Video: Worcester Firefighters Help Test Tracking Device

WORCESTER – The future of firefighting was on display yesterday morning at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, as engineers showed off technology that makes it possible to track a firefighter’s whereabouts in a burning building.

In two demonstrations, the Worcester Fire Department followed the movements of a firefighter in three dimensions using the Geospatial Location Accountability and Navigation System for Emergency Responders. The system transmits data from a geospatial location unit – attached to a firefighter’s air tank – to software displayed on monitors set up at a command post. A monitor shows an image of the building and the firefighter’s location, as well as displaying the path the firefighter took through the building.

The demonstration was part of WPI’s seventh annual International Workshop on Precision Indoor Personnel Location and Tracking Technology.

The impetus for WPI’s involvement was the deaths of six city firefighters in the Dec. 3, 1999, fire at the former Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. building.

“I believe we would have had a much better chance of saving those firefighters’ lives with this technology,” said Deputy Fire Chief John Sullivan.

Deputy Chief Sullivan said firefighters will never rely solely on technology, but GLASNER is a powerful tool to help save firefighters who become stranded. While other skills and procedures have improved since the 1999 tragedy, he said, he also believes the technology will give firefighters added confidence when conducting dangerous missions.

In the demonstrations yesterday, firefighters wore opaque covers on their masks – to simulate smoke – and were able to find stranded colleagues by following radio commands. The information was relayed by Deputy Chief Sullivan, who watched the monitors and manipulated the display with the help of engineers.

The software is designed to be accessible to firefighters, said Carol Politi, chief executive officer of TRX Systems Inc., the company that designed the display. Using the system would take training, she said.

The units have an inertial measurement system that tracks a firefighter in two dimensions, as well as an altimeter that tracks the wearer’s elevation. The altimeter works by taking pressure readings, which can be compared with readings taken from outside the building to adjust for the pressure created by the heat of a fire. The system takes advantage of several other inputs, including Doppler, and integrates all of them to trace firefighters’ movements.

In the past, internal locator units had difficulty showing what floor a stranded firefighter was on, said Deputy Chief Sullivan, adding that the GLASNER system is the first time this obstacle has been overcome.

The units use a wireless mesh network that allows peer-to-peer communication, so that if one device is out of range of the command center, its data is transmitted through the next closest unit. The system has a range of 100 meters. Units continue to collect data when they are out of range and, when they come back online, transmit a blast of information showing the firefighter’s path.

GLASNER was developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, led by program manager Jalal Mapar. He was on hand with members of his team from three private companies that worked with DHS on the project: Honeywell First Responder Products of Dayton, Ohio; Argon ST of Fairfax, Va.; and TRX Systems Inc. of Greenbelt, Md.

The units will need to get smaller and more rugged before they’re ready for use in fire rescues, said Deputy Chief Sullivan. A good example came during one of the demonstrations, when a tracking unit’s antenna broke off after bumping against something – and the data transmission stopped.

Mr. Mapar said he hopes to have the system available for commercial use by next year. He acknowledged that the technology is not quite ready, as the units are still too large – roughly the size of a box of Kleenex – and too heavy, weighing 3 to 4 pounds. The requirement for use in the field is 1 pound; Mr. Mapar said his team hopes to get the weight under a pound.

As with many new technologies, the expense may be prohibitive at first, especially for cash-strapped fire departments. Mr. Mapar estimated the units would cost $3,000 to $6,000 initially, but he hopes to make the system available on a subscription basis, much like a cellphone contract, where the units and software would be provided and fire departments would pay a $50 to $100 monthly fee for service, upgrades and maintenance. Such an arrangement could keep costs down, he said.

WPI professor David Cyganski, one of the event hosts, said the workshop serves as a forum where “good ideas can bubble to the top.” He added that nothing in the past has come close to working in a real-life setting and this was the first time the tracking held all the way through to the rescue. Mr. Cyganski, who works in the college’s department of electrical and computer engineering, said researchers at WPI have submitted proposals and won competitive grants to help DHS and its contractors reduce the size and cost of tracking units.