Tactile warning panel system with geothermal system
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Solution Overview
Problem
The deployment of tactile warning panels in public spaces is hindered by high costs and the need for additional functionalities to enhance safety and utility, particularly in urban environments, where existing solutions are not scalable or secure for integrating smart city technologies.
Innovation Solution
A multipurpose tactile warning panel apparatus that incorporates a subsurface enclosure with geothermal heating and cooling systems, integrated transmitters, sensors, and receivers, along with solar panels and rechargeable batteries, allowing for the placement of smart city technologies beneath the panels, providing a secure and scalable platform for communication and energy management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If tactile warning panels are deployed in public spaces, then pedestrian safety is improved, but deployment costs increase and scalability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The tactile warning panel is transformed into a multi-functional platform by integrating subsurface enclosures that can house various smart city technologies including geothermal heating/cooling systems, transmitters, sensors, receivers, and communication equipment. This allows a single infrastructure element to serve both safety warning functions and multiple utility functions (energy management, communication, environmental control), thereby reducing overall deployment complexity and cost while maintaining safety reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements nesting by placing subsurface enclosures beneath the tactile warning panel surface, creating a hierarchical structure where the panel serves as the visible safety element while nested below it are enclosures containing various technological components. This nested arrangement allows multiple systems to coexist in a compact footprint, improving scalability and reducing the visual and spatial complexity of deployment.
2Adaptability or versatility
If additional functionalities are integrated into tactile warning panels, then utility and safety are enhanced, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into distinct functional modules: the surface-level tactile warning panel, subsurface enclosures, geothermal heating/cooling systems, transmitters, sensors, receivers, and communication equipment. Each module can be independently designed, installed, and maintained. This segmentation allows functionalities to be added or removed without redesigning the entire system, enhancing versatility while managing complexity through modular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The subsurface enclosures serve as universal platforms that can accommodate multiple different technologies and functionalities including but not limited to geothermal systems, communication transmitters, sensors, and receivers. This universal platform approach allows the same infrastructure to support various functions depending on local needs, enhancing adaptability without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If subsurface enclosures are added for smart city technologies, then scalability and security are improved, but manufacturing and installation complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The subsurface enclosures are pre-installed in the ground before the tactile warning panels are mounted on top. This preliminary action creates a ready-made infrastructure that simplifies subsequent installation of various smart city technologies. The enclosures are positioned and prepared in advance, allowing for easier integration of additional components and enhancing the scalability of the system without requiring complex on-site manufacturing or installation procedures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables the expansion of tactile warning panels to serve as secure, scalable, and ubiquitous platforms for smart city technologies, enhancing safety and utility while reducing costs by integrating communication and energy management systems, thus accelerating compliance with ADA requirements and improving pedestrian safety.
Implementation Method 1
designed to enable space beneath tactile warning panels for connected multipurpose capabilities and including a geothermal heating and cooling system
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to tactile warning panels, and in particular to tactile warning panels that are designed and built with multifunction/multipurpose capabilities that serve the visually impaired and enable the deployment of smart city technology by integrating tactile warning systems and subsurface enclosures that can withstand pressures of five (5) tons up to and exceeding sixty (60) tons and incorporate small cells, beacons, sensors, Fog Computing, electric energy generation, rechargeable power supplies, wireless M2M communication and a plethora of other smart city technologies.