Dynamic Evacuation Route Calculation for Building Automation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current building automation systems lack the capability to accurately determine and dynamically direct occupants to the safest evacuation route during emergencies, potentially leading to delays and disastrous consequences.
Innovation Solution
A server-based system that integrates with building automation systems to receive sensor data from various zones, calculate zone and route danger levels, and transmit the safest evacuation route to user interfaces, considering past instances, real-time data, and predicted emergency movements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If building automation systems use traditional static evacuation routes, then system complexity is reduced, but emergency response effectiveness deteriorates due to inability to adapt to changing emergency conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically calculates and updates evacuation routes in real-time based on changing emergency conditions detected by sensors. The server continuously receives sensor data, recalculates zone danger levels, and updates the safest evacuation routes, transforming static evacuation signage into a dynamic response system that adapts to evolving emergency situations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback loops where sensor data from the building environment continuously feeds back to the server, which then updates evacuation route calculations. This closed-loop system monitors emergency conditions (smoke, heat, gas levels) and adjusts evacuation guidance accordingly, ensuring occupants receive accurate real-time direction based on actual environmental conditions.
2Measurement precision
If the system calculates evacuation routes in real-time based on sensor data, then evacuation accuracy is improved, but calculation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates multiple potential evacuation routes and stores them before emergencies occur. When an emergency is detected, the server selectively evaluates and updates these pre-existing routes based on current sensor data, rather than generating routes from scratch. This preliminary preparation significantly reduces real-time calculation requirements while maintaining high accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters used for route evaluation dynamically based on emergency conditions. Instead of using fixed criteria, the server adjusts route selection parameters (such as zone danger levels, evacuation time estimates, and safety margins) based on real-time sensor readings, allowing rapid recalculation with high precision by focusing only on critical parameter changes.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If the system integrates multiple sensor types and historical data analysis, then emergency detection capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The server is designed as a multi-functional platform that handles diverse sensor inputs (smoke detectors, heat sensors, gas detectors, motion sensors) through a unified processing architecture. This universal system performs multiple functions: data reception, hazard identification, zone danger level calculation, route optimization, and display control, eliminating the need for separate specialized systems for each function and managing complexity through integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges historical data storage, real-time sensor processing, predictive analytics, and evacuation route calculation into a single integrated server platform. By combining these previously separate functions into one centralized system, the patent reduces overall system complexity while enhancing emergency detection capability through the synergistic interaction of multiple data sources and processing methods.
Data Source
AI summary
A server associated with a building automation emergency response system, receives indications of a detected emergency from sensors distributed among zones in the building, comprising a sensor reading level and a sensor identity. The server determines a zone danger level, based on the sensor identity and on the sensor reading levels. The server calculates an evacuation route commencing from user interfaces distributed among the zones. The user interfaces include a display device. The evacuation route is calculated to traverse the zones with a lower route danger level. The evacuation route is directed toward a safe exit, based on a floor plan. The server then transmits a depiction of the evacuation route to the user interfaces for display. The server continues receiving updated indications from the sensors, determines updated route danger levels, calculates an updated evacuation route, and transmits an updated depiction of the evacuation route to the user interfaces for display.