Distributed sensor network for a home for the aged

This paper introduces an embedded distributed sensor network for a home for the aged which monitors positions of elderly people in a nursing room. The system employs about one hundred ultrasonic sensors and attaches an ultrasonic emitter to a wheel chair which an elderly person uses. The system tracks the emitter´s position continuously and notifies caregivers when the wheel chair enters one of preset regions where accidents are likely to occur. This paper describes the background of the development and system configuration with a preliminary experimental result.