Safety system for preventing mass shootings by Smart guns

Abstract

A smart gun communicating over a communication network. Wherein, the smart gun includes a triggering mechanism in order to lock/unlock the trigger for preventing/allow the gun to fire bullets, wherein the triggering mechanism is based on the information received from the GPS or the camera installed in the smart gun. Further, the safety system sends a message and/or GPS location of the smart gun over the communication network to the one or more concern authorities (i.e. law enforcement agency and/or the authorized user) in case the safety system detects any tamper to the safety gun.

Claims

1. A smart gun with a triggering mechanism, wherein said gun comprising: an inbuilt global positioning system (GPS), for identifying the location of the smart gun and transmit the identified location to a microprocessor; a camera for capturing an aimed target and send the details of the aimed target to the microprocessor; a triggering mechanism for lock and unlock the trigger of the smart gun; wherein the triggering mechanism lock and/or unlock the trigger based on the information received from the microprocessor.

2. The smart gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein the GPS used to obtain an accurate location of the gun to determine whether the gun is available in a prohibited/non-prohibited location.

3. The smart gun as claimed in claim 1, further comprises a memory, wherein the memory stores information of one or more of the prohibited locations.

4. The smart gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein the camera identifies if the gun is aimed at an armed human based on which the system activates the triggering mechanism in order to lock the trigger and prevent to fire a bullet from the smart gun.

5. The smart gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein the entire system is secured under a not-bolt system connected to complete an electrical circuit.

6. The smart gun as claimed in claim 5, wherein in case of a breakage of said circuit, the safety system initiates an alarm message and send to one or more concern authorities.

7. The smart gun as claimed in claim 1, further comprises one or more sensors, wherein said one or more sensors are configured to identify one or more targets.

8. The smart gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein the camera comprises a memory for storing the details of the one or more prohibited locations.

9. The smart gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein the camera is enabled by an artificial intelligent image processing algorithm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments of systems, method.sub.s, and other aspects of the disclosure. Any person having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. It may be that in some examples, one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. In some examples, an element shown as an internal component of one element may be implemented as an external component in another, and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale.

[0027] The following figure depicts a certain illustrative embodiment of the invention. This depicted embodiment is to be understood as illustrative of the invention and not as limiting in any way.

[0028] Referring particularly to the drawing for the purpose of illustration only and not limitation, there is illustrated:

[0029] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a smart gun incorporating a GPS, a trigger lock, the camera, and a microprocessor according to the present invention;

[0030] FIG. 2 shows an arrangement of the components in the smart gun;

[0031] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary sequence of operations of the smart gun; and

[0032] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary scenario of the circuit broke according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0033] The present disclosure is best understood with reference to the detailed figures and description set forth herein. Various embodiments are discussed below with reference to the figures. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed descriptions given herein with respect to the figures are simply for explanatory purposes as the methods and systems may extend beyond the described embodiments. For example, the teachings presented and the needs of a particular application may yield multiple alternate and suitable approaches to implement the functionality of any detail described herein. Therefore, any approach may extend beyond the particular implementation choices in the following embodiments described and shown.

[0034] References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “at least one embodiment,” “one example,” “an example,” “for example,” and so on, indicate that the embodiment(s) or example(s) so described may include a particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element, or limitation, but that not every embodiment or example necessarily includes that particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element or limitation. Furthermore, repeated use of the phrase “in an embodiment” does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.

[0035] It is noted that various connections are set forth between elements in the following description and in the drawings (the contents of which are included in this disclosure by way of reference). It is noted that these connections in general and, unless specified otherwise, may be direct or indirect and that this specification is not intended to be limiting in this respect. In this respect, a coupling between entities may refer to either a direct or an indirect connection.

[0036] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a smart gun incorporating GPS 10, Microprocessor 11, a motor 13, trigger lock 14, Pinhole camera as according to the present invention.

[0037] Referring now in more detail to the drawings of FIG. 1 describes a perspective view of a smart gun, wherein the smart gun includes a global positioning system (GPS) 10 according to the present invention, wherein the GPS is connected to the microprocessor 11. The GPS 10 is used to detect an accurate location of the smart gun and send the signal to the microprocessor 11. Further, the Pinhole camera 12 below the gun barrel sees exactly where the smart gun aims to shot the bullet or about the target and send the information about the aimed target to the microprocessor 11, wherein the target can be an armed/unarmed human, any animal. Based on the received information from the GPS and the camera, the Microprocessor 11 i.e the brain of the gun loaded with artificially intelligent image processing software, decide to block/unblock the trigger in order to prevent mass shooting or allow/prevent the smart gun to fire bullet.

[0038] For Example, Any moment of time, the microprocessor 11 receives the gun location details from GPS 10 as public places like schools or cinema, or any other public area, the microprocessor 11 send a signal to the locking mechanism of the smart gun in order to lock the trigger of the smart gun. The next layer of security mechanism comes through camera 12, wherein the camera sends the information of the aimed target by the smart gun to the microprocessor 11, wherein the camera includes an artificial intelligent image processing algorithm in order to check images authorized to be shot. Based on the received information by the GPS and the camera the microprocessor sends signals to the locking mechanism of the smart gun in order to lock/unlock the trigger of the smart gun.

[0039] As such, the mounted cameras may be embedded with motion sensors, thermal sensors, and voice detection sensors or alike. The sensor may be adapted to sense acoustic/sonic/barometric pressure (and changes therein) (e.g., acoustic pressure detected from a ultrasonic piezo sensor or Piezo crystal coated metal), at least one InfraRed (IR) sensor to sense muzzle flash and/or body heat (e.g., changes relative to a background, differentiation of IR signals, etc.), and a Nitrogen sensor to sense nitrogen found in the nitro celluloid used in single-stage accelerants and nitroglycerin found in dual-stage accelerants).

[0040] In an exemplary embodiment, the camera may include an acoustic sensor that may comprise MEMS microphones, which have an omnidirectional pickup responsive equally to sounds coming from any direction. In other aspects, the acoustic sensor(s) comprise multiple microphones disposed in an array to form a directional response, or a beam pattern.

[0041] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a motor 13, wherein the motor is installed in the gun and helps the trigger lock 14, to lock and unlock the trigger, based on the information received from the microprocessor. The microprocessor 11 receives information from GPS 10 about the prohibited places for shootings like school or cinema, wherein the information of one or more prohibited places is stored in a memory. In case of the location of the smart gun is received via GPS by the controller, wherein the received information of the smart gun is the non-prohibited location like streets or forests, in the response, the trigger mechanism will not take any action and keep the trigger in the same unlock position. According to an embodiment of the present invention, In case when the smart gun aims a target to shoot, the safety system activates the pinhole camera 12 which informs microprocessor 11 to match the database of the images under prohibited locations. For instance, a human with raised hands or congregation of human beings has been put under the restricted target to shoot and such target being seen by camera 12 will help microprocessor 11 to instruct triggering mechanism to lock the trigger through the help of trigger lock 14.

[0042] According to an embodiment of the present invention, where the mounting board of the pin-hole camera 12 has been fixed, wherein the Camera 12 processes the image in order to determine the threat to instruct the gun through the AI image processing weather to shoot or not. If need be, as per the smart gun sophistication requirements plurality of cameras can be mounted on the board like a thermal camera or so.

[0043] In an embodiment, the thermal camera installed on the gun, may determine the plurality of people present in the vicinity of the gun holder. Hence, the system may recognize the crowd based place easily and furthermore may act according to the direction of the face of the crowd. In an alternate, the camera may also recognize the expressions of the person in front of the camera of the gun, based on which the microprocessor may determine that the person in front of the target is an innocent or a criminal person.

[0044] The processor can execute instructions within the device, including instructions stored in the memory. The processor may be implemented as a chipset of chips that include separate and multiple analog and digital processors.

[0045] Processor may communicate with a user through control interface and display interface coupled to a display. The display may be, for example, a TFT LCD (Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, or other appropriate display technology. The display interface may comprise appropriate circuitry for driving the display to present graphical and other information to a user. The control interface may receive commands from a user and convert them for submission to the processor. In addition, an external interface may be provided in communication with processor, so as to enable near area communication of device with other devices. External interface may provide, for example, for wired communication in some implementations, or for wireless communication in other implementations, and multiple interfaces may also be used.

[0046] The memory stores information within the computing device. The memory can be implemented as one or more of a computer-readable medium or media, a volatile memory unit or units, or a non-volatile memory unit or units. Expansion memory may also be provided and connected to device through expansion interface, which may include, for example, a SIMM (Single In Line Memory Module) card interface. Such expansion memory may provide extra storage space for device, or may also store applications or other information for device. Specifically, expansion memory may include instructions to carry out or supplement the processes described above, and may include secure information also. Thus, for example, expansion memory may be provide as a security module for device, and may be programmed with instructions that permit secure use of device. In addition, secure applications may be provided via the SIMM cards, along with additional information, such as placing identifying information on the SIMM card in a non-hackable manner.

[0047] The memory may include, for example, flash memory and/or Non-Volatile RAM memory, as discussed below. In one implementation, a computer program product is tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer program product contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory, expansion memory, or memory on processor.

[0048] The gun may communicate wirelessly through communication interface, which may include digital signal processing circuitry where necessary. Communication interface may provide for communications under various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, or MMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others. Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequency transceiver. In addition, short-range communication may occur, such as using a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or other such transceiver (not shown). In addition, GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver module may provide additional navigation- and location-related wireless data to device, which may be used as appropriate by applications running on gun.

[0049] FIG. 2 shows the perspective view of the present invention, wherein a GSM 15 along with antenna 16 is meant to communicate with one or more concern authorities. The charging port 17, battery 18 and back-up battery 19 arranged in series to power motor 13 and other systems used according to the present invention.

[0050] wherein all of the Battery 18, Back-up battery 19, Antenna 16, GSM 15 are install inside the grip handle of the smart gun. Further, a camera installed on the front side of the gun. Furthermore, the charging port 17 is available at the bottom of the grip handle in order to charge the battery 18.

[0051] Referring to the description of the FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein the safety system of the smart gun is used to enable and disable the triggering mechanism of the present invention, wherein the safety system comprising a transmitter and/or receiver (not shown) and an antenna 16.

[0052] The safety device is built-into a smart gun and includes a transmitter and/or receiver adapted to exchange and process wireless command signals with the transmitter and/or receiver of the one or more concern authorities. The safety device further includes an actuating circuit controlled by the transmitter and/or receiver of the safety device 4. The actuating circuit is adapted to actuate a locking mechanism that is adapted to lock and unlock the trigger of the gun in order to, respectively, disable or enable the smart gun.

[0053] Accordingly, when the smart gun equipped with the safety device is located within the prohibited location, wherein the one or more prohibited locations are stored in the memory of the safety device, the transmitter and/or receiver of the safety device exchange the wireless command signal which causes the transmitter and/or receiver of the safety device to prompt an actuating circuit to actuate the locking mechanism and cause the locking mechanism to assume a locking mode in which the trigger a is locked and the smart gun is prevented from firing the bullets.

[0054] In a further embodiment, the system enables one or more users to get a notification for reloading the bullets. Upon receiving such a notification that the gun is loaded with less number of bullets or no bullets, then at such instance the user may load the gun with the bullets.

[0055] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary sequence of operations of the smart gun, wherein the GPS is used to check whether the smart gun is available in the prohibited/Non prohibited location based on the save prohibited locations saved in the memory, if the smart gun is available in the non prohibited area, the system keeps the gun in the unlocked position or the triggering mechanism receives the instruction from the processor to unlock the gun, else the system check, via a camera installed in the smart gun, weather the gun aimed at un-armed/armed human based on the information received from the camera. If the gun is pointed towards an armed human or/and any animal, the safety system unlocks the safety gun and allows to fire a bullet from the safety gun else the safety system locks the gun. Furthermore, In case when the gun pointed to the crowd, the safety system checks whether the crowd is moving behind from the smart gun or coming towards the smart gun, in case the crowd is coming towards the smart gun, the safety system unlock the trigger and allow the gun to fire bullet else the safety system lock the trigger and prevent the gun to fire the bullet.

[0056] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary scenario of the circuit broke according to the present invention, wherein in a case when the safety system detects any tampering to the safety gun, the system automatically activates the GSM and the GPS system in order to send accurate location information of the smart gun to one or more concern authority via a communication network.

[0057] Further, the entire safety system is secured under a not-bolt system connected to an electrical circuit, in a case, a breakage of said circuit initiates the safety system to sends an alarm message to one or more concern authorities.

[0058] According to another embodiment of the invention, the system of the present invention prevents the use or misuse of a smart gun equipped within one or more prohibited locations e.g. police station premises, school premises, etc.

[0059] Various embodiments of the invention have been disclosed. However, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications in addition to those described, are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The embodiments, therefore, are not restrictive, except in the spirit of the disclosure. Moreover, in interpreting the disclosure, all terms should be understood in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps, in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.

[0060] The disclosed methods and systems, as illustrated in the ongoing description or any of its components, may be embodied in the form of a computer system. Typical examples of a computer system include a general-purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor, a micro-controller, a peripheral integrated circuit element, and other devices, or arrangements of devices that are capable of implementing the steps that constitute the method of the disclosure.

[0061] The computer system comprises a computer, an input device, a display unit and the Internet. The computer further comprises a microprocessor. The microprocessor is connected to a communication bus. The computer also includes a memory. The memory may be Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM). The computer system further comprises a storage device, which may be a hard-disk drive or a removable storage drive, such as, a floppy-disk drive, optical-disk drive, and the like. The storage device may also be a means for loading computer programs or other instructions into the computer system. The computer system also includes a communication unit. The communication unit allows the computer to connect to other databases and the Internet through an input/output (I/O) interface, allowing the transfer as well as reception of data from other sources. The communication unit may include a modem, an Ethernet card, or other similar devices, which enable the computer system to connect to databases and networks, such as, LAN, MAN, WAN, and the Internet. The computer system facilitates input from a user through input devices accessible to the system through an I/O interface.

[0062] In order to process input data, the computer system executes a set of instructions that are stored in one or more storage elements. The storage elements may also hold data or other information, as desired. The storage element may be in the form of an information source or a physical memory element present in the processing machine.

[0063] The programmable or computer-readable instructions may include various commands that instruct the processing machine to perform specific tasks, such as steps that constitute the method of the disclosure. The systems and methods described can also be implemented using only software programming or using only hardware or by a varying combination of the two techniques. The disclosure is independent of the programming language and the operating system used in the computers. The instructions for the disclosure can be written in all programming languages including, but not limited to, “C,” “C++,” “Visual C++,” Java, and “Visual Basic.” Further, the software may be in the form of a collection of separate programs, a program module containing a larger program or a portion of a program module, as discussed in the ongoing description. The software may also include modular programming in the form of object-oriented programming. The processing of input data by the processing machine may be in response to user commands, the results of previous processing, or from a request made by another processing machine. The disclosure can also be implemented in various operating systems and platforms including, but not limited to, “Unix,” “DOS,” “Android,” “Symbian,” and “Linux.”

[0064] The programmable instructions can be stored and transmitted on a computer-readable medium. The disclosure can also be embodied in a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium, or with any product capable of implementing the above methods and systems, or the numerous possible variations thereof.

[0065] Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here can be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. These various implementations can include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

[0066] These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium” refer to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

[0067] To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here can be implemented on a computer having a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

[0068] A person having ordinary skills in the art will appreciate that the system, modules, and sub-modules have been illustrated and explained to serve as examples and should not be considered limiting in any manner. It will be further appreciated that the variants of the above disclosed system elements, or modules and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined to create other different systems or applications.

[0069] The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, or front end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), and the Internet.

[0070] The claims can encompass embodiments for hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

[0071] Although a few implementations have been described in detail above, other modifications are possible. Moreover, other mechanisms for performing the systems and methods described in this document may be used. In addition, the logic flows depicted in the figures may not require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. Other steps may be provided, or steps may be eliminated, from the described flows, and other components may be added to, or removed from, the described systems. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0072] 10—GPS [0073] 11—Microprocessor [0074] 12—Camera [0075] 13—Motor (Trigger lock mechanism) [0076] 14—Trigger Lock [0077] 15—GSM [0078] 16—Antenna [0079] 17—Charging port [0080] 18—Battery [0081] 19—Back-up battery [0082] 22—Concern Party [0083] 20—Communication network [0084] 24—a prohibited location