Thursday, October 30, 2008

WPI lands grant to track firefighters’ indoor location

By Mass High Tech Staff

Worcester Polytechnic Institute has won a $430,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to develop and test indoor tracking and monitoring of first responders inside buildings.

WPI has developed a system that uses as 3-D location system, to track within a foot of a transmitter-wearing firefighter, EMT or other first responder. The personal locator device, five years in the making and using $4 million in U.S. Department of Justice funding support, combines advanced radio frequency and calculations from synthetic aperture radar. The system, also supported by a 2007 $1 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security, tracks a first responder’s heart rate, body temperature, respiration, blood oxygenation and posture.

In conjunction with the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, WPI will also conduct national testing of such indoor tracking and monitoring systems, though it will not test its own system.

Founded in 1865, WPI’s 18 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, management, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts.