Development of a Microcontroller-Based Contact Tracing System

Abstract

Since the first case of Covid-19 detected in 2019, national governments pursued to implement lockdowns and contact tracing programs to minimize the spread of the disease. Most contact tracing procedures, no matter how varied from one country to another, commonly leaned towards digital methods that made use of modern technology. Such was not the case however in the Philippines as the masses are barely able to cope with the available contact tracing scheme that requires internet connectivity. Rated as one of the countries with the slowest and most expensive internet service, most of its citizens still resort to the traditional pen-and-paper approach when registering for contact tracing upon entry in establishments. Guided by prototyping methodology, the research ventured in the development of a microcontroller-based contact tracing system that allows the participation of establishment visitors even without internet access. The system called ConTACTS, which is short for contact tracing using automated collection and tracking system, is made up of a deployable unit and a central database. The deployable unit was designed to be able to accept mobile number registrations of establishment visitors and transmit timestamped data to the central database. The design of the central database was aimed at its successful integration with a website to enable contact tracer access. The developed deployable unit features the Arduino Nano as a central hub interfacing an LCD screen, a keypad, a buzzer, a USB adapter and a GSM module. WampServer was used to develop the central database. The system was tested in terms of the ability of the deployable unit to send a confirmation message to each establishment visitor and transmit timestamped data to the central database. The overall success rate of confirmation message sending was found to be 95.86%. The device is also immaculately able to send data to the central database in an average time of 3.15 seconds so long as the device has data access.