Audio story by Grace Boatright

Text story by Noah Crum

John Poltrock remembers the struggles as a first responder in the aftermath of the Dec. 10, 2021 EF-4 tornado that hit Mayfield.

During the devastating tornado that ripped through the region, first responders had a hard time reaching areas of need due to the grid collapsing. Cell services and network communications were down within 15 minutes after the tornado. First responders’ main form of communication was their handheld radio, which were only useful for approximately a quarter mile to reach other first responders.

Poltrock, former first responder, had a hard time organizing people to get to the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory that took hours for first responders to coordinate. It took approximately a week for the infrastructure to work in that area. Poltrock wanted to do more for his community and decided to research the network infrastructure across the region.

“I saw a problem and I wanted to provide a solution,” Poltrock said. “I was previously a first responder and the fact that we could not get emergency services during the tornado in my local area concerned me.”

Project LoRa, which stands for LongRange Mesh, is a communication technology device designed to help counteract the possibility of a network malfunction. Specifically, it is to ensure community members have a way to communicate with others with this technology, especially first responders. Poltrock wanted a cost-effective solution that anyone can use when the grid goes down during a severe weather event. 

Joel Bulkley, Murray State University student, picked up where Poltrock left off and is continuing to develop the research for the LoRa project under the direction of Dr. Marc Beck, assistant professor of computer science. Beck also supervised and mentored Poltrock’s early research into LoRa.

LoRa is an example of mesh typography, which in lighter terms, is like Apple AirTags. AirTags will bounce around other apple products to find what you are searching for. LoRa is the same way by trying to send a signal to other LoRa networks to get ahold of certain people. 

The longest previous LoRa transmission recorded was approximately 250 miles. Poltrock and Bulkley’s LoRa transmission resulted in approximately 1.5 miles but they are continuing to improve transmission results to longer distances. 

Both Poltrock and Bulkley have contacted small businesses and local governments across the region about using their system, but to no avail. 

“We did not gain a lot of traction,” Poltrock said. “We got pushed away from all that. So we are just focused inward on continuing the development of it.”

Beck said the next step with the project is to present it to the members of Cisco, who in turn, may offer Bulkley an internship and may take interest in the project. Cisco is a computer networking products business that could potentially use LoRa for future endeavors.