BUSINESS

Foto:

Zaměřovací zařízení

Location device

Equipment for

the search of

persons

in emergency

situations

foto:

VŠB-TUO

The method and equipment have been in

development since 2015 in the framework

of the project TAČR GAMMA reg. no.

TG01010137 conducted by Martin Tomis,

Ph.D. and principal investigator. In 2017,

this research team obtained a national

patent entitled “The method and equipment for locating people using normal

terminal electrical devices with wireless

connectivity” (patent no. 307099).

This method and device can:

locate people carrying a mobile phone,

locate people in places where the

mobile network’s signal is not available,

provide localisation even when the

mobile phone is partly damaged,

search for an individual in a crisis, which

can be, for example, an avalanche,

it can find a missing person or even

criminals.

Mobile phone as a clue

The device relies on the fact that the

majority of us carry our mobile phones

with us all the time, taking it practically

everywhere. The device can disturb the

wireless communication of all persons in

the area and thus find the person needing

help. To locate the person sought, there is

no need for the assistance of any mobile

network operator.

The method of the tracking device

Thanks to forced communication with the

mobile phone of the wanted person, we

can localise that person using an antenna,

achieving many times greater distance

than the other existing solutions allow. This

forced communication, using even some

unfamiliar phone number, can be:

a dropped-call: a ringing mobile

may facilitate and accelerate the

localisation of the wanted person,

a call: when localising it is possible

to speak with the wanted person

directly,

service queries: the phone does

not ring, it only responds to the

service queries of the device, which

enables the “hidden” location of the

persons,

SMS: applicable in an extreme case.

Localization is available even if your phone

is partly damaged. Thanks to our invention,

the search for persons can become faster,

especially when locating people from the

air using UAV.

The research team in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, VŠB–

Technical University of Ostrava

has developed a completely new

method and equipment for

searching for persons in emergency situations.

This method will be in operation in the

future, and mobile operators may join

the search, which may speed up the localisation and help the searched-for person

considerably. There is also the need to finetune the legislative framework, in which

the operator of this device must agree with

the mobile operators on the possibility of

using their licensed frequencies.

This new patented method can be used

by an integrated rescue system, such

as the Fire Rescue Service of the Czech

Republic, providers of medical emergency

services or the Police of the Czech Republic,

designated forces and the means of armed

forces, other armed security forces and

other rescue forces. After a workshop,

which took place on 1st March 2018 at the

Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, some entities, such as the

Czech Police, have already expressed their

interest in this device.

Searching for business partners for market

launch: It currently exists as a sample model

with proven functionality, which verifies the

efficiency of this new method. The research

team is currently looking for a business partner who could produce and launch this

device on the market within one to two years.

POSITIV 1/2018

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