Five members of the Columbus Fire Department became part of an 16-month program designed to eventually save the lives of first responders around the world.

Deputy Chief of Administration Mark Ziegler, Capt. Ben Spencer, Lt. Bryan Bailey and firefighters Christopher Moon and Seth Burton spent five days last fall putting the prototypes of new 3D tracking technologies through rigorous testing at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Jennings County.

They were part of a program called the Indiana University First Responder Smart Tracking Challenge.

The testing of tracking devices the firefighters went through involved real or simulated smoke, snakes, water, darkness, stairs, ladders, jail cells and 1.8 miles of tunnels, according to Gary Howarth, who served as program officer for the five-phase program.

Scenarios included responding to a disabled person on the top of a building with a broken elevator, Howarth said. Another involved an active shooter in an area where individuals were injured, he added.

“Events like these are always chaotic,” Howarth said. “But what made it even more challenging is that the firefighters had to wear these devices. While some had easy-to-wear factors, others made it more challenging.”

One tracking device is worn on the leg, which Bailey said isn’t going to work with members of his profession.

“But they all took our feedback and improved upon it,” Bailey said. “So they are listening to us.”

At the center of the challenge were six top-tier high-tech companies competing for a total of $4.5 million in prize money. But if the devices they developed are successfully marketed, the prize money would comparatively be a drop in the bucket.

The funding was part of an $8 million grant provided to IU from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Howarth works for NIST in the Division of Public Safety Communication Research.

“It was the same objective for all six (companies),” Howarth said. “They used different approaches, but everybody was specifically working on devices to advance the ability to track individuals in real time with a high degree of precision within a building.”

The new technology also allows the precision tracking of multiple first responders at one time, Howarth said. The devices can live-stream the data back to a command center, so their supervisors can track them in real time on a map, he explained.

In terms of design, the tricky part was to avoid using GPS devices, which cannot pinpoint a specific first-responder in a specific location at a specific elevation, Howarth said. In addition, radio technology becomes ineffective when a firefighter is lost and surrounded by smoke, according to an IU news release.

Precision pinpointing is significantly important so injured responders can be quickly extracted from dangerous environments when seconds could mean the difference between life and death, Columbus Fire Department spokesman Capt. Mike Wilson said.

When Bailey signed up to be a firefighter, he thought he would save the life of a neighbor or child in his own community, he said.

“I really didn’t think I may be saving the life of some person across the country that the only thing I have in common with is that we chose the same profession,” Bailey said.

Judges determined the two winning teams based on how well their design fulfilled the overall criteria that included scalability, affordability, usability, and how rugged the devices are.

The two top-winning companies are Ascent Integrated Technologies, headquartered in Chicago, and AdaptiTrace, based in North Carolina. Teams from the two companies each received $507,500, Howarth said. Teams from the other four companies – BC Sysnav, Ravenswood, Epic Blue Dot and CHARLI – were also provided cash for their efforts, Howarth said.

While some competitors were existing companies with technology compatible with the needs of the competition, Howarth said a few were actually formed around the challenge. Since 2022, the program has involved a series of contests beginning with some early ideas and concepts that eventually advanced into live field trials, he said.

Columbus firefighters participated in two of the testing phases, including the final phase that took place from Oct. 22-27. They were joined by members of the Indianapolis Fire Department and the Bedford Police Department.

Winners of the Indiana University First Responder Smart Tracking Challenge

Objective: Develop technology that can pinpoint the precise location of multiple first responders during a search-and-rescue operation.

Ascent Integrated Tech of Chicago, Illinois

Ascent’s platform combined localization and biometric monitoring to track firefighters in 3D space — within multi-story buildings — and send alerts about detected emergencies or anomalies. The system uses sensors attached to first responders’ equipment that stream thermal imaging, environmental conditions and location data. It also monitors CO2 levels, humidity and airborne metal oxide.

AdapitiTrace of Holly Springs, North Carolina

AdaptiTrace’s system, which is attachable to first responders’ equipment,uses sensor fusion technology to apply principles from the latest robotics localization and mapping technologies to track first responders’ location in real time via algorithms that process a variety of sensor data. The system generates a multi-layered 3D map as first responders move through a building.
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