Touchless management system

• US 9,886,838 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2017
• Issued: 02/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WashSense, Inc.
• Original Assignee: WashSense, Inc.
• Inventors: Felch, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Previl, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US15/458,970
• Publication Number:
  US 20170186306A1
• Time in Patent Office: 329 Days
• Field of Search: 340540, 3405731, 3405391, 34053911, 34053912, 3405681, 34028606, 34028607, 340 51, 340 52, 340 56, 340 561
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/245 Reminder of hygiene compliance policies, e.g. of washing hands
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/401 for selecting or indicating operating mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/00 Access restriction access security to prevent unauthorised access H04W12/08; Network selection; Access point selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/04 TPC
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/285 taking into account the mobility of the user
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/325 Power control of control or pilot channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination

Abstract

A touchless management method and system can include: a server beacon, the server beacon including a gesture sensor, a motion sensor, a managed sensor, a server beacon mass storage, and a server beacon power transceiver; detecting gesture data from the gesture sensor; recording sensor data with the managed sensor; a power station including a power station power transceiver, a station control unit, upload coordinator, and a station storage unit; sending a packet from the server beacon to the power station; prioritizing the packet; uploading a message including the sensor data to the power station; and uploading the message to a database server.

Claims

1. A touchless management method comprising:

providing a server beacon, the server beacon including a gesture sensor, a motion sensor, a managed sensor, a server beacon mass storage, and a server beacon power transceiver;

detecting gesture data from the gesture sensor, the gesture data recognized by a processor in the server beacon as corresponding to a command for the managed sensor;

recording sensor data with the managed sensor based on the managed sensor being turned on in response to the gesture data;

uploading the sensor data to the server beacon mass storage;

providing a power station, the power station including a power station power transceiver, a station control unit, upload coordinator, and a station storage unit;

sending a packet from the server beacon to the power station;

prioritizing the packet within an upload coordinator queue of the upload coordinator;

uploading a message including the sensor data from the server beacon power transceiver within the server beacon to the power station through the power station power transceiver; and

uploading the message from the power station to a database server.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting the gesture data includes:

detecting four pulses based on four spread apart fingers moving across a sensory area of the gesture sensor;

detecting two pulses based on two spread apart fingers moving across the sensory area of the gesture sensor; and

detecting one pulse based on four fingers, the four fingers in direct contact along a length of the four fingers, and the four fingers moving across the sensory area of the gesture sensor.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:

prioritizing the packet within the upload coordinator queue includes prioritizing the packet into a low priority queue within the upload coordinator queue based on the packet having a priority flag indicating a low priority;

uploading the message with the sensor data includes uploading the sensor data corresponding to the packet based on the packet being classified into the low priority queue; and

further comprising pausing the upload of the message with the sensor data based on a new packet being classified within a high priority queue of the upload coordinator queue.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

turning the gesture sensor and the managed sensor off based on the motion sensor detecting stillness for longer than a stillness threshold; and

turning the motion sensor off based on the motion sensor detecting motion of the server beacon.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein uploading the sensor data to the server beacon mass storage includes uploading the sensor data with a mass storage queue, the mass storage queue being a circular queue configured to increment sequentially through bits of the server beacon mass storage each time the server beacon mass storage uploads the sensor data, and the mass storage queue further configured to point to a first bit of the server beacon mass storage based on a last bit of the server beacon mass storage being previously written to.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising changing an operation mode of the gesture sensor from a low power mode to a high power mode based on the gesture sensor detecting a motion or an object within a predetermined distance.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein prioritizing the packet within the upload coordinator queue includes prioritizing the packet based on the gesture data detected by the gesture sensor being recognized as corresponding to a priority.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium, useful in association with a processor, including instructions configured to:

control a server beacon, the server beacon including a gesture sensor, a motion sensor, a managed sensor, a server beacon mass storage, and a server beacon power transceiver;

detect gesture data from the gesture sensor, the gesture data recognized by a processor in the server beacon as corresponding to a command for the managed sensor;

record sensor data with the managed sensor based on the managed sensor being turned on in response to the gesture data;

upload the sensor data to the server beacon mass storage;

control a power station, the power station including a power station power transceiver, a station control unit, upload coordinator, and a station storage unit;

send a packet from the server beacon to the power station;

prioritize the packet within an upload coordinator queue of the upload coordinator;

upload a message including the sensor data from the server beacon power transceiver within the server beacon to the power station through the power station power transceiver; and

upload the message from the power station to a database server.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8 wherein the instructions configured to detect the gesture data includes instructions configured to:

detect four pulses based on four spread apart fingers moving across a sensory area of the gesture sensor;

detect two pulses based on two spread apart fingers moving across the sensory area of the gesture sensor; and

detect one pulse based on four fingers, the four fingers in direct contact along a length of the four fingers, and the four fingers moving across the sensory area of the gesture sensor.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 8 wherein:

the instructions configured to prioritize the packet within the upload coordinator queue includes instructions configured to prioritize the packet into a low priority queue within the upload coordinator queue based on the packet having a priority flag indicating a low priority;

the instructions configured to upload the message with the sensor data includes instructions configured to upload the sensor data corresponding to the packet based on the packet being classified into the low priority queue; and

further comprising instructions configured to pause the upload of the message with the sensor data based on a new packet being classified within a high priority queue of the upload coordinator queue.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 8 further comprising instructions configured to:

turn the gesture sensor and the managed sensor off based on the motion sensor detecting stillness for longer than a stillness threshold; and

turn the motion sensor off based on the motion sensor detecting motion of the server beacon.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 8 wherein the instructions configured to upload the sensor data to the server beacon mass storage includes instructions configured to upload the sensor data with a mass storage queue, the mass storage queue being a circular queue configured to increment sequentially through bits of the server beacon mass storage each time the server beacon mass storage uploads the sensor data, and the mass storage queue further configured to point to a first bit of the server beacon mass storage based on a last bit of the server beacon mass storage being previously written to.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 8 further comprising instructions configured to change an operation mode of the gesture sensor from a low power mode to a high power mode based on the gesture sensor detecting a motion or an object within a predetermined distance.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 8 wherein the instructions configured to prioritize the packet within the upload coordinator queue includes instructions configured to prioritize the packet based on the gesture data detected by the gesture sensor being recognized as corresponding to a priority.

15. A touchless management system comprising:

a server beacon, the server beacon including a gesture sensor, a motion sensor, a managed sensor, a server beacon mass storage, and a server beacon power transceiver, the gesture sensor configured to detect gesture data, the server beacon including a beacon processor configured to recognize the gesture data as corresponding to a command for the managed sensor, the managed sensor configured to record sensor data based on the managed sensor being turned on in response to the gesture data, the server beacon configured to upload the sensor data to the server beacon mass storage;

a power station, the power station including a power station power transceiver, a station control unit, upload coordinator, and a station storage unit, the power station configured to receive a packet from the server beacon power transceiver, the power station including a station processor configured to prioritize the packet within an upload coordinator queue of the upload coordinator, the power station power transceiver configured to receive a message including the sensor data from the server beacon power transceiver within the server beacon; and

a database server configured to receive the message from the power station.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein detecting the gesture sensor is configured to detect the gesture data including:

four pulses based on four spread apart fingers moving across a sensory area of the gesture sensor;

two pulses based on two spread apart fingers moving across the sensory area of the gesture sensor; and

one pulse based on four fingers, the four fingers in direct contact along a length of the four fingers, and the four fingers moving across the sensory area of the gesture sensor.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein:

the power station is configured to prioritize the packet within the upload coordinator queue into a low priority queue within the upload coordinator queue based on the packet having a priority flag indicating a low priority;

the power station power transceiver is configured to receive the message with the sensor data corresponding to the packet based on the packet being classified into the low priority queue; and

the server beacon configured to pause an upload of the message with the sensor data based on a new packet being classified within a high priority queue of the upload coordinator queue.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein:

the server beacon is configured to turn the gesture sensor and the managed sensor off based on the motion sensor detecting stillness for longer than a stillness threshold; and

the server beacon configured to turn the motion sensor off based on the motion sensor detecting motion of the server beacon.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the server beacon includes a mass storage queue, the mass storage queue being a circular queue configured to increment sequentially through bits of the server beacon mass storage each time the server beacon mass storage uploads the sensor data, and the mass storage queue further configured to point to a first bit of the server beacon mass storage based on a last bit of the server beacon mass storage being previously written to.

20. The system of claim 15 wherein the power station including the station processor is configured to prioritize the packet based on the gesture data detected by the gesture sensor being recognized as corresponding to a priority.