STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND

As a result of a global pandemic, businesses are struggling to provide a safe workplace environment while still being able to function and continue to produce goods and services. In order to provide a safe workplace environment, employers are instituting the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for Social Distancing and Contact Tracing while maintaining wearer confidentiality. Employers need tools and devices that monitor, alert and log wearer social distancing practices, identify separation policy violations, tracking encroachment participants, and monitor and log the wearers in each other's workspace environment.

Early attempts at monitoring social distancing using Bluetooth and other Radio Frequency (RF) based Receiver Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) devices have failed due to the inherently inaccurate nature of this method. As such, accurate and reliable devices are needed to meet these unfulfilled requirements.

This embodiment uses a novel combination of ultrasonic and RF sensors to constantly monitor the workplace for personal Social Distance Monitoring (SDM) separation issues.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In one embodiment, a method is disclosed for monitoring and reporting personnel social distancing practices. A small personnel monitoring and alerting device is provided to each wearer to wear in the workplace. The monitoring and alerting device: 1. Monitors, at preset time intervals, the distance between personnel wearing the device (wearer); 2. Provides an individual alert (visual, buzzer, and/or vibration) to any wearers that are, in a preferred embodiment, within six feet of each other, however other preset distances can be set within a range of less than a meter to over 20 meters; 3. Reports to a second device and/or centralized data center on each SDM separation infringement (encroachment) event; and 4. Incorporates ultrasonic sensors to monitor a complete 360-degree field of view around each wearer.

The monitoring and alerting devices use a combination of ultrasonic and RF sensors to constantly measure wearer separation. The monitoring and alerting devices: 1. Measure accurate short-range distances between wearers of between zero and seven feet with three inches of accuracy; 2. Measure general wearer separations of seven feet to fifty feet with 10 feet accuracy; 3. Automatically form a two-way, ad hoc, self-healing wireless communications mesh network comprising one or more of the actions of: a. Reporting encroachment events by wearers; b. Reporting end of encroachment events by wearers; c. Sending a page-notice to a specific wearer (single-cast), a group of wearers (multi-cast) or all wearers (broadcast) causing a unique pattern of device alert flashing, buzzing and vibration associated with the alert meaning; d. Reporting an immediate-attention alert from a wearer by a unique tap pattern on the device; e. Reporting an immediate-attention alert based on free-fall, shock and tilt detection by the accelerometer in the SDM device associated with a fall by the wearer; f Reporting an automatic rollcall of wearers at a designated location, like an evacuation muster location by acknowledging receipt of a unique muster-site location beacon; and g. Remotely managing device configurations by sending single cast, multicast or broadcast configuration messages to devices including firmware updates.

A cloud-based SDM Monitoring Data Center or second computing device is used to: 1. Log and report each alert message of an SDM encroachment start event and end of encroachment event; 2. Correlate each event with the specific wearers involved; and 3. Provide a connection and reports to the Business Operations Center.

