Pagosa Springs, Colorado

NORDTRONICS

Off-grid solar, custom batteries, and embedded IoT — built by hand. The wildfire early-warning network is our flagship prototype.

Pagosa Springs, Colorado
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Architecture

How the Wildfire Network Works

SENSOR NODES PMS5003 PM2.5 / Smoke BME680 T/H/P + VOC AS3935 Lightning PMS5003 BME680 PMS5003 BME680 LoRa 915 MHz ~100 m radius BASE STATION ESP32-S3 WiFi MQTT over TLS 18650 + 5V Solar Cold-charge gate HTTPS API + Push CLOUD Aggregation & Alerting HTTPS API ANDROID APP PROTOTYPE Environmental Telemetry Only PM2.5 • Temp • Humidity • Battery No cameras • No microphones • No location trail
Sensor Node LoRa 915 MHz Base Station (ESP32-S3) Cloud API Android App (Prototype)
Sensor Stack

Multi-Modal Detection

Each node combines three sensors for redundant fire detection. Rate-of-change triggers with multi-node statistical consensus reduce false positives.

PMS5003

Primary Smoke Channel
  • Principle: Laser scattering
  • Output: PM1.0, PM2.5, PM10
  • Range: 0.3–10 µm
  • Interface: UART (9600 baud)
  • Power: 5 V / ~100 mA peak

BME680

Fire-Weather + Secondary VOC
  • Temperature: –40 to 85 °C (±1.0 °C)
  • Humidity: 0–100 % RH (±3 %)
  • Pressure: 300–1100 hPa (±0.6 hPa)
  • Gas (VOC): MOX sensor, IAQ index
  • Interface: I²C / SPI

AS3935

Lightning Detection
  • Range: Up to 40 km
  • Sensitivity: Programmable threshold
  • Noise rejection: Built-in algorithm
  • Interface: I²C / SPI
  • Power: 3.3 V / <50 µA listening
Power System

Autonomous Energy

18650 Li-ion Cell

Chemistry: Li-ion (NMC or LiFePO4 option)

Capacity: 3000–3500 mAh typical

Nominal: 3.7 V / 3.2 V (LiFePO4)

Runtime: 7–14 days no sun (duty-cycled)

Protection: On-board BMS (over/under-voltage, current)

5 V / 2 W Solar Panel

Voltage: 5 V regulated output

Power: 2 W (peak, full sun)

Charge current: ~350 mA max into cell

Mounting: Adjustable tilt, pole or tree strap

Weatherproof: ETFE laminate, IP67

Cold-Charge Gate (Hardware)

Cut-off: ~0 °C (charging disabled)

Re-enable: ~2.3 °C (hysteresis)

Implementation: Discrete MOSFET + temp sensor

No MCU required: Fully autonomous

Protects: Cell from lithium plating at low temp

Detection & Privacy

How It Detects & What It Shares

Prototype

Detection Radius & Logic

Each node covers approximately 100 m effective radius in typical forest terrain. Detection uses rate-of-change on PM2.5 and temperature, combined with lightning proximity from the AS3935. Multi-node statistical consensus (requiring correlated triggers across ≥2 nodes within a time window) rejects single-node false positives from dust, cooking smoke, or sensor glitches.

Prototype

Privacy by Design

Only environmental telemetry leaves the property: PM2.5, temperature, humidity, pressure, battery voltage. No cameras, no microphones, no GPS coordinates, no device identifiers beyond a random node ID. A local-only mode is available — the base station runs entirely on your LAN with Home Assistant / MQTT, no cloud connection, no away-from-home alerts.

Services

What We Build

Off-Grid Solar Installs

Custom off-grid and hybrid solar systems for cabins, remote sites, and backup power. Site assessment, design, component sourcing, and commissioning.

Custom LiFePO4 Battery Builds

Quality prismatic cells with JK BMS. 12 V, 24 V, 48 V packs for solar storage, RV, marine, and custom applications. Cell matching, compression fixtures, thermal pads, busbar fabrication.

ESP32 / LoRa / MQTT / HA Consulting

Firmware development, sensor integration, LoRaWAN / Meshtastic / custom LoRa, MQTT broker setup, Home Assistant integration, OTA updates, low-power optimization.

Pilot Program

Insurer-Supported Pilots

Prototype Phase

We're running insurer-supported pilot deployments for the wildfire early-warning network. If you represent an insurance carrier, fire district, community HOA, or landowner group in a high-risk zone, we'd like to talk.

No invented pricing. Pilot scope and cost are scoped per deployment.

Contact Us for Pilot Pricing
About

Stephen Nordlund — Founder

Stephen Nordlund founded Nordtronics to build the off-grid power and sensing tools he wanted for his own property in Pagosa Springs, Colorado — a place where the grid ends and the forest begins.

Background: embedded firmware (ESP32, STM32, Nordic), power electronics (BMS design, solar charge controllers), and LoRa/802.15.4 mesh networks. Previously built telemetry systems for industrial and scientific applications.

Nordtronics is a one-person shop. Every board is laid out, every line of firmware written, every battery pack assembled here. No outside investors. No corporate roadmap. Just honest engineering for people who live off-grid.

Companion App

Android App (Prototype)

The companion app is a prototype — not on the Play Store. Screenshots from the v0.1 emulator build.

Nordtronics companion app — node list screen showing sensor nodes with signal strength and battery
Node list — signal strength, battery, last seen
Nordtronics companion app — node detail screen with PM2.5, temperature, humidity charts
Node detail — live telemetry charts
Nordtronics companion app — alerts screen showing fire weather warnings and detection events
Alerts — rate-of-change triggers, consensus events
Contact

Get in Touch

No sales funnel. No newsletter. Just email.

hello@example.com GitHub