Abstract:
Vibration sensing wear for soldiers or law enforcement officers include at least one sensing system having vibration sensors, at least one processing unit, and a user interface unit capable of altering the wearer of surface vibration (e.g., ground, walls, floors, ceilings, etc.), object size, and direction.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/749,356 filed Jan. 6, 2013 (6-Jan.-2013). 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    Embodiments of this invention relate to vibration sensing wear for soldiers or law enforcement officers and methods for making and using same. 
         [0004]    Embodiments of this invention relate to vibration sensing wear for soldiers or law enforcement officers, where the wear includes at least one sensing system having vibration sensors, at least one processing unit, and a user interface unit capable of alerting the wearer of air vibrations or surface vibrations (e.g., ground, walls, floors, ceilings, etc.) and vibration properties including frequency, amplitude, duration, direction, and/or other properties. Embodiment of the invention also relate to methods for making and using the wear. In certain embodiments, the sensing systems are associated with boots, knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, or other items of clothing worn by soldiers or law enforcement personnel. Embodiments of this invention also include systems and methods were multiple sensor outputs are used to enhance signal recognition and original directionality. 
         [0005]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0006]    In today&#39;s battlefield better technology may mean victory for a soldier before and after combat. However technology has to be fitted for the soldier. The best gear in the world is useless if it is too heavy for a soldier to carry. The best way to integrate new technology is to combine it with items the soldier cannot go without. Boots are one such necessity and one that may be fitted with a technology system to help protect soldiers. 
         [0007]    Because boots are in contact with the ground, boots may make ideal sensors for detecting ground movement and battlefield combat operations. 
         [0008]    Thus, there is a need in the art for items of wear that incorporate sensing or sensor systems to assist soldiers in assessing battlefield conditions and/or law enforcement personnel in assessing operational conditions. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    Embodiments of the present provide vibration sensing systems for soldiers or law enforcement officers, where the vibration sensing systems may be associated with wear worn by soldiers and law enforcement personnel such as foot wear, knees pads, elbow pads, gloves, other similar wear, or mixtures or combinations thereof. The foot wear, knee pads, elbow pads, and/or gloves include a vibration sensing system of this invention designed to sense vibrations in a surface such as the ground, a wall, a floor, a ceiling, or other surface through which vibrations may be transmitted evidencing movement in the vicinity of the wearer. The sensing systems include at least one vibration sensor, at least one processing unit, and at least one user interface. The sensing systems produce sensor outputs, which are converted by the processing units into human cognizable outputs providing information on movement in the vicinity of the wearer to assist the wearer in assessing battlefield conditions, gathering information on potential approaching danger, and gathering information on asset deployment. The vibration sensors detect vibrations, phonon resonances, stresses, strains, or other waveforms traveling through solid objects such as the ground, walls, ceiling, floors, or other solid objects sensed by the sensors in the wear. The sensors detects these waveforms in the vicinity of the wearer in an active sensing zone or area around the wearer. The detected waveforms are then converted into output signals that are used by the processing units to determine information concerning objects that created the waveforms such as size, number, types, direction, weight, etc. The information is then communicated to the wearer via at least one user interface. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The invention can be better understood with reference to the following detailed description together with the appended illustrative drawings in which like elements are numbered the same: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1A  depicts an embodiment of a generic wear apparatus including a sensing system of this invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 1B  depicts an embodiment of a generic wear apparatus including a sensing system of this invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  depicts an embodiment of a foot wear apparatus including a sensing system of this invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  depicts an embodiment of a generic method for implementing a sensing system of this invention. 
           [0015]      FIGS. 4A-C  depict embodiments of systems of this invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  depicts an embodiment of of an elbow pad apparatus of this invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  depicts an embodiment of a knee pad apparatus of this invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  depicts an embodiment of a glove apparatus of this invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    The system would use piezoelectric sensors embedded on the bottom of the rubber soul. These sensors are sensitive to vibrations and can be used to feel the vibrations of the ground as the soldier walks. Sending the signal from the sensors through a processor to interpret the vibrations can warn the soldier of approaching enemies. 
         [0020]    The overall base of the device is an ordinary combat boot that will be fitted with the necessary electronics that will enable it to detect ground movement. This includes piezoelectric sensors in the soles of the boots. These sensors pick up low vibrations in the ground whenever the soldiers boot comes into contact with the ground. The sensors collect this data and with a short range transmitter located in the back of the boot sends it to an interpreting device. The algorithm in the soldier&#39;s interpretation device will then be able to tell whatever is near to the soldier. The range of the boots reading will depend on the quality of the sensors and how well they hold up. 
         [0021]    Referring now to  FIG. 1A , an embodiment of a wear sensing system of this invention, generally  100 , is shown to include a wear body  102 , such as a glove, an elbow pad, a knee pad, a boot, or other wear or item of clothing that may be placed in contact with the air, the ground, a wall, a ceiling or other surface through which vibrations may travel. The body  102  includes at least one piezoelectric sensor  104 , at least one transmitter  106  and optionally at least one processing unit  108 . The sensors  104 , the transmitters  106  and the optional processing units  108  are connected via communication channels  110 , which may be via wires or wireless channels. The sensors  104  and the transmitters  106  may be of a unitary construction, which may also include the optional processing units  108 . Optionally, the body  102  may include other sensors such as strain gauges, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, pressure sensors, phonon resonance sensors, or the like. The wear sensing system  100  also may include at least one user interface  112 . The user interfaces  112  may be visual, audio, or audio visual. In this figure, the embodiment of the user interface  112  comprises an audio visual interface. In this embodiment, the interfaces  112  include a processing unit  114 , a receiver  116 , a display  118 , an optional speaker  120 , and optional control buttons  122 . The components are connected to the processing unit  114  via wires  124 . In the figure, the body  102  is shown in contact with a surface  126  through which vibrations propagate and are capable of being sensed by the sensor  104 . Of course, it should be recognized that all of the sensors  104  are equally capable of sensing vibrations propagating through the air and therefore, the sensors  104  may be used to detect sonic booms, explosions, and other sonic vibrations of sufficient intensity transmitting through the air. 
         [0022]    Referring now to  FIG. 1B , another embodiment of a wear sensing system of this invention, generally  150 , is shown to include a wear body  152 , such as a glove, a elbow pad, a knee pad, a boot, or other wear or item of clothing that may be placed in contact with the air, ground, a wall, a ceiling or other surface through which vibrations may travel. The body  152  includes piezoelectric sensors  154 , a transmitter  156 , and optionally a processing unit  158 . The sensor  154 , the transmitter  156 , and the optional processing unit  158  are connected via communication channels  160 , which may be via wires or wireless channels. Optionally, the body may include other sensors such as strain gauges, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, pressure sensors, phonon resonance sensors, or the like. The wear system  100  also includes a user interface  162 . The user interface  162  may be visual, audio, or audio visual. In this figure, the embodiment of the user interface  162  comprises an audio visual interface. The interface  162  includes a processing unit  164 , a receiver  166 , a display  168 , an optional speaker  170 , and optional control buttons  172 . The components are connected to the processing unit  164  via wires  174 . In the figure, the body  152  is shown in contact with a surface  176  through which vibrations propagate and are capable of being sensed by the sensor  154 . 
         [0023]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , an embodiment of a boot of this invention, generally  200 , is shown. The boot  200  includes a protective film  202  over the rubber soul of the boot. This can be a thin plastic coating added to the sensors in order to protect them from excessive damage without impeding their operation. The next change is to rubber soul of the boot which will be embedded with the piezoelectric sensors  204  in order to detect ground vibrations. The piezoelectric sensors  204  are controlled by small pressure pads  206  above the rubber soul of the boot. This will ensure that the sensors only record the vibrations on the ground when the soldiers boot actually comes into contact with it. Next, the information from the sensors is gathered by a processing unit or processor  208  in the heel of the boot. The processor is connected to a short range transmitter  210  located on the rear “Tug”  212  of the boot. 
         [0024]    The transmitter  210  sends the data to a predetermined phone or communication device or user interface unique to each individual soldier. The device will take the data and run it through a program that will interpret the vibration data collected by the piezoelectric sensors  204 . This program will then alert the soldier to any dangers as prewritten in the program of the interpretation algorithm. 
         [0025]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the process, generally  300 , that the apparatus will undertake in order to identify potential threats to soldiers. The process begins when vibrations travel through the air or a surface such as the ground in contact with a wear system of this invention in a vibration step  302 . When this occurs, the vibrations will be picked up by the piezoelectric sensors in the sole of the boot in a sensing step  304 . The sensors gather the data and record the data in a data acquisition step  306 , where it can then be put to use. 
         [0026]    The data is sent to the short range transmitter located on the back of the soldiers boot in a send step  308 . The transmitter will then send the recorded data to a receiver in a cell phone or other data computing device in a transmit step  310 . The data that has been received will then be interpreted by the device. In interpreting the data, the computing device will calculate the size of the object that created the vibrations and give an estimate of the location and direction of the object generating the vibrations in an interpretation step  312 . 
         [0027]    Next is the only decision the program needs to make, whether the vibrations picked up by the device demand the attention of the soldier by determining how large the object is in a calculate step  314 . The data is then analyzed in a decision step  316 . If the answer is “yes” then the device will warn the soldier of the large vibrations and then display their estimated location, where it will then continue to record and interpret data from the sensors in a warn step  318 . If the answer is “no”, the device will simply store the data in a store step  320 . The two branches then direct back to the interpretation step  312  continuing to interpret incoming data. 
         [0028]    Referring now to  FIG. 4A , a system of the present invention, generally  400 , including a user interface  402  associated with a single user and in two way communication with an item of clothing  404  including a sensor system of this invention worn by a single person. Referring now to  FIG. 4B , another system of the present invention, generally  400 , including a user interface  402  associated with a single user and in two way communication with four items of clothing  404  including a sensor system of this invention worn by a single person. Referring now to  FIG. 4C , another system of the present invention, generally  400 , including a user interface  402  associated with and in two way communication with six items of clothing  404  including a sensor system of this invention worn by six different persons. The systems of  FIGS. 4B&amp;C , include data from multiple sensors which improve data acquisition for determining the nature of the vibration and direction from which the vibration originated. 
         [0029]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 , an embodiment of a boot of this invention, generally  500 , is shown. The knee pad  500  includes a protective film  502  covering a piezoelectric sensor  504  in order to detect vibrations. The piezoelectric sensor  504  is connected to a processing unit  506  via a wire  508  in side part  510  of the pad  500 . The processor  506  is connected to or includes a short range transmitter  512 . The piezoelectric sensor  504  and the cover  502  fit into a knee protective layer  514 . 
         [0030]    The transmitter  512  sends the data to a predetermined phone or communication device or user interface unique to each individual soldier or to a command center. The phone, device or command center analyzes the data using appropriate software programs interpreting the vibration data collected by the piezoelectric sensors  204  to determine type, distance and direction of the vibration. This program will then alert the soldier or command center to any dangers. 
         [0031]    Referring now to  FIG. 6 , an embodiment of an elbow pad of this invention, generally  600 , is shown. The pad  200  includes a protective film  602  covering a piezoelectric sensor  604  in order to detect vibrations. The piezoelectric sensor  604  is connected to a processing unit  606  via a wire  608  in side part  610  of the pad  600 . The processor  606  is connected to or includes a short range transmitter  612 . The piezoelectric sensor  604  and the cover  602  fit into an elbow protective layer  614 . 
         [0032]    Referring now to  FIG. 7 , an embodiment of a glove of this invention, generally  700 , is shown. The glove  700  includes a protective film  702  covering a piezoelectric sensor  704  in order to detect vibrations. The piezoelectric sensor  704  is connected to a processing unit  706  via a wire  708  in top part  710  of the pad  700 . The processor  706  is connected to via a wire  708  or includes a short range transmitter  712 . The piezoelectric sensor  704  and the cover  702  fit into an elbow protective layer  714 . 
         [0033]    All references cited herein are incorporated by reference. Although the invention has been disclosed with reference to its preferred embodiments, from reading this description those of skill in the art may appreciate changes and modification that may be made which do not depart from the scope and spirit of the invention as described above and claimed hereafter.