GB2563016A

GB2563016A - A method and a system for monitoring occupancy of a seat arranged in a transportation vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2563016A
Application number: GB1708481.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: O'sullivan James; Parry Benjamin
Original assignee: Bombardier Transportation GmbH
Current assignee: Alstom Transportation Germany GmbH
Priority date: 2017-05-26
Filing date: 2017-05-26
Publication date: 2018-12-05
Also published as: GB201708481D0

Abstract

A system for monitoring seat occupancy in a vehicle includes a detection device 1', such as pressure sensor, in the vehicle, within or near the seat, and a centralized occupancy management system 5 located outside of the vehicle. An occupancy displaying unit 6 provides information about seat occupancy. The passenger's mobile communication device 7 is used by the system 100 for locating the passenger inside the transportation vehicle 200, by means of device detection units 4, such as Bluetooth beacons, and as a way of providing pertinent information to the passenger, such as an itinerary to reach a booked seat. The centralized occupancy management system 5 transmits data for a functioning mode of the display unit 6.

Description

A METHOD AND A SYSTEM FOR MONITORING OCCUPANCY OF

A SEAT ARRANGED IN A TRANSPORTATION VEHICLE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to the field of methods and systems for enhancing user experience in relation to public transport with vehicles such as buses, trains, aircrafts or vessels. The invention concerns in particular a method and a system for monitoring occupancy of a seat arranged in a transportation vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Over the last twenty years, public transport suppliers have been following the trend of technology to develop a full range of services meant to enhance user satisfaction. Amongst such services, the most well-known is online booking which is nowadays proposed by most airline and train operator companies. Generally, such online booking systems allow reservations to be made, tickets to be booked and online payments to be performed. However, although such systems provide functionalities that are useful to passengers with respect to trip planning, which indeed greatly contribute to improve passengers' satisfaction at an early stage of the trip, they usually do not provide functionalities to improve passengers' satisfaction at a later stage of the trip, in particular during journey. For instance, even when a train ticket is booked online by a passenger, online booking systems provided by train operators usually do not allow reservations to be made once the vehicle has set off from its point of origination. Neither are the availability of seats or standing areas known to the passenger in advance of boarding the vehicle. Those are, amongst others, passengers' needs that are still not addressed by systems provided by suppliers of public transport services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

On one hand, it is thus an aim of the invention to provide a method and system for effectively monitoring occupancy of a seat arranged in a transportation vehicle. The method and system of the invention must also contribute to enhance passengers' satisfaction, by allowing useful information to be provided, in particular information that addresses the passengers' needs that arise not only at an early stage of the trip but all along it, preferably before or during the journey. This information can be accessed remotely, with the ability to send information back to the vehicle when required.

On the other hand, noting that public transport infrastructures are heavy machineries usually comprising a significant number of vehicles, which implies that any technical changes that need to be made to one vehicle have to be replicated to all vehicles of the fleet, the invention also aims to minimize the cost induced by the technical changes it implies.

Accordingly, the goal of the invention comes down to a mix between the provision of improvements in terms of the effectiveness of seat occupancy management, along with the provision of improvements in terms of passengers' satisfaction enhancement.

This is achieved by increasing the pertinence and usefulness of available data, as well as the provision of improvements in terms of feasibility and cost, by providing an architecture and a method that appropriately adjust with the technical context of present public transport infrastructures.

This goal is achieved by a method according to claim 1 and a system according to claim 9.

Further features of the invention are defined by dependent claims 2 to 8 and 10 to 18.

For conciseness, the term vehicle is used herein to refer to any of: road or rail vehicles, such as buses, coaches, trams or trains; vessels, such as passenger boats or ferries; or aircraft.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Practicable embodiments of the invention are described in further detail below by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show:

figure 1, a schematic view of a system for monitoring occupancy of a seat arranged in a transportation vehicle according to the invention; and

- figure 2, a schematic view of a method for monitoring occupancy of a seat arranged in a transportation vehicle according to the invention .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A system 100 for monitoring occupancy of a seat in a transportation vehicle is schematically represented on figure 1. In a preferred embodiment, the transportation vehicle 200 is train carriage, especially a passenger car.

The architecture of the system 100 relies on two distinct parts. A first part of the system 100 groups elements of the system which are arranged in the transportation vehicle 200. A second part of the system 100, hereinafter referred to as the remote part 300 since it is distant from the transportation vehicle 200, assembles elements of the system which are not arranged in the transportation vehicle. For the sake of clarity, the transportation vehicle 200 is schematically represented on figure 1 as a first rectangle bounded io by a dashed line while the remote part 300 is represented as a second rectangle bounded by a second dashed line. As shown on figure 1, the transportation vehicle 200 includes at least one seat, which occupancy is monitored in real-time through the system 100. Of course, although only one seat is represented on figure 1, the transportation vehicle 200 may contain several seats.

A mobile communication device 7 held by a passenger is used by the system 100 for location and interaction with the passenger. The mobile communication device 7 may thus be, at some stage, located in the vehicle 200 and, at another stage, remote from it. Accordingly, figure 1 illustrates the mobile communication device 7 only partly inside the transportation vehicle 200. Although the mobile communication device 7 is not itself part of the system 100, it plays a role within the environment provided by the system 100, as will be explained in further detail in the following paragraphs.

On the vehicle's side, the system 100 comprises an occupancy monitoring device 1, identified by the acronym OMD on figure 1, and a detection device 1', identified by the acronym DD on figure 1. Preferably, the occupancy monitoring device 1 is a computer or a microcomputer provided with hardware io and software enabling at least generic computing and data storage functionalities (e.g. CPU, RAM, ROM) and means for implementing radio-frequency and/or wired communication (e.g. network adapter for

TCP/IP, 3G, Wi-Fi).

In a preferred embodiment, the detection device 1' is a pressure sensor and it is arranged within the seat. As such, it can measure the force/pressure that is applied on the seat, and it generates corresponding electrical signals which are transmitted to the occupancy monitoring device 1, preferably in real time or, alternatively, periodically. This flow of electrical signals output by the detection device 1' and transmitted to the occupancy monitoring device 1 is schematically represented on figure 1 by an arrow which starts at the detection device 1' and ends at the occupancy monitoring device 1.

In other embodiments, the detection device 1' is a capacitive or non-capacitive sensor, which is preferably arranged within the seat. Alternatively, the detection device 1' may as well consist of a thermal sensor, an RFID tag or a near-field communication device, arranged either within the seat, next to the seat or on the seat. In other alternative embodiments, an optical sensor or a camera may be used, these being arranged either near io the seat or on the seat. All those alternatives, despite differences in terms of physical parameters that are measured, provide the same functionality, namely the output of electrical signals that characterize a specific physical parameter.

Depending on the device that is used, the physical parameter may thus be a force, a pressure, a capacitance, a temperature, an electromagnetic field or an amount of light. While figure 1 depicts one detection device 1' and one occupancy monitoring unit 1 arranged in the vehicle 200, the vehicle may of course include several detection devices 1' and several occupancy monitoring devices 1.

In the transportation vehicle 200 is also arranged an occupancy management unit 3, which is identified by the acronym OMU on figure 1. The occupancy management unit 3 takes preferably the form of a computer provided with hardware and software enabling at least generic computing and data storage functionalities (e.g. CPU, RAM, ROM) and means for implementing radio-frequency and/or wired communication (e.g. network adapter for TCP/IP, 3G,

Wi-Fi). In a preferred embodiment, the occupancy management unit 3 is connected to a data storage facility 2, which, preferably, includes a memory (RAM and/or ROM) and appropriate interfaces to communicate with the occupancy management unit 3.

In the transportation vehicle 200 are further arranged at least one device detection unit 4, which preferably consists of a bluetooth beacon or an indoor positioning system. In addition, the vehicle

200 is provided with an onboard Wi-Fi system 10, which includes at least a router, a firewall 13 and serial and Ethernet communication means 12 enabling data transmission between the transportation vehicle 200 and the remote part 300 of the system 100 via antennas 10, 11 or any other similar electrical devices .

Next to the seat or on the seat is also arranged an occupancy displaying unit 6. In a preferred embodiment, the occupancy displaying unit 6 includes at least a light. In other alternative embodiments, the occupancy displaying unit 6 includes a display.

On the other side, with respect to the remote part 300, the system 100 comprises a centralized occupancy management system 5, referred to in figure 2 using the acronym CMS, which is hosted on one or more servers enabling computing, data storage and all types of communication functionalities. The system 100 includes also an operator portal 8, similarly hosted on one or more servers, some or all connected to Internet, and at least one application io server 9, which is configured to enable at least data exchange with mobile communication devices 7 such as smartphones, tablets or analogous devices.

As shown by the double-sided arrows represented on figure 1, all elements of the remote part 300 of the system are connected by bidirectional communication channels. Thus, data may be exchanged between the centralized occupancy management system 5 and application server 9 and between the application server 9 and the operator portal 8. Moreover, via the application server 9 - which, for such purposes, may be configured to act as a gateway - data may also be exchanged between the centralized occupancy management system 5 and the operator portal 8.

A role of the centralized occupancy management system 5 is to manage booking information and passengers' profiles. To this end, some of its servers are dedicated to data storage where such information is stored and other servers are devoted to data retrieval, either from the operator portal 8 or from the application server 9. For instance, when a passenger submits a booking on a website, possibly hosted on a server which may not be part of the system 100, the booking information and/or the passenger's information is automatically transmitted to the centralized occupancy management io system 5, where it is stored for further use.

Another role of the centralized occupancy management system 5 is to manage occupancy related information in relation to the seats of a fleet of transportation vehicles which occupancy is monitored by the system 100. The role undertaken by the centralized management system 5 in this respect will be discussed in further detail below in relation to figure 2, which schematically depicts a method for monitoring occupancy of a seat arranged in the transporting vehicle 200.

In a step 401, the detection device 1' measures a physical parameter. As previously stated, depending on the detection device 1' used, the detection device 1' measures a force or a pressure applied on the seat, an amount of light in a certain volume or area, a temperature or a capacitance. In accordance with these measurements, the detection device 1' outputs electrical signals which are transmitted to the occupancy monitoring device 1.

In a step 402, upon receipt of the electrical signals transmitted by the detection device 1', the occupancy monitoring device 1 analyses the received signals to determine if the seat is occupied by a passenger. If the detection device 1' is a pressure io sensor, electrical signals received by the occupancy monitoring device 1 characterize a force or a pressure applied on the seat. In such case, the analysis performed by the occupancy monitoring device 1 consists of determining if the force applied on the seat exceeds a pre-defined threshold that is preferably stored in a memory of the occupancy monitoring device 1. When the force exceeds the pre-defined threshold, the occupancy monitoring device 1 concludes that the seat is occupied by a passenger and, consequently, it updates at least one occupancy status parameter, which is further related to a parameter that identifies the seat actually monitored. If the detection device 1' is of another type, such as the types of devices described above, a similar analysis is performed but, instead of a pressure or a force, it is, depending on the type of detection device used, a capacitance, a temperature or an amount of light which is compared to pre-defined threshold.

In a step 403, the occupancy management unit 1 5 transmits the occupancy status parameter to the centralized management system 5. In parallel, the occupancy management unit stores the occupancy status parameter in the data storage facility 2.

Consequently, following implementation of steps 402 io and 403, the centralized management system is informed in real-time about occupancy of the seat.

On the other communication transportation the mobile side, as soon as device 7 is transportation vehicle 200, connects to the closest device detection unit 4. Once connected to the device detection unit 4, the mobile communication device retrieves identification data of the device detection unit. 20 The identification data may for instance consist of the MAC address or the IP address of the device present in the it automatically detection unit.

In a step 404 , the mobile communication device 7 25 transmits to the application server 9 the identification data of the device detection unit 4 together with an identification parameter that uniquely identifies itself. The identification parameter may consist in the IMEI number of the mobile device or a parameter relating to a user profile used by an application that is running on the mobile communication device 7. Upon receipt of the identification data of the device detection unit 4 and the identification parameter of the mobile communication device 7, the application server 9 forwards this data to the centralized management system 5. At that point, the centralized management io system is thus informed, on one hand, about the occupancy of the seat and, on the other hand, about the device detection unit 4 to which the mobile communication device 7 is connected.

In a step 405, the centralized management system 5 uses the identification parameter of the mobile communication device to retrieve information that relates to the mobile communication device 7. Such information may for instance concern a booking made by the passenger that owns the mobile communication device 7. The centralized management system 5 may for instance determine that the passenger that owns the mobile communication device 7 has booked a seat for a certain journey. Using the identification data of the device detection unit 4 to which the mobile phone is connected it has received, the centralized management system 5 may determine that the passenger is not in the right carriage of the train. It may also determine an itinerary that the passenger should follow to reach the seat that he has booked. In other terms, the centralized management system 5 uses the identification data and its knowledge about the booking of the passenger to determine pertinent information for the passenger.

In a step 406, as soon as some pertinent information has been determined, the centralized management io system 5 transmits this information to the application server 9, which forwards it to the mobile communication device 7 . In accordance with information that is transmitted, the application server 9 determines a format for presenting the information to the passenger and it transmits this format, together with the pertinent information, to the mobile communication device 7. The information is then presented to the passenger via the mobile device 7. In accordance with the format that has been established by the application server 9, the information may be output in visual, audible and/or haptic elements. The passenger is thus immediately provided with useful information, especially information that may depend on his location in the transportation vehicle 200.

In a step 407, the centralized management system 5 has, for instance, determined that the passenger which made a certain booking is present in the train, even if the passenger is not yet in right carriage. The centralized management system 5 thus determines that the seat that has been booked by the passenger will soon be occupied, even if the seat remains free for some time because the passenger has still some way to go to reach his seat. In a such case, the centralized management system 5 outputs activation data and transmits such data to the occupancy io management unit 3.

In a step 408 , in accordance with the activation data that it has received, the occupancy management unit 3 selects a functioning mode for the occupancy displaying unit 6 that is arranged on the seat or next to the seat. In accordance with the selected functioning mode, the occupancy management unit 3 transmits commands to the occupancy displaying unit 6 that, in turn, reacts in accordance with the functioning mode that has been established by the occupancy management unit 3. If the occupancy displaying unit 6 consists of a light, as schematically depicted on figure 1, the functioning mode may for instance define whether the light switches from green to red. When the occupancy displaying unit 6 includes a display, the functioning mode may trigger the output of a visual

message on occupied.	the	display, for	instance a	message
The method	for	monitoring	seat occupancy as
5 described above	is only one	example that	may be

implemented using the system 100. Additional steps may of course be implemented and other data may be used. For instance, specific information may be provided to assist specific types of passengers (kids, seniors, disabled people). Similarly, the centralized management system 5 may be provided with locations of staff in the transportation vehicles that it monitors, for instance by means of dedicated mobile communication devices. Such information may be extracted and provided to the passengers, for instance on an on-demand basis (where is the bar? Where are the closest free restrooms? Where is the ticket inspector?) . In this respect, the application run on the mobile communication device 7 may allow more specific requests to be submitted. Accordingly, additional steps may be implemented by the application server 9 so that it forward submitted requests to the centralized management system 5 and further steps may be implemented by the centralized management system 5 to allow retrieval of specific information that can be pushed back to the mobile communication device 7 via the application server

9. Numerous services may thus be implemented by means of the system 100 of the invention. Thus, the system for monitoring seat occupancy in a transportation vehicle according to the invention, on top of providing a way to efficiently monitor in real-time seat occupancy, provides a robust architecture that may be used for providing all sorts of useful information to the passengers. In that sense, the system according to the invention also contributes to greatly enhance passengers' io satisfaction.

Claims

Claims :

1. A method for monitoring occupancy of a seat arranged in a transportation vehicle (200), said

5 method comprising the steps of:

determining, by an occupancy monitoring device (1) arranged in the vehicle, an occupancy status parameter for the seat on the basis of an electrical signal output by io a detection device (1') arranged in the vehicle within the seat or in the vicinity of the seat;

characterized in that said method further comprises the steps of:

15 - transmitting, by the occupancy monitoring device (1), the occupancy status parameter to an occupancy management unit (3) arranged in the vehicle;

transmitting, by the occupancy management

20 unit (3), the occupancy status parameter to a centralized occupancy management system (5) located outside of the vehicle;

receiving, by the centralized occupancy management system (5), identification data

25 identifying a device detection unit (4) arranged in the vehicle, the device detection unit (4) being adapted to communicate wirelessly with a mobile communication device (7);

determining, by the centralized occupancy management system (5), at least one reservation parameter which relates to the mobile communication device (7); determining, by the centralized occupancy management system (5), at least one pertinent parameter on the basis of the identification data and the reservation parameter; transmitting, by the centralized occupancy management system (5), the pertinent parameter to the mobile communication device (7) ;

transmitting, by the centralized occupancy management system (5), activation data to the occupancy management unit (3); and determining, by the occupancy management unit (3), on the basis of the activation data, a functioning mode of at least one occupancy displaying unit (6) arranged on the seat or in the vicinity of the seat.

2. The method of claim 1, characterized in that said 25 method further comprises the step of storing, by the occupancy management unit (3), the occupancy status parameter in a database recorded on a computer-readable medium (2) arranged in the vehicle .

3. The method of one of the preceding claims, 5 characterized in that the method comprises the step of determining, by the detection device (1'), if a force applied on the seat exceeds a predefined threshold.

io

4. The method of one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the method comprises the step of performing, by the detection device (1'), an optical analysis to establish if the seat is occupied by a passenger.

5. The method of one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the method comprises the step of performing, by the detection device (1'), a thermal analysis to establish if the seat is

20 occupied by a passenger.

6. The method of one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the method comprises the step of determining, by the detection device (1'), at

25 least one value of capacitance to establish if the seat is occupied by a passenger.

7. The method of one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method comprises the step of activating, by the occupancy displaying unit (6), at least one light and/or display in accordance with the functioning mode.

5

8. The method of one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method comprises the step of outputting, by the mobile communication device (/), audible, visual and/or haptic elements determined in accordance with the io pertinent parameter.

9. A system (100) for monitoring occupancy of a seat arranged in a transportation vehicle (200), said system comprising:

15 - at least one detection device (1') arranged in the vehicle within the seat or in the vicinity of the seat;

- at least one centralized occupancy management system (5) located outside of the

20 vehicle;

characterized in that said system further comprises :

- at least one occupancy monitoring device (1) arranged in the vehicle;

25 - at least one occupancy management unit (3) arranged in the vehicle;

- at least one database recorded on a computerreadable medium (2) arranged in the vehicle;

- at least one device detection unit (4) arranged in the vehicle, the device detection unit (4) being adapted to communicate wirelessly with a mobile communication

5 device (7); and

- at least one occupancy displaying unit (6) arranged on the seat or in the vicinity of the seat.

10 . The system of claim 9, characterized in that the detection device ( 1' ) is arranged within the seat and comprises a pressure sensor •

11. The system of claim 9, characterized in that the detection device d' ) comprises an optical sensor .

12 . The system of claim 9, characterized in that the detection device (1' ) comprises a thermal sensor .

13 . The system of claim 9, characterized in that the detection device ( ri' ) comprises a capacitive sensor .

14 . The system of claim 9, characterized in that the detection device ( 1' ) is arranged within the

seat and comprises a near field communication device .

15. The system of claim 9, characterized in that the

5 detection device (1') is arranged within the seat and comprises an RFID tag.

16. The system of claim 9, characterized in that the detection device (1') is arranged in the io vicinity of the seat and comprises a camera.

17. The system of one of claims 9-16, characterized in that the occupancy displaying unit (6) comprises at least one light and/or display.

18. The system of one of claims 9-17, characterized in that the device detection unit (4) comprises an indoor positioning system and/or a bluetooth device .

19. The system of one of claims 9-18, characterized in that the vehicle is a train carriage.