NeighbourNet
Offline mesh SOS communication system with on-device AI triage for disaster scenarios where cellular infrastructure fails.
The Challenge
Traditional communication infrastructure (cellular, internet) is the first thing to fail during natural disasters like floods or cyclones. This leaves victims unable to send SOS messages and rescue teams unable to coordinate or triage needs in real-time.
The Approach
Developed an offline-first mesh networking system that turns Android devices into relay nodes using BLE and WiFi Direct. SOS messages hop phone-to-phone without internet, are triaged on-device using a multilingual keyword-scoring engine, and automatically sync to a cloud-based coordinator dashboard when any device in the mesh gains connectivity.
The Outcome
Achieved 1st Runners Up at HackTropica 2K26 (MLH). Delivered a functional prototype including a React Native mobile app for victims/relays, a FastAPI backend with Gemini 2.5 Flash for cloud-side triage, and a real-time Next.js dashboard for disaster response coordinators.