Smart Sensor System for Occupant Identification and Privacy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional security and automation systems lack the ability to effectively identify and manage the privacy of occupants within smart environments, leading to inefficient monitoring and potential unnecessary assistance due to inability to distinguish between different occupants' needs and preferences.
Innovation Solution
The system employs sensors to collect data on occupants' activities, determining unique characteristics and types of events, allowing for occupant identification and personalized responses, while maintaining local data privacy and enabling occupant-specific event management through machine learning and communication with devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional security and automation systems monitor all occupants uniformly, then monitoring coverage is comprehensive, but system efficiency decreases due to inability to distinguish individual occupant needs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the monitoring approach by creating separate processing paths for different occupant types (residents vs. visitors). The system divides occupant identification into distinct categories and applies different event response strategies to each segment, thereby improving system efficiency by avoiding uniform monitoring of all occupants while maintaining comprehensive coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-establishing resident profiles with specific characteristics and event preferences before monitoring occurs. When an occupant is detected, the system compares real-time sensor data against pre-stored profile information to quickly identify the occupant and determine appropriate responses, eliminating the need for real-time analysis of all occupants uniformly.
2Measurement precision
If the system collects and stores detailed sensor data for occupant identification, then occupant identification accuracy improves, but data privacy concerns increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by storing and processing occupant-specific data locally at the premises rather than transmitting it to remote servers. The system maintains private information (such as detailed sensor data and profile characteristics) within the local environment, allowing accurate occupant identification while minimizing external data exposure and associated privacy risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary layer of event characteristics that act as a mediator between raw sensor data and occupant identification. Instead of directly storing and transmitting personal information, the system processes sensor data through event characteristic analysis (such as movement patterns, timing, and behavior types) to identify occupants, thereby maintaining accuracy while reducing direct exposure of sensitive personal data.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system provides personalized responses to different occupants, then user satisfaction improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements universality by designing a single security/automation system that performs multiple functions: it monitors environmental sensors, identifies occupants based on sensor data patterns, determines event types, and triggers appropriate responses. The system uses a universal architecture that handles different occupant types (residents and visitors) through a common framework, reducing overall complexity compared to having separate systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies dynamics by making the response behavior adaptive rather than static. The security/automation system dynamically adjusts its responses based on real-time occupant identification and event type detection. Instead of hardcoding specific responses for each scenario, the system uses dynamic decision logic that selects appropriate responses based on current sensor data and stored profile information, allowing personalized service without requiring complex predetermined configurations for every possible situation.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices for smart sensing using a security and automation system are described. One method may include receiving, from a sensor, sensor data associated with an event and one or more occupants at a structure, determining a characteristic of the event based on the received sensor data, determining a type of the event based on the characteristic, and identifying an identity of an occupant based at least in part on the characteristic and the type of the event.