Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
Triton Team
Lab I
Prototype Description
February 27, 2008
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
Table of Contents
1
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................3
2
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION ....................................................................................................4
3
4
2.1
Key Product Features and Capabilities ........................................................................5
2.2
Major Components (Hardware/Software)....................................................................6
2.3
Target Market/Customer Base .....................................................................................9
PRODUCT PROTOTYPE DESCRIPTION ............................................................................9
3.1
Prototype Functional Objectives ................................................................................10
3.2
Prototype Architecture ...............................................................................................12
3.3
Innovative Features ....................................................................................................13
3.4
Challenges and Risks .................................................................................................13
PROTOTYPE DEMONSTRATION DESCRIPTION ..........................................................14
REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................15
List of Figures
Figure 1. Disappearing dummy ......................................................................................................4
Figure 2. Triton System major functional component diagram. ....................................................7
Figure 3. Triton location algorithm diagram ..................................................................................8
Figure 4. Triton System prototype architecture diagram..............................................................10
List of Tables
Table 1. Feature comparison between Triton system and prototype ............................................12
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
Lab 1 – Triton Product Description
1 INTRODUCTION
Drowning claims the lives of thousands of innocent victims each year. In fact,
drowning is the number one leading cause of death for children under five, and it’s the
second leading cause of unintentional, injury-related death among children under the
age of 15 (CDC, 2008). There is a desperate need to end this epidemic killing children,
but change, innovation, and ingenuity will be required. Almost one-fifth of all drowning
incidences are in pools supervised by certified lifeguards; however, many drowning
victims are victims of silent drowning and therefore do not splash or display any other
warning signs prior to falling below the surface. Since permanent brain damage or even
death can occur after two minutes, time is the single most important factor for lifeguards
to save lives. Often however, these valuable seconds are lost and lifeguards fail to
recognize the dangerous situation until it is too late.
In the past, facilities, such as public pools and theme parks, have responded to
drowning accidents by focusing on the lifeguards’ water scanning techniques or other
training facets in an attempt to prevent mishaps. In reality no training will produce
perfect lifeguards and according to an Ellis and Associates study, lifeguards are only
vigilant for 30 minutes before factors such as: heat, stress, noise, fatigue, diet, and
dehydration will reduce their vigilance. As an alternative, perhaps giving lifeguards a
new tool, which will help identify potential victims in trouble, would prove more
beneficial.
Triton is an automated swimmer surveillance system conceived by the Old
Dominion University (ODU) CS410 Orange Team. By outfitting swimmers with sensor
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
embedded wristbands, Triton is designed to aid lifeguards by sending alerts when it
detects a swimmer under duress. The water environment, whether a small pool, theme
park wave pool, or ocean beach will have antennas and multiple receivers installed to
accept inputs from wristbands. Any alerts will then be transferred to the lifeguard’s base
station, where a screen will display the victim’s location and other sensor information.
The Triton system reduces the delay between initial time of victim duress and lifeguard
recognition of trouble.
2 TRITON PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
The ability for lifeguards to detect a submerged victim becomes severely degraded
as swimmers, wind, or waves disturb the waters surface. Figure 1, from the Aquatic
Safety Research Group, clearly illustrates this phenomenon as the submerged manikin
disappears as a result of activity from nearby swimmers in the water.
Figure 1. Disappearing Dummy
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
To respond to the phenomenon illustrated by the disappearing dummy, lifeguards
must be able to see underwater and on the surface while conducting their duties;
however, underwater, electronic, wireless monitoring of swimmers is difficult. Even with
today’s technology, this feat is usually best accomplished with underwater cameras.
Unfortunately, using cameras for computer vision processing is very costly and suffers
many limitations. For example, vision processing techniques rely on lack of motion to
determine possible swimmers in danger; however, in a wave pool environment, motion
certainly does not equal life. Other alternatives also come up short, such as radiofrequency identification (RFID). RFID devices have had great success in many markets
around the world, but they are useless in a pool environment because of their inability to
successfully transmit through water.
2.1 Key Product Features and Capabilities
RuBee™ radio tags are the cornerstone to the Triton system. RuBee™ tags,
designed by Visible Assets Inc, are low, magnetic frequency-based identification and
visibility tracking devices (Frost & Sullivan, 2008). From a functional perspective,
RuBee™ tags perform similarly to RFID devices; however, from a technical perspective,
they operate much differently. The main difference is that RuBee™ tags operate at 132
kHz, which is a much lower frequency than RFID. In fact, the RuBee™ tag’s signal is
almost entirely magnetic and not susceptible to the interference and wave degradation
that RFID signals experience in harsh environments, such as around metal and water.
Although this is a new environment for RuBee™ tags, their low cost, detection range of
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
10-30 feet and RuBee’s™ immunity to water make them an ideal choice for real-time
monitoring of swimmers.
In addition to a RuBee™ tag’s ability to communicate underwater, each tag is
capable of being outfitted with up to eight sensors, such as motion, temperature, and
depth. The Triton system will employ an algorithm, which will monitor each tag and
send an alert when a tag’s sensors have reached thresholds which indicate a potentially
dangerous situation. For example, if a tag, worn on a patron’s wrist, reports being
submerged greater than three-feet underwater for greater than 15 seconds, an alert will
be sent to the lifeguard workstation. At this point, the lifeguard’s attention is directed to
the swimmer, reducing the response time, and the lifeguards are able to determine
whether the situation is safe.
2.2 Major Components (Hardware/Software)
Figure 2 illustrates the major functional components of the Triton system. The
Triton system is comprised of four major hardware components and a software
package. The first component is the wristband with embedded RuBee™ radio tag.
Wristbands are customizable to the customer’s application and are available as either
disposable, hospital type wristbands, or durable, reusable wristbands.
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
Figure 2. Triton System major functional component diagram
The second component is the receivers, mounted in or around the pool. The
number of required receivers will vary with the size of the application. The receivers will
receive communications from all active tags, via installed antennas, including the state
of all onboard sensors. Receivers and antenna will be connected in a network to divide
the pool into virtual quadrants. These quadrants allow the Triton system to display the
approximate location of any alarming RuBee™ tag. Figure 3 provides an illustration of
how a victim’s location will be identified. Collected information from tags will be
forwarded to the Triton System base station where Triton’s algorithm will determine
whether to send an alert to the lifeguard’s workstation.
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
Figure 3. Triton location algorithm diagram
The base station is the third component and the core to the Triton system. The
base station is a computer that runs Triton’s software package, communicates with
each of the receivers, and relays messages to the last hardware component, the
lifeguard’s display screen. The running software package will process input from all
RuBee™ tag’s sensors and perform the algorithm to detect possible drowning
situations, relaying tag ID, location, and current state of sensors, such as depth and wet
or dry to the lifeguard’s workstation. The software package will also contain the
administrative management system used to control the administration, activation, and
control of patron wristbands.
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
2.3 Target market/Customer Base
Triton systems will initially be marketed to three types of customers. First,
marketing will target major theme parks, specifically, those with wave pools. Currently,
there are no technological solutions offered to aid lifeguards at wave pools (Posiedon,
n.d.). Underwater camera systems for something the size required in a wave pool
application would be outrageously expensive, not to mention technologically challenging
due to the nature of wave pool water activity. These shortcomings leave wave pool
operators hungry for an innovative new solution to help ensure their patron’s safety.
Secondly, Triton will market to public pools of all types. University and municipal
pools alike will benefit from Triton. Even pools already employing an automated
system, such as underwater cameras, can benefit and Triton will be marketed as a
complement to any existing system.
Finally, Triton’s unique solution will also function at beaches, lakes and ponds since
it is not dependent on water visibility. This ability will allow marketing to a variety of
customers who like wave pool operators have previously lacked technological solutions
to aid in swimmer surveillance due to environment constraints.
3 TRITON SYSTEM PROTOTYPE DESCRIPTION
The Triton system prototype will demonstrate the feasibility of underwater
monitoring and wireless communication using RuBee™ radio tags. Although Triton’s
prototype will inevitably require some aspects to be simulated, every effort will be made
to accurately demonstrate the Triton system’s capabilities and day to day operation.
Figure 4 illustrates the architecture of the Triton system prototype.
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
Figure 4. Triton System prototype architecture diagram
3.1 Prototype Functional Objectives
The prototype will demonstrate two major functional objectives. The first functional
objective is to demonstrate the ability of RuBee™ tags to successfully communicate
with receivers from underwater. Underwater communication is significant to
demonstrate because RuBee™ is a new technology and it’s important to prove that it
really can operate as specified in the proposed environment.
Secondly, Triton will demonstrate a pressure sensor’s ability to recognize and
report depth changes. This functional objective is necessary since Triton’s proposed
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
drowning detection algorithm centers around collecting wristband depth data. Due to
prototype cost limitations, the sensor used during the prototype may not be an
embedded sensor on a RuBee™ tag; rather, a larger, less expensive standalone sensor
may be employed to prove concept feasibility.
A number of various restrictions and limitations will result in the Triton prototype
differing somewhat from the actual Triton system. For example, the prototype will only
require the use of one receiver to demonstrate operability, but the absence of the
receiver network will eliminate some location identification functionality. Table one
provides a detailed summary of expected differences between the actual Triton system
and the Triton prototype. For example, an aquarium will be used to demonstrate
RuBee’s™ ability to communicate underwater.
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
Features
Real World Project
Prototype
Wristbands
Waterproof wristbands that are
equipped with RuBee tags.
Wristbands can be resized.
Actual wristbands will not be
created; however, software will
simulate swimmers wearing
wristbands.
RuBee tags
RuBee tags will be specifically
designed by Visible Assets Inc.
Tags will be equipped with
pressure and wet/dry sensors.
There are no sensors equipped
on RuBee tags. Pressure and wet
or dry readings will be
simulated.
RuBee receivers
RuBee receivers will be
purchased from Visible Assets,
Inc. Antennas will be attached
and placed in the pool.
Receivers and antennas are
donated from Visible Assets, Inc.
Triton administration and alert
software
A user friendly GUI application
that allows park administrators to
add and remove users from the
system, and alerts lifeguards of
potential drowning.
The GUI will have more
functionality than the real world
product. It will include the
ability to simulate the detection
algorithm and allow for
preloading of swimmers and
pool data.
Application server and touch
screen monitor
The Triton software will be
hosted on a dedicated application
server, and the park employees
will be able to access the
software through stations
equipped with touch screens.
The Triton prototype software
will be hosted on an ODU
laptop. Touch screens will not be
used.
Database
MySQL
Microsoft Access will be used.
Environment
Wave pools
A 10 gallon aquarium will be
used.
Drowning victim
Park patrons
It will be simulated in the
software.
Table 1. Feature comparison between actual Triton system and prototype
3.2 Prototype Architecture (Hardware/Software)
The major functional components of the prototype will be a scaled down version of
theTriton system major functional components. Although scaled down, the prototype
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
will still function similarly to the actual Triton system. The prototype will include
RuBee™ radio tags, one receiver, one ODU desktop computer running Triton’s software
package, and a display monitor.
3.3 Innovative features (of prototype)
The innovative feature of Triton’s prototype is the demonstration of wireless
operation and monitoring of a tracking device from underwater. Also demonstrated is
the ability to send an alarm when a device has been submerged for a specified time.
The automated surveillance demonstrated in the prototype will show how the Triton
system helps to reduce the lifeguard response time encountered during drowning
accidents. These features demonstrate Triton’s ability to provide valuable aid to
lifeguards in a way never accomplished before.
3.4 Challenges and Risks
Triton’s prototype has a sound plan and objectives, but it is not without challenges
and risks. None of the donated RuBee™ tags have sensors built into them, so inputs
from sensors will have to be entered manually. This lack of sensor data will introduce
some challenges demonstrating actual system functionality through the prototype, but
diligence amongst team members to constantly drive software progression and unique
prototype specific software development will ensure adequate demonstration and
completion. Ultimately, detailed planning and testing will ensure a successful prototype
that accurately reflects Triton’s design.
The prototype’s most significant risk is the ability to obtain RuBee™ tags from
Visible Assets Inc. Failure to obtain RuBee™ tags presents numerous challenges to
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
the prototype’s success. As a backup, Triton has identified alternative means to
demonstrate the Triton design using RFID tags; however, doing so will reduce the
accuracy of the prototype’s representation to the Triton system.
Additional risks, such as receiver sensitivity, hardware, software, and
interoperability failures during the prototype’s demonstration to panel members, will be
mitigated by careful planning, practice runs, and backup plans.
4 PROTOTYPE DEMONSTRATION DESCRIPTION
An ideal prototype demonstration would be performed at an actual pool. Triton
would capture the process on video and playback for the review panel to observe.
Although the process could conceivably be performed using an aquarium in the
conference room, realistic swimming pool depth changes would be difficult to
demonstrate. Regardless of which environment is used, general prototype
demonstration will be the same.
Triton’s computer running the software package will be set up alongside the pool
with a receiver connected to it. A Triton team member will simulate a swimmer and
enter the pool with a RuBee™ tag. On demand, the team member will submerge the
tag to the specified depth. Once the tag has been submerged for a time which exceeds
set alarm thresholds, the tag will transmit an alarm signal to the nearby receiver. The
receiver will relay the alarm to Triton’s computer instantaneously and observers will be
able to see the alarm register on the Triton display monitor.
Triton Lab I – Prototype Description
References
Aquatic Safety Research Group. (n.d.). Disappearing Dummies. In Dr. T. Griffiths
Disappearing Dummies Video DVD. Retrieved February 02, 2008, from
http://www.aquaticsafetygroup.com/disappearingdummies.html.
CDC. (2008). Water-Related Injuries: Fact Sheet. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drown.htm.
Frost & Sullivan. (2007). Technology Overview. Frost & Sullivan. Retrieved February
01, 2008, from http://www.pictpix.com/PPM/Frost%20%26%20Sullivan.pdf.
Poseidon. (n.d.). Installed Sites. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from
http://www.poseidon-tech.com/us/sites.html.