Patent Description:
State of the art systems for mitigating a risk related to a threat usually comprise one or several manual pushing buttons located at various appropriate locations within said structure, and which, upon activation, triggers an alarm indicating to the occupants of said structure to regroup in predefined safe areas, usually outside of the structure.

Unfortunately, such systems do not efficiently protect against threats, such as a terrorist attack, wherein the threat can move within the rooms or spaces of said structure and can endanger the lives of people moving towards said safe areas or waiting at said safe areas for being rescued.

In order to better protect people from such threats, other solutions have been proposed. For instance <CIT> and <CIT> propose to lock some areas in function of a location of an assailant or threat.

However, current solutions are not yet optimal, and improved solutions are needed.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a threat safety system and method capable of managing a threat.

This objective is achieved according to the present invention by a threat safety system and method according to the object of the independent claims. Dependent claims present further advantages of the invention.

The present invention concerns thus a threat safety system - hereafter "TSS" - for managing a threat within a closed structure, e.g. building, comprising several rooms or spaces configured for being occupied by people, the TSS comprising:.

the TSS being characterized in that its controller is configured for automatically tracking a movement of said threat within said structure from presence information received from the one or several threat presence detectors of the TDS and for automatically activating or deactivating at least one, or preferentially each, of said one or several protection devices of said TPS for dynamically guiding said movement within said structure according to a path calculated or determined by an algorithm and configured for mitigating risks for said people, wherein said presence information comprises temporal positions of said people within the closed structure received from the threat detectors, and said path is determined by said algorithm in function of said temporal positions. Preferentially, the controller is further configured for automatically determining at least another path in function of said presence information, e.g. from position information of the threat and/or of said people occupying the building and/or of a rescue team in function of the time, said another path being configured for dynamically guiding said people through said structure toward a safe place and/or said rescue team towards said people and/or towards said threat, wherein said safe place may change in function of the path defined for the threat (i.e. the safe place might be continuously adapted in function of a position of the threat within said structure), so that said another path is notably able to ensure the safety of said people with respect to the threat. In other words, said controller might be configured for automatically providing a guidance to said people inside said structure in function of said presence information. Preferentially, the latter comprises temporal positions of said threat and said people within the structure and said path and/or another path is/are calculated or determined in function of said temporal positions used for instance as inputs to the algorithm. In particular, the TSS might comprise said TPS and TDS, the latter being then part of the TSS, or the TSS might simply be configured for cooperating with existing TPS and TDS.

The present invention also concerns a method for managing a threat within a closed structure comprising several rooms or spaces configured for being occupied by people, the method comprising:.

In particular, said algorithm is configured for receiving as input, from the threat presence detector, threat position information, e.g. threat position in function of the time, and for providing, as output, said path and control commands for activating said one or several protection devices in function of said path in order to guide the movement of said threat within said structure. In particular, the controller might be configured for determining the threat position within said structure and the time at which said threat was at said position from the signal received from the threat presence detector. For instance, the controller may receive said threat presence information from a threat presence detector signal, wherein said signal is sent in real time by said threat presence detector, and wherein the threat position is for instance the position of the threat presence detector within the building that sent said signal, and said time is the time at which the controller received said signal. According to another embodiment, the controller may receive from the threat presence detector a signal comprising a temporal indication and/or threat position information with respect to a surrounding environment of the threat presence detector that enable the controller to determine said position of the threat in function of the time. Of course, the above-mentioned embodiments or examples might be combined, in that a first threat presence detector may send threat presence information to the controller according to one of the above-mentioned embodiments and another threat presence detector may send threat presence information to the controller according to another one of said above-mentioned embodiments.

Preferentially, said algorithm has been trained by machine learning. In particular, the present invention proposes also a method for training the algorithm according to the invention. More precisely, said method is a method for providing, by a data processing system, a trained algorithm for dynamically calculating or determining a path for a threat through a structure (i.e. said closed structure such as a building), the method comprising:.

The algorithm might thus be trained only for the closed structure wherein the TSS has to be implemented, or for various closed structures. If trained for various closed structures, then the trained algorithm is able to determine said path and the control commands for activating or deactivating each of the protection devices of the TPS for a specific closed structure (i.e. a closed structure it was not trained for) as soon as it receives as input said plan of the specific closed structure. From the information comprised in said plan, it will be able, thanks to its training, to automatically determine the path for mitigating risks for the occupants of the closed structure and the control commands which enable to guide the threat through said path and/or the people through said another path.

The resulting algorithm is thus a trained algorithm used by the controller for determining said path for the threat for dynamically guiding ("dynamically" in the sense that said path will be continuously adapted to newly acquired positions of the threat) said threat within the closed structure for mitigating the risks for said people. The determined path corresponds thus to a set of successive positions located within said structure, which, when temporally successively occupied by the threat will mitigate the risks for said people, for instance by moving the threat away from said people. The guidance is realized by activating, in function of said path (or more precisely, in function of the temporal position of the threat), one or several protection devices of the TPS, e.g. by blocking or opening temporarily or continuously access to some rooms or spaces using fire doors or electric doors (i.e. doors whose opening/closing can be controlled remotely by the controller), and/or by switching off some lifts, and/or some lights and/or indicator panels, and/or sounders, etc. The goal is thus to move the threat, e.g. a terrorist, away from said people.

Preferentially, the TPS is or comprises or is configured for cooperating with a fire protection system of a fire safety system. For instance, the TSS according to the invention can be embedded into an existing Fire Safety System (hereafter "FSS"), providing thus the latter with an intelligence for detecting a threat like a terrorist located within a closed structure like a building, and guiding a movement of said threat within said closed structure in order to mitigate the risks for people currently occupying said closed structure. The TSS according to the invention might be defined thus as a smart FSS which is able to actively and dynamically react to a movement or action of a threat within the closed structure. In particular, said reaction of the TSS to a movement or action of a threat might be triggered, or launched, automatically, e.g. by automatically detecting the presence of said threat by means of a threat presence detector of the TDS, or said reaction might be triggered, or launched, manually, e.g. by manually activating a pushing-button of the TDS.

Otherwise said, the TSS according to the invention can be a completely new system, or might be an improvement of an existing FSS, adding to the latter new functionalities for detecting the presence of a threat, determining said path and controlling an activation/deactivation of TPS devices for providing said guidance according to the invention and mitigating the risks for the occupants of said structure. In particular, said one or several protection devices comprise a fire protection door, and/or an elevator fire switch, and/or a visual alarm, and/or an emergency exit lighting, and/or a door control system, and/or a loudspeaker sound diffusion system, and/or a sounder, which might be for instance part of said existing FSS. In particular, the one or several threat presence detectors of the TDS comprise a motion detector, and/or a sound detector, and/or an IR detector, and/or a camera, and/or any other device capable of detecting a threat such as a terrorist attack.

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers designate like objects, and in which:.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged TSS. The numerous innovative teachings of the present application will be described with reference to exemplary non-limiting embodiments.

<FIG> illustrates schematically an FSS <NUM>. A FSS might be defined as a system configured for protecting occupants of a closed structure and said closed structure from a specific threat: the fire. A typical FSS <NUM> comprises a fire control panel - hereafter FCP - <NUM> connected to one or several remote modules - hereafter RM - <NUM> which are remotely located within said closed structure with respect to the FCP <NUM> and preferably connected in series. Each RM <NUM> might be connected to one or several FPD <NUM>. The FCP <NUM> might also be directly connected to one or several FPD <NUM>. The FCP <NUM> is in charge of the activation or deactivation of the FPD <NUM>, e.g. a fire door. This is carried out by controlling activation electrical circuits in charge of supplying power to the different FPDs <NUM>. As explained earlier, such a FSS is not smart enough for protecting against other threats, like a terrorist attack.

For this reason, the present invention proposes a new kind of TSS, illustrated in <FIG>, and which is able to provide additional functionalities for mitigating risks for occupants of a closed structure <NUM> with respect to a threat, like a terrorist attack. In particular, the TSS according to the invention might be embedded or integrated within an existing FSS <NUM> to make the latter smarter, providing thus the latter with said additional functionalities for reacting to a threat different from a fire, like said terrorist attack.

<FIG> is a schematical representation of a closed structure <NUM> comprising an implementation of the TSS according to the invention. Said closed structure is for instance a building. Said schematical representation might be considered as a plan of said closed structure <NUM>, comprising different rooms or spaces of the closed structure <NUM>, for instance a first set of rooms <NUM>-<NUM> located at a first floor, a second set of rooms <NUM>-<NUM> located at a second floor of said closed structure <NUM>, and a third set of rooms <NUM>-<NUM>. Said rooms are connected to each other through different paths schematically represented by the lines <NUM>. The latter connect the different rooms together in a way that defines how people can move from one room to another room, and thus how a person can move or circulate within said closed structure. Said closed structure <NUM> comprises also entrance/exit doors <NUM>, which can encompass emergency exit doors, and which enable people to leave and/or enter the closed structure <NUM>.

A TSS according to the invention is implemented within said closed structure <NUM>. The TSS comprises a controller <NUM> configured for being connected to a TDS and to a TPS.

The TDS comprises one or several threat presence detectors, like a camera <NUM> and/or a motion detector <NUM> and/or a sound detector and/or an IR detector. The threat presence detector is preferentially a device capable of detecting a presence of one or several persons within a predefined detection area and/or a motion of said one or several persons within said predefined area, and/or a sound of a gunfire. Preferentially, the threat presence detector is configured for providing an automatic detection of a presence of a threat. Optionally, at least one threat presence detector might be manually activated. The threat presence detectors according to the invention are located at strategical positions within the closed structure. Preferentially, the predefined detection areas of at least a set of neighboring threat presence detectors overlap with each other or comprise a same boundary so that any motion of said threat within an area being the union of the predefined detection areas of said neighboring threat presence detectors can be continuously (i.e. without interruption during which the position of the threat becomes undetermined) determined in function of the time by the controller <NUM>. Preferentially, such sets of neighboring threat presence detectors are installed along strategical paths within said closed structure <NUM>, for instance along paths going from a first entrance/exit door <NUM> to another entrance/exist door remotely located (i.e. at least located in another room of said closed structure) compared to the first entrance/exit door. This enables the TDS to continuously keep the threat in its field of view (which is defined by said union of the predefined detection areas) during a displacement of the threat along such strategical paths.

Each threat presence detector is configured for sending presence information to the controller <NUM>. Said presence information is sent via a signal, e.g. a detection or alert signal. For instance, one or several threat presence detectors might send an alert signal only upon detection of a threat. Additionally and/or alternatively, one or several threat presence detectors may send a detection signal that requires further processing by the controller <NUM> for determining or detecting whether a threat is present within the predefined detection area of the threat presence detector having sent said detection signal. In other words, the detection of the threat might be performed directly by the threat presence detector and/or by the controller from the presence information (e.g. detection signal) provided by the threat presence detector.

The TPS comprises one or several protection devices, like fire protection doors <NUM>, and/or elevator fire switches, and/or visual alarms, and/or emergency exit lightings, and/or door control systems, and/or loudspeaker sound diffusion systems, and/or closed structure lighting system, and/or a sounder, entrance/exit doors <NUM>, etc. Each of said protection devices can be controlled by the controller <NUM>, e.g. activated or deactivated by the latter, or put in a first state or a second state by the latter. The controller <NUM> can for instance activate or deactivate each of said protection devices, and/or control an action performed by said protection device. For instance, the controller <NUM> can activate a fire protection door <NUM> and/or an elevator fire switch to block access to part of the rooms and/or paths <NUM> of the closed structure. For instance, the controller <NUM> can shut down the light of some paths <NUM> and/or rooms <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> for preventing a motion of persons and/or threat in said rooms or for hiding some persons in said rooms. In particular, the activation or deactivation of the threat protection devices is thus controlled by the controller <NUM> in function of a current position of the threat within the closed structure <NUM> and a path calculated or determined for said threat in order to mitigate risks for the occupants of the closed structure.

A preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention will be described now in connection with <FIG> together with <FIG>.

Let's suppose that a threat is located in one of the rooms of the closed structure <NUM>, for instance in room <NUM>. At step <NUM>, the controller <NUM> receives from a threat presence detector, e.g. from the camera <NUM> and/or a motion detector <NUM> and/or a sound detector installed in said room <NUM>, and/or a push-button, threat presence information about a threat within said closed structure <NUM>, more precisely within the room <NUM>. The threat might be identified or detected by the TSS according to the invention from the threat presence information received from the threat presence detector. For instance, the controller <NUM> might be configured for identifying or detecting one or several objects and/or person behaviors in images acquired by a camera <NUM>, wherein said objects are for instance one or several types of weapons, wherein said behaviors are for instance fighting behaviors, and/or threatening behaviors, and/or running away persons. For instance, the threat presence information received by the controller <NUM> might be the sound of a gunshot acquired by a sound detector, or other sounds typically related to the presence of a threat. For instance, the threat presence information might be the detection of a motion characterizing running people, which might be interpreted by the controller <NUM> as a potential presence of a threat in the vicinity of the threat presence detector. Preferentially, the controller <NUM> is configured for cross-checking the threat presence information received, at the same time or within a predefined period of time, from several threat presence detectors in order to improve the detection of a threat. Preferentially, once a threat has been detected and/or identified, characteristics of the latter (e.g. face shape, and/or clothes, and/or voice, etc.) are stored in a memory of the TSS for enabling tracking said threat within the closed structure <NUM>. For instance, person and/or face recognition techniques might be used by the controller for tracking said threat in threat presence information received from the threat presence detectors.

At step <NUM>, once the threat has been detected and identified from the received threat presence information, the controller <NUM> will automatically track a movement of said threat within said closed structure <NUM> from the continuous reception of threat presence information sent by the threat presence detectors. In other words, the controller <NUM> is configured for continuously determining the position of the threat within the closed structure <NUM> in function of the time. For instance, if at time T0, the threat has been identified or detected in room <NUM>, then the controller <NUM> is able to determine whether said threat is still located in room <NUM> at time T1>T0 or moved to (or is moving towards) another room, e.g. to room <NUM>. Preferentially, the controller <NUM> receives, at the same time, occupant presence information from the threat presence detectors. In other words, it is also able to determine the position of occupants within the closed structure <NUM> in function of the time.

At step <NUM>, the controller <NUM> is configured for automatically activating or deactivating at least one of said one or several devices of the TPS for dynamically guiding the movement of said threat within said closed structure <NUM> according to a path calculated or determined by an algorithm and configured for mitigating risks for said occupants. For this purpose, the controller <NUM> is configured for inputting in said algorithm the position of the threat within said closed structure <NUM> in function of the time, and optionally, the position of said occupants in function of the time. Said algorithm is then configured for outputting a set of future positions for said threat, wherein said future positions define said path that will mitigate the risk for the occupants of the closed structure <NUM> and a set of control commands for activating or deactivating one or several protection devices in function of said path, wherein each activation or deactivation of a protection device by the controller <NUM> is configured for guiding said threat along said path, for instance by blocking or resp. opening an access to a room by activating or resp. deactivating a fire protection door <NUM>. For instance, the controller <NUM> might be able to block an access to a part of the closed structure <NUM> where people found refuge, and then, once said threat moved sufficiently away from said part, it might open said access to let said people move to an exit of the closed structure <NUM>. Said algorithm provides thus intelligence to the TSS in order to mitigate the risks for said the occupants of the closed structure.

Said algorithm might be trained with different scenarios defined for a specific closed structure where the TSS according to the invention will be installed. Alternatively, the algorithm might have been trained for various closed structures, and in such a case, the controller needs to store or have access to a plan of the closed structure where the TSS is installed. Said plan is then used as additional input to the algorithm. Said plan enables to define all possible paths through the closed structure, notably in function of the activation or deactivation of protection devices. The set of scenarios used for training the algorithm define typical reactions (or actions) that the TSS according to the invention shall have in function of successive temporal positions of the threat in order to protect occupants of the closed structure. For instance, some scenarios might aim to enclose the threat in some specific part of the closed structure, other scenarios might aim to keep the greatest distance between the threat and occupants of the closed structure, other scenarios might aim to guide the threat towards the closest exit, etc. The algorithm might in particular use a weight function for determining said control commands, i.e. which protection devices have to be activated or deactivated. For instance, a movement characterizing a threat moving away from a position where occupants of the closed structure are located is assigned a low weight. A movement of a threat moving towards a position where people are located, but where the access to said people is protected from said threat by some protection devices, like a fire protection door that can be activated, is assigned a medium weight. A movement of a threat towards a position where occupants are located and where no protection device could be used for preventing said threat to reach said position is assigned the highest weight. The algorithm is then configured for determining a path that will minimize said weight function by activating some protection devices and/or deactivating some other protection devices.

A more concrete example will be provided now with the help of <FIG>. Let's suppose that the threat located in room <NUM> is leaving the latter via the path 201C directly connecting room <NUM> to room <NUM>. Via the camera system <NUM> and/or motion detector <NUM> installed in room <NUM>, the controller <NUM> receives presence information indicating said motion of the threat towards room <NUM>. At the same time, the controller <NUM> may receive or acquire, for instance from the camera system <NUM> located in room <NUM>, presence information about people located in said room <NUM> indicating that some people are present in said room <NUM>, and presence information from the camera system <NUM> installed in room <NUM>, which indicates for instance that nobody is in room <NUM>. The position in function of the time of the threat and of said people is fed as input to the algorithm according to the invention. The latter is configured for automatically minimizing the risk for the people in room <NUM>. For instance, it can be configured for automatically blocking the access to room <NUM>, and, if not possible, for automatically determining which protection devices, like fire doors, have to be activated or deactivated for maximizing the length of a continuous path conducting from room <NUM> to room <NUM>. In the present case, the algorithm may provide, as output, control commands to the controller <NUM> that are configured for automatically closing fire door 260A and fire door 260B, wherein fire door 260A is located on the path 201A directly connecting room <NUM> to room <NUM> and fire door 260B is installed on path 201B connecting path 201C to room <NUM>. By this way, access to room <NUM> is blocked for the threat. At the same time, fire door <NUM> installed on the path <NUM> directly connecting room <NUM> to room <NUM> is also closed by the controller <NUM> using the control commands outputted by the algorithm, preventing thus an access to the first floor to the threat. Afterwards, for instance if the threat is detected by the camera system <NUM> of room <NUM>, the controller <NUM> may close fire door 260C, so that the only possible motion for the threat is via room <NUM>. At the same time, the controller <NUM> might use other systems, like a loudspeaker system for automatically informing the people of room <NUM> about the position of the threat and/or the closest safe exit <NUM> and/or to guide said people towards the closest safe exit.

According to the present invention, the controller <NUM> comprises thus said algorithm configured for automatically outputting control commands for the protection devices, wherein said control commands are then used by the controller <NUM> for controlling the protection devices so that risks for the occupants of the closed structure be mitigated. The controller <NUM> might be installed in a FCP <NUM> of an existing FSS, controlling for instance the fire protection doors via activation electrical circuits of the FSS <NUM>. In other words, the controller <NUM> is configured for cooperating with existing systems of the closed structure <NUM>, like a FSS <NUM>, a loudspeaker system, a door control system, a light system, etc., in order to mitigate the risks for the occupants of said closed structure.

Claim 1:
Threat Safety System - hereafter "TSS" - for managing a threat within a closed structure (<NUM>) comprising several rooms (<NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>), configured for being occupied by people, the TSS comprising:
- a controller (<NUM>) configured for being connected to:
- a threat detection system - hereafter "TDS" - comprising one or several threat presence detectors for detecting the threat and temporal position of said people within the closed structure;
- a threat protection system - hereafter "TPS" - comprising one or several protection devices configured for mitigating said threat within one or several of said rooms (<NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>);
the TSS being characterized in that its controller (<NUM>) is configured for automatically tracking a movement of said threat within said closed structure (<NUM>) from presence information received from the one or several threat presence detectors of the TDS and for automatically activating or deactivating at least one of said protection devices for dynamically guiding said movement within said closed structure (<NUM>) according to a path determined by an algorithm and configured for mitigating risks for said people, wherein said presence information comprises temporal positions of said people within the closed structure received from the threat detectors, and said path is determined by said algorithm in function of said temporal positions.