A LoRa Mesh Network Asset Tracking Prototype

Abstract

Long Range (LoRa) is a low powered wide area communications technology, which uses radio frequencies in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band to transmit data over long distances. Due to these properties, i.e., the long range and little restrictions on deployment and use, LoRa is a good candidate for building an asset tracking application on, for example targeting search and rescue operations. This paper describes the development and testing of such a prototype, using commercial off-the-shelf Internet of Things (IoT) consumer devices and a proprietary mesh protocol. The prototype enables distributed position tracking utilizing the Global Positioning System (GPS), a gateway to the Internet, a server for data storage and analysis, as well as a Web application for visualizing position tracking data. The devices are small, and our tests have included both personnel on foot carrying the equipment, as well as having the devices on vehicles.