Implementation of Disaster Evacuation Guidance System using Beacon Technology for Elderly Care Facilities

Abstract

This study aims to design a system that, in case of a disaster at an elderly care facility, provides the optimum evacuation paths via user devices using their location information. A system for situation control and safe evacuation was developed with the following components: an information collection system developed using BLE beacon technology to detect disasters and collect location information; a control system that uses a situation monitoring program incorporated with real-time positioning technology and an evacuation guidance program with the application of A* algorithm; and a terminal system composed of an app for providing evacuation paths to terminal devices. This study was conducted on a method of generating and providing the optimum evacuation paths, based on the disaster location and the user-inputted location information obtained via IoT technology, with the aim of minimizing casualties and fatalities in the event of a disaster at a 24-hour resident facility occupied by seniors with mental and/or physical impairments. For this purpose, evacuation guidance systems at elderly care facilities were analyzed, an experiment was conducted using disaster detection sensors and beacon technology for determining user locations, and diverse algorithms for determining the best evacuation paths were compared to identify and apply the most appropriate algorithm. Afterwards, a simulation was conducted, and the results showed that it was possible to locate the disaster or fire occurring at an elderly care and determine the status of users inside the facility. Also, it was found that the evacuation guidance program could analyze the optimum evacuation paths for users from their current locations and provide such information via the terminal devices in possession of individual users. The system can provide disaster information and evacuation paths as well as the locations of evacuees with mobility difficulties to enable swift rescue operations, thereby minimizing casualties and fatalities.