SIH Project doc
Problem: Failure of cellular/internet infrastructure during natural disasters, remote
opera ons, or power grid collapses.
Solu on: Decentralized, low-cost LoRa mesh network opera ng on Mesh without reliance
on cell towers or internet gateways
Working of mesh network
How it works
Mesh u lizes LoRa, a long-range radio protocol, which is widely accessible in most regions
without the need for addi onal licenses or cer fica ons, unlike ham radio opera ons.
These radios are designed to rebroadcast messages they receive, forming a mesh network.
This setup ensures that every group member, including those at the furthest distance, can
receive messages.
Addi onally, Mesh radios can be paired with a single phone, allowing friends and family
to send messages directly to your specific radio. It's important to note that each device is
capable of suppor ng a connec on from only one user at a me.
Features
Long range (331km record by Mar nR7 & alleg)
No phone required for mesh communica on
Decentralized communica on - no dedicated router required
Encrypted communica on
Excellent ba ery life
Send and receive text messages between members of the mesh
Op onal GPS based loca on features
And more!
Overview
How it works
When you send a message on your Mesh companion app, it is relayed to the radio using
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi/Ethernet or serial connec on. That message is then broadcasted by the
radio. If it hasn't received a confirma on from any other device a er a certain meout, it
will retransmit the message up to three mes.
When a receiving radio captures a packet, it checks to see if it has heard that message
before. If it has it ignores the message. If it hasn't heard the message, it will rebroadcast it.
For each message a radio rebroadcasts, it marks the "hop limit" down by one. When a radio
receives a packet with a hop limit of zero, it will not rebroadcast the message.
The radio will store a small amount of packets (around 30) in its memory for when it's not
connected to a client app. If it's full, it will replace the oldest packets with newly incoming
text messages only.
What is a mesh?
At the radio level a Mesh mesh is a set of nodes that share the same LoRa spreading factor,
center frequency, and bandwidth. A node can only be in one radio mesh; it will not see or
respond to messages from nodes using different values for these se ngs. For a mesh to
form, nodes need to share the same values.
These values are grouped into "presets" that can be easily chosen in the LoRa configura on
sec on. Presets make it easy for nodes to configure the same radio parameters.
Si ng on top of this radio mesh are Channels. A logical mesh is formed by a Channel with a
par cular name and encryp on key. The default channel in a radio mesh is Channel 0 with a
blank "name" and an encryp on key of AQ==.
Range Tests
Current Ground Record: 331km
Range: 331km (205 miles)
Record Holders: Mar nR7 & alleg
Modem Se ngs
Default Very Long Slow
Frequency: 868MHz
Bandwidth: 62.5
Spread Factor: 12`
Coding Rate: 4/8
Architecture & Microcontroller
nRF52 Series (e.g., RAK4631): Highly power-efficient, UF2 bootloader
updates, Bluetooth LE only. Ideal for long-term ba ery and solar repeaters.
ESP32 Series: Includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE, enabling Web UI interfaces
and MQTT gateway features
Module Configura ons & Hardware Requirements
1 ) Audio Module (Voice/PTT): Experimental 2.4 GHz ISM band push-to-talk system
(requires Max98357 I2S Amp and MSM261S4030H0
2) Detec on Sensor Module: Configures GPIO pins to monitor mo on or reed switches and
broadcast mesh text alerts.
3) Security & Public Key Admin: Cryptographic public key authoriza on and shared secrets
for remote administra ve control.
4) Range Test & Mapping: Fixed sender/mobile receiver logging RSSI, SNR, and GPS
coordinates to CSV for Google Earth integra on
5) MQTT Gateway Module: Bridges local RF channels to internet servers via Wi-Fi/Ethernet
uplinks.
Commercial Industrial Nodes
RAK WisMesh Repeater: Solar-powered, IP-rated outdoor enclosure repeaters
Figure 1ip rated outdoor enclosure repeaters
Figure 2 solar power
Seeed SenseCAP Solar Node (P1 / P1 Pro): nRF52840 MCU, SX1262 LoRa module, 5W solar
panel, 4x 18650 ba ery slots, Grove sensor expansion, and L76K GPS module
Remove the LoRa Concentrator: If the miner has a dedicated LoRa concentrator module,
remove it. This may involve desoldering or disconnec ng it from the main board.
Install Compa ble LoRa Module: Replace the removed concentrator with a compa ble
module like the Semtech SX1262 or LR11XX series. Depending on the miner hardware, this
may be possible using either a Raspberry Pi HAT or a USB LoRa device (typically using a
CH341 chip). In our case, we used an open-source USB device developed by the hardware
community