Wireless Pressure Pad Array for Elderly Fall Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional elderly monitoring systems, relying on surveillance cameras for real-time detection, are inefficient and inconvenient, as they require manual monitoring and cannot provide immediate assistance, and standard-sized sensing pads do not adapt well to varying home environments, limiting their effectiveness in preventing falls among the elderly.
Innovation Solution
A combined smart sensing pad system featuring a planar array of pressure sensing pads with wireless communication, where one pad acts as a master and others as slaves, collecting and transmitting pressure data to an external device for real-time analysis and alert issuance, with adjustable size and integration of light sensors for enhanced monitoring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If surveillance cameras are used for real-time detection, then monitoring coverage is improved, but manual monitoring requirement increases cost and time consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing pad system performs automatic fall detection and alert generation without requiring manual monitoring. The system self-monitors pressure distribution patterns and automatically determines when a fall has occurred, eliminating the need for continuous human observation while maintaining comprehensive monitoring coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical surveillance camera system with an electronic pressure sensing array that directly detects physical contact patterns. This substitution transforms optical monitoring into electronic pressure detection, enabling automated analysis of pressure distribution to identify falls without manual intervention.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional fixed-size sensing pads are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different home environments deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing pad is divided into multiple independent pressure-sensitive elements arranged in a grid pattern. Each element can independently detect pressure, allowing the system to adapt to different installation surfaces and sizes while maintaining simple manufacturing of individual components. The segmented design enables flexible configuration for various home environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensing pad system is designed to function across multiple home environments and application scenarios. The same basic sensing technology can be deployed in bedrooms, living rooms, bathrooms, or other locations, adapting to different surfaces and sizes while maintaining consistent fall detection capability.
3Productivity
If master-slave communication mode is implemented, then data collection efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple sensing elements are combined into a coordinated master-slave communication system where slave elements transmit pressure data to a master element that performs centralized analysis. This merging of detection functions with centralized processing improves data collection efficiency while the standardized communication protocol keeps the added complexity manageable.
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
The system enables efficient, real-time monitoring and immediate alerting of potential falls, adapting to different home environments, thereby improving the safety and convenience of elderly care by automatically detecting pressure distribution and issuing warnings based on predefined thresholds.
Implementation Method 1
a pressure sensing device includes at least one pressure sensor
Data Source
AI summary
A combined smart sensing pad monitoring system, which includes a planar sensing pad array having a plurality of pressure sensing pads, each of them is a wireless pressure sensing device configured to sense the pressure data of different areas of the planar sensing pad array, an external electronic computing device communicatively connected to the planar sensing pad array to receive the pressure data detected by the plurality of pressure sensing pads. The external electronic computing device combines the pressure data detected by the plurality of pressure sensing pads with the positioning information associated with individual pressure sensing pads to form a pressure distribution. The external electronic computing device monitors the pressure distribution and duration to determine whether to issue a warning.