meshcore-sar_android/README.md

MeshCore SAR

Field-ready Search and Rescue app for teams using MeshCore over Bluetooth Low Energy.

MeshCore SAR helps teams coordinate in low-connectivity and no-connectivity environments.

Highlights

• Mesh messaging for direct and group coordination
• On-demand voice and image sharing optimized for low bandwidth
• Offline-first maps with field overlays and tactical markers
• GPS tracking, trails, and shareable map drawings

Feature Overview

Area	What you get
Messaging	Direct and group chat over mesh, with contact/room awareness from live telemetry
Voice	Push-to-talk voice clips, fetched on demand when play is pressed, auto-play on completion
Images	Camera/gallery image sending, auto-compression, tap-to-load receiving, full-screen viewer
Maps	Street/topo/satellite/terrain layers, offline tile downloads, optional MBTiles import
SAR Operations	Team markers with freshness indicators, SAR markers for incidents and staging points
Tracking	Continuous GPS updates, personal trails, distance/duration trail stats
Trail Interop	GPX export/import for trail sharing and reuse
Tactical Drawing	Line/rectangle drawing, distance measurement, drawing sharing to channel/room

Voice, Image, and Maps

Voice

• Designed for short, urgent field communication
• Playback requests are on-demand to reduce unnecessary mesh traffic
• Useful when typing is impractical during operations

Images

• Built for constrained links with pre-send optimization
• Receiver controls when to fetch payload by tapping the placeholder
• Supports quick visual verification in the field

Maps

• Supports online and offline workflows
• Adds SAR context with markers, overlays, and orientation tools
• Combines location, messaging, and tactical layers in one workflow

Permissions (App Use)

• Bluetooth: mesh device communication
• Location: team tracking and map position updates
• Microphone: voice clip recording
• Camera / Photos: image messaging