JP7236836B2 - DATA MANAGEMENT DEVICE, EQUIPMENT CONTROL SYSTEM, DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD AND PROGRAM - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a data management device, equipment control system, data management method and program.

In recent years, devices in the home are communicatively connected to a cloud server operated by the manufacturer or sales company of the device via the Internet, and the user operates via an operation terminal such as a smartphone or tablet terminal to A system capable of controlling such equipment is well known (eg, Patent Document 1).

In general, in this type of system, a user inputs operation information indicating a room, equipment, and operation details via an operation terminal. can be requested. Also, the user can request the cloud server to operate a device for, for example, "cooling the living room" by inputting operation information indicating requests for rooms and services via the operation terminal. In addition, the user can request the cloud server to operate the device to improve the condition of, for example, "it is hot in the living room" by inputting operation information indicating the feeling of the room and the environment of the room via the operation terminal. can do.

JP 2016-111564 A

By the way, in an area such as an LDK where a plurality of different rooms are spatially connected, for example, an air conditioner installed in the living room may be able to air-condition other rooms such as the kitchen. However, with conventional cloud servers, only rooms in which equipment is installed are managed as rooms corresponding to the equipment (in other words, rooms in which the equipment can provide services). If it is not installed, there is a problem that it is not possible to perform control according to the user's desire or experience, such as "make the kitchen cool" or "the kitchen is hot."

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a data management device or the like that can adjust to an environment desired by a user even in an area where no equipment is installed. and

In order to achieve the above object, a data management device according to the present invention includes:
a management means for managing data relating to the device based on a data management model for associating the device with one or more areas in which the device can provide service;
the data about the device includes a capability value of the device in each area in which the device can provide service ;
The capability value is an index that indicates the level of service capability for the area in question when the equipment is operating in a normal state .

According to the present invention, it is possible to adjust an environment desired by the user even in an area where no equipment is installed.

1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a device control system according to an embodiment of the present invention; Block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the operation terminal of the present embodiment Block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the cloud server of this embodiment A diagram for explaining the secondary storage device included in the cloud server of this embodiment. Diagram showing the data management model of this embodiment A diagram showing the functional configuration of the cloud server of the present embodiment A diagram showing the flow of processing executed by the device control system according to the present embodiment. A diagram showing a data management model of Modification 1 of the present embodiment A diagram showing a data management model of modification 2 of the present embodiment

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a device control system 1 according to an embodiment of the invention. The device control system 1 is a system for controlling devices installed in the house H, and includes one or more devices 2 , an operation terminal 3 , a home gateway 4 and a cloud server 5 .

Each device 2 is installed in the house H (including the site). Each device 2 is, for example, an electric device such as an air conditioner, a lighting device, a television, an IH (Induction Heating) cooker, a water heater, and an AI speaker.

Each device 2 is called an IoT (Internet of Things) device, an information appliance, a network appliance, a smart appliance, or the like, and is connected to the Internet via a home gateway 4 . Specifically, each device 2 is connected for communication with a home gateway 4 that functions as a broadband router via a wireless network (not shown). This wireless network is, for example, a network conforming to ECHONET Lite. All or part of the devices 2 may be connected to this wireless network via an external communication adapter (not shown).

The operation terminal 3 is a portable electronic device such as a smart phone or a tablet terminal. The operation terminal 3, as shown in FIG. ) 35 and a secondary storage device 36 . These components are interconnected via bus 37 .

The display 30 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display and an organic EL display. The display 30 displays various screens and the like according to user operations under the control of the CPU 33 .

The operation reception unit 31 includes one or more input devices such as a push button, a touch panel, and a touch pad, receives operation input from the user, and sends a signal related to the received operation to the CPU 33 .

The communication interface 32 includes a predetermined short-range wireless communication interface and a predetermined wide-area wireless communication interface. The communication interface 32 communicates with the device 2 via the home gateway 4, or communicates with the cloud server 5 via the home gateway 4 and the Internet, for example, when the operation terminal 3 is possessed by the user at home. . Further, when the operation terminal 3 is possessed by a user who is out, the communication interface 32 connects to the Internet via an AP (access point) or a base station (not shown) to communicate with the device 2 and the cloud server 5. .

The CPU 33 comprehensively controls the operation terminal 3 . The ROM 34 stores multiple pieces of firmware and data used during execution of these pieces of firmware. A RAM 35 is used as a work area for the CPU 33 .

The secondary storage device 36 includes an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), a readable/writable non-volatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, and the like. The secondary storage device 36 stores various programs including application programs for operating the device 2 (hereinafter referred to as device operation apps) and data used when these programs are executed. The device operation application can be downloaded to the operation terminal 3 from the cloud server 5, other program distribution servers, or the like.

Cloud server 5 is an example of a data management device according to the present invention. The cloud server 5 is a server computer installed and operated by the manufacturer, sales company, etc. of the device 2, and is connected to the Internet. The cloud server 5 includes a communication interface 50, a CPU 51, a ROM 52, a RAM 53, and a secondary storage device 54, as shown in FIG. These components are interconnected via bus 55 .

The communication interface 50 is an interface for connecting to the Internet and communicating with the operation terminal 3 and the device 2 via the home gateway 4 . The CPU 51 comprehensively controls the cloud server 5 . Details of the functions of the cloud server 5 realized by the CPU 51 will be described later.

ROM 52 stores a plurality of firmwares and data used during execution of these firmwares. A RAM 53 is used as a work area for the CPU 51 .

The secondary storage device 54 is a large-capacity storage device including a readable and writable non-volatile semiconductor memory such as an EEPROM and a flash memory, or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The secondary storage device 54 stores a data management program 540, a device control program 541, and a customer DB 542, as shown in FIG.

The data management program 540 is a program describing processing for managing data on each device 2 in each customer's home (that is, house H), more specifically, processing for managing a customer DB 542 to be described later. The device control program 541 is a program in which processing for controlling each device 2 in each customer's house is described.

The customer DB 542 is a database in which data (hereinafter referred to as customer data) relating to customers who have registered subscriptions to the device control service provided by the cloud server 5 are registered. A user who is a resident of the house H or a contractor activates the device operation application described above stored in the secondary storage device 36 of the operation terminal 3 and inputs user information. The user information includes personal information of the user and information about the device 2 . As a result, the user information of the user is transmitted from the operation terminal 3 to the cloud server 5 and registered in the customer DB 542 as customer data of the customer by the CPU 51 of the cloud server 5 .

The customer DB 542 is managed based on the data management model shown in FIG. In this data management model, each room is associated with a service, and the service is associated with a specific device 2, here, the device 2 installed in the living room. Here, the service is the effect of the original function of the device 2 . For example, if the device 2 is an air conditioner, the service corresponds to adjustment of air temperature such as cooling and heating, and if the device 2 is a lighting device, it corresponds to the lighting of the space. Although not shown, the secondary storage device 54 also stores a database in which information about operations of all devices 2 corresponding to the device control service is registered.

Next, functions of the cloud server 5 will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the cloud server 5 functionally includes a registration request data receiving unit 500, a data updating unit 501, an operation data receiving unit 502, a control command generating unit 503, and a control command transmitting unit 504. and These functional units are implemented by the CPU 51 executing a data management program 540 and a device control program 541 stored in the secondary storage device 54 .

The registration request data receiving unit 500 receives registration request data transmitted from the operation terminal 3 . Registration request data is an example of first data according to the present invention. The registration request data includes the user information of the user who has purchased the device 2 or the contractor who has input it into the operation terminal 3 using the device operation application described above. The personal information included in the user information includes information such as the user's name, address, gender, date of birth, and the layout of the user's home.

Information about the device 2 included in the user information includes the model name, IP (Internet Protocol) address, information indicating the installation area (for example, room names such as "living room" and "kitchen"), and service information. It includes information indicating serviceable areas (for example, one or more room names), service capability values in each serviceable area (hereinafter referred to as service providing area), and the like.

The service capability value is an index indicating the degree of service capability for the service providing area when the device 2 operates in a normal mode. In the present embodiment, the maximum service capability value is (1.0) for a service providing area (hereinafter referred to as an installation area) where the device 2 is actually installed. For service provision areas other than the installation area, the user or contractor determines a value greater than 0.0 and less than 1.0 as the service capability value according to the distance between the service provision area and the installation area. do.

The above-mentioned operation in the normal mode refers to operation in a setting state that is generally considered normal in the device 2. For example, when the device 2 is an air conditioner, the set temperature is generally a comfortable temperature. There is, and the operation in the state where the set air volume is set to "medium" corresponds to the operation in the normal mode. Further, for example, when the equipment 2 is an illuminator, illumination at a generally comfortable illuminance corresponds to normal operation.

The registration request data receiving section 500 supplies the received registration request data to the data updating section 501 . The data update unit 501 updates the contents of the customer DB 542 based on the contents of the registration request data and the data management model shown in FIG. The registration request data receiving section 500 and the data updating section 501 are examples of management means according to the present invention.

The operation data reception unit 502 receives operation data transmitted from the operation terminal 3 . Operation data is an example of second data according to the present invention. The operation data includes operation information regarding the operation of the device 2 at the user's home. The user can request the cloud server 5 to turn on the air conditioner in the living room, for example, by inputting operation information indicating the room, the device 2, and the operation content via the operation terminal 3. In addition, the user can request the cloud server 5 to operate the device 2, for example, to “cool the kitchen” by inputting operation information indicating requests for rooms and services via the operation terminal 3. can. In addition, the user can operate the device 2 to improve the condition of, for example, “it is hot in the kitchen” by inputting operation information indicating the feeling of the room and the environment of the room via the operation terminal 3. 5 can be requested.

The operation data reception unit 502 supplies the received operation data to the control command generation unit 503 . The control command generation unit 503 identifies the target device 2 based on the operation data received by the operation data reception unit 502 and the customer DB 542 and generates a control command for controlling the device 2 . At that time, the control command generator 503 determines an appropriate control value based on the capacity value of the device 2 for the specified room.

For example, if the capacity value of the device 2 for the room is 0.5 and the device 2 is an air conditioner, the air volume is set to “high”, or if the device 2 is a lighting device, the illuminance is increased. For example, the device 2 is operated with a higher load than usual. The control command generation unit 503 can also determine an appropriate control value based on the floor plan of the user's house (that is, house H). For example, if the device 2 is an air conditioner, the control command generator 503 can adjust the direction of the wind so as to blow temperature-controlled air toward the room.

The control command generator 503 supplies the generated control command to the control command transmitter 504 . The control command transmission unit 504 transmits the control command generated by the control command generation unit 503 to the device 2 to be controlled. The operation data receiving section 502, the control command generating section 503, and the control command transmitting section 504 are examples of device control means according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the flow of processing executed by the device control system 1. As shown in FIG. When user information is input to the operation terminal 3 by a user or a contractor, the operation terminal 3 generates registration request data in which the user information is stored (step S101). The operation terminal 3 transmits the generated registration request data to the cloud server 5 (step S102).

Upon receiving the registration request data from the operation terminal 3, the cloud server 5 updates the customer DB 542 based on the received registration request data and the data management model (see FIG. 5) (step S103).

Thereafter, when the user inputs operation information to the operation terminal 3, the operation terminal 3 generates operation data in which the operation information is stored (step S104). The operation terminal 3 transmits the generated operation data to the cloud server 5 (step S105).

Upon receiving the operation data from the operation terminal 3, the cloud server 5 generates a control command based on the received operation data and the customer DB 542 (step S106). The cloud server 5 transmits the generated control command to the device 2 to be controlled (step S107).

When the device 2 receives the control command transmitted from the cloud server 5 via the home gateway 4, the device 2 operates according to the received control command (step S108).

As described above, according to the device control system 1 of the present embodiment, the cloud server 5 uses a data management model for associating the device 2 with one or a plurality of rooms in which the device 2 can provide services. Data related to the device 2 is managed based on. Therefore, even in a room without an air conditioner or lighting equipment, the environment can be adjusted to the user's desired temperature, brightness, etc., reducing the user's economic burden and improving comfort. I can plan. In addition, since the user can request adjustment of the environment without specifying the device 2, convenience is enhanced.

(Modification 1)
The customer DB 542 may be managed based on the data management model shown in FIG. In this data management model, a virtual device 2 is associated with a room (kitchen in this example) serving as a service area other than the installation area. The virtual device 2 corresponds to the real device 2 capable of providing services to the room, and the information regarding its control consists of the information regarding the control of the real device 2 and the capacity value of the real device 2 for the room. determined based on

(Modification 2)
Also, the customer DB 542 may be managed based on the data management model shown in FIG. This data management model manages relationships between different rooms. The relevance includes spatial coupling, thermal coupling, presence or absence of optical coupling between the rooms, strength of these couplings (mainly determined according to the distance between the rooms), and the like.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are of course possible without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, the cloud server 5 not only acquires the service provision area corresponding to each device 2 and its capacity value from the information input by the user, but also learns from the history of the operation state of each device 2 at the user's home. can be obtained with Further, the cloud server 5 may acquire information on the operation of each device 2 for providing appropriate services to each service provision area by learning from the history of the operation state of each device 2 in the user's home. good.

Further, the cloud server 5 may cooperatively operate the other device 2 according to the operation status of the device 2 controlled based on the operation data from the operation terminal 3 . For example, when the IH cooker is used in the kitchen for a long time, the cloud server 5 controls the air conditioner in the living room to perform cooling operation in order to lower the air temperature in the kitchen.

The cloud server 5 may further include a data providing unit that provides customer data managed by the customer DB 542 in response to a request from a third party (hereinafter referred to as servicer). In order to protect the privacy of the customer, the data provider abstracts the customer data under predetermined conditions and provides the servicer with the abstracted customer data.

Also, all or part of the functional units (see FIG. 6) of the cloud server 5 may be realized by dedicated hardware. Dedicated hardware is, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a combination thereof.

The data management program 540 and the device control program 541 stored in the secondary storage device 54 of the cloud server 5 are stored in a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a magneto-optical disc (Magneto-optical disc). Optical Disc), USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, memory card, HDD, or other computer-readable recording medium for distribution. By installing these programs on a specific or general-purpose computer, the computer can be made to function as the cloud server 5 in the above embodiment.

Alternatively, the data management program 540 and the device control program 541 may be stored in a disk device or the like of another server on the Internet, and these programs may be downloaded to the cloud server 5 from that server.

The present invention is capable of various embodiments and modifications without departing from its broader spirit and scope. Moreover, the embodiment described above is for explaining the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the present invention. That is, the scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims rather than the embodiments. Various modifications made within the scope of the claims and within the meaning of equivalent inventions are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

1 device control system 2 device 3 operation terminal 4 home gateway 5 cloud server 30 display 31 operation reception unit 32, 50 communication interface 33, 51 CPU, 34, 52 ROM, 35, 53 RAM, 36 , 54 secondary storage device, 37, 55 bus, 500 registration request data receiving unit, 501 data updating unit, 502 operation data receiving unit, 503 control command generating unit, 504 control command transmitting unit, 540 data management program, 541 device control Program, 542 Customer DB

Claims (9)

a management means for managing data relating to the device based on a data management model for associating the device with one or more areas in which the device can provide service;
the data about the device includes a capability value of the device in each area in which the device can provide service ;
The data management device , wherein the capability value is an index indicating the level of service capability for the area under normal operation of the device . 2. The data management device according to claim 1, wherein said ability value is acquired by learning from a history of operating states of said device. 3. The data management device according to claim 1, wherein said data management model indicates a relationship between a service type and said equipment in each room in a building. 4. The data management apparatus of claim 3, wherein the data management model further indicates relationships of at least one of thermal coupling and optical coupling between different rooms within the building. The management means manages data about the device based on first data received from the operation terminal and indicating information about one or more areas in which the device can provide services, and the data management model. The data management device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. further comprising device control means for controlling the device based on second data indicating operation information specifying one of the one or a plurality of areas received from the operation terminal and data related to the device; Item 6. The data management device according to item 5. an operating terminal;
A device control system comprising the data management device according to claim 6 . a management means for managing data about the device based on a data management model for associating the device with one or more areas serviceable by the device;
the data about the device includes a capability value of the device in each area in which the device can provide service ;
The data management method , wherein the capacity value is an index indicating the degree of service capacity for the area in the normal operation of the device . the computer,
Functioning as a management means for managing data about the device based on a data management model for associating the device with one or more areas in which the device can provide services;
the data about the device includes a capability value of the device in each area in which the device can provide service;
The program according to claim 1, wherein the capacity value is an index indicating the degree of service capacity for the area in normal operation of the device .

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