Smoke Alarm Sensor Control Using Geo-Location Proximity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for determining user proximity to silence fire and smoke alarms are unreliable, cumbersome, and prone to errors, limiting the adoption of hushing features in smoke alarms.
Innovation Solution
A system and method using mobile computing devices to determine proximity based on geo-location tracking, allowing selection of sensors for hush or testing modes, and issuing control signals based on threshold distances, without requiring point-to-point communication or shared Wi-Fi networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing methods for determining user proximity are used, then the system can control sensor hushing, but the methods are unreliable and prone to errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical/proximity-based detection methods with geo-location based proximity determination. The mobile computing device uses its geo-location capabilities to determine distance from the sensor, eliminating the need for point-to-point communication or shared Wi-Fi networks, thereby improving reliability and reducing errors.
2Ease of operation
If point-to-point communication or shared Wi-Fi networks are required for proximity determination, then communication can be established, but the system becomes cumbersome and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the communication requirement from the proximity determination process. By using the mobile device's geo-location capabilities, the system eliminates the need for point-to-point communication or shared Wi-Fi networks, simplifying operation and reducing system complexity.
3Reliability
If geo-location tracking is used to determine proximity, then the system becomes more robust and user-friendly, but additional functionality is required in mobile devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages the universal geo-location capability already present in modern mobile computing devices. This multi-functional feature (already used for navigation, mapping, etc.) is repurposed for proximity determination, making the system more robust without significantly increasing adaptability requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for controlling one or more sensors. The system includes one or more mobile computing devices in communication with one or more sensors installed in an area of interest (AOI), and a database storing geo-locations of the sensors, individual ones of the mobile computing devices are configured to allow selection of at least one of the sensors among the one or more sensors to be operated in a hush mode or a testing mode, retrieve the geo-location of the selected sensors from the database, determine a distance between the selected sensors and the corresponding mobile computing device, based on the retrieved geo-location of the selected sensors, detect if the determined distance is within a threshold distance, and in response to a positive detection, issue a control signal to the selected sensors and operate the selected sensors in the hush mode or the testing mode.