Fire Detection Event Display System for History Playback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fire detection systems face issues with false alarms and communication problems, making it difficult to review and troubleshoot sensor activation records and communication system failures due to the complexity of accessing and presenting historical data.
Innovation Solution
A fire detection system with an event display system that uses a user interface to visually represent sensor activations and communication events, allowing users to easily retrieve and display event files with icons and indicia for each sensor, enabling better tracking and analysis of system activity and malfunctions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If historical event data is stored in the control panel for troubleshooting, then the ability to diagnose false alarms and communication problems is improved, but the difficulty of reviewing and accessing such history files increases
Solution Approach 1:
A remote device serves as an intermediary between the control panel and the user, transferring history event files from the control panel to the remote device for easier viewing and analysis. This mediator approach allows the data to remain stored in the control panel while providing accessible review capabilities through the remote interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The system moves the data review process from a single-location constraint (control panel only) to a distributed model where history files can be accessed and viewed in multiple locations including remote devices. This dimensional shift in data accessibility resolves the contradiction between maintaining centralized storage and enabling easy review.
2Measurement precision
If detailed sensor activation records are maintained, then the precision of fire progression analysis is improved, but the complexity of presenting and analyzing such data increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the detailed event data into discrete, manageable events with specific identifiers and timestamps. Each sensor activation is broken down into individual event records that can be separately analyzed, reducing the complexity of presenting comprehensive data while maintaining precise fire progression analysis capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates simplified copies or representations of the detailed sensor data in the form of structured event files with standardized formats. These copied event records preserve the precision information needed for fire progression analysis while presenting the data in a more manageable and less complex format for review.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus are provided for displaying alarm and communication system events. The method includes the steps of providing a control panel coupled to a plurality of environmental sensors within a protected area, storing a sequence of events detected within the protected area by a communication system and at least some of the plurality of environmental sensors along with a time of the respective event in a history buffer of a memory of the control panel, depicting the plurality of environmental sensors and communication system on a display of the control panel and playing back the sequence of detected sensor and communication system events for a selected time period from the history buffer on the display where each of the plurality of depicted environmental sensors on the display is shown in an activated state for each instant of time of the selected time period that the history buffer indicates that the sensor was in the activated state and a deactivated state otherwise.