Remote Community Collaboration

The Ripple LoRa mesh now has community-focussed tools, like group chats, surveys, shared calendars and shared map places.

Introduction

The latest features I have been working on for my LoRa mesh suite have been focussed on remote communities, and the need for multiple users to collaborate, instead of just 1-to-1 text messaging.

It has been quite exciting seeing the new features coming into being and actually working! It has really super-charged what can be achieved with the limits of the tiny bandwidth of LoRa.

Self-sufficiency

The main motivator I continue to have behind the project is to move towards decentralisation and to increase self-sufficiency of groups. The future is more uncertain than at any time in my lifetime, and I believe it's prudent to foster tools and values that help us be more resilient.

If you want to start to get some hardware on order, as the lead times are getting worse, I have the most support for the Heltec Stick Lite development board: http://heltec.org/project/wireless-stick-lite/

I use these for both the Android companion radios (used with both Messenger and Commander apps), and also in the dedicated repeaters.

The apps are on Google Play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spleenware.lorapager

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spleenware.deviceprovision

The Ripple Messenger app now has these new group features:

• Group chats (including surveys, quizzes and emoji responses)
• Shared Calendars
• Shared Map Places

Here are some screen grabs:

These are all enabled by a new 'shared documents' feature in the latest Repeater firmware. The admin of the network uses the Ripple Commander app to create these shared documents, and sets the permissions.

In the above example, the admin is creating a group chat that only has READ access for new subscribers, and only the 'Clayton' user will be posting new messages. This can be for an 'Announcements'-style group, or in this case, will be 'Daily Quiz', as messages can now also be a Survey or Quiz question.

Ripple Messenger users join/subscribe to the documents/groups by scanning QR codes which the Commander app generates, or they can be joined by inserting 'document links' in text messages, for instance in an existing Announcements group chat you can announce new documents with a clickable link.

I have prepared some radio modules and repeaters for local groups I know, but practically, there is just too much friction and instability in supply chains to try to sell these units. Instead, I want to move to a model where groups can DIY and assemble their own hardware. But, I also want to move to something that is fair and recognises that I have put about three years into this project now.

So, I'm interested in talking to community leaders, and work out a modest arrangement in return for access to the latest firmwares, STL models for printing cases, and general advice and support. These will be supplied via my new BuyMeACoffee page here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ripplebiz

I hope you find this interesting and I look forward to your responses.

regards,

Scott Powell.