SMART BUOY SYSTEM WITH FUNCTION OF PREVENTING RISKS DUE TO URBAN FLOODING

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0154363, filed Nov. 9, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

NATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT SUPPORTING THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE

• • Project Serial Number: 1315002037
  • Project Number: 00255650
  • Ministry Name: Ministry of Public Administration and Security
  • Research Management (Specialized) Institution: Korean Planning & Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology
  • Research Business: Research and development business relating to public safety, tailored for national demands (2^nd stage) (R&D)
  • Research Topic: Development and demonstration of smart safety monitoring system against urban flooding, using multicell floats for resource recycling
  • Project Performing Institution: Chungho Solution Co., Ltd.
  • Research Period: From 1 Apr. 2023 to 31 Dec. 2023

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a smart buoy system with a function of preventing risks due to urban flooding and, more particularly, to a smart buoy system with a function of preventing risks due to urban flooding, wherein the smart buoy system is provided with floating assemblies installed on fences on both sides of a road or fences on both sides of an underpass so that real-time road condition information including dangerous situations such as flooding or fire of the road may be generated and transmitted to a control server, thereby enabling real-time monitoring of the road and also preventing drowning of evacuees by using the floating assemblies floatable in the case of flooding.

Description of the Related Art

When a large amount of rain falls due to a typhoon, heavy rain, or the like, flooding often occurs on general roads, trails, or underpasses, whereby man-made accidents may also occur.

However, so far, technologies being prepared for personal safety in relation to disasters such as water flooding are mostly systems for monitoring flood areas and for forecasting flooding according to weather information through establishing an urban flood monitoring system. As a matter of fact, a citizen health and safety monitoring system for a corresponding area after flooding occurred has not been established separately.

Accordingly, citizens have to deal with personal safety in a manner in which the citizens themselves make their own decisions through system alarms and prepare for their own safety.

Therefore, from the moment of flooding, due to the lack of safety evacuation manuals or guidelines for preventing man-made accidents, there is a problem in that it is difficult to expect a quick response when a sudden accident occurs.

DOCUMENTS OF RELATED ART

Patent Document

• • Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0324434 (Registration Date: Aug. 13, 2003)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure is devised to solve the above described problem and an objective of the present disclosure is to provide a smart buoy system with a function of preventing risks due to urban flooding, wherein the smart buoy system is provided with floating assemblies installed on fences on both sides of a road so that real-time road condition information including dangerous situations such as flooding or fire of the road may be generated and transmitted to a control server, thereby enabling real-time monitoring of the road and also preventing drowning of evacuees by using the floating assemblies floatable in the case of flooding.

The embodiments of the present disclosure have the following characteristics to solve the above problem.

The embodiment of the present invention has the following characteristics to solve the above problem.

In the present embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a smart buoy system, including: a plurality of base frames installed at positions spaced apart from each other on one side of a road; a floating assembly installed on each base frame so as to be movable up and down and comprising a plurality of buoys floatable on the water, a sensing unit installed on one side of the floating assembly or one side of each base frame and for generating sensed information; and a controller for generating road condition information on the basis of the sensed information received from the sensing unit and transmitting the generated road condition information to a preset external server or an external terminal.

Here, the sensing unit may include at least one among a water level sensor for detecting a water level of the road equipped therewith, a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of a location equipped therewith, a flood sensor for detecting whether the road is flooded or not, and a thermal sensor for detecting heat in a setting area, and the road condition information may include water level information, temperature information, flooding information, and heat detection information about the location equipped with the sensing unit.

In addition, each sensor included in the sensing unit may perform BLE communication with the controller, and each sensor may be connected to the controller through a Bluetooth mesh network and transmits the sensed information to the controller.

In addition, the floating assembly may include: a lifting and lowering main body installed in a horizontal direction between a pair of vertical frames comprised in each base frame so as to be liftable and lowerable; and a plurality of floating bodies connected to each other, installed in the lifting and lowering main body, and configured to float on the water when the road is flooded so as to lift and lower the lifting and lowering main body.

In addition, the lifting and lowering main body may include: a horizontal body provided with an LED unit installed thereon for blinking under a control of the controller, formed in the horizontal direction to have a predetermined accommodation space on a lower side thereof, and configured to accommodate each floating body; and a pair of elevating bodies each having one side thereof connected to a rail groove that is in a vertical direction within each of the vertical frames facing each other, the pair of elevating bodies being connected to each other to be liftable and lowerable along each rail groove and receiving respective opposite end sides of the horizontal body.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided an effect that as floating assemblies each provided with a sensing unit are installed on fences on both sides of a road, real-time road condition information including dangerous situations such as flooding or fire is generated and transmitted to a control server, thereby enabling real-time monitoring of the road.

In addition, there is an effect that drowning of evacuees may be prevented through floating assemblies floatable in a case of flooding.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a smart buoy system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating floating assemblies being installed according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the floating assemblies according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating coupling between the floating assembly and vertical frames.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a process in which the floating assemblies according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure float in a case of flooding.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating floating assemblies being installed according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating a process in which the floating assemblies according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure float in a case of flooding.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited to the exemplary embodiment described herein and may be embodied in many different forms. In order to clearly describe the embodiment of the present disclosure, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in the drawings, and the same reference numerals are used for the same or similar components throughout the specification. In addition, in a case of widely disclosed known technology, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

Throughout the description of the present disclosure, when a part is said to “include” or “comprise” a certain component, it means that it may further include or comprise other components, rather than excluding other components unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a smart buoy system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating floating assemblies being installed according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the floating assemblies according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 3.

In addition, FIG. 5 is a view illustrating coupling between the floating assembly and vertical frames. FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a process in which the floating assemblies according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure float in a case of flooding. FIG. 7 is a view illustrating floating assemblies being installed according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a view illustrating a process in which the floating assemblies according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure float in a case of flooding.

Referring to the drawings, a smart buoy system 1000 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is mainly configured to include the following: a plurality of base frames installed at positions spaced apart from each other on one or both sides of a road or a underpass; a floating assembly 200 installed on each base frame so as to be movable up and down and including a plurality of floating bodies 220 floatable on the water; a sensing unit 300 installed on one side of the floating assembly 200 or one side of each base frame and for generating sensed information; and a controller 400 for generating road condition information on the basis of the sensed information received from the sensing unit 300 and transmitting the generated road condition information to a preset external server S or external terminal T.

Here, the smart buoy system 1000 of the present disclosure may be installed on a road or underpass as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6. Each base frame is configured with a horizontal frame, vertical frames, or the like on one or both sides of the road or underpass and is prepared to provide a fundamental framework of a fence. In each base frame, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, a plurality of vertical frames 100 is arranged at positions spaced apart from each other along both sides or one side of the road.

A floating assembly 200 is installed in a horizontal direction between such vertical frames 100. Such a floating assembly 200 is installed to be movable up and down between the vertical frames 100 so that the floating assembly 200 is provided to be floatable when the road is flooded.

Such a floating assembly 200 is configured to include: a lifting and lowering main body 210 installed in a horizontal direction to be liftable and lowerable between a pair of vertical frames 100 included in each base frame; and a plurality of floating bodies 220 connected to each other, installed in the lifting and lowering main body 210, and configured to float on the water when a road is flooded so as to lift and lower the lifting and lowering main body 210.

Here, the lifting and lowering main body 210 is configured to include: a horizontal body 211 provided with an LED unit 211a installed thereon for blinking under a control of the controller, formed in a horizontal direction to have a predetermined accommodation space formed on a lower side thereof, and configured to accommodate floating bodies 220; and a pair of elevating bodies 212 each having one side thereof connected to a rail groove 110 that is in a vertical direction within each of the vertical frames 100 facing each other, the pair of elevating bodies 212 being connected to each other to be liftable and lowerable along each rail groove 110 and receiving respective opposite end sides of the horizontal body 211.

Here, the horizontal body 211 includes an accommodation unit 211b formed in a cylindrical shape in a horizontal longitudinal direction and having an opening to accommodate the floating bodies on a lower side thereof.

An elevating body 212 is formed with a protruding piece 212a protruding toward and coupled to a vertical frame 100, and as shown in FIG. 5, such a protruding piece 212a is configured to be coupled to a rail groove 110 of a vertical frame 100, so as to be liftable and lowerable.

In this case, the rail groove 110 of the vertical frame 100 may be formed from an upper portion to a lower portion of a predetermined height, so as to set a range in which the floating assembly 200 is liftable and lowerable.

Meanwhile, the sensing unit 300 is provided to be installed on one side of the floating assembly 200 or one side of each base frame to generate sensed information. Such a sensing unit 300 includes: a water level sensor 310 for detecting a water level of a road equipped therewith; a temperature sensor 320 for detecting a temperature of a location equipped therewith; a flood sensor 330 for detecting whether the road is flooded or not; and a thermal sensor 340 for detecting a heat in a setting area.

Each sensor included in the sensing unit 300 performs BLE communication with the controller 400. Each sensor is connected to the controller 400 through a Bluetooth mesh network and transmits the sensed information to the outside. Each sensor is formed to be fixed or detachable at a set position of a vertical frame 100 or a floating assembly 200.

In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, each sensor constituting the sensing unit 300 is connected to a BLE communication unit 410 of the controller 400, and each sensor is connected thereto through a Bluetooth mesh network. Such a Bluetooth mesh network is fundamentally a mesh network for connecting each sensor and the BLE communication unit 410 to each other by using Bluetooth technology.

Each of such sensors operates on a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) basis, and a Bluetooth chip mounted on each sensor has to be formed by applying Bluetooth v4.0 or higher to enable Bluetooth mesh networking.

Accordingly, the controller 400 is provided to generate road condition information on the basis of the sensed information received from the sensing unit 300 and transmit the generated road condition information to a preset external server S or external terminal T. Such a controller 400 is provided to include: a BLE communication unit 410 for performing BLE communication with the above-described sensing unit 300; and a second communication unit 420 for performing LoRa communication, LTE communication, or the like to transmit the generated road condition information to the preset external server S or external terminal T.

In addition, the controller 400 may be configured to allow each of the plurality of sensing units 300 to store identification information given on the basis of information such as a location and a sensing target of each sensing unit 300, thereby deriving location information of each corresponding sensor when sensed information is received from each sensor.

Accordingly, the controller 400 transmits the road condition information along with the location information to the preset external server S or external terminal T. Here, the road condition information includes water level information, temperature information, flooding information, and heat detection information at the location equipped with the sensing unit.

Meanwhile, as a modifiable exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a horizontal body 211 and elevating bodies 212 that accommodate floating bodies 220 may be separately configured with a rotating unit for rotating around a hinge under a control of a controller 400, and when a flood height of a road exceeds a set height based on sensed information from a water level sensor, the floating bodies 220 may be configured to be separated from the horizontal body 211 and elevating bodies 212 by rotating the rotating unit to be from a locked state to an opened state.

Such a rotating unit is formed on a lower side of the horizontal body 211 and a lower side of each elevating body 212, and when a control for an open state by the controller is received after a previous locking state supporting the floating bodies 220 is maintained, each lower side rotates and no longer supports the floating bodies 220, whereby the floating bodies 220 are separated from a floating assembly 200 and float freely on the water.

In this case, the plurality of floating bodies 220 may maintain the state of connection to each other, so as to perform a function of tube having a long longitudinal direction, thereby inducing to rescue a sufferer due to road flooding.

In addition, it may be configured such that in order not to deviate from the floating assembly 200 or vertical frames 100 to the outside of the setting area, particular floating bodies 220 installed thereon, which are positioned on both ends of the plurality of floating bodies 220 connected to each other, are respectively connected to the elevating bodies 212 or the vertical frames 100 through wire means, thereby floating freely within the setting area.

Although the preferred exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure have been described above, the embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited to the specific exemplary embodiment described above. That is, those skilled in the art to which the embodiment of the present disclosure belongs may make a number of changes and modifications to the embodiment of present disclosure without departing from the idea and scope of the appended claims, and all appropriate changes and modifications are to be regarded as equivalents within the scope of the present disclosure.