WO2014097207A1

WO2014097207A1 - System for locating and monitoring an environment

Info

Publication number: WO2014097207A1
Application number: PCT/IB2013/061135
Authority: WO
Inventors: Davide NECCHI
Original assignee: Goo.Com S.R.L.
Priority date: 2012-12-21
Filing date: 2013-12-19
Publication date: 2014-06-26
Also published as: ITGE20120122A1

Abstract

System for locating and monitoring an environment comprising one or more apparatuses, which apparatuses communicate with each other. The apparatuses are composed of a plurality of movable apparatuses moving in the environment and automatically communicating with at least one fixed apparatus. The movable apparatuses are remotely interrogatable by said at least one fixed apparatus and vice versa and the communication between the movable apparatuses and said at least one fixed apparatus is carried out by a communication protocol of the ZigBEE type.

Description

SYSTEM FOR LOCATING AND MONITORING AN ENVIRONMENT The present invention relates to a system locating

monitoring environments both indoor environments and considerably developing.

For example all the systems related to domotics allow parameters of indoor environments to be monitored such as temperature,, light, etc. , and they allow till reaching predetermined values of the user.

Similar solutions are used in different environments, such as for example workplaces, when the ί" "Ϊ†* '! 1*» i^, ¾ Ί }"¾ "!f * <i 1*» i^, Ί safety and health working conditions.

The feature of systems known in the prior art 'fr_" c:i c:i "P Ί {_"¾" " ^*H^ possible to adjust the values of the parameters to be monitored.

Such systems, for example the known domotics environment to be managed, but such management relates to the regulation of the operation of fixed devices and which are provided a priori with a specific and

O ¾ ¾T_* OCI

The systems known in the prior art. do not allow the management of apparatuses whose behavior is not established a priori, such as for example the case when

are desired to be controlle .

Therefore there is the unsatisfied need in the prior art of providing a monitoring system that by _?ri ¾"i ¾ *"» "p Ί *¾ ^■¾ ¾ir¾ Ί ¾-¾ H. s*t *¾ tye. n

allows prior art problems and technical drawbacks described above to be solved.

The present invention achieves the above aims by whe ein the apparatus s are composed o a plurality of

inside the environment to be monitored and which movable apparatuses automatically communicate with at Movable apparatuses are remotely interrogatable by said at least one ixed apparatus and vice versa .

The communication between the fixed apparatuses an H " i¾ 1 :a _f*¾ *> :¾ y^» *¾ : <ϊ

H i i 1

'ϊ" "S™ 4 . Ί 4 "β"

Moreover the communication between the movable performed by a communication protocol of the ZigBee type .

Particularly for the communication between the fixed apparatuses and the movable apparatuses, devices of the X22ES02 , 15 type are used.

ixie eiore Jfe s s.eiEi is coxTipose i ox niova ic apparatuses moving within the environment to be monitored and which can communicate with at least one fixed apparatus and vice versa that interrogates them position within the environment .

Preferably there is provided a plurality of movable apparatuses and a plurality of fixed

coxa unicates with each fixed apparatus, a univocal identification code being associated to each apparatus.

S nce the coxnnvuni ation between the seve al

identified.

This is particularly advantageous both as regards the reception and the transmission, allowing without the risk of being lost or improperly directed.

It is f rther possible not only to provide each iuviuc

coxmn nicate with each othe , as the movable a at s s «

i" ^■¾ i"¾ a i:i e¾?ft n *

Ί asa us coipxxses st xeasx. one transmitiiiiy_f/ rcceiviiiy unit intended to communicate with one or more fixed appa es■ at le t o i ternal p oce si j ui it fo^* the storage and in communication with processing means f * 3Ce >t ]t¾ 3. lO^XC XU!Xi d at l st O i

All these units can be implemented by any technology known in the prior art ,

particularly on 1EE802.15 standard, whose description, operation and details can be found at the ebpage whose

^■¾"· Ή *» present patent applicatio .

The use of such standard allows systems to be developed which have a dras ic reduc ion on en gy

The detection unit can be composed for example of sensors intended to detect both the position and the

<5 "p 1

For example it i

accelerometers intended to detect the movement of the movable apparatus, or to provide temperature sensors,, phot©de ectors and detection device known in the The dat de ect d by the movable apparat s are then transmitted through the receiving/transmitting

The configuration of the movable apparatuses is CJT _*£Γ to any devices known in the prior art intended to The sys provid s the locali ation in indoor objset or ts presence in a predete niined a es » To thi end "the u its used for the transmission/reception act

environments where there can be further provided localization modules intended to loca the mo a l is possible to provide back-up modules for transmitting the data based on radio wave technology _f GSM or the like_f niodules detec ing the gyroscopic state_f niodules ο¾ρ*Η

based for example on Bluetooth technology.

Consequently to each module there are assigned specific functions which are typical of the technology used for implementing it; all the data detected by such modules will be then sent from the movable apparatus to the fis d ai3i r tiLX3 s„

the movable apparatus _*

According to a preferred variant embodiment , each

movable apparatuses, means for reading and writing information contained in said movable apparatuses , processing means in connection with one or more storing †^* *¾ a « H ¾ iFtft 1*» Ή

.™* 4* ·£¾ n *i *ί 4" es

As it will be explained below, the fixed apparatuses receive information from the movable

to possible .remote units fo f the σ them, or for storing and consequently displaying them.

According to a possible embodiment , the fixed 1"¾

Therefore the fixed apparatuses can regulate the operation of the movable apparatuses on the basis also of the conditions of the environment where they move, composition etc.

As said above with reference to movable in this case the interaction b

4* Ή ^ eiatyfiii 1 ί*~¾ ^*"^ "¾ "ϊ 1 <¾ τ ¾ >"¾ y Ί Ί j" & i"? ^ 1 ai° isH process ng nieans ixa. can os ro iei nsj-ie ne iixsa apparatus ,

In the case there are users within the environment t Iff« T¾ f * ¾ *^ *5 "fi" ί e ¾ ΐ H I Iff » f 4" "> c:i Ί i:i s ·ί ¾ 4* 4* .*"¾*{** s ¾*¾ Ί *»

4" 1H s 4* each user can have one of them such that it is possible to remotely send information to the users and to monitor their behavior and their state inside the environment .

According to such configuration, it is possible to provide the movable apparatus to transmit,, in addition to information seen above also hiometric/physical " 4^** "

4" "ί j**«ia sjia £s. ¾ "*i":aTH .a ia^■"*** ss^■$^■* t * 1 isajss es*!™ one peripheral unit composed of sensors detecting 5 biometric/physical data of a user,

ΡπΤ Ί ^ ΐ ΐ* ¾**ί ί 1 <*¾ IH . ίΎ 4" Ή & i*a ¾¾ ¾†* ι "Ρ

4*· 1 1

operators working under effort or at heights that require a constant monitoring of the heartbeats inΠ **¾ ^*ί™Ηί^*¾ "¥*^■ 4^* 4^* !"* i-i Ή 1 4^* "p ^" Ή ^ ^ "f™

This aspect is particularly advantageous as regards safety of workers, since it is possible to have a feedback in real—time about the health condition of

r* ¾ )ni' ¾ *s ¾ ;;s †- !"i e s ^pis if ί·\ i"' F"s5 whole working environmen .

Moreover such aspect is further advantageous if provided in combination with the variant embodiment of the fixed apparatuses providing means for detecting 0 be monit^o ed.

As regards safety the control of the movements of the operators inside workplaces is particularly containing machines or devices whose operation involves5 hazards for the safety of the operators.

Moreover by means of the shown variant embodiments *¾ *¾ *j 1 Ί f*s !* ^yc'i *F¾? i¾ i y †* 1*» i*i {**¾ "I i*^ 1 ¾ *5 Ί "S™ " o y-l ^■ _** ΐ*ΐ 4* Ήΐ 4" ¾ workers' health.

0 As said above, the movable apparatuses comprise processing means for executing a logic programme.

Such logic prog 3! 3.ΣΠ 0.3 C.n Su e i e e O e atio

1". 1 ί3ί4* 4" THuSi Ί HI £¾ f%

ir. movable apparatuses, and in fixed apparatuses, both in 5 one or more remote units connected to the apparatuses 1 -£* 4" 4* execution involves each apparatus of the system to operate by carrying out the steps shown below.

Π Fl 1 ?"¾ϊΐ¾ΤΠU"b i^*¾ i¾†^* †^* Ί ¾ Ί Ί £^ H ^* iaHI 1 *ΐ &HI Ί o 4~ Hi apparatuses; which recjijires to detect tsy cqui i g data, the position and/or presence of each movable an ia ss ί <¾ ¾i^■¾†* 1* » c:i γ* '!* 5- ^■■ am -¾ <? ί*¾ †* _>si Ί *¾†*

The detection of each movable apparatus occurs automatically, that is, depending on the position of each movable apparatus it is detected by at least one fixed apparatus_f it is identified through its own apparatus ,

There is further provided a step sending the data apparatuses and/or by the ixed apparatuses to movable5 apparatuses and/or by the fixed apparatuses or by the movable apparatuses to an operating central unit . Ί * "** 4^** *¾ * generally criteria of the less cost in the connection0 are used intended as efficiency and quickness in "transporting data

to the closest fixed apparatus .

Then a model of the environment to be monitored is ma e and it is associated to the communication network,.

Then the fixed apparatuses generate control signals to be sent to the movable apparatuses for managing the movable apparatuses .

The disclosed characteristics allow a system to be implemented allowing persons, fixed and/or movable things to be located and traced in indoor and/or outdoor environment .

Y i J._*'

csjt E iss out a Xoc&Xiz&tion of tin i s cs_f posit on_f a* a es

movable things.

Moreover it allows a bidirectional transmission of

As said above, preferably the network is implemented by a IEE802.15 standard technology, of the ZigBee type .

Therefore a proprietary transmission logic is used for optimising the energy consumptions of the movable a sr iixse^s an fi^c^l s. cisat'QS allowing all the in ast ucture to operate with an autonomous power supply .

Preferably the detection of the position of each movable apparatus is obtained on the basis of the intensity of the signal that the movable apparatus *p Ή >M> "F "ί _*H ^«¾†* ¾ ¾ sj; ¾ *πΗ

A more accuracy in "the detection of the position can be obtained for example by analyzing together by using algorithms _f the detections of s ve al fixed apparatuses provided in the envi onment be monitored.

Hy the configu a ion just d scribed^ the

CO UIllCal lOu OCCUIS Jo lu l lIly a y lu ilctWOIJi., il£8 a neural network, where the data are carried and are transmitted from one apparatus to another one by defining, automatically, by the steps sc ibe above, ere aoi_j Χ,ΧΙΘ xnxras .rucx.ure ox Χ,ΓΙΘ sysx.ei ox Χ,ΙΙΘ present invention has a wired infrastructure for power supplying and/or distributing the signal among the

inf astructure for power supplying and/or distributing the signal.

According to a further embodiment, the monitoring es†* ί::*τ?ί ^■■ i-^* †* 1*»

Ί ¾ one remote unit in communication with the fixed

Id S_*

The remote unit can be composed of a terminal having a displaying interface and an input/output interface such to allow a user, if any, to read, transmit and send information to the apparatuses of the system. In this case the displaying interface could make the mo el of the environment to be monitored visible for the user, obtained by the execution of the logic programme .

The user could for example interface the system through the input/output interface and the displaying inter ace : for example the displayed model could be the plan of the site or sites to be monitored with active icons that denote the individual movable apparatus and

Through the inpu /output interface the user could act on the settings and operation of such icons,

fixed and movable apparatuses for the connection thereof to the other structures or further systems <,

a completely automa ic ∑?i3. ne ^ o-nm.u ic3. io with other closest fixed apparatuses, by transmitting the data about its own identity and the possible data cq i f om the movable apparatuses . Whole the ixed

'i Ί

and/or on the basis of the operating parameters set, the most effective path, to reach the connection apparatus to other structures combined to the network of fi e tus s _*

Moreover the connection apparatus establishes, in a completely automatic manner, a communication with the closest fixed apparatuses^ by transmitting the data {">fi 's |ΐ

1 <¾ ¾ S* *vs ¾ ancs./ or ano oy tnerexroiu possiois commands and/or settings intended for the associated 5 network of fixed apparatuses .

Φ ίΗιβ *¾ y> i*"i'S* Ή Y Ή si γ :¾ f ·*†* >** "ϊ Ί f""¾ anH ¾ HI ΐ"* ("?Ί£^ ¾

^■$^■* Ί £¾ es .ca ΐ"ΐ 4/* *ί t*y 4 1 1

4* 1*¾ following description of some embodiments shown in the annexed drawings wherein :

Fig .2 is the system of fig .1 according to a possible embodiment " a4" ί 4

¾TrT¾yT 4" ¾ is. i ¾ Via ¾ 4* ¾*¾t*i4"

be considered s being m ly illust a ive and not limiting the general concept of the present invention,

P rti ularly figure 1 shows a s stem or A 4 ^v 4" ¾ characteristics of the present invention and shown by means of a principle block diagram.

The monitoring system comprises one or more

> e5 the environment wherein they operate, such as for x ple the area 1 <>

£„

movable apparatuses 21, 22 _? 23 ad 24 which ∑nove i said environment and which movable apparatuses automatically0 communicate with a fixed apparatus 31 such that the movable apparatuses 21, 22, 23 and 24 are remotely

Particularly in figure 1 the system is composed of a plurality of movable apparatuses 21, 22, 23 and 24 and of a plurality of fi^c apparatuses 3X ^ 32 ^ 33 ^ and 34 , end. each movable apparatus can coniniuni. C3.te with "x ¾ ' i ¾Oir¾ ss τ*·;¾ "^■¾^■¾ ¾ ss *j *i ss Ί *i HI *i ~i «?~> -i in sso i ^"tO s

The several functions and operations carried out both by the movable a aratuses 2X _f 22 ^ 23 nd 24 a d by the fixed apparatuses 31 _f 32 _f 33 and 34 are achieved by means o ope ating units provided ins e the apparatuse <>

Such operating units are not shown in the gur _f

devices known in the prior art.

Particularly according to a possible embodiment it is possible to provide each movable apparatus 21, 22, 23 and 24 to comprise at least one transmitting/receiving unit intended to communicate with one or more of the fixed apparatuses 31, 32, 33 and 34, at least one processing unit in connection with one or more storage un ano m coiiEr n cat on w txi

least one unit detecting the conditions of said movable apparatus 2X _f 2 _f 23 and 24 ,

xi ia l^^ each fixed apparatus 31, 32, 33 and 34 comprises transmitting/receiving means intended to communicate with one or more movable apparatuses 21, 22, 23 and 24, means for reading and writing

22, 23 and 24, processing means in connection with, one or more storing units and means for the communication with one or more remote units, -ii.

of antennas provided both on the movable apparatuses 21 ^ 22! ^ 23 and and on tn© fisced apparatuses 31 ^ 32 _f 33 and 34,

iiiyway a wirsisss sxgnax transm ssxon_/ ieceptxon is

Moreover according to an improvement it is possible o de communica ion pro ocols IDSt een the of the EigBee type .

According to a possible embodiment the execution of the logic programme causes each apparatus of the l i. vii

movable apparatuses 21, 22, 23, 24 and of the fixed

movable apparatus 21, 22, 23, 24 with respect to an

network,,

c) making a model of the environment to fe

*«l

d) the fixed apparatuses 31, 32, 33, 34 generating control signals to be sent to the movable apparatuses 21, 22, 23, 24 for managing the movable apparatuses.

Par icularly the movable apparatuses 21, 22, 23 and. 24 move within the area 1 and they are automatically detected by the fixed apparatuses 31, 32, 33 and 34, such that each movable apparatus 21, 22, 23 and 24 is univocally recognized by the identification ft i~¾

THt Ί i¾

Inside the storage units provided in the apparatuses of the system it is possible to store

22, 23 and 24 have to be subjected and such operating tasks can be executed for example in order that each movable apparatus 21 , 22, 23 and 24 travels the

apparatus 21, 22, 23 and 24 goes to the centre of the ίΕΒί _*Ε€ϋ_* ^"tr €ii

reconstructs a model of the area 1, by means of the communications between the movable apparatuses 21, 22, 23 and and the i apparatuses 3 , 3 , 33 and 3 , it detects the position of each movable apparatus and it is sent to the movable apparatus closest to the centre of the area 1, in this case the movable

/tn in . <

In this case the control signal is preferably sent only to the movable apparatus 22 and it can be

31, 32, 33 and 34.

HP i-j r "i 'J"_>

^■ ej 1 f¾ Ί intended to describe that it is possible to cause the movable apparatuses 21, 22, 23 and 24 to make any motion tasks by simply setting the execution of the logic programme .

Moreover it is possible to carry out, by the use and the improvement of the standard JEE8Q2.15, ZigBEE type, the localization in indoor and outdoor environmen s of movable apparatuses which receive by J.J.'CJ *f* ~TLo¾. CiL JLΙ--⁵.-_*Ci.J'J-*"'Ci w WCiCi Ci CS. f*tr 4 4 Ί Ή? . TJLK.£"CSJ I position allowing the position of the movable apparatus to be estimated. Moreover it is possible to provide a control unit that can be provided both within the

CJ. 'CJ *-fi.* T o¾. CiL JLΙ--⁵ i.J'J-*"'Ci. ΉL ώCi Ci , such to control that the movable apparatus to which the command has been sent is properly operating.

variant embodiment provides a fixed apparatus to be responsible for the communications and for the

apparatuses 21, 22, 23 and 24 which travel in a re ete mine e olose to the fi_^&ed p tl

xample it is possible to provide the fixed apparatus 31 to communicate with only the movable apparatuses closest thereto, in this case the movable apparatuses 21 and 22.

Bi i π ί

of t.he posit.ion of each movable apparatus 21 _; 22 _f 23 and 24 is obtained on the basis of the intensity of the movable apparatus .

It is possible to select the criterion by means of which a fixed apparatus communicates with one or more movable apparatuses, in the shown example the closeness has been us d as the criterion, but s^y criteria can be provided, y simply changing the settings of the

From what disclosed it clearly points out how the

1 Ί f*

Ηί^*¾ΗΙ Ί Ήβ.ΐ Hie^*"* "β- Ή s¾ ¾*¾?^*¾;"¾ ^*f~js¾

TH. 'f* ττ. .aH"*.Ί ea ίϊ νοί^ onos *j nei I^ Tfi-fi ¹ ¾ urs connected to "the coxnriranication network composed of all the appa•3 S3> 55€ϊ 2»s »

T†* <5 ί 1 Ί

" "> "P Ί ¾* Hi ¾ '? «*-¾*¾

31, 32, 33 and 34 to comprise means for detecting physical parameters provided inside the environment to be monitored, that is the area 1.

Such characteris ic is particularly advantageous if the area 1 is a workplace within which human beings work .

In this case the movable apparatuses 21, 22, 23 and 24 can be composed in the form of portable devices, such that each movable apparatus 21, 22, 23 and 24 can

ΐ rtTMaya†* J-T y-- _tr information about tasks to be made .

Figure 2 is a variant embodiment of figure 1,

34 communicate with a remote unit 4 , and/or technology known in the prior art .

<"¾ sa " 'ί * 1 Ί 1Υ Ί *i +Ί^*ΙΩ, "j™eilY¾i*¾'t*' & S. ^TVi T TsT *

scces cJ. the o @ ^*ato ^*

least o es ses interface, that is an input/output unit and a displaying unit, it can act on the system and on the behavior of the movable a tuses 21, 22, 23 and 24

31, 32, 33 and 34.

In this case the execution of the logic programme could allow a virtual image of the monitored area 1 to be displayed by the displaying unit, which virtual image is modified by the logic programme in real-time in order to represent the several components of the system, as well as their operating conditions in real— im . nit 4 decides to send a control signal to the movable ap ara us 21, without deciding through which fixed

n^_* OL Ϊί*<5

to be the apparatus closest to the movable apparatus It is specified that the te m "ef icacious" is a term univocally defined within the ZigBee technology since efficacy means a parameter known in literature

Within the ZigBee technology a signal transmitted with the best efficacy for example can denote a minimization of the siqnal los the transmission safety.

The communication lines 43 connecting the remote unit 4 to the fixed apparatuses 31, 32, 33 and 34 can be made in any manner, they can e compose both of cables and through wireless communication units, depending on implementation needs.

From what disclosed it will be clear that there a vt%? tio-†* ini* i si l i i ss ϊ Ή «s en†* r\ "P ¾ ^•ny*^ ⁱ¾ n†"

* Hies.

possible configurations and of possible functionalities that can be satisfied simply by modifying the operating parameters of the logic programme, without making

1"¾ vitm 1 vsH

Claims

environment. {1) comprising one or more apparatuses _f which apparatuses conunisnicate with each other

movable apparatuses (21, 22, 23, 24), which movable apparatuses (21, 22, 23, 24) move in said environment (1) and which movable apparatuses (21, 22, 23, 24) automa ically c©HiH'iim icate i ast o ©

apparatus (31, 32, 33, 34} ,

said movable apparatuses (21, 22, 23, 24) being remotely interrogatable by said at least one fixed apparatus (31, 32, 33, 34) and vice versa

"s j— < f "f" f"i i¾ "f in _"~ ί

τ "ι "f" as

(21, 22, 23, 24) and said at least one fixed apparatus (31, 32, 33, 34) being made by IEE802.15 standard of ZigBEE type .

2 , System, according t

apparatuses are composed of a plurality of movable apparatuses (21, 22, 23, 24) and of a plurality of fixed apparatuses (31, 32, 33, 34) , each movable apparatus (21, 22, 23, 24) communicating with each fixed apparatus (31, 32, 33, 34) and a univocal identification code being associated to each apparatus . movable apparatus (21, 22, 23, 24} comprises

at least one transmitting/receiving unit intended to communicate with one or more of said fixed at least on© internal processing unit for the storage and. in communication with, processing means for executing a logic programme,

5 at least one unit detecting the conditions of said movable apparatus (21, 22, 23, 24).

« Sys em accordinσ to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein each fixed apparatus (31, 32, Π " 'ϊ- XT HI

("OTViTOii'. m *i ia "fr* fri iia ¾»^■» *i Hi YHi^xyia Ί means for reading and writing information contained in said movable apparatuses (21, 22, 23, 24) ,

tisane ^■¾ ΊΊ ΪΎ«<*¾^*ί·~ storing units,

means for the communication with one or more remote units.

5. System according to one or more of the0 preceding claims, wherein said fixed

32, 33, 34) comprise means for detecting physical parameters present in the environment (1) to be C~ Y*

6 ¾ iref Qfft 23 ίΠΛΓ Τ¾ i**f Π Ω ί"\1Ρ* ΤΓΪ £¾ 4"5 preceding claims, wherein said movable apparatus (21, 22, 23, 24) is made in the form of a portable device, associatable to a user.

7 Qwei 4" -! preceding claims, wherein the execution of said logic0 programme causes each apparatus to operate by making the following steps :

ic!. i-! ¾ i....!.i .i - ■ci. c; ¾JL Ci movable apparatuses (21, 22, 23, 24) and. said fixed apparatuses (31, 32, 33, 34),

b) automatically detecting the presence and/or the position of each movable apparatus (21, 22, 23, 24) , by duUJL . u - CS. _/ ΪΪΧ Ce S.IA CiJjijvjJ, i C /Λ. J~CS. -^. v tC reference system inside said network,

c) sending data acquired by each movable apparatus

.i- i.*^ , ϋϊ. ?„, ,^ί i.,i. ., ,_ monitored and associated to said communication network,

8. System according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein each movable apparatus has at least one peripheral unit composed of sensors detecting operator and/or of said movable apparatus (21, 22, 23, 24) ,

9. System according to one or more of the

?JL the position of each movable apparatus (21, 22, 23, 34) is obtained on the basis of the intensity of the signal received by said movable apparatus {

from said fixed apparatus (31, 32, 33, 34) .

10. System according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein there is provided at least one remote unit (4) communicating with said fixed