A Raspberry Pi Mesh Sensor Network for Portable Perimeter Security

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks play an important role for perimeter monitoring in remote environments. While commercial wireless sensor networks for providing audio-visual monitoring exist, they are often expensive to deploy. In this paper, we describe and implement a wireless mesh network consisting of inexpensive battery-operated Raspberry Pi nodes. The choice of the Raspberry Pi enables the construction of cost-effective sensor nodes that are extendable and expendable. We conduct a series of test to illustrate the efficacy of our network in a building monitoring use case. Our nodes can be built for as little as 49.00 per node and is capable of node-to-node transmission of up to 50 feet. Custom sleep states enable battery life to last 14 hours on 4 AA batteries. Our results support our thesis that an all-Pi mesh sensor is capable of providing portable perimeter security.