Monitoring safety compliance based on RFID signals

• US 9,792,796 B1
• Filed: 06/25/2014
• Issued: 10/17/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lauka, Wesley Scott, Zerlina, Fransisca Vina, Holland, Jamie Maria
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Zhen Y
• Application Number:
  US14/314,520
• Time in Patent Office: 1,210 Days
• Field of Search: 3405731
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons

Abstract

Where a safety requirement mandates contact with a grippable structural element such as a handle, a handrail, a handlebar or a steering wheel, compliance with the requirement may be determined using one or more manually activated RFID tags provided in designated locations on the grippable structural element. A level of compliance with the requirement during a given activity may be determined based at least in part on the number of RFID signals received from the manually activated RFID tags, which may be compared to a number of workers engaged in the given activity. Based on the level of compliance, relevant feedback in the form of electronic messages, signals or sounds may be identified and provided to one or more of the workers.

Claims

1. A safety compliance system comprising:

a handrail associated with a set of stairs;

a plurality of manually activated radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices provided on the handrail;

an RFID reader;

a feedback device; and

a computing device in communication with the RFID reader,

wherein the computing device is configured to at least;

determine, by at least one of the RFID reader or the computing device, a first number of a plurality of workers traveling on the set of stairs;

identify a second number of RFID signals received at the RFID reader from at least one of the plurality of manually activated RFID devices;

determine whether the second number equals the first number;

upon determining that the second number does not equal the first number,

identify a first feedback message for at least one of the plurality of workers based at least in part on the second number of RFID signals; and

provide the first feedback message to the at least one of the plurality of workers by way of the feedback device.

2. The safety compliance system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further configured to at least:

upon determining that the second number equals the first number,

identify a second feedback message for the at least one of the plurality of workers based at least in part on the second number of RFID signals; and

provide the second feedback message to the at least one of the plurality of workers by way of the feedback device.

3. The safety compliance system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further configured to at least:

identify a third number of RFID signals received at the RFID reader from passive RFID devices associated with each of the plurality of workers,

wherein the first number is determined based at least in part on the third number.

4. The safety compliance system of claim 1, wherein the first feedback message identifies a requirement to hold the handrail while traveling on the set of stairs.

5. A method comprising:

receiving at least one signal from at least one manually activated radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag provided on at least one structural element related to an activity;

determining a number of persons participating in the activity;

identifying a requirement associated with at least one of the at least one structural element or the activity;

determining a number of the persons complying with the requirement based at least in part on the at least one signal from the at least one manually activated RFID tag provided on the at least one structural element related to the activity; and

determining a level of compliance with the requirement based at least in part on the number of the persons participating in the activity and the number of the persons complying with the requirement.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one structural element is at least one of:

a handrail;

a handlebar;

a steering wheel for operating a motor vehicle;

or

a handle of a tool.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one structural element comprises a plurality of manually activated RFID tags in a defined spatial relationship.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one signal is received following a manual activation of the at least one manually activated RFID tag at a first time.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one manually activated RFID tag comprises an open circuit having at least two capacitive elements separated by an air gap, and

wherein the manual activation closes the open circuit at the first time.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the level of compliance with the requirement comprises:

defining a vector of contact with the at least one structural element based at least in part on the at least one signal; and

associating the vector of contact with at least one of the number of persons participating in the activity.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the activity comprises at least one of ascending a set of stairs or descending the set of stairs, and

wherein the requirement is an obligation of at least one of the number of persons participating in the activity to hold the at least one structural element while ascending the set of stairs or while descending the set of stairs.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the number of the persons participating in the activity comprises:

receiving a plurality of signals from RFID tags assigned to each of the number of persons participating in the activity; and

counting a number of the plurality of signals received from the RFID tags.

13. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

identifying feedback relating to the activity based at least in part on the level of compliance with the requirement; and

providing the feedback to at least one of the number of persons participating in the activity on at least one feedback device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the feedback comprises an electronic message, and

wherein providing the feedback to the at least one of the number of persons participating in the activity comprises at least one of:

providing the electronic message to the at least one of the number of persons participating in the activity by way of the feedback device;

or

causing a display of at least some of the electronic message on the feedback device.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the feedback comprises an audio signal, and

wherein providing the feedback to the at least one of the number of persons participating in the activity comprises:

playing at least some of the audio signal on the feedback device.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the feedback is ambient feedback comprising at least one of a predetermined light or a predetermined sound, and

wherein providing the feedback to the at least one of the number of persons participating in the activity comprises at least one of illuminating the predetermined light or playing the predetermined sound.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon,

wherein the instructions, when executed, cause a computer system having at least one computer processor to perform a method comprising:

determining that at least a first worker and a second worker are contacting at least a portion of a grippable element;

identifying a first plurality of radio-frequency identification (RFD)) signals received from manually activated RFID tags disposed on the grippable element, wherein each of the first plurality of RFID signals is transmitted upon contact with at least the portion of the grippable element by one of the first worker or the second worker;

defining a first pattern of contact based at least in part on the first plurality of RFID signals;

generating at least a first vector based at least in part on the first pattern of contact;

determining first information regarding the contact with at least the portion of the grippable element by the one of the first worker or the second worker;

providing at least the first vector and at least some of the first information regarding the contact with at least the portion of the grippable element to a machine learning system as inputs;

receiving at least one output from the machine learning system; and

identifying the first worker based at least in part on the at least one output.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

identifying a second plurality of RFID signals received from the manually activated RFID tags disposed on the grippable element, wherein each of the second plurality of RFID signals is transmitted upon contact with at least the portion of the grippable element by the second worker;

defining a second pattern of contact based at least in part on the second plurality of RFID signals;

generating at least a second vector based at least in part on the second pattern of contact;

determining second information regarding the contact with at least the portion of the grippable element by the second worker, wherein the second information regarding the contact comprises an identity of the second worker; and

training the machine learning system to recognize the identity of the second worker based at least in part on the second vector.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether the second worker complied with a requirement associated with the grippable element based at least in part on the second pattern of contact;

upon determining that the second worker did not comply with the requirement,

providing feedback to the second worker by way of at least one feedback device.