Acoustic Sensor for Vehicle Infection Risk Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle rental and car sharing services face challenges in ensuring hygiene and safety due to the spread of COVID-19, as it is difficult to identify respiratory disease symptoms in passengers, which can lead to increased infection risk for subsequent users.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that uses an acoustic event detector with an acoustic sensor to detect respiratory disease symptoms in vehicle compartments, assess the infection risk, and transmit this information to an external server for communication with user terminals, allowing for remote health condition monitoring and disinfection procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional manual inspection methods are used to assess vehicle hygiene, then service providers can identify obvious contamination, but they cannot detect respiratory disease symptoms or aerosol-based viral particles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical inspection with acoustic sensing technology. The acoustic sensor detects respiratory symptoms (coughing, sneezing) and analyzes acoustic patterns to identify infected passengers, substituting human sensory limitations with electronic detection capabilities that can perceive invisible aerosol-related respiratory events.
Solution Approach 2:
The acoustic sensor acts as an intermediary between the infected passenger and the service provider. It captures acoustic signals from respiratory symptoms and transmits this information to the server, which processes the data to determine infection risk, thereby bridging the detection gap without requiring direct contact or advanced imaging equipment.
2Reliability
If thorough cleaning and disinfection procedures are implemented for every vehicle, then infection risk is reduced, but operational efficiency and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of infection risk before the vehicle is returned to service. By detecting respiratory symptoms during the passenger's ride using acoustic sensors, the system identifies vehicles that require disinfection in advance, allowing cleaning crews to be dispatched proactively rather than reactively, thus minimizing vehicle downtime.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback loop where acoustic detection results are transmitted to the server, which then provides instructions to service providers about which vehicles need disinfection. This feedback mechanism enables dynamic adjustment of cleaning schedules based on actual infection risk rather than fixed protocols, optimizing both safety and operational efficiency.
3Loss of information
If acoustic sensors are deployed in every vehicle to detect respiratory symptoms, then infection risk identification improves, but device complexity and implementation cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The acoustic sensor serves multiple functions: it detects respiratory symptoms (coughing, sneezing), monitors passenger behavior, and can potentially identify other acoustic anomalies in the vehicle environment. This multi-functionality justifies the addition of the sensor by providing value beyond单一的 infection detection.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of deploying complex diagnostic equipment, the system uses simple acoustic sensors that capture sound waves and transmit them to a centralized server for analysis. The server creates a digital representation of the acoustic environment and processes it to extract health information, separating the sensing function from the complex analysis function.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables remote determination of a passenger's health condition, ensuring the safety of subsequent passengers by identifying infection risks and triggering disinfection procedures, thereby enhancing hygiene and safety protocols in shared vehicle management.
Implementation Method 1
an acoustic event detector including an acoustic sensor for detecting an acoustic event in a compartment of a vehicle
Data Source
AI summary
A system for managing facilities comprises an acoustic event detector including an acoustic sensor for detecting an acoustic event in a compartment of a facility, a facility terminal electrically connected to the acoustic event detector, and an external server communicating with the facility terminal via a network. At least one of the facility terminal and the external server comprises a processor. The processor is configured to implement the steps of: extracting a respiratory disease symptom of a user in the facility from the detected acoustic event; assessing the respiratory disease symptom of the user to generate infection risk information associated with an infection risk of a next user expected to use the facility; and transmitting the infection risk information to at least one of an external user terminal, the external server, and a third party via the network. A method for managing facilities is also provided.