Smart restroom systems and devices for the same

Abstract

A portable restroom is provided with a suite of sensors and control electronics to monitor and report real time conditions and usage data for the portable restroom. Similar technology can be applied to service trucks, restroom trailers, and portable vacuum toilets for the portable restrooms. A central control computer can maintain databases of data and alerts for each restroom and truck. The central control computer can also track and manage inventory of consumable products for the portable restrooms. A user app can interface with the central control computer to monitor restroom status and consumable consumption, route service technicians and manage inventory of consumables, among other functions and features.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A portable toilet system, comprising:
 a plurality of portable toilets;   a central computer system;   a portable computing device; and   a smart appliance disposed in each of the plurality of toilets, the smart appliance comprising:
 a housing 
 a processor and memory disposed inside of the housing; 
 a battery electrically coupled to the processor; 
 a wireless transceiver disposed in the housing; 
 a global positioning system (GPS) decoder chipset disposed in the housing; 
 a humidity sensor disposed in the housing; 
 an accelerometer disposed in the housing; 
 a temperature sensor disposed in the housing; and 
 a waste level sensor disposed in the housing; 
   wherein each of the plurality of portable toilets is networked with the central computer system via the wireless transceiver,   wherein the processor of each smart appliance is configured to transmit wirelessly to the central computer system a plurality of sensor data collected by the humidity sensor, the accelerometer, the temperature sensor and the waste level sensor,   wherein the processor of each smart appliance is configured to transmit wirelessly to the central computer system a GPS location data, and   wherein the portable computing device is configured to obtain from the central computer system the plurality of sensor data and the GPS data for at least one of the plurality of portable toilets and generate a display screen on the portable computing device depicting a location on a map for the at least one of the plurality of portable toilets, a temperature of the at least one of the plurality of portable toilets, a humidity of the at least one of the plurality of portable toilets and a waste level of the at least one of the plurality of portable toilets.   
     
     
         2 . The portable toilet system of  claim 1 , wherein the central computer system is configured to determine automatically that a servicing procedure has been performed on at least one of the plurality of portable toilets by recognizing from a data from the waste level sensor that the waste tank of the least one of the plurality of portable toilets has been emptied followed by being refilled to a pre-charge level. 
     
     
         3 . The portable toilet system of  claim 1 , wherein the central computer system is configured to determine a number of uses of each of the plurality of portable toilets, and wherein the portable computing device is configured to obtain from the central computer system the number of uses for at least one of the plurality of portable toilets and generate on the display screen on the portable computing device an indication of the number of uses for the at least one of the plurality of portable toilets. 
     
     
         4 . The portable toilet system of  claim 1 , wherein the portable computing device is configured to generate a route screen that lists a plurality of routes for portable toilets assigned to a service technician. 
     
     
         5 . The portable toilet system of  claim 4 , wherein the portable computing device is configured to generate for each of the plurality of a routes a screen that lists each of the plurality of portable toilets assigned a respective route. 
     
     
         6 . The portable toilet system of  claim 1 , wherein the central computer system is configured to push an alert notification to portable computing device regarding at least one of the plurality of portable toilets. 
     
     
         7 . The portable toilet system of  claim 6 , wherein the alert notification is an indication that a maximum number of uses has been reached. 
     
     
         8 . The portable toilet system of  claim 6 , wherein the alert notification is an indication that a tip over has been sensed. 
     
     
         9 . The portable toilet system of  claim 6 , wherein the alert notification is an indication that an interior temperature has dropped below a low threshold value or exceeded a high threshold value. 
     
     
         10 . The portable toilet system of  claim 6 , wherein the alert notification is an indication that a voltage of the battery is below a preset threshold value. 
     
     
         11 . The portable toilet system of  claim 6 , wherein the alert notification is an indication that a cleaning is needed. 
     
     
         12 . The portable toilet system of  claim 6 , wherein the alert notification is an indication that a consumable is in need of refilling. 
     
     
         13 . The portable toilet system of  claim 6 , wherein the portable computing device is configured to generate a display screen listing the alert notification and an identification of the one of the plurality of portable toilets corresponding to the alert notification. 
     
     
         14 . A portable toilet system, comprising:
 a central computer system;   a portable computing device; and   a plurality of portable toilets, wherein each of the plurality of portable toilets comprises:
 an enclosure; 
 a processor and memory disposed inside of the enclosure; 
 a battery electrically coupled to the processor; 
 a wireless transceiver disposed in the enclosure; 
 a global positioning system (GPS) decoder chipset disposed in the enclosure; 
 a humidity sensor disposed in the enclosure; 
 an accelerometer disposed in the enclosure; 
 a temperature sensor disposed in the enclosure; and 
 a waste level sensor disposed in the enclosure; 
   wherein each of the plurality of portable toilets is networked with the central computer system via the wireless transceiver,   wherein the processor of each of the plurality of portable toilets is configured to transmit wirelessly to the central computer system a plurality of sensor data collected by the humidity sensor, the accelerometer, the temperature sensor and the waste level sensor,   wherein the processor of each of the plurality of portable toilets is configured to transmit wirelessly to the central computer system a GPS location data, and   wherein the portable computing device is configured to obtain from the central computer system the plurality of sensor data and the GPS data for at least one of the plurality of portable toilets and generate a display screen on the portable computing device depicting a location on a map for the at least one of the plurality of portable toilets, a temperature of the at least one of the plurality of portable toilets, a humidity of the at least one of the plurality of portable toilets and a waste level of the at least one of the plurality of portable toilets.   
     
     
         15 . The portable toilet system of  claim 14 , wherein the central computer system is configured to determine a number of uses of each of the plurality of portable toilets, and wherein the portable computing device is configured to obtain from the central computer system the number of uses for at least one of the plurality of portable toilets and generate on the display screen on the portable computing device an indication of the number of uses for the at least one of the plurality of portable toilets. 
     
     
         16 . A method of monitoring a plurality of portable toilets, comprising:
 networking a plurality of portable toilets with a central computing system and at least one portable computing device;   sensing by each of the plurality of portable toilets a temperature inside of the portable toilet, a humidity inside of the portable toilet and a waste tank level inside of the portable toilet;   determining by each of the plurality of portable toilets a GPS location for the toilet;   transmitting wirelessly by each of the plurality of portable toilets to the central computing system the temperature inside of the portable toilet, the humidity inside of the portable toilet, the waste tank level inside of the portable toilet and the GPS location for the toilet;   issuing by the central computing system an alert notice to the at least one portable computing device when at least one of the temperature inside of the portable toilet, the humidity inside of the portable toilet and the waste tank level inside of the portable toilet exceeds or falls below a preset threshold value.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising generating route list on the at least one portable computing device, the route list identifying each route assigned to a particular service technician, wherein each route comprises one or more of the plurality of portable toilets networked with the central computing system. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising generating a report screen on the portable computing device depicting for a particular one of the plurality of portable toilets, a location on a map for the particular one of the plurality of portable toilets, a temperature of the particular one of the plurality of portable toilets, a humidity of the at least one of the particular one of the plurality of portable toilets, a waste level of the particular one of the plurality of portable toilets and a number of uses of the particular one of the plurality of portable toilets. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein generating the report screen on the portable computing device of the particular one of the plurality of portable toilets further includes depicting a battery level for the particular one of the plurality of portable toilets, a condition of a pump of the particular one of the plurality of portable toilets, and whether cleaning of the particular one of the plurality of portable toilets is needed. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising setting via a computer interface screen of a computing device networked with the central computing system at least one preset threshold value for temperature, waste tank level or maximum uses. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising determining automatically that a servicing procedure has been performed on at least one of the plurality of portable toilets by the central computing system recognizing from a waste tank sensor data from the at least one of the plurality of portable toilets that the waste tank has been emptied followed by being refilled to a pre-charge level.