Portable Device Emergency Beacon Activation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rescue teams face difficulties in locating victims buried under rubble and debris after catastrophic events within the critical 24-hour 'golden day' due to limitations in existing technologies, such as reliance on dogs and highly sensitive listening devices, which are inefficient in covering large areas.
Innovation Solution
A portable communication device equipped with a radio frequency signal transceiver that can switch to a secondary mode to transmit a distinct emergency beacon signal upon instruction, allowing for easier localization by emergency responders, even when buried under debris, while conserving battery power and avoiding network overload.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If rescue teams use traditional methods (dogs, listening devices) to locate victims, then they can detect victims with some accuracy, but the search process is too slow and cannot cover large areas within the critical 24-hour window
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having victims activate their portable communication devices to transmit beacon signals before rescue teams arrive. This way, victims proactively emit location signals that rescue teams can detect, eliminating the need for slow manual searches and enabling immediate localization upon team arrival.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses portable communication devices as intermediaries between victims and rescue teams. These devices transmit beacon signals that serve as a medium for location information, allowing rescue teams to quickly identify victims without direct visual contact or slow manual searching through debris.
2Reliability
If victims continuously transmit beacon signals, then rescue teams can easily locate them, but battery power is depleted too quickly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies periodic action by having the portable communication device transmit beacon signals at regular intervals rather than continuously. The device includes a timer that controls periodic transmission, ensuring the beacon signal remains detectable by rescue teams while conserving battery power by maintaining periodic operation rather than continuous operation.
3Reliability
If all portable communication devices in the area transmit beacon signals simultaneously, then all victims can be located, but the communication network becomes overloaded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses periodic action to stagger beacon signal transmissions from multiple devices. By transmitting at intervals rather than simultaneously, the network handles reduced traffic loads while still enabling all victims to be located over time, preventing network overload while maintaining comprehensive victim detection capability.
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 efficient localization of victims by transmitting a unique beacon signal that can penetrate debris and conserve battery life, focusing rescue efforts and reducing the time required to find survivors within the critical 24-hour window.
Implementation Method 1
a radio frequency signal transceiver configured to receive an instruction signal; and control electronics configured to detect that the instruction signal has been received; and cause the portable communication device to transmit a beacon signal
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
TITLE: Method and Apparatus for Activating an Emergency Beacon Signal A portable communication device comprises a radio frequency signal transceiver configured to receive an instruction signal; and control electronics configured to detect that the instruction signal has been received; and cause the portable communication device to transmit a beacon signal responsive to the instruction signal being detected by the control electronics.