WOKI

Problem

When an earthquake takes down the cell network, asking for help stops being an interface problem and becomes a communication and coordination problem.

Solution

A person joins the Wi-Fi of a TTGO LoRa node without installing an app, reports what they need with GPS or a description; the node sends a short LoRa (915 MHz) packet, waits for an acknowledgement and retries. A Raspberry Pi command center stores incidents in SQLite, prioritizes them, recommends compatible resources and lets an operator authorize dispatch; the resource accepts and reports progress until the incident closes. An online replica (Vercel + Supabase) syncs pending events when internet returns but never executes critical actions.

Demo moment

Not described publicly. The write-up lists LoRa messaging with acknowledgements between boards on real hardware, an offline dashboard, and an automatically verified flow from SOS through triage, dispatch, acceptance and resolution.

Why it stood out

• team statedZero-install entry: a phone joins the node's Wi-Fi to report an emergency; delivery uses acknowledgements and retries over LoRa.Source ↗
• team statedOffline is the operational source of truth; the cloud hub only mirrors and syncs when the network returns, so a cloud failure never stops operations.Source ↗
• team statedShipped beyond a slide: a public hub, an isolated demo command center, printable enclosures and a LoRa flow visualization.Source ↗
• curator inferenceEntered the joint most crowded Bogotá track (7 of 24 submissions in Emergencies) with physical hardware and a one-line promise — works when the internet does not.

Lessons for your next hackathon

• State the failure condition the product survives (no internet) in the tagline; judges remember constraints.
• Separate the operational path (local, authoritative) from the showcase path (cloud mirror) so the demo cannot be broken by venue Wi-Fi.