Advanced warning and risk evasion system and method
This invention relates in general to the field of safety devices, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to systems and methods for providing advanced warning and risk evasion when hazardous conditions exist. In one embodiment, a vicinity monitoring unit is provided for monitoring, for example, oncoming traffic near a construction zone. In some embodiments, the vicinity monitoring unit may be mounted onto a construction vehicle to monitor nearby traffic and send a warning signal if hazardous conditions exist. In some embodiments, personnel tracking units may be worn by construction workers and the personnel tracking units may be in communication with the vicinity monitoring unit. In some embodiments, a base station is provided for monitoring activities taking place in or near a construction site including monitoring the locations of various personnel and vehicles within the construction site.
1. An advanced warning and risk evasion system comprising: a vicinity monitoring unit having a sensor and a processor, wherein the sensor comprises a transmitter and a receiver configured to detect an object located in the sensor's field of view and changes in the object's position relative to the sensor, and the processor is configured to calculate the vicinity monitoring unit's position, orientation, and velocity and to detect a hazardous situation based at least in part on the object's speed and direction of travel relative to the vicinity monitoring unit; a calibration unit configured to calculate the calibration unit's location and transmit location information to the vicinity monitoring unit; wherein the processor is configured to determine an orientation of the field of view of the sensor based at least in part on the location information received from the calibration unit; and wherein the vicinity monitoring unit is configured to be coupled to a warning device to transmit a warning signal to the object upon detection of the hazardous situation.
2. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 1 , wherein the warning device is a long range acoustical device capable of sending a directional acoustic beam at the object.
3. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 1 , wherein the vicinity monitoring unit is configured to allow one or more warning signals to be transmitted to the object, the one or more warning signals being selected by the processor based at least in part on characteristics of the hazardous situation detected.
4. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 1 , wherein the calibration unit utilizes GPS to calculate the calibration unit's location and the vicinity monitoring unit utilizes DGPS to calculate the vicinity monitoring unit's position.
5. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 1 , wherein the calibration unit includes a reflector; and
wherein the vicinity monitoring unit is configured to correlate the location information received from the calibration unit with information from the sensor relative to the reflector's location.
6. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 1 , wherein the vicinity monitoring unit is configured to be mounted to a construction vehicle and monitor an area adjacent to the construction vehicle.
7. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 6 , wherein the vicinity monitoring unit is configured to remain calibrated after the calibration unit has been removed from the sensor's field of view and after the construction vehicle has changed positions.
8. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 1 and further comprising:
a tracking unit configured to calculate the tracking unit's position and transmit position information to the vicinity monitoring unit; and
wherein the processor is configured to detect an unsafe situation based at least in part on the position information received from the tracking unit.
9. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 1 , wherein the vicinity monitoring unit is configured to be mounted onto a moveable cart.
10. An advanced warning and risk evasion system comprising: a vicinity monitoring unit having a radar and a processor, wherein the radar is configured to detect an object located in the radar's field of view and changes in the object's position relative to the radar, and the processor is configured to calculate the vicinity monitoring unit's position, orientation, and velocity and to detect a hazardous situation based at least in part on the object's speed and direction of travel relative to the vicinity monitoring unit; a calibration unit configured to calculate the calibration unit's location and transmit location information to the vicinity monitoring unit; wherein the processor is configured to determine an orientation of the field of view of the radar based at least in part on the location information received from the calibration unit; and a warning device coupled to the vicinity monitoring unit and configured to transmit a warning signal to the object upon detection of the hazardous situation.
11. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 10 , wherein the warning device is a long range acoustical device capable of sending a directional acoustic beam at the object.
12. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 10 , wherein the vicinity monitoring unit is configured to correlate the location information received from the calibration unit with information from the radar relative to the calibration unit's location.
13. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 10 , wherein the vicinity monitoring unit is configured to allow a hazardous situation to be defined by an occurrence of one or more of the following: a speed of the object exceeding a threshold speed and a direction of travel of the object being towards the vicinity monitoring unit.
14. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 10 , wherein the vicinity monitoring device is capable of being mounted onto a construction vehicle and configured to allow an area near the construction vehicle to be monitored for unsafe conditions.
15. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 10 and further comprising:
a first tracking unit configured to calculate the first tracking unit's location and transmit location information to the vicinity monitoring unit; and
wherein the processor is configured to detect an unsafe situation based at least in part on the location information received from the first tracking unit.
16. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 15 and further comprising:
a second tracking unit configured to calculate the second tracking unit's location and transmit location information to the first tracking unit.
17. The advanced warning and risk evasion system of claim 10 and further comprising:
a base station in communication with the vicinity monitoring unit, wherein the vicinity monitoring device is configured to transmit information to the base station in real time; and
a display coupled to the base station configured to allow a user to view at least some of the information transmitted by the vicinity monitoring unit.
18. An advance warning and risk evasion method comprising: providing a vicinity monitoring unit having a radar and a processor, the processor being configured to allow the vicinity monitoring unit to be mounted to a utility vehicle; calculating a location of the vicinity monitoring unit utilizing GPS; placing a calibration unit in the radar's field of view, the calibration unit configured to calculate the calibration unit's location utilizing GPS; determining a position of the calibration unit based on information received from the radar; receiving location information from the calibration unit; and calibrating the vicinity monitoring unit by correlating the location information received from the calibration unit with the position of the calibration unit determined based on information received from the radar.
19. The method of claim 18 and further comprising:
placing the calibration unit in a different location in the radar's field of view to further calibrate the vicinity monitoring unit.
20. The method of claim 18 and further comprising:
coupling the vicinity monitoring unit to a warning device;
monitoring objects in the field of view of the radar; and
sending a warning signal to one or more of the objects if a hazardous situation is detected.