Personal hazard detection system with redundant position registration and communication
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for monitoring the safety of personnel on an enterprise site, comprising:
- (a) a central monitoring server providing wireless connectivity via at least one wireless local area network point;
(b) a plurality of portable, position-aware, personal safety monitors;
each monitor including;
(i) a programmable microprocessor module, including;
a.) a data input and output bus,b.) data storage,c.) program instruction storage,d.) an alarm module,e.) a communications module,f.) a geo-location module, andg.) a networking module capable of communicating as a node in a wireless mesh network;
(ii) a radio frequency transceiver coupled to said programmable microprocessor module;
(iii) an antenna operatively connected to said radio frequency transceiver;
(iv) a user interface module capable of providing sensibly perceptible signals from said microprocessor to the user, as well as inputting signals from the user to the microprocessor; and
(v) an array of sensors operatively connected to the data input bus of said programmable microprocessor module, said sensors, including at least sensors for measurement of at least one environmental hazard and at least one bodily function indicator of its user;
said communications module including mobile telephony connectivity (analog &
digital) operatively connected to said radio frequency transceiver, said communications module comprising a data packet formatting, caching and forwarding system, said communications module being capable of wireless communication with at least;
a.) a mesh network of functionally similar monitor or access points;
b.) a mobile telephony network; and
c.) the central monitoring server, whether;
(1) directly through the device'"'"'s own communications module;
(2) via at least one of any of the other functionally similar monitors having available connectivity to the central monitoring server;
or(3) through a wireless local network access point;
said geo-location module being capable of storing data concerning previous positions of said monitor and applied certainty factors therefor, said geo-location module including GPS connectivity, an accelerometer and an RSSI module and being capable of substantially continuously estimating the position of the device;
directly via said GPS connectivity as well as via the device'"'"'s own mobile telephony providing assisted GPS capability,derived from one of;
the received signal strength indicated of other functionally similar monitors with known positions in mesh network connected communication therewith;
measurement of signal transit time to and from adjacent monitors in communication therewith;
measurement of time difference of arrival or frequency difference on arrival of signals from;
monitors with known locations;
wireless local area network access points with known location; and
known motion of the monitor as determined by the accelerometer; and
derived from interacting with at least two groups of interacting pairs of mesh network connected devices with known positions;
when a local alarm condition is indicated at one of said monitors, said alarm module of said one of said monitors being capable of;
alerting the user directly through the user interface via a sensibly perceptible signal of a local alarm condition detected by its sensors;
reiteratively refining its estimated position on a substantially continuous basis; and
automatically and reiteratively so long as a hazard is detected, transmitting at least one formatted data packet containing at least the alarm condition, geo-location and sensor data to;
other monitors connected to said mesh network and initiating interaction between the alarmed monitor and at least one other monitor connected to said mesh network; and
a central monitoring server on the safety network via the communications module;
said alarm module of said one monitor, when a remote alarm condition is reported by another monitor connected to said mesh network, being capable of;
alerting the user directly through the user interface of said one monitor via a sensibly perceptible signal of the remote alarm condition reported by said other monitor connected to said mesh network;
responding to said other monitor'"'"'s alarm condition by activating its user interface to indicate;
data relating to an estimated position of said other alarmed monitor; and
sensor data communicated by said other alarmed monitor; and
acknowledging receipt of the alarm condition transmission;
automatically and reiteratively communicating with additional mesh network connected monitors on said mesh network and a central monitoring server on the internet; and
calculating a ranked priority, based at least in part on distance from said other alarmed monitor'"'"'s position to each additional remote monitor'"'"'s position, said ranked priority capable of being communicated to the additional mesh network connected monitors until a predetermined number of the additional mesh network connected monitors have responded to the alarm condition, indicating that they will be responding; and
after a predetermined number of additional monitors having a higher ranked priority have responded to the remote alarm condition from said one alarmed monitor indicating that they will respond to the hazard, discontinuing further communication concerning the remote alarm status with additional mesh network connected monitors not reporting a local alarm.
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Abstract
A system for monitoring the safety of personnel on a work site, by providing workers on the site with portable battery powered safety monitors equipped with alarms, sensors to detect hazardous conditions, at least two forms of geo-location and two forms of voice and data telecommunication and two CPU'"'"'s sharing the computation load, each CPU equipped to monitor and reset the other in case of failure to function, with each monitor capable of serving as a node in a mesh network and relaying information concerning alarms detected including location thereof to other monitors on the mesh network.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring the safety of personnel on an enterprise site, comprising:
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(a) a central monitoring server providing wireless connectivity via at least one wireless local area network point; (b) a plurality of portable, position-aware, personal safety monitors;
each monitor including;(i) a programmable microprocessor module, including; a.) a data input and output bus, b.) data storage, c.) program instruction storage, d.) an alarm module, e.) a communications module, f.) a geo-location module, and g.) a networking module capable of communicating as a node in a wireless mesh network; (ii) a radio frequency transceiver coupled to said programmable microprocessor module; (iii) an antenna operatively connected to said radio frequency transceiver; (iv) a user interface module capable of providing sensibly perceptible signals from said microprocessor to the user, as well as inputting signals from the user to the microprocessor; and (v) an array of sensors operatively connected to the data input bus of said programmable microprocessor module, said sensors, including at least sensors for measurement of at least one environmental hazard and at least one bodily function indicator of its user; said communications module including mobile telephony connectivity (analog &
digital) operatively connected to said radio frequency transceiver, said communications module comprising a data packet formatting, caching and forwarding system, said communications module being capable of wireless communication with at least;a.) a mesh network of functionally similar monitor or access points; b.) a mobile telephony network; and c.) the central monitoring server, whether; (1) directly through the device'"'"'s own communications module; (2) via at least one of any of the other functionally similar monitors having available connectivity to the central monitoring server;
or(3) through a wireless local network access point; said geo-location module being capable of storing data concerning previous positions of said monitor and applied certainty factors therefor, said geo-location module including GPS connectivity, an accelerometer and an RSSI module and being capable of substantially continuously estimating the position of the device; directly via said GPS connectivity as well as via the device'"'"'s own mobile telephony providing assisted GPS capability, derived from one of; the received signal strength indicated of other functionally similar monitors with known positions in mesh network connected communication therewith; measurement of signal transit time to and from adjacent monitors in communication therewith; measurement of time difference of arrival or frequency difference on arrival of signals from; monitors with known locations; wireless local area network access points with known location; and known motion of the monitor as determined by the accelerometer; and derived from interacting with at least two groups of interacting pairs of mesh network connected devices with known positions; when a local alarm condition is indicated at one of said monitors, said alarm module of said one of said monitors being capable of; alerting the user directly through the user interface via a sensibly perceptible signal of a local alarm condition detected by its sensors; reiteratively refining its estimated position on a substantially continuous basis; and automatically and reiteratively so long as a hazard is detected, transmitting at least one formatted data packet containing at least the alarm condition, geo-location and sensor data to; other monitors connected to said mesh network and initiating interaction between the alarmed monitor and at least one other monitor connected to said mesh network; and a central monitoring server on the safety network via the communications module; said alarm module of said one monitor, when a remote alarm condition is reported by another monitor connected to said mesh network, being capable of; alerting the user directly through the user interface of said one monitor via a sensibly perceptible signal of the remote alarm condition reported by said other monitor connected to said mesh network; responding to said other monitor'"'"'s alarm condition by activating its user interface to indicate; data relating to an estimated position of said other alarmed monitor; and sensor data communicated by said other alarmed monitor; and acknowledging receipt of the alarm condition transmission; automatically and reiteratively communicating with additional mesh network connected monitors on said mesh network and a central monitoring server on the internet; and calculating a ranked priority, based at least in part on distance from said other alarmed monitor'"'"'s position to each additional remote monitor'"'"'s position, said ranked priority capable of being communicated to the additional mesh network connected monitors until a predetermined number of the additional mesh network connected monitors have responded to the alarm condition, indicating that they will be responding; and after a predetermined number of additional monitors having a higher ranked priority have responded to the remote alarm condition from said one alarmed monitor indicating that they will respond to the hazard, discontinuing further communication concerning the remote alarm status with additional mesh network connected monitors not reporting a local alarm. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A system for monitoring the safety of personnel on an enterprise site, comprising:
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a plurality of personal safety monitors;
each monitor having;a programmable microprocessor module, including at least two microprocessors; an alarm module capable of being countermanded by the user via the human interface, a communications module, a geo-location module, and a networking module capable of communicating as a node in a wireless mesh network; a radio frequency transceiver coupled to said programmable microprocessor module; an antenna operatively connected to said radio frequency transceiver; a user interface module capable of providing sensibly perceptible signals from said microprocessor module to the user, as well as inputting signals from the user to the microprocessor module; and an array of sensors including sensors operatively connected to the data input bus of one of said programmable microprocessor in said microprocessor module and capable of providing signals indicative of a hazardous atmospheric condition and user health; said geolocation and communications modules being operatively connected to one of said microprocessors in said microprocessor module, said sensor array being operatively connected to the other; said communications module being capable of communication with at least a mesh network of functionally similar monitors, said mesh network optionally comprising wireless network access points; said geo-location module including GPS connectivity, an accelerometer, a gyroscope and at least one signal distancing/angulation module chosen from the group consisting of;
signal transit time calculator;
an RSSI module, a time difference of arrival module;
frequency difference on arrival, and an angulation module;
said geo-location module being capable of substantially continuously estimating the position of the device at least;directly via said GPS connectivity as well as via the device'"'"'s own mobile telephony providing assisted GPS capability; and as derived from signals from other functionally similar monitors with known positions in mesh network connected communication therewith;
as well as derived from signals from any wireless network access points with known positions participating in said mesh network, and known motion of the monitor as determined by the accelerometer, gyroscope and said signal distancing/angulation module;when a local alarm condition is indicated at one of said monitors, said alarm module being capable of; alerting the user directly through the user interface via a sensibly perceptible signal of the local alarm condition detected by its sensors; automatically and reiteratively, transmitting data concerning at least the alarm condition, geo-location and sensor data to other monitors connected to said mesh network; when a remote alarm condition is reported by another monitor connected to said mesh network, said one monitor being capable of; alerting the user of said one monitor directly through the user interface via a sensibly perceptible signal of the remote alarm condition reported by said other monitor connected to said mesh network; responding to said other monitor'"'"'s alarm condition by activating its user interface to indicate data relating to an estimated position of said other alarmed monitor; and
sensor data communicated by said other alarmed monitor and acknowledging receipt of the alarm condition transmission; andautomatically and reiteratively communicating with additional mesh network connected monitors on said mesh network until at least a predetermined number of the additional mesh network connected monitors have indicated that they will respond to the alarm condition.
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4. A system for monitoring the safety of personnel on an enterprise site, comprising:
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a network enabled central safety server capable of communicating wirelessly with devices on the enterprise site, a plurality of portable, position-aware, personal safety monitors;
each monitor having;a programmable microprocessor module, including; (a) a data input and output bus, (b) data storage, (c) program instruction storage, an alarm module; a communications module; a geo-location module, a networking module capable of communicating as a node in a wireless mesh network; a radio frequency transceiver coupled to said programmable microprocessor module; an antenna operatively connected to said radio frequency transceiver; and an array of sensors coupled to said data bus; a user interface module capable of providing sensibly perceptible signals from said microprocessor to the user, as well as inputting signals from the user to the microprocessor; and an array of sensors operatively connected to the data input bus of said programmable microprocessor module; said communications module being capable of wireless data, telephony and short message communication with at least a mesh network of functionally similar personal safety monitors and the central safety network; said geo-location module including at least; GPS capability, an accelerometer, a gyroscopic sensor for detection of angular velocity and at least one radio signal ranging/angulation capability chosen from the group consisting of; an RSSI module; a transit time measurement module; a time difference of arrival module; a frequency difference on arrival module, and an angulation module capable of detecting the angle of source of radio frequency signals; said geo-location module being capable of estimating the position of the device at least; (a) directly via said GPS capability, either by direct satellite observation or by GPS enabled cellular telephony; and (b) as derived from signals of other functionally similar monitors with known positions in mesh network connected communication therewith and, (c) known motion of the monitor from previously known locations as determined by the accelerometer; said alarm module of said one of said monitors, when a local alarm condition is indicated at one of said monitors, being capable of; (1) alerting the user directly through the user interface via a sensibly perceptible signal of the local alarm condition detected by its sensors; (2) automatically and reiteratively, unless countermanded via the human interface of said one monitor, transmitting data concerning at least the alarm condition, geo-location and sensor data to other monitors connected to said mesh network; and said alarm module of said one monitor, when a remote alarm condition is reported by another monitor connected to said mesh network, being capable of; (1) alerting the user of said one monitor directly through the user interface via a sensibly perceptible signal of the remote alarm condition reported by said other monitor connected to said mesh network; (2) advising monitors in communication therewith whether its user will be responding to the remote alarm condition; and (3) responding to said other monitor'"'"'s alarm condition by; activating its user interface to indicate; data relating to an estimated position of said other alarmed monitor; and sensor data communicated by said other alarmed monitor; and acknowledging receipt of the alarm condition transmission automatically; and reiteratively communicating with additional mesh network connected monitors on said mesh network until a predetermined number of the additional mesh network connected monitors have responded to the alarm condition.
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5. A system for monitoring the safety of personnel on an enterprise site, comprising:
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a plurality of portable, position-aware, personal safety monitors (“
APPAPS monitors”
), said monitors having the capability to establish a mesh network,a network enabled central safety server capable of communicating wirelessly with monitors on the enterprise site through a multiplicity of remote wireless network access points, a mesh network established by said monitors, through local wireless network access points, and through cellular telephony; each monitor including; a first programmable microprocessor module, including at least;
(a) a geo-location module, (b) a data input and output bus, (c) data storage, (d) program instruction storage; and
(e) a communications module;
(f) a networking module capable of communicating as a node in said wireless mesh network; and
(g) an array of sensors coupled to said data bus;a second programmable microprocessor module including at least; (a) a watch dog module capable of monitoring said first microprocessor module and resetting it in case of impairments of microprocessor stability or correct functioning including those due to voltage drops, glitches, long ramp-up times, programs stuck in endless loops, buffer overflows, and memory leakage; (b) a data input and output bus, (c) data storage, (d) program instruction storage; and (e) a communications module; a radio frequency transceiver coupled to one of said programmable microprocessor modules; an antenna operatively connected to said radio frequency transceiver; a user interface module capable of providing sensibly perceptible signals from said microprocessors to the user, as well as inputting signals from the user to at least one of said microprocessors; and an array of sensors operatively connected to the data input bus of said second programmable microprocessor module an alarm module capable of communicating with at least said second programmable microprocessor module and capable of indicating sensor output associated with a hazard situation; said communications module being capable of cellular, wireless data, telephony and short message communication with at least a mesh network of functionally similar monitors, remote wireless network access points and the central safety network; said geo-location module including at least GPS capability, an accelerometer, a gyroscopic sensor for detection of angular velocity, and at least one radio ranging/angulation module chosen from the group consisting of; a signal transit time calculator; an RSSI module, a time difference of arrival module; a frequency difference on arrival module, and an angulation module; said geo-location module being capable of estimating the position of the device at least; (a) directly via said GPS connectivity as well as via the device'"'"'s own mobile telephony providing assisted GPS capability; and (b) as derived from signals of other functionally similar monitors and remote wireless local network access points with known positions in mesh network connected communication therewith; (c) signals from cellular access points; and (d) calculated motion of the monitor from previously known locations as determined by the accelerometer and gyroscope; said alarm module of said one of said monitors, when a local alarm condition is indicated at said one of said monitors, being capable of; (1) alerting the user of said other directly through the user interface via a sensibly perceptible signal of the local alarm condition detected by its sensors; (2) automatically and reiteratively transmitting data concerning at least the alarm condition, geo-location and sensor data to other monitors connected to said mesh network unless and until said hazard condition has been abated; and said alarm module of said one monitor, when a remote alarm condition is reported by another monitor connected to said mesh network, being capable of; alerting the user of said one monitor directly through the user interface via a sensibly perceptible signal of the remote alarm condition reported by said other monitor connected to said mesh network; forwarding the alarm to at least one of; APPAPS monitors in communication therewith; remote network access points connected to said central safety server; and said central safety server; transmitting an indication of whether the user of said one of said monitors will be responding to the remote alarm condition; and responding to said other monitor'"'"'s alarm condition by; activating its user interface to indicate data relating to an estimated position of said other alarmed monitor; and
sensor data communicated by said other alarmed monitor; andacknowledging receipt of the alarm condition transmission; automatically and reiteratively communicating with additional mesh network connected monitors on said mesh network until a predetermined number of the additional mesh network connected monitors have responded to the alarm condition indicating that they will respond thereto. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for monitoring the safety of personnel on an enterprise site, comprising:
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a plurality of portable, position-aware, personal safety monitors (APPAPS monitors); a central monitoring server connected at least to a local network and capable of wireless communication with said monitors through at least;
a wireless access point and cellular telephony,each monitor having; (a) programmable microprocessor module, including; (i) a data input and output bus, (ii) data storage, (iii) program instruction storage, (b) an alarm module; (c) a communications module; (d) a geo-location module, and (e) a networking module capable of communicating as a node in a wireless mesh network; (f) a radio frequency transceiver coupled to said programmable microprocessor module; and (g) an antenna operatively connected to said radio frequency transceiver; (h) a user interface module capable of providing sensibly perceptible signals from said microprocessor to the user, as well as inputting signals from the user to the microprocessor; and (i) an array of sensors operatively connected to the data input bus of said programmable microprocessor module; said communications module including mobile telephony connectivity, operatively connected to said radio frequency transceiver, said communications module comprising a data packet formatting, caching and forwarding system, said communications module being capable of communication both; (i) directly through the device'"'"'s own mobile telephony connectivity; and (ii) indirectly via at least one of any of the other functionally similar monitors having available connectivity;
with at least;a mesh network of functionally similar monitors; a mobile telephony network; and at least a local network through wireless remote local access points, said geo-location module being capable of storing data concerning the history of the estimated position of said monitor, said geo-location module including; GPS connectivity, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a radio signal ranging/angulation module of providing location related data based on signals from other monitors and remote wireless access points in communication therewith by RSSI, TDOA, FDOA, E-OTD, U-TDOA;
angulation and thereby determining relative positionand being capable of estimating the position of the device; (a) directly via said GPS connectivity as well as via the device'"'"'s own mobile telephony providing assisted GPS capability; and (b) derived from the radio signal ranging/angulation module using radio signals from; other functionally similar monitors with known positions in mesh network connected communication therewith, known motion of the monitor as determined by the accelerometer, gyroscope; and network connected devices with known position in mesh network connected communication therewith; said alarm module of one of said monitors, when a local alarm condition is indicated at said one of said monitors, being capable of; (1) alerting the user directly through the user interface via a sensibly perceptible signal of a local alarm condition detected by its sensors; (2) reiteratively obtaining estimates of its position; and (3) automatically and reiteratively transmitting at least one formatted data packet containing at least the alarm condition, geo-location and sensor data to; (a) other accessible monitors connected to said mesh network and initiating interaction between the alarmed monitor and at least one other monitor connected to said mesh network; and (b) said central monitoring server via the communications module and said at least one wireless access point for said local network when accessible; said alarm module of said one monitor, when a remote alarm condition is reported by another monitor connected to said mesh network, being capable of; (1) alerting the user of said one monitor directly through the user interface of said one monitor via a sensibly perceptible signal of the remote alarm condition reported by said other monitor connected to said mesh network; (2) responding to said other monitor'"'"'s alarm condition by activating its user interface to indicate;
data relating to an estimated position of said other alarmed monitor; and
sensor data communicated by said other alarmed monitor and acknowledging receipt of the alarm condition transmission;(3) automatically and reiteratively communicating with additional mesh network connected monitors on said mesh network and a central monitoring server on said local network; and
calculating a ranked priority, based at least in part on distance from said other alarmed monitor'"'"'s position to each additional remote monitor'"'"'s position, said ranked priority capable of being communicated to the additional mesh network connected monitors until a predetermined number of the additional mesh network connected monitors have indicate responded to the alarm condition, providing an updated indicator of not only whether they will be able to provide assistance but also whether they are experiencing safety issues as well; and(4) after a predetermined number of additional monitors having a higher ranked priority have responded that they will be able to provide assistance to the remote alarm condition from said other alarmed monitor, discontinuing further communication concerning the remote alarm status with additional mesh network connected monitors not reporting a local alarm, if each said additional monitor is either;
(a) excused from responding;
or (b) not responding.
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Specification