EP3795219B1 - Fire suppression training system, method for carrying out fire suppression training and use of a locating device - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a fire extinguishing training system for conducting a fire extinguishing exercise on a virtual fire, wherein the fire extinguishing training system comprises a display unit for reproducing the virtual fire, at least one training fire extinguisher and a locating device for determining the position of the at least one training fire extinguisher.

The invention further relates to a method for carrying out a fire extinguishing exercise and the use of a locating device for determining a spatial position and/or an orientation of a training fire extinguisher.

According to occupational safety regulations, a sufficient number of people in a company's workplace must be trained in the use of portable fire extinguishers. However, purely theoretical introductions are generally insufficient for learning proper handling. Especially in stressful situations, such as those that arise during a real fire, the practical procedure for extinguishing a fire must be known to avoid errors. Therefore, practical training with portable fire extinguishers is essential for learning how to use them correctly.

Firefighting training systems already exist in which a controlled fire must be extinguished by a participant using extinguishing agents such as water or _CO2 (carbon dioxide). However, avoiding the use of extinguishing agents is often preferable, especially in firefighting drills with a large number of participants. The entire fire extinguishing drill can take a very long time, as the training fire extinguishers need to be refilled several times and the fire to be extinguished has to be reignited for each participant. Another disadvantage of previously used fire extinguishing training systems is that they can only be used outdoors, as the need to ignite a real fire makes it impossible to conduct them indoors.

While conceptual attempts have been made in the past to design fire extinguishing training systems of the type mentioned above, these never reached a level of product maturity sufficient for effective learning. Consequently, to this day, no sufficiently reliable fire extinguishing training system for conducting fire extinguishing exercises on a virtual fire is available on the market. Another reason for this is that existing fire extinguishing training systems are often too complex and therefore too expensive to replace those used for actual firefighting exercises.

Out of CN 206 946 745 U A virtual fire extinguishing training system is known that allows a user to conduct a virtual fire drill using a virtual reality (VR) headset. For this purpose, the trainee also wears a VR glove containing a tracker for position determination.

The task, therefore, is to create a fire extinguishing training system of the type mentioned above with improved usability characteristics.

According to the invention, this problem is solved by a fire extinguishing training system with the features of claim 1.

In particular, according to the invention, a fire extinguishing training system of the type mentioned above is proposed to solve the above-mentioned problem, which includes a training fire extinguisher and which is further characterized by the fact that
that the fire extinguishing training system has at least one transmitting unit by which at least one type of location signal can be generated, that at least one tracker with at least one sensor for detecting the at least one location signal is arranged on the training fire extinguisher, and that a data transmission line is provided from the at least one tracker to a basic computing unit of the fire extinguishing training system.

This makes it possible to determine the spatial position and/or orientation of the training fire extinguisher, especially its nozzle, with sufficient accuracy in a simple and cost-effective manner. The tracking device can therefore be designed without a camera (cameraless), thus eliminating the need for complex and computationally intensive image processing. Likewise, the tracking device can be designed without gyroscopes or other acceleration sensors, which are known for their lack of precision, particularly during extended training exercises.

Furthermore, it is possible to automatically and computer-aidedly determine the spatial position and/or the orientation of the training fire extinguisher, in particular a fire extinguishing nozzle belonging to the training fire extinguisher, through mathematical calculations without great computational effort.

By using at least one transmitting unit, especially a passive transmitting unit (which does not actively communicate with the trackers but merely passively sends out location signals), it is possible to achieve almost complete tracking. Any number of trackers can be used simultaneously, as the detection of the at least one location signal at the training fire extinguisher is performed by the tracker. In a configuration with multiple trackers, the location signal received by the trackers from the at least one transmitting unit is therefore identical with regard to the type of signal, particularly the frequency. This means that all trackers used by the fire extinguisher training system can use a common, uniform location signal provided by the tracking device.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are described below, which can be combined, alone or in combination with the features of other embodiments, optionally together with the features according to claim 1.

For example, the fire extinguishing training system can have two or more training fire extinguishers, so that group extinguishing exercises can be carried out simultaneously with the several training fire extinguishers, in this case each of the training fire extinguishers has a tracker and the respective tracker is arranged on the extinguishing nozzle of the respective training fire extinguisher.

According to an advantageous further development, the basic processing unit can calculate a spatial position and/or an orientation of the training fire extinguisher, and in particular the extinguishing nozzle of the training fire extinguisher, based on received location signal data.

The basic processing unit can, for example, be partially implemented in the tracker itself. In this case, the tracker can therefore determine its own location.

Alternatively, the basic processing unit can be implemented outside the tracker. In this case, the tracker can only transmit location signal data, which it obtains from the detection of at least one location signal, to the basic processing unit. The basic processing unit can then calculate the position and, if applicable, the orientation of the tracker from the location signal data.

This allows the trackers to be designed as compactly as possible, since at least the majority of the computing processes take place in the basic computing unit.

Alternatively or additionally, the basic processing unit can be configured to check a user's extinguishing behavior based on a room position and/or orientation received from the tracker and/or calculated by the basic processing unit. The basic processing unit can then calculate the distance and/or orientation of the tracker relative to a virtual fire based on the room position and/or orientation and compare it with a predefined, stored, correct extinguishing behavior.

The extinguishing behavior can be verified, for example, by determining the tracker's orientation and/or distance to the virtual fire. By comparing this with the correct extinguishing behavior—specifically, the correct distance and/or orientation of the extinguishing nozzle—the basic processing unit can calculate fire simulation parameters. This allows it to determine the fire behavior of the virtual fire and modify it in real time based on the user's extinguishing actions. This provides the user with direct feedback on whether they have extinguished the fire correctly.

Furthermore, the basic processing unit can be configured to display additional information on the display unit that depends on the extinguishing behavior, such as the angle of the extinguishing nozzle, the user's distance from the fire, the quality of the extinguishing action, or the (virtual) fill level of the training fire extinguisher. This allows the user to learn quickly and reliably how to handle a training fire extinguisher in the event of a fire.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the tracking device can have at least two transmitting units, wherein the transmitting units are spatially spaced apart from each other, in particular at least partially arranged at points located above the at least one tracker. Furthermore, it is preferable if the transmitting units are fixed in position, in particular at a known distance.

It can further be provided that the transmitting units transmit at different frequencies and/or at different speeds and/or at different intensities. The transmitting units can all be passive, so that they do not require a connection to an external computing unit, in particular the basic computing unit, or an external control unit. Instead, each transmitting unit can have a clock generator and/or a control unit, which controls the precise timing of the predefined or predefinable location signal transmission, occurring in periodically repeating patterns. The tracking device can also have more than two transmitting units. Preferably, at least two transmitting units are used for a coverage area of approximately 16 square meters or larger.

One preferred embodiment provides that the location signals emitted by the transmitting stations are invisible Light signals are preferably in the infrared (IR) wavelength range. Accordingly, the trackers used can have light-sensitive receivers, such as photodiodes, designed to receive the light signals from the transmitting stations. A particular advantage of this design is that no complex radio link between the transmitting stations and each tracker is required.

Particularly simple positioning is made possible when the transmitting stations are configured to emit omnidirectional light pulses into the room. These light pulses allow the trackers to be synchronized with the transmitting stations. Another advantage is that the synchronization between tracker and transmitting station can be wireless, meaning it doesn't require a broadband connection.

Furthermore, the transmitting stations can be configured to emit two light beams each, preferably as laser beams, and to swivel/scan these beams in different spatial directions, for example vertically and horizontally, over a specific angular interval, preferably at least 45°. If such a swiveling light beam encounters one of the trackers, the tracker can determine the time of impact, particularly using the synchronization described above. Since each of the transmitting stations swivels two light beams through space, a total of four light beams traveling through space are available. The relative times of impact of these light beams can then be recorded by each of the trackers as location signal data. From this location signal data, which, for example, contains certain If signal propagation times or specific reception times of at least one location signal can be reproduced, then, as already explained, the position and, if necessary, the orientation (i.e., angular information) of the tracker in space can be calculated, for example by the basic processing unit.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the at least one transmitting unit, in particular each transmitting unit, can have at least two types of light sources and/or emit at least two types of electromagnetic waves to generate at least two different location signals. Preferably, the location signals can be emitted at predetermined or predefinable intervals and/or sequentially. This allows for reliable differentiation between the location signals. More preferably, the at least two types of light sources can be LEDs, in particular infrared LEDs, and a laser, preferably two lasers. The at least two types of electromagnetic waves can have different wavelengths and/or intensities for differentiation purposes.

It may be particularly preferred if each transmitting unit has a number of LEDs, in particular infrared LEDs, arranged on a surface and/or additionally two lasers, wherein a first laser is assigned to a horizontal axis and a second laser to a vertical axis and these are traversed in a consistently constant direction at periodically recurring intervals.

The transmitter unit can send its location signals at very rapid intervals. For example, it can periodically repeat the following pattern: In a first step, the infrared LEDs briefly light up, similar to the flash of a camera (omnidirectional light pulse). This signals the Starting point for the first laser. The horizontal laser then scans the room from one side to the other (e.g., 0 to 120 degrees). The infrared LEDs briefly illuminate again as a start signal for the second laser. Now the vertical laser scans the room from top to bottom (e.g., also 0 to 120 degrees).

The tracker's sensors are responsible for receiving signals from the LEDs and lasers and recording the precise moment each signal is received. Since the laser's rotation speed is precisely defined or can be defined, the angle between the sensor and the transmitter can be easily calculated from the time elapsed between the LED flash and the laser signal reception. This allows for rapid and accurate calculation of the tracker's position and/or rotation, accurate to the millimeter.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the tracker can include a tracker processing unit configured to store location signal data, in particular the times of reception of the at least one location signal, and/or to calculate a spatial position and/or orientation of the tracker using the location signal data received by the at least one sensor. The tracker processing unit can thus form part of the basic processing unit.

The tracker can therefore either store the raw data in the form of location signal data or, according to further training, use this data directly as the basis for calculating the tracker's spatial position and/or orientation. In particular, the tracker can be configured to transmit the location signal data and/or its calculated spatial position and/or orientation to the base processing unit via the data transmission line. The base processing unit can then process the received data. Finally, this information is used to calculate the user's deletion behavior. A spatial position can be a two-dimensional or three-dimensional coordinate, or even six coordinates can be recorded (specifically, three angular coordinates and three spatial coordinates).

To enable firefighting drills with multiple participants simultaneously, the firefighting training system can have at least two trackers, preferably at least three or at least four or more trackers, allowing for the simultaneous determination of the different spatial positions and/or orientations of the trackers, particularly in relation to a (possibly virtual) location of the virtual fire. Preferably, each tracker has its own data transmission line to the base processing unit.

According to an advantageous further development, the fire extinguishing training system may include a base station in which the basic processing unit and/or the display unit are located. The base station may, for example, be designed as a docking station with at least one connection point for the display unit, which is detachably or connectable to the base station. If further units/components are provided, a correspondingly increased number of connection points for these units/components may be provided. Preferably, the base station may have wheels to facilitate its transport. This creates a mobile fire extinguishing training system that can be easily transported between different deployment locations and also easily set up and dismantled.

According to a preferred embodiment, the display unit can be configured as a screen. In particular, the display unit can be configured to reproduce a fire at a 1:1 scale. For example, the screen can have a minimum height of 1 meter, preferably 1.5 meters, preferably 2 meters.

Alternatively or additionally, the display unit can be designed as virtual reality glasses. This simplifies the transport of the fire extinguishing training system. In any case, the user can be given a realistic experience of a fire.

To make the virtual fire experience even more realistic for the user, the fire extinguishing training system can include at least one additional component, selected from a heating device, smell generator, loudspeaker, and/or fogging device. This allows all of the user's senses to be stimulated during a fire extinguishing exercise, creating a particularly realistic fire experience. Furthermore, the modular design of the fire extinguishing training system allows individual components to be used as needed.

In order to accurately determine the position of the training fire extinguisher in relation to its orientation to the virtual fire, the invention provides, as mentioned above, that each training fire extinguisher has a tracker, the tracker being arranged on the extinguishing nozzle of the respective training fire extinguisher. It can therefore be provided that at least one training fire extinguisher has a tracker that is arranged on an extinguishing nozzle of the training fire extinguisher.

Such an arrangement makes it possible, in particular, to determine the position and orientation of a virtual extinguishing jet emanating from the extinguishing nozzle using the tracker, especially based on location signal data acquired by the tracker. This allows for a realistic simulation of the extinguishing success, since the basic processing unit can calculate the angle and distance at which the simulated extinguishing jet, emanating from the nozzle of the training fire extinguisher, strikes a simulated fire source (visualized to the user of the training fire extinguisher via the display unit).

The inclusion of a tracker on the extinguishing nozzle, allowing for inferences about the nozzle's current orientation and position in space, represents a significant improvement over fire extinguishing training systems based on trackers that are merely attached to the extinguisher's tank, to a user's wrist, or integrated into a glove. With such designs, it is impossible to definitively determine the direction in which the user is pointing the extinguishing nozzle during a training exercise. For example, the angle at which a user holds the nozzle with their wrist is crucial, meaning that simply determining the user's wrist position does not provide a reliable indication of the (simulated) extinguishing jet's orientation. A realistic assessment of the extinguishing jet's orientation, particularly knowing the angle and distance at which it strikes the (simulated) fire source, is essential for realistic training. In a real fire, the extinguishing jet's orientation is of paramount importance for both the success of the extinguishing operation and the safety of the person performing the exercise.

To enable such a precise determination of the position and spatial orientation of the simulated extinguishing jet emanating from the nozzle, it is preferred if the tracking device used allows the determination of three degrees of freedom of a tracker, i.e., for example, three spatial positions and three spatial angles. In other words, the tracking system can be designed to allow the determination of the extinguishing nozzle of the training fire extinguisher with six degrees of freedom in space (for example, three angular coordinates and three spatial coordinates).

Alternatively or additionally to providing a tracker directly on the extinguishing nozzle, a gyroscope can also be arranged on the extinguishing nozzle and connected to the tracker's processing unit. This allows for the generation of further location data, which is then used by the tracker's processing unit itself or by the base processing unit to calculate the spatial position and/or orientation of the training fire extinguisher in relation to its distance and/or orientation to the virtual fire, particularly by the base processing unit.

According to a preferred embodiment, the at least one data transmission line between the basic processing unit and the at least one tracker can be configured as a cable and/or a wireless connection. Using a wireless data transmission line makes the practical experience of the firefighting exercise even more realistic, as disruptive cable connections are avoided. Therefore, a wireless data transmission line is generally preferable.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the at least one transmitting unit can emit a continuously repeating pattern of, in particular, different types of location signals. Specifically, no data connection between the transmitting unit and the base station is required. Furthermore, no external control of the transmitting unit is provided or necessary. This passive design of the transmitting unit makes setting up the location device particularly simple. The power supply for the at least one transmitting unit can be provided, for example, by battery operation and/or via a power outlet.

According to training guidelines, the fire extinguishing training system may include an emergency call system and/or a fire alarm system, through which a user must first make an emergency call to activate at least one training fire extinguisher. This helps to better convey to trainees that in a real emergency, they must always make an emergency call first before attempting to extinguish a fire themselves.

The invention further relates to a method for conducting a fire extinguishing exercise using a fire extinguishing training system as described and/or claimed herein, wherein a virtual fire is displayed on a display unit and at least one user simulates extinguishing the fire using a training fire extinguisher. This method is characterized in that a tracking signal generated by at least one transmitting unit is detected by a tracker arranged on a nozzle of the training fire extinguisher and stored in the form of tracking signal data, wherein a spatial position and/or orientation of the training fire extinguisher is calculated from the tracking signal data, and that the spatial position and/or orientation of the training fire extinguisher is used to determine the appropriate action. The alignment of the training fire extinguisher allows for a review of a user's extinguishing behavior.

This makes it possible to establish feedback between the user's extinguishing behavior and the virtually displayed, computer-generated fire. The user can therefore experience realistically and/or in real time how their extinguishing behavior affects the further development of the fire and thus better learn how to extinguish fires. For example, it is possible to simulate different fire behaviors, such as incipient fires, different fire stages, or different types of fires. The parameters for ideal extinguishing behavior, such as distance to the fire, orientation of the extinguishing nozzle, and/or choice of extinguishing agent, can be pre-stored in a database, preferably on the base processing unit, and compared with the determined extinguishing behavior.

According to further training, it is possible to determine the extinguishing behavior of each user and use it as a fire simulation parameter for the fire behavior simulated on the display unit. The fire simulation parameters are therefore calculated based on the determined extinguishing behavior compared to the ideal extinguishing behavior. The fire simulation parameter can, for example, be calculated by a basic processing unit and used to create a virtual fire. This can then be used, for example, to intensify or weaken the fire, depending on whether the user extinguishes the fire correctly or not.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, two or more training fire extinguishers can be used simultaneously during fire extinguishing drills. This has the advantage that fire extinguishing drills can also be simulated in which the The exercise involves extinguishing fires that, in practice, can only be extinguished using two fire extinguishers simultaneously.

According to training instructions, activating (by pressing a trigger) at least one training fire extinguisher may start a timer, which deactivates the extinguisher and/or stops the fire drill after a predefined or definable maximum extinguishing time. The extinguishing agent in a typical fire extinguisher usually lasts for about 30 seconds, giving the user a realistic sense of how much time they have to extinguish a fire.

According to another version, it may be necessary for a user to first make an emergency call in order to activate at least one practice fire extinguisher. Otherwise, activation may not be possible.

To quickly determine whether a user's extinguishing behavior is correct, a beneficial advanced training approach allows the virtual fire to be divided into segments, particularly tile segments, with different fire simulation parameters assigned to each segment depending on the type and/or size of the displayed fire. This segmentation can also be performed entirely in software, resulting in a virtual segmentation that is imperceptible to the user. This makes it possible to differentiate whether the user is correctly aiming the extinguishing nozzle at the fire. If the user aims the extinguishing nozzle at a correct segment, such as one displaying a flame root, the system will recognize this and reduce the size of the fire accordingly. If, however, the extinguishing nozzle is directed at a segment that does not represent a fire or only shows flame tips, then no extinguishing effect will be achieved, and the system will not reduce the size of the fire. The segments can therefore be linked to the aforementioned fire simulation parameters in order to modify the fire scenario depending on the extinguishing behavior.

Finally, the invention relates to the use of a tracking device, in particular as already described herein, for determining the spatial position and/or orientation of a training fire extinguisher, in particular for determining the position and/or orientation of a nozzle of the training fire extinguisher, during the execution of a fire extinguishing exercise, wherein the tracking device comprises at least one transmitter unit and a tracker arranged on a nozzle of the training fire extinguisher, wherein the transmitter unit emits two different tracking signals which are detected by corresponding sensors of the tracker, wherein the tracker stores the reception time of the respective tracking signal as tracking signal data and transmits it via a data transmission line from the tracker to a basic processing unit, wherein the basic processing unit determines a spatial position and/or orientation of the training fire extinguisher from the tracking signal data and, depending on a distance and/or orientation of the training fire extinguisher to a virtual fire, determines the extinguishing behavior of a user and calculates a fire simulation parameter that influences the behavior of the virtual fire in real time.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to several exemplary embodiments, but is not limited to these. Further exemplary embodiments result from the combination of the features of individual or several claims among themselves and/or with one or more features of the exemplary embodiments.

Fig. 1

eine vereinfachte schematische Darstellung einer möglichen Ausgestaltungsvariante eines erfindungsgemäßen Feuerlöschübungssystems,

Fig. 2

eine weitere vereinfachte schematische Darstellung einer möglichen Ausgestaltungsvariante eines erfindungsgemäßen Feuerlöschübungssystems und dessen Anordnung in einem Übungsraum.

In den Figuren 1 und 2 ist eine mögliche Ausgestaltung eines Feuerlöschübungssystems in vereinfachter Weise dargestellt, das im Ganzen als 1 bezeichnet ist.It shows:

Fig. 1

a simplified schematic representation of a possible embodiment of a fire extinguishing training system according to the invention,

Fig. 2

a further simplified schematic representation of a possible embodiment of a fire extinguishing training system according to the invention and its arrangement in a training room.

In the Figure 1 and 2 Figure 1 shows a possible design of a fire extinguishing training system in a simplified manner.

Existing fire extinguisher training systems have the disadvantage that locating the training fire extinguisher to determine its distance and/or orientation to a virtual fire was either technically very complex, resulting in excessively high implementation costs, or the location was not accurate enough. A common problem with these systems is that they do not allow users to experience a realistic fire situation, which is essential for learning the correct use of a handheld fire extinguisher.

This is where the invention comes in. The fire extinguishing training system 1 is therefore designed to conduct a fire extinguishing exercise on a virtual fire. A virtual fire is defined as a fire calculated by a computing unit, preferably using fire simulation parameters, which The virtual fire is displayed to a user via a display unit 2. Its behavior essentially corresponds to that of a real fire. For example, if it comes into contact with an extinguishing agent or if a user extinguishes the fire incorrectly, this affects the behavior of the virtual fire.

The fire extinguishing training system 1 includes at least one training fire extinguisher 3, which is similar in design to a conventional hand-held fire extinguisher filled with extinguishing agent. Preferably, the fire extinguishing training system 1 includes two or more training fire extinguishers 3, so that group fire extinguishing exercises with several training fire extinguishers 3 can be carried out simultaneously. In order to locate a training fire extinguisher 3 and to be able to calculate its distance and/or its orientation to the virtual fire using a computer, the fire extinguishing training system 1 includes a locating device 4.

The tracking device 4 indicates during the Fig. 1 and 2 The illustrated embodiment includes at least two transmitting units 5, which are designed to emit, preferably autonomously, two types of location signals 6 into a room, in particular a training room 25 with limited dimensions.

Each training fire extinguisher 3 has at least one tracker 7, which is arranged on a fire nozzle 11 of the training fire extinguisher 3. The tracker 7 thus represents a receiving device for the location signals 6 generated by the transmitting unit 7.

In order to receive the location signals 6, each tracker 7 has several sensors 8. Preferably, each tracker 7 has at least five sensors 8. Each tracker 7 is It is designed to store at least one time of receipt of a location signal 6. For this purpose, the tracker 7 can have a storage unit.

Each tracker 7 is connected to a basic processing unit 10 via a data transmission line 9 in order to send data packets to it. This makes it possible to transmit the timestamps of the detection of a specific location signal 6, stored as location signal data, to the basic processing unit 10.

The basic processing unit 10 is configured to calculate the spatial position and/or orientation of the training fire extinguisher 3, or more precisely, the tracker 7 attached to the extinguishing nozzle 11 of the training fire extinguisher 3, based on the received location signal data. The position of the display unit 2 and/or a virtual spatial position of the virtual fire can be stored in the basic processing unit 10 or can be determined in the same way by a tracker 7 assigned to the position of the virtual fire. In this way, the basic processing unit 10 can calculate a precise distance and/or orientation of the tracker 7 attached to the training fire extinguisher 3 relative to the virtual fire. This makes it possible to determine the user's extinguishing behavior, specifically whether the user is correctly or incorrectly aligning the training fire extinguisher 3 during an extinguishing operation. This allows the user to receive real-time feedback on their extinguishing behavior, particularly by displaying information on the display unit 2 and/or by influencing the behavior of the virtual fire. The parameters for ideal deletion behavior can be predefined in the basic computing unit 10.

In this version, the transmitter units 5 are arranged on the display unit 2 and/or on a base station 15.

However, it is also conceivable that the transmitter units 5 can be placed freely within the room. The radiation cone of at least one transmitter unit 5 and/or the radiation cones of several transmitter units 5 should, however, cover the entire room to be monitored, so that the tracker 7 can be located in room 25.

In order for a tracker 7 to be able to distinguish the location signals 6 from different transmitting units 5, the transmitting units 5 can be set up to use 6 different frequencies and/or interval speeds and/or intensities to send the location signals.

Each transmitting unit 5 has at least two types of light sources. In the illustrated embodiment, the transmitting units 5 each have at least one infrared LED 12, preferably several infrared LEDs 12, and at least one laser 13. The two light sources make it possible to send a specific pattern of location signals 6 to the tracker, which can be recognized by the tracker and assigned to the respective transmitting unit 5.

Preferably, each transmitting unit 5 has at least two lasers 13, wherein a first laser is assigned to a horizontal axis and a second laser to a vertical axis. Each laser 13 scans the space once from one side to the other at defined distances and/or time intervals after its initiation, such that the beams of each laser 13 strike a sensor 8 of the tracker 7 at least once along the scan positions, and the tracker 7 records the time of reception. The two lasers 13 of a transmitting unit 5 can have different wavelengths.

The infrared LEDs 12 serve to indicate the starting point of each laser scan to the tracker 7. Thus, the tracker 7 registers when a laser scan was started and, by detecting the laser beam, can determine the time difference that elapsed until the laser beam was detected. This allows the angle at which the sensor 8 of the tracker 7 is positioned relative to the transmitter 5 to be determined. The detection of the spatial position and/or orientation can therefore be improved by using multiple transmitter 5 units. However, for the invention to be feasible, a single transmitter 5 is sufficient.

The transmitter unit 5 can have its own clock and/or control unit for controlling the timing and/or sequence of the transmission processes for the location signals 6. In particular, the transmission patterns can be permanently stored in the transmitter unit 5.

The tracker 7 can also itself have a tracker processing unit 14. This can store the received location signals 6 as location signal data and send them to the basic processing unit 10 via the data transmission line 9. Preferably, the transmission takes place continuously in order to enable a real-time reaction of the fire extinguishing training system 1 to the user's extinguishing behavior.

The fire extinguishing training system 1 can have several training fire extinguishers 3, each with a tracker 7. Each tracker 7 can have its own identifier, so that the basic processing unit 10 can assign the received data packets and individually calculate the room positions and/or orientations for each tracker 7.

The fire extinguishing training system 1 can include additional components that enable an even more realistic simulation of a fire. In particular, it can include one or more components selected from a heating device 17, an odor generator 18, a loudspeaker 19, and/or a fogging device 20. Individual or all components can be detachably coupled to the base station 15 or permanently attached to it.

The use of a modular base station 15, designed as a docking station, can be particularly advantageous. Additional components and/or the display unit 2 can be detachably connected to the base station 15 in the operating position. After use, the fire extinguishing training system 1 can be disassembled into its individual components for easier transport.

The heating device 17 emits radiant heat, the intensity of which can be regulated by the basic processing unit 10 depending on the size of the virtual fire. This allows for feedback on the user's extinguishing behavior, such that, for example, the heat radiation is reduced if the extinguishing behavior is correct. The odor generator 18 simulates the smell of a fire for the user, making the virtual fire experience even more authentic.

The speaker 19 makes it possible to reproduce fire sounds, further enhancing the experience of the virtual fire.

The fogging device 20 can impair the user's vision and/or generate water vapor to further enhance the fire experience.

A gyro sensor 21 can also be arranged on the extinguishing nozzle 11 of the training fire extinguisher 3, which makes it possible to determine the position of the extinguishing nozzle 11 even more precisely in order to calculate its orientation in relation to the virtual fire even more accurately.

The fire extinguisher training system 1 can include an emergency call device 22 and/or a fire alarm device 23, via which a user must first place an emergency call in order to activate at least one training fire extinguisher 3. This can be done, for example, by dialing the correct emergency number and/or by activating a fire alarm. According to a preferred embodiment, the respective emergency number can be stored in the emergency call device 22, for example, to save a company-specific number.

The training fire extinguisher 3 can have an activation element, such as a trigger, which starts a timer in the training fire extinguisher 3 and/or in the basic processing unit 10, thus activating the training fire extinguisher 3. This activation simulates the virtual discharge of an extinguishing agent. Preferably, the discharge of the extinguishing agent during a firefighting exercise can be displayed on the display unit 2, depending on the orientation of the extinguishing nozzle 11. After a maximum, and in particular adjustable, extinguishing time has elapsed, the fire extinguishing training system 1 deactivates the training fire extinguisher 3 and/or stops the extinguishing exercise. Preferably, the result of the user's extinguishing attempt can then be displayed, in particular via the display unit 2. The maximum extinguishing time can, for example, correspond to the usual maximum extinguishing time of a conventional hand-held fire extinguisher.

The virtual brand can be divided into different segments 24 The system can be subdivided. If a user directs the extinguishing nozzle 11 at the wrong segment to achieve successful extinguishing and/or is standing at an incorrect distance from the virtual fire, the fire extinguishing training system 1 will detect this. The user can be directly shown the incorrect extinguishing behavior, and/or the basic processing unit 10 uses the determination of the room position and/or orientation of the extinguishing nozzle relative to the virtual fire as a fire simulation parameter for the fire behavior of the virtual fire simulated on the display unit 2. Thus, real-time feedback between the user's extinguishing behavior and the calculated fire displayed by the display unit 2 is possible.

The following sequence of events can be used when conducting a fire extinguishing drill simulation: First, a simulation program is loaded by the basic processing unit 10. This program simulates a Stage 1 fire (incipient fire). Before the fire extinguishing drill begins, the user must activate the training fire extinguisher 3 by placing an emergency call via the emergency call device 22 and/or the fire alarm device 23. Before placing the emergency call, the extinguisher is deactivated and has no function. In a second phase of the fire extinguishing drill, a Stage 2 fire, i.e., a higher intensity fire, is simulated. The heat, noise, and/or odor levels can also be increased to place the users in a more stressful situation. For Stage 2 fires, it may be stipulated that only a correctly executed group extinguishing effort can lead to successful extinguishing. Therefore, at least two users may need to simultaneously direct the extinguishing nozzle 11 at the virtual fire and activate the training fire extinguisher 3 at the correct distance and/or orientation to extinguish the fire.

In the third stage, an even larger fire can be simulated, one that is no longer suitable for extinguishing with a handheld fire extinguisher. In this case, the system checks whether a user recognizes this or attempts to extinguish the fire anyway. Any incorrect behavior can then be output as a result by the basic processing unit 10.

The fire extinguishing training system 1 can be further configured to practice the use of different extinguishing agents. For this purpose, 10 different programs for various fire scenarios can be stored in the basic processing unit.

For example, it is possible to simulate fires of different classes A to F, whereby the user must select the correct extinguishing agent in the training fire extinguisher 3 before starting the extinguishing process, and the fire extinguishing training system 1 automatically and computer-aidedly modifies the fire behavior of the virtual fire depending on the selected extinguishing agent and/or the user's extinguishing behavior. Thus, it is possible to train for a large number of different fire situations for real emergencies with just one fire extinguishing training system 1.

For example, if the user attempts to extinguish a grease fire (Class F) with water, this will cause the basic processing unit 10 to reignite the virtual fire. This can be accompanied by increased heat, odor, and/or noise.

Reference symbol list

1

Fire extinguishing training system

2

Display unit

3

Practice fire extinguisher

4

Tracking device

5

Transmitter unit

6

Location signal

7

tracker

8

sensor

9

data transmission line

10

Basic computing unit

11

extinguishing nozzle

12

Infrared LEDs

13

Laser

14

Tracker processing unit

15

Base station

16

Screen

17

Heating device

18

Odor generator

19

Speakers

20

Nebulizing device

21

Gyro sensor

22

Emergency call system

23

Fire alarm system

24

Segments

25

practice room

Claims (15)

1. Fire suppression training system (1) for conducting fire suppression training on a virtual fire, comprising

   - a display unit (2) in the form of a screen or virtual reality glasses for displaying the virtual fire,

   - at least one training fire extinguisher (3) and

   - a locating device (4) for determining the position of the training fire extinguisher (3),

   - wherein the fire suppression training system (1) has at least one transmitting unit (5) by means of which at least one type of locating signal (6) can be generated,

   - wherein at least one tracker (7) having at least one sensor (8) for detecting the at least one locating signal (6) is arranged on the at least one training fire extinguisher (3),

   - wherein the at least one tracker (7) is arranged on an extinguishing nozzle (11) of the at least one training fire extinguisher (3), and

   - wherein a, preferably wireless, data transmission line (9) is set up from the at least one tracker (7) to a base computing unit (10) of the fire suppression training system (1).
2. Fire suppression training system (1) according to claim 1, wherein the fire suppression training system (1) has two or more training fire extinguishers (3) so that group extinguishing exercises can also be carried out simultaneously with the multiple training fire extinguishers (3), and

   - wherein each of the training fire extinguishers (3) has a tracker (7) and the respective tracker (7) is arranged on the extinguishing nozzle (11) of the respective training fire extinguisher (3).
3. Fire suppression training system (1) according to claim 1 or 2,

   - wherein the respective training fire extinguisher (3) is similar in design to a conventional hand-held fire extinguisher filled with extinguishing agent, and/or

   - wherein the base computing unit (10) is designed to display at least one additional piece of information on the display unit (2) depending on the extinguishing behavior, for example

   - an alignment angle of the extinguishing nozzle (11),

   - a distance of the user from the virtual fire,

   - a quality of the extinguishing behavior, or

   - a virtual fill level of the at least one training fire extinguisher (3).
4. Fire suppression training system (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the locating device (4) has at least two, preferably stationary, transmitting units (5), wherein the transmitting units (5) are spatially spaced apart from each other, in particular at points located above the at least one tracker (7), and/or

   - wherein the transmitting units (5) transmit at different frequencies and/or at different speeds and/or at different intensities.
5. Fire suppression training system (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one transmitting unit (5) has at least two types of light sources and/or emits at least two types of electromagnetic waves in order to emit at least two different locating signals (6),

   - preferably wherein the at least two types of light sources are LEDs, in particular infrared LEDs (12), and a laser (13), preferably two lasers (13).
6. Fire suppression training system (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the tracker (7) has a tracker computing unit (14) which is designed to store locating signal data, in particular times of reception of the at least one locating signal (6), and/or to calculate a spatial position of the tracker (7) by means of the locating signal data received by the at least one sensor (8),

   - in particular wherein the tracker (7) is designed to transmit the locating signal data and/or its calculated spatial position to the base computing unit (10) via the data transmission line (9).
7. Fire suppression training system (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the fire suppression training system (1) has at least two trackers (7), wherein simultaneous determination of the different spatial positions and/or orientations of the trackers (7) is possible,

   - preferably wherein each tracker (7) has its own data transmission line (9) to the base computing unit (10).
8. Fire suppression training system (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the fire suppression training system (1) has at least one further component selected from

   - heating device (17),

   - odor generator (18),

   - loudspeaker (19) and/or

   - fogging device (20).
9. Fire suppression training system (1) according to one of the preceding claims,

   - wherein the display unit (2) is designed as a screen (16) with a minimum height of 1 meter,

   - in particular wherein the display unit (2) is designed to reproduce a size for displaying the virtual fire on a scale of 1:1 and/or

   - wherein a gyro sensor (21) is additionally arranged on the extinguishing nozzle (11) and is connected to the tracker processing unit (14).
10. Fire suppression training system (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one transmitting unit (5) emits a continuously repeating pattern of locating signals (6), in particular wherein no data connection to the base station (15) is established and/or no external control of the transmitting unit (5) is provided, and/or

    - wherein the base station (15) is designed as a docking station which has at least one coupling point for the display unit (2), which is detachably connected to the base station (15).
11. Method for carrying out a fire suppression exercise,

    - using a fire suppression exercise system (1) according to one of the preceding claims,

    - wherein a virtual fire is reproduced on the display unit (2) and

    - a user simulates an extinguishing process of the virtual fire with the aid of the at least one training fire extinguisher (3),

    - wherein a tracker (7) arranged on an extinguishing nozzle (11) of the at least one training fire extinguisher (3) detects a locating signal (6) generated by at least one transmitting unit (5) and stores it in the form of locating signal data,

    - wherein a spatial position and/or an orientation of the extinguishing nozzle (11) of the training fire extinguisher (3) is calculated from the locating signal data, and

    - wherein the calculated spatial position and/or the calculated orientation of the extinguishing nozzle (11) is used to check the extinguishing behavior of the user,

    - in particular wherein the extinguishing behavior of the user is determined and used as a fire simulation parameter for the fire behavior simulated on the display unit (2).
12. Method according to claim 11, wherein at least two or more training fire extinguishers (3) are used simultaneously during the fire suppression exercise,

    - preferably wherein, in the case of a simulated fire of level 2, which has a higher intensity than a fire of level 1, namely an incipient fire, only one correctly executed group extinguishing operation leads to successful extinguishing, for which at least two users must simultaneously point the respective extinguishing nozzle (11) at the virtual fire from a correct distance and/or in a correct direction and activate the respective training fire extinguisher (3) in order to extinguish the fire.
13. Method according to claim 11,

    - wherein activation of the at least one training fire extinguisher (3) starts a timer and, after a predefined or definable maximum extinguishing time has elapsed, the training fire extinguisher (3) is deactivated and/or the fire suppression exercise is stopped, in particular wherein the maximum extinguishing time corresponds to a usual maximum extinguishing time of a conventional hand-held fire extinguisher and/or

    - wherein the user must select a respective correct extinguishing agent in the training fire extinguisher (3) before the start of the simulated extinguishing process and the fire suppression training system (1) automatically modifies in a computer-aided manner a fire behavior of the virtual fire depending on the selected extinguishing agent and/or the extinguishing behavior of the user.
14. Method according to one of claims 11 to 14,

    - wherein the virtual fire is divided into segments (24), in particular tile segments, and wherein different fire simulation parameters are stored for the segments (24) depending on the type and/or size of the fire depicted, and/or

    - wherein the base computing unit (10) calculates the angle and distance at which a simulated extinguishing jet emanating from the extinguishing nozzle (11) of the training fire extinguisher (3) strikes a simulated fire source, which is visualized to a user of the training fire extinguisher (3) via the display unit (2).
15. Use of a locating device (4) for determining a spatial position and/or an orientation of an extinguishing nozzle (11) of a training fire extinguisher (3) during the performance of a fire suppression exercise,

    - wherein the locating device (4) has at least one transmitting unit (5) and a tracker (7),

    - wherein the tracker (7) is arranged on an extinguishing nozzle (11) of the training fire extinguisher (3),

    - wherein the transmitting unit (5) emits two different locating signals (5) which are detected by corresponding sensors (8) of the tracker (7),

    - wherein the tracker (7) stores the reception time of the respective locating signal (5) as locating signal data and transmits it via a data transmission line (9) from the tracker (7) to a base computing unit (10),

    - wherein the base computing unit (10) determines a spatial position and/or an orientation of the extinguishing nozzle (11) of the training fire extinguisher (3) from the locating signal data and, depending on a distance and/or an orientation of the training fire extinguisher (3) to a virtual fire, determines therefrom an extinguishing behavior of a user and calculates therefrom a fire simulation parameter which influences the behavior of the virtual fire in real time.