|
Individuals who
have physical or mental challenges which inhibits their
ability to
carry out activities of daily living may require in home assistance or,
in the worst case, a move to an assisted care facility. Research
efforts on a number of fronts is being done to look for ways to assist
people to live independently longer. In the case of elderly
individuals, falls are one of the biggest causes of injury and,
subsequently, one of the biggest causes of people losing the ability to
live on their own. Monitoring of falls is, therefore, a well populated
research area. Directions being examined include wearable sensors,
sound analysis, vibration analysis, and camera based systems. We think
our method of radar monitoring solves many of the problems of data
gathering that other systems are grappling with. Wearable systems
require the user to remember to put the sensor on. Sound sensing
requires the faller to make noise. Vibrations are hard to sense when
the surface the person is falling on is dense as concrete is. Cameras
require light, and also removal of details to protect the privacy of
the people being monitored.
Monitoring with radars preserves privacy and gives information that is
not available with other systems such as distance and also is useful in
dark or smoky environments. Though the driver for this project is falls
sensing, it can be imagined that this technology may be used for fire
rescue or other searches that are done in conditions where vision based
systems may not work.
We hope that our system will allow testing of new imaging algorithms
and provide a viable monitoring system for extending independent
living. |
Short Range Indoor Radar Monitoring for
Extending
Independent Living
Mizzou.edu
