Personal fall detection system and method
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for detecting falling of a person during a physical activity, wherein the person is in communication with a wearable device having an accelerometer and a transmitter for transmitting data from the accelerometer, the method comprising:
- receiving, with a transceiver on a portable electronic device, data from the accelerometer in response to a movement of the wearable device;
transitioning, with a processor on the portable electronic device, between operational states in a plurality of operational states based on the received data and time elapsed since a last state transition;
detecting, with the processor, falling of the person based on a predefined sequence of state transitions including at least one transition to a falling state having the data being equivalent to zero, wherein the time elapsed at the falling state exceeds a predefined maximum time threshold; and
transmitting a report of the falling of the person;
wherein the predefined sequence includes transitions from a freefall state to the falling state via a landing state, wherein the freefall state has a data value being between zero and a minimum data threshold, and the landing state has a data value exceeding a predefined maximum data threshold.
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Abstract
A computer-implemented system and method for detecting a fall includes a wearable device with an accelerometer and a transmitter for transmitting data to a portable electronic device. The method comprises receiving data from the accelerometer in response to a movement of the wearable device; transitioning between operational states in a plurality of operational states based on the received data and time elapsed since a last state transition; and detecting falling of the person based on a predefined sequence of state transitions including at least one transition to a falling state having the data being equivalent to zero, where the time elapsed at the falling state exceeds a predefined maximum time threshold.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for detecting falling of a person during a physical activity, wherein the person is in communication with a wearable device having an accelerometer and a transmitter for transmitting data from the accelerometer, the method comprising:
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receiving, with a transceiver on a portable electronic device, data from the accelerometer in response to a movement of the wearable device; transitioning, with a processor on the portable electronic device, between operational states in a plurality of operational states based on the received data and time elapsed since a last state transition; detecting, with the processor, falling of the person based on a predefined sequence of state transitions including at least one transition to a falling state having the data being equivalent to zero, wherein the time elapsed at the falling state exceeds a predefined maximum time threshold; and transmitting a report of the falling of the person; wherein the predefined sequence includes transitions from a freefall state to the falling state via a landing state, wherein the freefall state has a data value being between zero and a minimum data threshold, and the landing state has a data value exceeding a predefined maximum data threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computer-implemented method for detecting a fall of a person, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a wearable sensor device that includes an accelerometer and a transmitter for transmitting data from the accelerometer, and which is adapted to be worn by the person; portable electronic device that includes a transceiver for receiving the data from the accelerometer of the sensor device; receiving, with the transceiver on the portable electronic device, data from the accelerometer in response to a movement of the wearable device, wherein the data is equivalent to zero in a falling state; transitioning, with a processor on the portable electronic device, from the falling state to an active state based on the received data being between a predefined minimum data threshold and a predefined maximum data threshold; transitioning, with the processor, from the active state to a freefall state based on the received data being between zero and the predefined minimum data threshold; transitioning, with the processor, from the freefall state to a landing state based on the received data exceeding the predefined maximum data threshold provided time elapsed since the freefall state is less than a predefined minimum time threshold; transitioning, with the processor, the landing state to the falling state based on the received data being equivalent to zero; and detecting, with the processor, falling of the person in response to a transition from the freefall state to the falling state via the landing state, wherein time elapsed at the falling state exceeds a predefined maximum time threshold. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for detecting falling of a person during a physical activity, the system comprising:
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a wearable device in communication with the person, wherein the wearable device includes an accelerometer and a transmitter for transmitting data from the accelerometer; and a portable electronic device having a processor and a memory for receiving the data transmitted from the transmitter of the wearable device, wherein the portable electronic device is configured to; receive the data from the accelerometer in response to a movement of the wearable device; transition between operational states in a plurality of operational states based on the received data and time elapsed since a last state transition; detect falling of the person based on a predefined sequence of state transitions including at least one transition to a falling state having the data being equivalent to zero, wherein the time elapsed at the falling state exceeds a predefined maximum time threshold; and transmitting a report of the falling of the person; wherein the predefined sequence includes transitions from a freefall state to the falling state via a landing state, wherein the freefall state has a data value being between zero and a minimum data threshold, and the landing state has a data value exceeding a predefined maximum data threshold. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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Specification