New Student-Designed System Tracks Firefighter And Special Forces

I was talking to Lt. Baron Gibson, our resident expert on Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), the other day about new technologies in the World of SCBA. He stated that in the next 7 - 10 years we will have GPS enabled tracking of each Firefighter while working inside a structure. I found an article below about this technology. This could be one of the biggest advance

New Student-Designed System Tracks Firefighter And Special Forces:

New Student-Designed System Tracks Firefighter And Special Forces

William Goh, a University of Florida senior in electrical and computer engineering, holds a personal digital assistant displaying a map in his right hand and a GPS device in his left hand on Wednesday, April 12, 2006. Goh and six other engineering students tailored the components to create a system that can track forest firefighters and special operations soldiers in remote, rugged terrain. The system also allows the firefighters or soldiers to communicate with each other or with remote commanders or observers via short text messages.

The old technique of using push pins and maps to track troop movements just got a radical new upgrade for soldiers or firefighters in rugged terrains.

A group of University of Florida engineering students has designed a system to locate, track and communicate with special forces troops or firefighters in remote areas where no cell towers or other communications infrastructure exist.

The system allows soldiers or firefighters to pinpoint their own and their comrades' whereabouts on digital maps displayed on handheld personal digital assistants. It can transmit this information via satellite phone, making it available to Internet-connected commanders or observers anywhere in the world. It even gives users the option of punching a panic button or sending text messages such as "need more water," "pull me out," or simply "help!"(Read More)

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