Safety device utilizing a beacon

• US 10,154,401 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2015
• Issued: 12/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beaconwatch, Inc.
• Original Assignee: BeaconWatch, LLC
• Inventors: Olesen, Henning L., Wilkes, William F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gelin, Jean A
• Application Number:
  US14/747,822
• Publication Number:
  US 20150373521A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,267 Days
• Field of Search: 4554041, 4554042, 4554141, 4554561, 4554562, 4554563, 455566, 455567
• CPC Class Codes: B63C 9/00 Life-saving in water life-saving in general A62B; arrangement or adaptation of signalling or lighting devices for ships, other waterborne vessels or for equipment for shipping B63B45/00; rescue equipment specially adapted for submarine personnel B63G8/40
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0211 Combination with medical sensor, e.g. for measuring heart rate, temperature
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0277 Communication between units on a local network, e.g. Bluetooth, piconet, zigbee, Wireless Personal Area Networks [WPAN]
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0283 via a telephone network, e.g. cellular GSM
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0291 Housing and user interface of child unit
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0294 Display details on parent unit
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

A system for enhancing the safety of one or more persons includes a Personal Safety Beacon (PSB) device that is coupled with a person being monitored. The PSB device is configured to perform a plurality of measurements indicative of environmental conditions encountered by the person being monitored. The PSB device is also configured to transmit a unique identifier associated with the PSB device. The system further includes one or more portable electronic devices that are in continuous communication with the PSB device. The one or more portable electronic device hosts a monitoring application that monitors the person. The monitoring application is configured to notify a user upon detecting one or more hazardous or unsafe conditions based on the information provided by the PSB device.

Claims

1. A system for enhancing the safety of one or more persons, the system comprising:

a Personal Safety Beacon (PSB) device comprising;

an accelerometer sensor,

a moisture sensor,

a vibration sensor and

an atmospheric sensor, configured to perform a plurality of measurements indicative of environmental conditions encountered by a person being monitored;

a biological processes sensor configured to perform a plurality of measurements indicative of biological conditions encountered by the person; and

an onboard logging facility on the PSB device and configured to store a log history of the measurements indicative of environmental conditions and the measurements indicative of biological conditions;

a water activated switch that when activated indicates a hazardous or unsafe condition; and

one or more portable electronic devices that is in continuous communication with the PSB device, the one or more portable electronic device hosting a monitoring application that monitors the person, wherein the monitoring application is configured to notify a user upon detecting one or more hazardous or unsafe conditions based on the information provided by the PSB device and inquire the onboard logging facility for the log history, wherein notification provided to the user includes both one or more environmental conditions and one or more biological conditions currently being encountered by the person being monitored and previous to the detecting the one or more hazardous or unsafe conditions.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more portable electronic devices comprise one or more of the following:

a smart phone, magnetic health band, smart watch, tablet, iBeacon, iPhone, iPad, Apple watch, Bluetooth watch, laptop, or the like, and wherein the PSB device further comprises a water activated switch.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the biological conditions encountered by the person being monitored includes one or more of:

heart rate;

blood pressure;

sweat index;

shiver index;

body temperature;

oxygen level, dialyses status; and

respiration status of the person being monitored.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the PSB device is further configured to provide situational awareness data related to the person being monitored.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising an On Board Unit (OBU) device attached to a vehicle located in or near the geographic position where the person being monitored may be at risk for harm from hazardous environmental conditions, wherein the OBU device is in communication with the PSB device and the one or more portable electronic devices.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the OBU device is permanently attached to the vehicle.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the OBU device is semi-permanently attached to the vehicle.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the PSB device is further configured to provide location coordinates of the person being monitored, in response to detecting hazardous conditions, and wherein the monitoring application is configured to render the location coordinates to a user, in response to receiving the location coordinates from the PSB device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the person being monitor requires a water rescue, wherein the PSB device is attached to the person'"'"'s life vest and wherein another PSB device is attached to a life ring utilized for the water rescue.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the PSB device includes a transceiver configured to perform a wireless signal transmission triggered by an event and wherein the transceiver is configured to operate according to a plurality of power operation modes.

11. A method for enhancing the safety of a person, the method comprising:

coupling a Personal Safety Beacon (PSB) device with a person being monitored, the PSB device comprising;

an accelerometer sensor,

a moisture sensor,

a vibration sensor, and

an atmospheric sensor, each configured to perform a plurality of measurements indicative of environmental conditions encountered by a person being monitored;

a biological processes sensor configured to perform a plurality of measurements indicative of biological conditions encountered by the person; and

an onboard logging facility on the PSB device and configured to store a log history of the measurements indicative of environmental conditions and the measurements indicative of biological conditions; and

a water activated switch that when activated indicates a hazardous or unsafe condition;

performing, by the PSB device, measurements indicative of environmental conditions and biological conditions encountered by the person being monitored;

storing a log history of the environmental conditions and the biological conditions encountered on the onboard logging facility;

transmitting, periodically, a unique identifier associated with the PSB device to one or more portable electronic devices that are in continuous communication with the PSB device, wherein the transmission includes information related to the plurality of measurements performed by the PSB device;

monitoring a status of the person being monitored by a monitoring application that is hosted by the one or more portable electronic devices based on the information provided by the PSB device; and

upon detecting one or more hazardous or unsafe conditions, inquiring the onboard logging facility for the log history, wherein notification provided to the user includes both one or more environmental conditions and one or more biological conditions currently being encountered by the person being monitored and previous to the detecting the one or more hazardous or unsafe conditions.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the biological conditions encountered by the person being monitored includes one or more of:

heart rate;

blood pressure;

sweat index;

shiver index;

body temperature;

oxygen level, dialyses status; and

respiration status of the person being monitored.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more portable electronic devices comprise one or more of the following:

a smart phone, health band, smart watch, tablet, iBeacon, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Bluetooth watch, laptop, or the like, wherein detecting one or more hazardous or unsafe conditions comprises activation of a water activated switch.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising attaching an On Board Unit (OBU) device to a vehicle located in or near the geographic position where the person being monitored may be at risk for harm from hazardous environmental conditions, wherein the OBU device is in continuous communication with the PSB device and the one or more portable electronic devices.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining a geographic position of the person being monitored using one or more localization techniques based on the information provided by the PSB device and presenting the geographic position of the person to a user.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein attaching an OBU device to a vehicle comprises permanently mounting the OBU device to a ship for monitoring safety of the person in hazardous maritime environment.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising triggering an alarm by the monitoring application responsive to detecting one or more hazardous conditions.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising calibrating the PSB device using the OBU device.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein triggering an alarm comprises sending a notification to a user, the notification indicative of the hazardous conditions detected in the vicinity of the person being monitored.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the PSB device is configured to switch to a power saving mode of operation based at least in part on the plurality of measurements indicative of environmental conditions encountered by the person being monitored.