Gizmo that automatically sends your location to emergency services

[G2EWS]

The principal is good and now old technology.

About 15 years ago I was involved in a project that was for lone man monitoring. It came about because of the sad demise of a Vodafone engineer who did not go home and was found to of had a heart attack whilst working alone on a job.

The system was fairly straightforward and in those days would have been similar to a pocket pager. In that case a timer would be activated when you started working which would need resetting. This is in use in many industries around the world.

What I was looking at, was to move this outside of this simple role. So for example if you remember back to the sad case of Susie Lamplugh the estate agent who went missing. A company could give each employee one of these devices, which could either be permanently active or on demand would open up a communication channel that would send location data via auto triangulation and voice could be one way. The user could then be notified that they were being monitored by using phone vibrator technology.

The uses were endless, but mainly replaced by the then up and coming technology of mobile phones.

However, there is one key element to this. There needs to be a recipient for the signal! So in the case of an estate agent it could be head office. In emergency circumstances I was discussing how we could use the AA or RAC head quarters.

The product shown here, in my opinion falls down on this criteria. If they have a call center and you pay an annual fee as I do for the Tracker on my motorhome then it could work.

The mobile signal is not necessarily a problem as all mobile phone operators have a common emergency number that can be called and it will use any local phone cell, be it Vodafone, Orange etc. Whilst there of course many blank areas, it is surprising how few there are. I carry out radio surveys in far flung locations and take a GSM/GPRS receiver. To date I have not found a signal from at least one provider in every location I have surveyed! The radio technology is physically a very small part of the mobile phone and would easily fit into a crash hat. Cost in bulk would not be much more than a few pounds. Again I use this in various locations so am aware of how it works. Batteries won't be a problem as the system could be designed to come on under certain circumstances and you would have say an automatic daily confidence check.

On top of this, satellite technology is now becoming very low cost and it would not be beyond the budget of many people to be able to afford this when large quantities are involved. Again I use this technology already for my customers so am aware of the basic costs.

Of course an even simpler method is to never go 'serious' biking alone!

Best regards

Chris

 

[Red Light]

Yes, Wales is Lovely.

Apart from the lack of phone signal

and the rain

oh, and the tourists

Don't diss the rain. Without it they wouldn't have any water for us English to nick

 

[srw]

Stupid remark. No comparison. I cycle on mainly country roads. All it needs is someone to squeeze past me on a corner and knock me off. Could be lying for a while before anyone may notice. Whereas, I can't say I've noticed many aliens around.

It won't happen. By which I mean that it might, but it's very unlikely. Products like this are all about creating an artificial fear, and getting people who don't understand the real risks they face to cough up large amounts of money - out of proportion to the risk - to reduce the fear.

If you want to do something to reduce your risk of being left for dead in a ditch, campaign for road safety and speed reduction. Which will benefit all of us.

 

[G2EWS]

The dibble have no means of tracing mobile signals, have to rely on data from the phone companies plotted onto a dibble mapping system. Vthe problem is many mobile phone cells aren't directional, or "sectored", but are omnidirectional, or "Onni", do more often than not you end up with a circle ir eclipse a mile or more across, sometimes even big enough to cover a while town. At the other end of the scale ifcrhecsutuation is favourable it might be a radius of 200m.

So far these in car and personal systems are crap, and do nothing but waste emergency services time.

Hi Drago,

Not sure if made it clear in my post above.

Triangulation technology has been around for a number of years. It was first developed on mobile phones by Vodafone for taxi drivers in I think Rome. They had been getting mugged so often that they developed this system which would triangulate with many 'cells', reporting back exact locations one the driver pressed a button. However with modern phones I guess they would use GPS technology to do the same.

Triangulation technology was first used during the 2nd World War and was how we tracked our returning fighters and bombers and kept an eye on the Germans. Rumour has it that we may not have come out of the war so well if the Germans had got their hands on it at the time!

Best regards


chris

 

[Red Light]

You can get a mint Brietling "Emergency" watch for £2.5k, it'll still be worth £2.5k in several years. Yes, watches are a good investment and always have been, despite moving in horological circles for over 25 years, I've never once read or heard of an owner deliberately activating their Brietling emergency signal.

That's because it works by setting off emergency alerts on aircraft passing overhead which the pilots call in. Naturally there is a very high penalty for mis-using the system.

 

[Drago]

Hi Drago,

Not sure if made it clear in my post above.

Triangulation technology has been around for a number of years. It was first developed on mobile phones by Vodafone for taxi drivers in I think Rome. They had been getting mugged so often that they developed this system which would triangulate with many 'cells', reporting back exact locations one the driver pressed a button. However with modern phones I guess they would use GPS technology to do the same.

Triangulation technology was first used during the 2nd World War and was how we tracked our returning fighters and bombers and kept an eye on the Germans. Rumour has it that we may not have come out of the war so well if the Germans had got their hands on it at the time!

Best regards


chris

The issue we face in the UK is triangulating from an omni directional cell isnt really triangualtion - we're not taking a bearing off 2 or more receivers and plotting where those bearings intersect. In essence its almost like joining the dots between the cells, and the gap left in the mifddle is the target, and this can be vast. If one cell detects it then we know it's in the radius of that cells coverage. 2 cells it's in the area where the coverage overlaps, and so forth. The cells themselves aren't directional and can't be steered etc to triangulate in the normal radio engieering sense.

Not so bad with sectored cells which are directional, but for reasons not known to me as either dibble or a radio amateur very few cells are of this type. Using cells for DF'ing on the UK GSM system is not very precise at all. Ive seen jobs on the screen where the cell data puts the handset in an area larger than Leicester, and that was only 80% confidence. Usually the best we ever see is a circle or elipse a few hundred meters across.

I would have thought the Italian system has a greater propotion of sectored cells, or at least sectored cell coverage in Rome, so they can take bearings off 2 or more and plot a location that way.

 

[Red Light]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_tracking

 

[Berties]

The idea is similar to mob ( man over board plotters) being used for years on basic boat GPS units,the unit plots then you can send it direct to coast guard,or the mob can have a unit that can activate the alert similar to the ops link,
The GPS has to be connected to a ship to shore radio ,this is the set up we have

 

[MarkF]

That's because it works by setting off emergency alerts on aircraft passing overhead which the pilots call in. Naturally there is a very high penalty for mis-using the system.

And, of course, because they've never had the need to activate it.

Will it still be worth 2.5k when I have come of my bike and run the watch along some tarmac road surface? - or are we saying that if its in a mint, unworn condition it would still be worth 2.5k

? Really I was alluding to the post that called the watches expensive, considering the residuals, they are not.

Tbh I reckon the chances of my needing this gadget are slimmer than being eaten alive by a gang of renegade guinea pigs

 

[G2EWS]

The issue we face in the UK is triangulating from an omni directional cell isnt really triangualtion - we're not taking a bearing off 2 or more receivers and plotting where those bearings intersect. In essence its almost like joining the dots between the cells, and the gap left in the mifddle is the target, and this can be vast. If one cell detects it then we know it's in the radius of that cells coverage. 2 cells it's in the area where the coverage overlaps, and so forth. The cells themselves aren't directional and can't be steered etc to triangulate in the normal radio engieering sense.

Not so bad with sectored cells which are directional, but for reasons not known to me as either dibble or a radio amateur very few cells are of this type. Using cells for DF'ing on the UK GSM system is not very precise at all. Ive seen jobs on the screen where the cell data puts the handset in an area larger than Leicester, and that was only 80% confidence. Usually the best we ever see is a circle or elipse a few hundred meters across.

I would have thought the Italian system has a greater propotion of sectored cells, or at least sectored cell coverage in Rome, so they can take bearings off 2 or more and plot a location that way.

Hi Drago,

As I mention this technology has been around for at least 15 years with mobile phones, I know because I was a small part of the team that developed it for 'Rome' (but please don't quote me as mentioned above!) and the UK lone man monitoring as described above. It is somewhat more complicated that the normal triangulation we use for emergency calls. But it cannot work on Yagi Arrays - directional aerials, but will always work on some form of omni directional aerial system.

A multiple aerial system as required in the emergency aircraft system as used by West Drayton where each site has, if memory serves from when I used to maintain them, 32 biconical monopoles around a circular earth mat on top of the building. The direction of the received signal is plotted by determining the signal strength between each aerial from the aircraft calling on the emergency frequency. These CADF buildings are few and far between hence needing so many aerials and only needing two receivers for a 'good' fix or three for a very accurate fix.

With mobile phone masts the quantity of cells is huge and hence the multiple omni-directional aerials are not required at each site as the information can easily be interpolated by the combination of the cells.

Works very well and accuracy recorded was much higher than people believed or should I say where prepared to believe!

Best regards

Chris

 

[Grizzly]

Personal Locator Beacons which report via satellite and with a battery that holds its charge for years are already available without the need to also carry a cycle helmet and mobile phone.
http://www.sartech.co.uk/home
The system described in the OP does seem prone to a high level of false calls.

Two problems that I am aware of. Firstly is the size, these have a big battery due to the point that you make, they last for years. Secondly you either have to trigger them yourself, hard to do if unconscious or they need to be triggered by being submerged in salt water, again I think there may be a problem with that one.

 

[snorri]

Two problems that I am aware of. Firstly is the size, these have a big battery due to the point that you make, they last for years. Secondly you either have to trigger them yourself, hard to do if unconscious or they need to be triggered by being submerged in salt water, again I think there may be a problem with that one.

The modern PLBs only weigh 250g are 70mm x 135mm x 38mm are advertised as pocket devices and don't require immersion to activate.

 

[Grizzly]

The modern PLBs only weigh 250g are 70mm x 135mm x 38mm are advertised as pocket devices and don't require immersion to activate.

So how do you activate them? You are the victim of a hit and run and are KO at the side of a rural road, how would a PLB help in this situation? I have them at work, and I admit that they are not the latest up to date ones but they are part of our life vests so they are not huge but they are a noticeable chunk. I'm a big supporter of the PLB, I do a bit of sea fishing from rocky coast and IMO they are life savers, I just don't know how they would help in this environment/situation.

 

[ufkacbln]

I
The phone may be an iphone 5 with a map that sends the ambulance to a random location

You haven't tried Google recently!

 

[ufkacbln]

It is in fact already there!

All the main providers have the ability to track your phone's position already in place.
The accuracy depends on how many bases stations there are near your position and how well the signal can be triangulated.