The contractor developing a three-dimension location device for first responders, particularly firefighters, and military users has demonstrated that the necessary components to make the system work can be integrated, according to the government program manager for the 3-D Locator.
The 3-D Locator, which is being developed by L-3 Communications [LLL] has already begun field testing and will be used in tests with first responders in Chicago and Seattle in the coming months, Jalal Mapar, a program manager with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate, tells TR2 at a security conference sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Association.
The remaining challenges in completing development over the next 18 months or so are reducing the cost of the device, shrinking it, and improving the multi-path signal penetration, which basically means making sure the right signal makes it to the command center, Mapar says.
The primary components in the location system are a GPS, radio frequency ranging, inertial navigation system, barometric altimeter, pedometer, wireless mesh network and a visual display for the incident commander. The mesh network feature allows for data to easily find its way back to the command center without the responders having to install some type of repeater network as they work their way in and through a building. The device also includes a magnetometer and a direction finder.
Even if a component won’t work, such as in the case of a GPS satellite signal not being able to reach the 3-D Locator, the other components work together in such a way to provide location of the individual wearing the device.
As it currently stands, the 3-D Locator fits into a small backpack, about the size of a CamelBak hydration pack used by outdoor enthusiasts. That’s still too big. Fire fighters are already weighed down with too much gear on their torsos when entering a building so they need something that doesn’t get in the way of their existing equipment, says Chris Doyle, director of the Infrastructure and Geophysical Division at S&T.
Another challenge with the device is to improve it accuracy. The 3-D Locator is accurate to within 3 meters, which is a problem when it comes to altitude. “That’s one floor,” Mapar says. The goal is to get the accuracy below a meter, he says.
Several DHS S&T officials at the conference say demand for the 3-D Locator is high.
“It’s a high priority item for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration),” Mapar says. Anaheim, New York City, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Seattle “all want it,” he adds.
L-3 has received about $2 million in DHS funding under the contract, which was awarded in January 2007. Since then, and based on the work the company has been doing for DHS, L- 3 has received a contract from the U.S. military for further development of the 3-D Locator, in particular to shrink the packaging, company officials say. That development work will then be leveraged for the DHS effort, they add.
The 3-D Locator will also eventually work with the visualization software being used in the emerging market for digital mapping services, the L-3 officials say.
L-3’s Interstate Electronics business unit is developing 3-D Locator.