When someone is trapped in a burning home, every second counts.
Firefighters can be up against large flames, heavy smoke and extremely low visibility.
Dr. Hovannes Kulhandjian, an associate professor at Fresno State, says some of those factors and firsthand experience from a previous student gave him the idea to develop a new tool to help firefighters find people and pets in low visibility.
“I said, ‘Why don’t we have a device that can do the same process but automate it and use some artificial intelligence?'” Kulhandjian said.
Three of his students took on the task as their senior design project.
They came up with an invention called the “System and Method for Human and Animal Detection in Low Visibility.”
The device uses an infrared camera to detect heat, a radar sensor to detect motion, and a microphone to help better point firefighters in the right direction.
“So the beauty of our device is also that it can provide audio information. It can tell you not just visual, but also tell you that there is a person on the right side, how far that person is.” Kulhandjian said.