GB2563408A

GB2563408A - Smart safety and environmental monitoring helmet

Info

Publication number: GB2563408A
Application number: GB1709414.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sarfraz Sohab
Original assignee: Speedy Quarks Ltd
Current assignee: Speedy Quarks Ltd
Priority date: 2017-06-14
Filing date: 2017-06-14
Publication date: 2018-12-19
Also published as: GB201709414D0

Abstract

A bicycle helmet 103 is disclosed with a detachable 102 module 101 which contains at least one of each of gas, particulate matter, light, humidity, temperature and pressure sensors, a global navigation satellite system, a power source, a radar unit and controllers to wirelessly transmit and receive data to and from, respectively, a mobile device. The device is intended to provide real time information to a cyclist about traffic and air quality. The gas sensor/s may be CMOS MEMS or MEMS only and the particulate matter sensor/s may be optical, ionizing or gravimetric (PM2.5, PM10 or both). The gas sensor/s may be configured to sense volatile organic compounds, greenhouse gases, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, oxygen and hydrogen. The radar unit may be an integrated chip with on-chip antennas or in-package antennas and operate at frequencies between 10GHz and 200GHz. The power source may be an electrochemical battery, a solar cell or a fuel cell. The controller may also comprise a computing device with memory. Also disclosed is a method of providing real time traffic movement and localised weather data.

Description

SMART SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING HELMET

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Field of the invention

This invention relates generally to a bicycle helmet and in particularto a smart bicycle helmet, to a method of providing real time localised traffic and weather data. The invention is of particular interest as a device that can provide real time information to the cyclist of incoming and stationary road traffic along with complete localised air quality analysis. This invention has particular, but not exclusive, applicability in the field of cycling and walking.

Related art

The numberof smart bicycle helmets have seen an exponential rise due to the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution. However, such devices have mainly focussed on monitoring cyclists health and fitness parameters and integrating wireless connection with a mobile phone for music and call transactions. Some smart helmets offer additional features such as headlight and indicator functions, object tracking via image analysis along with a GPS tracker.

Smart helmets aimed at the cyclists safety have only recently been introduced and as such are limited to a few brands only. Sena, USA has introduced a smart helmetXI which includes a front facing camera in addition to the Bluetooth communication system and health fitness monitoring sensors. Hovding, Sweden has recently introduced a smart air bag which inflates into a helmet shape to protect the cyclist's head and neck from injury in an accident. Liveall, USA has recently introduced a smart cycle helmet the BLING series, which includes a 3-axis G-sensorto monitor sudden acceleration/decelerations and in the event of an accident SOS alerts are sent to the emergency contacts stored in the cyclists mobile phone. Similarly, CLASS ON by Broklyness, USA has developed an image tracking smart helmet which uses cameras to track incoming vehicles and warns the cyclist of their direction and proximity. This product relies on significant onboard image processing electronic hardware and software capabilities. In addition to this, Garmin, USA has introduced VARIA a rear-view radar which attaches itself to the seat pole of the cycle and wirelessly notifies the cyclist of incoming vehicle's distance.

US9075405B1 discloses a control algorithm fora helmet with wireless sensor system for monitoring of surrounding objects. The control algorithm comprises of an outer antenna loop to use one of the antennas for transmission, an inner transmission and reception loop to transmit from one antenna and receive from one or more antennas to measure speed, distance and direction of an approaching objectto determine when and where an impact will occur, The invention is disclosed as primarily a safety device for footballers in order to detect, concussions.

The drawback of this design resides in its requirement to have a distributed pool of transmitting and receiving antennas in orderto correctly locate the point of impact. The system is composed of a large number of discrete components and generally offers low resolution (hence the need for the pool of antenna pads on its surface).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The conventional approach towards cyclist and pedestrian safety has been limited to isolating the cycle lanes and footpaths from the general road traffic through physical barriers and/or marked lanes and by asking them to wear high visibility clothing with reflectors. However, as the influx of cars, busses and trucks continues to increase on road networks more and more cycle lanes are now shared with other road vehicles. In addition to the safety aspect more road traffic also leads to higher levels of gas and particulate emissions which directly impacts cyclists and pedestrians. This problem is worse in metropolitan areas than rural areas. This invention overcomes the technological limitations to holistically address the safety and pollution challenges seen by cyclists on a daily basis.

The smart helmet includes a detachable electronic unit that alerts the cyclist of incoming vehicles to proactively take defensive measures whilst simultaneously measuring the surrounding air quality parameters. By converting individual cyclists helmet in to a smart sensing Internet of Things (IoT) node the data can then be used both by the cyclist, pedestrians and the wider public as localised traffic monitor and weather stations.

The smart helmet comprises of three sub units: the obstacle detection block; the air monitoring block; and the data display and storage block. The first two blocks plus a power source to power up the system reside in a small form factor detachable unit whilst the mobile device is attached to a clamp fitted on the cycle handle. Each block's functionality along with its core technology is addressed below.

1. Obstacle Detection Block

This section of the smart helmet uses One-Chip-Radar., where the complete radar including antennas and ana log-to-digita I conversion are integrated on one piece of silicon on in a chip scale package for the 10 GHz to 200 Ghz frequency range. This allows to measure the distance, speed and angle of arrival of an incoming obstacle. The key innovative solution here is the use of OneChip Radar technology which significantly reduces system cost, form factor and power consumption without compromises system performance.

2. Air Sensing Block

This section of the smart helmet uses Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and optical sensors to detect various gases (such as Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen Dioxide) in the atmosphere, particulate matter such as PM2.5 in the atmosphere and also a light, temperature, humidity and pressure sensor. These sensors have the added advantage of an ultra-small form factor coupled with ultra-low power thus making battery operation possible.

3. Data Display and Storage Block

The third block of the smart helmet is the data display and storage block. By using low energy wireless transmission, the data from the electronics unit attached to the helmet is transmitted to a mobile device (android or iOS) where it is displayed in a user friendly graphical format. The data can also be anonymously transmitted to a dedicated cloud for permanent storage and usage by the public at large.

By making the design modular, portable and detachable a larger audience i.e. both cyclists and walking people can use this invention. The functionality of the invention should provide significant boost in term of enhancing safety of both cyclists and pedestrians including those running. Along with this the continuous environmental monitoring gives a unique health based journey insight to end users. Thatwould allow them to cater their journeys based on environmentally friendly routes in addition to user safety. By equipping the end user to technology that helps by warning of incoming traffic and also monitors their environment the invention will act as a means to lower the barriers to using cycles, walking and even daily exercises like running.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

E mbodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention incorporating a means of attaching and detaching the environment sensing and object detection module to and from a bicycle helmet.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention incorporating a permanently attached environment sensing and object detection module to a bicycle helmet.

FIG. 3 shows the different functional blocks inside the environmental sensorand object detection module along with a external object(s).

FIG. 4 shows a typical wireless communication scenario between the environmental sensing and object detection module and a mobile device.

Structure and function of the preferred embodiments

Smart bicycle helmets are part of the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution where connectivity between devices and sensors plays a critical role. However, devices within the cycling, walking and running sectors have focussed on the health and fitness information of the end user in addition to providing enhanced connectivity features between a mobile device and the smart helmet. Capturing of environmental data coupled with safety enhancement features such as object detection and hazard warnings have primarily not been explored.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic simplified cross sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The smart helmet is made up of a head protection wear 103, an attachable and detachable module 101 and the mechanical clamp 102 to provide the attaching and detaching functionality for the said module.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic simplified cross sectional view of another preferred embodiment of the present invention. The smart helmet is made up of a head protection wear 201, an integrated module 202 and a mechanical housing 203 to permanently hold the module in place.

Although the module is represented in FIG. 1 as 101 and FIG. 2 as 202 the module from heron will be addressed as 101 for consistency and clarity.

FIG. 3 shows the components of the module along with its functionality. The module 101 consists of a mechanical body 301 of the module. Within this body 301 there are four main electronic circuits. It has a power source 305 with an internet power management controller circuit for optimal system performance. The power monitoring circuit can also charge the power source via a USB connection 307 if required. The USB interface 307 also caters for wired communication between the module and the external world. This would be the case when the power source is an electrochemical rechargeable battery. In case the power source is a solar cell ora fuel cell the USB interface 307 will be used for other communication purposes. The power management controller communicates with the main controller 304 and this is a two way communication.

The chip based radarwith antennas circuit 302 can operate in a wide range of frequencies from 10 GHz to 200 GHz. The circuit contains a fully integrated radar unit with antennas either on chip or in package or with provision to connect external antennas in orderto enhance its detection range. This is a self-contained circuit responsible for detecting incoming and outgoing objects 306. It has the ability to detect more than one object 306 and it detects their angle of arrival or departure, distance from the module 101 and speed. This circuit 302 communicates with a central controller circuit 304. The advantage of having a chip based radar unit is its lower cost smaller form factor, better performance and low power consumption as compared with radar units based on discrete components and patch antennas only. The radar circuit also has a two way communication link with the main controller 304.

The sensor module 303 has gas sensors, particulate matter sensors, light sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, pressure sensors and a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) for location identification. This circuit uses Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) Micro E lectro Mechanical Systems (ME MS) and/or ME MS only gas sensors. These gas sensors can be based on Metal Oxide (MOX), optical, gravimetric, thermal, thermo-optical, electrochemical, magnetic, resonance or other state of the art sensing principles. Their small form factorof only a few millimetres in dimensions coupled with lowcost, low power consumption and excellent accuracy is the underlying reason for the successful operation of this invention. The sensor circuit also has a two-way link with the main controller 304 and also contains all the sensor drive and signal conditioning electronics. These sensors capture a wide range of parameters of the surrounding environment and transfer the data to the main controller for processing and transmission.

The main controller 304 directly interacts with all the otherthree circuits in the module 101 and also with the outside world via onboard wireless transmission capability and through wired connection 307. The main controller304 manages the entire operations of the modules. It controls all other circuits 302, 303 and 305 in the module, schedules tasks, communicates to and receives data from them. It runs algorithms and subroutines as part of its firmware to drive, process, analyse raw data and execute both wireless and wired transmission of data if and when required.

FIG. 4 shows the transmission of data between the module 101 and a mobile device 401 over a communication channel 402. The protocol used by the module can be from the group comprising Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Thread and even a proprietary one. The mobile device 401 will have an application running on either Android, iOS, Windows of other standard operating system platforms. This application will display the data received from the module on the mobile device 401 in a meaningful manner and also anonymously store this data with the users permission on a cloud so that other users and wider public can access it.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with the exemplary embodiments described above, many equivalent modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art when given this disclosure. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments of the invention set forth above are considered to be illustrative and not limiting. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

All references referred to above are hereby incorporated by reference.

List of non-patent product references

Sena X1 smart helmet, httpssenaxorti/pjOdijct/xV

Hovding bicycle helmet https://hovdirig.com/

Liveall BLING smart helmet http://VvwwJivall.CQm/

Brooklyness CLASS ON smart helmet httos:/Mvwy.brooklyness.com/

Garmin Varia rearview bike radar, https;.//buy.ga.rmjn

Claims

1. A bicycle helmet comprising a module that is attachable to and detachable from the said helmet the module further comprising:

one or more gas sensors;

one or more particulate matter sensors;

one or more light sensors;

one or more humidity sensors;

one or more temperature sensors;

one or more pressure sensors;

one or more radar units to detect both moving and stationary objects in the surrounding areas;

a global navigation satellite system to provide real time location data;

one or more power sources;

one or more controllers to drive, control, process and wirelessly transmit data obtained from the said sensors, radar and global navigation satellite system to a mobile device, the said controller also having the ability to receive data from the mobile device to perform different tasks.

2. A bicycle helmet according to claim 1, wherein the gas sensors are from the group comprising C MOS ME MS and ME MS only gas sensors.

3. A bicycle helmet according to claim 1, wherein the particulate matter sensor is from the group comprising optical, ionizing and gravimetric.

4. A bicycle helmet according to claim 1, wherein the radar unit is a fully integrated radar chip with on-chip antennas or in-package antennas.

5. A bicycle helmet according to claim 1, wherein the controller uses wireless protocol from the group comprising Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Thread and proprietary.

6. The gas sensor according to claim 2, wherein the sensor can sense gases from the group comprising volatile organic compounds, green-house gases, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, oxygen and hydrogen.

7. The particulate matter sensor according to claim 3, wherein the said sensor can measure PM2.5, PM10 or both.

8. The radar unit according to claim 4, wherein the radar can detect the angle of arrival of incoming and angle of departure of outgoing objects, distances of objects from the radar and their respective speeds.

9. The radar unit according to claim 4, wherein the radar operates atfrequencies in the range of 10 G Hz to 200 G Hz.

10. A bicycle helmet according to claim 1, wherein the combined data set from the said sensors enables the module to become ana micro weather station with wireless data transmission capability.

11. A bicycle helmet according to claim 1, wherein the said power source belongs to the group comprising, electrochemical battery, solar cells and fuel cells.

12. A bicycle helmet according to claim 1, wherein the controller in the module includes a computing device with memory from the group comprising an application specific signal processor (ASS P), a multi-core central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DS P) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

13. A method to provide real time traffic movement and localised weather data, said method comprising:

received information of the localised surrounding environment sensed by the onboard sensors;

received information that was transmitted by the radar unit and reflected from the objects;

algorithms to calculate gas concentration and particulate matter count; algorithms to calculate the intensity of light, temperature, humidity and pressure measurements;

algorithms to calculate distance, angle of arrival and departure of an object along with its speed;

a protocol to wirelessly transmit the compiled data to a mobile device for onward cloud storage and real-time streaming.