ECE.11R – Solar powered LoRa RF transmitter

• Allan Curea
• Joseff Glass
• Cesar Miramontes
• Jordan Siewe Tchokokam
• Patrick Yao

Reliable communication in places like the wilderness for hikers is hard to come by. Without access to cellular infrastructure, phones tend to be unreliable and virtually unusable in the wilderness. On the other hand, radios are not suitable for constant communication and are often inconvenient to the casual hiker. Communication in an off-grid outdoor environment is not only limited by signal reliability, other factors such as battery life or physical device reliability hinder communication. A phone or radio will eventually run out of power with no source to recharge, though solar panel solutions exist for both these devices they are still lacking in other communication capabilities. We seek to create a RF transmitter that can send and receive signals simple enough to allow basic message communication like sms. This transmitter seeks to solve the issue of battery life with a solar panel and signal limitations with the LoRa (Long Range) network, other implementations of physical design like waterproofing will assist in allowing for a reliable outdoors off-grid method of communication. What we expect from this device is the capability to have a range of at least 5 miles, and be capable of charging with a solar panel in a reasonable amount of time to allow for off-grid communication.