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Alzheimer’s GPS


Disclaimer

This essay does not describe an existing computer program, just one that should exist. This essay is about a suggested student project in Java programming. This essay gives a rough overview of how it might work. I have no source, object, specifications, file layouts or anything else useful to implementing this project. Everything I have prepared to help you is right here.

This project outline is not like the artificial, tidy little problems you are spoon-fed in school, when all the facts you need are included, nothing extraneous is mentioned, the answer is fully specified, along with hints to nudge you toward a single expected canonical solution. This project is much more like the real world of messy problems where it is up to you to fully the define the end point, or a series of ever more difficult versions of this project and research the information yourself to solve them.

Everything I have to say to help you with this project is written below. I am not prepared to help you implement it; or give you any additional materials. I have too many other projects of my own.

Though I am a programmer by profession, I don’t do people’s homework for them. That just robs them of an education.

You have my full permission to implement this project in any way you please and to keep all the profits from your endeavour.

Please do not email me about this project without reading the disclaimer above.

This is a project to help someone with advanced Alzheimer’s. It is a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit for Alzheimer’s patients. Alzheimer’s patients often get lost, or wander off. They forget familiar land marks. It works like this:

The patient carries a combination cellphone and GPS unit on a necklace. When the patient touches the unit, or holds it, it starts giving verbal instructions on how to walk home, repeating as necessary. If the patient is too far from home to walk, it phones home and reports the location of the patient, using street names, as well as latitude and longitude.

Note that there are no buttons to push and nothing to look at on the unit. It is activated just by touching it.

The family at home can at any time phone the unit and get it to report the ambient sounds, let them talk to the patient and find out where the patient is. The patient does not need to do anything to answer the call.

For less far gone people, the unit can be programmed to, for example, guide the patient to a friend’s house, or a store and back home again.

The unit might also have a mode for fully functional people to call any number or navigate to any location.

A normal voice-style GPS unit is geared toward drivers. This would be geared toward slow walkers who need very simple instruction.

The primary difficulty of this project is getting at the interfaces to the GPS and maps. The secondary problem is selling the Alzheimer’s idea to a GPS manufacturer, after showing them your laptop software prototype.

Alternate Implementation

There is a simpler technological solution to the problem. Attach standard GPS tracker units to the patients in way they will not remove, e.g. with a wrist or leg band or to the back of the gown. You can use inexpensive GPS units without control buttons or telephone.

They work by periodically reporting GPS co-ordinates to a satellite in the sky. These results are routed to a server that checks if the position is in or out of bounds. If out of bounds, they can set off an alarm and show on a map where the patient is. Your job is to write the server software, and create a turn-key package with everything included.

A slightly modified version of the software could be used to track children. It might work using smart phones instead of GPS trackers. A version to deal with abductors would have to be designed to be extremely hard to get off.

Shopping for a GPS Tracker

electronic product image recommend electronic⇒GPS Tracking Device, BayTracker BT-2000 RealTime Spy Tracking Deviceto electronic home
asin B00LWE49GO
This device is not for navigating but for spying. It quite small — easy to conceal. You must set up a GSM/SIM data cellphone account for it and pay the monthly texting fees. It sends its position in periodically over the cellphone network. You could use it to locate your vehicle if it is stolen. You could use it to track where your teenage children drove and how fast. You could put it in a briefcase to track its whereabouts. You could use it to track the whereabouts of your pets, equipment, Alzheimer’s patients… It is battery powered, but it can also be hooked up to a car battery. It has a hidden microphone for covert operations. Basically it is a remote-controlled phone. 60-day standby battery.
American flag amazon.com bestbuy.ca Canadian flag
Canadian flag amazon.ca canadacomputers.com Canadian flag
German flag amazon.de ncix.ca Canadian flag
Spanish flag amazon.es newegg.ca Canadian flag
French flag amazon.fr www.staples.ca Canadian flag
Italian flag amazon.it tigerdirect.ca Canadian flag
UK flag amazon.co.uk bestbuy.com American flag
India flag junglee.com ncixus.com American flag
UN flag other stores newegg.com American flag
www.staples.com American flag
tigerdirect.com American flag
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock
electronic product image recommend electronic⇒SPOT 3 Satellite GPS Messenger - Orangeto electronic home
asin B00C8S8S4W
dim 6½ × 8.71 × 2.54 cm
2.56 × 3.43 × 1 in
This unit is not for navigating, but for aiding rescue workers to find if you become disabled. So long as you are moving, it takes GPS readings every 2.5 to 60 minutes reporting where you are and sends them digitally via satellite. People back home can monitor your progress on your planned route. Even if you are unconscious, others can still find you. You need a satellite phone subscription that will cost you an additional $150 a year. You can also get it to send in an SOS to an emergency response center. You can also get it to send I’m-OK or other canned messages. It is not a satellite voice phone. It is not a satellite texting device. Battery life 5 days. 114 g 4.0 oz. Specs. manual.
American flag amazon.com bestbuy.ca Canadian flag
Canadian flag amazon.ca canadacomputers.com Canadian flag
German flag amazon.de ncix.ca Canadian flag
Spanish flag amazon.es newegg.ca Canadian flag
French flag amazon.fr www.staples.ca Canadian flag
Italian flag amazon.it tigerdirect.ca Canadian flag
UK flag amazon.co.uk bestbuy.com American flag
India flag junglee.com ncixus.com American flag
UN flag other stores newegg.com American flag
www.staples.com American flag
tigerdirect.com American flag
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock

Search for other GPS trackers

Finder project
GPS
Senior tracker

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