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Make something in the world that hasn't been here before. It doesn't matter who you are and what your profession is. It doesn't matter if your project is for your home, garden, office or school.
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... and follow the maker's golden circle.
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We believe in simplicity and modularity - just Plug'n'Make
That's why we invented the Plug'n'Make system, so you don't have to bother with soldering or wiring. You can also forget about problems with mixing various power sources such as batteries and USB at the same time. BigClown takes care of this automatically thanks to its smart power management.
The future is wireless, as BigClown is
We use a sub-GHz radio technology, which provides a longer range, lower power consumption, and better coexistence than both WiFi and Bluetooth. The installation of wireless devices built on BigClown is fast and straightforward. For instance, the motion detector snapping on the lamp, as shown in the video.
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Two or more years on batteries, that's what we do
We simply love designing low-power devices - one of the greatest strengths of our ecosystem. All the hardware components are carefully picked to accomplish this job. Your devices will run reliably on standard Alkaline batteries for years!
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Colorful enclosures which just slide on
BigClown comes with a whole range of colorful enclosures printed on the famous open-source 3D printer Prusa i3. Just pick your color that best fits your style and mood. You can also download our 3D models and print them on your own if you like.
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With our superior support and docs, you won't be left behind
We are constantly evolving our system of documentation and tutorials to keep things clear, simple and straightforward. If you come across an issue or suggestion, we are here to help!
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Open-source is our passion, and we share it
We share everything that we do with you - no black box, no back doors, no hidden catches, and always open to your finest tweaks. This concept makes integrations with other devices or services of your preference a whole lot easier!
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After 2 years of hard work, we have more than 30 hardware products in stock. And more are in the pipeline - what an amazing pace! Our commitment, to keep expanding the portfolio, is endless.
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This is a high-level concept of the BigClown IoT Kit in the picture. You can find more detailed information in the Geek's Zone at the end of this pitch. It is up to you to decide whether you connect your devices to a cloud service, or if you prefer to do their job offline.
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Block Concept
Building your IoT projects is like assembling a puzzle from many pieces. The following block concept gives a better idea what are the most elementary pieces of the BigClown puzzle.
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Design Decisions
We believe in doing things the right way, so we have taken the following design decisions…
Decision #1: Radio Frequency
We use the 868/915 MHz frequency for radio communication. This is a license-free band designated for short signal messages. Abusing your IoT devices with a 2.4 GHz band and fighting streaming WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee and other protocols will not help your system reliability. It is also about basic rules from physics - with higher frequency, you get worse penetration through the walls and other obstacles. Also, the power consumption efficiency is better at a lower frequency. And low-power designs are our goal!
Decision #2: Programming Language
Most developers have somewhat biased opinions about their favorite programming language and we fully hear those. However, in the embedded world if you want to get most from your platform that has to run for several years without a restart and with the lowest possible power consumption, you have to stick with the tools that simply satisfy such requirements.
That’s why we have chosen the C language as the programming language for the firmware development. With a solid, battle-tested GCC toolchain and traditional Makefile-based build, your projects will be secured for the future.
Despite the fact how much tempting it might be to use a high-level interpreted language like Python, Javascript, etc., you will always do worse in terms of consumed resources and execution time, than with a well-written code in C.
On the other hand, we have created a framework - a firmware SDK - that makes your own firmware development easy and working with the API feels like working in a high-level language.
Decision #3: Asynchronous Architecture
We have taken some really innovative technique to embedded level - the most notable one is asynchronous-like programming pattern. The built-in scheduler simplifies your life with tasks and platform’s power management - it is done for you automatically and you focus on the application development rather than low-level internals.
Also on the hub side, the MQTT follow asynchronous concepts as well. That’s a great opportunity to design your own IoT system in one, uniform, asynchronous concept.
Decision #4: CLI-First Approach
Command Line Interface (CLI) is the first class citizen in the BigClown system. This is where we differ from most other embedded IoT platforms. We emphasize CLI approach in the very first place. It has plenty of advantages - first of all, you can do all the operations on the so-called “headless” machines - like servers, embedded computers, etc. Secondly, you can easily hook up continuous integration services that can automate your workflow.
Moreover, tied with Git, MQTT client tools, logging mechanism, etc. you will quickly see that your workflow is rather smooth and efficient.
Hardware Design
Modular hardware is the essence of the BigClown IoT Kit. We put a lot of efforts into the quality of our products. That’s why we source all the components from the official distributors and manufacture all our products locally, in Europe.
However, the product quality is not just about experience with the sourcing and manufacturing processes, but it all starts with a proper engineering design. We spend an endless amount of hours on proper component selection, peer-reviewed schematic design and precise PCB routing that does not only contribute to the overall product reliability but also looks beautiful.
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Firmware Development
BigClown currently offers 3 firmware programmable units - Core Module (part of every node), USB Dongle (works as a gateway) and Cloony (miniaturized version of the Core Module for SMT assembling). All firmware projects share two things: microcontroller STM32L083CZ from STMicroelectronics and BigClown SDK (stands for the Software Development Kit). This SDK provides code re-use and accelerates firmware development.
We stick to these principles while working on the SDK development:
- Consistent and clean API design
- Modular and object-oriented approach
- Event-driven, asynchronous programming
- Well-named functions, data types, variables, etc.
- No barriers to access low level peripherals
Example application code for LED an button using the BigClown SDK:
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To your project, the SDK is integrated as a Git submodule. This has one advantage - your firmware can be “linked and locked” to a specific version of the SDK. This makes sure that it will be possible to compile your firmware at any time in the future. But if you need to, the SDK can be updated to the most recent version by simple make update command.
Today, the BigClown SDK wraps more than 50 entities and all the APIs are documented using Doxygen.
Firmware Build
We follow the traditional KISS (Keep It Small and Simple) principles. That’s why we use GNU Make build system altogether with the GCC ARM Embedded compiler toolchain. We provide pre-built firmware images for the reference projects, but you can also clone the source GitHub repository and build the firmware on your own…
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Firmware Upload
Firmware workflow feels so much smooth using the BigClown Firmware Tool (bcf) - a handy CLI tool written in Python. You can use it not just for the firmware uploads, but also to manipulate firmware images from the public GitHub repositories.
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MQTT in Heart
There is an ocean of options in the world of communication standards and it may feel difficult to pick the right one. However, in the world of IoT, there is one dominant option - MQTT protocol. BigClown builds on top of MQTT asynchronous messaging. Because of its wide binding offering, you can start interacting with the BigClown hardware in the programming language of your choice. Or start with the simple CLI tools…
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Backing us is just the beginning of our bond. We care about you and your success with the BigClown IoT Kit. It is no wonder why the customer support is one of the crucial pillars. You can always talk to us and use one of these channels:
Feel free to text us at any time - our enthusiastic and friendly performers will be available to you.
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Why are you developing the BigClown IoT Kit?
Please find the answer here.
Where do I find your website, documentation, and SDK?
What happens to the money I will send you?
Your money will only be used to manufacture your BigClown kits - all funds will be spent for component and manufacturing costs.
Why do you need my support?
With your support, we can make our kit better and more affordable. Why? Because your feedback and ideas will help us to improve the BigClown ecosystem. And your orders will lower the costs of components and manufacturing. It's that easy...
Do you have customer support already?
Customer support is one of the most important parts of our offer. You can ask any question through our chat on the web or send us an e-mail support@bigclown.com.
How can I change or cancel my perk?
To change or cancel your perk while our campaign is live, please follow Indiegogo instructions.
Where will you ship?
We are shipping worldwide.
How will my order be shipped?
It depends on your location. It may be shipped to you using different couriers, but don't worry - we will provide a shipping/tracking information for each order.
VAT, Taxes, and Customs
EU
Orders will be shipped from within the EU and VAT is already included. For all EU customers that have a valid Tax ID, we can issue an invoice upon delivery of the perk that allows you to deduct the VAT.
Non-EU Orders
Orders will be shipped from within the EU. Local (import) taxes may be requested by customs for all other international shipments. For all non-EU customers, VAT is not included, but we have reduced shipping price to keep the total price almost the same like for EU orders.
Returns and refunds after the campaign has ended
We are bringing in crowdfunding world unusual approach - you can return your perk anytime and we will refund it within 10 business days. During the campaign please follow Indiegogo refund policy.
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