Design and Prototyping of a Scalable IoT Solution Based on LoRaWAN to Improve the Service of School Routes in the South West Location of Barranquilla

The Internet of things (IoT) has quickly been introduced into wireless networks and systems, opening several possibilities in terms of connectivity. IoT arises from the vast need to monitor, manage, and configure “things” remotely. Different industrial or residential applications can use IoT to obtain or send data, such as remote control of alarms, water meters, simple traffic, and light points. This research project focuses on the IoT implementation of devices LoRa that uses the LoRaWAN protocol. LoRaWAN is a network infrastructure that could be applied to monitor different variables in environments where IoT wireless technology is implemented. The current project involves designing a LoRaWAN network to support IoT in transporting school routes in Barranquilla’s southwest. The project incorporates a prototype that allows the vehicle monitoring, geographical location in real-time, percentage of the occupation, arrivals, and departures times, among other variables. Implementing this technology in the chosen sector will benefit families that require the school transport service because they will monitor the operation of the service provided. This paper details the devices and technology to be implemented in the final prototype, specifying their topology, application, technical specification, operating characteristics, and their configuration and work logic under different scenarios. For the development of the project, the guidelines defined in each of the Top-Down network design methodology phases are applied. Finally, two essential aspects are shown, such as analyzing the results obtained in the tests and the future work to be carried out based on the research.