Granted Patent B1

US 12,270,960 · App. 18/973,249 · Granted Apr 8, 2025

Inventors: Jace W. Files (Round Rock, TX); Roger S. Hollander (Austin, TX); John Trevor Morrison (Round Rock, TX); Shivshanker S. Naimpally (Leander, TX)

Assignee: Katcher LLC

G01V1/001H04R1/08H04R1/2876

Abstract

Claims (104)

1. A method comprising:

determining, at a predetermined time interval and by a thermometer of a sensor node that is mounted to a wood item in an outdoor location, an ambient temperature of the outdoor location;

determining, at the predetermined interval and by a hygrometer of the sensor node, an ambient humidity of the outdoor location;

determining, at the predetermined time interval and by an ohmmeter of the sensor node, a resistance of the wood item between two metal fasteners used to mount the sensor node to the wood item;

determining, by one or more processors of the sensor node and based on the resistance, a moisture content of the wood item; and

based on determining, by the one or more processors that:

the ambient temperature is at least a pre-determined temperature,

the ambient humidity is at least a pre-determined humidity, and

the moisture content of the wood item is at least a pre-determined moisture threshold,

capturing audio data, by a microphone of the sensor node, the microphone coupled to the wood item;

determining, by the one or more processors, that the audio data indicates pest activity; and

sending, by a communications interface of the sensor node, a notification of pest activity, the notification including the ambient temperature, the ambient humidity, the moisture content, and the audio data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

before determining the ambient temperature:

determining that the predetermined time interval has elapsed; and

transitioning the sensor node from a low power mode to an active mode; and

after sending the notification of pest activity:

transitioning the sensor node from the active mode to the low power mode.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the pre-determined temperature comprises 25° C.;

the pre-determined humidity comprises 20% humidity;

the pre-determined moisture threshold comprises 20%.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

a central hub receives the notification of pest activity;

the central hub uses an artificial intelligence algorithm to perform an analysis of the ambient temperature, the ambient humidity, the moisture content, and the audio data;

the central hub determines, based on the analysis, a type of pest that is present; and

the central hub sends a message to a computing device indicating the type of pest that is present.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the wood item comprises a utility pole.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

determining, using a tilt sensor of the sensor node, a tilt of the utility pole; and

based at least in part on determining that the tilt is between about 2 degrees to about 5 degrees, sending a tilt warning notification.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

determining, using a tilt sensor of the sensor node, a tilt of the utility pole; and

based at least in part on determining that the tilt is greater than 5 degrees, sending a critical alert notification.

8. A sensor node comprising:

one or more sensors comprising a thermometer, a hygrometer, a microphone, and an ohmmeter;

a communication interface;

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer readable media storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

determining, at a predetermined time interval and by the thermometer that is mounted to a wood item in an outdoor location, an ambient temperature of the outdoor location;

determining, at the predetermined interval and by the hygrometer of the sensor node, an ambient humidity of the outdoor location;

determining, at the predetermined time interval and by the ohmmeter of the sensor node, a resistance of the wood item between two metal fasteners used to mount the sensor node to the wood item;

determining, by the one or more processors of the sensor node and based on the resistance, a moisture content of the wood item; and

based on determining, by the one or more processors that:

the ambient temperature is at least a pre-determined temperature,

the ambient humidity is at least a pre-determined humidity, and

the moisture content of the wood item is at least a pre-determined moisture threshold,

capturing audio data, by a microphone of the sensor node, the microphone coupled to the wood item;

determining, by the one or more processors, that the audio data indicates pest activity; and

sending, by a communications interface of the sensor node, a notification of pest activity, the notification including the ambient temperature, the ambient humidity, the moisture content, and the audio data.

9. The sensor node of claim 8 , the operations further comprising:

before measuring the ambient temperature of the outdoor location, transitioning the sensor node from a low power mode to an active mode; and

after sending the notification of pest activity the method, transitioning the sensor node from the active mode to the low power mode.

10. The sensor node of claim 8 , wherein the wood item comprises one of:

a fence post;

a wooden portion of a bridge;

a utility pole; or

a railway tie.

11. The sensor node of claim 8 , wherein the notification of pest activity comprises:

an indication that termite activity is detected in an ultrasonic frequency range of the audio data.

12. The sensor node of claim 11 , further comprising:

a housing to house the one or more sensors, the communication interface, the one or more processors, and the one or more non-transitory computer readable media; and

an external port to provide:

the thermometer with access to the ambient temperature outside the housing; and

the hygrometer with access to the ambient humidity outside the housing.

13. The sensor node of claim 8 , further comprising:

determining that a cause of the pest activity comprises at least one of:

carpenter ants,

termites,

wood-boring beetles,

carpenter bees, or

wood wasps; and

including the cause of the pest activity in the notification of pest activity.

14. One or more non-transitory computer readable media storing instructions executable by one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

determining, at a predetermined time interval and by a thermometer of a sensor node that is mounted to a wood item in an outdoor location, an ambient temperature of the outdoor location;

determining, at the predetermined interval and by a hygrometer of the sensor node, an ambient humidity of the outdoor location;

determining, at the predetermined time interval and by an ohmmeter of the sensor node, a resistance of the wood item between two metal fasteners used to mount the sensor node to the wood item;

determining, by one or more processors of the sensor node and based on the resistance, a moisture content of the wood item; and

based on determining, by the one or more processors that:

the ambient temperature is at least a pre-determined temperature,

the ambient humidity is at least a pre-determined humidity, and

the moisture content of the wood item is at least a pre-determined moisture threshold,

capturing audio data, by a microphone of the sensor node, the microphone coupled to the wood item;

determining, by the one or more processors, that the audio data indicates pest activity; and

sending, by a communications interface of the sensor node, a notification of pest activity, the notification including the ambient temperature, the ambient humidity, the moisture content, and the audio data.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 14 , the operations further comprising: the pre-determined temperature comprises 25° C.; the pre-determined humidity comprises 20% humidity; the pre-determined moisture threshold comprises 20%.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 14 , wherein the microphone is coupled to the wood item using:

a piece of foam placed behind the microphone that acts as a spring to provide pressure to create a consistent contact surface between the microphone and the wood item;

an O-ring placed between the microphone and the wood item to act as a gasket to reduce extraneous noise captured by the microphone; and

a material placed between the microphone and the wood item to impedance match the microphone to the wood item for ultrasonic frequencies between about 20 kilohertz to about 40 kilohertz.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 14 , wherein capturing the audio data comprises:

capturing the audio data at a sampling rate of at least 80 kilohertz.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, by the sensor node, a query message;

transitioning the sensor node from a low power mode to a wake mode; and

determining an address of a particular sensor node that is included in the query message.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise:

based at least in part on determining that the address is associated with the sensor node:

transitioning from the wake mode to an active mode; and

initiating communications with a central hub using a long-range radio of the sensor node.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise:

based at least in part on determining that the address is not associated with the sensor node:

relaying the query message to one more nearby sensor nodes using a short-range radio of the sensor node.

Continuity (3)

References Cited (51)