Mission Statement

Mission Statement “To use advanced technologies available from the Federal Laboratories, industry and academia to reduce the risk and enhance the safety of firefighters and first responders.”

MOU: Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire & NASA GOAL: To use advanced technologies to reduce the risk and enhance the safety of the firefighting service. PBF – FFTF – NASA

Sponsors • Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) • NASA Northeast Regional Technology Transfer Center - Center for Technology Commercialization (CTC) - Public Safety Technology Center

Member Departments Boston, MA Fremont, CA Miami, FL Minneapolis, MN New York, NY Pittsburgh, PA Portland, OR San Antonio, TX St. Louis, MO

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Between National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Metro Fire Chiefs (MFC) and Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) *Initially signed in 2001 & renewed in 2003

Areas of Investigation • Improved Communications • noise reduction & control technologies • Vision enhancement technologies • Advanced tracking system for locating personnel & equipment in a burning building • Environmental monitoring systems • Lightweight, heat-resistant, self-extinguishing materials for fire fighting equipment, clothing & hoses • Improved lightweight tools • Apparatus

Technology Priorities • Hands - free communication in high noise • Enhanced visibility through dense smoke • Tracking & monitoring inside buildings • Next generation fire apparatus • Wildland fires

Armstrong Laboratory, Brooks Air Force Base Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Army Research Laboratory, Ft. Benning Berkeley National Laboratory Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory NASA Goddard Space Flight Center NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA Johnson Space Center NASA Kennedy Space Center NASA Langley Research Center NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Naval Research Laboratory Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center,Panama City Naval Undersea Warfare Center Navy Clothing & Textile Research Facility Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) National Institute of Standards and Testing (NIST) Picatinny Arsenal Sandia National Laboratories University of Maryland US Fire Administration / Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Wright Patterson Air Force Base Laboratory Members

FFTF Technology Transfer Process • End User Driven - Close interaction between FFTF Coordinator and Firefighting Service • Champion at Each and Every Stage - Project Coordinator End User Sounding Board/Trials & Demo (by Fire Departments) FLC/Lab Commitment - Extra Mile Industry - Commit to Bridge R&D

Technology Transfer Process

Technology Priorities • Hands - free communication in high noise* • Enhanced visibility through dense smoke • Tracking & monitoring inside buildings • Next generation fire apparatus • Wildland fires *Licensed by the Navy to Radioear/Sensory Devices

Standard Bone Conduction Headsets Tactical Firefighter

Transmitting: The act of speaking causes the skull to vibrate. These vibrations are picked up by the forehead contact microphone. Receiving: Radio Message is fed into bone conduction speaker Speech is converted to vibration Skull bones are vibrated by speaker transmitting vibration to inner ear User hears radio message the same as if it had been transmitted via air through outer and middle ear Advantages: Firefighters do not have to shout, thereby conserving energy and maintaining calm; background noise is greatly eliminated. Bone Conduction Headsets

Technology Priorities • Hands - free communication in high noise • Enhanced visibility through dense smoke* • Tracking & monitoring inside buildings • Next generation fire apparatus • Wildland fires *CRADA between Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate & Sage Technologies

Helmet Mounted Thermal Imager • Light weight, low cost helmet mounted imagery systems • Improves mobility, survivability, fire detection, personnel rescue and incident command Weight 17 ounces Housing Ultem Mounting Helmet or mask Battery Type 9v Lithium Battery Life 3.5 Hours Temp Ranges 70°c for 45 min 120°c for 10 min 340°c for 5 min

Accurate (to 1 meter), easy to set-up and operate, affordable firefighter position location and tracking system Designed for interior operations Each firefighter transmits a unique digital identification code Small worn or dropped Ultra Wide Band (UWB) Transceivers track relative locations Combination of UWBs creates a wireless network Signal “Flight Time” (TDOA-Time Delay Of Arrival) and arrival angle determines exact horizontal and vertical position Position-Location System Range: 150-350 feet indoors Accuracy: 1 meter both horizontal & vertical Usability: All normal residential and low-rise commercial office buildings

Base station uses angle of arrival (AOA) to fix exact position of at least 3 nodes Other nodes use ranging to position themselves in the network Nodes broadcast ID and ranging information - base station builds node map Firefighter unit ranges to 3 or more nodes and broadcast ID and range information Base station receives firefighter information and displays position of nodes and track of firefighters Firefight unit displays position of base station and other firefighters Position-Location System

Wildland Firefighting Tanks

Conclusion The technology transfer process used by the Fire Fighting Task Force is an end-user driven model and can only be declared successful if it ultimately results in affordable, practical and reliable commercially available products/devices to enhance the safety of firefighters and first responders.

Thank You For Your Time Please contact me Robert Saba FFTF Coordinator 4170 La Tache Court Allison Park, PA 15101 Email: rbsaba31@verizon.net Phone/Fax: 412.492.8551

Mission Statement