Work

Smart Forest Navigation System Using LoRa and Dynamic Pathfinding

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Navigating dense forest environments presents significant challenges due to obstructed GPS signals, dynamic terrain, and limited communication infrastructure. This research proposes a Smart Forest Navigation System that enables real-time, infrastructure-free navigation by integrating LoRa communication, radar-based obstacle detection, and Dynamic A* (D*) pathfinding. The system leverages Time of Arrival (ToA) measurements from LoRa nodes for long-range localization, enhanced through sensor fusion with Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) on the user’s smartphone. A radar sensor provides real-time environmental perception, detecting obstacles and updating a dynamically evolving map enriched with satellite, drone, and crowdsourced data via probabilistic modeling. Path optimization is handled by the D* Lite algorithm, which adapts to terrain changes and obstacle updates, using a cost function that accounts for terrain difficulty and energy efficiency. All computations are performed on-device, ensuring low-latency operation without reliance on GPS or external servers. The proposed system offers a cost-effective, energy-efficient solution suitable for forest exploration, wildlife tracking, and search and rescue missions in GPS-denied environments.

Source: IEEE Access

DOI: 10.1109/access.2025.3580463

Authors: Isha Nevatia, Vraj Chaudhary, M. Thurai Pandian

Institutions: Vellore Institute of Technology University, SRM Institute of Science and Technology

Language: English

Topic: Indoor and Outdoor Localization Technologies

Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,075