Video: MFRI & TRX Systems demonstrate tracking system.

The Maryland Fire & Rescue Institute has been working with TRX Systems in the development of the Sentrix Tracking Unit. Science Nation reporter Miles O'Brien (formerly of CNN) takes a look at this system, which promises to operate deep inside a building where GPS will not work.

Here's an excerpt from the story:

With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), electrical engineer (and CEO Carol) Politi and her team at TRX Systems are developing a portable device called the Sentrix Tracking Unit. It straps on like a belt and consists of a suite of sensors. "The sensors include accelerometers and gyroscopes. Those are sensors similar to what you have in your Wii for example–pressure sensors ranging sensors. It allows us to create a picture of what a user has done," says Politi.

"The sensors monitor the movement of the user," explains Ben Funk, vice president of Engineering at TRX. "So when the user moves forward or backwards, left or right, it determines how far a person moved in each direction."