In hazardous situations, fire fighters are presented with a series of difficulties related to the coordination of several crews at the scene. This paper describes a possible solution for this coordination problem based on the integration of mobile communication terminals with positioning modules.The implemented system displays, in real time, the position of every user at the scene. It also allows the exchange of text messages and sketches, created by the users.The use of Personal Digital Assistants as the core of the portable units results in a user friendly interface with the system. The units are connected through GPRS/UMTS/Wi-Fi. Each user's position is provided by GPS.Positions and sketches are displayed over digitalized map images or satellite photos.Field trials, conducted at the faculty campus, are presented.

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The use of navigation systems, such as those based today on the Global Positioning System (GPS), in standard vehicles has become affordable and has been generalized, in the recent years. Combining the knowledge of our position with our heading can bring an added value to many applications, as has been seen in many smartphones that nowadays come equipped with a GPS and a magnetic compass. This paper presents an algorithm for a digital compass, with heading estimation based on positioning data retrieved from two low-cost single frequency GPS receivers. The algorithm is based on an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) that was developed for heading estimation.The performance of the proposed algorithm was evaluated using real data from two low-cost receivers installed in a standard car. Several field trials were conducted and three motion scenarios were analyzed: straight path, curved path and immobilization.

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