KHIKO

The Opportunity: Protecting Crucial Farming Machinery

Theft of agricultural equipment is on the rise, with British farms seeing a 26% increase in claims from 2017 to 2018 according to NFU Mutual. Isolated locations make rural communities especially vulnerable, and organized crime groups operate a robust international market for stolen tractors, quad bikes, and other high-value machinery.

Loss of a single piece of equipment can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, with replacement taking months, causing lasting impacts on crop yields and farmer livelihoods.

Go4ioT founder Pascal Lavaur saw an opportunity to address this problem with IoT technology. The result is KHIKO, a programmable anti-theft device capable of detecting suspicious movements and alerting owners via SMS, email, or even voice calls.

“It’s a very sturdy device that’s small enough to hide,” says Lavaur. “If an asset starts to move during the night, KHIKO will start tracking it with GPS. Wireless data connection enables continuous tracking of the asset and recovery.”

While originally designed for agriculture, KHIKO is now used to protect construction machinery, boats, classic cars, camping vehicles, and other commercial assets.

The Solution: Practical, Versatile Technology

Lavaur drew on 18 years in commercial battery manufacturing to design a device that can operate for years without maintenance. KHIKO uses the Sigfox global 0G network to send tiny data packets, such as GPS coordinates, over long distances with minimal power, enabling battery life of up to 10 years.

Because Sigfox is not universally available, KHIKO seamlessly switches to 3G or 4G cellular backup when needed. Soracom’s global SIM and integrated management console make it possible to track assets even when they move outside Sigfox coverage areas.

Why Soracom: Coverage, Cloud Integration, and Built-In Tools

“The benefits go much deeper than the connectivity aspects,” says Lavaur. “With Soracom, you can send data to other networks in the same compressed format as Sigfox, then extract it into a usable format for cloud systems.”

This capability allows Go4ioT to focus development on core firmware, monitoring movement, location, and configuration—while Soracom provides the connectivity backbone.

Beyond cellular coverage, Soracom delivers built-in services like Soracom Harvest for data storage and visualization, eliminating the need for Go4ioT to build its own infrastructure. The Soracom Console also manages both Sigfox and cellular devices through a single interface, enabling seamless protocol switching without software rewrites.

The Outcome: Complexity Made Simple

“KHIKO would have been too complex to build without Soracom,” said Lavaur.

By combining Sigfox and Soracom cellular connectivity, KHIKO offers a highly reliable and low-power theft prevention solution that can be deployed anywhere in the world. This flexibility ensures valuable and mission-critical assets remain protected, delivering greater operational stability, financial security, and peace of mind to users.