System for automatically monitoring persons in a domestic environment

• US 20030098793A1
• Filed: 10/01/2002
• Published: 05/29/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthcare GMBH (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Schmidt, Volker, Mankopf, Michael, Christ, Tilo
• Granted Patent: US 6,825,761 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/189 using passive radiation detection systems
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/10 using wireless transmission systems G08B25/009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/14 Central alarm receiver or annunciator arrangements

Abstract

A system for automatically monitoring persons in a domestic environment by using sensors for detecting characteristic parameters which are supplied to a surveillance center which, if necessary, alerts an alarm center, particularly a service provider, the sensors detecting a plurality of domestic devices (including measuring devices) used or operated regularly and the sensor data being supplied personalized and automatically to the center which evaluates the incoming data by using an expert system with predetermined rules.

Claims

1. A system for automatically monitoring activity of a person in a domestic environment, the system comprising:

plural sensors for detecting activity of plural domestic devices that are in a domestic environment of a person being monitored and for automatically sending signals that identify the person being monitored and the detected activity;

a surveillance center that receives said signals from said plural sensors;

an expert system at said surveillance center for automatically evaluating the detected activity based on predetermined rules; and

an alarm center for generating a signal in response to an output from said surveillance center.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said expert system compares a detected frequency of operation of at least one the domestic devices to a predetermined frequency and generates an output when the detected frequency deviates from the predetermined frequency.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said expert system learns a normal activity of the plural domestic devices and generates an output when the detected activity deviates from the learned normal activity.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said expert system evaluates the detected activity of a plurality of the domestic devices and generates an output only when more than one of the detected activities deviates from the predetermined rules.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said expert system analyzes utilization of the domestic devices and revises the predetermined rules based on the analysis.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said plural sensors are for sensing activity of a plurality of water, gas, and electric devices.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said surveillance center further comprises a first service provider that receives the output from said sensors and sends encrypted data and a second service provider that receives the encrypted data.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a database that includes contact information for entities that are to receive the output from said surveillance center.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said alarm center generates alarms with different levels of urgency, depending on the output from said surveillance center.

10. A method for automatically monitoring activity of a person in a domestic environment, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting activity of plural domestic devices that are in a domestic environment of a person being monitored using plural sensors;

automatically sending signals from the sensors that identify the person being monitored and the detected activity;

receiving the signals from the sensors at a surveillance center;

automatically evaluating the detected activity based on predetermined rules using an expert system at the surveillance center; and

generating a signal in response to an output from the surveillance center.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the expert system performs the steps of comparing a detected frequency of operation of at least one the domestic devices to a predetermined frequency and generating an output when the detected frequency deviates from the predetermined frequency.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the expert system performs the steps of learning a normal activity of the plural domestic devices and generating an output when the detected activity deviates from the learned normal activity.

13. The method of claim 10, the expert system performs the steps of evaluating the detected activity of a plurality of the domestic devices and generating an output only when more than one of the detected activities deviates from the predetermined rules.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the expert system performs the steps of analyzing utilization of the domestic devices and revising the predetermined rules based on the analysis.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein said plural sensors are for sensing activity of a plurality of water, gas, and electric devices.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the surveillance center performs the steps of encrypting the output from the sensors and sending the encrypted data to a separate service provider.

17. A system for automatically monitoring activity of a person in a domestic environment, the system comprising:

plural sensors for detecting ON/OFF activity of plural gas, electric, and water devices that are in a domestic environment of a person being monitored and for automatically sending signals that identify the detected ON/OFF activity of the plural gas, electric, and water devices;

a surveillance center that receives said signals from said plural sensors and encrypts data in said signals;

an expert system that receives the encrypted data and automatically learns a normal ON/OFF activity of the plural gas, electric, and water devices and compares the detected ON/OFF activity to the learned normal ON/OFF activity; and

said surveillance center generating a signal in response to an output from said expert system.