Could save lives

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The developers with the navigation device, from left: Elias Mutter, Felix Auer and Konstantin Bandat.(Bild: HTL Braunau)

A high school project could save lives in the future: Three students from HTL Braunau (Upper Austria) have developed a system to guide fire departments in large buildings to the source of a fire more quickly. The students programmed and designed all the steps themselves. The first practical tests are due to start soon.

"The idea came from my own experience as a firefighter. It can be extremely difficult to find the quickest route to the source of a fire, especially in confusing buildings," explains Konstantin Bandat. That's why the 18-year-old, together with two classmates at the HTL Braunau, developed a technology as an A-level project that should guide emergency services to the scene of a fire more quickly - and could even save lives in extreme cases.

Digitizing paper plans
This is how the invention, named "Helios" by the students, works: fire safety plans for larger buildings such as schools or hospitals are available on paper. The A-level students have programmed software to digitize these plans, which are then fed into an app that they also developed themselves. This then defines the quickest route to the scene. And this best possible path is then sent to a navigation system designed by the students.

The graduating students' project at the HTL in Braunau is intended to make life easier for fire departments in the future.(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger © Johanna Schlosser)

Tests to start soon
"The firefighters can wear the navigation device on their equipment, which can be easily attached with Velcro," explains Bandat. The system will be tested by the Braunau fire department in the coming weeks.