We recently spoke with Sonny Kirkley, FRST Challenge project director. Keep reading to learn what he told us about the challenge.
About the FRST Challenge
PTI: What can you tell us about the FRST Challenge?
Sonny Kirkley: The FRST Challenge—First Responder Smart Tracking Challenge—focuses on creating innovations in indoor tracking. We want to look at how we can track first responders in 3D space at greater than one meter accuracy indoors without relying on pre-deployed infrastructure like GPS or a cellular network. We want to convene teams who can create technologies that are robust, affordable, and scalable across diverse first responder organizations.
There are five phases with prize money awarded at each phase. We need to get money into the community early, because it costs money to develop these systems. Even teams that don’t win prize money in phases one and two can continue to participate all the way up to phase three.
In phase three, we’ll select up to ten teams to participate in field trials with first responders. The first responders will use the teams’ technologies in realistic scenarios such as an apartment fire or active shooter situation at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center.
In phase four, we’ll select six finalists to come back five months later for advanced field testing. During that time, those teams will refine their technologies to create market-ready prototypes. We use that term specifically because we’re looking for something that’s ready to be put on the market in the near term, not in five or ten years. We’re looking for a good, solid idea and a team worth investing in.
PTI: Why is indoor tracking important for first responders?
Kirkley: There are a lot of different reasons why tracking first responders is critical. Say a firefighter is injured or unconscious in a fire, and we can’t find them to rescue them. Or a police SWAT team going into a facility needs precise information about where every team member is so they can coordinate more effectively and safely. And as we’re bringing more smart technologies online—the Internet of Things, or IoT—we may be gathering data about heat or smoke in an environment. Knowing exactly where those sensors are located makes the data more valuable.
PTI: How is this challenge unique?
Kirkley: We’re combining the right players to help solve a problem in the near term. To do that, you need to have a lot of stakeholders involved—not just technologists and first responders, but different stakeholders with a voice in the process of coming up with the best solution. And the focus is specifically on creating technologies for first responders, not other use cases. Every team is required to have a first responder partner, because we want the first response community to work hand-in-hand with the competitors so they stay true to the needs of first responders.
We’re trying to create a community around this topic area because it is a huge challenge. That’s why we want to nurture and grow this community so that competitors can advance further than they could on their own. Our goal is to create a supportive learning environment over the first three phases to help the teams grow into something new. We expect to see teams form and re-form—teams that might be competitors in phase one might join together in phase two. That would be terrific. If people learn from each other, they can team up with best practices from each team to become stronger.
PTI: What do teams need to know right now?
Kirkley: The phase one deadline for submitting a concept paper is Monday, March 21, 2022. Interested parties can get all of the competition details from the FRST Challenge website.
And they should remember that we’re here to support them. They can email Info@FRSTchallenge.com, and we’ll reach out to help them figure out how to involved.