GB2444391A

GB2444391A - Inflatable audio/visual data acquisition device

Info

Publication number: GB2444391A
Application number: GB0723271A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mark Phillip Houghton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-11-28
Filing date: 2007-11-28
Publication date: 2008-06-04
Anticipated expiration: 2027-11-28
Also published as: GB0723271D0; GB0623725D0; GB2444391B

Abstract

A surveillance device comprising a resilient housing having one or more data collection sensors and wireless transmitting means to transmit data from the sensors located therein to a remote display or notification station for retrieval and/or analysis by a user. The sensors may be microphones or cameras. The housing may have one or more so sides (one sided being a ball, four sided being a pyramid, six sided a cube etc.), have a sensor mounted in each face and is preferably pneumatically inflated. A receiver for use with the device and a system are also claimed.

Description

1 2444391 Data Acquisition Device The present invention relates to Data

Acquisition Device, such as one that may be useful as an urban surveillance device, in particular a resiliently housed, such as an inflatable pneumatically housed, data collection and transmittal device.

When personnel are investigating a threat in an urban environment problems arise due to the complexity of the environment, multiple levels, passages, blind corners, unstable floors and the like. Various robot or drone like devices are known for being sent ahead to obtain information, such as sound or visual images. These go ahead of personnel and record or send back such data to enable a situation to be analysed.

However, the known devices have a number of drawbacks. The devices can be bulky as they comprise a propulsion means and associated fuel. They can be complex having control propulsion and monitoring systems, this leads to weight, cost and potential unreliability. Further, the devices are effectively not disposable, which limits the risks that can be taken in their use and hence increases the risks that personnel must undertake due to limited information being collectable. Known devices are also non-resilient making them prone to damage from shocks, such as impacts on or from objects or pressure waves.

The present invention seeks to obviate or mitigate some or all of the aforementioned disadvantages.

The present invention provides an data acquisition device, such as may be useful for urban surveillance, comprising a resilient, preferably, inflatable! pneumatic housing having one or more sides and housing one or more data collection sensors and a wireless transmitting means to transmit data from the sensors located therein to a remote display or notification station for retrieval and/or analysis by a user.

The present invention also provides a remote display or notification station for retrieval and/or analysis by a user of information transmitted from the data acquisition device.

The devices and station of the present invention also comprise features to facilitate or enable the features disclosed. For example, a power supply, suitable wiring, such as on a printed wiring board, etc. The present invention further provides a system for data acquisition comprising said data acquisition device for transmitting information and said display or notification station for retrieval and/or analysis by a user of information transmitted from the device.

In a simple, illustrative, embodiment the present invention provides an inflatable housing, akin to a football', having a microphone therein for obtaining audio information, the microphone being coupled to an amplifier and radio transmitter for transmitting a radio signal containing the audio information. The radio signal is then receive by a radio receiver having suitable amplification to transfer the reconstituted audio information to a user, such as a user wearing an audio headset.

In use, a user will inflate the housing, this optionally initialising the apparatus within the ball by means of a pressure switch, damage of the ball and deflation can act to switch the ball off so as to free radio bandwidth for a successor device. Inflation may be by means of a compressed (e.g. carbon dioxide) canister, such as one located inside the ball and having a pull string activation. Inflation may be by means of a light gas, such as helium giving some buoyancy to the device.

The user will then kick, roll or throw the ball towards a point where information needs obtaining. The size of a the device is typically from 1cm to 100cm, preferably 10 to 30cm, more preferably from 15 to 20cm in diameter (taken as an approximation from a centre of volume to equidistant sides for non-spherical objects). The device can therefore enter passages, ducts, windows, channels and the like where the user cannot enter. If the point where information is needed is indirect from a user (e.g. round a corner) then the device (being resilient, such as from being pneumatic) can be bounced from an object so as to come back on itself and deviate from a line of sight (e.g. go round a corner).

The microphone may be supplemented or replaced by other suitable data gathering devices, such as a camera, thermal sensors, smoke detectors, odour detectors etc. If a directional data collection sensor is used with the device then the device preferably comprises a plurality of n' sides, preferably 4 or more sides, such that the device normally comes to rest in one or a number defined positions (i.e. a flat side down) and the sensor is therefore in one of a defined number of orientations.

Preferably directional sensors are located one per side of an n' sided device and more preferably the sensors are located centrally to a side, so as to be optimally cushioned by equidistant housing portions.

A housing having one side is a sphere (n= 1), a housing having 4 sides is a pyramid and a housing having 6 sides is a cuboid. The housing may comprise sides of differing geometry. For example a 32 sided housing having 12 pentagonal sides having sensors and a further 20 hexagonal sides having hexagons may be used (i.e. a conventional football/soccer ball shape). This is optimal for deployment of the device by kicking and throwing and utilises existing sports skills in personnel using the devices.

For use with cameras a device with n4 or 6 is preferred to reduce the number of redundant faces from which limited useful data can be obtained.

However, the housing may comprise a weight (either intrinsic due to the hardware used or deliberate from an addition weight per Se) such that a device, optionally having n>6, preferably n> 11 will rollover to a preferred orientation, such as may automatically place a camera axis parallel to the ground (i.e. perpendicular to gravity) a device with n=l is also suitable for such off centre weighting, but is less stable as no flat sides are present.

The walls of the devices preferably encompass the device completely and are internally pressurised, such that all the contents of the device are under the same elevated pressure. This makes sealing the pneumatic device simpler and deflation simpler and more effective (single aperture required). The walls are preferably constructed of an elastomer, such as a waterproof elastomer such as polyethylene, or polypropylene and preferably poly vinyl chloride as this is easily welded. The walls may be of a laminated construction, such as with a fibre embedded in elastomer, this provides increased resistance against tearing. The resilience of the device housing of the device of the invention may arise from the elastomer andlor may arise from the inflation of the housing, I.e., its pneumatic character. The housing preferably comprises a thin (0.5 to 5mm) flexible wall.

The walls of the device may comprise a deliberate leak (i.e. an aperture capable of reducing the pressure inside the device by 50% over a 30 minute period), so that an inflated device will, over time deflate and self deactivate, such as by means of a pressure switch or sensor cutting off power. Unreachable devices can therefore be abandoned without loss of radio bandwidth.

Devices of the invention (receiver and transmitter) may comprise a computing apparatus, e.g. microcontroller to facilitate items such as data processing and sensor activation, deactivation and br device inflation and deflation.

The device needs to be resilient so as to provide some degree of bounce but need not necessarily be a pneumatic device, though this is preferred.

A pneumatic device is preferred as; Storage space for an uninflated device can be minimal, the device is therefore more

replaceable in the field and hence disposable.

The size of an inflated device can be large, such as to facilitate kicking so as to direct the device to a remote location without need of propulsion means. Also such as to tailor the buoyancy of the device such that it may float or sink in a fluid, such as water or air. Sunk, submersed, floating on liquid or floating in air configurations may thereby be provided by the same or similar devices from different degrees of inflation, thus increasing the ability of the device and hence the system to cope with a variety of situations, such as may arise in an emergency.

To reduce damage that the device may cause, such as in the presence of glass surfaces.

To make it practicable to kick the device a considerable distance without damaging a kicker or the device.

The devices are preferably inflated to a pressure of 30-200 kPa more preferably 60-kPa (or 8.5-15.6 psi) this allows for resilience without undue deformation, particularly when n1 or n>20.

The device may comprise motion sensors to determine when the device has come to rest and so transmit data signals. Alternatively, or in addition, motion sensors may be used to transmit a series of data signals corresponding to a direction of forward motion, for example. Similarly the device may be enabled to only transmit data when it has come to rest.

Suitable sensors for use in the device include; Sound -preferably in the audible range, such as to detect speech.

Light, preferably in the form of a camera, most preferably in the form of a video camera. The light sensor may detect light level, but preferably also colour. Light in the infra red spectrum is usefully detectable to identify hot objects, such as bodies in the dark.

Temperature sensor(s) -such as can benefit a user by detecting ambient conditions remote from the user and or fluid viscosity for estimating time of flight in such a fluid (e.g. air or water) Accelerometer(s) -such as for aiding in determining the resilience of a surface on which the device may impact or the force with which a device may be initially propelled (e.g. by throwing or kicking) and hence capable of providing an estimated distance that the device may have travelled. A three axis accelerometer being preferred for greater accuracy.

GPS (global positioning sensor, e.g. satnav) -such as for determining a location of the device, such as may benefit a user out of sight of the device.

An orientation sensor, i.e. a sensor capable of determining the orientation of the device relative to the vertical -such as can be used to determine from which faces of the device (e.g.) side faces that data can be usefully gathered and transmitted.

The receiving device of the present invention comprises a power source, aerial, signal amplification and decoding means, data processing and data presentation means, such as by a display or audibly, so as to translate the radio signal produced by the transmitter in the data acquisition device to meaningful information for use by a user.

The receiver is preferably hand holdable and may be located on a stock for easy shoulder mounting and pointing for improved directionality of reception (see figure 4).

The system of the invention comprises at least a receiving device and at least a data acquisition device as herein described.

The present invention will now be illustrated by means of the following diagrams which show: Figure 1 shows a device according to the invention; Figure 2 shows an internal view of a device according to the invention; Figure 3 shows a system according the invention; and Figure 4 shows the use of a system according to the invention.

Referring now to figures 1 and 2. The device of the invention (10) comprises an inflatable (here shown inflated) pneumatic cuboid having a plurality of substantially flat (though in practice bowed out a little due to inflation). On each face is a camera (14), such as a pinhole electronic camera is arranged so as to view and obtain visual information regarding the surroundings of the device and transmit images to a central processing hub 20 by means of wires 26, where only those cameras providing useful images have their images transmitted. The central hub also comprises a microphone whose signal is also transmitted.

Referring now the Figure 3, a system of the present invention, the device (10) transmits the data/information signals for reception using an aerial (120) of a remote display (100) having a casing (110) with a speaker for transmitting sound signals received via the device and a screen to displaying visual information received via the device.

Referring now to figure 4, in use an operative (200) throws the device (10) into a concealed area (not shown) through a window (210). A further operative views the images from the device (10) using a remote display (100) and uses this as a basis for determining what action to take regarding the concealed area.

The system and devices of the present invention may also be used in sports, such as in sports science to evaluate the movement of a ball or other pneumatic sports projectile.

The device in its inflated state is preferably from 5 to 50cm in diameter. The range providing easy manual handling and utility as a projectile.

A preferred embodiment of the device is when n1 or n>20 and the diameter of the device when inflated is between 68-70 cm (or 27-28 inches). The devices are preferably 410-450 g (or 14-16 ounces) in weight but can be conveniently up to about 1kg in weight. A weight below about 200g is undesirable, particularly with a diameter more than about 10cm as the devices become unstable due to air turbulence (e.g. wind).

Claims

Claims I. A data acquisition device comprising a resilient housing

having one or more sides and one or more data collection sensors and wireless transmitting means to transmit data from the sensors located therein to a remote display or notification station for retrieval and/or analysis by a user.
2. The device of claim I wherein the resilient housing is pneumatic.
3. The device of claim 2 wherein the pneumatic housing is inflatable by a user before use.
4. The device of claim 3 wherein the device comprises a pressure activated switch for activating the device upon inflation.
5. The device of any of claims 1 to 4 wherein the one or more collection sensors include a microphone, the microphone being coupled to an amplifier and radio transmitter for transmitting a radio signal containing the audio information.
6. The device of any of claims I to 5 wherein the one or more collection sensors include a camera, the camera being coupled to a radio transmitter for transmitting a radio signal containing the picture information.
7. The device of any preceding claim wherein the device in use is spheroidal.
8. The device of any preceding claim wherein the device in use is cuboidal.
9. A receiver device specifically configured for operation with the surveillance device of any of both claims 5 and 6, the device comprising an aerial (120) for receiving information from the surveillance device and a casing (110) having a speaker for transmitting sound signals received via the device and a screen to displaying visual information received via the device.
10. A system comprising the surveillance device of any of claims Ito 8 and the receiver of claim 9.
11. A surveillance device as disclosed in the description with reference to any of figures 1 to 4.
12. A receiver device as disclosed in the description with reference to any of figures 3 or 4.
13. A system as disclosed in the description with reference to any of figures 3 or 4.