WO2018160087A1

WO2018160087A1 - A technique for determining a location of a potential emergency in an area

Info

Publication number: WO2018160087A1
Application number: PCT/RU2017/000112
Authority: WO
Inventors: Victor Stanislavovich SVERDLIN
Original assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
Priority date: 2017-03-03
Filing date: 2017-03-03
Publication date: 2018-09-07

Abstract

For determining a location of a potential emergency in an area, a wearable monitor is placed on a user present within the area, which detects a physiological parameter of the user and generates a first signal, subsequently communicated via the monitors communication interface, indicative of the physiological parameter. A position of the wearable monitor, and thus of the user, within the area is detected by a position determining arrangement which generates a second signal indicative of the position of the wearable monitor. Both the signals are received by a control module which determines the location of the potential emergency based on the first and the second signals. The potential emergency is determined to be present in a location if the physiological parameter indicated by the first signal is outside normal range. The second signal indicates the position within the area at which the physiological parameter is outside the normal range.

Description

A TECHNIQUE FOR DETERMINING A LOCATION OF A POTENTIAL

EMERGENCY IN AN AREA

The present invention relates to systems and methods for determining or detecting a location of a potential emergency in an area.

Within complex areas such as coal mines, underground tunnels, etc., the determination of physical location of potential emergency is very important, as in case of an emergency, it may not be possible to evacuate workers quickly enough to avoid harm or injury to the workers, since there is limited access to the area and the presence of emergency may not be known to emergency responders present outside the area. Also, the area may not be inspected frequently or monitored continuously due to the large size and complexity of internal terrain of such an area. However, one way to determine location of a potential emergency is by using various sensors. For example, in a coal mine, sensors for gasses or vibrations are installed. Data from such sensors is processed by a control room, which then analyzes the situation, for example, build-up of carbon dioxide inside a mining shaft may be determined by assessment of carbon dioxide concentrations in the mining shaft. The control room subsequently generates alerts indicating the emergency.

Moreover, although when inspecting such areas, non-human factors indicating the location of emergency, such as vibrations, changes in atmosphere composition, pressure, etc. may be measurable, albeit with inherent difficulties, these non-human factors even, if accurately determined, do not constitute all possible reasons for causation of emergency or all possible indications of presence of a emergency or a stressful situation that may develop into an emergency, because there may also be internal human factors or factors perceptible to humans and not to external sensors placed in the area, such as potential anthropogenic influence caused by unusual behavior under stress conditions, psychological and emotional factors, etc. that also play an important role in emergency and/or pre-emergency situations and may represent environmental changes, which may not be directly measurable by externally placed sensors in the area. To achieve the aforementioned inclusion of human factors or factors perceptible to humans, one way is to rely on reports from experienced workers . The experiences workers may give predicted alerts about potential emergency situation by recognizing objective and subjective factors when returning from the area or through communications sent by them, while still physically present within the area, to the control room or emergency responders. However this involves chances of human errors . Therefore, early and real time determination of locations of potential emergency in the area considering human factors, or humanly perceptible factors, is fundamental for preventing emergencies and a need exists for a technique to reliably include the human factors or factors perceptible to humans in assessing emergency situations in locations within an area.

Thus an object of the present invention is to provide a technique, in particular a system and a method for determining a location of a potential emergency in an area. It is also desirable that the technique is less prone to human errors .

The above object is achieved by a system for determining a location of a potential emergency in an area according to claim 1 of the present technique, and a method for determining a location of a potential emergency in an area according to claim 8 of the present technique. Advantageous embodiments of the present technique are provided in dependent claims.

In a first aspect of the present technique, a system for determining a location of a potential emergency in an area is presented. In the system, a wearable monitor and a position determining arrangement are included. The wearable monitor detects one or more physiological parameters of a user. The wearable monitor generates a first signal. The first signal indicates the one or more physiological parameters of the user. The wearable monitor furthermore includes a communication interface to communicate wirelessly. The position determining arrangement detects a position of the wearable monitor within the area. Thereafter, the position determining arrangement generates a second signal. The second signal indicates the position of the wearable monitor within the area, and thus of the user within the area wearing the wearable monitor.

The system further includes a control module, which receives the first signal from the communication interface of the wearable monitor and the second signal from the position determining arrangement . The control module then determines the location of the potential emergency based on the first signal and the second signal. In the present technique, the potential emergency is said to be or concluded to be present in the location, so determined, if the first signal corresponding to at least one of the one or more physiological parameters indicates that the physiological parameter is outside a predetermined normal range for the physiological parameter or is within a predetermined abnormal range indicative of a stress condition mimicking an emergency .

The system of the present technique therefore allows for early potential emergency detection in the area, for example in a coal mine, by monitoring the user, e.g. the miners in the coal mine. Hence, the system takes into consideration human factors or humanly perceptible factors in predicting location of the emergency situation. The potential of human error when people are asked to verbally describe their own state in an objective way is solved by monitoring the people or users through wearable health monitors monitoring the physiological parameters of the user, and not relying on their subjective verbal communications. Furthermore, a wide scope of simultaneous inspection is provided by the system of the present technique, as, for example, all users within the area - or all workers within the coal mine - may be equipped with the wearable monitors or only a segment of all users may be equipped with wearable monitors that are supposed to be assigned to a potentially hazardous part in the area. The system further has the advantage that by monitoring location of the user the position of the user within the area is known in real time and in case of an emergency the user can be located directly.

In an embodiment of the system, the wearable monitor detects the one or more physiological parameters of the user non- invasively. This embodiment provides a fast and safe way of acquiring the physiological parameters of the user.

In another embodiment of the system, the one or more physiological parameters of the user is at least one of a pulse rate of the user, a heart rate of the user, a blood pressure of the user, a blood oxygen saturation level of the user, a body temperature of the user, a respiratory rate of the user and a perspiration of the user. These parameters are measurable by common and inexpensive wearable sensors, thus providing a cost-effective way to acquire data. Also, these physiological parameters may provide a good representation of the environment, as perceived by the user, of the area.

In another embodiment of the system, the communication interface of the wearable monitor communicates via one of Bluetooth communication, WiFi communication, and radio communication. As these are common ways to communicate wirelessly, they can be easily implemented in the system and provide for cost-effectiveness.

In another embodiment of the system, the position determining arrangement is an indoor positioning system, therefore providing an accurate and well-known system for determining the position of the wearable monitor. In another embodiment of the system, the predetermined normal range for at least one of the one or more physiological parameters is same for different positions within the area. Thus, independent of where the user is positioned, if the one or more physiological parameter is out of the predetermined normal range, the potential emergency is detected.

In another embodiment of the system, the predetermined normal range for at least one of the one or more physiological parameters is different for different positions within the area. This provides for a more flexible system, as environmental conditions may be different for different positions within the area the predetermined normal ranges differ .

In a second aspect of the present technique, a method for determining a location of a potential emergency in an area is provided. In the method, in a first step one or more physiological parameters of a user is detected by a wearable monitor. In a second step, a first signal indicative of the one or more physiological parameters of the user is generated by the wearable monitor. Subsequently, by a position determining arrangement, a position of the wearable monitor within the area is detected. Then, a second signal indicative of the position of the wearable monitor within the area is generated by the position determining arrangement. Thereafter, a control module receives the first signal from the communication interface of the wearable monitor wirelessly. The control module also receives the second signal from the position determining arrangement. Finally, the presence of the potential emergency at the location, so detected, is determined based on the first signal and the second signal., If the first signal is indicative of at least one of the one or more physiological parameters to be outside a predetermined normal range for the physiological parameter, the potential emergency is determined to be present in the location, so determined. In an embodiment of the method, the one or more physiological parameters of the user is detected non-invasively.

In another embodiment of the method, the one or more physiological parameters of the user is at least one of a pulse rate of the user, a heart rate of the user, a blood pressure of the user, a blood oxygen saturation level of the user, a body temperature of the user, a respiratory rate of the user and a perspiration of the user.

In another embodiment of the method, the communication interface of the wearable monitor communicates via one of Bluetooth communication, WiFi communication, and radio communication .

In another embodiment of the method, the position determining arrangement is an indoor positioning system.

In another embodiment of the method, the predetermined normal range for at least one of the one or more physiological parameters is same for different positions within the area. Whereas, in another embodiment of the system, the predetermined normal range for at least one of the one or more physiological parameters is different for different positions within the area.

The present technique is further described hereinafter with reference to illustrated embodiments shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG 1 depicts a flow chart representing an exemplary embodiment of a method of the present technique;

FIG 2 schematically illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a system of the present technique; and

FIG 3 schematically illustrates an exemplary embodiment of working of the system of the present technique. Hereinafter, above-mentioned and other features of the present technique are described in details. Various embodiments are described with reference to the drawing, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purpose of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more embodiments. It may be noted that the illustrated embodiments are intended to explain, and not to limit the invention. It may be evident that such embodiments may be practiced without these specific details.

It may be noted that in the present disclosure, the terms "first", "second", etc. are used herein only to facilitate discussion, and carry no particular temporal or chronological significance unless otherwise indicated.

FIG 1 depicts a flow chart representing an exemplary embodiment of a method 100 of the present technique and FIG 2 schematically represents a system 1 for implementing the method 100 for determining a location 2 of a potential emergency 6 in an area 4. FIG 3 schematically represents an exemplary embodiment of working of the system 1 to implement the method 100. The system 1 and the steps of embodiments of the method 100 have been explained hereinafter with reference to FIGs 1 , 2 , and 3.

The basic idea of the method 100 and the system 1 of the present technique is to enable real time detection of the location 2 of the potential emergency 6 in the area 4 in order to prevent potential emergencies 6 to occur and, in case where the potential emergency 6 has already occurred and continuing, to simplify intervention. For example, FIG 3 shows the area 4, for example a mine 4, within which the user 12, for example a miner 12, is working or travelling. FIG 3 also shows the location 2 within the mine 4 where the potential emergency 6 e.g. a loose ceiling 88 exists. The objective of the present technique is to determine the location 2 where the potential emergency 6 i.e. the loose ceiling 88 has developed or is developing.

As depicted in FIG 1, in the method 100, in a first step 110, one or more physiological parameters 14 of the user 12 are detected. The user 12 is for example a worker in the coal mine currently working and/or moving within a mine shaft, i.e. within the area 4. The location 2 of the potential emergency 6 in the area 4 may be understood as a place or physical location within the area 4. The physiological parameters 14 of the user 12 can be any parameter that represents a physiological condition of the user 12, as for example a pulse rate of the user 12, a heart rate of the user 12, a blood pressure of the user 12, a blood oxygen saturation level of the user 12, a body temperature of the user 12, a respiratory rate of the user 12 and/or a perspiration of the user 12. All or some, or at least one, of the aforementioned physiological parameters 14 are detected by a wearable monitor 10. The wearable monitor 10 is a wearable unit having a set of sensors detecting one or more of the aforementioned physiological parameters 14 of the user 12, for example a conventionally known fitness tracker. Such wearable monitors 10 detect the physiological parameters 14 non-invasively. The wearable monitor 10 further includes a communication interface 18. The communication interface 18 may communicate via one of Bluetooth communication, WiFi communication, and radio communication.

The present technique envisions that, as the user 12 is present in the area 4, the physiological parameters 14 of the user 12 measured by the wearable monitor 10, besides giving information about the state of health of the user 12, are used to draw a conclusion about environmental factors in the area 4, that may represent presence of the potential emergency 6.

In a next step 120 of the method 100, a first signal 16 is generated by the wearable monitor 10. The first signal 16 includes indications of readings or measurements of the physiological parameters 14.

In order to not only detect the potential emergency 6, but also to locate the potential emergency 6, in a next step 130 of the method 100, the position 2 of the wearable monitor 10 within the area 4 is detected. For the detecting 130 the position 2 a position determining arrangement 20 is used. In a step 140 of the method 100, the position determining arrangement 20 generates a second signal 26, which indicates the position 22 of the wearable monitor 10 for example as shown in FIG 3. The position 22 of the wearable monitor 10 is same as the position of the user 12. In ideal case the step 110 - detecting one or more physiological parameters 14 of user 12 by the wearable monitor 10 - and the step 130 - detecting a position 22 of the wearable monitor 10 within the area 4 by a position determining arrangement - are performed simultaneously.

The position determining arrangement 20 may be an indoor positioning system. Indoor positioning systems are systems to locate people or objects within a closed area, for example a building. There are several kinds of signals and sensory information that can be used for indoor positioning that can for example be combined with the commonly known location system GPS. Alternatively of additionally, besides radio frequency technologies, non-radio technologies and wireless technologies are used in indoor positioning systems. Examples for non-radio technologies would be using visual markers, magnetic signals, inertial measurements or known visual features. Other exemplary embodiments of the position determining arrangement 20 use wireless technologies such as iFi, Bluetooth, time of arrival, angle of arrival etc. based technologies may also be used for indoor positioning systems. In an exemplary embodiment of the system 1, position determining arrangement 20 is a beacon based position determining technique. The aforementioned techniques for determining indoor positions of a person or moving object are well known and therefore not described herein in further details for sake of brevity.

In the method 100, after the position determining arrangement 20 has generated the second signal 26, in a next step 150 of the method 100, a control module 30 receives the first signal 16, which is wirelessly communicated from the communication interface 18, and the second signal 26 from the position determining arrangement 20, which is communicated wirelessly or using wired connections depending on the type of the position determining arrangement 20 used in the system 1.

In a next step 160 of the method 100, the location 2 of potential emergency 6 is determined by the control module 30. To determine the location 2 of potential emergency 6, two steps are performed by the control module 30. First based on the first signal 16 the physiological parameters 14 of the user 12 is analyzed to determine if the physiological parameter 14 is within a normal range for that physiological parameter or outside the normal range for that physiological parameter, and secondly a location of the user 12 from where the physiological parameter 14 was received is determined. Only those physiological parameters 14 are considered in the present technique that respond to perception of the emergency 6 or development of the emergency 6 and the response is expressed in the measurement of the physiological parameter 14 by making the measurement of the physiological parameter 14 lie outside the normal range. For example, the physiological parameter 14, say a pulse rate 14 of the user 12 in response to the emergency 6, for example a loose ceiling 88 as shown in FIG 3, is increased and goes beyond the normal range of pulse rate 14 for the user 12. By comparing the outcome of the aforementioned two steps performed by the control module 30, the presence of potential emergency 6 is determined, by the control module 30, if at least one or more of the physiological parameters 14 is outside a predetermined normal range specified for that physiological parameter 14, which is indicative of perceiving, by the user 12, of the potential emergency 6, and the position 22 of the user which is indicative of the location where the potential emergency 6 was perceived. Thus, the first signal 16 is used to determine whether any potential emergency 6 is present or not. Whereas, the second signal 26, which includes the position 22 of the wearable monitor 10, thus locating the user 12 wearing the wearable monitor 10 is used to determine where the potential emergency 6, if any determined by the first signal 16, is present. Therefore, by combining the first signal 16 - indicative of presence of the potential emergency 6 - and the second signal 26 - used for locating the potential emergency 6 - the location 2 of the potential emergency 6 is determined. An alarm report and / or an alarm signal can be generated as soon as the potential emergency 6 and the location 2 of the potential emergency are determined by the control module 30.

It may be noted that the present technique takes into account variations in the physiological parameters 14, and their corresponding normal ranges, that may depend on personal characteristics of the user 12, such as state of health, age, sex, BMR of the user, etc. by configuring the wearable monitors 10 and the control module 30 accordingly. The control module 30 may be a processor, a microprocessor, a FPGA, and may include a memory module (not shown) to store the rules based on which the physiological parameters 14 are adjudicated by the processor to be within or outside of the normal range .

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG 3, an exemplary embodiment of working of the system 1 to implement the method 100 is described. In a part, marked as ^ΛΑ' , of the FIG 3 the user 12 moving in the area 4 is schematically represented. As can be seen in FIG 3 part ^ΛΑ' , the user 12 can be in various positions or locations, at different time instance, within the area 4 for example a first position 91 or a second position 92. The user 12 in FIG 3 part ^λΑ' is assumed to be moving from the first position 91 towards the second position 92 and then beyond the second position 92. At each of the different locations, for example when user is at the first position 91, when the user is approaching the second position 92, when user is at the second position 92 and when the user has moved beyond the second position 92, the physiological parameter 14 of the user is monitored or determined or detected by the wearable monitor 10 placed on the user 12. In example of FIG 3, say the physiological parameter 14 is the pulse rate 14 of the user 12. In another part, marked as ^yB' , of the FIG 3 the pulse rate 14 of the user 12 is represented by a curve for different locations of the user 12. The different locations of the user 12 as determined from the FIG 3 part ^λΑ' are mapped on X-axis 90 of FIG 3 part ^ΛΒ' . In the part B' of FIG 3, two horizontal lines represent a predetermined normal range 15 for the pulse rate 14 for the user 12.

In example of FIG 3, the user 12 is located in and moving within the area 4 for example a mining tunnel 4, as depicted by a floor 42 and a ceiling 41 of the mining tunnel 12. The user 12 is wearing the wearable monitor 10 and is supposed to be working at or moving between different positions within the mining tunnel 4. The position 22 of the wearable monitor 10 represents the position of the user 12 within the mining tunnel 4. As can be seen from FIG 3 part B' when the user 12 is at the first position 91 the pulse rate 14 of the user 12 is within the normal range. Now as the user 12 approaches, and hence perceives actively or subliminally, the loose ceiling 88 in and around the second position 92, the pulse rate 14 of the user 12 begins to rise and finally exceeds the normal range 15, as the user 12 is disturbed or stressed by the loose ceiling 88 that may be a potential emergency 6. The control module 30 thus recognizes that the pulse rate 14 is out of or in excess of its normal range 15 and at the same time locates the position 22 of the wearable monitor 10, which represents the location of the user 12 where the pulse rate 14 was at its peak, and thus determining the location 2 of the potential emergency 6.

The predetermined normal range 15 of the physiological parameter 14 may be different for different positions 22 in the area 4 and may also differ depending on activity of the user 12. For example, at a position of the user 12 where the user 12 is performing some strenuous manual work the normal range for a given physiological parameter 15 may differ for the normal range 15 for the same physiological parameter 14 where the user 12 is resting.

While the present technique has been described in detail with reference to certain embodiments, it should be appreciated that the present technique is not limited to those precise embodiments. Rather, in view of the present disclosure which describes exemplary modes for practicing the invention, many modifications and variations would present themselves, to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the following claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes, modifications, and variations coming within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be considered within their scope.

List of Reference Characters

1 system

2 location of a potential emergency

4 area

6 potential emergency

10 wearable monitor

12 user

14 physiological parameters

15 normal range of the physiological parameters

16 first signal

18 communication interface

20 position determining arrangement

22 position of the wearable monitor

26 second signal

30 control module

41 ceiling of a mine

42 floor of the mine

88 loose ceiling of the mine

90 locations in the mine

91 first position

92 second position

100 method

110 detecting one or more physiological parameters of a user 120 generating a first signal

130 detecting a position of the wearable monitor within the area

140 generating a second signal

150 receiving the first signal and the second signal

160 determining presence of the potential emergency

Claims

Patent Claims:

1. A system (1) for determining a location (2) of a potential emergency (6) in an area (4) , the system (1) comprising:

- a wearable monitor (10) configured to detect one or more physiological parameters (14) of a user (12) and to generate a first signal (16) indicative of the one or more physiological parameters (14) of the user (12), the wearable monitor (10) including a communication interface (18) configured to communicate wirelessly, a position determining arrangement (20) configured to detect a position (22) of the wearable monitor (10) within the area (4) and to generate a second signal (26) indicative of the position (22) of the wearable monitor (10) within the area (4) ,

- a control module (30) configured to receive the first signal (16) from the communication interface (18) of the wearable monitor (10) and the second signal (26) from the position determining arrangement (20) ; and wherein the control module (30) is further configured to determine the location (2) of the potential emergency (6) based on the first signal (16) and the second signal (26) ; wherein the potential emergency (6) is determined to be present in the location (2) , so determined, if the first signal (16) is indicative of at least one of the one or more physiological parameters (14) to be outside a predetermined normal range (15) for the physiological parameter (14) .

2. The system (1) according to claim 1, wherein the wearable monitor (10) is configured to detect the one or more physiological parameters (14) of the user (12) noninvasively.

3. The system (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the one or more physiological parameters (14) of the user (12) is at least one of a pulse rate of the user (12), a heart rate of the user (12) , a blood pressure of the user (12) , a blood oxygen saturation level of the user (12) , a body temperature of the user (12), a respiratory rate of the user (12) and a perspiration of the user (12) .

4. The system (1) according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the communication interface (18) of the wearable monitor (10) is configured to communicate via one of Bluetooth communication, WiFi communication, and radio communication.

5. The system (1) according to any of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the position determining arrangement (20) is an indoor positioning system.

6. The system (1) according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the predetermined normal range (15) for at least one of the one or more physiological parameters (14) is same for different positions (22) within the area (4).

7. The system (1) according to any of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the predetermined normal range (15) for at least one of the one or more physiological parameters (14) is different for different positions (22) within the area (4).

8. A method (100) for determining a location (2) of a potential emergency (6) in an area (4) , the method (100) comprising: - detecting (110) , by a wearable monitor (10) , one or more physiological parameters (14) of a user (12) ;

- generating (120) , by the wearable monitor (10) , a first signal (16) indicative of the one or more physiological parameters (14) of the user (12) ; detecting (130) , by a position determining arrangement (20) , a position (22) of the wearable monitor (10) within the area (4) ; - generating (140) , by the position determining arrangement (20) , a second signal (26) indicative of the position (22) of the wearable monitor (10) within the area (4) ;

- receiving (150), by a control module (30) , the first signal (16) wirelessly from the communication interface (18) of the wearable monitor (10) and the second signal (26) from the position determining arrangement (20) ;

- determining (160) presence of the potential emergency (6) and the location (2) of the potential emergency (6) based on the first signal (16) and the second signal (26) ; wherein the potential emergency (6) is determined to be present in the location (2) , so determined, if the first signal (16) is indicative of at least one of the one or more physiological parameters (14) to be outside a predetermined normal range (15) for the physiological parameter (14) .

9. The method (100) according to claim 8, wherein the one or more physiological parameters (14) of the user (12) is detected (110) non-invasively .

10. The method (100) according to claim 8 or 9 , wherein the one or more physiological parameters (14) of the user (12) is at least one of a pulse rate of the user (12) , a heart rate of the user (12) , a blood pressure of the user (12) , a blood oxygen saturation level of the user (12) , a body temperature of the user (12) , a respiratory rate of the user (12) and a perspiration of the user (12) .

11. The method (100) according to any of claims 8 to 10, wherein the first signal (16) is received by the control module (30) from the communication interface (18) of the wearable monitor (10) wirelessly via one of Bluetooth communication, WiFi communication, and radio communication.

12. The method (100) according to any of claims 8 to 11, wherein the position (22) of the wearable monitor (10) is detected (130) within the area (4) by using an indoor positioning system.

13. The method (100) according to any of claims 8 to 12, wherein the predetermined normal range (15) for at least one of the one or more physiological parameters (14) is predetermined to be same for different positions (22) within the area (4) .

14. The method (100) according to any of claims 8 to 12, wherein the predetermined normal range (15) for at least one of the one or more physiological parameters (14) is predetermined to be different for different positions (22) within the area (4) .