RF Beacon Object Tracking Using Existing Electrical Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
In residential settings, there is a challenge in monitoring the presence of movable objects, leading to wasted time searching for misplaced items and potential unnoticed absence of valuable objects, especially in the absence of visible signs of tampering.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing electrical devices with receivers and beacons that communicate via RF signals, allowing the controller to track the presence and movement of objects within a defined space, using a network of electrical devices such as light fixtures, sensors, and controllers to determine when an object is removed or moved.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If traditional manual monitoring methods are used to track objects in a space, then device complexity is low, but time consumption for searching and monitoring increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Existing electrical devices in the space are made to serve dual purposes: their original function plus object monitoring. The system leverages the communication capabilities already present in these devices to detect beacon signals from objects, eliminating the need for dedicated monitoring hardware and reducing overall system complexity while enabling automated tracking.
Solution Approach 2:
Objects are equipped with beacons that automatically transmit their location and status without requiring manual intervention. The electrical devices automatically detect these beacons and report to the controller, creating a self-monitoring system where objects essentially monitor themselves through their emitted signals.
2Reliability
If valuable objects are kept in non-visible locations for security, then security is improved, but detection of object absence becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Beacons serve as intermediaries between objects and the monitoring system. These small transmitters are attached to or embedded in objects and continuously emit signals that electrical devices can detect. This intermediary layer enables indirect monitoring of objects in non-visible locations, allowing the system to detect both presence and absence without requiring direct visual contact with the objects.
3Measurement precision
If a network of electrical devices is deployed throughout the space for monitoring, then object tracking precision improves, but device complexity and installation requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system repurposes existing electrical devices that are already installed throughout the space for their primary functions. By adding beacon detection capability to these existing devices, the system achieves comprehensive spatial coverage and precise object tracking without requiring new dedicated monitoring infrastructure, thereby avoiding increased installation complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for monitoring a presence of an object in a volume of space can include a controller and a first electrical device coupled to the controller, where the first electrical device is disposed in the volume of space and includes a first receiver, where the first receiver has a first communication range. The system can also include an object having a beacon having an object communication range, where the beacon sends multiple signals that are received by the first receiver when the object communication range overlaps with the first communication range, where each signal includes an identification of the object. The controller can determine a first point in time when none of the signals is received, where the controller determines at the first point in time that the object is removed from a first location defined by the first communication range.