Mechatronics engineer and software program developer Brett Smith has designed a tool that goals to ship off-grid digital navigation wherever you want it — full with topographic maps and no matter documentation you’d prefer to entry.
“Image this: you have simply arrived on the trailhead, miles from civilization, and your cellphone’s map app decides it is time for somewhat ‘offline mode’ tantrum. App Standing? Offloaded. Updates? Overlook it. Storage? Full,” Smith writes of the inspiration behind the venture. “Welcome to the outside, the place your cellphone is extra misplaced than you’re. Enter Backcountry Beacon, the open-source gadget that laughs within the face of Wi-Fi dependency.”
Should you’re venturing out into the again of past, the Backcountry Beacon is a useful factor to hold. (📷: Brett Smith)
The Backcountry Beacon is a multi-functional, pocket-sized gadget powered by any USB energy provide — from a battery pack to a photo voltaic panel. A small show on one facet offers a QR code that, when scanned, connects your smartphone to the gadget’s built-in Wi-Fi hotspot, which is when the enjoyable begins.
A microSD Card accommodates offline copies of USGS topographical maps, accessible in your smartphone’s browser. These tie in to the GNSS receiver, dropping a pin at your exact location — whether or not or not your smartphone has any sign of its personal. The identical storage can be utilized to host copies of any documentation you’d prefer to entry in your adventures — from journey tickets and bird-spotting guides to tutorials on emergency first support.
The built-in webserver delivers reside topographic mapping and entry to no matter information you’d prefer to take with you. (📷: Brett Smith)
There are limitations to the gadget’s capabilities, after all. Smith warns that the online server caps out at round 1MB/s, which means endurance is required when accessing bigger information — and makes an attempt to share the gadget between a number of simultaneous customers might fail.
Extra particulars on the venture can be found on Hackaday.io; on the time of writing Smith had not launched design information or supply code, although his description of the Backcountry Beacon as being an “open-source gadget” suggests these will observe in the end.