ORBRO signs an MOU with the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters to jointly develop firefighter location tracking technology for fire scenes

ORBRO Inc. is joining hands with the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters to jointly develop location tracking technology aimed at protecting the lives and safety of firefighters at disaster scenes.

On June 12, 2025, the two sides signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MOU) and agreed to move ahead in earnest with developing technology that can identify the position of rescue crews in real time even at disaster scenes where communication infrastructure is limited.

The agreement goes beyond technology development and aims to build a practical location tracking system that can actually be used at disaster scenes such as fires and building collapses. Combining the high-precision ultra-wideband (UWB) location estimation technology ORBRO holds with the cooperation of the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters, which understands the real needs of the fire service best, points to significant progress in advancing disaster response technology.

The core of the planned system is the ability to identify firefighter positions in real time even when communication base stations are destroyed or GPS signals are blocked. When a rescue crew member throws an anchor at the scene, a mesh network forms automatically around that position, and a wearable location tracking tag continuously relays the crew member's movement and status to the control system.

Such a system goes beyond simply tracking position and can carry a range of emergency response functions such as detecting hazardous behavior and emitting real-time LED signals, so it is expected to help substantially with rapid rescue and the prevention of secondary damage. Given that existing location tracking systems have shown limitations indoors and in complex structural environments, it is regarded as an entirely new technical approach.

Cooperation with the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters is a key foundation for making the technology effective. Under the agreement, the two sides will share information closely on the basis of real disaster response experience and technology development capability, and will concentrate on designing functions tailored to the field. Through this cooperation ORBRO aims to raise the likelihood of practical use within a short period and to create a new turning point in fire response technology.

Lee Hak-kyung, CEO of ORBRO, said, "What matters more than technology is life at the scene," adding, "Joining hands with the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters to build technology that can actually protect the lives of rescue crews, rather than a mere idea, is deeply meaningful." He went on to stress, "This is difficult technology development with few comparable cases anywhere in the world, but we will approach it with the resolve to make it real."

ORBRO already holds a range of technologies including ultra-wideband communication, mesh networks and real-time control systems, and it entered this cooperation to apply that capability to the public value of disaster response. Building on the agreement, the company plans to carry out technology validation, prototype production and phased testing to demonstrate effectiveness.

Through this memorandum of understanding, the two sides will build a comprehensive cooperation structure covering joint research, information sharing and commercialization, and will jointly explore various ways to raise the completeness of the technology. This technology development cooperation, which is directly tied to the lives of firefighters and will serve as a foundation for protecting public safety at disaster scenes, has strong potential to become a new milestone in disaster response technology. Attention now turns to whether it will lead to practical application in the field.