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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