Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - 8
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FRONT
NASA, SpaceX Sign
Spaceflight Safety Pact
NASA and SpaceX have signed a
joint agreement to share information
to maintain and improve space safety.
The focus is on launch collision avoidance between NASA spacecraft and
SpaceX Starlink satellites as well as
related rideshare missions. Both NASA
and SpaceX benefit by ensuring both
parties are fully aware of the exact location of spacecraft and debris in orbit.
Visit www.nasa.gov
What's New on Techbriefs.com
The next class of
wearables has arrived.
But will we wear them?
A new episode of our
podcast series Here's an
Idea™ explores the latest health monitoring
sensors, from skin-like tattoos to tiny sunburn detectors. And some sensors blend
in more than others. Listen to the new
episode at techbriefs.com/podcast. Send
your comments and suggestions to me at
bhurley@techbriefs.com.
Next Month in Tech Briefs
In the June issue, learn how Volkswagen accelerated the design process
for its electric vehicle motors by building
simulation applications. The issue also
will include an inside look at the
University of California, Berkeley's renowned engineering facilities.
Linda Bell
Editorial Director
System " Points " the Way to Help Firefighters
When inside a building, firefighters are often confronted with a fast-changing environment obscured by smoke and flames. Navigating the structure may become confusing and if a firefighter becomes lost or injured, the rescuer can quickly become
the one who needs rescuing.
To help mitigate those dangers, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the
Department of Homeland Security are developing the Precision Outdoor and Indoor
Navigation and Tracking for Emergency Responders (POINTER) system to locate
and track firefighters inside structures.
Unlike positioning technologies such as GPS or radio-frequency identification,
POINTER doesn't use radio waves, which can become unpredictable if you go
indoors or find yourself surrounded by high buildings - a life-or-death situation
when trying to locate firefighters in a burning building.
POINTER harnesses magnetoquasistatic (MQS) fields, a type of electromagnetic
field with a major drawback being rapid drop-off as a function of distance. JPL enabled
their practical application
by using lower frequencies
to extend the range of the
technology while ensuring
highly accurate location
data. Whereas radio waves
become blocked, reflected,
and attenuated by the metal, cement, and brick materials in buildings, MSQ
fields do not. They pass directly through walls, creating a means to navigate POINTER is composed of three parts: a receiver, transmitter, and
and communicate when base station. Clockwise from left: The receiver prototype is worn by
firefighters and communicates with the transmitter coil, which was
direct line of sight is not attached to an out-of-service fire truck for testing purposes.
(Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/DHS S&T)
available.
This form of positioning
technology will also have applications off Earth. The MQS technique may be configured for longer ranges, filling a technology gap for navigation sensors for some of
NASA's space robot projects, many of which will need to navigate autonomously
across challenging, non-line-of-sight environments and may require additional navigational abilities. MQS fields could be used by ice-penetrating robots, cave robots,
and underwater robots, where traditional navigation techniques fail to operate well.
The POINTER system is composed of three parts: a receiver, transmitter, and base
station. The firefighter wears the receiver, which is currently the size of a cellphone but
expected to become much smaller. A transmitter that can be attached to emergency
vehicles outside the building generates the MQS fields, which travel through the building, pinging any receivers located inside over a range of about 230 feet.
The receivers detect the fields, determine their 3D location, and then send that
data back outside to a laptop (base station). Visualization software shows where the
firefighters are in 3D space within an accuracy of a few inches. Also, POINTER can
provide critical information about whether a first responder is standing up or lying
down, moving or motionless, and in which direction they are facing.
Further field tests are planned this year and a commercial version of POINTER will
be made available to fire departments in 2022.
Visit www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/pointer
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Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021
Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - Intro
Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - Sponsor
Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - Cov1
Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - Cov2
Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - 1
Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - 2
Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - 3
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Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - 7
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Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - 56
Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - Cov3
Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - Cov4
Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - PIT-Cov1
Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - PIT-Cov2
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