LoRa technology application within the Internet of Flying Things concept for data collection from IoT devices

The Internet of Flying Things is one of the priority areas for robotics and automation research and applications. A promising case is an application of UAVs in a search and rescue scenario for data collection from pre-positioned IoT devices, which allows assessing and monitoring a current situation in an operation area. This paper presents a concept of using a low-power LoRa protocol to transmit data from smart sensors to UAVs that deliver the data to a dedicated cloud for further processing and analysis. A mock-up of a structure, which is described in the paper, is to be realized using microcontrollers, LoRa modules and smart temperature sensors.

I. Introduction

The Internet of Things (IoT) technology is one of the fastest developing technologies in our days. A number of smart devices used in everyday life is growing at a high rate [1]. A use of IoT devices is reflected in many areas of life, e.g., they are used in smart shopping [2] and agro-industry tasks [3]. Another prospective area is an employment of various unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) [4] for civilian purposes, e.g., for monitoring a road traffic state [5], and military purposes [6].