ansont / duck

Firmware for the DuckLink device family (for various boards such as ESP32)

ClusterDuck Overview

Problem

Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, and other events will continue to test the strength of the infrastructure modern society relies on, such as communication equipment like cellular networks.

Communications infrastructure needs to be restored within 72 hours after which the survival chances of victims decrease drastically.

Solution

Our IoT hardware solution ClusterDuck addresses this issue. Ducks are miniaturized multi-terrain wifi-enabled devices that are dispersed in Clusters in areas where traditional infrastructure and communications is offline.

Fig. 1 - Ducks to OWL

Once dispersed, the Ducks create an ad-hoc wireless network, enabling civilians in need of aid to connect to the network, and send information about their situation, location, and needs.

The DuckLink

A DuckLink, or simply a Duck, is a small WiFi-enabled IoT device in a 3D printend enclosure. A DuckLink can connect through WiFi to consumer electronics such as a phone or a laptop. DuckLinks connect to MamaDuck (the central server IoT device) to create a ClusterDuck network.

Fig. 2 - DuckLink Design

The Ducks are weatherproof and multi-terrain. They are floatable and can be deployed as buoys or even tethered to buildings or tall structures. The geodesic design was inspired by old school radomes (radar domes) - enclosures to protect radar antennas.

DuckLink Portal - Quick Native Experience without downloading App or Visiting Link

The DuckLinks automatically provide an intuitive emergency captive portal for civilians upon connecting to the hotspot network. This allows the civilians to send immediate requests to the responders.

Fig. 3 - Emergency Portal

These portals run on a local server within the Ducks. This is highly strategic, as the civilians won't have the internet capability to neither download apps nor visit websites.

DuckLink Range

The DuckLink is the base unit of a ClusterDuck network. One DuckLink is an IoT WiFi device that wirelessly connects to consumer electronics.

Fig. 4 - DuckLink Range

The MamaDuck

The MamaDuck is the central hub of the ClusterDuck network. A single MamaDuck is an IoT LoRa device that connects to DuckLinks over long range.

Fig. 5 - MamaDuck Range

The ClusterDuck

The ClusterDuck is the complete network generated by a MamaDuck and her DuckLinks.

Fig. 6 - ClusterDuck Coverage

QuackPack

Open Source Hardware

The ClusterDuck hardware solution would also allow passionate developers and OEMs to build on top of our hardware, via lego-like modules called QuackPacks. In addition to relaying civilian data, additional Quacks would allow Ducks to send additional useful and crucial data via sensors.

The use cases for QuackPacks are endless:

• Monitoring smoke for wildfire detection
• Weather Monitoring
• Water Quality
  • Turbidity
  • Dissolved oxygen
  • Industrial spills
  • Temperature profiling

And a lot more.

QuackHackers will be provided with boilerplate libraries in order for your QuackPacks to work with our Ducks.

Fig. 7 - Early Prototype with Humidity/Temperature + Water Pressure Sensor

DetectorDuck

The DetectorDuck helps you detect the closest duck =)

Easter Egg