Murray State University
Grade Level at Time of Presentation
Sophomore
Major
Business Administration
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Dr. Marc Beck
Department
Computer Science
Abstract
In the aftermath of the December 2021 tornado disaster that swept through Western Kentucky causing 57 fatalities, 500+ critical injuries, and millions of dollars’ worth in damages, one of the first things that became apparent was the lack of communications and underlying power infrastructure. The goal of this project is to create a highly resilient LoRa mesh communications network utilizing low power, low cost, and easy to deploy radios to enable first responders in a disaster area to communicate their location and send critical information in a situation where traditional communications infrastructure has been destroyed or is otherwise unavailable. Through our testing we found that we were able to create the intended mesh network. We also were able to yield results from testing our network within various different commonly encountered environments such as neighborhoods, wooded areas, and open fields. With this we were able to prove our initial hypothesis that our solution would provide first responders with vital communications.
Included in
Disaster Area LoRa Mesh Communications
In the aftermath of the December 2021 tornado disaster that swept through Western Kentucky causing 57 fatalities, 500+ critical injuries, and millions of dollars’ worth in damages, one of the first things that became apparent was the lack of communications and underlying power infrastructure. The goal of this project is to create a highly resilient LoRa mesh communications network utilizing low power, low cost, and easy to deploy radios to enable first responders in a disaster area to communicate their location and send critical information in a situation where traditional communications infrastructure has been destroyed or is otherwise unavailable. Through our testing we found that we were able to create the intended mesh network. We also were able to yield results from testing our network within various different commonly encountered environments such as neighborhoods, wooded areas, and open fields. With this we were able to prove our initial hypothesis that our solution would provide first responders with vital communications.