When the Sirens Stop, the Knowledge Shouldn't.
Help me build the UKS-01 — the first Uninterruptible Knowledge Supply: a portable, solar-powered NOMAD kit that keeps knowledge and comms running when the internet, cell networks, and grid don't.
A single deployable unit can turn a parking lot, shelter, or hillside into a local hub for information, communication, and coordination — no cell tower required.
// The Reality Check
Tornado activity is shifting east into the Midwest and Mid-South. Outbreaks are getting larger and more volatile. The infrastructure we rely on is no longer a constant.
When disaster hits, the internet is often the first thing to go — and with it, first aid instructions, medication references, water purification guidance, maps, and school for kids stuck home for weeks. Project NOMAD keeps that knowledge available locally, no signal required.
Knowledge That Never Goes Offline
Medical & Survival
First aid, medication, and emergency medicine references, alongside water, shelter, power, and practical repair guides for recovery.
Wikipedia & Gutenberg
All of Wikipedia and Project Gutenberg's library, served locally via Kiwix — millions of articles and public-domain books without a single byte of internet.
Offline Street Maps
Street-level offline maps of the region via OpenStreetMap. Navigate, plan, and coordinate when GPS apps go blank.
Education Platform
Khan Academy courses and K-12 lessons via Kolibri, so learning doesn't stop when school does — for weeks after a disaster, not just days.
Local AI Assistant
A private, LLM-driven assistant running entirely on the kit's own hardware. Ask it to find and explain what you need, no cloud required.
Hybrid Voice Comms
Push-to-talk 5G/WiFi walkie talkies — cellular when networks are up, the kit's local WiFi when they're not. Reliable voice for families and response teams.
One kit doesn't serve one person — it broadcasts to every phone, tablet, and laptop that connects to it. A single unit can support a family, a shelter, a classroom, or a whole block during recovery.
// Origins
I'm Mercer Aplin, a professor at Purdue University, and I built a career keeping complex systems running in places where the plan can change in seconds.
I teach audio technology at Purdue and spend much of my time in outdoor production: live events, touring rigs, and AV installations where weather, power, and communications don't always cooperate. Every show is a live exercise in contingency planning — you have to stay on your toes to keep everyone safe.
When I first heard about Project NOMAD, I immediately started thinking about how to scale the idea up and get it into the hands of the largest possible groups of people in need. A single box that can serve offline knowledge, maps, education, and communication is powerful; a network of them deployed across shelters, churches, schools, and response teams could change how whole communities recover after a disaster.
This first kit — the UKS-01, for "Uninterruptible Knowledge Supply" — is a prototype. Once it's tested and proven, I want to build more on commission — tuned for families, churches, schools, and response teams across the Midwest. Your support builds the blueprint.
Kit Technical Specifications
UKS-01 · UNINTERRUPTIBLE KNOWLEDGE SUPPLY · BILL OF MATERIALS
The Bigger Goal
The UKS-01 is a prototype and testbed — the first Uninterruptible Knowledge Supply. Once validated, the goal is to build additional units on commission so families, schools, churches, and community organizations across the region can have their own disaster-ready kits, tuned to their needs and budget. Your donation doesn't just build one box. It builds the blueprint for many.
// Operations
How a Deployment Actually Works
The kit is designed to be carried by one person, powered by the sun, and understood by anyone with a phone. No technician, no subscription, no signal required.
Carry it in
The whole system lives in a rugged transportable case. It rides in a trunk, a truck bed, or a church van and sets up on a folding table in minutes.
Power it up
Solar panels and a battery bank keep the kit running with no grid and no generator fuel. Daylight in, knowledge out, indefinitely.
Connect the block
The kit broadcasts its own local Wi-Fi. Anyone nearby joins with a phone or laptop and reaches the entire offline library — plus push-to-talk voice comms.
// Under the Hood
The Engineering That Makes It Work
Project NOMAD isn't a single app — it's a management layer called the Command Center that orchestrates a suite of containerized tools via Docker. It handles installation, configuration, and updates so the kit stays self-contained after initial setup. Once content is downloaded, everything runs entirely offline.
Information Library
Powered by Kiwix
Offline Wikipedia (95 GB), Project Gutenberg, medical references, and survival guides — terabytes of human knowledge browsed through any web browser on the local network.
AI Assistant
Powered by Ollama
A private LLM running entirely on the kit's own GPU. No cloud, no API keys, nothing leaves the box. Ask it to find and explain information from the local library in plain language.
Offline Maps
Powered by OpenStreetMap
Street-level maps of the entire region stored locally. Navigate, plan routes, and coordinate response when GPS apps go blank and cellular data is gone.
Education Platform
Powered by Kolibri
Khan Academy courses and K-12 lessons (50 GB) delivered offline. Learning doesn't stop when school does — for weeks after a disaster, not just days.
Offline-First
Content is downloaded before you need it. After install, NOMAD requires zero internet to function. Pull the plug and watch it keep working.
Zero Telemetry
Searches, AI conversations, and usage data never leave the server. No analytics, no data collection, no phone home — by design.
x86 Bare Metal
NOMAD runs on Ubuntu or Debian-based Linux (Ubuntu 26.04 LTS recommended). Not Raspberry Pi, not macOS — serious x86 hardware for GPU-accelerated AI.
// Coverage
Maximum Reach. Maximum Access.
A knowledge server is only useful if people can reach it. The UKS-01 doesn't broadcast one Wi-Fi network — it runs four isolated networks from a single access point, each VLAN-segmented for a different mission, so a packed shelter, a response team, a voice-comms net, and a public calling line never step on each other.
The Project NOMAD server network for the general public. Anyone within range joins with a phone or laptop — no app, no login — and reaches the full offline library, maps, AI assistant, and education platform. Isolated from the other nets so public traffic can never reach responder or comms traffic.
A separate, restricted network for first responders, backhauled by a satellite internet uplink so it stays online even when every local carrier is down. Lets incident command pull live updates, weather radar, and coordination tools that the public net intentionally can't reach.
A long-range Wi-Fi network for Wi-Fi walkie talkies, with a satellite internet uplink that bridges to other Wi-Fi and 5G walkie-talkie networks beyond line-of-sight. Also investigating integration with Meshtastic LoRa mesh radios for encrypted, no-infrastructure text and GPS relay over kilometers.
A local VoIP calling service on the public net, backhauled over the satellite internet uplink, so anyone in the shelter can place a voice call to family, insurance, FEMA, or a doctor when every cell tower is dark. Calls route through a soft PBX on the kit and egress over satellite to the public phone network — no cell plan, no smartphone app required, just a browser or any SIP-capable handset.
Single Point
One kit, one antenna: covers a shelter, community center, or church — up to ~150 ft indoor, ~300 ft outdoor line-of-sight.
Extended Range
High-gain external antenna mounted on the case or a pole: extends outdoor reach across a parking lot, fairgrounds, or block.
Mesh Network
Multiple relay nodes meshed back to the kit: blankets a school campus, neighborhood, or fairground with a single knowledge source. The same mesh also carries the isolated First Responder and long-range comms nets.
Zero-install access. Anyone within range opens their browser, joins the kit's Wi-Fi, and lands on the Command Center — no app, no login, no account. The full library, maps, AI assistant, and education platform are one tap away on any phone, tablet, or laptop.
// Hardware Selection
The Plan for the UKS-01
The UKS-01 — Uninterruptible Knowledge Supply-01 — targets the NOMAD "Recommended Build" tier, the sweet spot on the community leaderboard where you get real, responsive AI without the cost of a discrete GPU. Here's the selection plan and reasoning for every major component.
AMD Ryzen 7/9 Mini PC
A compact AMD APU build (Ryzen 7 8700G, 8845HS, or similar) with integrated Radeon 780M graphics delivers AI inference at 30–55 tokens per second on 3–8 billion parameter models — fast enough for real conversations. It draws far less power than a discrete GPU rig, which matters when you're running on solar. Target NOMAD Score: 80–95.
32 GB DDR5 RAM
32 GB is the community-recommended minimum for running NOMAD's full suite — the OS, Docker containers, the Kiwix library server, Kolibri, and the local LLM all share this pool. Less than 32 GB and AI model loading becomes the bottleneck; more is future headroom.
2 TB NVMe SSD
The full content library is storage-heavy: Wikipedia alone is ~95 GB, Khan Academy ~50 GB, and AI models add 10–40 GB depending on size. A 2 TB NVMe SSD holds the entire library plus a full backup copy with room to grow, and NVMe speeds keep the AI assistant responsive when loading large models.
Solar + Battery Bank
The AMD APU platform's low power draw (35–65 W typical) is the reason it wins over a discrete GPU for this use case. A ~1 kWh LiFePO₄ power station (~$700) and two 200 W folding solar panels (~$400), sized for multi-day autonomy, keeps the kit running through cloudy stretches and overnight — no generator fuel, no grid tie-in.
Multi-SSID Wi-Fi 6 + 5G Router
A multi-carrier 5G router feeds a long-range outdoor Wi-Fi 6 access point that broadcasts four VLAN-isolated networks from one box: the public NOMAD knowledge net, a satellite-backhauled First Responder Internet net, a long-range comms net for Wi-Fi walkie talkies, and a public VoIP calling service that lets displaced people place voice calls to family, insurance, or emergency services over the satellite uplink. High-gain external antennas extend each network's footprint as far as possible. Budget: ~$600 router plus ~$450 for the access point, antennas, and mast.
Rugged Transportable Case
Everything mounts into a single ruggedized case (Pelican-style) with custom foam and mounting plates. The kit rides in a trunk or truck bed, survives being dropped, and deploys on a folding table in minutes — one person, no tools, no technician.
Future Upgrade Path
The APU build is the starting point, not the ceiling. The kit's case and power system are sized to accommodate a future discrete GPU (NVIDIA RTX 3060-class or better) — jumping from a NOMAD Score of ~90 to 500+ and unlocking larger AI models. Community builds on the leaderboard top out at 3,027 with an RTX 5090. The UKS-01 proves the platform; the upgrade path proves the ceiling.
// Your Impact
Where Every Dollar Goes
This campaign funds one thing: the UKS-01, the first full-scale prototype kit. Every contribution maps to a real line on the bill of materials above — no overhead, no salaries.
Funds the 32 GB of DDR5 memory that lets the kit run its local AI and the full library at once.
Covers the 2 TB SSD carrying Wikipedia, Gutenberg, maps, and coursework — with room for a full backup copy.
Buys the AMD Ryzen 7 mini PC — the brain running the local AI and serving the whole library over Wi-Fi.
Funds the ~1 kWh battery bank that keeps the kit running off-grid, day and night, no generator fuel.
// Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is Project NOMAD?+
Project NOMAD is a free, open-source offline knowledge server created by Crosstalk Solutions. It packages Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, medical and survival references, offline maps, and education platforms onto local hardware that serves them over its own Wi-Fi. Offgrid Knowledge Systems is building a larger, ruggedized, solar-powered version designed for disaster deployment.
How is this different from a satellite phone or a generator?+
A satellite phone connects one person to one call. A generator gives you power but no information. This kit gives an entire group of people offline access to reference material, maps, coursework, and local voice comms — and it runs on solar, so it keeps working after the fuel runs out.
Does it need internet or cell service to work?+
No. Everything is stored locally on the kit's own drive and served over its own Wi-Fi network. When a carrier signal is available, the multi-carrier router and 5G walkie talkies use it; when it isn't, the kit keeps operating entirely on its own.
Who is the kit for?+
Shelters, churches, schools, volunteer response teams, and neighborhoods recovering from severe weather across the Midwest — anywhere a large group of people loses connectivity for days or weeks at a time.
What happens after the $5,000 goal is reached?+
The funds buy the documented bill of materials and build the UKS-01 — the first Uninterruptible Knowledge Supply. Once it's tested in the field, the plan is to publish the build so it can be replicated, and to produce additional units on commission for organizations that need them.
Are donations tax-deductible?+
No. This is a personal GoFundMe campaign for a prototype build, not a registered nonprofit, so contributions are not tax-deductible.
Why not use a Raspberry Pi like other offline kits?+
Project NOMAD runs on x86 hardware and supports GPU-accelerated AI inference. Raspberry Pi and ARM devices can't run NOMAD's local AI models — they're limited to basic file serving. The kit targets an AMD Ryzen APU build that delivers real, conversational AI at 30–55 tokens per second, plus the full Wikipedia, maps, and education library, all at full speed.
How far does the kit's Wi-Fi reach?+
The UKS-01 broadcasts four VLAN-isolated Wi-Fi networks from one access point. The public NOMAD knowledge net covers a shelter or community center indoors and extends to a parking lot or open field outdoors with high-gain antennas. The First Responder net and the long-range comms net share the same hardware but stay isolated. A public VoIP calling service on the public net routes calls over the satellite internet uplink so displaced people can reach family, insurance, or emergency services by voice when every cell tower is down. For larger areas like a school campus or neighborhood, additional mesh relay nodes extend the footprint from a single point to a full block. Meshtastic LoRa integration is under investigation for kilometer-range encrypted text relay with no infrastructure at all.
Still have a question? Send a message or back the build on GoFundMe.
// Transmission
Want to deploy, partner, or learn more?
Questions about the kit, partnerships with shelters and agencies, press inquiries, or just want to say hello — send a message and I'll get back to you.
When the next storm takes the network down, let's make sure the knowledge stays on.
Whether you give, share this page, or just spread the word — thank you.
Goal: $5,000 · 100% funds documented hardware