January 20 PlanetWatch AMA recap

In this article you can find a recap of the 20th of January AMA with our CEO, Claudio Parrinello.

Main announcements

🟢 PLANETS freeze and clawback

These features have been permanently disabled now, which means you are in full control of the PLANETS in your wallet.
Please beware that in case anything bad happens (e.g.: dispute or theft), we have no power to freeze or retrieve PLANETS like we had up until this moment.

🔵 Analysis of technical issues in progress

We have been in discussions with Awair and, at the same time, performing some technical tests on our own infrastructure. These tests will be concluded by the end of the first week of February. Based on the outcome, we will decide how to proceed in order to sort out the technical issues we have been facing in the past few weeks. 
In the meantime, we feel it is best to slow down the growth of our Type 4 network. So, as of January 27 6 pm CET we will pause selling Type 4 licenses until further notice. This is a temporary measure which will be reviewed when we complete our technical tests. 
For those who have a Type 4 sensor but do not have a license yet, you should buy it until January 27 6 pm CET if you wish to connect your device to PlanetWatch. For those who do not have a Type 4 license nor a device, our recommendation is to wait until testing is completed. License renewals for active Type 4 sensors will be granted.

🟢 Balancing network’s growth

At the moment, we have a total of 45k+ sensors in the network:
– The wide majority goes for Type 4 sensors;
– Type 1 and Type 3 sensors still make up for a small fraction but are gaining traction;
– Type 2 sensors are at a disadvantage because we have not been selling these devices for a long time.

To meet our scientific and business goals, we need to grow our network across different types of sensors in a more balanced way. 
Therefore, in the future, we might set monthly quotas for the number of licenses available for certain types of sensors.

🔵 Token model

PlanetWatch is not a mining scheme. We aim at creating scientifically relevant air quality datasets.
The process of collecting this data is complex and it can be affected by several factors – some of them have to do with us, but others are unpredictable and completely beyond our reach (e.g.: power outages on your side). Rewards depend on data streams. 
Our White Paper (section 4) mentions max daily rewards in an ideal setup. It is important to bear in mind that this is by no means a guaranteed level of rewards. Performance can vary over time.

Q&A with Claudio

What exactly is the compatibility of the new Type 2 device with the Helium network?
One of our new Type 2 sensors will use Helium network connectivity to broadcast data streams. As already explained, it will not mine HNT. 
Nonetheless, this is just the first step in a PlanetWatch-Helium partnership roadmap. In the future, additional opportunities might come about.

Are PlanetWatch’s sensors going to be available in the United Arab Emirates?
Please refer to the information on our website. Sensor certifications for different countries is the manufacturer’s responsibility. If we stated a certain sensor is not available in the United Arab Emirates, most likely it is because the manufacturer told us they are not authorised to ship the device there. Ultimately, in case of doubt, you can contact the manufacturer directly.

What are you doing about packages that get lost in transit? 
We work with courier companies to ship our devices worldwide and all packages are insured. So, if a package goes missing, there is a specific procedure to follow: the loss is reported to the courier, they carry out an investigation and, if they are not able to find it, they issue a refund.
On our side, we have to wait for the courier to check if the package was really lost in transit – sometimes they manage to find them – to be able to reship the sensor to you.
All these steps take longer than desirable but the bottom line is that you do not have to worry because, if your package gets lost in transit, you will get a replacement.

When will the shipping of Type 1’s Q4 2021 batch be completed?
We have shipped all Type 1 sensors belonging to the Q4 2021 batch. However, couriers have informed us that due to the holiday period and the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, a high volume of shipments may be delayed.

Is there anything being done to address the Airqino sensors damaged in shipping?
Whenever you buy a sensor from us and you receive it in a damaged or faulty state, we will take charge of the device’s replacement.
But please remember you are not supposed to open the sensor and tamper with it because that voids the warranty.

Could you explain how the recycle bin works?
As stipulated in the White Paper, we have a daily reward budget to distribute amongst the sensors in our network based on the number of eligible data streams received by PlanetWatch and subject to a max reward limit. 
The recycle bin is where we put aside the part of this daily reward budget that we are not spending. 
As the network grows and we have more and more sensors connected, we will go over the saturation point (when the daily reward budget is just right to cover the max daily rewards for all sensors), and the daily reward budget will no longer be enough. To make up for that, we will then use funds from the recycle bin. 
Eventually, the recycle bin will get empty and, at that time, max daily rewards will decrease as they will only be supported by the daily reward budget being shared across eligible sensors.

At the moment, we have a total of 337.33M PLANETS across all six recycle bins:
– Type 1 sensors based in Tier 1 pixels and Type 1 sensors based in Tier 2 pixels have their own recycle bins;
– Same with Type 2 sensors based in Tier 1 pixels and Type 2 sensors based in Tier 2 pixels;
– Type 3 and 4 sensors are not related to any pixel structure, so there is one recycle bin for each.
The first five show a positive (green) daily variation (Type 1 Tier 1, Type 1 Tier 2, Type 2 Tier 1, Type 2 Tier 1 and Type 3), which means we have leftover tokens from the daily reward budget and the balance of the recycle bin is increasing.
The last one (Type 4) shows a negative (red) daily variation, which means we are already using recycle bin tokens to top up the daily rewards. 
As you see, we are well beyond the saturation point for Type 4 sensors and that is why, as we mentioned above, it makes sense to grow our network in a more structured manner. 

Any updates regarding new exchanges or staking?
Getting listed on a major exchange is a big endeavour, not only cost-wise but also because, before you even get considered, you need to pass a number of tests, have good liquidity for your token, etc. Even though our token is still very young, it is performing well, so we are preparing the ground to hit Tier 1 exchanges. 
As for staking, we have a “Stake for the Planet” initiative coming up, where instead of getting additional PLANETS, you will be able to plant trees in sustainable forests. 
As soon as there are relevant updates to either, we will let you know.

How can a non-profit organisation access PlanetWatch’s air quality data?
We are a for-profit company so we cannot give free access to our data lightly. But we are keen on collaborating with non-profit organisations and academic institutions. We only have to find the right terms to do it. 
So, if you are part of a non-profit organisation or an academic institution and you are interested in our project, just get in touch with us.

Have you heard of the Ecosia project? Would you consider a partnership with them?
We appreciate all the messages we get from the community letting us know about cool projects, some of which we would not have been aware of otherwise.
We consider establishing partnerships with any entity that is aligned with our mission and goals. That being said, we will look into it as we do with many other opportunities.

Keep watching our Planet and get ready to help us make it greener by staking your PLANETS! 🌍