POINTER: NASA Tech Demonstrated in a Simulated House Fire

New technology being developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate for use by firefighters and paramedics will help track first responders inside hazardous environments that may be obscured by smoke and flames.
On October 27, 2021, members of the POINTER project from NASA-JPL teamed up with first responders to test the tracking technology under simulated house fire conditions. The demonstration was carried out inside a residential structure on the Caltech campus in Southern California, the same structure that was used in the April 30, 2021, demonstration.
Short for Precision Outdoor and Indoor Navigation and Tracking for Emergency Responders, POINTER began taking shape in 2014, and now the technology is being matured for use by fire departments nationwide.
During this demo, firefighters with the Pasadena Fire Department and paramedics put the technology through its paces under realistic search-and-rescue conditions. While rescues were simulated inside the structure, teammates located outside were able to track the location of their colleagues in 3D, seeing through walls and floors.
Unlike positioning technologies such as GPS or radio-frequency identification, POINTER doesn’t use radio waves. Though radio waves offer a reliable means to determine your location in a relatively open space, they can become unpredictable indoors. The system utilizes magnetoquasistatic fields that can pass through walls and other construction materials, a technique developed by JPL researchers.
For more information about POINTER, see: www.jpl.nasa.g...
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

[@Rain.Dance.]

Wow stellar research and technology NASA JPL!! Huge help to the firefighters

[@victorapalkow8681]

✋😀🤚 HI HEY⭐NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory⭐🎅⭐HAPPY⭐CHRISTMAS⭐DAY🎅 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🤗💙

[@NZ-fo8tp]

Hey JPL this is pretty similar to weitang Chen's 2015 Google science fair project, I know because I built a prototype of it for an undergraduate project. Are you localizing the reciever by correlating the input signal to the known rotating magnetic field single to find the relative angular displacement, then you can either use the field strength or multiple transmitter units to solve for the radial displacement of the recieved. Then you can just convert from spherical to Cartesian coordinates and you got yourself the pointer system

[@Audion]

Can this work for cave diving?

[@hydromic2518]

Probably could with a few changes

[@paulrichardson2554]

If the water doesn't stop the signal.

[@ryanrix8834]

Thanks NASA JPL for making this possible!

[@WestOfEarth]

I'm curious how much time the system requires to set up once on the scene of a fire.

[@PigRipperLAW]

Beat me to it. That was my first concern too.

[@Bibibosh]

3 hours because there 1:47 testing 1:49 . Its to protect the firefighters not the victims burned

[@LENZ5369]

The 3 hrs is perhaps a timer for the whole exercise, not the nav system.
I know nothing about this system beyond what is in this vid and description, but assuming whatever they are using to generate the field is more or less 'on/off' -the biggest hang up might be synchronizing/calibrating the various emitters with the receivers and it's software.
IMO Best case for a non-prototype -prob a few minutes.

[@jonowee]

@@Bibibosh Watch the stopwatch, that's 3 minutes.

[@Dronebertios_World]

I wonder what sort challenges would be associated with using this on a space walk

[@jeroendebuck8595]

Why soo little info on the actual technology being displayed? I'm confused.

[@dansv1]

Ther is more info in the description, and a link to a more technical article about how it works.

[@bdot02]

It's probably just a promo video for a member of Congress.

[@mlqp8lite943]

Call JPL in case of fire.

[@jackwardrop4994]

More money going to fire departments.

[@christianterrill3503]

This tech will no doubt save life's! Thanks nasa! You do more then just hide the ball earth

[@logitech4873]

What

[@TheStockwell]

Hide - the ball Earth? 🤨

[@JosueMartinez-ww1vj]

I guess you mean by hide the ball earth, protecting earth from big asteroid hits?

[@PigRipperLAW]

Oh there is room for doubt

[@AbuctingTacos]

JPL is the greatest

[@princeindrajitlawlaha7027]

Wonderful

[@gihtv9509]

Waw xé to làm bạn ơi

[@replica1052]

(touchscreen interface)

[@lennonwhitehead1352]

Wow. Imagine if the classified version was available!!!

[@ДмитрийХаритонов-х8л]

Ну это просто пи

[@electricminecrafter]

'ello

[@ismailnyeyusof3520]

This is absolutely great work and a fantastic validation of the work JPL does in space exploration!

[@A3Kr0n]

Another expensive piece of equipment with a hefty service contract no doubt.

[@Dronebertios_World]

Not if the tech is soley from NASA DHS