Quickly Find Misplaced Items

Use the SkyTag app to quickly find your misplaced items. The app points you in the direction of the item you're looking for and shows you when you're getting closer. When you're close, just tap Ring to activate SkyTag's speaker.

Keep Tabs On Your Valuables

When you leave a tagged item's Bluetooth range, the app will automatically save its last GPS location so you know right where you left it. You can get directions back to your item by tapping Directions.

SkyNet Drones Search For Your Lost Items

If your item isn’t where it was last seen by the app, you can tap Mark Lost to enable the drone to search for your lost item. The drone flies around the city and scans for lost SkyTags. All Bluetooth devices have a universally unique identifier (UUID).  Any UUID seen by the drone is sent to our database over 4G. These UUIDs are compared against any SkyTag that is marked as lost by the user. Once the drone finds your lost item, you get a push notification with your item's new GPS location. 

Eye In The Sky

When the drone locates your item, you are sent a push notification to your phone with the updated GPS location. Just tap to get directions.

IFTTT + SkyTag

If This Then That is a service that lets you create powerful connections with one simple statement. When SkyTag is integrated with IFTTT, it does much more than help you find and monitor your things. It allows you to automate anything and control the physical world around you. By using SkyTag's multifunctional button, smart gestures and sensors as Triggers and/or Actions, the possibilities are endless.

What can I do with IFTTT?

Can't Find Your Phone?

SkyTag can help. Just press the button on your tag to make your phone ring, even if it’s on vibrate. The couch won’t be able to keep your phone hidden any longer.

Never Leave Important Items Behind

Separation anxiety is a real thing (trust us). If you walk away from a tagged item, your phone will alert you. Use the SkyTag app to create separation alerts for any tagged items.

SkyTag App For Mobile & Wearable

The SkyTag App for iOS, Android and Apple Watch pack comprehensive features into a simple and clean UI, making it extremely easy and fun to find your things.

Perks for Backers

SkyNet Availability & Launch Schedule

SkyTag and the SkyTag App will ship in February. SkyNet’s expected launch is Summer 2015, launching first in San Francisco and one other city. To determine the second city, we have created a unique point system that helps us gauge demand and shows us which city is most interested in SkyTag. The city that is able to earn the most SkyPoints by January 1st, 2015 will become the second launch site of SkyNet. 

The point system will continue after the campaign ends and will help us determine which cities have the most interest in SkyTag. Based on these results, we will choose where SkyNet is launched next.

Our Vision

We see a future where drones will be a functional part of every day life. Whether drones are delivering packages or finding lost items, there is no question of their potential impact. The purpose of SkyTag and SkyNet is to build a network of drones that are on the lookout for lost items. Our goal is to have SkyNet fully operational in 6 cities by the end of 2015. 

Many BLE tags rely on crowd-finding to answer the fundamental question of what to do when one of your important tagged items is lost. While creating a “lost-and-found” community sounds like a great solution on paper, it does not work in practical everyday situations. The flaw in crowd-finding is that even in densely populated cities, the coverage area is extremely small. The chances of someone’s phone locating your lost item is pretty low. The alternative is to use expensive and bulky GPS trackers. We think that using a drone to search for everybody's lost items is the most practical and affordable way.

Technical & Design Details

We created SkyTag with design and functionality in mind. It had to be waterproof, allow the battery to be replaced, and have a speaker that was very loud. This was no easy task, but we got it right. Our final SkyTag prototype is extremely small, coming in at only 29x4.5mm. It can attach to anything without getting in the way.

We sourced SkyTag’s enclosure from a tested OEM manufacturing partner that was already waterproof and had a responsive button. This unit was used for initial testing. We will be using the existing manufacturing mold for the enclosure to lower the cost of the tags and reduce the risk of producing defective tags. While the enclosure was sourced from an existing tag, all of the circuitry and firmware was developed in-house. Our circuitry was created from scratch and we were able to fit a high quality buzzer and BLE chipset, which includes a temperature sensor and accelerometer.

SkyNet Drones

The drones of SkyNet are the answer to the problem of finding lost items efficiently. We spent a lot of time deciding whether to develop our own drone or modify an already existing model. The decision to modify an existing drone was made so that we could focus on creating awesome BLE devices and developing powerful software to locate them. We chose to use DJI’s Spreading Wings S1000  because it is the most robust, reliable and safe drone that is available on the market. The Spreading Wings S1000 is modified with our advanced Real-Time Locating System (RTLS), which allows us to scan for Bluetooth devices in a 3280ft radius. Safety is our main priority, and with a multitude of features to prevent crashes and accidents, the S1000 was the best choice.

The drone flies autonomously along a predetermined elliptical Archimedean spiral path. The licensed operator launches the drone from its first waypoint. He or she then goes to the 2nd waypoint and waits for the drone to land in order to replace the battery. On a full charge, it's battery lasts ~30 minutes. The waypoints are designed so the drone has enough battery to fly to them and be able to land safely. This process is repeated until the drone reaches its final waypoint. During flight, the drone scans for all Bluetooth UUIDs in a 3280ft radius. These UUIDs are sent to our database over 4G, and matched against any SkyTag UUID that is marked as lost by the user. The SkyTag user then gets notified of their item's updated location, and all other UUIDs are discarded. 

Privacy

Protecting privacy is extremely important to us, which is why we have taken a few preliminary steps to ensure that SkyNet’s purpose is to help find lost things, not to fly around the city and spy on everyone. Although we could take some great pictures during flight, SkyNet drones will not be equipped with a camera. When SkyNet Drones fly around, it is the same concept as using your phone to scan for Bluetooth signals that are being broadcasted around you. We are just taking this concept to the sky and amplifying it with our RTLS, SkyNet drones will only survey the city for lost items, they never pair with scanned devices. While the drone scans for all Bluetooth devices, we only save data from SkyTags, all location and information data from any other Bluetooth device is discarded.

Safety

To prevent accidents, waypoints are not set in restricted air space, which is determined by the FAA. The on-board GPS and IMU (inertial measurement unit) allow the drone to keep track of where it is and enables assisted flying features including intelligent orientation control, which ensures the drone's movement is relative from the pilot's perspective. If contact with the ground station is ever lost, the drone automatically returns to its home point, highly reducing the risk of a crash.

1st Fail-Safe

In the event that any of the 8 rotors fail, the drone can balance the remaining working rotors to maintain a stable flying condition and automatically lower the landing gear to land safely.

FAA Regulations

Currently there are no laws or regulations in place that allow for the commercial use of drones in the US. The FAA has been working to implement the provisions of Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, called the Special Rules for Certain Unmanned Aircraft Systems, which will allow for commercial operations in low-risk, controlled environments. So far, the FAA has selected 6 test sites in the US to conduct R&D with civilian operators to collect technical and operational data that will help refine the UAS (drone) airworthiness certification process. It is expected that commercial drones will be granted expanded access before September 30, 2015.

We already have the prototype for SkyTag created, the alpha version of our iOS and Android app developed, and the initial drone hardware and path complete. Our timeline includes everything we will need to be able to produce SkyTag and launch SkyNet. We’ve given ample time to complete everything, and accounted for potential delays. Here’s the breakdown for our hardware, software, and certification timeline:

1. Can I get more than one free SkyTag if I refer multiple friends? Definitely! You’ll get one extra SkyTag added to your order for each contributor you refer.
   
2. I referred 3 friends and they all backed SkyTag, how will you know to send me the right amount of extra SkyTags? The Campaign Dashboard keeps track of how many people you refer as long as they use your unique project link.
   

SkyTag

1. Which devices will the SkyTag App work with? The SkyTag App will work on devices running iOS 6.1.3 and above (iPhone 4S, 5, 5S, 6, 6 Plus || iPod Touch 5th Generation) and Android device’s running Jelly Bean 4.3 and above (Samsung Galaxy S3, S3 Mini, S4, S4 Mini, S4 Active, S5, S5 Mini, Note 2, Note 3 || Google Nexus 4, 5 || LG G2, G Pro2, G Flex, Vu3.0 || Motorola Moto E, Moto G, Moto X, RAZR M, RAZR HD, RAZR Maxx HD, Ultra, Maxx, Mini || HTC One, Max, Mini, M8)
   
2. How does the App know which SkyTag is attached to my keys? Each SkyTag has a unique serial number (UUID) that the App uses to determine which item a SkyTag is linked to.
   
3. What is the range of SkyTags? SkyTag’s range is typically between 50 - 150ft. Dependent upon your environment, SkyTag has a max potential range of 330ft (outside with little to no obstructions/interference)
   
4. How do I put SkyTags on my stuff? You can clip, or hook a SkyTag onto anything that will fit in the SkyTag grommet. Each SkyTag also comes with a double-sided 3M adhesive pad that you can stick to the back of the tag, and virtually every other surface.
   
5. How many SkyTags can I use? You can actively monitor up to 10 SkyTags at any given time.
   
6. How does the SkyTag App save the last known location of my SkyTags? When you move out of range of your SkyTag, your phone automatically saves the GPS location.
   
7. How do I know when to replace the battery in my SkyTags? You can check each SkyTag’s battery level on the App. You are also sent a notification when the battery in one of your SkyTags is close to running out.
   
8. What is IFTTT, and how can using I turn my lights off with SkyTag? IFTTT is an automation platform that enables smart devices to communicate with each other (tag to phone, or tag to smart lights, etc.) and perform actions (i.e. mute phone, send a text, turn off lights).
   

SkyNet

1. How do the drones know where to fly, and how can it tell if it’s flying toward a building? The path of each SkyNet drone is carefully created and simulated prior to launch, which takes a considerable amount of time and development to perfect. Waypoints are set to go around any building that is taller than the drone’s flight altitude, however each drone has proximity sensors that can alert the pilot and alter the course to avoid flying into a large building or other object.
   
2. Are you going to have a camera on the drones? Nope, our SkyNet drones will not have a camera on them.
   
3. Why do the drones fly in a spiral path? We spent a lot of time figuring out how to make SkyNet cover the largest area in the shortest possible time. The elliptical Archimedean spiral is the most efficient way to accomplish this.
   
4. How long will it take for my item’s location to be updated? Location updates for lost items are sent in near real time (~1-10 second delay depending on interference).
   
5. How will I know where to find my cat if she escapes? The location of each is SkyTag is continuously updated while it's within the drone’s 6560ft scanning diameter. Even if your cat is running around the city, her location will likely be updated multiple times before the drone loses sight of her.