JP2000293785A - Method and system for searching lost child - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly search lost children in a large-scale leisure land, etc., by not relying upon another's hand, but automating the searching, by handing over small-sized portable transmitters to visitors and searching the present locations of the visitors by relaying upon the transmitters, and then, indicating the searched locations on a map. SOLUTION: In a method for searching lost child, transmitters (transmitting section 1) which transmit certain specific radio waves at regular intervals are handed over to visitors of a facility and the visitors carrying the transmitters 1 are specified by receiving the radio waves transmitted from the transmitters by means of at least one receiver (received signal discriminating section 32) and the data obtained by the receiver 32 are totalized and kept (data storing section 34). The kept data are retrieved as necessary. Consequently, the present location of the visitors carrying the transmitters 1 can be searched (data selecting section 35) and indicated on previously prepared map data. In addition, the utilized state of the facility and services can be grasped by analyzing and displaying the moving loci of the visitors (data analyzing section 36).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lost child search method and system capable of quickly searching for a lost child such as a child or an elderly person in a large-scale leisure land or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Large-scale leisure facilities such as amusement parks are very crowded in most cases, and lost children such as elderly people and children frequently occur. In this case, there has been no choice but to wait for the parent or the leader to search by human naval tactics, or to wait for a report from a third party by broadcasting inside the venue.

[0003]

However, the search by human tactics is inefficient because it is difficult to search around. In addition, the search by in-station broadcasting is a means of waiting for the appearance of a lost child or waiting for a report from a third party. To rely on the present application, it took time and effort to discover. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in a large-scale leisure land or the like, a small and portable transmitter is provided to a visitor, and the location of the visitor is searched and mapped on a map using the transmitter. An object of the present invention is to provide a lost child search method and system that can automatically search for lost children without relying on humans and display the lost children quickly.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for searching for a lost child according to the first aspect of the present invention, comprising: Receiving the radio wave with at least one receiver to identify the location of the visitor carrying the transmitter in the facility, collecting and storing data obtained by the receiver, and searching as necessary. The location of the visitor carrying the transmitter is searched for, and mapped and displayed on map data prepared in advance. Also, in the lost child search method according to claim 2, in the same method as described in claim 1, the transmitter has a transmission output within a legal range that does not require permission, and at least the facility is open. During this period, the transmitting operation is periodically repeated.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lost child search system which is carried by a visitor and includes a transmitter having a transmitter for transmitting a specific radio wave at a predetermined interval, and at least one reception unit for receiving the radio wave. A receiving signal identification unit for identifying the transmitter and transferring it to the center device; a data storage unit in the center device for counting and storing data obtained through the receiving signal identification unit; A data selection unit in a center device for searching for the location of the visitor carrying the transmitter by searching for a unit as necessary, and mapping the searched location of the visitor to map data prepared in advance. And a terminal device for displaying. The lost child search system according to claim 4 is the system according to claim 3, wherein the movement locus of the visitor is mapped and displayed on previously prepared map data by referring to the data storage unit. And a data analysis unit in the center device for analyzing the use status of the facilities in the facility.

As a result, the lost child search can be automated, and the discovery can be performed quickly and accurately. In addition, the use status of facilities and services in the facility is visualized,
This will be a reference when expanding facilities.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a transmitting unit having a built-in transmitter and carried by each of the visitors.
2 is a terminal device, 3 is a center device, which is connected via a communication line 5. Reference numeral 4 denotes an external data storage device of the center device 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the transmitting unit 1 includes a transmitter main body 11, a transmitting antenna 12, and a driving battery 13.
Is created, for example, by being embedded in the tag card 10. The transmitting unit 1 is to be carried by each visitor, and it is preferable that the transmitting unit 1 be not larger than a card size and be embedded in character goods so as to be worn by the visitors. In addition, for convenience in carrying, the operating time of the drive battery 13 is limited to a life of, for example, about 8 hours while the drive battery 13 is open for saving size and saving power. In addition, the transmission output is 1
mW. This is because if the transmitter is within the legal range, no permission is required for using the transmitter, and the transmitter is disposable. Also, there is no constant transmission to reduce power,
It shall be transmitted periodically.

[0008] The terminal device 2 is a normal keyboard display capable of displaying graphics and images composed of a data input section 21 and a data display section 22, and is connected to the center apparatus 3 via a communication line 5. The center device 3
A reception antenna 31, a reception signal identification unit 32 including a receiver,
Data aggregation unit 33, data storage unit 34, data selection unit 3
5, a data analysis unit 36 and a map data storage unit 37. Two or more receivers are provided in the reception signal identification unit 32 in order to specify the position of the weak radio wave transmitted and output by the transmission unit 1 and to specify the position. Received signal identification unit 32
Specifies the position of the transmitter holder and notifies the data totaling unit 33 of the position. This method of locating is known in the art, and the distance from each receiver to the transmitter is calculated from the electric field strength obtained from the transmitter by two or more receivers, and the distance from each receiver to the transmitter is calculated. The position is specified from the intersection of. The receiving antenna 31 and the receiver may be installed at an arbitrary place in the facility without being provided in the center device 3 and may be transferred to the center device 3.

[0009] The data summarizing section 33 includes a received signal identifying section 32.
Is sequentially recorded and stored in the data storage unit 34. In the data storage unit 34, a database for each transmission unit 1 is constructed. The database to be constructed may take any method, such as updating the current position data for each transmission unit 1 or recording and saving the position data every fixed time one by one. In particular, when the latter is adopted, it is possible to analyze not only a lost child search but also the usage status of facilities and services by analyzing the contents stored at a later date. The data selection unit 35 includes the terminal device 2
The data storage unit 34 operates in response to a search request for a lost child arriving through the data input unit 21 and searches the data storage unit 34 using a unique ID corresponding to each of the transmission units 1 as a key. Extract the current position data in the entry. The position data extracted here is mapped in advance to map data prepared in the map data storage unit 37 and transmitted to the requested terminal device 2 via the communication line 5. As a method of mapping to map data, a well-known method conventionally implemented by car navigation or the like is used. Therefore, the current position of the lost child is superimposed and displayed on the detailed map displayed on the data display unit 22 of the terminal device 2 with the symbol, so that the current position of the lost child can be seen at a glance in real time. Here, the map data is assumed to be built in the map data storage unit 37 of the center device 3. However, the map data is prepared by the terminal device 2 to reduce the load on the communication line 5, and the terminal device 2 transmits the map data from the center device 3. A form of mapping and displaying the output position data may be adopted.

The data analysis unit 36 functions at a later date when the usage status of the facility or the service usage status is grasped by tracing the locus of movement of the visitors stored in the data storage unit 34. That is, by operating the data input unit 21 of the terminal device 2 or the data input unit of the center device 3 in the same manner as the search for a lost child by the data selection unit 35, the movement state of the transmission unit 1 passed to the visitor is traced. It manages the concentration or dispersal of the trajectories of the visitors, which is displayed and mapped and displayed on the map data, and is used as a reference at a later date when adding equipment. The external data storage unit 4 includes the data storage unit 3
4, a copy of the database constructed, and map data that cannot be stored in the map data storage unit 37, as well as various programs and data.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the transmitting unit 1 is handed to each of the visitors at an amusement park, a department store, or the like. It is assumed that an ID recognized by the center device 3 is assigned to each of the transmitter main bodies 11 included in the transmitter 1.
A visitor carrying the transmitting unit 1 walks around the hall, and the weak radio wave periodically output from the transmitting unit 1
The signal is supplied to a reception signal identification unit 32 built in the receiver in the center device 3 via the reception antenna 31. Received signal identification unit 3
In step 2, the current position data of the visitor is extracted from the built-in two or more receiver outputs and transferred to the data totaling unit 33 (step S31). The data tabulation unit 33 periodically updates or sequentially records the current position data for each visitor and supplies the data to the data storage unit 34 (step S32). The data storage unit 34 constructs a database for each visitor based on the data obtained from the data totaling unit 33 (step S33). The structure of the database is that the current location data of the visitors is updated sequentially,
The updated position data is recorded, or the movement data is accumulated and recorded periodically, and the selection depends on the form of the data obtained from the data totaling unit 33.

Next, a lost child search request is issued from the terminal device 2. The data selection unit 35 is constructed by the data storage unit 34 according to the transmitter body ID that arrives at the data selection unit 35 of the center device 3 at the same time as the lost child search request via the data input unit 21 of the terminal device 2 (step S35). A database (referred to as a search DB for convenience) is searched (step S36). Transmitter body ID searched here
The current position data of the considerable lost child is symbolized, mapped on the map data, and superimposed and displayed together with the map on the data display unit 22 of the terminal device 2 requested via the communication line (step S39). On the other hand, when managing the use status of the facility, the manager activates the data analysis unit 36 via the data input unit (not shown) of the center device 3 to display the movement locus of the visitor (step). S34).
As a result, the data analysis unit 36 inputs at least a part of the transmitter IDs (step S37), and the database (the management D for convenience) constructed by the data storage unit 34.
B) (step S38). The prepared accumulated position data corresponding to the part or all of the oscillator IDs searched here is mapped on the map data as a movement locus, for example, and is highlighted on the map data (step S39). It is assumed that a portion overlapping as a movement locus on the map data is highlighted with a certain width to indicate a difference from the other. This makes it possible to grasp the use status and frequency of the facility.

As described above, according to the present invention, the position of a visitor carrying a transmitter is specified by receiving radio waves transmitted from the transmitter by two or more receivers and projected on a map. This makes it easy to search for lost children. In addition, by displaying the trajectories of the visitors on the map in a cumulative manner, facility and service usage can be finely managed. still,
Although the present invention has been described only with respect to searching for lost children, the same method and system can be used to detect a wandering elderly person or the like.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, a transmitter for transmitting a specific radio wave at a predetermined interval is carried by a facility visitor, and the radio wave is received by at least one receiver. The location of the visitor carrying the transmitter is specified by identifying the location in the facility of the visitor carrying the transmitter, totaling and storing the data obtained by the receiver, and searching as necessary for the location of the visitor carrying the transmitter. It maps and displays the data on the map data prepared in advance, which enables the current location of the visitor to be visually confirmed in real time, and enables quick searching, such as searching for lost children or finding wandering old people. Can be. In addition, by displaying and analyzing the trajectories of the visitors, it is possible to obtain more detailed facilities, services, and the like, and obtain a derivative effect that can be used as a reference when making capital investment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a transmitting unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Transmission part 2 ... Terminal device 3 ... Center apparatus 4 ... External data storage part 10 ... Tag card 11 ... Transmitter main body 12 ... Transmission antenna 13 ... Driving battery 21 ... Data input part 22 ... Data display part 31 ... Receiving antenna 32 ... Received signal identification unit 33 ... Data totaling unit 34 ... Data storage unit 35 ... Data selection unit 36 ... Data analysis unit 37 ... Map data storage unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) 9A001 F term (Reference) 5C086 AA21 CA06 DA08 FA17 5H180 AA22 BB12 CC12 FF04 FF22 FF32 5J062 AA07 BB05 CC14 HH05 5K024 AA79 CC09 CC10 CC11 CC14 DD01 FF04 GG01 GG05 GG10 5K067 AA21 BB32 DD11 EE02 EE12 EE35 FF03 GG02 JJ53 9A001 BB06 CC05 DD15 FF03 HH35 JJ73 KK45 KK60

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A visitor of a facility carries a transmitter that emits a specific radio wave at a fixed interval, and receives the radio wave by at least one receiver to allow the visitor to carry the transmitter. Identify the location in the facility, tabulate and save the data obtained by the receiver, search for the location of the visitors carrying the transmitter by searching as necessary, on the map data prepared in advance A lost child search method characterized by mapping and displaying. 2. The transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter has a transmission output within a legal range that does not require permission, and periodically repeats a transmission operation at least while the facility is open. The lost child search method described. 3. A transmitter which is carried by a visitor and has a transmitter for transmitting a specific radio wave at a fixed interval, and at least one receiver for receiving the radio wave, and specifies the transmitter. A reception signal identification unit for transferring the data to the center device, and collecting data obtained through the reception signal identification unit;
A data storage unit in the center device for storing, a data selection unit in the center device for searching for a location of an attendant carrying the transmitter by searching the data storage unit as needed, and A terminal device for mapping and displaying the location of the visitor on map data prepared in advance. 4. A data analysis unit in a center device for mapping and displaying a locus of movement of a visitor on map data prepared in advance by referring to the data storage unit and analyzing a use state of facilities in the facility. The lost child search system according to claim 3, further comprising: