Industrial - Bachelors

Wearable Localisation Device

The FireNav Elite is a wearable tracking device designed for Australian firefighters. The device itself aims to bridge the gap of current communications issues by providing a precise location and orientation estimate to firefighting incident commanders in charge of structure fire response. Utilising an inertial measurement unit - displacement data received through a physical gateway will be displayed on a map style interface that commanders can monitor and track in real time.

Joseph Dwyer

“Queensland firefighters are having to fight blazes using radio systems which can be near impossible to hear, and sometimes drop out completely”

7 NEWS

CURRENT COMMUNICATION ISSUES

Communication systems in firefighting can mean the difference between life and death.

A recent 2021 Queensland Interim Report on firefighting equipment stated that “firefighting crews find it difficult to clearly understand communication messages when in noisy environments, audio latency, loss of coverage, lack of accessories or even total communication loss were regularly encountered operationally.”

Therefore a new solution was necessary for the safety and the well being of Australian firefighters.

A NEW WAY FORWARD

SEQUENCE OF USE

1. Deployment of devices to firefighters tasked with entering the building / site

2. Attachment to user by means of strap or magnetic clip to uniform turncoat / pants

3. Device is turned on at the top as soon as the firefighters exit the firetruck

4. The firefighters enter the site and the incident commander tracks their real time location through tablet

5. If a firefighter is in trouble – the individual presses the SOS button which swiftly alerts the incident commander

INTerface system

In order for the incident commander to track each individuals location, an interface system has to be prioritised.

By tracking the altitude, orientation and precise location of a user within a building, firefighters can accurately send help to correct locations within a structure.

The interface below will be displayed on the current tablet the Queensland firefighters use to track the location of a fire.

Research AND Prototyping
Name
Research Report
File Type
application
File Size
2 MB
Download File

Joseph Dwyer

Joseph is a designer that prioritises having a wide skill-set to resolve real world issues. He is passionate about technology based affairs and displays a strong work ethic in all assets of design. He has worked diligently and is eager to commit to whatever project he sets his mind to.