Environment monitoring method and apparatus therefor

• US 9,537,670 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2015
• Issued: 01/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Center For Integrated Smart Sensors Foundation (Center for Integrated Smart Sensors)
• Original Assignee: Center For Integrated Smart Sensors Foundation (Center for Integrated Smart Sensors)
• Inventors: Cho, Hyun Tae, Kyung, Chong Min
• Primary Examiner(s): BEE, ANDREW W.
• Application Number:
  US14/676,994
• Publication Number:
  US 20160042630A1
• Time in Patent Office: 642 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 19/00 Alarms responsive to two or more different undesired or abnormal conditions, e.g. burglary and fire, abnormal temperature and abnormal rate of flow
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/18 Status alarms G08B21/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/182 Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4257 Smart batteries, e.g. electronic circuits inside the housing of the cells or batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0048 Detection of remaining charge capacity or state of charge [SOC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2825 Reporting to a device located outside the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with telemetering systems H04M11/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2827 Reporting to a device within the home network; wherein the reception of the information reported automatically triggers the execution of a home appliance functionality
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

An environment monitoring method and an apparatus therefor are provided. The environment monitoring apparatus includes a charging unit configured to charge power necessary for monitoring environments, a sensing unit configured to receive the power from the charging unit and to sense peripheral environments through a plurality of different sensors which are selected according to a request of a user, a controller configured to control settings of the sensing unit according to the peripheral environments; a communication unit configured to transmit the sensed information of the sensing unit to a server so that the server shares the sensed information with a plurality of smart devices, and a display unit configured to display the sensed information to the user and to display a notification according to the sensed information to the user.

Claims

1. An environment monitoring apparatus comprising:

a charging unit configured to charge power necessary for monitoring environments;

a sensing unit configured to receive the power from the charging unit and to sense peripheral environments through a plurality of different sensors which are selected according to a request of a user;

a controller configured to control settings of the sensing unit according to the peripheral environments;

a communication unit configured to transmit the sensed information of the sensing unit to a server so that the server shares the sensed information with a plurality of smart devices; and

a display unit configured to display the sensed information to the user and to display a notification according to the sensed information to the user,

wherein the controller selects sensors to be activated among the sensors using time information and controls the sensors so that the sensors operate in a predetermined time according to a request of the user using the time information.

2. The environment monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the charging unit comprises:

an illumination sensor configured to adjust a charging mode according to day and night, and

wherein the charging unit generates and stores power from the light of the sun during the day using the illumination sensor and operates in a low-power mode at night using the stored power.

3. The environment monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of different sensors comprises an ozone concentration sensor, a fine dust sensor, a carbon monoxide sensor, a volatile organic compounds (VOC) sensor, an air pollution sensor, a radioactivity sensor, a ultraviolet (UV) index sensor, a camera, and a microphone.

4. The environment monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller configures the plurality of different sensors as predetermined sets and selects the sets automatically or manually according to a request of the user.

5. The environment monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller differently controls duty cycles of the sensors.

6. The environment monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller differently controls report periods of the sensors according to the peripheral environments or a request of the user.

7. The environment monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the communication unit performs time synchronization through a wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) access point (AP) or a plurality of smart devices when transmitting the sensed information through a network.

8. The environment monitoring apparatus of claim 7, wherein the controller controls sensing settings of the sensing unit according to the synchronized time.

9. The environment monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller separately turns on/off the sensors according to current power and charging states or selects a set of the sensors as a set for low-power consumption.

10. An environment monitoring system comprising:

an environment monitoring apparatus configured to sense peripheral environments and to transmit the sensed information to a server;

the server configured to receive and store the sensed information from the environment monitoring apparatus and to share the sensed information through a wireless router and the Internet; and

a plurality of smart devices, each of the smart devices configured to receive the sensed information from the server or the environment monitoring apparatus and to display a notification on the sensed information to a user,

wherein the environment monitoring apparatus comprises;

a sensing unit configured to receive power from a charging unit and to sense peripheral environments through a plurality of different sensors which are selected according to a request of the user; and

a controller selects sensors to be activated among the sensors using time information and controls the sensors so that the sensors operate in a predetermined time according to a request of the user using the time information.

11. The environment monitoring system of claim 10, wherein each of the smart devices automatically displays the notification on the sensed information to the user through an application previously installed in each of the smart devices when each of the smart devices enters an area of a Wi-Fi AP.

12. The environment monitoring system of claim 10, wherein each of the smart devices connects to the server which shares the sensed information with each of the smart devices through the wireless router and the Internet.

13. An environment monitoring method comprising:

charging power necessary for monitoring environments;

receiving the charged power and sensing peripheral environments through a sensing unit including a plurality of different sensors which are selected according to a request of a user;

controlling settings of the sensing unit according to the peripheral environments;

transmitting the sensed information of the sensing unit to a server so that the server shares the sensed information with a plurality of smart devices through a wireless router; and

displaying the sensed information to the user and displaying a notification according to the sensed information to the user,

wherein the controlling comprises;

selecting sensors to be activated among the sensors using time information and controls the sensors so that the sensors operate in a predetermined time according to a request of the user using the time information.

14. The environment monitoring method of claim 13, wherein the controlling of the settings of the sensing unit according to the peripheral environments comprises:

configuring the plurality of different sensors as predetermined sets and selecting the sets automatically or manually according to a request of the user.

15. The environment monitoring method of claim 13, wherein the controlling of the settings of the sensing unit according to the peripheral environments comprises:

differently controlling report periods of the sensors according to the peripheral environments or a request of the user.

16. The environment monitoring method of claim 13, wherein the controlling of the settings of the sensing unit according to the peripheral environments comprises:

separately turning on/off the sensors according to current power and charging states or selecting a set of the sensors as a set for low-power consumption.