A Novel LoRa LPWAN-Based Communication Architecture for Search & Rescue Missions

Abstract

To avoid risking the lives of rescue team personnel in the event of disasters like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, etc., Search and Rescue (SAR) robots are increasingly incorporated into the operation. One of the major challenges in integrating SAR robots into rescue operations is the potentially severely damaged infrastructure within the disaster site. A functional communication system is critical for exchanging real-time information between the robots and the base station. Given the limited coverage or absence of communication systems in a severely affected disaster site, a novel communication architecture for search & rescue missions based on Long Range (LoRa) Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) and a SAR robot called Rescuer are proposed. Rescuer is a SAR robot that can operate in worst-case disaster sites where all communication infrastructure has been wiped out. It has been tested in a Gazebo simulated environment as well as an actual test setup inside the University of Detroit Mercy’s lab facility and showed great promise. In this test, the Rescuer robot was monitored and controlled from a remote base station.