ABSTRACT:
It is very evident in Nigeria that if someone or something is misplaced, it is rarely recovered because of poor use of modern technology in locating and responding to emergencies as well as proper documentation of these events. Time Different of Arrival(TDoA) and Geofencing are used as a means to tackle this issue. Time Different of Arrival(TDoA) is a technique that uses time synchronization of signals received by gateways on the network to predict location. Geofencing is a method that creates a virtual fence around a selected location for monitoring purposes. This paper focuses on the use of these technologies in policing or emergency response services; focusing on their role in locating individuals and enabling response to crimes, missing individuals or children separated from their parents. In this paper, we explore the use of LoRaWAN and Internet of Things (IoT) technology to achieve these aims.
Keywords: MGeofencing, IoT, Location, LoRaWAN, TDoA
Author: Ngene Paul Onyedikachi
Supervising Lecturer: Engr. Uchenna Amazue
Click the Link Below For Full Paper, Questions and make your COMMENTS
Localization Of Missing Children Or Individuals Using LoRaWAN Technologies
Hello, Paul. Great work. I’d like to know if this will work in areas with zero internet coverage?
Hi Onyeka, the LoRaWAN works this way;
Sensor/Tracker–> gateway –> Internet
In little to no connectivity to Internet, the gateway can store information sent to it by the tracker before sending it to the internet. The gateway can be accessed locally by authorized officers.
Great work there aspiring engineer paul
Nice one 👍
What is the wideness range of the application of this technology?? Can it cover a state, country and is it possible for this technology to work with and in hand with the network providers?? Like MTN, Airtel etc.
Yes, this LoRaWAN network works hand in hand with other networks through the use of a suitable gateway that connects one network(LoRaWAN) to another network for data transmission.
Nice 👍
Nice write-up.
Alright. Very amazing content. Great work
Nice paper, very practical
What is LORAWAM, and how can it be utilized in our institution
LoRaWAN in a nutshell is a Wide Area Network; it builds on the concept of internet of things (IoT) technology which aims to connect devices or things, so to speak, to the internet. It can work anywhere including our institutions.
Simple and precise
Great work but I will like to ask ,will this strategy take proper effect in rural places with lack of technical know how and severe network issues,but all in all this a great write up indeed,bravo
Thanks Hyacinth,
This technology can work in rural areas;
all that is needed is to set up LoRa gateways in those areas and encourage people to put the tracker somewhere on their body.
In case of network issues, gateways can store data received from trackers locally before sending over to the internet. And these data can be collected locally through trained officers.
This is a good work I must say. I have two questions:
1. From the advantages of this system, how did you intend or how will these trackers be inplanted in every individual especially kids (they will of course play with it if noticed) to ensure their safety
2. If the signals is intercepted by buildings, How did you intend to solve the problem?
One last thing, since there’s an already existing networking companies that has mast installed at various locations, petnering with them would have been a good idea instead of building from scratch
Thanks for your comment Mr. Oselu,
To answer the first question, there is no best way of putting the tracker on people rather than encouraging them to do so. At extreme cases, trackers, considering how small it can be, can be injected surgically on the body surface.
For the 2nd question,
The case of interceptions can be avoided by using more gateway in a specific area considering that LoRa gateways are cheap and easy to set up.
LoRaWAN through it gateways can communicate with already existing networks since gateways connect two different networks together.. much like a router.
Nice work Paul.
Nice read🔥
Nice paper!
Is there a way to build this LoRaWAN gateways on top of already existing cellular network masts, to reduce the setup cost, say for a city?
Thanks Collins,
Cellular network is network on its own, and LoRaWAN is also a network on its own; therefore a gateway which connects multiple networks together is used to connect both of them together.
Nothing is actually built from scratch except the sensor/Tracker –> gateway network from where (gateway) it’s connected to cellular network.
I am impressed with the write-up generally. The writing organisation and layout is typical of research papers. This means that calls for essays like this could serve as good rehearsal for future research and its reportage as a research paper. This will help us produce better prepared and more functional scientists and engineers of the future. The timeliness of the study and the solutions it provides to the present problem of kidnapping should also be emphasized. It could help us solve that unfortunate societal problem, where miscreants among us now heap difficulties on their neighbors by collecting kidnap ransom from them as a means of livelihood, instead of loving them and being their brother’s keeper as we have been advised to be.
Thanks very much sir,
It is indeed one of the core societal problems in Nigeria, where in a case an individual go missing and nothing can be done about it; no technological system in place that can be used to move forward with an investigation and rescue mission. Am glad that NESTEC has found a way to encourage aspiring engineers to solve societal issues.
Thanks very much sir,
It is indeed one of the core societal problems in Nigeria, where in a case an individual go missing and nothing can be done about it; no technological system in place that can be used to move forward with an investigation and rescue mission. Am glad that NESTEC has found a way to encourage aspiring engineers to solve societal issues.
nice nice. how wide is it capable of covering btw?
From all that I’ve read, judging from my own perspective. Please make me understand, how does this help Nigeria?
Let’s say you have someone that’s missing; Would it not be great step forward that there is a technological system in place to further investigate the missing case and guarantee the rescue of the beloved? This system tries to solve this issue in our country Nigeria.
Good job! It’s a really good read and I think this project will be very useful if brought to life.
Wise write-up, if I’m right, this can be used even on traumatic patients for emergency purpose. One question pls, is there anything like an alert button the child can press, indicating the child is missing? Or the sensor does work according to location range?
In the paper I used the concept of geofence.
Geofence is a network virtual fence created around a selected location; if a child should wander off this selected location, the system is alerted automatically.
Also addition of button to press can also be incorporated to automatically send location data when pressed.
You’ve put in the work. As someone who have dealt with cases of missing children, I really hope you’ll get the resources to actualize it
Good job 👍
Thanks Mr Mbagwu.
Nice work Paul
Hi Paul, how why LoRaWAN ?
Hi Paul, why LoRaWAN ?
This is a great job
Nice work paul
That’s really an amazing write up and properly articulated.
It’s amazing seeing its use cases, keep it up man!
It’s an interesting work. Well done, Paul.
Nice work
Nice work….Keep it up 👏💯
Amazing piece Paul, welldone.
Nice work
very cool application of LoRaWAN tech!
This is so insightful and a n/must read for all
How do you plan on advancing the Inter communication between the network server and the quick response unit of The arm forces
Hi praise, the quick response of officers can be improved by decentralization of the network servers in the network.
LoRaWAN.
I must say this would go a long to solve the issues of missing persons in Nigeria.So what’s the way forward in utilizing this approach in our Universities especially in recent times where the cases of missing person is on a high rise.
Secondly, are there any health implications to this technology or is it network based and doesn’t require any chip implant to the body except to connected devices.
Also, in as much as this would help solve the challenge of missing persons in Nigeria, What if the locations of these individuals fall into wrong hands rather exposing them to more dangers than helping them. Is there a way of making this details accessible to only trust Worthy individuals.
Great write up by the way.
Hi precious,
Firstly this approach can be utilized in our institutions through further research and investment in LoRaWAN gateways and trackers improvement.
Secondly, the tracking semsors doesn’t need to be implemented on the body, unless in case where it can’t be put on any where else.
Lastly through the use of advanced network coding schemes, modulation and firmwares, this can be averted.
What are some real-world examples or case studies where LoRaWAN has been used successfully for localization in search and rescue operations?
Okay Paul. LoRaWAN is truly a good way forward to curb the issues of missing persons.
This is indeed something to work on.
What are the key advantages of using LoRaWAN technology for localization in such cases?
1. It is light weight: considering the size of gateways.
2. Any trained personal can easily install it in a given location without requiring any much effort or resource use.
What are the technical considerations and challenges in implementing LoRaWAN for localization purposes?
How does LoRaWAN compare to other location-based technologies, such as GPS or cellular triangulation?
The cost of setting up a LoRaWAN network is low when compared to cellular networks especially in locations where cellular hasn’t been before.
GPS technologies depends heavily on internet connection while LoRaWAN can operate offline.
What are the potential future developments and advancements in LoRaWAN technology for localization?
The cost of setting up a LoRaWAN network is low when compared to cellular networks especially in locations where cellular hasn’t been before.
GPS technologies depends heavily on internet connection while LoRaWAN can operate offline.
Wow. This is really educative. I do have a question though, what are the potential feature development and advancement in LoRawan technology for localisation?
The network protocol that accompanies LoRa technology, supports massive scalability. It can handle thousands of devices within a single network, allowing businesses to expand their IoT deployments without compromising performance or incurring significant infrastructure costs.
What role can NGOs, and technology companies play in improving the effectiveness of LoRaWAN based localization?
1. Investment in research and scalability of LoRaWAN based location services.
2. Companies testing and using LoRaWAN based location service can help collect data needed for improvement.
How does LoRaWAN technology enable the localization of missing individuals or children?
Hi,
LoRaWAN is used to locate missing individuals by use of sensor/tracker attached to the person which continually transmits radio signals to the nearest LoRa gateway.
The gateway then sends the location data to the agencies.
What are the advantages of using LoRaWAN over other localization technologies for search and rescue operations?
LoRaWAN uses long range radio communication and thus data collected always reach the gateway without internet connection.
Again it uses very low power and thus last longer as opposed to cellular networks.
It’s also easy to install and extend.
Hi there, can LoRaWAN be used to track individuals in remote or rural areas with limited cellular coverage?
Yes, LoRaWAN can be used to track individuals in those areas because LoRa network uses long range radio wave to transmit signals from sensor to gateways. From the gateways data can be read locally or transmitted when there’s internet connection.
How accurate is the localization data provided by LoRaWAN technology?
LoRaWAN network is not very accurate on its own, but can be improved by use of multiple gateways per given area, improved gateway antennas and by use of selected machine learning algorithms to estimate location data.
Are there limitations to the range of LoRaWAN for tracking purposes?
what are the potential use cases beyond search and rescue for LoRaWAN based localisation?
What are the potential health or biological effects of attaching tracking sensor’s to a person?
Are there privacy concerns related to tracking sensors that are physically attached to individuals?
How can these sensors be designed to minimize any negative biological effects?
What ethical considerations should be taken into account when using body attached tracking sensors on children?
how secure is the data transmitted by LoRaWAN when racking individuals
What encryption and security measures are in place t protect the privacy of tracked individuals?
What measures can be taken to prevent unauthorized access to tracking data?
How can we ensure data integrity and authenticity in LoRaWAN based tracking systems?
What are the potential risks associated with the misuse of tracking data?
What kind of network infrastructure is required to support LoRaWAN-based tracking on a large scale.
How do LoRaWAN gateways and base stations work to ensure reliable tracking data?
What is the range and coverage of LoRaWAN networks for tracking purposes?
Can loRaWAN Networks be customized for specific tracking scenarios, such an urban and rural areas?
How does network congestion impact the real time tracking of individuals?
Kudos to you for this write-up.
LoRaWAN transmission and reception have a realistic maximum range; what measures can we use to connect back to a missing individual when this individual has initially been out of coverage of its matched LoRaWAN transceiver?
Nice idea!
But how feasible is this?
Are you saying everyone, like every Nigerian, should keep a tracker with them?
I don’t think this is possible.
According to the paper, “An end-node device is designed to fit into children’s toys, wristbands, necklaces or put on
their clothes where it can’t be easily detected”
What if the toys, wristbands, and necklaces are removed by the kidnappers?
What if the trackers are removed by the kidnappers?
What if it is hacked to reveal another location?