The problem Tropic Thunder solves

As we know, there are many attempts to bring sensor based applications into Blockchain for real-world solution. However, most of the tech stack today lack fundamental building blocks:

1. Database Management on an Immutable Storage Layer like the IPFS
2. A dashboard to view the data with OpenStreetMaps (OSM) Integration
3. A setup application for end users to customize the hardware as per requirements
4. An incentivization layer to reward users who run the devices, collecting data and submitting it to the platform

Challenges we ran into

1. To build a setup wizard app on a Microcontroller, it requires a very minimalistic approach using bare bones HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Writing this as part of the device firmware was fun.
2. To build a NoSQL like DBMS on IPFS has been attempted before, but devices require a more simpler approach to manage their data. With this mission, we started designing our APIs from scratch in an uncnoventional manner, focused on catering to the requirements of sensors and devices.
3. There isn't much of a gray area in building a dashboard integrated to OSM. However, it was fun to build breakout components on top of that such as the AQI indicators, for our example use case.