Distributed Muster Navigation for Cruise Ship Passenger Accounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional muster drills on ocean-going vessels, particularly in cruise ships, can be confusing and burdensome for passengers, especially the elderly and children, leading to potential confusion and missed educational opportunities due to simultaneous participation, which may compromise the effectiveness of passenger accounting and emergency evacuation.
Innovation Solution
A distributed muster system using mobile devices to assign individual muster locations, initiate a timer for completion, record drill completion, and provide navigation assistance, with optional video playback and question answering, reducing chaos and burden by allowing completion over time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If all passengers participate in the muster drill simultaneously, then the drill can be completed in a short time, but confusion and chaos increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the passenger population into multiple groups, each assigned to different muster stations throughout the vessel. This segmentation allows passengers to complete the muster drill in smaller, distributed batches rather than all simultaneously, reducing confusion while maintaining overall completion efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically assigns passengers to muster stations based on real-time factors such as emergency location, passenger mobility needs, and muster station capacity. This dynamic allocation optimizes drill completion time while preventing overcrowding and confusion at any single location
2Ease of operation
If crew members provide individual assistance to elderly and children, then these passengers can locate muster stations more easily, but crew workload and potential for human error increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a mobile application that guides passengers independently to their assigned muster stations using turn-by-turn navigation and visual cues. Elderly and children can complete the drill autonomously without crew assistance, eliminating human error while maintaining ease of operation through user-friendly interfaces
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile application serves as an intermediary between the ship's muster system and passengers. It provides personalized guidance, accessibility accommodations, and real-time status updates, replacing the need for direct crew intervention while ensuring vulnerable passengers receive appropriate support
3Productivity
If the muster drill is conducted for all passengers at once, then the overall process is completed quickly, but educational effectiveness decreases due to missed opportunities
Solution Approach 1:
The system delivers safety education content to passengers before they arrive at their muster stations, using the mobile application to provide video tutorials, interactive quizzes, and information about life jacket usage. This preliminary education ensures passengers are informed before the actual drill, maintaining effectiveness while allowing rapid throughput
Solution Approach 2:
The muster drill system provides continuous education and confirmation throughout the process, not just at the beginning. Passengers receive real-time feedback, can retake educational modules if needed, and confirm understanding at each stage, ensuring comprehensive education while maintaining efficient completion times
Data Source
AI summary
Distributed muster includes distributing to different mobile devices an identity of an assigned muster location of an ocean-going vessel, and associating each mobile device both with a corresponding passenger of the ocean-going vessel, and also with the assigned muster location. Thereafter, a timer initiates that defines a period during which a muster drill must be completed by all of the passengers and, in response, a message is transmitted to each mobile device that the muster drill has commenced. During the period, as each mobile device is sensed within a geographically defined area of a correspondingly assigned muster location, a record of the completion of the muster drill by the passenger associated with the sensed mobile device is recorded in the memory. As well, subsequent to a lapsing of the timer, a listing is displayed of any passenger not recorded as having completed the muster drill.