Building vital conditions monitoring
Apparatus and methods for ongoing assessment of a condition of a building structure combined with determination of a direction of a particular condition assessed by a digital sensor proximate to the structure. A user or other agent supporting a smart device is made aware of a condition and directed towards a site of the condition. Conditions may also be remotely monitored and an appropriate response technician deployed to address conditions monitored with directional input to the condition within the structure.
1. A method of assessing conditions indicative of structure condition, the method comprising:
a) affixing three or more wireless transceivers to reference positions within a real property comprising the structure;
b) deploying a sensor at a sensor location from which the sensor is capable of generating digital data descriptive of a condition present in the structure;
c) activating the sensor to generate the digital data descriptive of the condition present in the structure;
d) determining a physical position of the sensor based upon wireless communication between the three or more transceivers and the sensor or a transceiver located at the physical location of the sensor;
e) placing a smart device in logical communication with a first wireless position device and a second wireless position device, each of the first wireless position device and the second wireless position device located within or proximate to the smart device and capable of receiving wireless transmissions from the three or more wireless transceivers;
f) supporting the first wireless position device and the second wireless position device via an agent at a first geospatial position;
g) wirelessly receiving a first data set from the three or more wireless transceivers into the first wireless position device;
h) wirelessly receiving a second data set from the three or more wireless transceivers into the second wireless position device;
i) with the smart device, determining X, Y and Z coordinates of the first wireless position device, and X, Y and Z coordinates of the second wireless position device based upon the first data set and the second data set respectively;
j) generating a ray comprising a direction based on the relative positions of the X, Y and Z coordinates of the first wireless position device and to the X, Y and Z coordinates of the second wireless position device, while maintaining the agent at the first geospatial position;
k) generating a vector comprising a direction of the sensor location relative to the ray direction and a distance between one of the X, Y and Z coordinates of the first wireless position device and the X, Y and Z coordinates of the second wireless position device to the position of the sensor;
l) transmitting the digital data descriptive of the condition of the structure from the sensor to a controller;
m) correlating the digital data descriptive of the condition present in the structure with a physical state of the structure at the determined physical position; and
n) generating a user interface indicating the condition present in the structure and the direction of the sensor location and the distance between one of the X, Y and Z coordinates of the first wireless position device and the X, Y and Z coordinates of the second wireless position device to the position of the sensor.
2. The method of claim 1 additionally comprising the step of generating an index entry based upon a time at which the sensor was activated to generate the digital data descriptive of the condition present in the structure.
3. The method of claim 2 additionally comprising the step of transmitting the digital data via a wireless communication protocol over an industrial scientific and medical (ISM) band wavelength.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the wireless communication protocol comprises a WiFi protocol.
5. The method of claim 3 wherein the wireless communication protocol comprises an infrared transmission.
6. The method of claim 3 wherein the wireless communication protocol comprises a Bluetooth transmission.
7. The method of claim 3 comprising repeating steps b) through m) for multiple respective sensors and additionally comprising the step of synchronizing the digital data descriptive of the condition present in the structure based upon a time at which the multiple respective sensors are activated to generate the digital data.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the condition present in the structure comprises an amount of vibration present and the sensors comprise microelectromechanical system (MEMS) accelerometers.
9. The method of claim 8 additionally comprising the step of tracking a series of transitions of MEMS accelerometer readings and correlating structural integrity with a pattern of vibration measured by the MEMS accelerometer.
10. The method of claim 8 additionally comprising the steps of tracking a series of transitions of MEMS accelerometer readings and correlating structural damage with a pattern of vibration measured by the MEMS accelerometers.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein a profile of MEMS accelerometer correlates readings with structural damage based upon wood fiber deterioration.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the profile of MEMS accelerometer readings is based upon activity of wood destroying organisms causing the wood fiber deterioration.
13. The method of claim 8 additionally comprising the steps of introducing a vibration pattern into a component of the structure and comparing the vibration pattern introduced with a pattern of vibration detected by the MEMS.
14. The method of claim 7 wherein the condition comprises an ambient temperature and the method additionally comprises the step of measuring an ambient temperature via at least one of the sensors and transmitting a digital value based upon the ambient temperature measured.
15. The method of claim 7 wherein the condition comprises an ambient humidity and the method additionally comprises the step of measuring an ambient humidity via at least one of the sensors and transmitting a digital value based upon the ambient humidity measured.
16. The method of claim 7 wherein the condition comprises an amount of pressure on a structural member and the method additionally comprises the step of measuring pressure exerted upon the structural member and transmitting a digital value based upon the pressure measured.
17. The method of claim 7 additionally comprising the steps of: measuring an amount of light in a particular range of wavelengths via at least one of the sensors; and transmitting a digital value based upon the amount of light measured.
18. The method of claim 7 additionally comprising the steps of setting a threshold range of values for a sensor reading and executing an alert routine based upon a sensor generating the digital data descriptive of the condition present in the structure that is outside the threshold range.
19. The method of claim 7 additionally comprising the steps of aggregating multiple sensor readings over time and generating a scaled rating indicative of the structure complying with applicable building codes.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein based upon the scaled rating, the method additionally comprises the step of: generating a communication indicating that the structure is suitable for deployment for human habitation for a predetermined period of time.