“Leave it by your window each night with your satnav positioning turned on and your phone will record small variations in satellite signals, gathering data for machine learning analysis of meteorology and space weather patterns.”
The CAMALIOT app turns more than 50 Android models with dual-frequency GPS into a distributed sensor network. Volunteers donate the hardware, the power and the data, and ESA dangles phones and Amazon vouchers as prizes. It is a clever use of chips already in millions of pockets. It is also a space agency getting a sensor network for the price of a raffle.