Overview
Safe Explorer addresses a critical gap in outdoor safety: communication failures between athletes and base stations are a leading factor in outdoor sports accidents — accidents that can and do end in fatalities. The project proposes a phone-sized, radio-wave-based signal transmitter (nicknamed the "lighter") that keeps athletes and coordination centres in constant, instant contact, independent of mobile network coverage.
The system consists of two core components: a central receiver, located at outdoor sports centres, which logs incoming signals together with their direction, time, and the sender's location; and the portable transmitter carried by the athlete, which sends a signal at the press of a button.
Key Aspects
- Two-part architecture: central receiver station + portable pocket-sized transmitter
- Radio-wave communication unaffected by weather conditions or terrain
- Incoming signals logged with direction, time, and user location data
- Piezoelectric buttons enabling signal transmission even when the rechargeable battery is depleted
- Built-in vibration sensor so the centre can warn users of incoming danger — for example alerting a skier to an approaching avalanche or severe weather
- Deliberately simple, low-cost design suitable for local mass production
Problem Statement
Outdoor sports are growing rapidly — in Turkey, licensed athletes in mountaineering alone rose from 1,883 in 2016 to 4,552 in 2017, with similar growth in cycling, canoe-rafting, and skiing. Yet these sports remain among the deadliest: mountaineering carries high fatality and loss rates, dominated by traumatic falls and avalanche burials, and 2023 set a record with 18 deaths on Everest. The most common existing solution — signal flares — is single-use and only works if someone happens to see it.
Safe Explorer replaces this one-shot, observation-dependent approach with continuous, technology-backed, two-way communication: athletes can call for help instantly, and centres can warn athletes of danger before accidents happen. By reducing accidents and losses, the project also aims to break down the fears and prejudices that keep newcomers away from outdoor sports.
Program Context
Developed for TEKNOFEST's Technology for Humanity Competition (İnsanlık Yararına Teknoloji Yarışması) at high school level, in the disaster management and social innovation problem space. The project was documented through the competition's formal pre-evaluation report process.