User identification and tracking system for artificial cave obstacle course

• US 9,399,178 B1
• Filed: 01/09/2015
• Issued: 07/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: David Alexander Jackson
• Original Assignee: David Alexander Jackson
• Inventors: Jackson, David Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Kien
• Application Number:
  US14/594,070
• Time in Patent Office: 564 Days
• Field of Search: 472/117, 472/128, 472/129, 472/136, 482 35- 36
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63G 33/00 Devices allowing competitions between several persons, not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: A63J 11/00 Labyrinths
• CPC Class Codes: A63K 1/00 Race-courses; Race-tracks

Abstract

An artificial cave has various features that resemble speleothems (e.g., stalactites, stalagmites, etc.) found in real subterranean caves. Human users may pass through the artificial cave, with each user wearing a wearable transceiver that broadcasts a signal code unique to that user. Fixed transceivers throughout the cave can detect and identify any user who is sufficiently close to that fixed transceiver. Other components of the system collect user identification information from the fixed transceivers for any of several possible purposes (e.g., identifying which user was probably responsible for inappropriate interaction with a speleothem that is adjacent to a given fixed transceiver, where all of the various user of the cave are currently located in the cave, etc.).

Claims

1. An artificial cave obstacle course system comprising:

an artificial cave passage;

a plurality of wearable transmitters, each of which can be worn by a respective one of a plurality of human users passing through the passage, each wearable transmitter broadcasting a respective one of a plurality of unique user identification signals;

a plurality of fixed receivers spaced from one another throughout the passage, each fixed receiver having a respective broadcast signal reception area in a portion of the passage that is adjacent to that fixed receiver, each fixed receiver being able to receive the user identification signal broadcast by any of the wearable transmitters that are currently within the broadcast signal reception area of that fixed receiver;

circuitry for collecting from each fixed receiver signal information identifying the wearable transmitters from which that fixed receiver is currently receiving user identification signals;

a plurality of artificial speleothems spaced from one another throughout the passage, each speleothem being disposed in the passage so that it is possible for a user to pass the speleothem without causing harm to the speleothem if it were a real speleothem, but alternatively to interact with the speleothem in a way that would be harmful to a real speleothem if the user does not exercise sufficient care in passing the speleothem; and

a plurality of sensors, each of which is associated with a respective one of the artificial speleothems and each of which detects any harmful interaction with the associated speleothem by a user who does not exercise sufficient care in passing the speleothem, wherein the circuitry for collecting additionally collects signal information from each of the sensors indiciative of that sensor detecting a harmful interaction with the speleothem associated with that sensor, wherein each of the speleothems is adjacent to a respective one of the fixed receivers so that any user harmfully interacting with that speleothem is within the broadcast signal reception area of the fixed receiver adjacent to that speleothem, and wherein the circuitry for collecting further comprises;

circuitry for correlating (a) signal information from each of the sensors indicative of that sensor detecting a harmful interaction with the speleothem associated with that sensor with (b) signal information from the fixed receiver that is adjacent to that speleothem so that any user within the broadcast signal reception area of that fixed receiver is identified as the probable cause of the harmful interaction with the speleothem adjacent to that fixed receiver.

2. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 1 wherein the circuitry for correlating further comprises:

circuitry for storing results of the correlating to produce a stored record of each user'"'"'s probable harmful interactions with the speleothems.

3. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 2 wherein the circuitry for correlating further comprises:

circuitry for visibly displaying information indicative of the stored record of any user'"'"'s probable harmful interactions with the speleothems.

4. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 1 wherein the passage has an entrance through which users enter the passage, wherein a first of the fixed receivers is located adjacent the entrance so that each user entering the passage passes through the broadcast signal reception area of said first fixed receiver, and wherein the circuitry for collecting further comprises:

circuitry for collecting from said first fixed receiver signal information identifying the wearable transmitter of each user who enters the passage.

5. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 4 wherein the circuitry for collecting further comprises:

circuitry for storing the wearable transmitter identifying signal information collected from said first fixed receiver in order to produce a stored record of the users who have entered the passage.

6. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 5 wherein the passage has an exit through which users can exit the passage, wherein a second of the fixed receivers is located adjacent the exit so that each user exiting the passage passes through the broadcast signal reception area of said second fixed receiver, and wherein the circuitry for collecting further comprises:

circuitry for collecting from said second fixed receiver signal information identifying the wearable transmitter of each user who exits the passage; and

circuitry for deleting from the stored record of the users who have entered the passage the wearable transmitter identifying signal information collected from said second fixed receiver.

7. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 1 wherein the passage has an exit through which users exit the passage, wherein a second of the fixed receivers is located adjacent the exit so that each user exiting the passage passes through the broadcast signal reception area of said second fixed receiver, and wherein the circuitry for collecting further comprises:

circuitry for collecting from said second fixed receiver signal information identifying the wearable transmitter of each user who exits the passage.

8. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 1 wherein each of the wearable transmitters is a component of a respective one of a plurality of wearable transceivers, each wearable transceiver also including a respective one of a plurality of wearable receivers, and wherein the system further comprises:

fixed transmitter circuitry for broadcasting signals to the wearable transceivers.

9. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 8 wherein each of the wearable receivers is selectively responsive to received signals that include a respective one of a plurality of different identifier codes.

10. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 9 wherein the fixed transmitter circuitry is configured to broadcast signals that include (a) one of said identifier codes and (b) a command signal for causing the wearable receiver that is selectively responsive to that identifier code to initiate an operation in accordance with that command signal.

11. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 10 wherein the operation initiated is a change in the output level of a light worn by the user wearing the wearable receiver that is responsive to said one of said identifier codes, said light being worn by the user to help the user see inside the passage.

12. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 8 wherein at least one of the fixed receivers is a component of a fixed transceiver that includes said fixed transmitter circuitry.

13. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 8 wherein each of at least a subplurality of the fixed receivers is a component of a respective one of at least a subplurality of fixed transceivers, and wherein each of at least said subplurality of said fixed transceivers includes a replication of said fixed transmitter circuitry.

14. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 1 further comprising components for detecting direction of travel of a user in the passage.

15. An artificial cave obstacle course system comprising:

an artificial cave passage having an entrance through which a human user can enter the passage;

receiver apparatus worn by a user while in the passage, the receiver apparatus including a light that can be turned on while the user is in the passage to help the user see inside the passage by illuminating an interior portion of the passage being looked at by the user;

a detector for detecting that a user is entering the passage via the entrance; and

transmitter apparatus responsive to the detector for wirelessly signaling the receiver apparatus to turn on the light of the receiver apparatus worn by the user entering the passage.

16. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 15 wherein the passage has an exit through which a human user can exit the passage, and wherein the system further comprises:

a second detector for detecting that a user is exiting the passage via the exit; and

wherein the transmitter apparatus is additionally responsive to the second detector for wirelessly signaling the receiver apparatus to turn off the light of the receiver apparatus worn by the user exiting the passage.

17. An artificial cave obstacle course system comprising:

an artificial cave passage having an entrance through which human users can enter the passage;

a plurality of wearable transceivers, each of which can be worn by a respective one of a plurality of users while in the passage, each of the wearable transceivers including a light that can be turned on to aid the vision of the user wearing that wearable transceiver while in the passage by illuminating an interior portion of the passage being looked at by the user, each of the wearable transceivers having a respective one of a plurality of different user identification codes associated with it, each wearable transceiver wirelessly broadcasting signals that include the user identification code associated with that wearable transceiver, and each wearable transceiver selectively responding to received signals that include the user identification code associated with that wearable transceiver; and

detector apparatus for detecting that a user is entering the passage via the entrance, the detector apparatus using the user identification code wirelessly broadcast by the wearable transceiver worn by that user to wirelessly transmit back to that wearable transceiver signals that include that user identification code and an instruction to turn on the light of that wearable transceiver.

18. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 17 wherein the cave passage has an exit through which human users can exit the passage, and wherein the system further comprises:

second detector apparatus for detecting that a user is exiting the passage via said exit, the second detector apparatus using the user identification code wirelessly broadcast by the wearable transceiver worn by that user to wirelessly transmit back to that wearable transceiver signals that include that user identification code and an instruction to turn off the light of that wearable transceiver.

19. An artificial cave obstacle course system comprising:

an artificial cave passage;

a plurality of wearable transmitters, each of which can be worn by a respective one of a plurality of human users passing through the passage, each wearable transmitter broadcasting a respective one of a plurality of unique user identification signals;

a plurality of fixed receivers spaced from one another throughout the passage, each fixed receiver having a respective broadcast signal reception area in a portion of the passage that is adjacent to that fixed receiver, each fixed receiver being able to receive the user identification signal broadcast by any of the wearable transmitters that are currently within the broadcast signal reception area of that fixed receiver;

circuitry for collecting from each fixed receiver signal information from which that fixed receiver is currently receiving user identification signals; and

components responsive to the signal information collected by the circuitry for collecting for detecting direction of travel of a user in the passage from a sequence in which the fixed receivers receive user identification signals broadcast by the wearable transmitter of that user.

20. The artificial cave obstacle course system defined in claim 19 wherein each of the wearable transmitters is a component of a respective one of a plurality of wearable transceivers, and wherein each of the fixed receivers is a component of a respective one of a plurality of fixed transceivers.