Method and System for Detecting Events in Environments

• US 20110157355A1
• Filed: 12/28/2009
• Published: 06/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Turaga, Pavan, Ivanov, Yuri
• Application Number:
  US12/647,667
• Publication Number:
  US 20110157355A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/143
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A system and a method for detecting events in time-series data are disclosed, wherein the time-series data represent atomic activities sensed by sensors in an environment, and wherein each atomic activity includes a time and a location at which the each atomic activity is sensed, comprising the steps of: mapping a specified event to a Petri net (PN), wherein the specified event is a spatio-temporal pattern of the atomic activities, wherein the spatio-temporal pattern is based only on the time and the location of the atomic activities, such that a spatio-temporal sequence of the atomic activities forms a primitive activity, and the spatio-temporal pattern includes primitive activities and constraints on the primitive activities, wherein the constraints are sequential and/or concurrent; and detecting, in the time-series data, a sensed event corresponding the specified event mapped to the PN to produce a result, wherein the detecting is performed by a processor.

Claims

1. A method for detecting events in time-series data, wherein the time-series data represent atomic activities sensed by sensors in an environment, and wherein each atomic activity includes a time and a location at which the each atomic activity is sensed, comprising the steps of:

mapping a specified event to a Petri net (PN), wherein the specified event is a spatio-temporal pattern of the atomic activities, wherein the spatio-temporal pattern is based only on the time and the location of the atomic activities, such that a spatio-temporal sequence of the atomic activities forms a primitive activity, and the spatio-temporal pattern includes primitive activities and constraints on the primitive activities, wherein the constraints are sequential and/or concurrent;

detecting, in the time-series data, a sensed event corresponding the specified event mapped to the PN to produce a result, wherein the detecting is performed by a processor; and

executing a command based on the result.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the atomic activity is a motion sensed by the sensor at the time, and the location is a location of the sensor.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the command is selected from commands such as displaying a video, directing a camera, signaling an alarm, sending a message, or combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting the sensed event in real time upon sensing a new atomic activity.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the time-series data are stored in a surveillance database, further comprising:

querying the surveillance database to detect the sensed event.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensors form a network of heterogeneous sensors.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing an interface configured to specify the specified event.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the interface identifies the sensors such that the primitive activity is selected by specifying a subset of the sensors.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the interface identifies a plan such that the primitive activity is selected by specifying a portion of the plan.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

modeling the primitive activity as a finite state machine (FSM) of a sequence of a subset of the sensors, wherein each sensor in the subset is an input symbol to the FSM.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

specifying the spatio-temporal sequential constraints on the atomic activities as an ordered sequence of a subset of the sensors.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

specifying the constraints on the primitive activities using conjunctions operators including “

AND,”

“

OR,”

“

AFTER,” and

“

BEFORE”

operators.

13. A system for detecting an event in time-series data, wherein the time-series data represent atomic activities sensed by sensors in an environment, and wherein each atomic activity includes a time and a location at which the atomic activity is sensed, comprising:

means for mapping a specified event to a Petri net (PN), wherein the specified event is a spatio-temporal pattern of the atomic activities, wherein the spatio-temporal pattern is based only on the time and the location of the atomic activities, such that a spatio-temporal sequence of the atomic activities forms a primitive activity, and the spatio-temporal pattern includes primitive activities and constraints on the primitive activities, wherein the constraints are sequential and/or concurrent;

control module configured to detect, in the time-series data, a sensed event corresponding the specified event mapped to the PN to produce a result; and

means for executing a command based on the result.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the command is selected from commands such as displaying a video, directing a camera, signaling an alarm, sending a message, or combination thereof.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the sensed event is detected in real time upon sensing a new atomic activity.

16. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a surveillance database for storing the time-series data.

17. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a display device configured to display an interface suitable for specifying the specified event.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the interface is configured to display a plan, such that a user is able to specify the primitive activities and the constraints on the primitive activities.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the constraints on the primitive activities are conjunction operators including “

AND,”

“

OR,”

“

AFTER,” and

“

BEFORE”

operators.