satellite
    • 0h 14m 2s
  • Windows update over satellite
    • 0h 14m 8s
  • Lifetime of orbit is limited
    • 0h 16m 27s
  • Drag on the satellites
    • 0h 17m 24s
  • Why not do a further out orbit?
    • 0h 18m 24s
  • Benefits only add up over large distances
    • 0h 21m 26s
  • Doesn’t have a huge effect on the antenna
    • 0h 21m 52s
  • Is the antenna on the satellite directional?
    • 0h 23m 27s
  • Helical antenna
    • 0h 23m 41s
  • Reaction wheels
    • 0h 24m 44s
  • ADCS – Attitude Determination and Control System
    • 0h 24m 47s
  • Sun sensors
    • 0h 26m 57s
  • Magnetic sensors
    • 0h 27m 11s
  • Star tracker
    • 0h 27m 16s
  • Talking about the module
    • 0h 33m 29s
  • Running at 400MHz
    • 0h 33m 42s
  • Lower bitrate
    • 0h 34m 10s
  • Currently once per day, maybe once per hour in the next year
    • 0h 34m 55s
  • Licensed band
    • 0h 35m 43s
  • MSS band (mobile satellite services)
    • 0h 35m 48s
  • ITU is part of the UN
    • 0h 35m 56s
  • Coordination process is the same
    • 0h 36m 39s
  • There’s no iSM band for space
    • 0h 36m 58s
  • Each RF map was developed separately
    • 0h 39m 14s
  • What the module looks like
    • 0h 41m 16s
  • Downlink is used scheduling right now
    • 0h 43m 17s
  • They’re SDRs, so can get new firmware and open up new bands
    • 0h 43m 48s
  • Sleep vs transmit currents
    • 0h 45m 26s
  • 100 nA deep sleep
    • 0h 45m 32s
  • 3W peak power
    • 0h 45m 54s
  • Conservify
    • 0h 47m 25s
  • Use cases
    • 0h 48m 4s
    • IT and M2M is very broad
      • 0h 48m 14s
    • Logistics
      • 0h 48m 26s
    • Smart Ag
      • 0h 48m 33s
  • This small country feeds the world
    • 0h 49m 46s
  • Targeting industries that save money
    • 0h 50m 58s
  • Costs for the service – $1 / month
    • 0h 52m 22s
  • or $6 / year
    • 0h 52m 40s
  • Modem is 40 euro right now
    • 0h 53m 8s
  • Currently has GPS capabilities
    • 0h 58m 23s
  • Certification is done for you
    • 1h 0m 44s
  • FCC exception for whitelabel goods (ovens, dishwashers)
    • 1h 4m 7s
  • Found via @talldarknweirdo and @brouhaha on Twitter
    • 1h 5m 22s
  • To learn more, go to Hiber.global or follow @HiberGlobal on twitter or Facebook
    • 1h 5m 46s

Image Credit: @awscloud_jp

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