3-D view of disaster
Ed Taylor, Tribune
April. 5, 2007
A Phoenix-based startup company and an Arizona State University
research group are developing technology that will give emergency crews
a better look inside buildings at major fires and other disasters.
Kutta Consulting, which previously has specialized in controls for
unmanned aircraft, and the Advanced Technology Innovation Collaboratory
at ASU’s Polytechnic campus in east Mesa have received a $100,000
first-phase grant from the Department of Homeland Security to develop
the software needed for the system.
The technology would allow an incident commander at the scene of a
major emergency to view the interior of the building in three
dimensions on the screen of a laptop or hand-held computer. The system
will include sensors worn by rescue workers that will keep track of
their location when they go inside the structure and keep them away
from danger areas.
Such technology could have been helpful at the World Trade Center
on Sept. 11, 2001, said Doug Limbaugh, chief executive and co-founder
of Kutta Consulting.
“The idea is to improve situational awareness,” he said. “At the
World Trade Center they had communications problems and didn’t know
exactly where people were.”
Although software has been developed that allows fire departments
to view two dimensional building floor plans on their computers, the
three dimensions envisioned by Kutta’s technology will give them a
better tool for conducting rescue operations, he said.
Emergency responders could load the 3-D images of key buildings
into their computer network in advance, or the images could be
electronically constructed as the emergency unfolds, he said.
The images would show the location of elevator shafts, hazardous
materials storage, electrical shut-offs and other key locations in the
building to assist the commander in conducting the fire fighting and
rescue operation, he said.
“The ability to quickly visualize and track the movement of people
and resources in buildings will provide incident commanders with
effective decision making capabilities in terms of search and rescue
and task assignments,” he said in a written proposal submitted to the
Homeland Security Department.
In the first phase of the project, researchers will work with
police and fire departments and federal emergency services to build a
small prototype, Limbaugh said. After that, the developers will seek a
phase two grant of $750,000 to produce a large-scale prototype
integrated with a tracking system being developed by the Department of
Homeland Security, he said.
A commercial version of the technology could be available for rescue agencies within a couple of years, he said.
The university is contributing to the effort by providing two
professors and a graduate student to assist the Kutta team in
developing the prototype, said Anshuman Razdan, director of the
collaboratory.
The Tempe Fire Department also is advising on the project. “We
think it has strong merit,” Tempe Fire Chief Cliff Jones said.
The department already has collected two-dimensional floor plans
of major buildings in the city as part of its preplanning in dealing
with emergencies, but adding the third dimension would enhance
firefighter safety, he said.
“You clearly can’t do it as well as you could if you had full three-dimensional drawing capability,” he said.
The 3-D visualization project is one of several by the
collaboratory in partnership with small and medium-sized businesses.
The purpose of the group is to help companies with limited financial
resources win federal grants and build prototypes to move their
technology from the idea stage to the market, Razdan said.
“ASU has knowledge capital and state-of-the-art facilities,” he
said. “One of (ASU President) Michael Crow’s goals is to embed ASU in
the R and D needs of every industry in Arizona.”
The program benefits both sides, said Timothy Lindquist, interim
dean of the College of Technology and Innovation. “It’s a great way for
students . . . to gain hands-on experience on real-life projects and
work face-to-face with clients.”