CN113138654A

CN113138654A - Equipment control method, store energy-saving control method and store

Info

Publication number: CN113138654A
Application number: CN202010061432.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李佳
Original assignee: Wormpex Technology Beijing Co Ltd
Current assignee: Superbox Technology Beijing Co ltd
Priority date: 2020-01-19
Filing date: 2020-01-19
Publication date: 2021-07-20

Abstract

The invention discloses a device control method, which can switch between a low power consumption mode and a normal working mode and comprises the following steps: acquiring environmental parameters of the equipment; determining whether the device is in a low peak period according to the environmental parameter; and setting the device to a low power consumption mode when it is determined that the device is in a low peak period. The invention can dynamically control the equipment according to the actual conditions of store business, prolong the service life of the equipment and save electricity.

Description

Equipment control method, store energy-saving control method and store

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the field of intelligent control, in particular to an equipment control method, an energy-saving store control method and a store.

Background

With the development of social economy, convenience stores are increasing, and more self-service POS machines, cash register POS machines, ordering screens, menu screens and other equipment are put into use. Many stores are typically operated 24 hours to meet customer demand. This directly results in longer on-line usage time of the device (especially the screen and the module for writing data), increased maintenance times and time of the device, shortened life of the device, and much wasted energy. Taking the 3288 dual screen POS for example, the device includes an EMMC (16G, 13G available), a power supply, a display screen, and a touch screen. The theoretical life of the display screen is 30000 hours, and the theoretical normal working life is 5.8 years calculated by normal use environment (use time: 8:00-22:00 per day). When the store is in business for 24 hours, the reference service environment of the display screen is 24 hours/day, the theoretical reference service life is 3.4 years, and the service life is shortened by 41 percent compared with the normal service life. The normal and reference operating life of the EMMC, power supply and touch screen can be known in the same way. Therefore, the normal working life of the whole 3288 dual-screen POS machine is 5 years (refer to the power supply with the shortest normal working life), and when the store is operated 24 hours a day, the reference working life of the whole POS machine is 3.4 years (refer to the display with the shortest reference working life). The equipment is greatly lost in the service life, and the maintenance and the updating of the shop equipment also bring certain pressure to the time cost and the financial cost of enterprises.

In order to prolong the service life of equipment, save energy, shorten maintenance time and reduce the economic budget of enterprises, the applicant of the invention provides a control method of store equipment.

The statements in the background section are merely prior art as they are known to the inventors and do not, of course, represent prior art in the field.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention provides a device control method in which the device is switchable between a low power consumption mode and a normal operation mode, the device control method comprising:

acquiring environmental parameters of the equipment;

determining whether the device is in a low peak period according to the environmental parameter; and

setting the device to a low power consumption mode when it is determined that the device is in a low peak period.

According to an aspect of the invention, wherein the environmental parameter comprises time, the determining whether the device is in a low peak period comprises: when the time is within a preset time range, determining that the equipment is in a low peak period.

According to an aspect of the invention, wherein the environmental parameter comprises a number of customers of an environment in which the device is located, the determining whether the device is in the down time period comprises: when the number of customers is less than a preset value, determining that the equipment is in a low peak period.

According to one aspect of the invention, wherein the environmental parameter comprises a number of customers around the device, the determining whether the device is in the down time period comprises: determining that the device is in a down time when there are no customers around the device.

According to an aspect of the invention, wherein the environment parameters include time, number of customers in the environment of the device, and number of customers around the device, the determining whether the device is in the down time period comprises: determining that the device is in a low peak period when at least two of the following conditions are met:

the time is within a preset time range;

the number of customers in the environment of the equipment is less than a preset value;

there are no customers around the device.

According to an aspect of the invention, wherein the step of obtaining environmental parameters of the device comprises: and judging the number of customers in the environment where the equipment is positioned and/or the number of customers around the equipment through image recognition.

According to an aspect of the invention, the control method further comprises: when the device is in a low power mode, setting the device to a normal operating mode upon detecting one or more of:

the time is outside a preset time range;

the number of customers in the environment where the equipment is located is more than a preset value;

the device has customers around it;

receiving an activation instruction;

receiving a touch screen input signal;

a code scan input signal is received.

According to one aspect of the invention, the device comprises one or more of a self-service POS, a manual POS, an ordering screen, and a menu screen.

According to an aspect of the invention, the device control method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the low power consumption mode comprises one or more of device shutdown, device screen brightness reduction, device hibernation.

The invention also relates to a store energy-saving control method, wherein the store comprises a plurality of devices, and the devices can be switched between a low power consumption mode and a normal operation mode, and the method comprises the following steps:

acquiring an environmental parameter;

determining whether the environment parameter is in a low peak period or not according to the environment parameter; and

when it is determined to be in the low peak period, at least one of the plurality of devices is set to a low power consumption mode.

According to an aspect of the invention, wherein the environmental parameter comprises time and/or number of customers in the store, wherein the determining whether the peak time is low comprises: determining to be in a low peak period when the time is within a preset time range and/or when the number of customers is less than a preset value.

According to an aspect of the invention, the control method further comprises: when one of the devices is in a low power mode, setting the device in a normal operating mode upon detecting one or more of the following conditions:

the time is outside a preset time range;

the number of customers in the store is more than a preset value;

the device has customers around it;

receiving an activation instruction;

receiving a touch screen input signal;

a code scan input signal is received.

The invention also relates to a store comprising:

a plurality of devices, the devices being switchable between a low power consumption mode and a normal operating mode;

a controller in communication with the plurality of devices and operable to perform the method of any of claims 1-12.

According to one aspect of the invention, the system further comprises an image recognition module, wherein the image recognition module is used for recognizing the number of customers or/and the area where the customers are located, and transmitting the recognition result to the controller.

According to one aspect of the invention, the system further comprises a guest greeting device, wherein the guest greeting device senses and gives out a prompt for the entrance and exit of the customer, and informs the controller of the entrance and exit event of the customer.

According to one aspect of the invention, the system further comprises an equipment service life management system, the equipment service life management system maintains the service life and the maintenance replacement record of the plurality of equipment, the equipment service life management system is communicated with the controller, and the controller is configured to preferentially set the equipment to the low power consumption mode when the service life and/or the maintenance replacement record of one of the equipment meet preset conditions.

The invention also relates to a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer program instructions executable by a processor, which computer program instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the method as described above.

By the embodiment of the invention, the use of the equipment can be scheduled in the low peak period, the service life of the equipment in the store is prolonged, and the energy is saved.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the disclosure and are not to limit the disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of a device control method according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a store according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of a store equipment control method according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a device lifetime management system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In the following, only certain exemplary embodiments are briefly described. As those skilled in the art can appreciate, the described embodiments can be modified in various different ways, without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

In the description of the present disclosure, it is to be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "straight", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", and the like, indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience of description and simplicity of description, but do not indicate or imply that the device or element being referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed in a particular orientation, and be operated, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the present disclosure. Furthermore, the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, features defined as "first", "second", may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the described features. In the description of the present disclosure, "a plurality" means two or more unless specifically limited otherwise.

Throughout the description of the present disclosure, it is to be noted that, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection, either mechanically, electrically, or otherwise in communication with one another; either directly or indirectly through intervening media, either internally or in any other relationship. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present disclosure can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as appropriate.

In the present disclosure, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the first feature "on" or "under" the second feature may comprise the first and second features being in direct contact, or may comprise the first and second features being in contact, not directly, but via another feature in between. Also, the first feature being "on," "above" and "over" the second feature includes the first feature being directly on and obliquely above the second feature, or merely indicating that the first feature is at a higher level than the second feature. A first feature being "under," "below," and "beneath" a second feature includes the first feature being directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply meaning that the first feature is at a lesser level than the second feature.

The following disclosure provides many different embodiments or examples for implementing different features of the disclosure. To simplify the disclosure of the present disclosure, specific example components and arrangements are described below. Of course, they are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Moreover, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or reference letters in the various examples, which have been repeated for purposes of simplicity and clarity and do not in themselves dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or arrangements discussed. In addition, the present disclosure provides examples of various specific processes and materials, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize applications of other processes and/or use of other materials.

The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it should be understood that the preferred embodiments described herein are merely for purposes of illustrating and explaining the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 shows a flow diagram of a device control method 100 according to one embodiment of the invention. The control method can be used for equipment in stores, including but not limited to self-service POS machines, manual POS machines, ordering screens and menu screens. According to the control method, the device can be switched between a low power consumption mode and a normal operation mode. The stores are stores in a broad sense, and include stores selling commodities and stores providing services, such as gymnasiums, clubs, cafes, catering bars and the like. The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.

In step S101: obtaining an environmental parameter of the device.

Including, for example, one or more of time, number of customers in the environment in which the device is located (i.e., number of customers in the store), and number of customers around the device. The current time may be obtained from a software or hardware system of the device itself as the environment parameter, or may be obtained from outside the device as the environment parameter.

According to one aspect of the invention, image recognition may be performed when it is desired to obtain the number of customers in the environment of the device and/or the number of customers around the device. For example, images or videos may be captured in a store or around the device, the number of customers in the environment of the device and/or around the device may be determined by counting people through an image recognition method.

Or alternatively, a sensor and/or a counter may be provided at the entrance of the store to sense the entrance of a person and count the number of persons entering and leaving, respectively, so that the number of customers in the store can be monitored.

In addition, there are often staff in stores. Therefore, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable to remove the number of store workers when the number of customers needs to be acquired, thereby calculating the number of customers more accurately. The number of store staff may be a preset value, or may be dynamically identified, for example, by wearing, wearing a logo, an electronic badge, etc. to identify the number of store staff in the image or video, and deduct from the total number of people to obtain a more accurate number of customers.

In step S102: determining whether the device is in a low peak period according to the environmental parameter.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, when the time is within a preset time range, it is determined that the apparatus is in a low peak period. Different time ranges may be set for different types of stores and equipment. For example, for a convenience store, peak hours are from 6 a.m. to 22 a.m., and peak hours are from 22 a.m. to 6 a.m. For a gym-type store, 12 pm to 14 pm and 18 pm to 23 pm are in peak hours, the rest of the time is in low peak hours. Thus, for different types of stores and devices, different time ranges may be set for determining whether the device is in the down time.

In the above embodiment of determining whether the equipment is in the low peak period by time, there may still be a lot of time in the time period of the high peak period, the equipment is in an unmanned state, and there is a waste of the service life of the equipment and energy. Thus according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the device is determined to be in low peak hours by comparing the number of customers in the store in which the device is located with a preset value and when the number of customers in the store is less than the preset value. In this way, for example, for a convenience store, even in the time period between 6 a.m. and 22 a.m., when the number of customers in the store is small, it is determined that the device is in the low peak. Preferably, the preset value is 1.

When a store includes multiple devices, customers in the store may be concentrated around different devices, some of which may be idle, and thus the above-described embodiments still leave room for improvement. According to one embodiment of the invention, the number of customers around the device is obtained and the device is determined to be in a down time when there are no customers around the device. This way, it is possible to dynamically and more accurately determine whether the device is in the low peak period.

In the above embodiment, whether the device is in the low peak period is determined according to three conditions, respectively. The present invention is not limited thereto, and three conditions may be used in combination. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the device is determined to be in the low peak period when at least two of the above three conditions are satisfied.

In step S103: setting the device to a low power consumption mode when it is determined that the device is in a low peak period.

When it is determined in step S102 that the device is in the low peak period, the device may be switched to a low power consumption mode to operate, thereby extending the service life of the device and saving energy. In the invention, the device can be switched between a low power consumption mode and a normal working mode. Wherein the low power consumption mode includes but is not limited to one or more of device shutdown, device screen brightness reduction, and device hibernation, and can be awakened from the low power consumption mode and switched to the normal operation mode again. The brightness of the screen of the device can be adjusted according to specific use requirements, and can be set to be a fixed value or a section. For example, when the device is in a low peak period, the device screen is turned to 20% of normal brightness.

If the image identifies that only store personnel exist in the environment where the equipment is located, the equipment is set to be in a low power consumption mode through the controller; if the area where the customer is located is determined through image recognition, the controller sets the equipment near the area where the customer is located to be in a normal working mode, and sets the equipment in other areas to be in a low power consumption mode.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the device control method 100 further includes switching the device to a normal operation mode when the device is in a low power consumption mode and a certain trigger event is detected. Switching the device to a normal operating mode, for example, when one or more of the following conditions are detected:

(1) the time is outside the preset time range. For example, if the current time is outside a preset time range of the low peak period, the device may be automatically switched back to the normal operating mode.

(2) The number of customers in the environment in which the device is located is greater than a preset value. The number of customers in the store can be monitored, for example, by image recognition of images or videos at various locations in the store, or by counting the number of people who enter and exit the store. And when the number of the customers exceeds a preset value, the equipment is automatically switched back to the normal working mode.

(3) The device has customers around it. When it is detected that the customer is present within a certain range, for example within 1 meter, around the device, the device is automatically switched back to the normal operation mode.

(4) An activation instruction is received. The activation instruction may come from the customer, from the device itself or from an upstream controller.

(5) A touch screen input signal is received. For example, for a meal ordering device with a touch screen, when user input is detected, the device needs to be woken up, switched to a normal operating mode, and the brightness of the touch screen is switched to a 100% brightness display, for example.

(6) A code scan input signal is received. Some devices for self-checkout generally have a code scanning device, the code scanning device can continuously operate when the device operates in a low power consumption mode, and when a customer places a two-dimensional code of a commodity in front of the code scanning device, the code scanning device scans and identifies the two-dimensional code, and at the moment, the device can be switched to a normal working mode.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the above six triggering events can be used alone or in combination, and are within the scope of the present invention.

The invention also relates to an energy-saving control method for a store, wherein the store comprises a plurality of devices, and the devices can be switched between a low power consumption mode and a normal working mode, and the method comprises the following steps: acquiring an environmental parameter; determining whether the environment parameter is in a low peak period or not according to the environment parameter; and setting at least one of the plurality of devices to a low power consumption mode when it is determined to be in a low peak period. Wherein the environmental parameters include time and/or number of customers in the store, and determining whether the store is in a down time period comprises: determining to be in a low peak period when the time is within a preset time range and/or when the number of customers is less than a preset value.

The energy-saving control method of the store may perform the device control method 100 as shown and described in fig. 1 for each device in the store, so that individual control may be more accurately performed for each device. For example, when one of the devices is in a low power consumption mode, the device is switched to a normal operation mode when a certain trigger event is detected. The specific trigger conditions are the same as above, and are not described herein again.

The invention also relates to a store, a schematic of which is shown in figure 2 and described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The store 200 includes a plurality of devices 202 and a controller 201. Devices 202-1, 202-2, 202-3, 202-4 are schematically shown in fig. 2, these devices 202 being, for example, the devices described above with reference to fig. 1, distributed in various areas inside a store, switchable between a low power consumption mode and a normal operation mode. The controller 201 communicates with the plurality of devices 202 through the communication network, issues an instruction to the devices 202, and sets and switches the operating modes of the devices 202.

The controller 201 includes a personal computer, a server, a combinational logic controller, a micro-program controller, a CPU, a micro-controller, a PLC controller, and the like. The controller receives/transmits electrical signals from/to the respective devices, detects, judges the operation modes of the devices, and transmits and executes an instruction for switching the operation modes of the devices after determining whether the devices are in a low peak period. In addition, the controller may be separately provided for the store, and is only used for controlling the devices in the store; or may be common to multiple stores for controlling devices within the multiple stores, all within the scope of the present invention.

The communication network shown in fig. 2 may be a wired communication network, for example, the controller is connected to each device 202 through a communication cable; the mode may also be a wireless communication network, including but not limited to wireless communication modes such as WIFI, bluetooth, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, EDGE, GPRS, and the like. The wireless communication mode has better flexibility and is more convenient to deploy.

The controller 201 communicates with a plurality of devices 202 via a communication network, and executes the device control method 100 shown in fig. 1 for each device or the store energy saving control method for the store.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the store 200 further comprises an image recognition module comprising an image capturing unit configured to capture images or videos of the interior of the store or of the surroundings of one or more devices therein, and a processing unit coupled to said image capturing unit and configured to identify the number of customers or/and the area where the customers are located based on the images or videos received, and to communicate the identification to said controller, for example for use as an environmental parameter of the device.

According to one aspect of the invention, store 200 also includes a greeting. The guest greeting device can be arranged above the doorway of the store, for example, can be an optical sensing type sensor or an infrared sensing type sensor, and can sense and prompt the entrance and exit of a customer and inform the controller of the entrance and exit events of the customer. The controller calculates and judges the data and sends an instruction to the equipment according to the judgment result. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the guest greeting device may sense the entrance event and the exit event of the customer, and the controller may calculate the number of current customers in the store according to the entrance event and the exit event of the customer, so as to serve as one of the environmental parameters of the device in the device control method 100.

Fig. 3 shows a flow chart of a control method 300 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The control method 300 may be used to control a single device in a store or may be used to control multiple devices in a store. The control method 300 may be performed by the device itself or by the controller 201 shown in fig. 2. The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The method comprises the following steps:

in step S301: and reading the device configuration information. After the control operation of the shop equipment is started, the controller reads configuration information of the equipment, including but not limited to the type, options, database, environment information, plug-in and the like of the equipment.

In step S302: and detecting that the welcome machine triggers an entrance and exit event. The guest greeting device is, for example, a guest greeting device in the store 200, which is usually installed above the doorway of the store or at another position where the entrance and exit of the customer can be sensed, and the guest greeting device senses the entrance and exit of the customer and gives a prompt to transmit the entrance and exit event of the customer to the controller.

In step S303: and judging whether the equipment is in a low peak period or not according to the time. The time is optionally one of the environmental parameters described in the device control method 100. This time may be obtained from the software or hardware system of the device itself, or may be obtained from outside the device. And when the time is within the preset time range, determining that the equipment is in the low peak period, and entering step S304 to make the next judgment. When the time is not within the preset time range, the apparatus is not in the low peak period, and then the process proceeds to step S308.

In step S304: the image recognition service is initiated. In step S303, after the device is determined to be in the low peak period according to the time, the condition of the in-store customers still cannot be known, and in order to further obtain the number of the customers in the environment where the device is located or/and the number and distribution conditions of the customers around the device, images or videos in the store and around the device are collected, summarized and determined, so as to identify and calculate the number of the customers in the environment where the device is located and around the device.

In step S305: and judging whether customers exist in the store or not according to the image recognition. The in-store personnel are counted, judged and calculated by image or video acquisition, with the number of customers therein communicated to the controller, as described in the equipment control method 100.

In step S306: and judging whether a customer exists on the equipment side or not according to the image identification. Similarly, as described in step S305, the person image recognition is performed within a range of, for example, 1 meter around the device, and if the store clerk is recognized around the device, a corresponding operation is performed to remove the number of the store clerk, and the determination result is transmitted to the controller.

In step S307: the device is set to a low power mode. When the device is in the normal working mode originally, the controller sends a sleep instruction to the device after receiving the judgment result that no customer exists in the store in the step S305 or no customer exists around the device in the step S306, and the device is switched to the low power consumption mode; when the device is originally in the low power consumption mode, the working mode of the device is maintained unchanged.

In step S308: the device is set to a normal operating mode. When the equipment is originally in a normal working mode, the working mode of the equipment is maintained unchanged; when the device is originally in the low power consumption mode, the controller issues an activation instruction to the device after receiving the judgment result that the device is not in the low peak period in the step S303 or the judgment result that customers are around the device in the step S306, and the device is switched to the normal working mode.

And the equipment continues to operate after the working mode is maintained or switched, and the shop equipment control operation is finished. When a new trigger event occurs or the trigger event changes, the equipment, the controller, the guest greeting device and the like in the store can recognize, calculate and judge again, and the working mode of the equipment is dynamically adjusted, so that the equipment in the store works under a better working condition.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a facility life management system is also included in store 200. FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a device lifetime management system 400 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.

As shown, the store 200 further includes an equipment life management system 400 that maintains and manages a plurality of pieces of equipment. The life management system comprises equipment information synchronization, service life early warning, equipment maintenance records and equipment environment records. The synchronous equipment information comprises information of an equipment-bound store, equipment store-entering time, equipment online time, equipment service life configuration and the like. The service life early warning comprises prolonging the service life of the equipment and replacing the equipment by hardware replacement or reducing power consumption and the like. The equipment maintenance record comprises information such as maintenance information, maintenance schedule, maintenance result and updated service life of the equipment. The device environment record mainly includes information such as temperature and humidity of the environment where the device is located.

The device life management system 400 optionally communicates with the controller 201 in the store 200, and the controller 201 analyzes and determines whether to perform life warning on the device by integrating the synchronized device information, the device maintenance record, and the device environment record. For example, when the service life is 100%, the device is replaced for the first-level warning and the countermeasure is to replace the device, wherein the whole device or a certain component in the device can be replaced according to the specific situation of use, and the component can be hardware or software; when the service life is 80%, performing secondary early warning, and taking a corresponding measure as maintenance equipment; when the service life is 50%, the three-stage early warning is carried out, and the equipment maintenance is taken as a countermeasure. Optionally, when one or more devices in the store meet the preset condition of life warning, the devices are preferentially set to be in a low power consumption mode or the hardware of the devices is replaced, so that the service life of the devices is prolonged.

The invention also relates to a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer program instructions executable by a processor, which computer program instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the

method

100, 300 as well as the energy saving control method of a store as described above.

Advantages of embodiments of the invention include, but are not limited to:

the equipment is dynamically controlled, and the service life of the equipment is prolonged;

the electricity and energy are saved;

managing the equipment according to the use information of the equipment, preferentially setting the equipment meeting the preset conditions into a low-power-consumption mode, optimizing the use of the distribution equipment and improving the utilization rate of the equipment;

the economic budget of the enterprise is reduced, and the time cost of the enterprise is saved.

The above description is only exemplary of the present disclosure and should not be taken as limiting the disclosure, as any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure should be included in the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

Finally, it should be noted that: although the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the embodiments and/or equivalents thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement and the like made within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure should be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A device control method, the device being switchable between a low power consumption mode and a normal operation mode, the device control method comprising:

acquiring environmental parameters of the equipment;

2. The device control method of claim 1, wherein the environmental parameter comprises a time, the determining whether the device is in a low peak period comprises: when the time is within a preset time range, determining that the equipment is in a low peak period.

3. The device control method of claim 1, wherein the environmental parameter comprises a number of customers of an environment in which the device is located, the determining whether the device is in a down time comprises: when the number of customers is less than a preset value, determining that the equipment is in a low peak period.

4. The device control method of claim 1, wherein the environmental parameter includes a number of customers around the device, the determining whether the device is in a down time includes: determining that the device is in a down time when there are no customers around the device.

5. The device control method of claim 1, wherein the environmental parameters include time, number of customers in an environment in which the device is located, and number of customers around the device, the determining whether the device is in a down time period comprising: determining that the device is in a low peak period when at least two of the following conditions are met:

the time is within a preset time range;

there are no customers around the device.

6. The device control method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the step of acquiring an environmental parameter of the device includes: and judging the number of customers in the environment where the equipment is positioned and/or the number of customers around the equipment through image recognition.

7. The device control method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: when the device is in a low power mode, setting the device to a normal operating mode upon detecting one or more of:

the time is outside a preset time range;

the device has customers around it;

receiving an activation instruction;

receiving a touch screen input signal;

a code scan input signal is received.

8. The device control method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the device includes one or more of a self-service POS, a manual POS, an ordering screen, a menu screen.

9. The device control method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the low power consumption mode includes one or more of device power off, device screen brightness reduction, device hibernation.

10. A store energy saving control method, wherein the store comprises a plurality of devices, and the devices can be switched between a low power consumption mode and a normal operation mode, the method comprising:

acquiring an environmental parameter;

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the environmental parameters include time and/or number of customers in the store, wherein the determining whether the peak hours comprises: determining to be in a low peak period when the time is within a preset time range and/or when the number of customers is less than a preset value.

12. The method of claim 10 or 11, further comprising: when one of the devices is in a low power mode, setting the device in a normal operating mode upon detecting one or more of the following conditions:

the time is outside a preset time range;

the number of customers in the store is more than a preset value;

the device has customers around it;

receiving an activation instruction;

receiving a touch screen input signal;

a code scan input signal is received.

13. A store, comprising:

14. The store of claim 13, further comprising an image recognition module for identifying the number of customers or/and the area in which the customers are located and communicating the identification to the controller.

15. The store of claim 13 or 14, further comprising a guest greeting which senses and prompts a customer for entry and exit and notifies the controller of a customer entry and exit event.

16. The store of claim 13 or 14, further comprising an equipment life management system that maintains the usage duration and the service change record for the plurality of equipment, the equipment life management system being in communication with the controller, the controller being configured to prioritize setting of one of the equipment in the low power consumption mode when the usage duration and/or the service change record for the equipment meets a preset condition.

17. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer program instructions executable by a processor, the computer program instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the processor to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 12.