Last October the Canadian Avalanche Centre (CAC) warned against relying on a smartphone as an avalanche transceiver. As we noted in our reports one of the problems with apps is that these tended to rely too much on the phones power to transmit. However, the Galileo-LawinenFon system that was developed by researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML) appears to have resolved some of those issues. This could provide greater accuracy for rescuers as users don’t rely just on the wireless technology of a handset. Instead the researchers have created a piece of hardware called the Galileo-SmartLVS, which connects to the phone via USB, and could better turn a handset into an avalanche transceiver.
“Like commonly available avalanche transceivers, the Galileo-LawinenFon has a transmit and search mode,” said Holger Schulz, a scientist at Fraunhofer IML. “Unlike previous transceivers however, when looking for victims the system is not restricted to the electromagnetic field formed by a transmitted signal but makes use of satellite signals as well. Since our solution draws on numerous available sensors and satellite systems, the signals transmitted by victims can be located with a great deal of precision. Magnetic field signals are processed in 3D so that we can pinpoint accident victims in a matter of seconds and improve their chances of survival.”
While still in prototype this could be welcome news for those who head out in ski country and worry about avalanches.
No there isn’t an app yet (that we know of anyway) for avalanche rescue, but the iProbe isn’t an iPhone accessory. It is actually a sensor-equipped probe and transmitter.. The iProbe ONE from Pieps features a sensor in the tip that can emit an audible signal in the handle when it gets within two meters of a buried transponder. It operates on the EN300718 standard signal for emergencies.