Claims:CLAIMS:
We Claim:
1. A multi-functional smart pole system, comprising:
a pole structure configured to house various components of said smart pole assembly, wherein said various components comprising:
a data collection unit, comprising:
a weather sensing unit integrated on top end of said pole structure configured to collect plurality of weather parameters;
a remote surveillance unit integrated on top end of said pole structure adjacent to said weather sensing unit configured to collect surveillance data in a location;
a pollution monitoring sensor integrated with said pole structure configured to collect environmental pollution data to determine either a particular type or level of environmental pollution;
a communication module configured to receive and transfer said plurality of weather parameters and said surveillance data as consolidated data from said data collection unit over a wireless network to a remote storage;
a power management unit, comprising;
at least one solar panel mounted on said pole structure configured to convert solar energy to electrical energy;
a controller integrated into said pole structure configured to manage and distribute required amount of said electrical energy to said data collection unit and said communication module;
a processing module configured to segregate and process said consolidated data into plurality of clusters by utilizing IoT to detect either a flood or a boat capsize correlated with location and transmit said detected flood data or said detected boat capsize data to a control station, and
an output module positioned at said control station configured to notify and display said detected flood data or said detected capsized boat data.
2. The multi-functional smart pole system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pollution monitoring sensor comprises either an air pollution sensor or plurality of optical particle counters or any other type of sensors to detect the air quality.
3. The multi-functional smart pole system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said weather parameters includes amount of rainfall, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, and temperature, and other surface weather related information near said location.
4. The multi-functional smart pole system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said remote surveillance unit comprises either a wireless camera or an optical sensor or any other kind of surveillance unit thereof and wherein said surveillance data comprises marine vehicles capsizes, river runoff, water level, property damage data, and other floods related data thereof.
5. The multi-functional smart pole system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said processing unit correlates either said detected flood or said detected capsized boat by utilizing geo tagging, real time GIS mapping and thereof.
6. The multi-functional smart pole system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said power management module comprises a battery unit configured to store said electrical energy obtained from said at least one solar panel.
7. The multi-functional smart pole system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plurality of clusters comprises a weather data cluster, air quality data cluster, and a surveillance data cluster.
8. The multi-functional smart pole system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said location comprises either a flood prone area or a river bank or other water logged areas, whereas said control center comprises a weather station or rescue center or any other emergency response authorities thereof.
9. The multi-functional smart pole system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said output module comprises a display configured with either a web application or a mobile application in GUI format or any other formats to display said detected flood data or said detected capsized boat data.
10. A method for early flood detection and to start rescue operations by utilizing a multi-functional smart pole system, comprising:
collecting plurality of weather parameters, surveillance data, pollution data as consolidated data from a remote surveillance unit, a weather sensing unit and a pollution monitoring sensor of a location;
transmitting said consolidated data of said location to a remote storage over a wireless network;
segregating said consolidated data into plurality of clusters by utilizing IoT in a processing module;
processing said segregated data to detect either a flood or a capsized boat and correlating either said detected flood or said detected capsized boat with location in said processing module, and
transmitting said detected flood data or said detected capsized boat data to a control station to notify and display said detected flood data or said detected capsized boat data. , Description:DESCRIPTION:
Field of the invention:
[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the technical field of smart pole, and in specific relates to a multi-functional eco-friendly self-sustained smart flood pole integrated with plurality of sensors and communication network for early detection of floods and boat capsizes and provides alerts to the disaster response authorities.
Background of the invention:
[0002] Natural disasters are major adverse event resulting from natural processes of the Earth. Natural disasters namely hurricanes, floods, tides, earthquake etc., are shows different effects. Floods are the most effecting disasters in the world affecting the economic status of nations in the form of natural resources, lives of peoples, flora and fauna, environment, and other infrastructure. The extent of flood damage depends on the certain measures and steps taken by the responsible authorities during such a critical period.

[0003] Extreme climatic conditions and changing weather, which are associated with global warming, have led to a significant increase in the frequency and severity of floods. Floods are caused by many factors like prolonged heavy rainfall, highly accelerated snowmelt, severe winds over water, unusual high tides, tsunamis, or failure of dams, levees, retention ponds, or other structures that retained the water. Flooding is exacerbated by increased amounts of impervious surface or by other natural hazards such as wildfires, which reduce the supply of vegetation that absorb rainfall.

[0004] Flash floods are the most dangerous kind of floods, because they combine the destructive power of a flood with incredible speed. Flash floods occur when heavy rainfall exceeds the ability of the ground to absorb it. They also occur when water fills dry creeks or streams or enough water accumulates for streams to overtop their banks, causing rapid rise of water in a short amount of time. Flash floods occur within minutes of the causative rainfall, limiting the time available to warn and protect the public.

[0005] In the existing technology, a low-cost, easy-to-maintain and easy-to-operate flood warning system exists. The system provides an ultrasonic transmitter and an ultrasonic receiver that are installed roadside. The problem with the system is that the ultrasonic transmitter and the ultrasonic receiver are submerged in water when the road is flooded. Submerged ultrasonic transmitter causes deterioration and false data transfer. Therefore, there is a problem with maintenance of flood detection systems that use the ultrasonic transmitter and the ultrasonic receiver.

[0006] In updated technology, a flood monitoring system that consists of plurality of microcontrollers and a sensor which are mounted independently is known. The microcontroller used is an IoT device and the sensor used is an ultrasonic sensor which senses the water level. The ultrasonic sensor continuously monitors the level of water. It records the data through ultrasonic sensor and this data is sent to the IoT device from time to time. This data alerts the local authority for further action once the level reaches warning and critical level, which triggers the buzzer and LED. However, this system sends the alert messages to authority and displays it in LCD but this is done only when the water reaches the critical level. It cannot predict the chances of flood in prior.

[0007] Thus, there is a need for multi-functional smart pole with compact arrangement of various weather monitoring sensors for early flood detection and rescue operations. There is a need for early warning system to notify the people near the flood prone area and alert rescue teams. A flood observatory and warning system is needed which save lives of human, environment. The early warning system is needed during natural disasters to give adequate time to evacuate and protect people and their properties.
Objectives of the invention:
[0008] The primary objective of the invention is to provide a multi-functional smart flood pole integrated with plurality of sensors and communication network for early detection of floods and boat capsizes that provides instant alerts to the disaster rescue response authorities.

[0009] Another objective of the invention is to provide a self-sustained and cost-effective smart flood pole by integrating power management device, communication devices and data collection devices in a single pole structure for accurate detection of floods and capsized boats.

[0010] The other objective of the invention is to provide a camera to collect visual information of the either a flood prone area or a river bank or other water logged areas in the real time.

[0011] Yet another objective of the invention is to provide a camera to detect boats or ships or property damage during floods and provides the data to cloud server to the designated station for rescue operations.

[0012] Further objective of the invention is to provide an artificial intelligence camera for geo-tagged live video streaming of water bodies for real-time GIS mapping.

[0013] Another objective of the invention is to provide a flood warning system to evacuate vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women, and other people from the flood prone areas by early detection of floods.

[0014] The other objective of the invention is to alert the rescue teams before the floods occurs to avoid life and economical losses.
Summary of the invention:
[0015] The present disclosure proposes a multi-functional cost-effective smart pole for early flood detection and rescue operations. The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the claimed subject matter. This summary is not an extensive overview. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope of the claimed subject matter. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[0016] In order to overcome the above deficiencies of the prior art, the present disclosure is to solve the technical problem to provide a multi-functional smart flood pole integrated with plurality of sensors and communication network for early detection of floods and capsize boats and provides alerts to the emergency response authorities.

[0017] According to an aspect, the invention provides a multi-functional smart pole assembly. The assembly comprises a pole structure, a processing module, and an output unit. The pole structure houses a data collection unit, a communication module, a power management unit.

[0018] The data collection unit comprises a weather sensing unit, a remote surveillance unit, and a pollution monitoring sensor. The weather sensing unit integrated on top end of the pole structure is configured to collect plurality of weather parameters. The weather parameters comprise amount of rainfall, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, and temperature, and other weather related information near a location.

[0019] The remote surveillance unit is integrated on top end of the pole structure adjacent to the weather sensing unit. The remote surveillance unit is configured to collect surveillance data in the location. The remote surveillance unit comprises either a wireless camera or an optical sensor or any other kind of surveillance unit thereof to collect the surveillance data. The surveillance data comprises marine vehicles capsizes, river runoff, water level, property damage data, and other floods related data thereof.

[0020] The pollution monitoring sensor integrated into the pole structure is configured to collect environmental pollution data. The data is utilized to determine either a particular type or level of environmental pollution. The pollution monitoring sensor comprises either an air pollution sensor or plurality of optical particle counters or any other type of sensors to detect the air quality.

[0021] The communication module is configured to receive the plurality of weather parameters, the surveillance data and the pollution data as consolidated data from the data collection unit. The consolidated data is received over a wireless network. The consolidated data in the communication module is transferred to a remote storage.

[0022] The power management unit comprises at least one solar panel, a controller, and a battery unit. The solar panel is mounted on the pole structure. The solar panel is configured to convert solar energy to electrical energy. The battery unit is configured to store the electrical energy obtained from the solar panel. The controller is integrated into the pole structure, and the controller is configured to manage and distribute required amount of electrical energy to the data collection unit and the communication module from battery unit.

[0023] The processing module is configured to segregate the consolidated data into plurality of clusters by utilizing IoT. The plurality of clusters comprises a weather data cluster, air quality data cluster, and a surveillance data cluster. The processing module is configured to process the segregated data to detect either a flood or a capsized boat. Further, the processing module is configured to correlate the detected flood or capsized boat with location utilizing geo tagging, real time GIS mapping at the flood prone area or a river bank or other water logged areas. Further, the processing module is configured to transmit the detected flood data or detected capsized boat data to a control station.

[0024] The output module positioned at the control station is configured to notify or display the detected flood data or detected capsized boat data. The output module comprises a display configured with either a web application or a mobile application in GUI format or any other formats to display the detected flood data to the control station. The location comprises either a flood prone area or a river bank or other water logged areas. The control center comprises a weather station or a rescue center or any other emergency response authorities thereof.

[0025] According to another aspect, the invention provides a method for early flood detection and rescue operations. At first, the system collects plurality of weather parameters, surveillance data and pollution data as consolidated data from a weather sensing unit, a remote surveillance unit, and pollution monitoring sensor positioned at a location. In the next step, the consolidated data are transmitted to a remote storage over a wireless network from the location.

[0026] Further, the consolidated data is segregated into plurality of clusters by utilizing IoT in a processing module. The processing module processes the segregated data to detect either a flood or a capsized boat and correlates either detected flood or detected capsized boat with location. Finally, the detected flood data or detected capsized boat data with location is transmitted to a control station to notify and display detected flood data or detected capsized boat data.

[0027] Further, objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from a study of the following portion of the specification, the claims, and the attached drawings.
Detailed description of drawings:
[0028] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention, and, together with the description, explain the principles of the invention.

[0029] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary architecture of a multi-functional smart pole system in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0030] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary smart pole structure with various components in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0031] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary load balancing circuit diagram of a multi-functional smart pole system in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0032] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram representing data flow in a multi-functional smart pole system in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0033] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method for early flood detection and rescue operations by utilizing a multi-functional smart pole system in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
Detailed invention disclosure:
[0034] Various embodiments of the present invention will be described in reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, same or similar reference numerals are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts or steps.

[0035] The present disclosure has been made with a view towards solving the problem with the prior art described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-functional smart flood pole integrated with plurality of sensors and communication network for early detection of floods and capsize boats and provides alerts to the emergency response authorities.

[0036] According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, FIG. 1 refers to an exemplary architecture 100 of a multi-functional smart pole system. The architecture 100 comprises a solar panel 102, a controller 104, a battery unit 106, and a remote surveillance unit 108, a pollution monitoring sensor 110, a weather sensing unit 112, a communication module 114, a remote storage 116 and a processing module 118.

[0037] The solar panel 102 is configured to convert solar energy to electrical energy. The battery unit 106 is configured to store the electrical energy obtained from the solar panel 102 through the controller 104. The controller 104 is configured to manage and distribute the required amount of electrical energy to the remote surveillance unit 108, the pollution monitoring sensor 110, and the communication module 114.

[0038] The communication module 114 is configured to receive plurality of weather parameters, surveillance data, and the pollution data from the weather sensing unit 112, remote surveillance unit 108, and the pollution monitoring sensor 110 respectively. The plurality of weather parameters, surveillance data, and the pollution data are received as a consolidated data through a wireless network. The received consolidated data from various components is transmitted to the remote storage 116.

[0039] The remote storage 116 is configured with the processing module 118. The processing module 118 is configured to segregate the consolidated data into a plurality of clusters by utilizing Internet of Things (IoT). The cluster data is configured to store in the remote storage 116. The system utilizes the cluster data to detect floods and capsized boat with location utilizing geo tagging, real time GIS mapping and notifies the emergency response teams to prevent life damage due to floods and aids in taking precautionary measures.

[0040] According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 refers to an exemplary smart pole assembly 200 with various components. The smart pole assembly 200 comprises a pole structure 108, a processing module, and an output unit. The pole structure houses a data collection unit, a communication module, a power management unit.

[0041] The data collection unit comprises a weather sensing unit 202, a remote surveillance unit 204, and a pollution monitoring sensor 210. The weather sensing unit 202 is integrated on the top end of the pole structure 208 and is configured to collect plurality of weather parameters. The weather parameters includes amount of rainfall, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, and temperature, and other surface weather related information near the location.

[0042] The remote surveillance unit 204 is integrated on the top end of the pole structure 208 adjacent to the weather sensing unit 202. The remote surveillance unit 204 is configured to collect surveillance data in the location. The remote surveillance unit 204 comprises either a wireless camera or an optical sensor or any other kind of surveillance unit thereof to collect the surveillance data. The surveillance data comprises marine vehicle capsizes, river runoff, water level, property damage data, and other floods related data thereof. The surveillance data in form of either images or videos. Further, surveillance data is used in Identifying floods, humans in floods or to detect capsized boat at the flood prone area.

[0043] The pollution monitoring sensor 210 integrated into the pole structure 208 configured to collect environmental pollution data. The environmental pollution data is utilized to determine either a particular type or level of environmental pollution. The pollution monitoring sensor 210 comprises either an air pollution sensor or plurality of optical particle counters or any other type of sensors to detect the air quality.

[0044] The communication module 212 is configured to receive the plurality of weather parameters, surveillance data, and pollution data from the weather sensing unit 202, remote surveillance unit 204, and pollution monitoring sensor 210 respectively. This plurality of weather parameters, surveillance data, and pollution data are received as consolidated data from the data collection unit. The consolidated data is received over a wireless network. The consolidated data in the communication module is transferred to a remote storage.

[0045] The power management unit comprises at least one solar panel 206, a controller 214, and a battery unit 216. The solar panel 206 is mounted on the pole structure 108 between the weather sensing unit 202 and the remote surveillance unit 204. The solar panel 206 is mounted facing the sun for sun irradiation to generate electricity. The solar panel 206 is configured to convert solar energy to electrical energy. The battery unit 216 is configured to store the electrical energy obtained from the solar panel 206. The controller 214 is integrated into the pole structure 208, and is configured to manage and distribute the required amount of electrical energy to the data collection unit and the communication module.

[0046] According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, FIG. 3 refers an exemplary load balancing circuit diagram 300 of a multi-functional smart pole system. The power source of about 24V solar panel 302 generates electricity. The generated electricity is stored in a battery unit 304 of voltage about 200V-270V. The controller 306 is configured to distribute the power to the load specified. The pollution monitoring sensor 308 is configured to receive about 5V of power, and about 12V of power is supplied to the remote surveillance unit 310. The communication module 312 is configured to receive about 5V of power.

[0047] Further, the weather sensing unit is a self-sustained sensor, no external power is required. The pollution monitoring sensor 308, the remote surveillance unit 310, the communication module 312, act as the resistors (RI) 25 Ω, 60 Ω and 25 Ω respectively with various currents. The SW, SW2, SW3 and SW4 are the terminal switches that are used to activate the loads. The controller 306 configured with inflow, outflow, and ground terminals connected to the solar panel 302 and the battery unit 304. D1 and D2 are the diodes and LED of the smart pole circuitry.

[0048] According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, FIG. 4 refers to an exemplary flow diagram representing data flow 400 in a multi-functional smart pole system. At first, the consolidated data is collected from a remote surveillance unit 402, a weather sensing unit 404, and a pollution monitoring sensor 406 from a location. The location comprises either a flood prone area or a river bank or other water logged areas. The consolidated data is received through a communication module 408 over a wireless network. The communication module 408 further transmits the consolidated data to a remote storage 410.

[0049] The remote storage 410 comprises a processing module 412 that is configured to segregate the consolidated data into a plurality of clusters by utilizing IoT. The plurality of clusters comprises a weather data cluster 414, an air quality data cluster 416, and a surveillance data cluster 418. The cluster data is stored in the remote storage 410. The processing module 412 is configured to process the segregated data to detect either a flood or a capsized boat at the flood prone area. Further, the processing module 412 is configured to correlate the detected flood or capsized boat with location utilizing geo tagging, real time GIS mapping at the flood prone area or a river bank or other water logged areas.

[0050] The clusters data stored in the remote storage 410 is further transmitted to a control station over a communication network 420. The communication network 420 comprise either a wired or wireless network. The output module is positioned at the control station is configured to notify or display the detected flood data or detected capsized boat data. In specific, the output module comprises a display configured with either a web application 422 or a mobile application 424 in GUI format or any other formats to display the detected flood data or detected capsized boat data to the control station. The control station utilizes web application 422 or mobile application 424 to view geo tagged capsized boat or floods in the real time GIS mapping.

[0051] The control center comprises a weather station or rescue center or any other emergency response authorities thereof. The system detects floods early and notifies the emergency response teams to prevent life damage due to floods and aids in taking precautionary measures.

[0052] According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, FIG. 5 refers to an exemplary method 500 for early flood detection and to start rescue operations. At step 502, the system collects plurality of weather parameters, surveillance data and pollution data as consolidated data from a weather sensing unit, a remote surveillance unit, and the a pollution monitoring sensor positioned on a pole structure at a location. In the next step 504, the consolidated data and pollution data are transmitted to a remote storage over a wireless network from the location.

[0053] Further at step 506, the consolidated data is segregated into plurality of clusters by utilizing IoT in a processing module. The processing module processes the segregated data to detect either a flood or a capsized boat and correlates either detected flood or detected capsized boat with location at step 508. At the last step 510, the detected flood data or detected capsized boat data with location is transmitted to a control station to notify and display detected flood data or detected capsized boat data. Based on the displayed data, the control station deploys rescue teams for rescue operation and evacuation of location and thereby prevents life and property damage due to floods and capsized boats.

[0054] Numerous advantages of the present disclosure may be apparent from the discussion above. In accordance with the present disclosure, a multi-functional smart flood pole integrated with plurality of sensors and communication network for early detection of floods and capsize boats and provides alerts to the emergency response authorities. The system integrates plurality of components into the pole structure, making the multi-functional smart flood pole self-sustained and cost-effective. The proposed system integrated with power management device, communication devices and data collection devices in a single pole structure for accurate detection of floods and capsized boats.

[0055] The camera integrated on the pole structure collects visual information of the either a flood prone area or a river bank or other water logged areas in real time. It helps to detect floods or boats or ships or property damage during floods and provides the data to cloud server to the designated station for rescue operations. The camera integrated on the pole structure utilizes Artificial Intelligence (AI) for geo-tagged live video streaming of water bodies for real-time GIS mapping.

[0056] The multi-functional smart flood pole is utilized as early flood warning system to evacuate vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women, and other people from the flood prone areas by early detection of floods. The smart flood pole alerts the rescue teams before the floods occurs to avoid life and property damage.

[0057] According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the multi-functional smart flood pole may comprise a telescopic pole structure. Based on the flood level from the sea level, the telescopic pole structure can adjust the height to avoid damage to equipment and for accurate detection of floods and capsize boats. Further, the multi-functional smart flood pole may integrate with a seismometer configured to detect and measure earthquakes at flood prone area or a river bank. The system may comprise a 3600 camera to detect the flood or capsized boat. The system may utilize a satellite communication for data transfer between location and control station. The system may utilize a night vision or infrared camera to detect surveillance data during low light conditions.

[0058] It will readily be apparent that numerous modifications and alterations can be made to the processes described in the foregoing examples without departing from the principles underlying the invention, and all such modifications and alterations are intended to be embraced by this application.