Unfortunately my grandmother suffers from severe dementia and one of the consequences of this is that she constantly tries to leave the house. She simply opens the door and goes to walk around the city without being able to understand what she is doing, which is obviously dangerous for her, it has already happened several times that the police had to be involved in order to locate her. She has a nanny who looks after her, but that's another story...
Recently my father asked me if I could design a system that would alert her when she leaves the house, I thought of doing it with an Rfid reader with a long range and wearing her a suitable identification tag around her neck, but I can't find a suitable module for that. I need a module that will alert her when she walks through the door A person who wears a tag on his chest, I assume that it comes out in the area of a meter or a meter and a half to make sure that the tag will really be recognized by the reader.
I would appreciate it if you could give me ideas on how I can carry out my design as well as help in choosing a suitable module that can interface with Arduino.
Also, if you have completely different ideas to implement the idea, I would love to hear it.
I will emphasize here that we obviously do not rely only on what I have planned and we make efforts in other ways to maintain it so don't worry... I am simply trying to find a challenge in order to help with another effort and another direction.
My stepfather has recently been moved to an institution with similar issues (he doesn't walk a lot but he doesn't know where he is) and the simply have a digital lock on the door with a code that has to be put in with a keypad, but even that sounds like overkill, and i suggest to simply lock the doors.
From a digital point of view i guess the simplest would be either a WiFi or Bluetooth device that she caries which is pinged by another device and sounds the alarm when the connection is not there due to distance.
i know they also sell alarm buttons which include GPS, and any tracker like you have for kids on the beach or pets are also an option.
Regarding locking the door, of course we tried but the times we forgot to lock it even for a moment she just ran away and got on a bus to another city... we thought of ways like you suggested (GPS) but some of them didn't work properly, anyway as I wrote we don't trust my performance but will buy something In the style you suggested would work as it should, but I still want to build something, if only for the purpose of the personal challenge, even if in the end I find out that it has no use and that's probably what will happen... it can also be an added confidence.
That's why I ask if there is a simple possibility to implement such a thing.
No, it is not. There are so many variables. A battery powered device would need a recharge or new battery every day. Convince the person to wear it and not take it off? Not likely. Each situation is different and changes from time to time.
Best might be like all the managed care facilities in the area use and that is a coded door unlock. Those mentally capable age given the code so they can leave when they want. Fire alarm automatically unlocks all the doors.
With a digital password lock, you cannot leave it unlocked, the door latch automatically locks when the door is closed.
When you enter the password/number the latch is momentarily unlatched to let the door open, then it goes back to locked and when the door closes the catch springs into the latch.
Tom....
PS. I have during my time of having to place loved ones in care found that 90% of the places use the password latch system.
She has a necklace with her personal details on it in case someone finds her on the street and knows who to contact to get my grandma back and she doesn't actually take it off... so I thought wearing an electronic tag might be a good idea
Regarding the power source, there can be a power supply that is permanently connected to the outlet and comes with wiring up to the door of the house with the RFID module. without the need for a battery. At least that's what I thought..
GPS tag-tracking (exists for Apple and Android) also helps you find her once she has wandered, which is a significant benefit. You can simply look at your phone, with the right app, and know where to go get her. Nanny can also do so, though reading between the lines, it would seem like you don't have faith there. Whether there's an app that will alert you if she strays outside of certain boundaries, I do not know, but it would seem trivial to do so.
You'll have to decide for yourself if this is appropriate, I'm not qualified.
I believe there's something similar for Android, though I haven't gone looking.
