A method for alarming a single person in distress at sea and a communication device using the method

Abstract

This invention proposes a method for communicating a single-person distress alarm at sea, comprising the following steps: collecting the person's current status data at a first preset time interval; identifying the person's identity when the current status data exceeds a threshold; determining an alarm based on the person's identity; and issuing an alarm signal based on the result of the alarm determination. This method leverages information about the person's movements and surroundings collected by sensors as alarm determination criteria, and advances the time of alarm issuance. This avoids the problem of signal attenuation after a person falls into the water, which shortens the communication distance and increases the probability of alarm failure. This effectively improves the success rate of person-overboard alarms.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of maritime communications, and in particular relates to a method for communicating a distress alarm for a single person at sea and a communication device applying the method. Background Art

[0002] At present, the main means of reporting distress within the visual range of people falling into the water in the civilian field are: 9GHz-SART, AIS-SART, DSC and Beidou alarm.

[0003] The 9GHz-SART (Search and Rescue Radar Transponder) is a relatively simple, traditional positioning device operating in the 9.2GHz-9.5GHz range. It is primarily used to indicate the position of ships in distress. When a ship is in distress, the search and rescue radar transponder is manually or automatically activated and enters a triggered state. Upon receiving a radar detection pulse from a rescue vessel or aircraft, the search and rescue radar transponder transmits a response signal and indicates its position on the other party's radar screen with 12 consecutive bright dots. Radar can determine the direction and distance of the distressed object. The 9GHz-SART alarm system operates at a high frequency (>9GHz), resulting in significant signal attenuation in water. It requires an altitude of at least 1m above the water surface to operate. However, maintaining this altitude is difficult after a person falls into the water, necessitating the design of an early warning mechanism to issue an alarm signal before the person falls into the water.

[0004] AIS-SART (Automatic Identification Search and Rescue Transmitter) is an automatic ship location device. The core technology of AIS-SART is a self-organizing maritime wireless data link. This link operates on maritime VHF channels and utilizes a self-organizing time division multiple access (STDMA) algorithm, enabling self-organizing communication. This "self-organizing communication" means that each mobile station participating in the data link can autonomously select its own transmission plan without control from the base station, and can automatically avoid and resolve communication collisions.

[0005] DSC alarms are transmitted using frequency-shift keying (FSK) modulated signals on the ultra-shortwave 156.525 MHz (CH70) band. Currently, there are only four types of ultra-shortwave DSC messages: distress call, distress acknowledgement, all-vessels distress relay call, and single-vessel distress relay call.

[0006] The existing automatic alarm triggering mechanism for people falling into the water is that after a person falls into the water, the seawater medium conducts between two contacts on the outer shell of the distress alarm device, forming a power circuit, triggering the alarm unit to automatically send out an alarm signal. However, the main problems with this alarm mechanism are:

[0007] After a person falls into the water, the alarm device is close to the water surface (height < 0.5m). Due to the height and the influence of waves, the electromagnetic wave attenuates significantly, resulting in a significant shortening of the communication distance and a lower alarm success rate.

[0008] The alarm device is usually placed in the pocket of a life jacket and is not in full contact with the seawater medium. It is prone to poor contact, which leads to unstable power conduction, causing the alarm device to repeatedly restart and position, and fail to send out an alarm signal in time. Summary of the Invention

[0009] In order to solve the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art, the present application proposes a method for alarming a single person in distress at sea and a communication device using the method, wherein:

[0010] The method for communicating a single person in distress at sea comprises the following steps:

[0011] Collecting current status data of the personnel according to a first preset time interval;

[0012] When the current status data exceeds the threshold, personnel identification is performed;

[0013] Make alarm decisions based on personnel's identities;

[0014] An alarm signal is issued based on the result of the alarm judgment.

[0015] Furthermore, the current status data of the person includes current acceleration, air pressure and temperature data.

[0016] Furthermore, when the collected acceleration, air pressure and temperature data all exceed the threshold, the identity of the person is identified.

[0017] Furthermore, the identities of personnel include surface crew members and pilots, and the identities of monitoring personnel need to be proactively set in advance.

[0018] Furthermore, the alarm determination based on the identity of the personnel includes:

[0019] If the monitoring personnel are surface crew members, the alarm judgment is made based on the collected acceleration data;

[0020] If the monitoring person is a pilot, an alarm will be determined based on the collected acceleration, air pressure and temperature data.

[0021] Furthermore, if a surface crew member is in distress, an alarm signal will be issued immediately and continuously when the collected acceleration data exceeds a threshold.

[0022] Furthermore, if the pilot is in distress, the current status data of the personnel will be collected at a second preset time interval. When the acceleration, air pressure or temperature data exceeds the threshold for multiple consecutive times, a warning signal will be issued; whether to issue an alarm signal will be determined based on whether the alarm is manually cleared within a period of time after the warning signal is issued.

[0023] Furthermore, the decision on whether to issue an alarm signal based on whether the alarm is manually cleared within a period of time after the early warning signal is issued specifically includes:

[0024] continuously issuing a warning signal at a third preset time interval;

[0025] At the same time, the number of times the warning signal is issued is recorded;

[0026] If the alarm is manually cleared before the number of warning signal transmissions reaches the preset value, the system will return to the initial working state.

[0027] If the number of warning signal transmissions reaches the preset value and the alarm has not been manually cleared, an alarm signal will be issued.

[0028] Furthermore, the alarm signal includes information on the identity, location and nature of the distress of the person.

[0029] The single-person distress alarm communication device proposed in this application includes:

[0030] A central control unit capable of operating the above-mentioned single-person distress alarm communication method at sea;

[0031] A Beidou alarm module includes a global satellite positioning chip connected to the central control unit, has Beidou positioning and short message communication functions, and can send information about people in distress via short messages;

[0032] Ultra-short wave alarm module, with ultra-short wave alarm communication function, can send distress alarm information to surrounding ships through 70CH channel;

[0033] The sensor unit includes an acceleration sensor, an air pressure sensor, and a temperature sensor connected to the central control unit, capable of collecting the acceleration values ​​of the monitored person in the three axes, the air pressure value of the monitored person's environment, and the temperature value of the monitored person's environment;

[0034] A power management module, comprising a power circuit and a management circuit connected to the central control unit, for providing each module with an operating voltage that meets the current working state;

[0035] The timing module includes a timing chip capable of generating a timing signal;

[0036] LED modules, including LED warning lights, capable of generating light alarm signals;

[0037] The external sound module, including audio equipment, can generate sound alarm signals, in which the early warning tone and the alarm tone are set separately.

[0038] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0039] The present invention makes full use of the movement information of people in distress and the environmental information collected by sensors as alarm judgment conditions, and advances the time point of alarm issuance, avoiding the problem of shortened communication distance and high probability of alarm failure caused by large signal attenuation when the alarm signal is issued only after people fall into the water, thereby effectively improving the success rate of alarms for people falling into the water. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the flow of the alarm communication method of the present invention,

[0041] Figure 2 This is a principle block diagram of the alarm communication device of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solution of the present invention, the present invention is further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0043] Alarm communication method

[0044] Identification method: Before use, the alarm system must be configured with personnel identification information. This can be done using a toggle switch, with one end identifying the surface personnel and the other identifying the pilot. Alternatively, RF can be used to automatically read the user's ID code.

[0045] Step 1

[0046] Low-power standby after power on: Works in low-power mode, collects current acceleration, air pressure, and temperature data at regular intervals, and determines whether the collected acceleration, air pressure, and temperature sensor data do not exceed the threshold. If so, it continues to maintain low-power standby mode; otherwise, it performs personnel identification.

[0047] Step 2

[0048] Determine whether the collected data is from a surface crew member in distress: if so, proceed to step 3; otherwise, proceed to step 4;

[0049] Step 3

[0050] If the crew member is judged to be in distress, the subsequent judgment is made based on the acceleration sensor: if the sampling value of the acceleration sensor exceeds the threshold, it is considered that the crew member has fallen from the ship deck. Considering that the height from the ship deck to the sea level is usually lower than the height alarm threshold, that is, the time it takes for a person to fall from the deck to the sea surface is very short, so immediately go to step 7; if the sampling value of the acceleration sensor does not exceed the threshold, then keep at step 3;

[0051] Step 4

[0052] If the pilot is judged to be in distress, the system will make subsequent judgments based on the acceleration sensor, air pressure and temperature sensors: enter full power mode, increase the sensor sampling frequency, and proceed to step 5;

[0053] Step 5

[0054] High-frequency sampling and processing of data from various sensors. If any one of the acceleration, pressure, or temperature sensor data exceeds the threshold for M consecutive times, proceed to step 6; otherwise, remain in step 5.

[0055] Step 6

[0056] Continuously send warning signals at intervals of time t (the warning signal is used to alert the monitored person in the form of sound): If the warning signal is sent no more than K times and the monitored person manually cancels the alarm, it is considered a false alarm and the system re-enters the low-power standby state; if the warning signal is sent K times and the monitored person does not manually cancel the alarm, then go to step 7;

[0057] Step 7

[0058] Alarm signals are continuously sent through the alarm channel, and alarm information containing personnel identity, location, nature of distress, etc. is continuously sent through the dedicated alarm channel at a fixed period.

[0059] Alarm communication device

[0060] It is mainly composed of a low-power central processing unit (MCU), a power amplifier and AGC module, a mixing and filtering module, a GNSS positioning chip, a Beidou alarm module, an ultra-short wave alarm module sensor (accelerometer, pressure sensor, temperature sensor) unit and a power management module:

[0061] The accelerometer in this device is a three-axis sensor (X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis). The sensor outputs the acceleration value in the three-axis direction. It is mainly used to measure the three-axis acceleration experienced by people in distress when falling from platforms such as ships and aircraft, as well as the impact value experienced during the entry into the sea or landing phase. The results are sent to the central processing unit for analysis and processing. If the alarm threshold is reached, the alarm mechanism is triggered.

[0062] The air pressure sensor mainly detects the air pressure value of the environment where the person in distress is located, and can follow the air pressure changes of the environment where the person in distress is located in real time;

[0063] The temperature sensor mainly detects the temperature of the environment where the person in distress is located, and can follow the temperature changes of the environment where the person in distress is located in real time;

[0064] GNSS positioning chip, which can obtain the latitude, longitude and altitude information of equipment and personnel in real time, and operates at the B1 frequency;

[0065] This device has a working mode selection function and can set the working status according to different personnel identities such as crew members and pilots. The working status is set by external parameter addition or automatic sensing using RFC. The MCU used in this device has an operating main frequency of not less than 72MHz in full power consumption mode, and the sensor sampling rate is not less than 20Hz.

[0066] In summary, the above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. All equivalent changes and modifications made according to the patent scope of the present invention and the contents of the specification are within the scope covered by the patent of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for alarm communication of a single person in distress at sea, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Collecting current status data of the personnel according to a first preset time interval; When the current status data exceeds the threshold, personnel identification is performed; Alarm judgment is made based on the identity of the personnel, including surface crew members and pilots. The identity of the monitored personnel needs to be set in advance; Alarm judgment based on personnel identity includes: If the monitoring personnel are surface crew members, the alarm judgment is made based on the collected acceleration data; If the monitoring person is a pilot, an alarm is determined based on the collected acceleration, air pressure, and temperature data; An alarm signal is issued based on the result of the alarm judgment.

2. The method for alarming a single person in distress at sea according to claim 1, characterized in that: The current status data of a person includes current acceleration, air pressure and temperature data.

3. The method for alarming a single person in distress at sea according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the collected acceleration, air pressure and temperature data exceed the threshold, the person's identity is identified.

4. The method for alarming a single person in distress at sea according to claim 1, wherein: If a surface crew member is in distress, when the collected acceleration data exceeds the threshold, an alarm signal will be issued immediately and continuously.

5. The method for alarming a single person in distress at sea according to claim 4, characterized in that: If the pilot is in distress, the system will start collecting data on the personnel's current status at a second preset time interval. If the acceleration, air pressure or temperature data exceeds the threshold for multiple consecutive times, a warning signal will be issued. Whether to issue an alarm signal will be determined based on whether the alarm is manually cleared within a period of time after the warning signal is issued.

6. The method for alarming a single person in distress at sea according to claim 5, characterized in that: Whether to issue an alarm signal depends on whether the alarm is manually cleared within a period of time after the early warning signal is issued. Specifically, the following are included: continuously issuing a warning signal at a third preset time interval; At the same time, the number of times the warning signal is issued is recorded; If the alarm is manually cleared before the number of warning signal transmissions reaches the preset value, the system will return to the initial working state. If the number of warning signal transmissions reaches the preset value and the alarm has not been manually cleared, an alarm signal will be issued.

7. The method for alarming a single person in distress at sea according to claim 6, characterized in that: The alarm signal includes information about the identity, location and nature of the distress of the person.

8. A single-person distress alarm communication device at sea, characterized in that: include: A central control unit capable of running the single-person distress alarm communication method at sea according to any one of claims 1 to 7; A Beidou alarm module includes a global satellite positioning chip connected to the central control unit, has Beidou positioning and short message communication functions, and can send information about people in distress via short messages; Ultra-short wave alarm module, with ultra-short wave alarm communication function, can send distress alarm information to surrounding ships through 70CH channel; The sensor unit includes an acceleration sensor, an air pressure sensor, and a temperature sensor connected to the central control unit, capable of collecting the acceleration values ​​of the monitored person in the three axes, the air pressure value of the monitored person's environment, and the temperature value of the monitored person's environment; A power management module, comprising a power circuit and a management circuit connected to the central control unit, for providing each module with an operating voltage that meets the current working state; The timing module includes a timing chip capable of generating a timing signal; LED modules, including LED warning lights, capable of generating light alarm signals; The external sound module, including audio equipment, can generate sound alarm signals, in which the early warning tone and the alarm tone are set separately.

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