More recently, taking a similar merged technology approach, Cassidian has announced a number of trials that it has been carrying out in France with partners 3D Plus, CEA-Leti and the emergency response service for the Rhone region.

Cassidian’s Herve Mokrani, head of the company’s research and technology division, sets the dramatic stage: “We’ve been carrying out experiments to deal with a very specific situation that confronts fire fighters around the world – how to deal with fires in underground car parks and especially smallish private ones under apartment blocks where architectural data isn’t readily available.

“At present, firefighters are usually confronted by a nightmare of thick smoke, no visibility, high temperatures, the danger of falling concrete – and often water from cracked pipes as well. They also have to deal with the problem as quickly as possible to ensure that long-term structural damage isn’t caused to the building above.

“The traditional search methods are both laborious and dangerous, with often a chain of firemen blindly having to follow walls – and each other – as they attempt to find the source of the fire, paying out a rope behind them. We believe that this new approach, called Demoloc, can.”

Complementary technologies

The solution being worked on by Cassidian and its partners involves a UWB location system with motion sensors. This is an autonomous self-learning system based on three UWB emitters deployed in the field and one carried by the leading fireman. Their position can be worked out and the information fed back to the command centre, where it can be integrated with other data to provide a visual display. In addition, MEMS sensor tags on the rescue workers’ clothing send back information about their attitude and body position– standing, sitting, kneeling or lying down – allowing rapid intervention in the event that they become immobile for any reason.

Further activity in this area of complementary technologies is also being carried out by Cassidian and others as part of the European Sinetra Euripedes programme, which is aimed at building integrated smart systems across various industry sectors. This project involves the use of TETRA Enhanced Data Services (TEDS) to track the position of indoor radio users using a MEMS-based accelerometer and gyroscope and to send back to the control room important personal sensor information, such as temperature and the heart rate of the worker.

The range of options available now to position and locate TETRA users indoors and outdoors continues to grow – and, in many cases, very little bandwidth is required to bring useful and appropriate information back to command staff or control centres. The important issue is how this data is integrated into applications and the relevant Geographic Information Systems to provide a seamless environment for managing and protecting resources.