MIPS Project Detail:
Company
Company Description:
TRX Systems delivers GPS-denied location software and solutions. TRX is the first company to use sensor fusion and the dynamic mapping of structural, magnetic, and RF features to pinpoint location indoors, underground, and in dense urban areas. The company’s NEON® location solutions use low-cost MEMS sensors, combined with higher level mapping algorithms, to deliver accurate 3D location, including the elevation of personnel within buildings.
MIPS Project
Product Life Cycle Assessment of TRX Sentinel
Project #
4119.23
|
MIPS Round
43
|
Starting Date:
Feb 2009
MIPS Project Challenge:
In Phase 1 of this MIPS project, TRX Systems sought to ruggedize its indoor location system to withstand the harsh environments tha first responders, industrial users and defense personnel operate within. During Phase 2, the reliability and durability of the ruggedized packaging was assessed and tested.
Project Scope:
During Phase 1, the company developed a high-reliability, high-temperature package and the MEMS sensors were characterized to ensure the accurate communication of location information of public safety personnel under extreme conditions. In Phase 2, researchers developed and conducted a series of analyses and accelerated tests on the product to identify, assess, and mitigate the dominant failure mechanisms to which the product is susceptible in harsh environments.
Results:
The two-phase project resulted in a design for TRX’s tracking accessory enclosure. While the packaging has evolved, the basic design and materials were developed during the project.
TRX has received $2.9 million in funding through three investment rounds from four investors, including New Dominion Angels, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, and several other strategic and private investors.
The company has released three products, all of which use the NEON location solutions ability to locate and map where GPS is unavailable or unreliable, such as indoors and underground:
• Personnel Tracker, a comprehensive indoor location solution delivering team situational awareness and tracking for security, public safety, and enterprise users.
• Signal Mapper, which offers automated geo-referencing and 3D visualization for test and measurement applications, including Land Mobile Radio (LMR), cellular (LTE), WiFi, BLE, radiation, and other sensor mapping.
• Squad Tracker, which provides a resilient indoor and outdoor GPS-denied location and navigation solution for the dismounted soldier.
In February, 2017, Houston police used the TRX NEON Personnel Tracker Solution to help ensure public safety in NRG Stadium for Super Bowl LI. The NEON solution used the Harris County Public Safety Broadband network at NRG Park and allowed each officer to be tracked in 3D from the command center throughout the nearly 2 million square feet of NRG Stadium. GPS could not be used since the roof over the stadium was closed during the game.
Additional Mtech/UMD Programs Utilized:
Technology Advancement Program (TAP)
Principal Investigator:
Francis
McCluskey
Professor
Project Manager:
David
Lemus
Mechanical Engineer
Technologies:
Reliability
