Mechanical engineering students at the University of California-Berkeley teamed with the Chicago Fire Department for Fire Information and Rescue Equipment, a research project to design wireless sensor networks that send data to a prototype helmet-mounted display. The project is focused toward large urban, commercial and industrial building incidents such as those in high rises and warehouses.

In recent years, Chicago re-evaluated its emergency response needs and concluded that all owners of buildings over 80 feet high must submit digital floor plans to the Office of Emergency Management as a basic information and communication tool for responders. The department then contacted the Ford Design and Prototyping Lab at UC-Berkeley to see if a project that was previously being developed for motorcycle helmets could be adapted to use the digital maps the department was collecting.

The resulting design methods are based on end-user interviews with and observations of firefighters, research on firefighting tactics, feedback from end-user demonstrations, participation in firefighting conferences, and usability experiments with firefighters.

System components

There are three main subsystems to the project: SmokeNet, FireEye and eICS.

Smoke-Net uses a wireless sensor network to track firefighters in high rises and to provide data about unit locations, the fire's intensity and individuals' health status to an incident commander. The network is composed of four main types of communication nodes, each with its own functions and set of sensors. The first type of node is the smoke detector, which contains smoke and deferential temperature sensors; the stoplight nodes are made up of three bright LEDs that are used to visually convey critical information about a given room or exit path. A red light indicates a room is dangerous to enter; a yellow light means the status is unknown; and a green light means it is safe to enter.

Custom-designed smoke detectors installed in high-rise buildings will house these beacons, said Evan Chang-Siu, a fifth-year mechanical engineering undergraduate who works on the FIRE project.

FireEye is the heads-up display portion of the project. Students designed the heads-up display using 3-D design and analysis software. The prototype displays an interactive floor plan with team members' locations, areas of buildings with activated smoke alarms, an air supply-status alarm and building features.

“A firefighting team can go into a building and know exactly where they are, what floor they are on and who else is in the building,” Chang-Siu said.

The team tests data transmission to the heads-up display using an ad hoc wireless network. A computer is attached to firefighters' SCBA tanks or turnout coats. When a firefighter node enters a SmokeNet-enabled building, the system will identify this node as a firefighter and route messages to the node pertaining to the firefighter's location, the locations of other firefighters, locations of the fire, and messages from the incident commander. The sensors will monitor the firefighter's air level and heart rate and send the information to the other firefighters and the IC. A subset of the information is routed to the firefighter node and shown on the FireEye display.

The final component is the eICS software based on NFPA 1561, Emergency Services Incident Management System. The software runs on an incident commander's laptop to help him or her orchestrate the scene and assess situations with more information and higher certainty, according to the university.

The system uses a graphical user interface prototype that shows important information such as allocated resources; firefighter location; and firefighter biometric data, including air supply and heart rate. Another graphical user interface shows personnel location and allows communication between the IC and firefighters. This includes the ability for the IC to tell personnel to go to a room by clicking on that room. The data will be transmitted via SmokeNet. The system will alert the IC when the PASS device senses no movement or a physiological problem. It also allows efficient information management, simple yes/no checkups, and selected commands such as “evacuate.”

A prototype for public use is currently unavailable because the project is still in the research-and-design phase, said Chang-Siu. However, it continues to receive funding for future advancements from the Chicago Fire Department, the University of California's Center for Information Technology in the Interest of Society, and the Ford Motor Co.

Mary Rose Roberts is the associate editor of Mobile Radio Technology magazine, Fire Chief's sister publication.