A Resilient IoT System Architecture for Disaster Management in Collapsed Buildings

Abstract

An increasing number of natural and artificially induced disasters shows the need for rapid disaster management methods backed by a reliable communication infrastructure and data source. Disasters bring losses to human life, livestock, properties and habitat. Building collapse is one of the disasters that predominantly endanger the local population. A proper rapid disaster management mechanism can cut down postdisaster damages. During a disaster, natural or otherwise, the Internet of Things (IoT) can play a crucial, potentially life-saving role. IoT systems support disaster management operations such as prevention, preparation, response and recovery phases. This paper summarises the existing IoT systems designed for disaster management and rescue operations. This paper proposes a fog computing and UAV-based IoT network architecture to combat the problems associated with frequent disasters focusing on collapsed buildings. The proposed architecture assists rescuers by integrating IoT sensors and UAVs data with the status of infrastructures. The architecture supports the rescuers by providing real-time data by analyzing disasters and facilitating disaster search and rescue operations. The paper also proposes a communication system with Lora mesh to transmit critical information to the base station during post-disaster situations. It presents the results from a prototype implementation of the proposed architecture in the Google Cloud Platform.