UCLA

First responders navigating compromised environments, such as burning buildings, often face obstructed fields of view, making navigation challenging. Alleviating these difficulties is crucial for providing essential aid to individuals at risk. Quasistatic electromagnetics serve as an effective tool for real-time position sensing and tracking within non-line-of-sight, steel-reinforced structures. The quasistatic regime is characterized by electromagnetic waves that vary slowly over time, allowing for deep penetration into structures with minimal signal loss. We propose a multiaxial system architecture that couples magnetoquasistatic and electroquasistatic waves radiating from collocated loop antennas and piezoelectric field emitters. Our research into the radiation characteristics of these devices revealed that piezoelectric emitters cannot produce fields strong enough for effective coverage in single-story buildings. Consequently, we adjusted to a magnetoquasistatic sensor fusion system which predicts positioning with meter-level accuracy. The efficacy and accuracy of our system operating within a single-story structure were verified and presented in a live demonstration.