Wild Card

Contested Communications

Bella McKinney, Nick Schultz, Joseph Ward, Eric Wooten

In a rural environment, how are you able to have undetected communication between teams (no radio or LTE?). 

By the end of this semester’s hackathon, we plan to finish a prototype that allows for wireless infrared communication (text and calls) between two small handheld devices. Since infrared is in a different spectrum compared to radio waves, this tech would be undetectable through normal means of interception. We plan on doing this by using two separate Arduinos each equipped with infrared receivers and transmitters. By the end of the semester, we hope to have two working receiver/transmitter modules encased in a 3D printed shell. Each would have an LCD screen allowing to see messages as well as functions. This project will consist heavily of Electric, Mechanical, and Computer Engineering.

The limitation of infrared is that it cannot go through walls like radio waves and is only able to work at small distances. By purchasing higher-end components with some of the funding provided we will be able to combat some of these issues. We also plan to research linking drones or beacons into a mesh infrared system to increase range.