Smart Firefighting

The Smart Firefighting team is composed of startups pushing innovations (Axle Box Innovations, SlateSafety, Longan Vision, Squishy Robotics, EaseAlert) established industry players (3M Scott, Motorola, W. S. Darley & Co.), community builders (Make Safe Tech, Smart Firefighting) and research institutions (Illinois Fire Service Institute). Together, we are building the unifying dashboard for Incident Command - providing actionable insight into firefighters' health, environment, and location during structural burns. Location tracking has been a challenge for first responders, as GPS is often not accurate enough to ascertain a person’s location or elevation within a building. A 3D tracking technology that can provide 1-meter accuracy in an indoor setting is needed for first responders. However, we believe only knowing the first responder’s location is not sufficient without the awareness of their biometric information and environmental factors. Team Smart Firefighting aims to address localization and biometric monitoring during structural burns through our complementary technology which can be customized and retrofitted onto any equipment the fire department is currently using. Ascent’s Shield Platform generates floorplans, tracks firefighters on a multiple-story building along the X, Y, and Z axes, and identifies firefighters as they enter and exit the incident. Additionally, the platform notifies the Incident Commander of detected maydays from falls or abnormalities via health and environmental alerts. The platform is compatible with all existing connected technologies on the fireground and serves as the primary tool for pre-planning as well as consolidating all the information needed for report-outs. The goal of our team is to bring first responders home safely to their families by providing biometric, environmental, and location insights to enhance interoperability and survivability. Ascent’s sensor equipment - the ShieldModule, facilitates the streaming of thermal imaging, environmental conditions, location, and mapping back to the ShieldPortal. The ShieldModule mounts onto existing Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses (SBCAs), masks, or helmets without changing the base functionality of the personal protective equipment (PPE). Through the combined sensor input of Ascent’s sensor, the environmental conditions (e.g., environmental CO2, humidity, airborne metal oxide) and location (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, GPS, GLONASS, SBAS, WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS, GAGAN, environmental pressure, gait tracking, ML, and integration of firefighter training and behavior data) can be monitored. Through Slate Safety’s wearable, firefighter vitals (heart rate, O2 saturation, stress, body temperature), can be monitored and presented in a centralized and organized format to the Incident Command on the Shield Platform for easy asset management. The information can also be replayed after the incident for training purposes, investigation, or review by clinicians or government officials. Our technology will improve the safety and productivity of firefighters on the ground. The team’s sensor suites and portal identify abnormal heart rates, provide simultaneous localization/tracking, and notify of potential hazards before they become a more serious problem. During the product development journey, we have been actively working with our first responder partner - IFSI, to assure our solution is addressing firefighters’ specific needs during firefighting missions and the user experience is optimized for our heroes. The targeted 1-meter 3D indoor location tracking accuracy for this challenge will be achieved by 1) multiple sensor sources; 2) indoor structure mapping; and 3) machine learning model to predict indoor structure in real-time, 4) integration of first responder training and behavior data.

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Description

The Smart Firefighting team is composed of startups pushing innovations (Axle Box Innovations, SlateSafety, Longan Vision, Squishy Robotics, EaseAlert) established industry players (3M Scott, Motorola, W. S. Darley & Co.), community builders (Make Safe Tech, Smart Firefighting) and research institutions (Illinois Fire Service Institute). Together, we are building the unifying dashboard for Incident Command – providing actionable insight into firefighters' health, environment, and location during structural burns.
Location tracking has been a challenge for first responders, as GPS is often not accurate enough to ascertain a person’s location or elevation within a building. A 3D tracking technology that can provide 1-meter accuracy in an indoor setting is needed for first responders. However, we believe only knowing the first responder’s location is not sufficient without the awareness of their biometric information and environmental factors. Team Smart Firefighting aims to address localization and biometric monitoring during structural burns through our complementary technology which can be customized and retrofitted onto any equipment the fire department is currently using.
Ascent’s Shield Platform generates floorplans, tracks firefighters on a multiple-story building along the X, Y, and Z axes, and identifies firefighters as they enter and exit the incident. Additionally, the platform notifies the Incident Commander of detected maydays from falls or abnormalities via health and environmental alerts. The platform is compatible with all existing connected technologies on the fireground and serves as the primary tool for pre-planning as well as consolidating all the information needed for report-outs.
The goal of our team is to bring first responders home safely to their families by providing biometric, environmental, and location insights to enhance interoperability and survivability. Ascent’s sensor equipment – the ShieldModule, facilitates the streaming of thermal imaging, environmental conditions, location, and mapping back to the ShieldPortal. The ShieldModule mounts onto existing Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses (SBCAs), masks, or helmets without changing the base functionality of the personal protective equipment (PPE). Through the combined sensor input of Ascent’s sensor, the environmental conditions (e.g., environmental CO2, humidity, airborne metal oxide) and location (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, GPS, GLONASS, SBAS, WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS, GAGAN, environmental pressure, gait tracking, ML, and integration of firefighter training and behavior data) can be monitored. Through Slate Safety’s wearable, firefighter vitals (heart rate, O2 saturation, stress, body temperature), can be monitored and presented in a centralized and organized format to the Incident Command on the Shield Platform for easy asset management. The information can also be replayed after the incident for training purposes, investigation, or review by clinicians or government officials. Our technology will improve the safety and productivity of firefighters on the ground.
The team’s sensor suites and portal identify abnormal heart rates, provide simultaneous localization/tracking, and notify of potential hazards before they become a more serious problem. During the product development journey, we have been actively working with our first responder partner – IFSI, to assure our solution is addressing firefighters’ specific needs during firefighting missions and the user experience is optimized for our heroes. The targeted 1-meter 3D indoor location tracking accuracy for this challenge will be achieved by 1) multiple sensor sources; 2) indoor structure mapping; and 3) machine learning model to predict indoor structure in real-time, 4) integration of first responder training and behavior data.