New Exploration of the Internet of Things Economy under the Polkadot Ecosystem

Recently, an exciting technological demonstration is about to be unveiled at the IAA MOBILITY 2023 auto show. This demonstration will showcase how certain well-known automotive brands are utilizing blockchain technology for charging and parking fee payments. The technical support behind this innovative application comes from the peaq parachain within the Polkadot ecosystem.

peaq, as a member of the Polkadot ecosystem, is an independent blockchain that shares the security and interoperability of Polkadot. Its core goal is to build a Web3 ecosystem that connects the digital world with the real world, allowing users to collectively own and benefit from services and goods based on the real world.

Although there have been some attempts in the market to combine the real world with blockchain technology, such as certain mobile earning applications, there are still relatively few cases that can deeply penetrate practical scenarios and have a significant impact. This article will focus on how large automotive companies utilize blockchain technology to empower their businesses and how this technology plays a role in the internet of things economy.

Introduction to Polkadot Architecture

Polkadot is a cross-chain protocol designed to achieve interoperability between different blockchains. It allows independent blockchains to securely exchange information and execute transactions without the need to trust a third party, thanks to its unique architectural design. This design enables cross-chain data transfer and asset migration, while also creating conditions for building cross-chain applications.

The Polkadot network mainly consists of three types of blockchains:

1. Relay Chain: As the core of the entire network, it is responsible for coordinating the operations of various parallel chains and bridges.
2. Parachain: An independent blockchain that can connect to the relay chain, capable of processing transactions in parallel, improving the overall scalability of the system.
3. Bridge: Responsible for connecting Polkadot with external networks to achieve token and functionality transfer across ecosystems.

Blockchain Empowers Car Sharing Services

ELOOP, a car-sharing service company based in Vienna, is exploring new models that combine blockchain technology with the car-sharing business. The company has 100 tokenized electric vehicles, each equipped with a decentralized identity (DID) provided by peaq. This turns each car into a node of a decentralized physical infrastructure (DePin).

These vehicles are not only tokenized but also "fragmented", allowing multiple investors to co-own them. The rental income generated by the fleet will be distributed monthly at a 1:1 ratio between ELOOP and token holders. It is reported that these 100 electric vehicles have completed over 7,000 trips, with the transaction records of each trip being recorded on the testnet of peaq. In the future, this data will be migrated to peaq's parallel chain krest within the Kusama ecosystem.

Smart Payment Demonstration

At the upcoming auto show, an innovative payment method will be showcased. This technology allows electric vehicles to automatically pay for charging and parking fees through their own digital wallets.

This demonstration involves multiple parties:

• Gaia-X: An alliance supported by the European Union, dedicated to promoting Europe's digital sovereignty.
• moveID: A project under Gaia-X aimed at establishing standards and digital infrastructure for the future mobility ecosystem.
• peaq: providing support as a foundational blockchain infrastructure.

During the demonstration, when the user puts the vehicle in charging mode, the vehicle will communicate with the charging station or parking space using its autonomous machine identity and pay the relevant fees from its own decentralized wallet.

This process will be supported by the peaq test network and the Fetch network based on Cosmos SDK, responsible for handling transactions and authentication.

Fetch.ai and Autonomous Economic Agents

Fetch.ai is a project dedicated to building a decentralized intelligent economy. Its core idea is to enable network nodes to have autonomous learning and thinking capabilities, thereby realizing an Autonomous Economic Agent architecture (AEA).

The AEA architecture mainly consists of four key components:

1. Agent: Each node acts as an independent smart agent, possessing its own wallet address, identity identifier, and smart contract.
2. Connection: A blockchain-based peer-to-peer communication protocol for information exchange between agents.
3. Skill: Pluggable module for extending the functionality of the agent, such as natural language processing, machine learning, etc.
4. Protocol: Defines the rules and guidelines for communication between agents.

In the Fetch.ai network, data owners and demanders interact through their respective agents on the Open Economic Framework (OEF). The OEF acts as a search and discovery mechanism, allowing efficient matching between data supply and demand.

In the upcoming demonstration, Fetch.ai will present its autonomous AI agent framework. By establishing multi-chain identity authentication between the peaq network of the Polkadot ecosystem and the Cosmos-based Fetch ecosystem, the AI agents will facilitate intelligent interactions between devices such as vehicles, charging stations, and infrastructure, providing users with a high-quality charging and parking experience based on autonomous identity.