RESTROOM LOCATING SYSTEM FOR STRESS-FREE JOURNEYS

Abstract

A restroom locating system for stress-free journeys, comprises of a touch interactive display panel 201 installed within a bus 101 accessed by driver of the bus 101 to select a stop for restroom 102 break, a web server associated with the microcontroller to determine presence of various restroom 102 in limited proximity to the driver-selected bus stop, an artificial intelligence based imaging unit 103 installed within each of the restrooms 102 integrated with a IR (Infra-red) sensor determines number of people present in each of the restrooms, an odor sensor installed in each stall of the restroom 102 to monitor odor of the stall, and a GPS module integrated with the microcontroller to evaluate real time location of the bus 101.

Specification

Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a restroom locating system for stress-free journeys that is capable of identifying available restrooms along a bus route near bus stops to assist driver of the public transport vehicles like bus in selecting restrooms in accordance to availability for usage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The need for accessible restroom facilities while traveling by bus has become increasingly important as travel durations lengthen and passenger comfort is prioritized. Long-distance journeys often lack convenient stops, leading to discomfort and potential health issues for passengers. With a growing emphasis on enhancing the travel experience, the ability to locate nearby restrooms is essential for improving overall satisfaction during transit. This demand is especially critical for families with children, elderly passengers, and individuals with medical conditions who may require frequent restroom access. Additionally, as more people opt for public transportation, bus operators are recognizing the necessity of accommodating passengers' needs to remain competitive. Efficient restroom locating systems not only enhance passenger convenience but also contribute to safer travel by minimizing the risk of emergencies or delays caused by urgent restroom needs.

[0003] Equipment designed for locating restrooms while traveling on a bus includes GPS systems, mobile applications, touch interactive displays, and onboard communication systems. GPS technology allows for real-time tracking of the bus's location and can identify nearby restrooms based on pre-loaded databases. Mobile applications provide passengers with access to restroom locations along the route, enabling them to plan breaks effectively. Touch interactive displays installed within the bus enable drivers to quickly assess nearby restroom options. However, these systems come with drawbacks. GPS accuracy can be affected by signal loss in certain areas, leading to unreliable information. Mobile applications depend on data connectivity, which may be limited in rural or remote regions, resulting in gaps in available restroom information. Additionally, the integration of onboard communication systems may require ongoing maintenance and updates to ensure the accuracy of restroom locations. Touch interactive displays may also distract drivers if not designed thoughtfully, potentially compromising safety. Furthermore, these solutions may not account for real-time occupancy or availability of restroom facilities, which could lead to frustration for passengers.

[0004] US2017345338A1 discloses a navigation system for a visually impaired person to navigate a public restroom. The navigation system may include a plurality of fixtures, a plurality of installations, wherein each installation is electronically connected to a fixture, and an electronic device, the electronic device configured to receive auditory or tactile signals from each installation and produce a signal indicative of a fixture location. The plurality of fixtures may include a toilet, a urinal, a sink, a soap dispenser, and a hand drying apparatus.

[0005] JP2009002088A discloses solution for smooth use of required washroom facility when a user desires by eliminating a washroom queue. A user detecting means detects the user who uses the washroom facility. An information processor generates utilization situation information of the washroom facility based on information detected by the user detecting means, and supplies the information to a mobile terminal which the user carries. Upon receiving an information supply request including classification information of the predetermined kind of washroom facility from the mobile terminal, the information processor generates the utilization situation information of the predetermined kind of washroom facility and supplies the information to the mobile terminal.

[0006] Conventionally, many systems have been developed for locating washrooms during journeys, however the systems mentioned in the prior arts have limitations pertaining to real time update of availability of washroom usage and estimated waiting time.

[0007] In order to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks, there exists a need in the art to develop a system that requires to be capable of locating restrooms along a bus route in order to inform passengers and driver of the bus to select restroom for usage as per latest availability of usage.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The principal object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to develop a system that is designed to locate availability of restrooms along a bus route in proximity to bus stops.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to develop a system that is capable of enabling driver of the bus to select restroom as per availability for usage in relation to number of people waiting for using the restroom.

[0011] Another object of the present invention is to develop a system that is capable of enabling passenger of the bus to direct the bus driver in case of emergency restroom break requirement for stopping bus to nearby available restroom location.

[0012] Yet another object of the present invention is to develop a system that is capable of monitoring odor of the restrooms and accordingly evaluates availability of the restrooms for usage.

[0013] The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0014] The present invention relates to a restroom locating system for stress-free journeys that is capable of assessing usability of available restrooms along a bus route in order to enable driver and passengers of the bus for bus stop of restroom break.

[0015] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a restroom locating system for stress-free journeys, comprises of a touch interactive display panel installed within a bus and accessed by driver of the bus to select a bus stop at which the bus is to be halted for restroom break, a web server associated with the microcontroller to determine presence of various restroom in limited proximity to the driver-selected bus stop along with location of the restroom from the bus stop, an artificial intelligence based imaging unit installed within each of the restrooms and integrated with a IR (Infra-red) sensor for capturing and processing images of the restrooms, and a processing unit linked with the imaging unit determines number of people present in each of the restrooms and accordingly evaluates occupancy of the restroom.

[0016] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the proposed system further comprises of an odor sensor installed in each stall of the restroom to monitor odor of the stall based on which the processing unit determines availability of the stalls for usage, a timer integrated with the processing unit to monitor duration of occupancy of the stalls, a computing unit accessed by each of passengers to display the route map and relative bus stops in order to enable the passengers to provide input regarding requirement of restroom break only in case of emergency, a GPS (Global Positioning System) module integrated with the microcontroller to evaluate real time location of the bus and accordingly accessed the web server to determine nearby restroom and corresponding number of people and availability that is displayed over the computing unit, and an NER (Named entity recognition) module is integrated with each of the computing and synced with a camera installed with each of the computing unit to identify text written over a bus stop board as scanned by the passenger based on which the processing unit identifies location of the bus and restroom present in proximity to inform the passenger.

[0017] While the invention has been described and shown with particular reference to the preferred embodiment, it will be apparent that variations might be possible that would fall within the scope of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
Figure 1 illustrates an isometric view of a restroom locating system for stress-free journeys;
Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of the proposed system; and
Figure 3 illustrates a flowchart depicting work flow of the proposed system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] The following description includes the preferred best mode of one embodiment of the present invention. It will be clear from this description of the invention that the invention is not limited to these illustrated embodiments but that the invention also includes a variety of modifications and embodiments thereto. Therefore, the present description should be seen as illustrative and not limiting. While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, it should be understood, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but, on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

[0020] In any embodiment described herein, the open-ended terms "comprising," "comprises," and the like (which are synonymous with "including," "having" and "characterized by") may be replaced by the respective partially closed phrases "consisting essentially of," consists essentially of," and the like or the respective closed phrases "consisting of," "consists of, the like.

[0021] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" designate both the singular and the plural, unless expressly stated to designate the singular only.

[0022] The present invention relates to a restroom locating system for stress-free journeys that is capable of evaluating list of available restrooms for usage along a route of a bus, thereby driver of the bus is enabled to select the restroom for halting the bus for restroom break accordingly.

[0023] Referring to Figure 1 and 2, an isometric view of a restroom locating system for stress-free journeys is illustrated, comprises of an auxiliary bus 101 incorporating a touch interactive display panel 201, restrooms 102 interconnected with the system, and an artificial intelligence based imaging unit 103 installed within each of the restrooms, and a computing unit 202 arranged in each seat of the bus 101.

[0024] The proposed invention includes an integrated system, comprising a touch interactive display panel 201 installed within a public transport vehicle like bus 101 such that integrates various components associated with the system. The microcontroller, mentioned herein, is preferably an Arduino microcontroller. The Arduino microcontroller used herein controls the overall functionality of the components linked to it. The Arduino microcontroller is an open-source programming platform.

[0025] The display panel 201 is associated with a database and linked with the microcontroller wirelessly via a communication module. The communication module includes, but not limited to Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) module, Bluetooth module, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) module.

[0026] A driver of the bus 101 is required to access the display panel 201 to select a bus stop at which the bus 101 is to be halted for restroom 102 break. When the driver touches the surface of the touch interactive display panel 201 to enter the input details, then an internal circuitry of the touch interactive display panel 201 senses the touches of the displayed option and synchronically, the internal circuitry converts the physical touch into the form of electric signal. The microcontroller processes the received signal from the display panel 201 in order to process the signal and determine the driver's selection and store the driver's response to the linked database for further associated functions related to the driver's input.

[0027] The selection of the bus 101 driver is saved into the database and the same is being uploaded to a web server associated with the microcontroller. The database is registered with pre-saved information of route map and all the location of the bus stop along the route. The database is also pre-fed with the locations of all the restrooms 102 along the route of the bus 101 and the relative bus stops.

[0028] The microcontroller is integrated with a GPS (Global Positioning System) module for determining real time location of the bus 101. The GPS (Global Positioning System) module works in sync with a magnetometer provides enhanced positioning and orientation information of the bus 101. The GPS module receives signals from multiple satellites in orbit around the Earth. These satellites transmit precise timing and position information of the bus 101. The GPS module receives these signals and uses the time delay between transmission and reception to calculate the distance between the GPS module and each satellite. By triangulating the distances from multiple satellites, the GPS module determines its own position on the Earth's surface. This position is typically given in latitude and longitude coordinates.

[0029] The magnetometer of the GPS module measures the strength and direction of the magnetic field in its vicinity. The magnetometer detects the Earth's magnetic field, which is approximately aligned with the Earth's geographic north-south axis. By utilizing the magnetometer's measurements, the GPS module determine the band heading or orientation relative to magnetic north. The magnetometer provides information about the direction of the Earth's magnetic field, which is compared with the band position information obtained from the GPS module. The outputs of the GPS module and the magnetometer are combined and processed by the processing unit in order to determine the real time location of the bus 101.

[0030] The web server accesses the location of the bus 101 and accordingly sort the list of nearby restrooms. The web server searches availability of the restrooms 102 nearby to the input halt selection of the bus 101 driver. The search of the web server is filtered with a pre-defined limited proximity to the driver-selected bus stop. The search is sorted by the minimum distance of the restroom 102 from the bus stop.

[0031] The restrooms 102 are equipped with stalls as waiting area for enabling people to wait for using washroom in case the restrooms 102 are busy. Each of the restrooms 102 having stalls along the route are installed with an artificial intelligence based imaging unit 103 and are interconnected with the microcontroller via the communication module.

[0032] The imaging units 103 are integrated with an IR (Infra-red) sensor for capturing and processing images of the restrooms 102 such that determines the number of people present in each of the stalls of the restrooms. Each of the imaging units 103 incorporate a processing unit that is encrypted with an artificial intelligence protocol. The artificial intelligence protocol operates by following a set of predefined instructions to process data and perform tasks autonomously. Initially, data is collected and input into the database, which then employs protocol to analyze and interpret the captured images. The processing unit of the imaging units 103 via the artificial intelligence protocol process the captured images and sent the signal to the microcontroller about the number of people at the stalls waiting for using the respective restroom.

[0033] The processing unit of the imaging units 103 are integrated with a timer to monitor duration of occupancy of the stalls. The timer includes a RTC (real time clock) comprises of a controller, oscillator and an embedded quartz crystal resonator. The function of RTC (real time clock) is to keep accurate track of time even when a power supply is turned off or the system is placed in low power mode. As per the determined number of people available at the restrooms 102 of different locations, the microcontroller evaluates occupancy of the restrooms 102 and an estimate time duration at which the stalls are to be available for the passengers. The relative information is displayed to the driver via the display panel 201 to aware the driver for bus stops accordingly.

[0034] Additionally, each of the stalls of the restrooms 102 are equipped with an odor sensor to monitor odor of the stall. The odor sensor works by detecting presence of molecules of any chemical element in contact with the odor sensor's surface. This changes the sensor's resistance which is measured when it is exposed to odors. The resultant resistance helps in determining the level of odor existing in vicinity of the odor sensor and the signal are sent to the microcontroller for further processing. The microcontroller accordingly determines the availability of the stalls for usage.

[0035] The determined locations of the restrooms 102 are displayed over the display panel 201 for enabling the driver to choose one of the restroom 102 at which the bus 101 is to be stopped for restroom 102 break for a pre-set time duration. As per the availability of the restrooms 102 for usage in accordance to the estimated waiting time helps the driver to optimize time by selecting stoppage of the bus 101 accordingly.

[0036] The passengers of the bus 101 are provided with a computing unit 202 which is connected with the microcontroller via the communication module. In case of emergency requirement for using restroom 102 break, the respected passenger is required to access the computing unit 202. The computing unit 202 displays list of available restrooms 102 with respected waiting time along the bus 101 route. The passenger is required to provide input selection of the available restroom 102 for usage.

[0037] A processor is associated with each of the computing unit 202 s to process the passenger's selection and transmit the information to the microcontroller. When the passenger selects one of the restroom 102 in case of emergency, the processor sends the passenger's input regarding the passenger-selected washroom to the microcontroller. The microcontroller displays the user requirement of restroom 102 break over the display panel 201 in order to notify the driver to drive the bus 101 to the selected restroom 102 location accordingly and stop at the passenger-selected washroom.

[0038] In case the passenger is unable to recognize the name of bus stop to select for halt. The passenger is required to access a camera integrated with each of the computing unit 202 to scan the bus stop for identifying text written over a bus stop. The working of the camera is similar to the working of the imaging units 103 to capture images. The text recognition is enabled in the computing unit 202 by means of an NER (Named entity recognition) module. The NER module processes the image on the basis of a pattern of black and white color intensity. After that NER module compares the detected pattern with the pre-stored data of alphabets in order to find out the alphabets/words and send the detected alphabets/words to the processor of the computing unit 202. The computing unit 202 displays the name of the bus stop and accordingly the passenger is enabled to select the restroom 102 as per availability (as illustrated in Figure 3).

[0039] The present invention works best in the following manner, where the proposed invention features the system designed to optimize restroom breaks for the bus 101 by integrating multiple technologies. The touch interactive display panel 201 allows the bus 101 driver to select the bus stop for the restroom 102 break, along the route maps and bus stops. The web server then identifies nearby restrooms 102 relative to the selected stop, followed by displaying options on the display panel 201 for the driver to choose based on proximity and the pre-set time duration. Each restroom 102 features the imaging units 103 with the infrared sensor to monitor occupancy for determining the number of people present. Additionally, odor sensors in each stall assess availability for usage. The passengers access the computing unit 202 is displaying the route map, enabling them to input emergency restroom 102 requests, which are wirelessly transmitted to the microcontroller. The GPS module provides real-time bus 101 location updates, enhancing restroom 102 selection accuracy. The system includes the timer to monitor stall occupancy duration and the Named Entity Recognition module that uses the camera to identify bus stop information, ensuring efficient restroom 102 management and timely stops based on real-time passenger needs.

[0040] Although the field of the invention has been described herein with limited reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternate embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. , Claims:1) A restroom locating system for stress-free journeys, comprising:

i) a touch interactive display panel 201 installed within a public transport vehicle, including bus 101, that is accessed by driver of said bus 101 to select a bus 101 stop at which said bus 101 is to be halted for restroom 102 break, wherein based on driver input, a microcontroller linked with said display panel 201 access an associated database that is pre-saved with route map to be followed by said bus 101 and relative bus stops;
ii) a web server associated with said microcontroller to determine presence of various restroom 102 in limited proximity to said driver-selected bus stop along with location of said restroom 102 from said bus stop, wherein said determined locations are displayed over said display panel 201 to enable said driver to choose one of said restroom 102 at which said bus 101 is to be stopped for restroom 102 break for a pre-set time duration;
iii) an artificial intelligence based imaging unit 103 installed within each of said restrooms 102 and integrated with an IR (Infra-red) sensor for capturing and processing images of said restrooms, wherein based on said captured images, a processing unit linked with said imaging unit 103 determines number of people present in each of said restrooms 102 and accordingly evaluates occupancy of said restroom;
iv) an odor sensor installed in each stall of said restroom 102 to monitor odor of said stall based on which said processing unit determines availability of said stalls for usage, wherein said processing units transmits information regarding said detected number of people and availability to said microcontroller that is further displayed over said display panel 201 to enable said driver to choose said restroom 102 accordingly;
v) a computing unit 202 accessed by each of passengers to display said route map and relative bus stops in order to enable said passengers to provide input regarding requirement of restroom 102 break only in case of emergency, wherein a processor associated with each of said computing unit 202 that transmits said passenger input to wirelessly linked said microcontroller; and
vi) a GPS (Global Positioning System) module integrated with said microcontroller to evaluate real time location of said bus 101 and accordingly accessed said web server to determine nearby restroom 102 and corresponding number of people and availability that is displayed over said computing unit 202, wherein said passenger selects one of said restroom 102 at which said bus 101 is to stopped for restroom 102 break and accordingly said processor sends the passenger's input regarding said passenger-selected washroom to said microcontroller that is displayed over said display panel 201 to notify said driver to drive said bus 101 accordingly and stop at said passenger-selected washroom.

2) The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a timer integrated with said processing unit to monitor duration of occupancy of said stalls based on which said processing unit evaluates appropriate time duration at which said stalls are to be available for said passengers and transmits relative information to said microcontroller that is displayed over said display panel 201 to aware said driver accordingly.

3) The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein an NER (Named entity recognition) module is integrated with each of said computing unit and synced with a camera installed with each of said computing unit 202 to identify text written over a bus stop board, based on which said processing unit identifies location of said bus 101 and restroom 102 present in proximity to inform said user.

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