About Signal Quo
Signal Quo is an prototype built by Somewhat Questionable. Our team claimed a first-place finish at Grapple23, a week-long engineering competition, held in YMCA’s 4C Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The prompt was to build something that would improve life on Mars. During the week, we developed a secondary emergency communication network for a Mars colony. Consisting of a main hub, personal transmitters, and environmental monitoring devices, Signal Quo is designed to operate during even severe Martian dust storms. The system utilizes long range (LoRa) technology, and incorporates a novel HopTrace protocol that records each signal's path, enabling geolocation for nodes in distress.
At Signal Quo, we aim to fortify future Martian missions with an empathetic approach to safety and efficiency. We journey into a future where Mars isn't merely a neighbouring planet, but a second home for humankind. However, this isn't a future devoid of challenges. The Martian surface, characterised by frequent severe dust storms, embodies an intimidating threat to communication - a lifeline for survival on the Red Planet.
Who We Are
Our team, aptly named "Somewhat Questionable," is a collective of dedicated individuals hailing from different parts of New Zealand.
- Jude Wilson and Sean Jang were the dynamic design duo of the team. Calling Auckland home, they worked in tandem on the physical design of our innovative devices, shaping the aesthetics and ergonomics to suit the challenging Martian environment.
- Jasper Miller-Waugh and Taine Reader were our Whangarei whizzes who took on the electronics coding. Jasper worked on writing a streamlined C++ firmware for the devices and developed the geolocation and HopTrace protocol. At the same time, Taine brought his skill set in electronics to create our sensor data logger and live sensor display.
- James Avenell worked his tech magic on the web alert dashboard and ensured secure storage for our sensor data.
- Ara Bartlett helped powered the alert dashboard with her skilled electronics work and ensured we got our message across effectively with her presentation and design efforts.
Half of our team represents Questionable Research Labs, a makerspace located in Whangarei, underpinning our team's name - "Somewhat Questionable".
Our Vision
Imagine invaluable human life thriving amidst the daunting Martian dust storms, fortified by a resilient communication system - that's the future Signal Quo aspires to facilitate.
Out of this vision, the Signal Quo system was born - a mesh network acting as a secondary communication system for Martian colonists, featuring a main hub, personal transmitters, and environmental monitoring modules. All these devices are designed to function meticulously even during severe dust storms, making every EVA safer and more efficient.
How It Works
Our system utilises the Low Range (LoRa) technology for its radio communication protocol - not using the internet-expanded LoRaWAN version but the raw LoRa radio, focusing on creating a network directly serving the specific needs of a Mars colony.
Our mesh network consists of nodes that connect and work together to expand communication coverage. Each node powers our novel HopTrace protocol which accurately captures and records all the communication hops, allowing geolocation of devices several hops away from the main hub.
Contact Us
We welcome any inquiries or additional information requests at [email protected]. If you'd like to learn more about the event that sparked our journey, visit the official Grapple23 website.
