TRX Systems Indoor Location Named Finalist in TEDCO ICE Awards</h1> <article> <h1>TRX Systems Indoor Location Named Finalist in TEDCO ICE Awards</h1> <p>Mon, 21 May 2012 18:35:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p>TRX Systems was selected as one of 15 finalists for the <a href="http://www.marylandtedco.org/_media/pdf/ICEAwardsFinalists.pdf" title="Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) ICE Awards" target="_blank">Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) ICE Awards</a>. TRX was selected as a finalist in the category of "Corporate Excellence". The criteria for this category was growth based on number of employees, revenue and investments, community involvement and company recognition. TRX will be demonstrating its technology at the <a href="http://www.marylandtedco.org/calendarofevents/detail.cfm?eventid=406" title="annual ICE Awards ceremony on May 31st" target="_blank">annual ICE Awards ceremony on May 31st</a>. </p> </article> <article> <h1>Globe Profiles WASP 3D Indoor Location & Physiological Monitoring</h1> <p>Sat, 12 May 2012 14:45:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi </p> <p>TRX Systems is working on a program with <a href="http://www.globeturnoutgear.com/news/2/27/Globe-WASP-Project-Wearable-Advanced-Sensor-Platform" title="Globe Manufacturing called WASP" target="_blank">Globe Manufacturing called WASP</a> that combines physiological monitoring of personnel (from Zephyr Technologies) with TRX 3D location. The objective is to operationally integrate these technologies in a way that will simplify deployment. The program is funded and managed by the US Army NSRDEC/National Protection Center. The video below shows testing performed in Atlanta as part of integration and validation of the systems.<span></span></p> <p></p> <p>A blog post from FireEMSblogs.com (<a href="http://backstepfirefighter.com/2012/04/25/globes-waspphysiological-and-location-monitoring-on-the-fireground/" title="Globe's WASP Physiological and Location Monitoring" target="_blank">Globe's WASP Physiological and Location Monitoring</a>) provides more detail on the program. "The tracking and location data is amazing. Instead of having to rely on a repeater system as with other tacking technology firefighters using WASP can have their movements tracked in real time and recorded. Obviously the benefit to this is exponential. Not only can we use this with the LUNAR report, but we can possibly reduce the time it may take to find the downed firefighter and remove him or her to the outside. It is all speculative of course but I believe that you cannot honestly deny the possibilities that the technology presents." (Bill Carey, daily news and blog manager for Elsevier Public Safety - <a href="http://www.firefighternation.com/" title="FireRescue Magazine/Firefighter Nation" target="_blank">FireRescue Magazine/Firefighter Nation</a>, <a href="http://www.jems.com/" title="JEMS" target="_blank">JEMS</a> and <a href="http://www.lawofficer.com/" title="LawOfficer" target="_blank">LawOfficer</a> sites.) </p> <p>The partnership with and strong support from the user community in deploying these technologies is supporting great progress in further development and realistic integration of location and tracking technology. Thanks to <a href="http://www.mfri.org/" title="MFRI" target="_blank">MFRI</a>, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Fairfax and all the other departments that have provided assistance and support, and to DHS and the US Army for the funding required to push forward critical developments in these areas.<span></span></p> </article> <article> <h1>TRX Closes New Investment to Scale Indoor Location Business</h1> <p>Wed, 09 May 2012 19:39:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p>TRX <a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/5/prweb9491661.htm" title="announced" target="_blank">announced</a> today that we have closed investment from <a href="http://www.newdominionangels.com/" title="New Dominion Angels" target="_blank">New Dominion Angels</a>, the <a href="http://www.choosemaryland.org/Pages/default.aspx" title="Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED)" target="_blank">Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED)</a> and several inside investors. <span>More than $650K was raised to support application-specific development for the TRX indoor location system along with sales and marketing investments.</span><span> </span></p> </article> <article> <h1>Welcome Barry Sandler, VP Sales</h1> <p>Mon, 07 May 2012 21:14:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p>TRX Systems is pleased to announce that Barry Sandler has joined TRX as Vice President of Sales. With over 25 years experience, Barry is a proven technology sales veteran with a track record of consistently delivering value for customers in mission critical industries spanning web, IT services, and navigation technologies. Most recently, Barry was VP Sales for TrafficLand, the largest authorized aggregator and distributor of live traffic video supporting web, mobile, broadcast, navigation and emergency response. Prior to that, Barry was VP Sales, Mid-Atlantic for SunGard Availability Services, a $3 billion company providing disaster recovery and information technology services. Barry began his career at McDonnell Douglas Automation Company as a Senior Account Executive. Barry has a MBA degree from Penn State University and a BS degree from the University of Maryland. Welcome aboard Barry!</p> </article> <article> <h1>TRX Receives Tibbetts Award for Indoor Location Developments</h1> <p>Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:27:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p>TRX was selected as one of 18 companies to receive the <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/24/4438772/innovative-small-businesses-receive.html" title="Tibbetts Award" target="_blank">Tibbetts Award</a>! This award is given by the US Small Business Association who selects award winners based on "the economic impact of their technological innovation, and on whether they have met federal research and development needs, encouraged diverse participation in technological innovation, and increased the commercialization of federal research".</p> <p><a href="http://primordial.com/index.php/products/ground-guidance" title="Primordial" target="_blank">Primordial</a> also recieved a Tibbetts Award for their innovative Ground Guidance work. Genzyme Corporation and Sensors Unlimited Goodrich Corp., now both large companies, were both named "hall of fame" winners for their early Small Business Innovation Research Program work. Past award winners include Qualcomm, Via Sat, and iROBOT. It is great to be included with such great companies!</p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://archive.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/sbir/tibbetts/index.html" title="Roland Tibbetts" target="_blank">Roland Tibbetts</a>, <a href="http://www.sba.gov/administrator/7585/3215" title="Karen Mills" target="_blank">Karen Mills</a> (<span>Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration</span>), Carole Teolis (TRX CTO and co-founder), and <a href="http://www.sba.gov/about-offices-content/1/2890/leadership/6300" title="Sean Greene" target="_blank">Sean Greene</a> (Associate Administrator for Investment and Special Advisor for Innovation at the U.S. Small Business Administration)</p> </article> <article> <h1>Indoor Location Demonstrations at FDIC</h1> <p>Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:11:00 GMT</p> <p>by William English</p> <p>The 84th Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis, IN included over thirty-thousand fire-fighting professionals. The exhibition spaces of the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium were filled with a wide assortment of the latest in fire-fighting equipment ranging from apparatus, tools, and protective clothing to thermal imagers, CBRN sensors, biometric monitoring, and incident management systems. Personnel location systems including TRX technology were demonstrated by both Globe and Honeywell (DHS GLANSER).</p> <p>Globe Manufacturing exhibited the latest in protective clothing featuring racks of equipment where attendees could find and try-on their size and fit of G-XTREME turnout gear and comfortable protective boots. In the front of the Globe exhibition space, the <a href="http://www.globeturnoutgear.com/news/2/27/Globe-WASP-Project-Wearable-Advanced-Sensor-Platform" title="Wearable Advance Sensor Platform" target="_blank">Wearable Advance Sensor Platform</a> (WASP) was demonstrated and presented. There was an ongoing, live demonstration of the Zephyr Bioharness integrated into a specially designed undershirt produced by GLOBE. TRX Systems location was presented showing the results of a recent field trial with the Atlanta Fire Department. The WASP program is a collaborative effort between Globe Manufacturing, TRX Systems, and Zephyr Technology in conjunction with the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center.</p> <p>TRX Systems technology was also found in the Honeywell exhibition space. Three live demonstrations of the <a href="http://www.fireapparatusmagazine.com/articles/print/volume-17/issue-4/features/glanser-system-locates-and-tracks-firefighters-in-buildings.html" title="DHS GLANSER location system" target="_blank">DHS GLANSER location system</a> were shown. <span>The GLANSER program is a collaborative effort of Honeywell, Boeing – Argon ST, and TRX Systems in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Division (DHS S&T). </span>Attendees received an early look at new features within the TRX Systems User Interface presenting tracking results from latest version of the GLANSER Locater Unit (GLU). The screenshot, below, shows the indoor tracking demonstrated at FDIC.</p> <p></p> </article> <article> <h1>TRX Wins Innovator Award for Indoor Location Technology</h1> <p>Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:32:00 GMT</p> <p> by Carol Politi</p> <p>TRX Systems was presented with the Innovator Award at the recent TechAwards 2012 hosted by the <a href="http://www.chesapeaketech.org/" title="Chesapeake Regional Tech Council " target="_blank">Chesapeake Regional Tech Council </a>(CRTC). The Innovator Award is given to a company, located in the Washington/Baltimore/Annapolis region that best exemplifies the entrepreneurship and innovative style it takes to keep the technology industry cutting-edge and forward moving. TRX Systems was recognized for development of the <a href="http://www.trxsystems.com/GPS-Denied-Navigation-Products/" title="TRX indoor location system " target="_self">TRX indoor location system </a>which uses sensor fusion and map building technology to deliver location in areas where GPS is unreliable or not available. </p> <p>Thanks CRTC for this great honor and for recognizing TRX as a regional, technology leader! Our team is proud to be recognized among such a great set of companies.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Indoor Location Deployment and Support for Life-Safety Applications</h1> <p>Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:22:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p>Indoor location is getting more and more press - from new infrastructure-based WiFi and Bluetooth technologies to sensor fusion and map fusion technologies like that developed by TRX. A recent <a href="http://urgentcomm.com/networks_and_systems/news/trx-sentrix-firefighter-tracker-20120320/" title="article in Urgent Communications" target="_blank">article in Urgent Communications</a> highlighted the fact that indoor location systems for even the most stringent applications will be tested this year in field trials, and early deployments are on the horizon.</p> <p>While systems are becoming available that can meet the requirements of many enterprise and security applications, firefighter tracking is not yet commercially available. Given the inherent challenges of the firefighting environment, and the life safety nature of the application, extensive field trials and staged deployments are required. </p> <p><span>Thanks to several key Government programs, there is support for maturing and trialing indoor location technology for these mission critical applications. </span>The <a href="http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/st-snapshots-self-powered-waterpoof-heat-resistant-router.shtm" title="DHS GLANSER " target="_blank">GLANSER</a> project (managed and funded by the <a href="http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/editorial_0530.shtm" title="DHS Science and Technology directorate" target="_blank">DHS Science and Technology Directorate</a>), with team members Honeywell, Boeing/Argon ST, and TRX, is not only supporting development of a high accuracy system but also the development of important system capabilities that will meet the rigorous requirements of the fire community. The<a href="http://www.globeturnoutgear.com/news/2/27/Globe-WASP-Project-Wearable-Advanced-Sensor-Platform" title=" Globe WASP" target="_blank"> Globe WASP</a> project (managed and funded by the <a href="http://nsrdec.natick.army.mil/npc/content.htm" title="US Army Natick" target="_blank">US Army Natick</a>) is supporting integration of the tracking system within radio systems and fire suites in a way that allows for operationally realistic deployment. </p> </article> <article> <h1>TRX is a Finalist for TechAward 2012: Indoor Location Innovation</h1> <p>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:03:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.chesapeaketech.org/" title="Chesapeake Regional Tech Council" target="_blank">Chesapeake Regional Tech Council</a> (CRTC) announced that TRX is a finalist for their Innovator Award in the upcoming <a href="http://www.chesapeaketech.org/news/84513/Chesapeake-Regional-Tech-Council-Announces-TechAwards-2012-Finalists.htm" title="TechAwards 2012" target="_blank">TechAwards 2012</a>! The Innovator Award recognizes best new technologies, innovative strategies for business partnerships, and who is overall advancing new technology.</p> <p>TRX was nominated for its development of its indoor location system, based on unique algorithms for calculating location indoors, where GPS is not available. The product uses a unique sensor and map data fusion approach that can function even in the presense of sensors that may present errored data.</p> <p>Looking forward to the TechAward event on March 29th!</p> </article> <article> <h1>Science Nation Special Report Highlights Firefighter Indoor Location</h1> <p>Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:37:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p>Two of the earliest TRX supporters were the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute (MFRI). The NSF provided the first grant to TRX to pursue development of a system for firefighter tracking, and MFRI has been a constant partner providing feedback and supporting testing and validation of the TRX GPS-denied location technology.</p> <p>Science Nation recently profiled this work in their Special Report "<a href="http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/firefightertracker.jsp" title="New Sensor System Tracks Firefighters Where GPS Fails" target="_blank">New Sensor System Tracks Firefighters Where GPS Fails</a>". TRX's core technology - sensor and map data fusion - allows delivery of location indoors (in areas GPS can't reach). This video showcases the work and testing being performed to meet the indoor tracking requirements of the toughest application - that of tracking firefighters without any aiding infrastructure. </p> <p></p> <p>The Department of Homeland Security's S&T Directorate is pushing this location technology to even higher accuracy and maturity levels with it's <span><a href="http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1218480826191.shtm#10" title="GeospatialLocation Accountability and Navigation System for Emergency Responders" target="_blank">Geospatial</a> </span><span><a href="http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1218480826191.shtm#10" title="GeospatialLocation Accountability and Navigation System for Emergency Responders" target="_blank">Location Accountability and Navigation System for Emergency Responders</a> (GLANSER) program. TRX is a team member on the GLANSER program (collaborating with Honeywell and Boeing/Argon ST) to develop and deploy even higher precision tracking systems that meet the demanding stability and maturity requirements of the First Responder community.</span><span></span></p> </article> <article> <h1>TRX System Receives Gazette Exceptional 53 Business Award</h1> <p>Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:42:00 GMT</p> <p>By Carol Politi</p> <p><em></em></p> <p> </p> <p><em>The Gazette of Politics and Business</em> awarded TRX Systems its Exceptional 53 Business Award! The program acknowledges the top 53 businesses and organizations in Maryland based on criteria that included the recipient company’s annual revenue and employee growth as well as noteworthy product or service innovations, community service efforts, how they have steered their way through the economic downturn, and how the companies portrayed themselves as “good places to work.” </p> <p>TRX, who was recognized for delivering innovative technology in the field of indoor location, received the award alongside leading companies in a diverse array of technology, retail, entertainment, medical, and education fields. “To make the 53 list is a great accomplishment,” said Cliff Chiet, publisher of The Gazette P&B. “This year’s list features companies from the State of Maryland that have had success in a wide variety of fields, and each company deserved recognition of their accomplishments.” Look for TRX Systems in the special October 2011 edition of <em>The Gazette of Politics and Business.</em></p> </article> <article> <h1>TRX Systems Indoor Location - "Hottest Tech in Town" Finalist!</h1> <p>Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:27:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi<a href="http://www.gbtechcouncil.org/" target="_blank"></a></p> <p>The Greater Baltimore Technology Council (GBTC) has announced that TRX Systems is one of the <a href="http://www.gbtechcouncil.org/Programs/TechNite-2011-1/TechNite-2011-Hottest-Tech-in-Town.aspx" title="top ten finalists" target="_blank">top ten finalists</a> in their "<a href="http://www.gbtechcouncil.org/blog/" title="Hottest Tech In Town" target="_blank">Hottest Tech In Town</a>" competition. The indoor location market - and the TRX solution for indoor location - is generating more and more interest! The competition was open to all technology companies in the Maryland, Delaware and Virginia area. The ultimate winners will be selected through online voting and recognized at <a href="http://www.gbtechcouncil.org/Programs/TechNite-2011.aspx" title="GBTC Technite 2011" target="_blank">GBTC Technite 2011</a>.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Commercial Applications for Indoor Location Profiled at WPI</h1> <p>Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:32:00 GMT</p> <p>By Carol Politi</p> <p>I am often asked about the commercial applications for indoor location. “Why would anyone need to locate indoors?" </p> <p>It can be tough to envision applications that might be generated through capabilities you don’t have. GPS was first funded and deployed for military applications. Without the defense push for GPS the business case for investment would have been very difficult to make. However, the overall market for GPS devices and systems is now expected to grow to over 240 Billion dollars by 2013 (ABI Research) – and a good part of that is driven from the civilian sector.</p> <p>Indoor location has also been initially driven by Government and Public Safety applications where the demand is the greatest. However, during day two of the <a href="http://www.wpi.edu/academics/ece/ppl/2011workshop.html" title="WPI Precision Indoor Location and Tracking Workshop" target="_blank">WPI Precision Indoor Location and Tracking Workshop</a>, both Qualcomm and Verizon spoke about the immense potential for the consumer indoor location market. Applications discussed included navigation applications within transportation hubs, shopping malls, convention centers, university campuses, hospitals, and office buildings, along with entertainment and social applications. Should we really have to wander around looking for “you are here” signs to find a decent restaurant? I don’t think so. And at some point we will all stop walking around with phones to our ears while we are almost bumping into the person we are supposed to meet. </p> <p>Today, we can detect proximity from Wi-Fi, but we can’t get to precise indoor location. This is the “last mile” for the location services market. While a number of tagging & infrastructure-based technologies can deliver to precise indoor location, it is tough to make these solutions ubiquitous. At WPI, the view from Qualcomm and Verizon appeared to be that simplicity may win out over precision, and that innovations that depend less on infrastructure may win out. </p> <p>Regardless of the commercial potential to make our lives more convenient and entertaining - and in TRX’s case to increase the size of the market we are addressing - real lives will be saved by delivering GPS-denied location for the military and public safety markets. At TRX, we remember that every day. </p> </article> <article> <h1>Precision Indoor Location and Tracking Workshop at WPI</h1> <p>Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:00:00 GMT</p> <p>By Carol Politi</p> <p>The 6<sup>th</sup> annual <a href="http://www.wpi.edu/academics/ece/ppl/2011workshop.html" title="Precision Indoor Location and Tracking workshop" target="_blank">Precision Indoor Location and Tracking workshop</a> was held this week at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. One hundred and forty five attendees from 36 different organizations attended to discuss progress, research, and requirements in indoor location and tracking. This workshop uniquely brings together industry, academia, and users to review deployment experience, hash out requirements, and discuss indoor location challenges specific to the critical application of firefighter and overall first responder safety. It continues to be the best forum for establishing the technical and commercial partnerships that are driving better and better solutions to the market - and those that will support broad distribution of these solutions.</p> <p>The most impactful session of the entire conference was the discussion by Chief John Sullivan, Operations Deputy Chief of the <a href="http://www.worcesterma.gov/fire" title="Worcester Fire Department" target="_blank">Worcester Fire Department</a>. Chief Sullivan profiled the tragedy in Worcester that drove the first focus on the requirement for indoor location in support of firefighter safety. The <a href="http://buildingsonfire.com/worcester-cold-storage-warehouse-fire-1999" title="Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse Fire" target="_blank">Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse Fire</a> lead to the death of 6 firefighters, and the potentially preventable loss of life during this and other incidents continues to be a driving force for those of us developing and delivering solutions for infrastructure-free indoor location. </p> <p>Unlike past years, the actual workshop was sponsored by the S&T Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security. This sponsorship allowed participation by a broad spectrum of those working in this area. The workshop was kicked off by Jalal Mapar, Program Manager at DHS S&T (who manages, in addition to other programs, the <a href="http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/st-snapshots-self-powered-waterpoof-heat-resistant-router.shtm" title="Geospatial Location Accountability and Navigation System for Emergency Responders, or GLANSER program" target="_blank">Geospatial Location Accountability and Navigation System for Emergency Responders, or GLANSER program</a>). There were many firsts in this year’s conference:</p> <ul> <li> <p><em><strong>First demonstration (“sneak peak”) of the GLANSER location system.</strong></em> During the first year of the GLANSER program, DHS sponsored two teams to develop competing technologies. One of the teams was led by Boeing/Argon ST and included TRX Systems and Thales. The other team was led by Honeywell and included Time Domain and Harris. During this second phase of the program, the team consolidated. The second phase team consists of Honeywell, Boeing/Argon ST, and TRX Systems. This consolidated GLANSER team reviewed the plan for the final system during the conference. Additionally, both year 1 teams demonstrated the technology developed and TRX Systems demonstrated the product it has spun out of GLANSER (with additional support from NSF, the Army, DARPA and TSWG) for early commercial applications. </p> </li> <li> <p><em><strong>First consolidation in technical approaches.</strong></em> While there were broad discussions regarding potential new technologies that might be applied to the challenge of infrastructure-free, indoor location, for the first time it appeared that the overall approach to the problem had consolidated across the industry. The challenge is one requiring a multitude of sensors, sensor fusion, and RF technologies. Progress in each of these base sensor areas was discussed as was progress in developing and enhancing location algorithms and in fielding integrated system solutions.</p> </li> </ul> <ul> <li> <p><em><strong>First commercial deployments were profiled.</strong></em> For the first time at this conference, commercial deployments were reviewed. Admittedly, this was a first that TRX Systems is most proud of since early adopters such as Singapore Civil Defence Force are among the first end users of the TRX Systems Sentrix Personnel Tracking System. This early adopter represents a new stage of maturity for the indoor location market.</p> </li> <li> <p><em><strong>First time this forum profiled the vast commercial opportunities for indoor location technology.</strong></em> Both Qualcomm and Verizon attended and spoke at WPI this year - and pointed to the fact that the latest commecial platforms now contain an array of MEMS and other sensors critical to indoor location.</p> </li> </ul> <p>It was also announced that the National Institute of Science and Technology will start a center focused on the test and evaluation aspects (funded by the Department of Homeland Security) of the systems delivering this critical indoor tracking and locating function.</p> <p>The overall <a href="http://www.wpi.edu/Images/CMS/PPL/2011_Workshop_Agenda-Final.pdf" title="conference agenda" target="_blank">conference agenda</a> profiles a significant DHS & overall industry investment in location and tracking. The organizations and companies participating (in order of the Agenda) included:</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.wpi.edu/" title="WPI (host)" target="_blank">WPI (host)</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/editorial_0530.shtm" title="Department of Homeland Security" target="_blank">Department of Homeland Security</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.worcesterma.gov/fire" title="Worcester Fire Department" target="_blank">Worcester Fire Department</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.townofberlin.com/fire/index.htm" title="Berlin, MA Fire Department" target="_blank">Berlin, MA Fire Department</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://honeywell.com/Pages/Home.aspx" title="Honeywell" target="_blank">Honeywell</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/argon/index.html" title="Boeing/Argon ST" target="_blank">Boeing/Argon ST</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.trxsystems.com/" title="TRX Systems" target="_blank">TRX Systems</a>!!</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=242&URL=Research/Fire%20Protection%20Research%20Foundation" title="Fire Protection Research Foundation" target="_blank">Fire Protection Research Foundation</a> </p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/departments/fire/Pages/default.aspx" title="Santa Rosa Fire Department" target="_blank">Santa Rosa Fire Department</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.foi.se/FOI/templates/startpage____96.aspx" title="Swedish Defense Research Agency" target="_blank">Swedish Defense Research Agency</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.nist.gov/index.html" title="National Institute of Standards and Technology" target="_blank">National Institute of Standards and Technology</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/" title="NASA" target="_blank">NASA</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.ensco.com/" title="ENSCO" target="_blank">ENSCO</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.msanet.com/" title="MSA" target="_blank">MSA</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.cmu.edu/index.shtml" title="Carnegie Mellon University" target="_blank">Carnegie Mellon University</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.seertechnology.com/" title="SEER Technology" target="_blank">SEER Technology</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.umich.edu/" title="University of Michigan" target="_blank">University of Michigan</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.trimble.com/" title="Trimble Navigation" target="_blank">Trimble Navigation</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.wiltonfire.org/" title="Wilton, CT Fire Department" target="_blank">Wilton, CT Fire Department</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.timedomain.com/" title="Time Domain" target="_blank">Time Domain</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.mtu.edu/" title="Michigan Tech University" target="_blank">Michigan Tech University</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.uga.edu/" title="University of Georgia" target="_blank">University of Georgia</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.parc.com/" title="PARC" target="_blank">PARC</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.globeturnoutgear.com/" title="Globe Manufacturing" target="_blank">Globe Manufacturing</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.ssci.com/" title="Scientific Systems Company" target="_blank">Scientific Systems Company</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.nfpa.org/" title="NFPA" target="_self">NFPA</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.summitsafetyinc.com/" title="Summit Safety Inc" target="_blank">Summit Safety</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.lambda4.com/EN/" title="Lambda:4 Entwicklungen Gmbh" target="_blank">Lambda:4 Entwicklungen Gmbh</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.tagsafetysystems.com/" title="Tag Safety Systems" target="_blank">Tag Safety Systems</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.q-track.com/" title="Q‐Track Corporation" target="_blank">Q‐Track Corporation</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.ventureadastra.com/vaa-main/about.html" title="Ventura Ad Astra" target="_blank">Ventura Ad Astra</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.kit.edu/english/" title="Karlsruhe Institute of Technology " target="_blank">Karlsruhe Institute of Technology </a> </p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.draper.com/" title="Draper Laboratories" target="_blank">Draper Laboratories</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.nasm.si.edu/" title="Smithsonian Air & Space Museum" target="_blank">Smithsonian Air & Space Museum</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.i-a-i.com/default.asp" title="Intelligent Automation" target="_blank">Intelligent Automation</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.cerdec.army.mil/directorates/c2d.asp" title="US Army CERDEC/C2D" target="_blank">US Army CERDEC/C2D</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fr/" title="Fairfax County (VA) Fire & Rescue" target="_blank">Fairfax County (VA) Fire & Rescue</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.qualcomm.com/" title="Qualcomm" target="_blank">Qualcomm</a></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www22.verizon.com/content/verizonglobalhome/ghp_landing.aspx" title="Verizon" target="_blank">Verizon</a></p> <p>There was so much ground covered during this conference it was not possible to discuss them in a single post - stay tuned!</p> </article> <article> <h1>Position, Navigation, and Timing Update from JNC 2011</h1> <p>Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:43:00 GMT</p> <p>by Dr. Carole Teolis</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.jointnavigation.org/" title="Joint Navigation Conference" target="_blank">Joint Navigation Conference</a> is the conference to attend for understanding the needs, direction and latest research efforts in DOD position navigation and timing. Previously open to select allied countries (4-eyes), this year is the first year that the conference was US only attendance. The first few days covered technical talks and tutorials on Position Navigation and Timing (PNT) topics including new GPS, inertial, and image processing algorithms, as well as new sensors, for robust navigation in difficult conditions. Representatives from all the services were in attendance; from the leadership and researchers, to the war fighters that use the PNT systems in the field. </p> <p>This was the first year that the war fighters attended the entire conference rather than just coming for the panel discussion at the end. They talked about what they still needed operationally from PNT technology; covering both good and bad qualities of today's systems. These discussions gave developers better insight into conditions in the field, provided an opportunity for targeted feedback, and made it possible to engage directly for one-on-one discussions with the intended users of the technology. The discussions also provided war fighters insight into what research and development efforts were ongoing and the ability to directly communicate operational requirements.</p> <p>Dr. John Karvounis from TRX <a href="http://www.ion.org/meetings/jnc2011/session.cfm?meetingID=33&t=B&s=4" title="presented the algorithms he developed targeting robust image processing for improved location and navigation capability" target="_self">presented the algorithms he developed targeting robust image processing for improved location and navigation capability</a>. His presentation included a robust Kalman filter and a hierarchical SLAM algorithm. He also presented results comparing the computational and tracking performance of the new methods to the standard extended Kalman filter. War fighters who attended John's talk were able to provide constructive feedback to help guide TRX into making a blue force tracking system that can provide superiority on the battle field in a form that is usable for dismounted soldiers and marines. </p> <p>Overall, this was an excellent conference providing an opportunity to learn about the latest technical developments in PNT and the technology and usability gaps for our war fighters. Thanks to the program committee that put this conference together.</p> </article> <article> <h1>JNC 2011 - Addressing Urban and Indoor Location Technologies</h1> <p>Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:53:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi.</p> <p>Dr. John Karvounis of TRX Systems is speaking in a session titled "<a href="http://www.jointnavigation.org/session.cfm?meetingID=33&t=B&s=4" title="Navigating in Challenged Environments (e.g., Urban, Indoor, and Subterranean)" target="_blank">Navigating in Challenged Environments (e.g., Urban, Indoor, and Subterranean)</a>" at the 2011 Joint Navigation Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado this week. The session is chaired by Jalal Mapar of the Department of Homeland Security and Dr. R James Duckworth of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Additional details on the conference are available <a href="http://www.jointnavigation.org/" title="here" target="_blank">here</a>.<em></em></p> </article> <article> <h1>How big is the market for indoor location?</h1> <p>Tue, 14 Jun 2011 07:16:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p>ABI Research predicts, in their "<a href="http://www.abiresearch.com/research/1005214" title="Alternative Positioning Technologies" target="_blank">Alternative Positioning Technologies</a>" study that the alternative location technologies market will be $2.5 Billion by 2015 - delivering location to applications while people are indoors, underground, or in dense urban areas where GPS does not work effectively.</p> <p>"The demand for low cost, ubiquitous location data has increased significantly over the last 12 months. Companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Nokia, Facebook and others are battling to enable and control consumer location”, said ABI Research senior analyst Patrick Connolly. “This will bring new opportunities and threats to the market but ultimately will drive a 400% increase in alternative location technology penetration across a range of portable devices, location technologies and location providers."</p> <p>The indoor location market is divided among a myriad of approaches, including Wi-Fi positioning which already has a large installed base in cell phones. However, Wi-Fi solutions don't deliver precise indoor location and cannot provide 3D - i.e., the location within a building including floor level - without enterprise surveying and involvement. Infrastructure-free location at that level of accuracy requires the use of sensors beyond GPS and Wi-Fi.</p> <p>According to <a href="http://eetimes.eu/en/wi-fi-location-to-become-the-top-alternative-location-technology-by-2015.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222905071" title="EETimes" target="_blank">EETimes</a> "It’s not a case of either/or, but of, a continually evolving hybrid approach. GPS alone will not be sufficient to support the next generation of services and revenue streams. Services such as local search, location-based advertising, geotagging, social networking and augmented reality are all significantly improved through increased accuracy and indoor/ubiquitous location."</p> </article> <article> <h1>Indoor LBS at Powell Books</h1> <p>Wed, 08 Jun 2011 10:20:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p><br />Powell's Books has released an extremely useful <a href="http://www.powells.com/app/" title="indoor location application" target="_blank">indoor location application</a> that demonstrates the potential of indoor navigation for consumers. With this app you can select an individual book title and navigate from where you are to the exact location of the book on the shelf. Who has not been in a bookstore wandering around aimlessly looking for a specific book title? This app also lets you navigate the book store in advance, review staff picks and new releases, and check out upcoming events.</p> <p>How does it work? Given the unavailability of GPS indoors, with this application you select your current location as the starting point for the routing. However, with installation of infrastructure by the retailer, applications will be able to dynamically detect the user location to set the starting point for a route. Mapping has to be implemented and maintained. Since these applications appear to be <a href="http://www.moxieinteractive.com/pulse/2011/05/26/indoor-location-based-services/" title="successful in driving drive retail sales" target="_blank">successful in driving drive retail sales</a>, we can expect more and more retailers to make this mapping and application development investment. </p> <p>Why is this bookstore application interesting to TRX? As the value in indoor location becomes more and more obvious - even beyond the critical safety applications to which TRX is delivering solutions today - investment will continue to grow. The delta between commercial and government applications is shrinking. The Army is beginning to deploy mobile application stores and is equipping personnel with Android-based mobile platforms. The obvious hole - both for Government and commercial applications - is where the locations are not controlled and where infrastructure cannot be installed. </p> </article> <article> <h1>ATT "Portable Cellular Tower" & Indoor Location</h1> <p>Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:28:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p><a title="ATT has released a portable cell phone tower" href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/tag/portable-cell-phone-tower/" target="_blank">ATT has released a portable cell phone tower</a> that can be set up in disaster scenarios where wireless coverage is not available. This is a great asset for emergency responders and such a network can be used to transmit indoor location information back to incident command. </p> <p>The TRX Sentrix Personnel Tracking System can inteface to this type of ad hoc cellular network via bluetooth from the Sentrix Tracking Unit to a standard Android handset. Such a configuraiton will allow emergency responders to communicate critical 3D location information - along with other sensor data if needed - back to the command center set up to manage the emergency. </p> <p>While a standard cellular network can be used in many areas, such connectivity is often not available when responding to disasters. This type of portable communications can be <a title="setup in less than 30 minutes, and delivers 1/2 mile of connectivity" href="http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=19753&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=31847&mapcode=enterprise|mk-mobility-solutions" target="_blank">setup in less than 30 minutes, and delivers 1/2 mile of connectivity</a>.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Sentrix "Indoor Tracking" in Caves and Mines</h1> <p>Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:34:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p>TRX has announced it is working with with DARPA to optimize its Sentrix Personnel Tracking System to support <a title="location and tracking in undergound structures such as caves and mines" href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/02/prweb5040474.htm" target="_blank">location and tracking in undergound structures such as caves and mines</a>. The DARPA program supports testing and optimization that enables TRX to enhance the navigation accuracy of the system in such subsurface environments. The funding will also enable the Sentrix system and its sensors to be easily integrated into existing systems with sensors already in place.</p> <p> </p> </article> <article> <h1>Firefighter Location Called Out by President Obama</h1> <p>Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:51:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p>"...It's about a firefighter who can download the design of a burning building onto a handheld device".</p> <p>The above is a quote from President Obama's 2011 <a title="State of the Union Address" href="http://www.npr.org/2011/01/26/133224933/transcript-obamas-state-of-union-address" target="_blank">State of the Union Address</a>. </p> <p>This is what we work for at TRX. Safeguarding personnel - soldiers, first responders, and ultimately everyone they protect - by delivering location, tracking, and mapping for incident command and for the personnel themselves. Click <a title="here" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z571TFAml4g" target="_blank">here</a> for a video of the TRX Sentrix System delivering wireless location and tracking.</p> <p>Another quote: "The future is ours to win. But to get there, we can't just stand still."</p> <p>TRX's goal is to deliver tracking and location where nothing else can. We are not standing still.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Precise Personnel Location and Privacy</h1> <p>Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:51:00 GMT</p> <p>by Amrit Bandyopadhyay</p> <p>The technological revolution that is racing into our lives is about to be punctuated with a new feature: Precision Personnel Location. We have already been introduced to its preview, GPS, and this has led the industry to grapple already with tough issues relating to privacy. However, the tendency of GPS to put us on the wrong path, bounce around as we approach buildings, and disappear as we enter a building has somewhat mitigated our concerns – GPS certainly can’t ID the actual office or apartment we visited. </p> <h4></h4> <p><em>Figure: Actual Location as a red dot, mobile device location as icon. Error doesn’t matter when looking for the closest Starbucks, but could make all the difference in an emergency!</em></p> <p>Precision Personnel Location on the other hand promises to be able to locate us as we wander through any street, and even after we enter a building - to the accuracy of a room or better. Interestingly, while a critical enabling technology, surveys have found out that very few people (~4%) say they want to use location-based services. This opinion is driven by the fact that most consumers do not want to “broadcast” their location or be “tracked”.</p> <p>However, surveys have not yet captured the true demand for precise location technology, in part because many of the applications envisioned include relaying information to advertisers (not always desired). Also contributing to sluggish demand is the fact that the location quality available in today's applications is not at the level for a user to gauge the benefits more accurate location might bring. And the fact that we have been introduced to precise location through super gadgets in spy movies drives the connotation of being “tracked” - again something not necessarily desired by most people. However, being tracked by advertisers and broadcasting one’s location is not what precise personnel location technology is all about.</p> <p>This technology, simply put, enables the accounting of people whose lives somebody is responsible for, for example, fire chiefs locating their firefighters on scene, or a parent locating a child that is missing. It also enables individuals to locate themselves when lost and to send out a precise view of their location when in distress. In these cases “sending out” one’s location is not a broadcast, it is a targeted message to a commanding officer, loved one or even 911.</p> <p>As TV and radio stations struggle to maintain their broadcast and audience, the mobile revolution is making its mark through the new consumer motto: On Demand. We want what we want, when we want it. The same will be true for precision location. When delivered as part of a situational awareness system for First Responders or soldiers, this information will be configured to be protected. As part of a consumer service, the delivery of GPS has already paved the way for privacy controls - we have to authorize its use and can turn it off. As consumers, we may need to change our own behavior and become even more concerned about authorizing use of our location as precise personnel locators enable more specific location, down to the office we visit within a high rise. However, when navigating in a foreign country, making a 911 call, or looking for personnel, there are cases when we need to know or desperately tell someone else our location, with little or no room for error. Precision personnel locators deliver this functionality. </p> </article> <article> <h1>TRX Systems First “FedEx Day”</h1> <p>Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:54:00 GMT</p> <p><em>Fueling Autonomy, Innovation and Creativity in the Effort to “Track Where Nothing Else Can”</em></p> <p><em>By David Lemus</em></p> <p>At TRX Systems, we have a number of programs that drive our development team to perform focused development as efficiently as possible. With the increasing market interest in GPS-denied navigation translating to ever increasing deliverables, it can be difficult to set aside enough time for innovation and creativity.</p> <p>Over the last few years, more and more organizations seem to be effectively integrating “FedEx Days” as part of their company culture. A FedEx Day is where employees have the day (or two) to work on anything they want, as long as it fits into the company’s vision. The employees then share the results of their free day with the rest of their team the following day (Overnight Delivery). Google set the stage for this kind of autonomy in a company allowing their employees to use 20% of their time for side projects <a title="(Casnocha, 2009)" href="http://www.american.com/archive/2009/april-2009/Success-on-the-Side" target="_blank">(Casnocha, 2009)</a>. The results are tremendous with approximately 50% of new product development coming from this 20% time.</p> <p>In this spirit, TRX tried our first FedEx Day recently and the results were astounding. Kamiar and Amrit focused on effective indoor navigation and tracking on today’s consumer devices/smartphones. Jared wanted better communication methods between our Tracking Unit and mobile devices and developed new hardware enabling 3G communications over Dan’s Android application. I prototyped a miniaturized Tracking Unit mimicking smartphone designs. Others focused on future communications method, new ways of visualizing our current user interface or learning a new skill.</p> <p>So what happened as a result of these two-day projects? TRX got a head start on handheld development that is now supported by a project with DARPA. The day fueled business strategy discussions and brainstorming sessions across all levels of the organization. And most importantly, it generated excitement and a renewed sense of purpose – driven by the awareness of a larger vision for TRX's unique indoor navigation technology.</p> <p>TRX seems to constantly find ways to innovate and grant employees a level of autonomous decision making. From my perspective, this not only allows our team to “do things right” but it also facilitates a company mantra to “do the right thing.” As the lead mechanical engineer for TRX, I continually witness the intelligence and creativity of our technical team on a day to day basis. I was thrilled that TRX was able to funnel the abilities of the team into a focused, creative and fun 2 day session.</p> <p>I can’t wait for our next FedEx day…</p> </article> <article> <h1>GPS-Denied Tracking - Measuring System Accuracy</h1> <p>Fri, 19 Nov 2010 23:10:00 GMT</p> <p>By Kamiar Kordari</p> <p>The TRX system calculates location by intelligently fusing information from accelerometers, gyroscopes, and compasses as core sensors. We are often asked to specify accuracy based on “percent of distance traveled” and typically hesitate to do so because this type of specification is accurate only for a specific path or test. In this post I’d like to discuss what drives accuracy.</p> <p>As background, in the industry, systems that rely on accelerometers and gyroscopes to calculate location are often called “dead reckoning” systems. The TRX system does rely in part on such sensors. The accuracy of location estimates relying on such dead reckoning techniques is often quoted as a percentage of distance traveled, with error that grows over longer paths. However, tracking or location accuracy described as percent of distance travelled is generally not accurate even if considering only these sensors alone. </p> <p>In a dead-reckoning tracking system there are two major sources of X-Y error: heading error and scaling error. (In 3 dimensions, elevation error or the Z axis must also be considered). If the compass works relatively well then the heading error can be significantly low. If that is not the case and compass is significantly degraded, which happens often, the error will change in complicated manner. The accuracy will not only be a function of distance traveled but also a function of time as well as the shape of the path taken. Even with a helpful compass the error depends on the shape of the path taken, and surprisingly the accuracy can increase over time.</p> <p>Let’s investigate with some examples to see how the actual error changes in reality. For the following examples we are ignoring the compass data.</p> <p>In the first video the user is walking on a straight line for 200 meters then makes a 180 degree turn and comes back to the starting point and repeats the same path one more time. The upper graph shows the location of the user and path taken. In the lower graph the error dynamics are shown. The red graph is the error as a percentage of error distance and blue graph is the error from accurate sensor model. It is interesting to notice that the actual error not only increases but it also decreases in some parts. </p> <p> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zSHPDCx2g1Q?fs=1&hl=en_US" /> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> </object> </p> <p>The second video is a person walking the same distance but on a square. This time the actual error change is more complicated.</p> <p> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mFUmKXbcxOM?fs=1&hl=en_US" /> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> </object> </p> <p>The above examples focus on only a subset of the error sources for a dead reckoning system. These examples also focus on just a few of the sensors within a diverse group of sensors fused together in the TRX Sentrix Navigation Engine. The Navigation Engine fuses together multiple sensors with varying – and largely uncorrelated error conditions to eliminate drift and other error conditions experienced by typical dead reckoning or inertial systems. A key part of the Sentrix approach is to detect sensors which are degraded either de-emphasized or eliminated these from the navigation calculations. Because the accuracy of the base sensors cannot be specified as a percent of distance traveled, an integrated system can also not be characterized in this manner.</p> <p>Looking beyond specs, the best measure of accuracy is user satisfaction with the system – can they use it to navigate and to find who they need to find?</p> </article> <article> <h1>"You are Entering the Launch Zone" profiles TRX Systems</h1> <p>Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:00:00 GMT</p> <p>by Carol Politi</p> <p>E@M Magazine recently profiled Maryland Technology Startups including TRX Systems in "<a title="You are Entering the Launch Zone" href="http://tinyurl.com/2ehtkeh" target="_blank">You are Entering the Launch Zone</a>". The article covers how agencies including the National Institute of Science and Technology, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and associated technology transfer programs are in part supporting the wealth of innovation in the Washington DC area. </p> <p></p> <p>The article also profiles the growing University of Maryland entrepreneurship program and Maryland Clark School's <a title="Mtech incubator " href="http://www.mtech.umd.edu/" target="_blank">Mtech incubator </a>(where TRX first started developing GPS-denied personnel tracking technology). </p> </article> </main></body></html>