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Finding the Way: Navigation Devices and Public Safety

Vehicle navigation devices with electronic maps and turning directions are being used in some rental cars and are being offered as an option for some new cars. The devices, which are increasingly hitting the U.S. market, could be used by public safety vehicles.

Brush fires were racing up slopes, burning some homes and threatening others during a major Southern California firestorm in 1993. A unit led by Battalion Chief Bill Bisson of the Los Angeles Fire Department was ordered to choose a position to attack the flames, which were raging in several locations near the Pacific Coast.

Noting an inferno closing in on a group of nearby houses, Bisson, who was called to the emergency from his regular district, wondered if a nearby road wound from the fire unit's position to the threatened structures. Thick smoke limited visibility, making it difficult to get a clear view of the hilly area.

Fortunately, the crew's vehicles were outfitted with electronic navigation devices displaying vehicle location over an electronic map. "We saw an access road a half-mile ahead with the map," Bisson said. "We couldn't see it with our eyes, because of the smoke. But we knew exactly where we could go."

This anecdote illustrates how navigation devices, such as those installed on nearly all of Los Angeles' 440 heavy apparatuses, can help crews in the field. The units used in Los Angeles are about five years old, but new and more advanced models are hitting the U.S. market.

Rental car companies, including Avis and Hertz, have installed navigation devices in cars based in several cities. And Oldsmobile offers guidance devices as a $1,995 option for its Eighty Eight model in California and some Midwestern states. Olds plans to offer the option nationwide within the next two years.

Several companies are currently marketing devices, including Sony Corp. and Rockwell International Corp. Companies including Etak Inc. are making electronic maps, and many metropolitan areas and states are already available on compact disc.

While guidance devices have hit the U.S. market relatively recently, they have been available in Japan for a number of years. Some models in that country not only help drivers navigate, but provide descriptions of local features such as golf courses.

Guidance systems sold in the United States basically consist of a visual display unit near the driver's position. A screen projects the vehicle's position in relation to a selected destination over a digital map. As the vehicle moves toward the destination, the map moves and its scale shrinks. Many of the new models recommend routes once a destination is selected, and provide audio cues on when to make a turn.

Today's products include a processor, usually about the size of a home compact disc player, secured in the trunk. Digital maps are available on CD, and a traveller changes discs as he moves to another metro area or to the open highway.

Some units use global positioning to calculate location, with dead reckoning included as backup, since GPS is not very effective in areas with tall buildings. Older systems, developed before GPS became mainstream, usually use dead reckoning, with location calculated by a processor monitoring the vehicle's speedometer and a compass.

Some system developers are exploring the possibility of providing a heads-up-display in vehicles. The idea is similar to fighter-aircraft equipment which projects instrument and other information in front of the pilot's eyes so he can maintain visual contact with enemy aircraft. In a car, a heads-up-display could enable a driver to use the navigation system without taking his eyes off the road.

PUBLIC SAFETY USES

As navigation devices become more mainstream and affordable, public-safety services, such as ambulances and fire vehicles, could make increased use of them. Route guidance systems are "best utilized when you are going to many locations and you may not be familiar with the addresses," said Tom Theisen, product line manager for Rockwell Automotive Electronics, part of Rockwell International Corp.

An example of how navigation systems can improve public safety is the Albuquerque Ambulance Co., which has used one for several years. After an upgrade in 1993, the company's response time went from 89 percent of calls answered within 10 minutes to 94 percent. Mike Jambrosic, Albuquerque Ambulance's executive director, said the system has saved the company $500,000 in personnel and equipment costs by making response more efficient. "It helps especially in areas with cul-de-sacs and curving streets," he said.

The company uses an automatic vehicle location system and navigation aid tied with a CAD - or computer aided dispatch - system. When a call comes in, the dispatcher - who can locate vehicles on an electronic map - sends a message to the nearest available ambulance.

After receiving the message, the address and situation is displayed by an onboard screen. An electronic map and the vehicle's location in relation to the destination is automatically displayed on a monitor. As the crew gets closer to the destination, the map scale decreases incrementally - down to one-tenth of a mile - to show route details.

The system not only helps crews locate an address with an emergency, but can provide directions to the nearest medical facility. "We can bring up a list of hospitals and find out how far away they are," Jambrosic said.

The system tracks location with a compass and a connection to the vehicle's speedometer. Using latitude and longitude, a processor matches vehicle movement to a cassette tape with location information. "We've gone off the map before, and come back, and the unit is only a block off," Jambrosic said. The company plans to move up to a CD-ROM map system in the near future, he added.

INTELLIGENT HIGHWAYS

Navigation devices may also help metropolitan areas deal with traffic congestion. A large-scale test is being prepared in the Chicago area of a route guidance and intelligent highway system, called the ADVANCE project.

During last year's development stage, 30 vehicles were outfitted with interactive devices that helped drivers navigate around traffic delays and send congestion information to transportation coordinators monitoring traffic and sending route advisories to outfitted vehicles. The test went well enough that about 3,000 vehicles are being outfitted for a system dress rehearsal this year.

During the development stage, the system used dead reckoning and map matching, with GPS as navigation backup. A touch-screen display was used by drivers to select routes. Map information, covering the 300-square mile test area near O'Hare International Airport, was stored on CD-ROM.

LOS ANGLES FIRE DEPT.

The Los Angeles Fire Department has been using navigation devices for nearly five years. Like Albuquerque's ambulance service, L.A.'s system does not help the city's rig drivers by advising turns, but it displays where the truck is in relation to the destination over a digital map.

The map scale shrinks as the rig approaches its destination, and fire hydrant location is displayed on the one-eighth-mile scale. The maps are stored on CD-ROM, and the system will eventually be integrated into the city's CAD, similar to Albuquerque's ambulance system.

While fire fighters eventually know the district they work in and the most efficient routes to addresses, navigation devices can be useful when a unit is called out of its regular area. "In a city as big as L.A., you may know your district, but with a move up, you may not be familiar with the area," said Bisson.

Navigation devices are a tool that can also be used once a crew is at the scene. Because smoke often shrouds fire areas and blocks visibility, the navigation units can be used to strategically place fire fighting units. Commanders can order a unit to go behind a fire or to the next block, for example, to attack at a different angle. With the electronic maps, crews can determine exactly where they should go, and if a certain road does lead to the rear of an engulfed structure. "At night, you may not be able to see the streets," Bisson said. "You don't use [guidance systems] just to get there."