LoRa-Based IoT System for Emergency Assistance and Safety in Mountaineering

Abstract

Mountaineering and trekking are outdoor activities that attract thousands of enthusiasts each year. These activities often take place in remote and isolated areas, where medical assistance is scarce, and rescue operations are challenging. When trekkers are injured in such areas, they face significant challenges in accessing help due to the harsh terrain, limited resources, and most notably due to lack of communication infrastructure. In the last century, an average of four people were killed each year on Mount Everest alone, but in the last decade, the number of deaths increased to an average of 6.5 annually. There is a need for an efficient, flexible, and economical solution for safety in mountaineering and other long-distance remote use cases where cellular networks prove ineffective. One of the promising technologies suitable for this application is the LoRa (long range) Network, which is used for communication in isolated areas such as wooded areas (forests) with more minor power consumption. Fast and low-effort localization can potentially increase the chances of saving injured individuals' lives. The proposed system developed a device made of a microcontroller, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module and an accelerometer module to gather trekker data, a LoRa module, and Bluetooth module to transmit data as well as a power supply, and an integrated mobile software application. The system successfully tested the functionality and reliability of an Internet of Things (IoT) network for tracking and alerting purposes, providing a simple, cost-effective system for safety assistance in case of emergencies. The system showed high accuracy in location tracking, long-range communication capability of up to 1 to 2 kilometers, and reliable performance in various environmental conditions.