Method for monitoring the density and/or the movement of humans

1. A method ( 20 ) for monitoring the density and/or the movement of humans using a grid ( 100 ) of a plurality of luminaires ( 101 a - d ), each of the luminaires ( 101 a - d ) comprising:

an acoustic sensor ( 105 ),

a motion sensor ( 107 ), preferably a Doppler sensor,

a controller ( 109 ) supplied with output signals of said sensors ( 105 , 107 ), and

an interface ( 111 ) for a communication between the controller ( 109 ) and a gateway ( 401 ) for forwarding sensor information signals ( 130 ) to a central database ( 403 ),

wherein, based on the information in the database ( 403 ), the density and/or the movement of humans in an area covered by the grid ( 100 ) is estimated by generating a time series of sensor values of each luminaire ( 101 a - d ), said sensor information signals ( 130 ) comprise a timestamp, a luminaire identifier and a sensor value, and the sensor value represents an amplitude of the output signal at the time of the associated timestamp.

2. The method ( 20 ) of claim 1 , wherein the controller ( 109 ) is arranged for forwarding the sensor information signals ( 130 ) repetitively with a constant or a varying frequency.

3. The method ( 20 ) of claim 1 , wherein said sensor information signals ( 130 ) are forwarded using the Bluetooth standard.

4. A method ( 20 ) for monitoring the density and/or the movement of humans using a grid ( 100 ) of a plurality of luminaires ( 101 a - d ), each of the luminaires ( 101 a - d ) comprising:

an acoustic sensor ( 105 ),

a motion sensor ( 107 ),

a controller ( 109 ) supplied with output signals of said sensors ( 105 , 107 ), and

an interface ( 111 ) for a communication between the controller ( 109 ) and a gateway ( 401 ) for forwarding sensor information signals ( 130 ) to a central database ( 403 ), wherein, based on the information in the database ( 403 ), the density and/or the movement of humans in an area covered by the grid ( 100 ) is estimated by generating a time series of sensor values of each luminaire ( 101 a - d ), wherein the density and/or the movement of humans in the area covered by the grid ( 100 ) are estimated by:

determining probabilities that the sensor information signals ( 130 ) stored in the database ( 403 ) comprise human voice and/or multiples of human voices, and

generating a further time series of the probabilities of human voice and/or multiples of human voices.

5. A method ( 20 ) for monitoring the density and/or the movement of humans using a grid ( 100 ) of a plurality of luminaires ( 101 a - d ), each of the luminaires ( 101 a - d ) comprising:

an acoustic sensor ( 105 ),

a motion sensor ( 107 ),

a controller ( 109 ) supplied with output signals of said sensors ( 105 , 107 ), and

an interface ( 111 ) for a communication between the controller ( 109 ) and a gateway ( 401 ) for forwarding sensor information signals ( 130 ) to a central database ( 403 ),

wherein, based on the information in the database ( 403 ), the density and/or the movement of humans in an area covered by the grid ( 100 ) is estimated by generating a time series of sensor values of each luminaire ( 101 a - d ), wherein the method ( 20 ) further comprises:

applying an averaging algorithm, convolution algorithm, smoothing algorithm, or low pass filter on the time series and/or the further time series.

6. A method ( 20 ) for monitoring the density and/or the movement of humans using a grid ( 100 ) of a plurality of luminaires ( 101 a - d ), each of the luminaires ( 101 a - d ) comprising:

an acoustic sensor ( 105 ),

a motion sensor ( 107 ),

a controller ( 109 ) supplied with output signals of said sensors ( 105 , 107 ), and

an interface ( 111 ) for a communication between the controller ( 109 ) and a gateway ( 401 ) for forwarding sensor information signals ( 130 ) to a central database ( 403 ),

wherein, based on the information in the database ( 403 ), the density and/or the movement of humans in an area covered by the grid ( 100 ) is estimated by generating a time series of sensor values of each luminaire ( 101 a - d ), wherein the method ( 20 ) further comprises: applying an anomaly detection algorithm on the time series and/or the further time series, after applying the smoothing algorithm on the respective time series, to detect outlying data.

7. A method ( 20 ) for monitoring the density and/or the movement of humans using a grid ( 100 ) of a plurality of luminaires ( 101 a - d ), each of the luminaires ( 101 a - d ) comprising:

an acoustic sensor ( 105 ),

a motion sensor ( 107 ),

a controller ( 109 ) supplied with output signals of said sensors ( 105 , 107 ), and

an interface ( 111 ) for a communication between the controller ( 109 ) and a gateway ( 401 ) for forwarding sensor information signals ( 130 ) to a central database ( 403 ), wherein, based on the information in the database ( 403 ), the density and/or the movement of humans in an area covered by the grid ( 100 ) is estimated by generating a time series of sensor values of each luminaire ( 101 a - d ), wherein the method ( 20 ) further comprises: determining a people density probability and/or an estimate on the number of people in the area covered by the grid, in an area covered by each luminaire, based on the time series and/or on the further time series.

8. The method ( 20 ) of claim 1 wherein the interface ( 111 ) for communication between the controller ( 109 ) and a gateway ( 401 ) is a wireless interface.

9. The method ( 20 ) of claim 2 wherein the controller ( 109 ) is arranged for forwarding the sensor information signals ( 130 ) repetitively with an adaptive frequency.