Evacuation system

• US 8,970,365 B2
• Filed: 04/08/2011
• Issued: 03/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: oneEvent Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: oneEvent Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Wedig, Kurt Joseph, Parent, Daniel Ralph, Wedig, Tammy Michelle, Sutter-Parent, Kristin Ann
• Primary Examiner(s): Lau, Hoi
• Application Number:
  US13/083,266
• Publication Number:
  US 20110241877A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,425 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.11, 340/539.13, 340/539.18, 340/572.1, 340/573.1, 340/825.49, 340/10.14, 340/506, 340/286.05, 455/456.1, 455/457, 705/7.11, 707/110.102
• US Class Current: 340/539.11
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 17/00 Fire alarms; Alarms responsive to explosion
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0423 detecting deviation from an expected pattern of behaviour or schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/22 responsive to presence or absence of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 7/066 guiding along a path, e.g. evacuation path lighting strip

Abstract

A method includes receiving, at a server, an indication of an evacuation condition from a sensory node located in a structure. The method also includes determining a severity of the evacuation condition. The method further includes adjusting a sensitivity of at least one sensory node in the structure based at least part on the severity of the evacuation condition.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a server, an indication of an evacuation condition from at least one first sensory node located in a structure;

determining an amount of dispersion of the evacuation condition based at least in part on known global positioning system (GPS) locations of a plurality of sensory nodes;

determining a severity of the evacuation condition based at least in part on the indication of the evacuation condition and the amount of dispersion; and

adjusting a sensitivity of at least one second sensory node in the structure based at least part on the severity of the evacuation condition.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the severity is based at least in part on a magnitude of the evacuation condition.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining that the severity of the evacuation condition is high if the magnitude exceeds a magnitude threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the severity is based at least in part on a rate of change of the evacuation condition.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising determining that the severity of the evacuation condition is high if the rate of change exceeds a rate of change threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the severity is based at least in part on a type of the evacuation condition.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that the severity of the evacuation condition is high if the amount of dispersion exceeds a dispersion threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising assigning a priority to the evacuation condition based at least in part on the severity.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising providing the priority to an emergency responder.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one second sensory node comprises the at least one first sensory node from which the indication is received.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one second sensory node is located proximate to the at least one first sensory node.

12. A system server comprising:

a memory configured to store an indication of an evacuation condition received from at least one first sensory node located in a structure; and

a processor operatively coupled to the memory and configured to;

determine an amount of dispersion of the evacuation condition based at least in part on known global positioning system (GPS) locations of a plurality of sensory nodes;

determine a severity of the evacuation condition based at least in part on the indication of the evacuation condition and the amount of dispersion; and

adjust a sensitivity of at least one second sensory node in the structure based at least part on the severity of the evacuation condition.

13. The system server of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a magnitude of the evacuation condition based at least in part on the indication of the evacuation condition, and wherein the severity is based at least in part on the magnitude of the evacuation condition.

14. The system server of claim 12, wherein the processor determines the severity based at least in part on a rate of change of the evacuation condition.

15. The system server of claim 12, wherein the sensitivity comprises a sample rate of one or more sensors on the at least one second sensory node.

16. The system server of claim 15, wherein the at least one second sensory node comprises multiple sensors, and wherein the system server is configured to increase the sensitivity for the one or more sensors that detected the evacuation condition.

17. The system server of claim 12, wherein the at least one second sensory node is located proximate to the at least one first sensory node.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon for execution by a computing device, the computer-readable instructions comprising:

instructions to store an indication of an evacuation condition received from at least one sensory node located in a structure;

instructions to determine an amount of dispersion of the evacuation condition based at least in part on known global positioning system (GPS) locations of a plurality of sensory nodes;

instructions to determine a severity of the evacuation condition based at least in part on the indication of an evacuation condition and the amount of dispersion; and

instructions to adjust a sensitivity of at least one second sensory node in the structure based at least part on the severity of the evacuation condition.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the sensitivity comprises a sample rate of one or more sensors on the at least one second sensory node.