The subject of the invention is a method and a system of a wristband/bracelet for users of facilities with swimming pools, generating a user emergency alarm signal and the method of its production, intended for use in swimming pool facilities, both in water and in rooms of the swimming pool. The use of the user's wristband requires the installation of appropriate systems that will receive the alarm signal from the wristband located in water and in other swimming pool areas.

Currently, there are more and more fitness facilities with swimming pools. These swimming pools most often do not meet the requirements concerning the assigned lifeguard, in terms of dimensions. Not all accidents, near drowning or drowning, that take place in water are related to poor swimming skills. They are often linked to health, or weaker disposition on a given day. Larger pools are monitored by lifeguards who respond to any problems that may arise. However, even such control can be unreliable. Such dangerous situations are often detected too late usually due to the large number of people moving around in swimming pools and areas around them. Therefore, there is a need to support lifeguards in monitoring the behaviour of users of swimming pool facilities in order to immediately detect situations that threaten the health or life of these users, which determines the effectiveness of the rescue. This goal can be achieved by equipping each user of swimming pool facilities with a wristband/bracelet that generates an alarm signal in emergency situations, which is received by the appropriate terminals of the swimming pool facility's monitoring system.

In the known solutions of the wristband systems for the users of swimming pools, pressure sensors are used to estimate the depth of the wristband's immersion in the water. In these known methods, the generation of an alarm sent from the band as a hydroacoustic signal consists in making the decision on the emergency condition of the user if the band stays at a predetermined depth for too long.

The American US20080266118A1 patent filed in 2008 relates to a wristband that monitors the pulse, heart rate, blood oxygen level, peripheral vasoconstriction, body and/or ambient temperature, blood pressure and other parameters of a swimmer.

Chinese CN104517410A invention filed in 2015 provides anti-drowning system with some kind of intelligence, including a swimming bracelet, wireless nodes, monitoring terminal and a server, the described swimming bracelet is connected to the server by wireless nodes, the described monitoring terminal is connected to the server, the described swimming bracelet comprises a set of sensors, a warning device, a clock and a radio communication device.

Sentag AB offers drowning hazard detection technology that monitors swimmers through sensor bands. The bands developed by the company monitor the depth and duration of a given user's stay under water. In the event of a threat (swimmer is too deep or too long in the water) the bands send a signal that is received by receivers located in the pool and then sent to sirens, light receivers, pagers or walkie-talkies, depending on the configuration and the operator's choice.

The Blue Fox Technology system is a solution based on the use of a wristband that monitors the user's behaviour in the swimming pool. The wristband controls the depth at which the user is located and the time of stay at such depth. If the swimmer stays there longer than the time set in the system the alarm signal is sent to the receiver placed under the water on the swimming pool wall. The Blue Fox Control software allows to program the tolerated depth and time spent at a given depth, and to apply this data to the wristband. The programming of the wristbands is done using the factory software. In order to change the settings of a given wristband, it is placed on the adapter and the depth (5 cm - 125 cm) and the time (5 sec. - 95 sec.) at which the alarm is to be triggered can be selected. The point at which the alarm is triggered depends on the system operator's decision.

The disadvantages of these known wristband systems and their alarm generation mode are that they generate false alarms or fail to show the correct alarm, depending on the swimming style and the skill of the user. Too many false alarms weaken the vigilance of lifeguards. Moreover, these known solutions are limited to the detection of the user's emergency conditions only while in a swimming pool, while there are also hazards in other swimming pool facility areas (e.g. collapse, fainting, falls).

The aim of the invention is to eliminate the imperfections of the existing Solutions by extending the protection to the areas around the swimming pool and eliminating false alarms. The solution according to the invention allows to minimize the occurrence of false alarms thanks to the use of signals coming not only from the depth sensor but also from the SD accelerometer and the pulse oximeter in the analysis of emergency conditions using the artificial intelligence method. In addition, the emitted alarm signal, depending on the identified water or air environment, is generated as ultrasonic or acoustic, which allows the band system to function in both environments.

User wristband system for swimming pool facilities generating a user emergency alarm signal, containing a pressure measurement sensor and a 3D accelerometer sensor as well as a proximity sensor, a processor and an alarm transmission system, where the pressure gauge system generates a signal specifying the value of the air or water environment pressure; this signal is digitized by the transducer and analysed by the wristband's processor and if the signal value corresponds to the atmospheric pressure values, the processor decides if the band is out of the water and applies the appropriate decision rules for detecting falls outside the swimming pool, otherwise, that is in aquatic environment, decision rules stored in processor memory suitable for the detection of drowning or a drowning hazard condition are used; the three-coordinate accelerometer system produces three-coordinate accelerometer signals that are analysed by the processor to determine the type of movement or immobility the user is performing, and the proximity sensor system produces a signal that determines whether the wristband is in contact with the user's body, if the wristband is not in contact with the user's body, the wristband's processor does not apply any decision rule and does not trigger an alarm signal, because it means that the band is not on the user's hand, if the wristband is in contact with the user's body, the decision rule stored in the processor memory, appropriate for in water or out of water situation, is used, that on the basis of the performed movement or lack of movement appropriately detects falling or drowning situations; if, as a result of the application of the decision rule, a dangerous situation is detected, the processor generates an alarm signal suitable for transmission in a given environment and transmits it to the ultrasonic or acoustic alarm signal generation system, the alarm signal generation system emits an ultrasonic or acoustic signal outside the wristband, propagating in water or air environments, as appropriate.

The method of generating an alarm signal in the user's wristband system is based on the fact that the signal from the pressure gauge Controls the selection of the decision-making process depending on the water or air environment, while the decision to trigger a hydroacoustic alarm for the water environment is made on the basis of a combined analysis of the type of movement performed, depth of immersion and time spent at such depth, and the decision to trigger an acoustic alarm for the air environment is made on the basis of a combined analysis of the type of movements performed as well as the idle time and pulse rate, while the signal from the proximity sensor allows generating an alarm signal only if the wristband is in contact with the user's body.

Diagram description Output 1 of the CS pressure gauge system is connected to the input 2 of the AC1 converter system, output 3 of which is connected to the input 4 of the PO wristband processor, while output 5 of the A3 three-coordinate accelerometer system is connected to the input 6 of the PO wristband processor, output 7 of the CZ proximity sensor is connected to input 8 of the PO band processor; output 9 of the PO band processor is connected to input 10 of the TA alarm signal generation circuit. The AC1 converter can be integrated in one chip with the pressure gauge circuit to form a CC digital pressure gauge, or it can be a separate chip. The proximity sensor may be made using an integrated pulse oximeter chip, one of the functions of which is to detect contact with the body of the user. The processor of the wristband performs the function of a decision making system and a hydroacoustic or acoustic alarm signal generator, including the decision system in the part performing the motion analysis, which may be a rule-based system or an artificial intelligence algorithm.

The method of generating the alarm signal according to the invention consists in the fact that the signal from the pressure gauge controls the selection of the decision-making process depending on the water or air environment, while the decision to trigger a hydroacoustic alarm for the water environment is made on the basis of a combined analysis of the type of movement performed, the depth of immersion and the time spent at such depth, the decision on triggering an acoustic alarm for the air environment is made on the basis of a combined analysis of the type of movements performed as well as the idle time and pulse rate, while the signal from the proximity sensor allows you to generate an alarm signal only if the band is in contact with the user's body.

The system according to the invention is shown in Fig. 1, which is a block diagram thereof. The operation of the system shown in Fig. 1 is as follows: the system of the CS pressure gauge produces a signal determining the pressure value of the air or water environment. This signal is digitized by the AC1 converter and analysed by the PO wristband's processor. If the signal value corresponds to the atmospheric pressure values, the PO decides that the strap is out of the water and applies the appropriate decision rules for detecting a fall outside the swimming pool. Otherwise, i.e. for the aquatic environment, decision rules stored in the memory of the PO suitable for detecting drowning or a drowning hazard condition are used. The A3 three-coordinate accelerometer system produces three-coordinate accelerometer signals which are analysed by the PO to determine the type of motion or lack of it that the user is performing. The CZ proximity sensor system generates a signal that determines whether the wristband is in contact with the user's body. If the wristband is not in contact with the user's body, the wristband's processor does not apply any decision rule and does not generate an alarm signal, as this means that the wristband is not placed on the user's hand. If the wristband is in contact with the user's body, a decision rule stored in the processor's memory that is appropriate for the in water or out of water situation is used, based on the type of movement or its lack situations of falling or drowning is detected. On the other hand if, as a result of the application of the decision rule, a dangerous situation is detected, the processor generates an alarm signal suitable for transmission in a given environment and transmits it to the ultrasonic or acoustic alarm signal generation system. The alarm signal generation system emits an ultrasonic or acoustic signal outside the wristband, propagating in water or air environments, respectively.