Foundation Projects
Hybrid LoRa Network for Underserved Community Internet (LUCI)
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
The Chini Lake, Pahang area of Malaysia has challenging terrain with thick foliage. These conditions mean that the 500 indigenous Orang Asli residents, spread across six villages, lack access to mobile data coverage.
As a solution, LoRa wireless technology was proposed. The scale-up grant helped establish a LoRa Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) gateway on a helium balloon, equipped with Mesh LoRa architecture that has text and voice messaging capabilities, as well as a cloud-based data management platform.
This gave local residents access to digital materials through a messaging system, accommodating users of all different literacy levels, as well as water level alerts for mitigation of flooding and drought situations, and an avenue for promoting local products and services through the cloud-based data management platform.
The project was carried out throughout 2022 and 2023, and it also organized a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programme on 21-22 October 2023 for indigenous students aged 10-12 years in the primary school, Sekolah Kebangsaan Tasik Chini.
