ACTIVE EMERGENCY CONTROL SYSTEM BASED ON REAL TIME LOCATION SYSTEM AND SENSOR NETWORK

• US 20110084830A1
• Filed: 06/13/2008
• Published: 04/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Korea Maritine & Ocean Engineering Research Instit UTE
• Original Assignee: Korea Maritine & Ocean Engineering Research Instit UTE
• Inventors: Lee, Dong-Kon, Lee, Jin-Tae, Kang, Hee-Jin
• Application Number:
  US12/996,970
• Publication Number:
  US 20110084830A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/524
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/001 Signalling to an emergency team, e.g. firemen
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 7/062 indicating emergency exits
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 7/066 guiding along a path, e.g. evacuation path lighting strip
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/115 by determining the presence or movement of objects or living beings
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/185 via power line carrier transmission
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

Disclosed is an active emergency control system capable of guiding passengers to a safe evacuation route from an accident occurring area, controlling access to the accident area, and rescuing the isolated or trapped passengers using a real time location recognition and sensor network technology when an accident such as a fire, flooding, explosion, collapse or overturning occurs in a large structure like a cruise ship having complicated interiors. The inventive system is a core technology that is capable of preventing a situation leading to a large scale disaster due to the lack of recognition of proper evacuation route and evacuation procedure thereof in case of an accident, and is then expected to contribute to the control of an emergency situation and protect and save the lives of people. Further, the present invention offers advantages that it can be easily reduced into practice by establishing a system and its application through the incorporation with a conventional emergency control system as well as adopting commercialized technology already in use.

Claims

1. An active emergency control system based on a real time location recognition system and sensor network capable of guiding passengers to a safe evacuation route from an accident occurring area, controlling access to the accident area, and rescuing the isolated or trapped passengers using a real time location recognition and sensor network technology when an accident such as a fire, flooding, explosion, collapse or overturning occurs in a large structure like a cruise ship having complicated interiors, comprising:

an accident recognition part 10 for realizing the occurrence of an accident and transferring information on an accident situation to an active exit guiding light 40;

a location detection part 20 for detecting the location of passengers and their evacuation situation and transferring information on the location of passengers and their evacuation situation to the active exit guiding light 40, when an accident has occurred;

a central control unit 30 for displaying the information on the accident situation transmitted from the accident recognition part 10, and producing safe evacuation information based on the scenario which has been programmed by the information on the location of the passengers and their evacuation situation transmitted from the location detection part 20; and

the active exit guiding light 40 for displaying a safe evacuation direction and number of passengers remaining at the accident area based on the evacuation information transmitted from the central control unit 30.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the accident recognition part 10 comprises, an accident measurement part having a plurality of sensors for measuring temperature, humidity or vibration on a real time basis;

and an accident evaluation part for collecting and evaluating data measured at the accident measurement part, wherein if it decides the occurrence of the accident, it transmits information regarding the accident to the central control unit 30.

3. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein relatively more accident measurement parts are to be located at the area that is deemed to have a high probability of the accident accordingly.

4. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein the accident evaluation part evaluates whether an accident has occurred on the basis of the accident occurrence index which is prescribed in advance.

5. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein the accident evaluation part provides information on both the location of the accident area and risk factors of that area when transmitting the information regarding the accident to the central control unit 30.

6. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the location detection part comprises, a RFID tag possessed by an individual passenger;

and a plurality of RFID readers which are designed to recognize the RFID tag and transmit the information of the corresponding RFID tag to the central control unit 30.

7. The system as recited in claim 6, wherein the RFID tag is in the form of a bracelet that the passenger wears around his or her wrist.

8. The system as recited in claim 6, wherein the RFID tag includes personal information of the passenger such as his or her name, age, sex or the like.

9. The system as recited in claim 6, wherein the RFID tag readers are installed at every space where passengers are expected to stay.

10. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the location detection part 20 detects the location of the passengers and their evacuation situation using an infrared or ultrasonic sensor.

11. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the central control unit 30 displays the accident situation transmitted from the accident recognition part 10 through a console on a real time basis.

12. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein the central control unit 30 is designed to display information on the location of the accident area, risk factors of that area, location of the passengers, and their evacuation situation.

13. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the active exit guiding light 40 has a function of displaying the sign eep out or ait, which controls the evacuation of passengers in order to prevent concentration or congestion of evacuees at a particular area.

14. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the active exit guiding light 40 generates an alarm to warn passengers of the occurrence of an accident.

15. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the active exit guiding light 40 displays information on the safe direction of evacuation and the number of remaining passengers at the accident area through a visual and aural means.

16. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the system establishes a stable operating environment using a Power Line Communication (PLC) or LAN (WAN) separately or simultaneously as a telecommunication network.

17. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the system uses a power source including a main power source and auxiliary power source for the purpose of performing stable operations in an urgent accident situation, and wherein the auxiliary power source uses a power source including an emergency power source prescribed by SOLAS and a rechargeable battery.