Fire Alarm Walk Test Automation via Cloud Feedback
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing walk tests in fire alarm systems are inefficient and prone to human error due to their manual nature, requiring on-site technicians to navigate and visually inspect multiple devices, which can be time-consuming and inaccurate, especially in large facilities.
Innovation Solution
A system where input and output devices in a fire alarm system are coupled to a cloud server that communicates with a handheld device, providing a graphical floor plan and real-time feedback on triggered devices, automating the verification of activated output devices using configuration rules and cause-and-effect matrices to reduce errors and optimize route planning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual walk tests are conducted with technicians physically inspecting each device, then verification of output devices can be performed, but the process becomes time-consuming and prone to human error
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical inspection process with an automated electronic system. The control panel automatically triggers output devices and receives feedback signals, eliminating the need for technicians to physically visit each device. This substitution of mechanical/manual processes with automated electronic control resolves the contradiction by simultaneously improving accuracy (through automated verification) and reducing time (through parallel automated testing of multiple devices).
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements automated feedback mechanisms where output devices send status signals back to the control panel. The control panel receives feedback signals from output devices to automatically verify their activation status, replacing manual visual inspection. This feedback loop enables the system to self-verify device functionality, improving both accuracy and efficiency simultaneously.
2Reliability
If technicians manually navigate to each output device for visual inspection, then device functionality can be verified, but the complexity of navigation and physical presence at multiple locations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the verification function from the physical inspection process. Instead of requiring technicians to physically presence at each device location, the system extracts the verification capability to the control panel through automated signal reception. This extraction eliminates the complex navigation requirements and reduces the walk test process to a centralized automated operation, resolving the contradiction between verification reliability and process complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces electronic signals as intermediaries between the control panel and output devices. Rather than direct physical inspection, the control panel sends trigger signals and receives status signals through the system's communication infrastructure. This intermediary signal-based approach simplifies the verification process while maintaining reliability, eliminating the need for complex physical navigation.
3Loss of information
If technicians use maps or blueprints to identify output device locations, then device locations can be found, but accuracy is limited by the currency and reliability of the documentation
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates and maintains a digital copy of the facility layout and device locations within the control panel's memory. This digital representation is automatically updated when devices are added or relocated, ensuring currency without requiring manual updates to physical maps or blueprints. The control panel uses this digital copy to automatically identify and locate output devices, eliminating reliance on potentially outdated documentation and improving both accuracy and ease of operation.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
Systems and methods of increasing the efficiency and accuracy of a walk test in a fire alarm system are provided. Some methods can include receiving one or more walk test result signals from a system in a region, the signals indicative of one or more triggered input devices in the system and one or more activated output devices in the system, identifying one or more output devices in the system configured to be activated responsive to the one or more triggered input devices, comparing the activated output devices to the output devices configured to be activated, and transmitting a signal indicative of results of the comparing. Additionally or alternatively, some methods can include visually displaying or audibly emitting an indication of the results of the comparing.