Patent ID: 7772965

Claim:
A method for detecting human activity and providing time-stamp measurements but preventing false detections of pets, the method comprising the steps of: during a statistical observation phase: utilizing a monitoring device in proximity with a monitored human object, detecting motion and measuring motion velocity of the human object using a passive infra-red motion detector within the monitoring device for a minimum of P occurrences, where P is greater than 1, and wherein the passive infra-red motion detector only detects human sized thermal profiles, thereby detecting human-only motion; learning the motion speed of the human object by averaging the P measured motion occurrences and calculating a set of object detection thresholds based on this average; storing these object detection thresholds into a memory storage device within the monitoring device; utilizing the monitoring device, detecting subsequent human-only motion occurrences using the passive infra-red motion detector that fall within the above the set of object detection thresholds and capturing the time of day of such occurrence; a processor within the monitoring device performing statistical processing of these subsequent human-only motion occurrences over an initial statistical observation phase to determine counts of motion activity of the human-only object over a unit interval of time, less than or equal to an hour, and for every such interval within a twenty-four hour day; using the statistically processed occurrences from the statistical observation phase to define thresholds of normal activity for each of the unit intervals; during an operational period subsequent to the statistical processing phase: utilizing the monitoring device, detecting subsequent human-only motion occurrences after the initial statistical processing phase, that fall within the object detection thresholds above and counting these occurrences for every unit interval; the processor within the monitoring device performing decision making of normalcy by comparing the counts for each unit interval and comparing those to the levels computed during the statistical observation phase for each unit interval to determine user-defined normal, subnormal or no-activity status for the given interval for the current day and sounding an alert through a speaker of the monitoring device; and the processor within the monitoring device updating statistics by continuing to perform statistical processing of these motion counts for each unit interval to ensure that over time, the normal activity thresholds are statistically appropriate and if necessary updating the normal activity thresholds.