Technical Field

The present invention relates to the development of an active user tracking, control and safety system that starts to work with the user entering the defined area instead of a passive system activated by a user-based movement such as card reading.

Background

Tracking and controlling the personnel in the working environments is carried out by many different methods. Card, finger, and face reading methods are used especially at the point of starting work during the day and controlling the working hours of the employees. After this process, the personnel are tracked with different methods in the work area. At this point, occupational safety experts and quality control teams work in the workplace.

There are also different methods used to track and control the personnel. Many existing methods have been used both for the tracking of the work activity of the personnel and for the full and complete fulfillment of the rules to be followed during the work activity. Especially with the help of wearable technologies, the tracking of the user includes known practices in terms of both business tracking and compliance with the rules to be followed.

In the application numbered TR 2018/19243, which is one of the applications in the state of the art, the identification and control of the user with the RFID tag integrated on a shoe is mentioned. Although the content of the invention mentions the matching of the label on the user and the machine, it does not mention the tracking of the personnel on occupational health and safety issues. In addition, it is mentioned that the user's location is determined, and the system is intervened quickly in case of an accident. However, the determination of the user's accident status is not mentioned. At this point, the invention generally serves as a work performance tracking system. In the invention subject to the Korean patent document numbered KR101314858B1, which is another application in the state of the art, a shoe that allows the user to be warned in case of any accident of railway employees is mentioned. Technically, RFID tracking is mentioned and used only to alert users.

In another art subject to the United States patent application numbered US2016125348A1, only a motion tracking system is mentioned. At this point, the system used only focuses on mapping and tracking movements. There is a limited tracking system within the scope of this invention and no action is taken on behalf of the control.

Another state of art, document numbered US2017245806A1, is a system that tracks whether the personnel are wearing the safety clothing they should use during work. At this point, it is checked whether the necessary precautions are taken by the personnel with the help of the modules on the clothes of the user. In addition, it provides tracking through the user on its development in production. In the invention, there is no mention of tracking the safety of the personnel and granting authorization-based personnel permits.

Although the document numbered US2018211345A1 is one of the applications in the state of the art, the tracking of the protection equipment of the personnel is mentioned in the invention described in the relevant document. It sends data to a system according to whether users use the relevant equipment or not with the signal transmitters located on the protection equipment. In this invention, there is no information about the work tracking issues such as the tracking of the working hours of the personnel and the authority to enter the relevant areas. However, the tracking of any accident is not mentioned.

A sensor-supported shoe with a smart tracking system is mentioned in the French patent documents numbered FR3076441A1 and FR3092290A1, which are applications in the state of the art. The shoe is basically used to track users' data and transfer this data to a specific point. The system is integrated into an upper system and used. In addition, among the features defined within the system, it is not mentioned that it works in conjunction with the external equipment used by the users. In addition, a scenario is not mentioned to follow the emergency scenarios. The invention mentioned in the document numbered W02021058700A1 is one of the applications in the state of the art, and it is a system placed on the sole of the shoe where the movement data of the technical user is tracked. In particular, the invention aims to provide a digital media distribution system organized to deliver personalized digital media directly to a consumer's electronic device. This may consider consumer activity during the creation of the digital media to be distributed. In addition, when managing and sending digital media to users, it can cause possible saturation of data transfer servers or the need to allocate resources to processing servers, which helps reduce server load. At this point, the invention does not mention the optimization and tracking of a machine system connection or a subsystem.

The invention, which is the subject matter of the French patent application numbered FR3053876A1, which is one of the applications in the state of the art, in particular, proposes a smart sole device for a shoe article that is easy to integrate into a sole and allows real-time adaptation of the sole. To achieve this object, the invention proposes a smart sole device for a shoe comprising a sole layer comprising one or more zones having adjustable stiffness, arranged in predetermined locations. The invention uses one or more predetermined volumes of polymers under the foot of the user and creates zones integrated into the sole, the stiffness of which can be changed in a way that is controlled by the control unit. The main object of the invention is to determine the user's movement data depending on the pressure used in sports shoes and to process this data by storing it on a system as specified in the document numbered EP3797625A1. At this point, the collection of information about the authorization, permission, and usage period of the system according to the points where the users are located is not mentioned.

Brief Description of the Invention

The object of the present invention is to develop a natural-activity-oriented user tracking, control, and safety system that periodically and/or continuously provides access/access control as a result of the natural movements of the user instead of user-activity-oriented systems such as card reading. Another object of this invention is to develop an active user tracking, control and safety system that can enable users to access the authorized sections without the need for any card reading and similar operations.

Another object of the invention is to develop an active user tracking, control and safety system that will enable users to use it to analyze how much they work on which machine or bench in their working environments to track work efficiency.

Another object of this invention is to develop an active user tracking, control and safety system that enables the tracking of the areas most used by the users during the day and the systems in these areas.

Another object of this invention is to develop an active user tracking, control and safety system that tracks and controls whether the safety equipment that the users should use is installed.

Another object of this invention is to develop an active user tracking, control and safety system that indicates the location where the system has lost consciousness and is located with the help of the relevant sensors in case the users experience any health problems in the workplace.

Another object of the invention is to develop an active user tracking, control and safety system that allows the system to be stored on the shelves without eating from its energy life and without being activated in out-of-use situations.

Another object of the invention is to develop an active user tracking, control and safety system that can track and control whether users use protective equipment through the camera.

Another object of the invention is to develop an active user tracking, control, and safety system in which the locations of the machines and equipment in the areas where the system is used are optimized by using the tracking data of the users (Plant Layout Optimization). Another object of the invention is to develop an active user tracking, control and safety system that can control the use of other personal protective equipment other than the system with the help of augmented reality algorithms.

Definitions of Figures Describing the Invention

The figures and related descriptions used to better explain the active user tracking, control and safety system constructed by the invention are as follows.

Figure 1 It is a perspective view of the active user tracking, control, and safety system according to the invention.

Figure 2 It is the perspective view of the sole of the active user tracking, control, and safety system according to the invention.

Figure 3 It is an exploded perspective view of the sole of the active user tracking, control, and safety system according to the invention.

Figure 4 It is an exploded view of the controller of the active user tracking, control, and safety system according to the invention.

Figure 5 It is the perspective view of the active user tracking, control, and safety system according to the invention with the components on the body.

Figure 6 According to the invention, the active user tracking, control, and safety system is the flowchart of the alert system's operating algorithm.

The elements shown in the figures are numbered and their corresponding elements are as follows.

1. A tracking, control, and safety system

2. Sole

3. Body

4. Lower sole

5. Upper sole

6. Controller

7. Box 8. Housing

9. Lower cover

10. Upper cover

11. Card

12. Battery

13. Identification module

14. Pressure sensor

15. Position sensor

16. Processor

17. Activation module

18. Temperature sensor

19. Humidity sensor

20. Acceleration sensor

21. Antenna

22. Level sensor

23. Pulse sensor

Detailed Description of the Invention

The invention is basically an active user tracking, control, and safety system (1) consisting of a sole (2) and a body (3) in the function of shoe/boot appearance and a controller (6) placed between the lower sole (4) and upper sole (5) in the sole (2). The controller (6) consists of a box (7) containing components with different tasks for different functions. There is an electronic circuit card (11) with some modules and sensors in the box (7). There is a pressure sensor (14) on the part of the box (7) facing the upper sole (5) and an identification module (13) on the part facing the lower sole (4). The active user tracking, control, and safety system (1) is operated with the help of batteries (12).

The controller (6) is placed at its midpoint during the production phase to protect the system between the lower sole (4) and the upper sole (5). Although the sole (2) used varies according to its structure, it is produced as a heel length of 96 mm in an average size of 43 shoes. The total length of the shoe is adjusted to 300 mm. Accordingly, the controller (6) is placed so that the length of the sole (2) is 40-45% of the heel section. At this point, it corresponds to 12-18% of the total shoe length. In this way, the data affected by the minimum dynamic and static force changes on the heel are obtained. Accurate results are achieved with clean data.

There is an identification module (13) on the part facing the lower sole (4) of the controller (6). With the help of this module, the user will be identified when entering the authorized area and will ensure that the door locks that allow the door to enter with the instruction to open the turnstile or that generate silent alarms in unauthorized entrances are not unlocked with the appropriate permission. In addition, activating the tracking process of the user is started at this stage. It allows the identification module (13) to be tracked by the user without the need for a move that requires any card or similar scanning process. The identification module (13) is capable of operating with or without a server. The identification module (13) itself can open the facility's external door or any low-security door in the field without requiring access to the server through the code with direct access authorization. If the entry authorization needs higher security control, the authorization control identification module (13) can request it from the server through the entry system.

There is a pressure sensor (14) on the part of the controller (6) facing the upper sole (5). This pressure sensor (14) is used to confirm that the user is wearing the shoe. In addition, it is also used to give alerts in the event of an evaluation made with the reading of the relevant pressure data in case the user has a fall or an accident.

Alert system algorithm according to pressure data comprises the following:

(101) Does the pressure exceed the threshold value?

(102) Conducting capacitance determination

(103) Send alert

(104) Sending an alert

With the pressure sensor (14) placed on the sole (2) of the system, different pressure values are read depending on the user's movements. These pressure values are evaluated according to a threshold value determined depending on the weight of the person. At this point, does the system first exceed this threshold? Performs the (101) evaluation. If the threshold is crossed, it does not send an alert (104). If the pressure does not exceed the threshold value, the second reference passes to the evaluation. Here, the system evaluates the capacitance determination step (102). If the detection can be made, the system sends an alert (103). If the detection cannot be made, it does not send an alert (104).

The alert system algorithm consists of the same steps in different scenarios according to the application plane of the pressure. In the Cartesian coordinate system, an alert system can operate on 6 axes with negative aspects on 3 different axes. At this point, it can be controlled from the user's location by determining pressure values and capacitance in both positive and negative directions according to the x, y, and z axes. In addition, the detection and alert system is operated with the tracking of the person according to the pressure values formed on the different planes defined by the system's binary axes.

Many sub-components within the controller (6) are stored in a box (7). The box (7) consists of two parts. It contains the electronic circuit card (11) in a housing (8) at the top. In the section at the bottom, the batteries (12) are kept in a storage area. The box (7) is complemented by a lower cover (9) at the point of protecting the batteries (12) and an upper cover (10) for protecting the electronic circuit card (11).

There is a position sensor (15) on the electronic circuit card (11). The position sensor (15) can detect that the shoe is in any location between the horizontal, vertical, or lateral lying. With this data, it can be understood that the user is lying, sitting, standing, or walking, especially by using pressure data. In this way, the activity of the user during the day can be determined together with the time and activity type. However, if it is not possible for the user to be in a lying position due to the location of the user through the identification module (13), it is possible for this situation to generate an alert and to be evaluated accidentally through the electronic circuit card (11).

Another sensor on the card (11) is the activation sensor (17). The activation sensor (17) is provided to ensure that the system is protected and closed before the use of the shoe. In this way, the consumption of batteries in the system is prevented during the waiting period of the relevant system on the shelf. With the registration of the user on a server, the system is activated by waiting on a magnetic field generator for 2-5 seconds to activate the system on the shoe. In addition, the same process can be used to stop the system oppositely. At this point, tests of the active user tracking, control, and safety system (1) can also be carried out. Another sensor on the electronic card (11) is the temperature sensor (18). The temperature sensor (18) can receive both the indoor and outdoor temperature of the shoe. At this point, both the body temperatures and the ambient temperature of the users are tracked. The tracking, control, and safety system (1) makes sense of both the environmental hazards and the hazards to be experienced by the user by comparing the received temperature data with other data.

Another condition that the system tracks and controls is humidity. For this reason, a humidity sensor (19) is integrated on the card (11). Humidity errors that will occur in the environment or system where the user is located are evaluated at this point. In case of moisture reading is more than desired, the tracking, control, and safety system (1) can give the relevant alerts by making sense of the moisture data with other received data.

An acceleration sensor (20) is placed on the card (11) to track the movements of the users. If the users stand still for a long time, whether the user immobility occurs due to an accident is interpreted with different data received and the necessary alerts are made within the system at the relevant points.

All sensor data is collected and processed on a processor (16) on the card (7). The relevant processed data is periodically sent to the relevant server. The processor (16) is a unit in which all sub-components of the relevant tracking, control, and safety system (1) are managed.

The antenna (21), the level sensor (22) and the pulse sensor (23) are located on the body (3) within the tracking, control, and safety system (1). Positioning the relevant components on the body (3), it is aimed to ensure accurate data exchange independent of external obstructions.

The tracking and control process is carried out by transmitting the data received from the system to the relevant servers with the antenna (21) on the body (3). The antenna (21) used in the tracking, control, and safety system (1) can be one of the RFID, UHF or UWB protocols. The optimum antenna (21) needed in the area where the users are located can be selected. The antenna (7) can be used to determine the user's location in any emergency. The antenna (7) used in the tracking, control and safety system is placed at the top of the body (3) called the upper. The antenna (7) in the upper part has been produced as a textilebased antenna (7) that increases efficiency depending on the wearing of the shoes by the users.

Another component placed on the body (3) is the height level sensor (22). The level sensor (22) is used to verify the emergency scenarios occurred to respond to users in accidents and similar emergencies. The user's location level sensor (22) aims to quickly detect and intervene in any accident or similar situation by processing and verifying the data received from other sensors. Because if the person loses their height from the ground faster than normal, it will be an indication of their fall.

A pulse sensor (23) is also planned on the body (3) to quickly perform emergency response operations in case of an accident. The pulse sensor (23) can measure the pulse over the finger at the point where the finger is stuck on the shoe tip. In addition, a sensor can be used in this location to detect a decrease in pulse density or a decrease in the amount of oxygen in the blood in the environment of the users.

The tracking, control, and safety system (1) basically aims to actively identify users in their working environments without the need for passive activation. The usage status of the protective clothing used by the users can also be tracked on the system. By placing a number and/or a sensor on the protective clothing, communication and matching can be provided on the system. In this way, it can also be tracked whether users have taken protective measures.

A special activation code is used for each user within the tracking, control, and safety system (1). In this way, user-based data tracking and matching is made by making a userspecific match. The tracking, control, and safety system (1) is activated on the magnetic field after the user activation in the system. In this way, the tracking, control, and safety system (1) and the user matching are performed.

The tracking, control, and safety system (1) can also be used for the purpose of machine matching with the user. Machine controls of the users are carried out with the tracking and control of the users. Machine-user matching can be performed with the help of the identification module (13) within the tracking, control, and safety system (1), and the scenarios of working under the supervision of the user and putting the machine on hold when there is no user can be realized. In addition, the scenarios of inactivation of the machines that should work in unmanned environments if the users are within the relevant safety area can also be realized with the tracking, control, and safety system (1).

Camera data may also be used to support and verify the tracking and control process of the users within the period of using the tracking, control, and safety system (1). With the users wearing protective clothing and the system receiving alerts during the tracking and control of machine use, the alert can be verified with the help of cameras. Both around the machines and in the work areas of the users, the use of cameras in general can be used for the purpose of performing the relevant control.

The active tracking, control, and safety system (1) can provide general information to rescue teams in emergency situations about the location and number of users, body temperatures and pulse values, and exactly how they are. At this point, it can provide quick and effective access to its users.

The active user tracking, control, and safety system (1) is preferably placed on a shoe in this embodiment of the invention. However, due to the structure of the system, it can be designed in any type of clothing or shoes or slippers. At this point, it can be used for different purposes with the feature of being a tracking and control system, which is a modular system.