CN113080758A

CN113080758A - Home appliance, home appliance system, evaluation method, and evaluation criterion generation method

Info

Publication number: CN113080758A
Application number: CN202011144008.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 泷川正史; 丸谷裕树; 中川达也; 金山将也
Original assignee: Toshiba Lifestyle Products and Services Corp
Current assignee: Toshiba Lifestyle Products and Services Corp
Priority date: 2019-12-23
Filing date: 2020-10-23
Publication date: 2021-07-09
Also published as: JP2021097877A; JP7502857B2

Abstract

The present invention addresses the problem of providing a home appliance, a home appliance system, an evaluation method, and an evaluation criterion generation method that are capable of detecting and evaluating a method of operating a home appliance performed by a user, thereby making it possible to determine with high accuracy whether the user is using the home appliance efficiently. The home appliance according to the embodiment is a home appliance that operates according to a user operation and exhibits a predetermined function. The home appliance includes an operation detection unit. The operation detection unit detects an operation of the home appliance operated by the user.

Description

Home appliance, home appliance system, evaluation method, and evaluation criterion generation method

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a home appliance, a home appliance system, an evaluation method, and an evaluation criterion generation method.

Background

Among home electric appliances, there are apparatuses such as a vacuum cleaner that are driven by a user to be used. The vacuum cleaner is provided with a dust sensor for sensing dust (dust) sucked from the head. Whether the cleaner is efficiently used is judged based on the sensing result of the debris sensor. However, it may be difficult to determine whether the vacuum cleaner is efficiently used based only on the amount of dust sucked by the dust sensor.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1 Japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2019-188238

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

The present invention has been made to solve the problem of providing a home appliance, a home appliance system, an evaluation method, and an evaluation criterion generating method that can detect the operation of a home appliance operated by a user to determine with high accuracy whether the user is using the home appliance efficiently.

Means for solving the problems

The home appliance according to the embodiment is a home appliance that operates according to a user operation and exhibits a predetermined function. The home appliance includes an operation detection unit. The operation detection unit detects an operation of the home appliance operated by the user.

Effects of the invention

According to the invention, whether the user uses the household appliance efficiently can be judged.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a vacuum cleaner according to a first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a head of the cleaner.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the vacuum cleaner.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating a learning model used by the evaluation unit.

Fig. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a part of a neural network used in the learning model.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing in the evaluation control mode.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the adjustment process of the evaluation criterion.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the home appliance system.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the terminal device.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a display screen of the terminal device.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing a screen for cleaning a map.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the evaluation criterion generation process.

In the figure:

10 … home appliance system, 100 … vacuum cleaner, 112 … gripping part, 112a … operating part, 112b … reporting part, 114 … electric blower, 116 … fan motor, 120 … extension tube, 130 … head, 133 … first rotary brush, 134 … second rotary brush, 135 … first brush motor, 136 … second brush motor, 140 … operation detecting part, 150 … control circuit, 151 … evaluating part, 152 … electric blower controlling part, 153 … rotary brush controlling part, 154 … evaluation reference adjusting part, 155 … communication part, … storing part, 170 … dust detecting part, 180 … learning model, 200 … information processing device, 210 … evaluating part, 212 … evaluation reference adjusting part, 36213 evaluation reference generating part, 214 … storing part, 300 … terminal device, 36311 72 reporting part, 400 … speaker intelligent speaker

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, a home appliance system, an evaluation method, and an evaluation criterion generating method according to the embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals are given to the components having the same or similar functions. Moreover, a repetitive description of these configurations may be omitted. In the present specification, "based on XX" means "based on at least XX", and includes cases based on other elements than XX. Further, "based on XX" is not limited to the case of directly using XX, and includes a case of based on an element obtained by performing an operation or processing on XX. In the present specification, "YY 1 or YY 2" includes not only the case where only "YY 1" is present or the case where only "YY 2" is present, but also the case where both "YY 1" and "YY 2" are present. In this regard, the same applies to the case where three or more elements are connected by an or. In the present specification, "at least one of ZZ1 and ZZ 2" includes not only the case where "ZZ 1" and "ZZ 2" are both present, but also the case where "ZZ 1" alone or "ZZ 2" alone. "XX", "YY 1", "YY 2", "ZZ 1", and "ZZ 2" are arbitrary elements (for example, arbitrary information, functions, or configurations), respectively.

In this specification, front-back, left-right, and up-down are defined with reference to a user who uses the electric vacuum cleaner. In the present specification, "the same" and "parallel" include "substantially the same" and "substantially parallel". In this specification, "connected" also includes the case of electrical connection.

(first embodiment)

[ 1-1 ] overall construction of vacuum cleaner ] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall construction of the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner 100 is an example of a home appliance that operates according to a user operation and exhibits a predetermined function. The vacuum cleaner 100 is, for example, a so-called stick-type electric vacuum cleaner, and is a cordless electric vacuum cleaner incorporating a secondary battery 115 as a power source. However, the vacuum cleaner 100 is not limited to the above example, and may be another type of vacuum cleaner such as a bucket (canister) type vacuum cleaner having a vacuum cleaner main body including wheels.

The vacuum cleaner 100 includes, for example, a cleaner main body 110, an extension pipe 120, and a head 130. The cleaner body 110 includes, for example, a body case 111, a grip 112, a dust collecting device 113, an electric blower 114, a secondary battery 115, and a control circuit 150.

The main body case 111 forms an outer contour of the cleaner main body 110. The main body casing 111 accommodates an electric blower 114, a secondary battery 115, and a control circuit 150. The main body case 111 has an extension pipe connecting portion 111a to which one end of an extension pipe 120 described later is connected.

The grip 112 is provided at the upper rear end of the main body case 111. The grip 112 is a part that is gripped by a user when the vacuum cleaner 100 is used to clean the surface F to be cleaned. The grip 112 includes an operation unit 112a that receives a user operation related to the operation of the vacuum cleaner 100. The operation unit 112a includes, for example, a plurality of buttons. The grip portion 112 includes a notification portion 112b and a motion detection portion 140. Details of the reporting unit 112b and the operation detecting unit 140 will be described later.

The dust collection device 113 is detachably attached to the main body case 111. The dust collecting device 113 is a device for separating dust contained in air drawn into the cleaner body 110 by the operation of an electric blower 114 described later. The dust collecting device 113 may be, for example, a centrifugal separation type dust collecting device that separates dust by rotating dust-containing air, or a filter type dust collecting device that separates dust by passing dust-containing air through a filter.

The electric blower 114 includes a fan motor and an impeller rotated by the fan motor, and the electric blower 114 is driven to generate a negative pressure. The electric blower 114 sucks air containing dust from a suction port 130a of a head 130 described later into a dust collecting device 113 of the cleaner body 110 by the generated negative pressure, and exhausts the air from which the dust is separated by the dust collecting device 113 to the outside of the cleaner 100.

The secondary battery 115 supplies power necessary for the operation of the vacuum cleaner 100 to the vacuum cleaner 100. For example, the secondary battery 115 supplies electric power to the electric blower 114, the control circuit 150, a first brush motor 135 and a second brush motor 136, which will be described later, and the like.

The control circuit 150 includes a circuit board provided with a wiring pattern and a plurality of electronic components mounted on the circuit board. These electronic components include, for example, one or more of a hardware processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes a computer program, an LSI (Large Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), and the like.

The extension pipe 120 is formed in an elongated shape, for example, and has a first end 120a and a second end 120 b. The first end 120a of the extension pipe 120 is air-tightly connected to the extension pipe connection part 111a of the cleaner body 110. The second end 120b of the extension pipe 120 is hermetically connected to the head 130. A connection wire for electrically connecting the cleaner body 110 and the head 130 is provided inside the extension pipe 120.

The head 130 is a portion that is moved along the surface F to be cleaned. The head 130 of the present embodiment will be described in detail below.

[ 1-2. head ]

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a head of the cleaner. The head 130 includes, for example, a connection pipe 131, a housing 132, a first rotating brush 133, a second rotating brush 134, a first brush motor 135 (see fig. 3), and a second brush motor 136 (see fig. 3).

The connection pipe 131 is a portion that hermetically connects the housing 132 and the second end 120b of the extension pipe 120. The connection pipe 131 is rotatably connected to the housing 132. The housing 132 and the extension pipe 120 are connected by the connection pipe 131, thereby forming an air passage from the suction port 130a of the housing 132 to the cleaner body 110 through the extension pipe 120.

The housing 132 is formed long in the lateral direction, i.e., formed in a long shape in the left-right direction. The casing 132 has a suction port 130a at a lower portion facing the surface F to be cleaned. All or most of the suction port 130a opens downward. The suction port 130a serves as an opening portion through which dust on the surface F to be cleaned is sucked when the electric blower 114 of the cleaner body 110 is driven.

The first rotating brush 133 is provided at the suction port 130a and is disposed along the surface F to be cleaned. The first rotating brush 133 is provided at the front end of the head 130. The longitudinal direction of the first rotating brush 133 is parallel to the longitudinal direction (left-right direction) of the head 130. When the head 130 is viewed from below, the first rotating brush 133 rotates in a rotating direction from the front side to the rear side.

The second rotating brush 134 is provided at the suction port 130a and is disposed along the surface F to be cleaned. The second rotating brush 134 is provided behind the first rotating brush 133 in the front-rear direction of the head 130. The longitudinal direction of the second rotating brush 134 is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the first rotating brush 133. When the head 130 is viewed from below, the second rotating brush 134 rotates in a rotational direction from the rear side toward the front side. That is, the first and second

rotating brushes

133 and 134 rotate in opposite directions to each other. The present invention can be applied to both cases where the first rotating brush 133 and the second rotating brush 134 rotate in the same direction and where one rotating brush is provided on the head 130.

[ 1-3. functional constitution of vacuum cleaner ]

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner 100 includes: an operation detecting part 140, a dust detecting part 170, an operating part 112a, a reporting part 112b, a fan motor 116, a first brush motor 135, a second brush motor 136, and a control circuit 150.

The motion detection unit 140 includes an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor, and detects the motion of the head 130 of the vacuum cleaner 100 operated by the user. In the present embodiment, the motion detection unit 140 is provided in the grip unit 112. Thus, even if the head 130 collides with an obstacle when the vacuum cleaner 100 is operated, it is possible to reduce a decrease in detection accuracy due to vibration and easily secure strength necessary for mounting the sensor. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the motion detection unit 140 may be provided in the head unit 130. If the motion detection unit 140 is provided in the head unit 130, the detection accuracy can be improved by directly detecting the movement of the head unit 130. The motion detector 140 may be provided in a connecting member (e.g., the extension pipe 120) between the grip 112 and the head 130. Thus, the operation detection unit 140 indirectly detects the operation of the head 130 while avoiding damage to the sensor and a decrease in detection accuracy.

The operation detection unit 140 detects operation information indicating the operation of the vacuum cleaner 100 based on the outputs of the acceleration sensor and the gyro sensor, and outputs the detected operation information to the control circuit 150. The operation detection unit 140 detects and outputs operation information at regular time intervals. The "motion information" includes, for example, a speed, an acceleration, a moving direction, a moving distance of one motion, and the like of the head 130, but is not limited thereto. For example, the "operation information" may include information such as a lifting time, a non-moving time, a speed change, a material of the floor surface, an air volume of the electric blower 114, instantaneous power consumption, and a collision against an obstacle of the head 130.

The dust detector 170 is a sensor that detects the amount of dust sucked from the head 130. The dust detection unit 170 is an optical sensor including a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and is provided at a position where dust passes through the vacuum cleaner 100. Light emitted from the light emitting element is received by the light receiving element, but if dust passes through, the light is blocked. The dust detection unit 170 detects the amount of dust based on a signal output from the light receiving element, and outputs dust amount information indicating the detected amount of dust to the control circuit 150. The dust detector 170 detects and outputs the dust amount information at regular time intervals.

The operation unit 112a includes a power button for supplying power to the vacuum cleaner 100 and a mode setting button for setting an operation mode of the vacuum cleaner 100. The operation unit 112a outputs a signal for determining the button pressed by the user to the control circuit 150.

The report unit 112b has an LED (Light Emitting Diode) that emits blue or red Light, and reports information on the operation of the vacuum cleaner 100. For example, the notification unit 112b causes the blue LED to emit light when the vacuum cleaner 100 is efficiently used, and causes the red LED to emit light when the vacuum cleaner 100 is not efficiently used. The details of the evaluation as to whether or not the vacuum cleaner 100 is efficiently used will be described later. The reporting unit 112b is not limited to an LED. For example, the reporting unit 112b may be a display device that displays information on a screen or a speaker that reports information by voice.

The fan motor 116 is a motor that rotationally drives an impeller of the electric blower 114. The fan motor 116 is, for example, a dc motor, but is not limited thereto, and various motors may be used. The electric blower 114 sucks air from the suction port 130a by negative pressure generated by rotation of the fan motor 116.

The first brush motor 135 is a motor that rotationally drives the first rotary brush 133. The second brush motor 136 is a motor for rotationally driving the second rotating brush 134. The first brush motor 135 and the second brush motor 136 are, for example, dc motors, but are not limited thereto, and various motors may be used. The first rotating brush 133 and the second rotating brush 134 rotate, and thereby dust can be swept up from the surface F to be cleaned.

The control circuit 150 includes an evaluation unit 151, an electric blower control unit 152, a rotary brush control unit 153, an evaluation reference adjustment unit 154, a communication unit 155, and a storage unit 156. Among these functional units, the evaluation unit 151, the electric blower control unit 152, the rotary brush control unit 153, and the evaluation reference adjustment unit 154 are realized by a hardware processor provided in the control circuit 150 executing a computer program.

The storage unit 156 is a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory (flash memory). The storage unit 156 stores operation information indicating the operation of the head 130 detected by the operation detection unit 140 in association with dust amount information indicating the amount of dust detected by the dust detection unit 170. The storage unit 156 also stores evaluation criteria used by the evaluation unit 151 and setting information of the operation mode of the vacuum cleaner 100 set by using the operation unit 112 a.

The evaluation unit 151 evaluates the operation of the vacuum cleaner 100 detected by the operation detection unit 140 based on a predetermined evaluation criterion. Specifically, the evaluation unit 151 reads the evaluation criterion from the storage unit 156, and evaluates the motion of the head 130 based on the motion information (the velocity, acceleration, moving direction, moving distance of one motion, and the like of the head 130) output from the motion detection unit 140 and the evaluation criterion.

For example, the evaluation criterion is an appropriate range of data included in the operation information. Specifically, when the evaluation criterion is a value indicating an appropriate speed range of the head 130, the evaluation unit 151 outputs an evaluation value indicating whether or not the speed of the head 130 detected by the motion detection unit 140 is included in the appropriate speed range.

The notification unit 112b turns on the LED to blue or red based on the evaluation value output from the evaluation unit 151. For example, when the speed of the head 130 is included in the appropriate speed range, the notification unit 112b turns on the LED in blue. When the speed of the head 130 is not within the appropriate speed range, the notification unit 112b turns on the LED in red.

In addition, when the reporting unit 112b is provided with a display device, the evaluation-related information derived from the evaluation value may be displayed on the display device. For example, when the speed of the head 130 exceeds the appropriate speed range, a message such as "move bar a little more slowly" may be displayed on the display device as evaluation-related information. In addition, when the notification unit 112b is provided with a speaker, a message may be output by voice.

The operation unit 112a is used to set whether or not to perform control based on an evaluation value for the operation of the head unit 130. Specifically, the operation unit 112a receives the setting of the "evaluation control mode" in response to a button operation from the user. The "evaluation control mode" is a mode for controlling the electric blower 114, the first rotary brush 133, and the second rotary brush 134 based on the evaluation value calculated by the evaluation unit 151. When the "evaluation control mode" is set, the evaluation unit 151 outputs the evaluation value calculated using the evaluation criterion to the electric blower control unit 152 and the rotary brush control unit 153.

When the "evaluation control mode" is set, the electric blower control unit 152 controls the electric blower 114 based on the evaluation value calculated by the evaluation unit 151. The rotary brush control unit 153 controls the first brush motor 135 and the second brush motor 136 based on the evaluation value calculated by the evaluation unit 151.

For example, when the evaluation value indicates that the speed of the head 130 exceeds the appropriate speed range, the electric blower control unit 152 controls the fan motor 116 so that the impeller of the electric blower 114 is rapidly rotated. On the other hand, when the evaluation value indicates that the speed of the head 130 is smaller than the appropriate speed range, the electric blower control unit 152 controls the fan motor 116 so that the impeller of the electric blower 114 rotates slowly. When the evaluation value indicates that the speed of the head 130 is included in the appropriate speed range, the electric blower control unit 152 controls the fan motor 116 so that the rotational speed of the impeller of the electric blower 114 is maintained at the normal rotational speed.

Similarly, for example, when the evaluation value indicates that the speed of the head 130 exceeds the appropriate speed range, the rotating brush control unit 153 controls the first brush motor 135 and the second brush motor 136 so that the first rotating brush 133 and the second rotating brush 134 rotate quickly. On the other hand, when the evaluation value indicates that the speed of the head 130 is smaller than the appropriate speed range, the rotating brush control unit 153 controls the first brush motor 135 and the second brush motor 136 so that the first rotating brush 133 and the second rotating brush 134 rotate slowly. When the evaluation value indicates that the speed of the head 130 is included in the appropriate speed range, the rotating brush control unit 153 controls the first brush motor 135 and the second brush motor 136 so that the rotational speeds of the first rotating brush 133 and the second rotating brush 134 are maintained at the normal rotational speed.

The evaluation criterion adjustment unit 154 adjusts the evaluation criterion based on the amount of dust information and the operation information accumulated in the storage unit 156. Details of the processing content of the evaluation criterion adjustment unit 154 will be described later. The communication unit 155 is a communication device for communicating with an external device via a network.

The "evaluation criterion" used by the evaluation unit 151 is an appropriate range of data included in the operation information, but is not limited to this. For example, the "evaluation criterion" may be a learning model formed of a neural network. Hereinafter, a learning model as an evaluation criterion will be described.

[ 1-4. constitution of learning model ]

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating a learning model used by the evaluation unit. The learning model 180 includes an input layer 181, an intermediate layer 182, and an output layer 183. In fig. 4, the learning model 180 is made to include one intermediate layer 182, but may include a plurality of intermediate layers 182.

When the evaluation unit 151 inputs the operation information of the cleaner 100 (the speed, acceleration, moving direction, moving distance of one operation, and the like of the head 130) to the input layer 181, the evaluation value is output from the output layer 183. The "evaluation value" is a value from 0 to 1, and a larger value indicates that the cleaner 100 is used more efficiently.

Fig. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a part of a neural network used in the learning model. x represents the value of a cell (node) of each layer. The value of each cell is calculated by multiplying the weight w by the output of the cell of the previous layer and adding the result to a predetermined function. The content is expressed by the following expression.

[ mathematical formula 1]

y^t _m＝w^t-1 _1m·x^t-1 ₁+w^t-1 _2m·x^t-1 ₂+…+w^t-1 _nm·x^t-1 _n+b^t-1x^t _m＝f(y^t _m)

…(1)

Here, b is a bias term. As the function f, a ReLU, Sigmoid function, or the like is used. The evaluation result obtained by the learning model 180 is obtained by repeating the calculation of the above expression (1) from the input layer 181 to the output layer 183. The term "learning" means to adjust the weight w, the bias term b, and the like to appropriate values. Learning is performed by a random gradient descent method or the like. That is, the weight w and the bias term b of each layer are assigned random values, and a data group as teacher data is assigned to the input layer 181. In the initial stage of learning, the output value output from the output layer 183 is an erroneous value, but in the case of teacher data, since the value (target value) which is originally desired to be output is known, the weights and the like are updated in reverse order from the output layer 183 to the input layer 181 so that the deviation (error) between the output value and the target value is reduced. This is called error back-propagation, and the error of the output value from the target value is expressed by a squared error or cross entropy, or the like. In this case, if the error is expressed by a differentiable function, the amount (gradient) of adjustment for reducing the error can be calculated.

The evaluation unit 151 evaluates the movement of the head 130 using a learning model, and calculates an evaluation value indicating the evaluation result. As described above, the "evaluation value" is a value from 0 to 1, and a larger value indicates that the cleaner 100 is used more efficiently. The evaluation unit 151 outputs the calculated evaluation value to the reporting unit 112 b.

The notification unit 112b turns on the LED to blue or red based on the evaluation value output from the evaluation unit 151. For example, when the evaluation value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the notification unit 112b turns on the LED in blue. When the evaluation value is smaller than the predetermined threshold value, the notification unit 112b turns on the LED in red.

In addition, when the reporting unit 112b is provided with a display device, the evaluation-related information derived from the evaluation value may be displayed on the display device. For example, a score for cleaning may be calculated based on the evaluation value, and a message "cleaning today is 82 scores" may be displayed on the display device. In addition, when the notification unit 112b is provided with a speaker, a message may be output by voice.

[ 1-5. evaluation of treatment in control mode ]

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing in the evaluation control mode. The flowchart is repeated at regular intervals after the power of the vacuum cleaner 100 is turned on. First, the control circuit 150 determines whether or not the evaluation control mode is set using the operation unit 112a (S10). When determining that the control mode is not set (no in S10), the control circuit 150 ends the processing according to the present flowchart.

On the other hand, when determining that the control mode is set (yes in S10), the control circuit 150 acquires the operation information and the evaluation criterion from the storage unit 156 (S11, S12). The evaluation unit 151 of the control circuit 150 calculates an evaluation value regarding the movement of the head 130 based on the movement information and the evaluation criterion acquired from the storage unit 156 (S13).

The reporting unit 112b reports the evaluation value calculated by the evaluation unit 151 or the evaluation-related information derived from the evaluation value (S14). The electric blower control unit 152 controls the fan motor 116 based on the evaluation value calculated by the evaluation unit 151, and controls the rotation speed of the impeller of the electric blower control unit 152 (S15). The rotating brush control unit 153 controls the first brush motor 135 and the second brush motor 136 based on the evaluation value calculated by the evaluation unit 151, and controls the rotation speed of the first rotating brush 133 and the second rotating brush 134 (S16). The process according to the present flowchart is ended.

[ 1-6. adjustment treatment of evaluation standards ]

Next, the adjustment processing of the evaluation criterion will be explained. The state of the floor (floor, carpet pile, etc.) of the user's room as a cleaning target differs depending on the user who uses the vacuum cleaner 100. If the state of the floor surface of the cleaning object is different, the optimum operation of the head 130 is also different. Therefore, in order to appropriately evaluate the operation of the head 130 according to the state of the ground surface to be cleaned, the evaluation criterion adjustment unit 154 performs adjustment processing of the evaluation criterion.

Here, the adjustment processing of the evaluation criterion in the case where the evaluation criterion is the learning model 180 shown in fig. 4 will be described. The evaluation reference adjustment unit 154 additionally learns the learned learning model 180 mounted on the vacuum cleaner 100 based on the operation information and the dust amount information detected during cleaning.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the adjustment processing of the evaluation criterion. This flowchart is repeatedly executed at regular time intervals when the user operates the vacuum cleaner 100. First, the evaluation reference adjustment unit 154 of the control circuit 150 acquires the motion information (the velocity, acceleration, moving direction, moving distance of one motion, and the like of the head 130) detected by the motion detection unit 140 (S20). Next, the evaluation reference adjustment unit 154 acquires the amount of dust information (information indicating the amount of dust sucked from the head 130) detected by the dust detection unit 170 (S21).

The evaluation criterion adjustment unit 154 calculates an evaluation value based on the acquired dust amount information (S22). For example, the evaluation criterion adjustment unit 154 calculates the evaluation value by a predetermined method so that the range of the evaluation value is 0 to 1, and the evaluation value becomes larger as the amount of dust is larger.

Next, the evaluation criterion adjustment unit 154 adjusts the evaluation criterion using teacher data that associates the operation information acquired in step S20 with the evaluation value calculated in step S22 (S23). Specifically, the evaluation criterion adjustment unit 154 adjusts the weight w, the offset term b, and the like in the above equation (1) to appropriate values by error back propagation using the teacher data. The evaluation criterion adjustment unit 154 stores the adjusted parameters such as the weight w and the bias term b in the storage unit 156 as evaluation criteria. The process according to the present flowchart is ended.

In this way, the evaluation criterion adjustment unit 154 performs the adjustment process of the evaluation criterion by performing additional learning of the learning model 180. Thus, the evaluation unit 151 can appropriately evaluate the operation of the head 130.

As described above, the vacuum cleaner 100 according to the first embodiment includes the operation detection unit 140 that detects the operation of the vacuum cleaner 100 operated by the user. By using the detection result of the operation detecting unit 140, the vacuum cleaner 100 according to the first embodiment can accurately determine whether or not the user is using the vacuum cleaner 100 efficiently.

(second embodiment)

[ 2-1. Overall Structure of household Electrical appliance System ]

In the first embodiment, an embodiment of a single dust collector is explained. In contrast, in the second embodiment, the external device is provided with a part of the function of the vacuum cleaner, and the details of the second embodiment will be described below.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the home appliance system. The home appliance system 10 includes: a vacuum cleaner 100, an information processing device 200, a terminal device 300, and an intelligent speaker 400. The vacuum cleaner 100 can communicate with the terminal device 300 and the smart speaker 400 via, for example, a router R provided in a house. The cleaner 100 is connected to a network NW via a router R, and can communicate with the information processing device 200. The Network NW includes, for example, one or more of the internet, a cellular Network, a Wi-Fi Network, a WAN (Wide Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), a public line, a telephone line, a radio base station, and the like.

In the second embodiment, the terminal device 300 is provided with the same functions as those of the reporting unit 112b shown in fig. 3, and the information processing device 200 is provided with the same functions as those of the evaluation unit 151 and the evaluation criterion adjustment unit 154 shown in fig. 3. Further, the communication unit 155 (see fig. 3) provided in the vacuum cleaner 100 according to the second embodiment transmits at least one of the detection result of the operation detection unit 140, the evaluation value, and the evaluation-related information to the external device (the information processing apparatus 200, the terminal apparatus 300, or the smart speaker 400).

[ 2-2. functional configuration of information processing apparatus ]

Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus 200 is a computer and includes a memory for storing a computer program and a hardware processor such as a CPU for executing the computer program. The information processing device 200 includes an evaluation unit 210, a communication unit 211, an evaluation criterion adjustment unit 212, an evaluation criterion generation unit 213, and a storage unit 214.

The evaluation unit 210 and the evaluation criterion adjustment unit 212 are functional units realized by a hardware processor executing a computer program. The communication unit 211 is a communication device for communicating with an external device via the network NW. The storage unit 214 is implemented by, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a flash Memory, or a hybrid storage device in which a plurality of these devices are combined.

The communication unit 211 receives the operation information and the dust amount information from the vacuum cleaner 100 and stores the operation information and the dust amount information in the storage unit 214. The evaluation unit 210 calculates an evaluation value using the operation information and the evaluation criterion. The evaluation value calculation method is the same as that of the first embodiment, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted. The communication unit 211 transmits the evaluation value calculated by the evaluation unit 210 to the cleaner 100 via the network NW. When receiving the evaluation value from the information processing device 200, the vacuum cleaner 100 transmits the received evaluation value to the terminal device 300 or the smart speaker 400 via the router R.

Further, the storage unit 214 stores therein the operation information and the dust amount information received from the vacuum cleaner 100 by a plurality of times of cleaning. The evaluation criterion generating unit 213 generates an evaluation criterion as a criterion for evaluating the operation of the head unit 130 based on the information stored in the storage unit 214. The details of the evaluation criterion generation processing will be described later.

[ 2-3. functional constitution of terminal device ]

Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the terminal device. The terminal device 300 is a portable terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet computer, and includes a memory for storing a computer program, and a hardware processor such as a CPU for executing the computer program. The terminal device 300 includes a communication unit 310 and a notification unit 311.

The communication unit 310 is a communication device for communicating with an external device via the network NW. The communication unit 310 receives the evaluation value from the cleaner 100. The report unit 311 has, for example, a touch panel for displaying information on a screen. The reporting unit 311 displays the evaluation value received by the communication unit 310 or the evaluation-related information derived from the evaluation value on the touch panel, thereby reporting the evaluation result to the user.

The smart speaker 400 is also a block diagram similar to fig. 10. However, the reporting unit of the smart speaker 400 includes a speaker, and outputs the evaluation value received by the communication unit 310 or the evaluation-related information derived from the evaluation value by voice.

[ 2-4. display contents of terminal apparatus ]

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a display screen of the terminal device. The reporting unit 311 may calculate a score for cleaning based on the evaluation value received by the communication unit 310, and display a message 320 of "cleaning today is 82 scores" on the touch panel as evaluation related information. Further, the reporting unit 311 may display a message indicating a suggestion about cleaning, such as "slow again move bar", on the touch panel as evaluation related information based on the evaluation value received by the communication unit 310.

Further, these evaluation-related information are displayed on the touch panel, and a cleaning map button 330 is displayed. When the user clicks the cleaning map button 330, the notification unit 311 displays a screen of the cleaning map on the touch panel.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing a screen for cleaning a map. As shown in fig. 12, the terminal device 300 displays the cleaned area 340 on the touch panel. The terminal device 300 may receive the history of the operation information detected by the operation detecting unit 140 from the vacuum cleaner 100, and determine the area 340 that has been cleaned based on the received history of the operation information.

[ 2-5. creation treatment of evaluation criterion ]

Next, the process of generating the evaluation criterion will be described. Here, a process of generating an evaluation criterion when the evaluation criterion is the learning model 180 shown in fig. 4 will be described. In order to enable appropriate evaluation of the operation of the head 130, the evaluation criterion generating unit 213 of the information processing device 200 learns the evaluation criterion (learning model 180) in advance.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the evaluation criterion generation process. First, the communication unit 211 receives operation information and dust amount information from the vacuum cleaner 100 (S30). Next, the evaluation criterion generating unit 213 calculates an evaluation value based on the dust amount information received by the communication unit 211 (S31). For example, the evaluation criterion generating unit 213 calculates the evaluation value by a predetermined method so that the range of the evaluation value becomes 0 to 1 and smaller and the evaluation value becomes a larger value as the dust amount increases.

Next, the evaluation criterion generating unit 213 stores, in the storage unit 214(S32), teacher data in which the operation information received in step S30 and the evaluation value calculated in step S31 are associated with each other. The evaluation criterion generating unit 213 determines whether or not the storage unit 214 has accumulated the teacher data by a predetermined amount or more (S33).

If it is determined that the teacher data is not accumulated in the storage unit 214 by the predetermined amount or more (no in S33), the process returns to step S30 described above. On the other hand, when determining that the storage unit 214 has accumulated the teacher data in the predetermined amount or more (yes in S33), the evaluation criterion generating unit 213 reads the teacher data from the storage unit 214 and generates an evaluation criterion using the read teacher data (S34).

Specifically, the evaluation criterion generating unit 213 calculates the weight w and the offset term b of the above equation (1) by the above error back propagation using the teacher data. The evaluation criterion generating unit 213 stores the calculated parameters such as the weight w and the offset term b in the storage unit 156 as evaluation criteria. The process according to the present flowchart is ended.

As described above, the home appliance system 10 according to the second embodiment includes the operation detection unit 140 that detects the operation of the vacuum cleaner 100 operated by the user. By using the detection result of the operation detecting unit 140, the vacuum cleaner 100 according to the second embodiment can accurately determine whether or not the user is using the vacuum cleaner 100 efficiently.

In the home appliance system 10 according to the second embodiment, the functional units, i.e., the evaluation unit, the evaluation criterion generating unit, and the reporting unit, can be distributed to the external devices. This reduces the processing load on the vacuum cleaner 100.

In the above description, a "cleaner" as an example of a home appliance has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the household appliance may also be an "iron" used by the user to iron out the folds of the garment. In this case, the iron may be provided with an operation detection unit for detecting an operation of the iron operated by the user. The evaluation unit may evaluate the operation of the iron detected by the operation detection unit based on a predetermined evaluation criterion.

The present invention may be configured such that, in addition to the configuration described in the above-described embodiment, an output function is provided which can store in advance changes over time such as information indicating the operation of the home appliance, the evaluation value thereof, evaluation-related information, and evaluation criteria adjusted based on these, and the user can confirm the changes. In this way, it is expected that the user actually feels the progress of the operation of the home appliance and can enjoy the effect of operating the home appliance more.

In the home appliance and the home appliance system according to the present invention, a function of identifying a user who operates the home appliance, for example, a function of identifying who is in a family and the like, may be provided, and information indicating an operation of the home appliance, an evaluation value thereof, evaluation-related information, and evaluation criteria adjusted based on the information, and the like may be stored for each user. In this way, the operation of the home appliance can be evaluated or the operation control of the home appliance can be adjusted according to the personal habits of the user. The function of identifying the user operating the home appliance may be realized by a known method such as accepting an input from the user using the home appliance at each time.

In the above-described embodiments, the description has been given of the case where the operation detection unit is provided in the home appliance, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the home appliance system according to the present invention can be realized by providing the operation detection unit in a terminal device that a user carries with him or her and receiving information of a user operation from the terminal device. In this case, the terminal device may be provided with a function of inputting a timing at which the function of the operation detecting unit is exerted or at which the function of the operation detecting unit is ended. In this way, the information from the operation detection unit can be acquired separately between the time when the home appliance is operated and the other times. Examples of the terminal device include a smart watch carried by the user and a smart phone put in a pocket of clothes worn by the user.

Several embodiments of the present invention have been described, but these embodiments are disclosed as examples, and the scope of the present invention is not intended to be limited to the above embodiments. These embodiments can be implemented by various other embodiments, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

Claims

1. A home appliance that operates according to a user operation to exhibit a predetermined function, the home appliance comprising:

and an operation detection unit that detects an operation of the home appliance operated by the user.

2. The home appliance according to claim 1, further comprising:

and an evaluation unit configured to evaluate the operation of the home appliance detected by the operation detection unit based on a predetermined evaluation criterion.

3. The home device of claim 2,

the household appliance is a vacuum cleaner which has a head for sucking dust and cleans a surface to be cleaned by the operation of the user,

the motion detection unit detects the motion of the head,

the evaluation unit evaluates the movement of the head detected by the movement detection unit.

4. The home appliance according to claim 3, further comprising:

and a reporting unit configured to report an evaluation value indicating an evaluation result of the evaluation unit or evaluation-related information derived from the evaluation value.

5. The home appliance according to claim 4, further comprising:

and a communication unit that transmits at least one of the detection result of the operation detection unit, the evaluation value, and the evaluation-related information to an external device.

6. The home appliance according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising:

an electric blower for applying negative pressure to the surface to be cleaned; and

and a motor-blower control unit that controls the motor-blower based on the evaluation value regarding the operation of the head.

7. The home appliance according to any one of claims 4 to 6, further comprising:

a rotary brush provided on the head and contacting the surface to be cleaned; and

and a rotating brush control unit that controls the rotating brush based on the evaluation value regarding the movement of the head.

8. The home appliance according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising:

an operation unit configured to set whether or not to perform control based on the evaluation value regarding the movement of the head.

9. The home appliance device of any one of claims 3 to 8,

the motion detection unit is provided on the head.

10. The home appliance device of any one of claims 3 to 8,

the operation detection unit is provided in a grip portion that is gripped by the user when the vacuum cleaner is used.

11. The home appliance device of any one of claims 3 to 8,

the motion detection unit is provided in a coupling member between the head and a grip portion gripped by the user when the vacuum cleaner is used.

12. The home appliance according to any one of claims 7 to 11, further comprising:

a dust detection unit that detects the amount of dust sucked from the head;

a storage unit that stores operation information indicating the operation of the head detected by the operation detection unit in association with dust amount information indicating the amount of the dust detected by the dust detection unit; and

and an evaluation criterion adjustment unit that adjusts the evaluation criterion based on the amount of dust information and the operation information accumulated in the storage unit.

13. A home appliance system is provided with: a home appliance that operates according to a user operation to perform a predetermined function; and an information processing device capable of communicating with the home appliance,

the home appliance includes an operation detection unit that detects an operation of the home appliance operated by the user,

the information processing apparatus includes an evaluation unit that evaluates the operation of the home appliance detected by the operation detection unit.

14. The home appliance system according to claim 13, further comprising:

a terminal device capable of communicating with at least one of the home appliance and the information processing device,

the terminal device includes a reporting unit that reports an evaluation value indicating an evaluation result of the evaluation unit or evaluation-related information derived from the evaluation value.

15. A home appliance system is provided with: a vacuum cleaner which has a head portion for sucking dust and cleans a surface to be cleaned by a user's operation; and an information processing device capable of communicating with the cleaner,

the vacuum cleaner is provided with:

an operation detection unit for detecting an operation of the head;

a dust detection unit that detects the amount of dust sucked from the head; and

a storage unit that stores operation information indicating the operation of the head detected by the operation detection unit in association with dust amount information indicating the amount of the dust detected by the dust detection unit,

the information processing device includes an evaluation criterion generating unit that generates an evaluation criterion as a criterion for evaluating the movement of the head based on information accumulated in the storage unit by a plurality of times of cleaning.

16. An evaluation method for evaluating an operation of a home appliance that operates according to a user operation and exhibits a predetermined function, the evaluation method comprising:

an operation detection step of detecting an operation of the home appliance operated by the user; and

and an evaluation step of evaluating the operation of the home appliance detected in the operation detection step.

17. An evaluation criterion generation method includes:

an operation detection step of detecting an operation of a head of a cleaner for cleaning a surface to be cleaned by an operation of a user;

a dust detection step of detecting an amount of dust sucked from the head;

a storage step of storing, in a storage unit, operation information indicating the operation of the head detected in the operation detection step in association with dust amount information indicating the amount of the dust detected in the dust detection step; and

and an evaluation criterion generating step of generating an evaluation criterion as a criterion for evaluating the movement of the head based on information accumulated in the storage unit by a plurality of times of cleaning.