Multisensor Presence Monitoring With Multisensory Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current building management systems are complex, difficult to install, and expensive, leading to user fatigue and disengagement, particularly among elderly, children, and people with disabilities, and lack effective multisensory feedback and presence detection, resulting in false alarms and reduced energy efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A multiprotocol control unit with internal and external sensors and actuators, combined with cloud-based processing and mobile applications, providing multisensory interaction and feedback to enhance user engagement and precision in detecting user presence, optimizing energy consumption and comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If complex domotic systems with multiple sensors and cloud connectivity are implemented, then monitoring precision and energy efficiency improve, but system complexity and installation difficulty increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sensing modalities (acoustic, atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature) within a single control unit, merging previously separate functions into one integrated device. This reduces the number of separate components needed while maintaining high measurement precision for presence detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit is designed with multi-functionality, serving as both a presence detection device and an environmental monitoring station. It can detect user presence through multiple sensors while simultaneously monitoring temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure, eliminating the need for separate specialized devices.
2Loss of information
If users must continuously check energy consumption via PC or mobile device, then energy monitoring accuracy improves, but user engagement and ease of operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides automatic feedback to users through the control unit's interface, displaying energy consumption information and presence detection results without requiring users to actively check their devices. The feedback loop keeps users informed passively, maintaining engagement while reducing the effort required to monitor energy usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit autonomously monitors and manages energy consumption data, performing self-service functions by continuously tracking usage patterns and providing information without requiring user intervention. This eliminates the need for users to manually check their PCs or mobile devices for energy consumption updates.
3Device complexity
If motion sensors alone are used for presence detection, then device simplicity is maintained, but detection reliability and precision deteriorate due to false alarms
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a composite sensing approach, combining multiple types of sensors (acoustic, atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature) to create a more reliable presence detection system. Just as composite materials combine different properties to achieve superior performance, this multi-sensor fusion approach eliminates false alarms that plague single-sensor systems while maintaining reasonable device complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
Intelligent system (1) for monitoring a reference environment, suitable for multisensorial interaction with a user, comprising: - at least one multiprotocol control unit (2), provided with at least one internal wireless modem (16), a power supply connector (71), a microprocessing unit (16), RAM memory means (13), program memory means (12) and data memory means (14); - at least one modem, respectively a modem-router, external (30) with respect to the control unit (2) and operatively connected to the same; wherein said system (1) further comprises: - sensor means, internal with respect to the control unit (2); - a plurality of actuator means external (20) with respect to the control unit (2); - sensor means external with respect the control unit (2); wherein: - said sensor means internal with respect to the control unit (2) which are, individually or in combination, at least a microphonic sensor (3), a relative humidity sensor (4), a temperature sensor (5), respectively an atmospheric pressure sensor (6) or the like, detect at least a first value of the reference environment; - said sensor means (10, 11) external with respect the control unit (2), operatively connected to the control unit (2), detection at least a second value of the reference environment; and comprises: - computer means Internal to said control unit (2), provided with software means (80) for processing at least one probability Index of presence of a user in the reference environment, on the basis of said at least a first, respectively second value, detected by means of said internal (3, 4, 5, 6), respectively external (10, 11), and for processing of at least a first, respectively second, value of said reference environment, detected by means of said Internal (3, 4, 5, 6), respectively external (10, 11) sensor means, respectively of said probability index, for obtaining at least a first, respectively & second, corresponding environmental parameter, referring to at least one environmental condition of the reference environment, and forwarding, on the basis of said parameters in this way obtained, at least one command to: - actuator means, internal with respect to the control unit (2), which are, Individually or in combination, multicolor light emitter means (7), loudspeaker means (8). a nebulized and/or vaporized fragrances dispensing devices (9) or the like, and respectively external (20), to provide at least one sensory feedback message referring to one or more conditions of said reference environment to the user.