Building and Implementing a Contact Tracing Solution Using AWS IoT Core and SafeTrack Lite

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In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, organizations worldwide are striving to adapt to new challenges, including remote learning, virtual consultations, and alternative outdoor setups. Amid these adjustments, a pressing concern arises: how can institutions effectively manage viral transmission if a case is identified?

An efficient response hinges on the ability to conduct contact tracing to pinpoint individuals who may have been exposed. The question remains: do organizations possess the necessary resources to instill confidence in their patrons? Let’s explore this further.

Each confirmed COVID-19 case necessitates tracing an average of 36 contacts. If organizations allocate merely 15 minutes to notify these individuals, it would consume approximately nine hours—equivalent to an entire workday—just to inform the contacts of one infected person about the need to quarantine. Alarmingly, 15 percent of cases lead to at least one secondary infection that goes unnoticed, meaning nearly 1 in 6 cases could propagate even with thorough contact tracing.

Addressing the complexities of contact tracing is challenging, but the SafeTrack solution from CareBand offers a viable answer. This article outlines how to collaborate with CareBand’s technology to develop a solution via Amazon Web Services (AWS), comprising two key components:

1. Collecting data from CareBand’s SafeTrack wearables and integrating it with AWS IoT.
2. Generating a report detailing individuals exposed to a confirmed COVID-19 case using AWS services.

To kick off the platform, CareBand partnered with Trek10, a premier AWS Consulting Partner and Managed Service Provider specializing in the architecture, development, and management of serverless applications on AWS. Trek10 holds competencies in IoT, DevOps, and SaaS, utilizing various AWS services to support the initial design and build of CareBand’s SafeTrack contact tracing solution.

Solution Overview

CareBand specializes in health and safety IoT solutions, with its flagship wearable aimed at supporting individuals with dementia by providing real-time location tracking, minimizing wandering events, and monitoring behavioral changes. Recently, this technology has been adapted to address COVID-19 risks through SafeTrack, an automated contact tracing and social distancing solution.

In response to the pandemic, local health authorities have mobilized manual contact tracing teams. However, these approaches require a significant level of trust in infected individuals’ ability to accurately trace their movements, making them prone to errors. CareBand’s SafeTrack addresses these issues by employing proprietary machine learning algorithms to calculate the distance between individuals following CDC guidelines.

The SafeTrack system generates customized contact tracing reports based on interactions with infected individuals. This automation eliminates the need for hiring a manual tracing team, and AWS’s serverless infrastructure efficiently supports the development of a digital contact tracing solution. The SafeTrack wearable integrates seamlessly with the LoRaWAN network server through AWS IoT Core, allowing secure and rapid data offloading.

Walkthrough

The architecture encompasses the following steps:

1. Utilizing the SafeTrack wearable in the field to record interactions with other SafeTrack devices.
2. When in proximity to a LoRaWAN gateway, the wearable automatically connects to the network.
3. The LoRaWAN gateway’s server transmits the wearable’s data to AWS IoT Core.
4. The Rules Engine in AWS IoT Core triggers a Lambda function to decode the message and create a record in Amazon DynamoDB.
5. Amazon API Gateway facilitates frontend applications (SafeTrack Lite) to access device data and generate contact tracing reports.

Prerequisites

To get started, you will need the following:

• An AWS account with permissions for AWS IoT Core, AWS Lambda, and Amazon DynamoDB.
• CareBand’s SafeTrack Demo Kit.
• A LoRaWAN gateway and Helium access (sign up for Helium Console).
• A SafeTrack Lite account (request one).

Tutorial Overview

• Steps 1 to 2: Setting up the LoRaWAN connection
• Steps 3 to 5: Configuring the AWS infrastructure
• Steps 6 to 10: Preparing SafeTrack Lite and conducting a test

Setting Up the LoRaWAN Connection

This tutorial leverages Helium to manage the LoRaWAN network. Helium is pioneering a peer-to-peer wireless network to simplify device connectivity, incentivizing anyone to become a network operator. With coverage expanding to over 2,000 cities, it’s worth checking their network map for nearby coverage.

SafeTrack wearables link to a Helium Hotspot, which mines HNT (an emerging cryptocurrency) by providing LoRaWAN network coverage to these wearables and other compatible devices.

Step 1: Configure AWS IoT Integration on Helium Console

1. Log in to the Helium Console.
2. Navigate to the Integrations tab, select AWS IoT Core under Custom Integrations.
3. Verify integration details and input your Access and Secret Keys.
4. Set the region to us-east-1 and the topic to helium-devices.
5. Name your integration (SafeTrack or any name you choose).
6. Assign a new label called SafeTrack.
7. Click Create Integration to finalize.

Step 2: Register SafeTrack Devices on Helium Console

1. Access the Helium Console.
2. Add the two SafeTrack devices via the Devices tab by selecting Add a new Device.
3. Complete the fields with the provided information from the SafeTrack Demo Kit.
4. Attach the previously created SafeTrack label and submit. Repeat for the second device.

For more insights on this process, check out this blog post, and for additional authoritative information, visit this resource.

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