A solar-powered remote energy management system designed for field devices in rural, agricultural, and off-grid environments.
I served as team lead and developed the Particle Boron side of the system, including LTE telemetry and command routing from the remote dashboard to the ESP8266 control hub.
Remote field locations often rely on solar-powered devices such as sensors, cameras, alarms, and irrigation equipment. These systems can be difficult to monitor and control without visiting the site in person.
REACH was designed to reduce unnecessary field visits by giving users a way to monitor power usage, control connected loads, and respond to low-power conditions remotely.
REACH acts as an external module between an existing solar power system and connected field devices. It provides remote dashboard control, local diagnostics, outlet scheduling, power monitoring, and load prioritization.
The system combines an ESP8266 local control hub with a Particle Boron LTE communication bridge for remote telemetry and command transfer.
The Particle Boron provided LTE connectivity and acted as the communication bridge between the remote dashboard and the embedded control system.
The ESP8266 handled local control logic, outlet switching behavior, local WiFi control, and communication with sensors and output hardware.
The dashboard allowed users to monitor system status, view power data, control outlets, configure schedules, and set load priorities.
The hardware integrated with a 12 V solar/battery setup and controlled connected 5 V output ports through switching hardware and sensor feedback.
REACH hardware integration showing the embedded control system, communication modules, sensors, relay/switching hardware, and field-deployable wiring layout.
Verified remote communication behavior through the Particle Boron and confirmed that telemetry could be sent between the field system and dashboard.
Tested the command path from the remote dashboard to the Particle Boron and then to the ESP8266 control hub for outlet control and system state updates.
Validated scheduled outlet operation and load-priority behavior during low-power scenarios.
Tested voltage and current sensing behavior for monitoring connected loads and system power status.
Supported full hardware/software integration testing across the dashboard, LTE module, ESP8266, sensors, local display, and output switching hardware.
REACH successfully demonstrated remote dashboard-based outlet control, LTE telemetry through the Particle Boron, command transfer to the ESP8266 control hub, scheduled output behavior, load prioritization, voltage/current monitoring, and local system diagnostics.
The project gave me hands-on experience leading a senior design team while developing a practical embedded IoT system that combined firmware, communication links, dashboard control, sensor telemetry, and field-oriented power management.