A Low-Cost Low-Power Long-Range Location Tracking System Using Helium Network

Overview

Every 40 seconds, a child is reported missing in the United States. In addition, about 10 million pets are lost every year. There is a strong need for location tracking devices. However, most tracking devices are short-range, expensive, and have low battery life, such as those using GPS technology and cellular services. Users of these devices often need to charge the battery once every few days. In this paper we present a low-cost low-power long-range location tracking solution using the public Helium network. Helium is a worldwide decentralized wireless Internet of Things (IoT) network consisting of “hotspots. ” Devices can communicate with hotspots via the LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) protocol. A sensor sends beacon signals periodically to the nearby hotspots, and an RSS (Received Signal Strength) based algorithm is used to triangulate the sensor from these hotspots. A prototype tracking device with location tracking software using cloud computing was created. Field tests were done by collecting 10146 data points in geographically diverse locations across the US. From preliminary analysis, the median distance between the hotspots and the sensor’s true location is 750 meters. This proves that the LoRaWAN network can reach long ranges. Maximum likelihood and least square location estimate algorithms were developed and tested. Using the maximum likelihood method, we were able to calculate the locations of 2016 points with a median error of 442 meters. The estimated cost of the final product is around $30, with battery life of over a year on a coin battery. VIRGINIA

Competition history

• JSHS 2023 Category not listed

Resources

• National JSHS abstract book ↗

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