How does peaq use Polkadot technology to create "on-chain cars"?

Polkadot recently announced that Tesla and Jaguar will showcase a demonstration of charging and parking fee payments using Polkadot's parallel chain peaq technology at the IAA MOBILITY 2023 auto show.

peaq is a parachain within the Polkadot ecosystem that shares security and interoperability with Polkadot. Built on blockchain and IoT technology, peaq has created a Web3 ecosystem aimed at connecting the digital world and the real world, allowing users to co-own and benefit from services and goods based on the real world.

Although many projects have recently attempted to combine real-world assets (RWA) with tokens, there are still few cases that can truly empower real-world scenarios and produce actual effects. StepN was once a phenomenal project, but its impact was mainly limited to the simple model of "earning money by running."

This article will explore how large automotive enterprises leverage peaq technology for empowerment, as well as the concept of "on-chain cars." This is, in fact, a deeper attempt at the Internet of Things Economy (Economy of Things).

Introduction to Polkadot Architecture

Polkadot is a cross-chain protocol designed to connect and secure different blockchains. It allows independent blockchains to exchange information and execute transactions securely without a trusted third party, thus providing interoperability and interconnectivity between blockchains. This enables cross-chain data or asset transfers between different blockchains and supports the development of cross-chain applications.

In short, Polkadot is a network protocol that supports the parallel operation of multiple chains, consisting of three types of blockchains: relay chain, parachain, and bridge.

1. Relay Chain: The core of the Polkadot network, integrating all parallel chains and bridges into a shared interoperable ecosystem, providing the foundation for parallel transaction processing.

2. Parachain: An independent blockchain that can connect to the Polkadot relay chain, capable of processing transactions in parallel, enhancing the scalability of the Polkadot system.

3. Bridge: Responsible for connecting Polkadot to other networks, transferring tokens and functionalities between Polkadot and external networks.

"On-chain Cars" Example

ELOOP is a car-sharing service company based in Vienna, with 100 tokenized Tesla vehicles. The Polkadot parachain peaq provides each vehicle with a peaq ID, making each car a decentralized physical infrastructure (DePin).

These vehicles are "fragmented" and co-owned by multiple shareholders. First, these Teslas are tokenized, allowing people to invest and become holders. Then, the entire fleet is rented out, and the profits generated from the leasing will be distributed on a 1:1 basis between ELOOP and the holders, with settlements occurring monthly.

Currently, these 100 Teslas have completed over 7,000 trips, with the transaction records of each trip being recorded on the peaq test network. The officials stated that these records will soon be migrated to peaq's Kusama parachain krest.

Car Autonomous Payment Demonstration

In this demonstration, there are several key participants. Gaia-X is a EU-backed alliance aimed at promoting digital sovereignty in Europe, with the goal of creating a digital infrastructure based on privacy and transparency. moveID is part of the Gaia-X 4 Future Mobility project, dedicated to creating standards and digital infrastructure for the future mobility ecosystem, such as enabling electric vehicles to pay for charging fees from their own digital wallets.

peaq plays the role of Layer 1 in this project, providing underlying blockchain infrastructure support for the entire system. On the peaq network, vehicles will demonstrate how to autonomously pay for charging and parking fees.

According to the introduction of Polkadot, when users put their cars in charging mode, the car will register with the charging station or parking space using its Self-Sovereign Machine Identity (. Subsequently, the car will pay for charging or parking fees from its own decentralized wallet.

In this process, peaq's testnet and the Fetch network based on the Cosmos SDK will serve as the transaction and identity layer, responsible for supporting these interactions.

Fetch.ai and Autonomous Economic Agent Architecture

Fetch.ai is a project aimed at building decentralized intelligent economies, with the goal of providing a new way of economic interaction for businesses and consumers, achieving more efficient, safer, and smarter transactions.

The core idea is to allow network nodes to manage themselves, thereby achieving an Autonomous Economic Agent architecture )AEA, Autonomous Economic Agent (. This architecture mainly consists of four key components:

1. AEA Agent ): Each node is an independent smart agent, possessing its own wallet address, identity identifier, and smart contract, capable of interacting and collaborating with other agents.

2. AEA Communication ( Connection ): A peer-to-peer communication protocol based on blockchain technology, used for information transmission and interaction between agents.

3. AEA Skill (: A pluggable functional module used to extend the capabilities of AEA agents, such as natural language processing, machine learning, decision-making, etc., enabling agents to understand and respond to requests from other agents.

4. AEA Protocol ): Defines the rules and guidelines for communication between agents, including how to exchange information, respond to requests, and handle errors.

On the Fetch.ai network, both data owners and data seekers are represented by their agents. These agents operate within the open economic framework (OEF), where OEF serves as a search and discovery mechanism, allowing data source agents to publish the data they have access to. Similarly, individuals or companies looking for data can use OEF to search for agents who have the right to access the relevant data.

In this demonstration, Fetch.ai presented its autonomous AI agent framework. By facilitating communication between AI agents through a multi-chain ID between the peaq network within the Polkadot ecosystem and the Cosmos-based Fetch ecosystem, these agents will drive interaction between connected devices (including vehicles, charging stations, and infrastructure) to provide users with an optimal charging and parking experience based on SSI.