Wireless Alert Network for Locating Distressed Workers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional alert devices used by workers in hazardous environments, such as firefighters, may fail to provide audible signals due to environmental interference like dust or debris, preventing timely rescue.
Innovation Solution
A safety system comprising multiple alert devices with unique identifiers, wireless transceivers, and processors that generate and transmit alarm signals, determining relative distance and direction, and display alert messages to facilitate location of distressed workers through wireless communication, even in environments where audible signals are muffled.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional alert devices use sound signals to alert other users, then the alert can be heard in open environments, but the sound signal becomes inaudible when sound emitter ports are blocked by dust, debris, or water
Solution Approach 1:
The alert function is segmented into multiple independent alert devices, each capable of transmitting signals. This allows the system to maintain reliability even if one device is blocked, as other devices can still transmit alerts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces wireless communication as an intermediary mechanism between alert devices. Instead of relying solely on sound waves that can be blocked, the system uses wireless signals (radio frequency) that can penetrate dust, debris, and water, providing a reliable communication path in hazardous environments.
2Loss of time
If alert devices transmit sound signals through blocked environments, then the original alert mechanism is maintained, but the signal cannot reach other users in time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical sound wave transmission system with an electromagnetic wireless communication system. This substitution allows signals to traverse blocked environments without being absorbed or scattered by dust, debris, or water, significantly reducing transmission failures and response time.
Solution Approach 2:
Wireless communication serves as an intermediary that bypasses physical blockages. The radio frequency signals can penetrate obstacles that block sound waves, ensuring timely delivery of alert signals even when the direct path is obstructed by environmental factors.
3Loss of information
If multiple alert devices communicate wirelessly, then location can be determined through link quality, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The alert devices are designed with multi-functionality, serving both as alert generators and as location beacons. The same wireless transceiver used for alert communication also provides location information through link quality measurements, eliminating the need for separate location tracking hardware and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the existing wireless communication infrastructure to provide location information. The link quality measurements, which are inherent to the wireless communication process, are repurposed to determine relative distances between devices, allowing the system to self-determine locations without additional specialized equipment.
Data Source
AI summary
A safety system includes a plurality of alert devices associated with a unique identifier. Each alert device includes a user interface, a wireless transceiver, and a processor communicably coupled to the wireless transceiver. The processor of at least one alert device is configured to generate an alarm signal indicative of an alarm state, and transmit the alarm signal including the unique identifier of the at least one alert device to the wireless transceivers of the other alert devices. The processor of each of the other alert devices is configured to receive the alarm signal from the at least one alert device, determine a link quality indicative of at least a relative distance between the at least one alert device and the corresponding other alert device, and display, via the user interface, an alert message including the unique identifier of the at least one alert device and the corresponding link quality.