AU2019100480A4 - Infant sleeping aid, infant sleeping aid system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

INFANT SLEEPING AID, INFANT SLEEPING AID SYSTEM AND An infant sleeping aid comprising: one or more sensors; one or more output devices including one or more of: a speaker; and a lighting device; a controller comprising a processor and memory having stored therein one or more control programs, wherein the controller is coupled to the one or more sensors and the speaker, wherein the processor is configured, in response to execution of the one or more control programs, to: detect, using the one or more sensors, that the infant has transitioned from a sleep state to a non-sleep state; and control the one or more output devices in response to detecting the infant in the non-sleep state. 22652250 (IRN: P0008251AU) Communications/ Computer Network 120 / Communications 190 Interface(s)108 Special Function 191 1192 193 LiFhtinig device R197 Processor Internal Speke I105 ppn Storage 195 -L User Input Portable Memory Device(s) 113 Interface 106 Portable Storage Medium Fig. 1A

Description

INFANT SLEEPING AID, INFANT SLEEPING AID SYSTEM AND METHOD

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to an infant sleeping aid, method and system.

Background [0002] Sleeping aids for infants are known. Some play music or a simulation of a mother’s heartbeat in order to aid the child to self soothe to sleep. Some sleeping aids will continue to emit audio until a parent turns the device off. Attempting to train an infant to self-sooth can be challenging. Many parents become frustrated and may intervene, therefore detracting from the benefits of self-soothing. There is a need to assist parents who wish to assist with implementing self-soothing for an infant.

Summary [0003] It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome, or at least ameliorate, one or more disadvantages of existing arrangements.

[0004] In one aspect the present invention provides an infant sleeping aid comprising: one or more sensors; a speaker; a controller comprising a processor and memory having stored therein one or more control programs, wherein the controller is coupled to the one or more sensors and the speaker, wherein the processor is configured, in response to execution of the one or more control programs, to: detect, using the one or more sensors, that the infant has transitioned from a sleep state to a non-sleep state; and emit audio via the speaker in response to detecting the infant in the non-sleep state.

[0005] Other aspects and embodiments will be appreciated throughout the detailed description.

Brief Description of the Drawings [0006] At least one embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings and appendices, in which:

22652250 (IRN: P0008251AU)

2019100480 03 May 2019 [0007] Figs. 1A and IB collectively form a schematic block diagram representation of an electronic device upon which described arrangements can be practised;

[0008] Fig. 2 is a flow chart representing a method performed by the infant sleeping aid of Fig. 3;

[0009] Fig. 3 is a schematic front view of an example of an infant sleeping aid;

[0010] Fig. 4 is a system block diagram of an example infant sleeping aid; and [0011] Fig. 5 is a system block diagram showing a further example of an infant sleeping aid.

Detailed Description [0012] Figs. 1A and IB collectively form a schematic block diagram of a general purpose electronic device 101 including embedded components, for forms part of the infant sleeping aid 300 as shown for example in Figure 3.

[0013] As seen in Fig. 1A, the electronic device 101 comprises an embedded controller 102. Accordingly, the electronic device 101 may be referred to as an “embedded device.” In the present example, the controller 102 has a processing unit (or processor) 105 which is bidirectionally coupled to an internal storage module 109. The storage module 109 may be formed from non-volatile semiconductor read only memory (ROM) 160 and semiconductor random access memory (RAM) 170, as seen in Fig. IB. The RAM 170 may be volatile, nonvolatile or a combination of volatile and non-volatile memory.

[0014] The electronic device 101 includes one or more user input devices 113 which are typically formed by one or more buttons or like controls.

[0015] The electronic device 101 further includes or is coupled to one or more sensors 190. In one form, the one or more sensors could include an accelerometer 191, a microphone 192 and/or a gyroscope 193. In one form, the accelerometer and gyroscope are provided as an integrated sensor device.

22652250 (IRN: P0008251AU)

2019100480 03 May 2019 [0016] The electronic device 101 further includes output devices including a speaker 195 and a lighting device 197.

[0017] As seen in Fig. 1A, the electronic device 101 also comprises a portable memory interface 106, which is coupled to the processor 105 via a connection 119. The portable memory interface 106 allows a complementary portable memory device 125 to be coupled to the electronic device 101 to act as a source or destination of data or to supplement the internal storage module 109. Examples of such interfaces permit coupling with portable memory devices such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory devices, Secure Digital (SD) cards, Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMIA) cards, optical disks and magnetic disks.

[0018] The electronic device 101 also has a communications interface 108 to permit coupling of the device 101 to a computer or communications network 120 via a connection 121. The connection 121 may be wired or wireless. For example, the connection 121 may be radio frequency or optical. An example of a wired connection includes Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable but other wired connections are possible. Further, an example of wireless connection includes Bluetooth™ type local interconnection, Wi-Fi (including protocols based on the standards of the IEEE 802.11 family), Infrared Data Association (IrDa) and the like.

[0019] Typically, the electronic device 101 is configured to perform some special function.

The embedded controller 102, possibly in conjunction with further special function components 110, is provided to perform that special function. The special function component 110 is connected to the embedded controller 102.

[0020] The methods described hereinafter may be implemented using the embedded controller 102, where the process of Fig. 2 may be implemented as one or more software application programs 133 executable within the embedded controller 102. The electronic device 101 of Fig. 1A implements the described methods. In particular, with reference to Fig. IB, the steps of the described methods are affected by instructions in the software 133 that are carried out within the controller 102. The software instructions may be formed as one or more code modules, each for performing one or more particular tasks.

22652250 (IRN: P0008251AU)

2019100480 03 May 2019 [0021] The software 133 of the embedded controller 102 is typically stored in the non-volatile ROM 160 of the internal storage module 109. The software 133 stored in the ROM 160 can be updated when required from a computer readable medium. The software 133 can be loaded into and executed by the processor 105. In some instances, the processor 105 may execute software instructions that are located in RAM 170. Software instructions may be loaded into the RAM 170 by the processor 105 initiating a copy of one or more code modules from ROM 160 into RAM 170. Alternatively, the software instructions of one or more code modules may be pre-installed in a non-volatile region of RAM 170 by a manufacturer. After one or more code modules have been located in RAM 170, the processor 105 may execute software instructions of the one or more code modules.

[0022] The application program 133 is typically pre-installed and stored in the ROM 160 by a manufacturer, prior to distribution of the electronic device 101. However, in some instances, the application programs 133 may be supplied to the user encoded on one or more CD-ROM (not shown) and read via the portable memory interface 106 of Fig. 1A prior to storage in the internal storage module 109 or in the portable memory 125. In another alternative, the software application program 133 may be read by the processor 105 from the network 120 or loaded into the controller 102 or the portable storage medium 125 from other computer readable media. Computer readable storage media refers to any non-transitory tangible storage medium that participates in providing instructions and/or data to the controller 102 for execution and/or processing. Examples of such storage media include floppy disks, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, a hard disk drive, a ROM or integrated circuit, USB memory, a magneto-optical disk, flash memory, or a computer readable card such as a PCMCIA card and the like, whether or not such devices are internal or external of the device 101. Examples of transitory or non-tangible computer readable transmission media that may also participate in the provision of software, application programs, instructions and/or data to the device 101 include radio or infra-red transmission channels as well as a network connection to another computer or networked device, and the Internet or Intranets including e-mail transmissions and information recorded on Websites and the like. A computer readable medium having such software or computer program recorded on it is a computer program product.

[0023] Fig. IB illustrates in detail the embedded controller 102 having the processor 105 for executing the application programs 133 and the internal storage 109. The internal storage 109 comprises read only memory (ROM) 160 and random access memory (RAM) 170. The

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2019100480 03 May 2019 processor 105 is able to execute the application programs 133 stored in one or both of the connected memories 160 and 170. When the electronic device 101 is initially powered up, a system program resident in the ROM 160 is executed. The application program 133 permanently stored in the ROM 160 is sometimes referred to as “firmware”. Execution of the firmware by the processor 105 may fulfil various functions, including processor management, memory management, device management, storage management and user interface.

[0024] The processor 105 typically includes a number of functional modules including a control unit (CU) 151, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 152, a digital signal processor (DSP) 153 and a local or internal memory comprising a set of registers 154 which typically contain atomic data elements 156, 157, along with internal buffer or cache memory 155. One or more internal buses 159 interconnect these functional modules. The processor 105 typically also has one or more interfaces 158 for communicating with external devices via system bus 181, using a connection 161.

[0025] The application program 133 includes a sequence of instructions 162 through 163 that may include conditional branch and loop instructions. The program 133 may also include data, which is used in execution of the program 133. This data may be stored as part of the instruction or in a separate location 164 within the ROM 160 or RAM 170.

[0026] In general, the processor 105 is given a set of instructions, which are executed therein. This set of instructions may be organised into blocks, which perform specific tasks or handle specific events that occur in the electronic device 101. Typically, the application program 133 waits for events and subsequently executes the block of code associated with that event. Events may be triggered in response to input from a user, via the user input devices 113 of Fig. 1A, as detected by the processor 105. Events may also be triggered in response to other sensors and interfaces in the electronic device 101.

[0027] The execution of a set of the instructions may require numeric variables to be read and modified. Such numeric variables are stored in the RAM 170. The disclosed method uses input variables 171 that are stored in known locations 172, 173 in the memory 170. The input variables 171 are processed to produce output variables 177 that are stored in known locations 178, 179 in the memory 170. Intermediate variables 174 may be stored in additional

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2019100480 03 May 2019 memory locations in locations 175, 176 of the memory 170. Alternatively, some intermediate variables may only exist in the registers 154 of the processor 105.

[0028] The execution of a sequence of instructions is achieved in the processor 105 by repeated application of a fetch-execute cycle. The control unit 151 of the processor 105 maintains a register called the program counter, which contains the address in ROM 160 or RAM 170 of the next instruction to be executed. At the start of the fetch execute cycle, the contents of the memory address indexed by the program counter is loaded into the control unit 151. The instruction thus loaded controls the subsequent operation of the processor 105, causing for example, data to be loaded from ROM memory 160 into processor registers 154, the contents of a register to be arithmetically combined with the contents of another register, the contents of a register to be written to the location stored in another register and so on. At the end of the fetch execute cycle the program counter is updated to point to the next instruction in the system program code. Depending on the instruction just executed this may involve incrementing the address contained in the program counter or loading the program counter with a new address in order to achieve a branch operation.

[0029] Each step or sub-process in the processes of the methods described below is associated with one or more segments of the application program 133 and is performed by repeated execution of a fetch-execute cycle in the processor 105 or similar programmatic operation of other independent processor blocks in the electronic device 101.

[0030] Referring to Fig. 2 there is shown a flowchart representing a method performed by the controller 102 of the electronic device 101 adapted to operate as an infant sleeping aid 300. At step 210, the method 200 includes detecting, using the one or more sensors, that the infant has transitioned from a sleep state to a non-sleep state; and emit audio via the speaker in response to detecting the infant in the non-sleep state.

[0031] In one form, after emitting the audio via the speaker 195 in response to detecting the infant in the non-sleep state, the controller 102 is further configured to detect, using one or more sensors 190, that the infant has transitioned to the sleep state. The controller 102 is further configured to reduce or crease emitting the audio via the speaker 195 in response to detecting that the infant is in the sleep state.

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2019100480 03 May 2019 [0032] In order to reduce startling the infant with a sudden change of audio being emitted (or lack thereof), the audio can be gradually faded in and/or faded out when a transition of the infant’s sleep state is detected. In particular, the controller 102 can be configured to fade-out the audio when ceasing or reducing the volume of the audio emitted via the speaker q95 in response to detecting the infant in the sleep state. Additionally, the controller 102 can be configured to fade-in the audio emitted via the speaker 195 in response to detecting that the infant is in the non-sleep state.

[0033] As discussed above, the electronic device 101 which is adapted to operate as the infant sleeping aid 300 can further comprise the lighting device 197 which is coupled to the controller 102. The controller is configured to control the lighting device 197 to emit light whilst the speaker 195 emits the audio. Furthermore, the controller 102 can be configured to control the lighting device 197 to fade-out intensity of the emitted light whilst fading-out the emission of the audio. Additionally, the controller 102 can be configured to control the lighting device 197 to fade-in intensity of the emitted light whilst fading-in the emission of the audio. As such, the intensity of the light fades-in or fades-out substantially simultaneously with the fade-in or fadeout of the audio. The fade-in and fade-out effect can be substantially similar for the emitted audio and intensity of light.

[0034] As shown in Fig 3, the infant sleeping aid 300 may be provided in the form of an infant’s toy, such as a plush toy. The infant’s sleeping aid can comprise the electronic device 101 and a toy body 320 which releasably receives within a void the electronic device. The electronic device 101 is at least partially housed within a housing 310 which has a profile which substantially corresponds to the profile of the void. In particular, the controller, the one or more sensors and the speaker are housed within the housing 310. At least a portion of the lighting device is mounted to an external surface of the housing 310. The lighting device may be a variable lighting device such as a multi-colour LED with variable intensity which allows for customising the light for sleep or play. In the example shown in Fig. 3, the plush toy may take the profile of a sloth, but it will be appreciated that other types of animals or toy characters are possible. The infant sleeping aid 300 can be used like a normal toy to entertain the infant during non-sleep periods and can act as an aid to assist with sleeping by playing audio, such as music, to soothe and provide mental stimulation. The infant sleeping is a musical companion robust enough to be dropped, kicked, chewed and drooled on that also aids in sleep promotion and sleep tracking. The housing 310 has holes in the wall to allow the emitted audio to leave the

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2019100480 03 May 2019 housing 310. The housing 310 may be surrounded by the lighting device provided in the form of a variable night light. The lighting device may have a substantially ring-like profile surrounding the circumference of the housing 310. The infant sleeping aid 300 can further comprise a teether ring providing a number of stimulating and colourful textures to explore. The housing 310 can be removed from a void of the toy body 320 such that the toy body 320 can be washed.

[0035] The toy body 320 can include detachable decorations for customisation and stimulation, such as various colours, patterns and textures. Hook and loop arrangements are used to in the back portion of the toy body 320 to access and protect the housing 310. This can be fully enclosed or have the back exposed for better stability, easier access and breathability. The teething ring 330 can be made from BPA free untreated wood or silicon replaceable teething ring 330, additional clip available to secure to pram, cot, car seat etc. The arms of the toy body 320 detach from the teether ring 330 to remove for cleaning, replacement or for an older child or attach to other items. The toy body 320 may be made from polyester, organic content or other safe material. The speaker can include a food grade silicon or plastic, water resistant speaker grill.

[0036] In another form, input controls may be provided in the feet of the toy body 320. The input controls can be actuated to control power, volume, audio, and lighting. Buttons on the toy body 320 can trigger additional sounds to encourage creative play including selecting sounds and audio track/source [0037] By providing the infant sleeping aid 300 as a toy, the infant is more likely to be willing to have the sleeping aid nearby, such as in the infant’s cot/bed or the like. However, the infant may hold the infant close to their ear when audio is being emitted by the speaker. In order to avoid risking any damage to the hearing of the infant, the controller 102 can be further configured to detect, using the one or more sensors 190, that the infant is holding the infant sleeping aid 300, and then reduce the volume of the audio emitted via the speaker 195 in response to detecting that infant sleeping aid 300 is being held by the infant whilst in the nonsleep state. In one form, the audio can be reduced to about 85dB.

[0038] As discussed above, the one or more sensors 190 comprise of an accelerometer 191, wherein the detection of the sleep state and non-sleep state is based on comparison of acceleration data sampled by the accelerometer and one or more acceleration thresholds stored

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2019100480 03 May 2019 in memory of the controller 102. In one form, the controller 102 is configured to detect the number of acceleration samples, sensed in a shifting temporal window, which exceed an acceleration threshold stored in memory. In the event that the number of acceleration samples which exceed the acceleration threshold exceed a non-sleep acceleration threshold, the controller determines that the infant is in the non-sleep state.

[0039] In an additional or alternate form, the one or more sensors comprise of the microphone. In one form, the detection of the sleep state is based on comparing a detected audio frequency captured by the microphone to an audio threshold or range stored in memory of the controller 102. For example, the range stored in memory of the controller may be 1000Hz to 5000Hz. In the event that the controller detects that the captured audio from the microphone has a audio frequency that falls within the range stored in the memory of the controller, the controller determines that the infant is in the non-sleep state.

[0040] In an additional or alternate form, the detection of the sleep state is based on comparing a detected volume of the captured audio to an audio volume threshold or range stored in memory of the controller 102. In the event that the controller detects that the captured audio from the microphone has a volume that exceeds the threshold stored in the memory of the controller, the controller determines that the infant is in the non-sleep state.

[0041] In another form, the detection of the non-sleep state is based on one or more audio frequency thresholds or frequency range, audio intensity thresholds or range and optionally temporal data related to the period of time that particular audio emissions captured by the microphone extend. For example, the one or more control programs can implement a softwarebased audio frequency spectral analyser to determine to a predominant audio frequency range captured by the microphone. The predominant frequency range is then compared to a non-sleep frequency range stored in memory of the controller 102. The controller 102 is also configured to determine a length of time that the predominant audio frequency is detected as being predominant over the shifting temporal window, wherein the length of time is compared against a temporal threshold stored in memory. In the event that the predominant audio frequency over the temporal window falls within the non-sleep frequency range and the length of time which it is predominant meets or exceeds the temporal threshold, the processor concludes that the infant is in a non-sleep state. The use of this more complex detection method attempts to reduce false positive detections of the infant in a non-sleep state.

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2019100480 03 May 2019 [0042] In one form, a combination of both acceleration data and captured audio samples are used to determine whether or not the infant is in the sleep or non-sleep state. In one form, the non-sleep state is detected based on the predominant audio frequency over the temporal window falling within the non-sleep frequency range, the length of time which the predominant audio frequency is predominant meeting or exceeding the temporal threshold, and the number of acceleration samples exceeding the acceleration threshold exceed a non-sleep acceleration threshold. In the event that all three conditions are not met, the infant is determined by the processor to be in the sleep state.

[0043] In another form, the infant sleeping aid 300 may utilise a trained model to detect crying of the infant to determine a non-sleep state of the infant. The trained model may be part of the one or more control programs stored in memory of the infant sleeping aid 300. The trained model can be implemented in the form of a classifier.

[0044] In one form, the controller may be configured to utilise a timer which is executed in software by the one or more programs. In particular, in the event that false positive detections of the infant being in the non-sleep state occur over an extended period of time, the timer may define a period of time (e.g. 1 hour) that the transition of the infant to the sleep state will be assumed to have occurred such that the audio and/or light will cease or at least reduce in volume and intensity respectively.

[0045] The controller records in memory the current state of the infant. Once the state of the infant is determined as in the non-sleep state, the controller begins the process of implementing soothing functions such as the playing of audio through the speaker and actuation of the lighting device to assist with soothing the infant to sleep. During the implementation of the soothing functions, the controller is simultaneously attempting to detect the transition of the infant to the sleep state. Similarly to above, the controller can use the one or more sensors to determine whether the infant can transitioned to the sleep sate.

[0046] For example, the controller can determine whether the captured audio data for a period of time has exceeded a non-sleep threshold. For example, in the event that the audio for a one minute period has not exceeded 1,000 Hz, the controller has determined that the infant is in the sleep state. Alternatively, can determine whether the acceleration data for a period of time has exceeded a non-sleep threshold. For example, in the event that the acceleration data does not

22652250 (IRN: P0008251AU)

2019100480 03 May 2019 include a sample which exceeds a non-sleep acceleration threshold, the controller determines that the infant has transitioned to the sleep state. In some examples, a combination of both conditions being met may be required to be satisfied in order to detect the transition of the infant into the sleep state.

[0047] In an additional or alternate form, the infant sleeping aid 300 may utilise an additional or alternate trained model, such as a classifier, to detect the infant in the sleep state.

[0048] In one form, the audio that is emitted by the infant sleeping aid 300 may be stored in the memory of the controller. The controller retrieves audio data from the memory and audio signals are generated based on the retrieved audio data. However, as will be explained in relation to Figure 4, a stream of audio data may be received from another processing system.

[0049] Referring to Fig. 4 there is shown a system diagram showing an infant sleeping aid system. The system includes a remote processing device in wireless communication with the infant sleeping aid 300 discussed in relation to Figs. 1A, IB, 2 and 3.

[0050] The remote processing system can be provided in the form of a smartphone, tablet, smart watch, general processing system, or the like. The remote processing system has stored in memory a computer program such as a mobile application. Execution of the computer program by the respective processor configures the remote processing system to enable the streaming of audio data to the infant sleeping aid 300. In one form, the app is a mobile application. The streamed audio data is received via the communication interface. The communication interface can be provided in the form of a Bluetooth communication device, but in other instances the communication interface may utilise other wireless protocols such as Wi-Fi or the like.

[0051] In one form, the audio data that is streamed by the remote processing system may be relaying streamed audio data received from a streaming music service such as Spotify or the like.

[0052] In one form, the audio data which is streamed by the application which is executed by the remote processing system may take the form of music, white noise, a heartbeat sound, or humming such as a mother humming. However, as discussed above, the memory of the controller may have pre-stored audio, and new audio data can be uploaded to the memory of the controller which may be transferred wirelessly from the remote processing system to the

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2019100480 03 May 2019 controller via the communication interface for storage in memory. Alternatively, audio data can be uploaded via a USB cable extending between the remote processing system and the infant sleeping aid 300 which couples to a USB port thereof.

[0053] In one form, the infant sleeping aid 300 includes a temperature sensor to sense the temperature nearby the infant. The temperature sensor data is wirelessly transferred to the remote processing system and presented via the display thereof. The application may be configured to compare the sensed temperature against a threshold temperature which the parent can set in memory. In the event that the sensed temperature has met or exceeded the temperature threshold, the application may configure the remote processing system to present an altert. For example, a visual and./or audio warning may be presented as an alert so that the parent may correct the temperature in the infant’s room.

[0054] The application executed by the remote processing system can store tracking data in memory of the remote processing system or in a cloud data store which is in remote communication via a wide area network such as the Internet. The infant sleeping aid can transfer state transition detections to the remote processing system which can be stored as part of the tracked data. Furthermore, the temperature can also be stored as part of the tracked data. Various statistics can be generated by the application and presented via the display of the remote processing system based on the tracked data, such as a weekly sleeping length, average temporal length of a sleep, etc.

[0055] The infant sleeping aid 300 is designed as a safe and robust toy that can be dropped, chewed, cuddled and carried around during the day or attached to prams, cots and car seats. The teether is replaceable and the housing 310 for the speaker is removable for easy cleaning.

[0056] In one form, the emission of audio and/or light can be controlled by the application or by buttons that are located in the limbs as well as on the housing 310 using a combination of push, push and hold or double push actions.

[0057] The application executed by the remote processing system can provide a number of controllable features such as:

• Control LED color and intensity.

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2019100480 03 May 2019 • Transfer audio to internal memory of the controller.

• Control sound selection.

• Control timer settings.

• Control safety features.

• Controls cry sensor sensitivity (i.e. thresholds) and timer.

• Tracks crying and sleep patterns and presents this data in charts and reports.

• The ability to record audio direct from the remote processing system’s internal microphone and send this to the device for storing in the controller memory and/or playback.

• Access the library of sounds stored in memory of the infant sleeping aid 300 for streaming or updating to the inventions internal memory.

• A “Talk” feature allowing the parent/guardian to talk to their infant through the speaker.

• Monitor battery level.

• Pair with other devices in close proximity to allow simultaneous control of multiple devices for multiple infants.

[0058] In one form, the housing 310 can be removed to be charged or charged within the toy body 320 using a USB or micro-USB cable. In one form, the controller is electrically coupled to a power source provided in the form of one or more rechargeable batteries. In one form, the infant sleeping aid 300 includes an auxiliary port to connect an external audio source using a cable. A safety flap is used to cover the charging port and power on the infant sleeping aid 300. In one form, the infant sleeping aid 300 comprises a smart battery programmed to stop charging once the battery is fully charged.

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2019100480 03 May 2019 [0059] It will be appreciated from the above examples in relation to use of the accelerometer for detecting the sleep state and non-sleep state of the infant that the gyroscope can also be utilised in combination with the accelerometer.

[0060] In one form, in response to detecting the transition of the baby from the sleep state to the non-sleep state, the controller is configured to utilise a audio and/or lighting setting stored in the memory of the controller 102. The setting can be predefined. Alternatively, the user of the remote processing system can utilise the remote processing system to customise the setting which is then wirelessly transferred to and stored in the memory of the controller.

[0061] In one form, the controller is calibrated by scanning the ambient room level using the microphone in order to define and manage thresholds stored in the memory of the controller.

[0062] In one form, the housing 310 provides a push button selector switch for managing volume and light control via the infant sleeping aid 300 using set input patterns so the parent does not need to use the remote processing system to control basic features. In one form, the speaker is provided with a push switch for allowing the infant sleeping aid 300 to be turned on and off quickly and to activate and deactivate the audio/light.

[0063] In one form, captured audio by the microphone can be streamed back to the remote processing system and emitted via an audio device, such as a speaker of the remote processing device such that the infant sleeping aid 300 also provides monitoring functionality.

[0064] In one embodiment, the infant sleeping aid 300 includes a push to talk feature allows parents to talk to their baby using the internal speaker from their mobile device.

[0065] In another form, the infant sleeping aid 300 can be configured to receive streaming audio data from streaming services such as Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music or the like. The controller establishes a wireless connection with a computer network enabling for a request for streamed audio data to be streamed to and received by the controller of the infant sleeping aid 300.

[0066] In one form, when the infant sleeping aid 300 detects that the infant has transitioned to the sleep state, the controller can reduce the light intensity such that a faint amount of light is emitted by the lighting device to allow for easy management and locating in a dark room.

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2019100480 03 May 2019 [0067] In one embodiment, the infant sleeping aid 300 can include a camera device for live monitoring and movement tracking for sleep pattern analysis.

[0068] Referring to Figure 5 there is shown a further block diagram of the electronic device 601 of the infant sleeping aid. In particular, the electronic device of the infant sleeping aid comprises a processor 505 which is coupled to a BLE device 510 and a memory 515. The processor 505 of the controller is coupled to human interface 517 including light emitting diodes 520 and one or more input control buttons. 525 As mentioned above, the processor 505 is coupled to the accelerometer 530 which may be a multi axis accelerometer and gyroscope. The processor 505 of the controller is further coupled with a microphone 535 and a temperature sensor 540. The processor of the controller is further coupled to a DAC and Class D amplifier 545 which in turn is coupled to a speaker 550. The electronic device 601 of the infant sleeping aid 300 includes a battery 655 which is in turn coupled to the voltage regulator 560. A charge management module 565 is coupled to the battery 555 and voltage regulator 560 to management recharging of the battery 555. For clarity purposes, the battery 555, voltage regulator 560 and charge management module 565 are shown separate to the processor 505 of the controller, but it will be appreciated that these components are in electrical communication with the processor 505 of the controller. It will be appreciated that the electronic device 501 illustrated in Figure 5 can be adapted to perform the method described above.

[0069] Many modifications will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Claims (5)

1. 2019100480 03 May 2019

   CLAIMS:

   1. An infant sleeping aid comprising: one or more sensors;

   one or more output devices including one or more of: a speaker; and a lighting device;

   a controller comprising a processor and memory having stored therein one or more control programs, wherein the controller is coupled to the one or more sensors and the speaker, wherein the processor is configured, in response to execution of the one or more control programs, to:

   detect, using the one or more sensors, that the infant has transitioned from a sleep state to a non-sleep state; and control the one or more output devices in response to detecting the infant in the non-sleep state.
2. 2. The infant sleeping aid according to claim 1, wherein after controlling the one or more output devices in response to detecting the infant in the non-sleep state, the processor is further configured to:

   detect, using one or more sensors, that the infant has transitioned to the sleep state; and control the one or more output devices in response to detecting that the infant is in the sleep state.
3. 3. The infant sleeping aid according to claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to fadeout audio emitted by the speaker to cease or reduce the volume of the audio emitted via the speaker in response to detecting the infant in the sleep state, and wherein the processor is configured to fade-in audio emitted via the speaker in response to detecting that the infant is in the non-sleep state.
4. 4. The infant sleeping aid according claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to: control the lighting device to emit light whilst the speaker emits the audio;

   control the lighting device to fade-out intensity of the emitted light whilst fading-out the emission of the audio; and

   22652250 (IRN: P0008251AU)

   2019100480 03 May 2019 control the lighting device to fade-in intensity of the emitted light whilst fading-in the emission of the audio.
5. 5. The infant sleeping aid according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the processor is further configured to:

   detect, using the one or more sensors, that the infant is holding the infant sleeping aid whilst in the non-sleep state; and reduce the volume of the audio emitted via the speaker in response to detecting that infant sleeping aid is being held by the infant whilst in the non-sleep state.