Bluetooth Beacon System for Marine Hazard Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing navigation systems fail to accurately alert mariners of navigational hazards, such as buoys and fishing traps, especially in extreme weather conditions, and do not provide owner information for tracing purposes, leading to potential collisions and inefficiencies in communication.
Innovation Solution
A beacon system using Bluetooth signals or similar radio/light waves to provide location and owner information, which can be affixed to various hazards and life jackets, allowing for precise navigation and retrieval, and integrated with marine Auto-Pilot systems, enabling vessels to autonomously avoid hazards without requiring a handshake with receiving devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If buoys and traditional navigation aids are used to mark navigational hazards, then mariners can identify hazard locations, but visibility and effectiveness are reduced during extreme weather conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces passive mechanical navigation aids (buoys, lights, sound signals) with an active electronic beacon system that uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmitters and receivers. The beacon device attached to navigational hazards transmits digital signals that can be received by marine vessels equipped with BLE receivers, providing reliable hazard identification that is not affected by fog, rain, or other extreme weather conditions that block visual and acoustic signals.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of navigation aids from passive visual/acoustic signaling to active electronic communication. The beacon system operates continuously in the electromagnetic spectrum (BLE radio waves) rather than relying on visible light or sound waves that are blocked by weather. This parameter change enables reliable navigation aid detection regardless of atmospheric conditions.
2Loss of information
If cameras are installed on buoys to transmit visuals to ships, then mariners can see hazard locations, but the system becomes complex, expensive, and unreliable during extreme weather
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential function of hazard location identification from the complex camera system. Instead of using cameras to capture and transmit visual images, the invention uses simple BLE transmitters to broadcast hazard location data and receivers on vessels to receive this data. This extraction of the core function eliminates the complexity, power requirements, and weather vulnerability of camera systems while maintaining effective hazard information transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs inexpensive BLE beacon devices that can be easily attached to navigational hazards and replaced if needed. These simple electronic transmitters are far less complex and costly than camera systems, and their failure does not pose the same risks as camera system failures. The low cost enables widespread deployment of beacons on numerous hazards.
3Reliability
If centralized navigation control systems are used to monitor and alert ships, then collision prevention is improved, but the systems become cumbersome and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the centralized navigation control function into distributed, independent beacon units attached to individual navigational hazards. Each beacon operates autonomously, transmitting its location and hazard type information without requiring connection to a central control system. Vessels receive signals from multiple beacons independently, enabling collision prevention through decentralized, simple technology rather than complex centralized monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The beacon system enables navigational hazards to 'self-advertise' their presence and location through automatic BLE signal transmission. The beacons contain embedded information about their location, hazard type, and owner details, allowing them to provide navigation assistance and identification services autonomously without requiring external control or monitoring systems.
4Loss of information
If fishing traps are marked with buoys and ropes, then trap locations are identifiable, but the ropes can become tangled with vessel propellers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical rope-and-buoy marking system with an electronic beacon system. The beacon transmitter attached to or near the fishing trap emits BLE signals that allow vessels to identify trap locations without physical markers extending into the water. This eliminates the mechanical ropes that cause propeller entanglement while maintaining effective trap location identification through electronic signaling.
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
The beacon system provides accurate and reliable alerts to mariners, reducing collision risks and enabling efficient navigation through waters, even in adverse weather, while being cost-effective and adaptable to various environments.
Implementation Method 1
The beacons are equipped with Bluetooth and/or similar radio or light waves capable of providing the location of the respective beacon
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure discloses a system wherein coin-sized beacons can be attached to marine and other hazards such as buoys, shipwrecks, jetties and the like. The beacons can also be configured to a user's life jacket or other intimate item worn by divers or passengers. The beacon is equipped with an ability to emit sound/radio or light (Bluetooth or otherwise) waves that are detected by a user's receiving device hardware located aboard a vessel to alert the user of an approaching hazard. The signal can be configured to provide the location or distance and proximity to the vessel of the beacon and contact information of the beacon's registered owner. The beacon can continuously transmit these signals to alert oncoming vessels of the location of the beacon, or aid in the recovery of an overboard passenger or keep track of underwater divers. Further, the receiving device hardware can be adapted to a vessel's navigation system to automatically avoid marine hazards using the vessel's autopilot system.