Award

To improve safety and situational awareness, a system is needed that enables a commander outside of a facility to track, map, and direct holders of tactical communications systems that do not have GPS access within a known facility, tunnels/caves/other underground space, or other GPS-restricted areas. The objective of this program is to develop such a system that is able to track users in 3-dimensions to 2 feet in X, Y, and Z, and heading accuracy within 5 degrees of true in a multi-floor facility. TRX has demonstrated the feasibility meeting location and heading accuracy requirements in varying environments using a new UWB phase difference of arrival (PDOA) beacon which is able to provide both range and bearing information to tracked persons. In Phase II, rugged PDOA beacons will be developed that create a self-forming, auto locating beacon network. Map constraints will be added to enable users to maintain high accuracy in locations where RF ranging may be limited. The feasibility of using these map constraints to enable significant improvements to location accuracy while minimizing the number of beacons required has been demonstrated. These capabilities will be made available when operating offline on tactical networks though improved integration with TAK.