Horizon
What it does
Horizon is an offline LoRa mesh emergency communication ecosystem for disaster-prone communities in the Philippines. When internet and cell towers fail, its handheld communicators, solar relay and alarm system keep responders and residents connected, with no infrastructure needed.
Features
Handheld communicator
Capacitive touch UI with chat, urgent and alarm modes, OTA updates and a 2000 mAh battery with charge protection.
TTL mesh routing
Multi-hop relay across devices, with HMAC-SHA256 authenticated packets and anti-flood forwarding.
Solar relay
A long-range bridge with permanent packet storage and LED status that extends coverage and never forgets a packet.
Alarm system
Buzzer, vibration motor and TFT status display that trigger within seconds of an urgent or alarm broadcast.
Persistent alerts
Urgent alerts survive a reboot and re-sync automatically, and a save mode conserves battery in the field.
Impact
- Field-tested: seven tests so far, reaching 593 m direct and 623 m through the mesh, with 88.3% combined system reliability and 50 of 51 alarm attempts delivered.
- Developed with local disaster offices: coordination and prototype evaluation with CDRRMO Iloilo City and MDRRMO Leon.
- Affordable by design, with estimated build costs of about PHP 2,570 for the handheld, PHP 1,899 for the alarm system and PHP 2,999 for the relay.
- Recognised by DOST engagement and a SACEO grant. Still a prototype: not for sale and under validation.
Tech Stack
- ESP32
- LoRa
- ESP-NOW
- FreeRTOS
- HMAC-SHA256