Activity Monitoring System for Independent Elderly Living

Some elderly people prefer to live independently and not in group settings, such as nursing homes. As age increases, health risks for independent living increase, including incapacitation. The longer one remains in an incapacitated state before being detected and receiving help, the higher the risk of permanent impairment or death. Systems that monitor activity within a residence may allow an elderly person to live independently, since the system would detect a lack of activity and would make alerts for help to arrive if one were to enter an incapacitated state. The objectives of this project were to develop and test modules of an activity monitoring system for a bathroom, the toiletry restroom of a residence. Prototype modules have been developed based on a Raspberry Pi, sensors for motion, contact switches to determine opening and closing of doors and cabinets, water valve sensors, and a temperature and humidity sensor. LEDs in the prototype serve the role of alerts or actuators, to be developed further. The prototype system did read from each sensor and controlled LEDs that modeled actuators. The received data was stored in Google Spreadsheet with data presented in graphs. The system shows promise but further development and testing are required toward application.