When we hear about the Internet of Things in the U.S., we often think about our cars and appliances and phones, the locks and lights at our houses, our lawn sprinklers and bank accounts, all working together and accessible from wherever we are and whenever we log on. But the IoT is so much more. The IoT could be lifesaving.
A team of El Salvadorian electronics, community development, and disaster relief specialists (called Reaccion) have put the life-saving potential of the IoT into action. Working with local villagers and global experts, these specialists have developed an Internet of Things-based early warning system for disasters such as floods and mudslides.
Among the must-haves for the system was input from village elders who know how to spot signs of imminent catastrophe. The IoT system was also designed to be battery-powered, rugged, affordable, and easy to use for people lacking formal education. The idea was that local villagers will be able to alert each other with the IoT system even in the absence of power and telephone communications, using a battery-operated device with color-coded buttons to signal both an impending disaster and its severity.
The device uses IoT weather sensors and accelerometers to read tremors. Villages across mountainous terrain are linked via a mesh network. Each village has its own alerting device, which serves as a node. The devices store and update data information across the network in a peer-to-peer manner.
Reaccion has made its Early Warning System design freely available on GitHub. To learn how you can use your computing skills to solve humanitarian problems around the world, visit the Global Humanitarian Lab.