JP2002258742A - Search support equipment and search support system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide search support equipment which is capable of rapidly supporting a search, a search support system and a search support method. SOLUTION: Center side equipment 1 accumulates the present positions of signal transmission terminals 1 incidental to the persons to be searched. Search terminals 3 acquire their own present positions by inquiring the center side equipment 2 of the present positions of the signal transmission terminals 1, synthesize and display the thus acquired information on maps of prescribed scales and draw the vector diagrams from their own present positions to the positions of the persons to be searched.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a search support device and a search support system for assisting a search for a wandering person or a lost child, and more particularly to an improvement in display of position information of a search target.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, GPS (Global Positioning Sys
tem) and a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) system have been developed and used. Specifically, a system using PHS is called PH
The approximate position of the PHS possessed by the sought person such as a lost child is estimated based on which base station S is currently establishing communication with. Generally, the communication range of a PHS base station is 150 m
Around the base station with which communication has been established.
You will search around 0m. On the other hand, in GPS, since the longitude and latitude information can be obtained, the position of the searched person can be specified more accurately.

[0003] For example, in a PHS or the like, information indicating the location of the sought person is synthesized and displayed on a map prepared in advance using a facsimile or a map information server on the Internet. Indicates the position.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional method of displaying the location information of a person to be searched, the relative relationship with the person in charge of the search is not clear, and the person in charge of the search does not The user moves while checking the current position on the map, and the visibility is low.

Also, depending on the scale of the map, there is a problem that the position of the person in charge of the search and the person to be searched cannot be quickly grasped in which direction to search without being displayed on the same map. there were.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a search support device, a search support system, and a search support method capable of improving visibility and supporting quick and effective search. I do.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention relates to a search support device connected to a map database for managing a plurality of scales of map information. Means for obtaining current position information; means for obtaining current position information of the sought person; and map information of an area selected based on the current position information of the searcher and the sought person. Means for acquiring and recording a plurality of different pieces of map information from the map database, means for displaying a map of a reduced scale based on a user's selection from the recorded map information, and the searcher on the displayed map. Means for synthesizing and displaying the relative positional relationship with the sought person. in this way,
The visibility can be improved by acquiring and recording maps of a plurality of scales, and by selecting a map of a scale that is easy for the searcher to see.

[0008] Here, when either the searcher or the searched person deviates outside the displayed map, the means for displaying the map includes a searcher from the recorded map information. Preferably, based on the information on the current position of the sought person and the sought person, a map of a reduced scale that can be displayed by both the person in charge of the search and the sought person is preferably displayed. Preferably, the apparatus further includes means for calculating a relative distance between the searcher and the searched person at the current position, and the relative distance is displayed as the relative positional relationship.

Further, the present invention for solving the problems of the above-mentioned prior art is provided with a transmitting terminal which accompanies a searched person and transmits position information of the searched person, and a position of the searched person from the transmitting terminal. In a search support system including a center device that receives information and provides the position information, and a search terminal possessed by a searcher, the center device includes means for managing map information on a plurality of scales. The search terminal has means for inquiring the center-side device of position information of the person to be searched, means for receiving position information provided in response to the inquiry, and information on the current position of the search terminal. Means for acquiring and recording a plurality of scaled maps based on the received location information of the sought person and information on the current location of the search terminal; and Person in charge And displays a map scale that is, on the map, and characterized in that it has means for displaying the relative positional relationship between the search terminal and the seeker, the.

[0010]

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a search support system according to an embodiment of the present invention has a transmitting terminal 1 attached to a person to be searched, a center-side device 2 arranged at a search center, and each searcher possesses a search terminal. (This search terminal also corresponds to the search support device of the present invention) 3. The transmitting terminal 1 and the search terminal 3 have a GPS receiving function and a mobile phone communication function, respectively, and can receive position information from the GPS satellite 5 and can communicate with the mobile phone base station 4. In addition, since the position information obtained from the GPS satellites 5 includes an error, the position information is transmitted to a positioning server (not shown) via the network 6, and the position information corrected by the positioning server is received. The transmitted location information is transmitted to the center device 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the center-side device 2 includes a position information management unit 11 and a control unit 12, and the position information management units 11 communicate with each other via a local area network (LAN).
rk) The communication unit 21, the map server 22, and the position management server 23 are connected, and the control unit 12 includes a communication unit 25, a control console 26, and an instruction server 27 which are also connected by LAN.

Further, the search terminal 3 is, as shown in FIG.
R that receives positional information from the GPS satellites 5 and communicates with the center-side device 2 via the mobile phone base station 4
An F unit 31, an operation unit 32, a geomagnetic sensor 33 as a unit for detecting a direction in which the search terminal 3 is facing, a storage unit 34, a display unit 35, a control unit 36 for controlling each unit,
And a map information storage unit 37 for recording the received map information. It is to be noted that the overall configuration includes a power supply for driving each unit, but this is omitted here for the sake of explanation. In the search terminal 3, an identifier (person identifier) unique to each terminal is set.

Next, the transmitting terminal 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The transmitting terminal 1 receives position information from the GPS satellites 5 and communicates with the mobile phone base station 4, a power switch 42 for turning on / off the power, and encounters an accident or incident. The emergency button 43 is operated in order to transmit its own position information in the event that the user has done the operation, and a logic unit 44 for controlling each unit.
The power supply for driving each unit is not shown.

When receiving the position request signal from the center device 2 or when the emergency button 43 is operated, the transmitting terminal 1 transmits the position information together with the preset transmitting terminal identifier to the nearest terminal. The data is transmitted to the center device 2 via the mobile phone base station 4 and the network 6. As the transmitting terminal 1, a known terminal can be used, and a specific description thereof will be omitted.

In the position information management section 11 of the center-side apparatus 2, the communication section 21 receives the transmission terminal identifier transmitted from the transmission terminal 1 and the information on the current position via the network 6, and the communication section 21 The received transmitting terminal identifier and the information on the current position are output to the position management server 23. Also,
The communication unit 21 provides information on the current position of the transmitting terminal 1 managed by the position management server 23 in response to an inquiry from the search terminal 3. Here, the case where the transmitting terminal 1 notifies its current position using the GPS is described as an example. However, if the terminal attached to the searched person is a PHS or the like, the current The communication unit 21 acquires position information from each PHS provider side.
At this time, description of design items such as using PHS as the communication means of the transmitting terminal 1 will be omitted.

The map server 22 corresponds to the map database of the present invention, and stores a plurality of pieces of map information having different scales. Specifically, the map server 22 stores image data and vector data of maps of various scales. Here, the map information based on vector data may be the same as that used in a known car navigation system or the like. Also, this map server 22
A request for map data of a specific area and a specific scale is received from the search terminal 3, and map information of a plurality of scales including that of the specified scale is associated with the corresponding area, and the search terminal 3 of the request source is requested. Send to As described above, in this embodiment, in response to the request for the map information specifying the area and the scale received from the search terminal 3, the map information on the plurality of scales related to the area is transmitted. .
Here, as the plurality of scales, for example, a specified scale,
The one with a scale smaller than that by one step and the one with a scale one step coarser than the designated scale are transmitted.

The position management server 23 receives the input of the transmitting terminal identifier and the information of the current position from the communication unit 21, and adds the information of the current position to the history of the current position corresponding to the transmitting terminal identifier. accumulate. In addition, in response to the inquiry input from the communication unit 21, the position management server 23 provides the information on the current position of the inquired target transmission terminal 1 to the search terminal 3 of the inquiry source via the communication unit 21 ( Location information providing processing).

The communication section 25 of the control section 12 is communicably connected to the position information management section 11. Control console 2
Numeral 6 receives the operation of the person in charge at the center and transmits a search command to the search terminal 3 owned by a predetermined person in charge of search. The instruction server 27 stores, in advance, related information such as an identifier, a telephone number, and the name of an attendant for each of the calling terminal 1 and the search terminal 3. Also, the instruction server 27
Manages the contents of a search command (command identifier) for each person-in-charge identifier at the time of a search command, and the transmitting terminal identifier associated with the searched person associated with the search command. The instruction server 27 further provides, in response to an inquiry from the position information management unit 11, information on a calling terminal identifier associated with a specific person-in-charge identifier and a command identifier.

The control unit 36 of the search terminal 3 receives a search command including a command identifier from the control unit 12 of the center-side device 2, stores the content of the command in the storage unit 34,
The contents of the command are displayed on the display unit 35 to notify the reception of the command. Further, the control unit 36 performs a search support information display process as shown in FIG. That is, the control unit 36 starts the process by receiving an instruction to acquire the position information of the sought person from the searcher via the operation unit 32, and starts the process together with the set person identifier and the received command identifier. A signal for inquiring the current position of the searched person corresponding to the command identifier is transmitted (S1), and the information on the current position of the searched person received in response to this request is stored in the storage unit 34 (S2). . Further, the control unit 36 acquires its own current position based on the signal from the GPS satellite received by the RF unit 31 and transmits the own position information to the positioning server via the mobile phone base station 4; The position information corrected by the positioning server is acquired again (S3).

Then, the control unit 36 calculates the distance from the information on the current position of the sought person stored in the process S2 and the information on the current position of the self obtained in the process S3 (S4),
A request is made to the map server 22 of the position information management unit 11 for map information of an area and a scale corresponding to the position and the distance, and as a response, a map of a plurality of scales related to the area is downloaded (S5). Then, the control unit 36 stores the downloaded plurality of map information in the map information storage unit 37 (S6). Then, the information of the map of a predetermined scale is taken out from the map information storage unit 37 and displayed on the display unit 35 (S7), and a mark indicating the current position of the searched person is synthesized and displayed on this map ( S8) Further, on the same map, a mark indicating the current position of the searcher (that is, his / her current position acquired in step S3) is also displayed together (S9). At this time, the current position of the searcher is displayed on the display unit 3.
5 and the geomagnetic sensor 3
From the azimuth information of No. 3, map information of a predetermined scale may be displayed so that the front of the searcher is located at the upper part of the display unit 35. In the process S7, the map information of the requested scale is initially selected as a map of a predetermined scale. indicate.

The control unit 36 displays search guidance such as a vector diagram (arrow) from the mark indicating the current position of the person in charge of search to the mark indicating the current position of the person to be searched on the map (S10). Further, the information of the distance calculated in step S4 is displayed in the vicinity thereof as further search guidance (S11), and is superimposed on the mark indicating the current position of the user. Then, it waits for an instruction to be updated (S12), and if there is an instruction to update, the processing is repeatedly executed from step S1 (A). When there is no instruction to update, the information of the direction to which the player is currently pointing is displayed by an arrow or the like with reference to the geomagnetic sensor 33 (S13).

It is also preferable that the display of the distance information and the azimuth information in the processes S11 and S13 is not performed by the instruction from the operation unit. That is, when the distance between the searched person and the searcher is large, only the distance information is displayed to indicate only the approximate distance and direction, and the searcher approaches the searched person and a detailed map is displayed. Then, the search is made easier by displaying the direction of one's own and clearly indicating the heading direction.

Further, in step S10, when the current position of either the person in charge of search or the person to be searched cannot be displayed on the map currently displayed (in step S10), ), The map information storage unit 3
7, map information having a larger scale (wider range) than that currently displayed is read out and replaced with the currently displayed map. Here, when the map information whose scale is larger than that currently displayed is not stored in the map information storage unit 37, the map information of the required scale is newly stored in the map server 22 of the position information management unit 11. Request and download.

As a result of this processing, the display unit 35
The display as shown in FIG. FIG.
In (a), the position information (A) of the person to be searched, the position information (B) of the person in charge of the search, a vector diagram (C) showing the relative positional relationship, and the information (D) of the distance are shown. , The direction (E) of the person in charge of the search is displayed on the map. In addition, map information of an appropriate scale is selectively read out from previously downloaded map information so that both the person in charge of search and the person to be searched can be displayed by the processing of the control unit 36 and displayed. When it is desired to refer to a detailed map, for example, a map of a scale suitable for the searcher's convenience can be displayed, so that a smooth search is effectively supported. When a large-scale map is displayed in place of a small-scale map, it is also preferable to display the display range of the small-scale map previously displayed by a broken line (FIG. 6B). Further, it is preferable that the broken line display (F) is deleted after a predetermined time has elapsed or by a predetermined operation.

Also, in order to improve the visibility of the relative positional relationship, the direction of the search terminal 3 and the direction of the vector diagram indicating the relative positional relationship between the sought person and the person in charge of the search should match. It is also preferable to rotate and display the map image. As a result, the direction of the searched person can be intuitively grasped, and the convenience is further improved. Further, the mark (A) indicating the position information of the sought person may be a figure (for example, a circle) having an area related to the error range, based on error information accompanying the method of checking the current position of the sought person. preferable. For example, if the method of measuring the current position of the person to be searched is always GPS, the error information may be stored in the search terminal 3 and used. In the present embodiment, the position information is acquired using the GPS and the mobile phone base station 4 and the error is corrected by a positioning server (not shown). Information may be managed and this error information may be transmitted to the search terminal 3 side.

The search terminal 3 of the present embodiment has a touch panel overlaid on the display unit 35, and performs a scroll display of the map in response to an operation such as touching the touch panel with a pen or the like (tapping the surface lightly). You may do so. For example, when touching a place from the right of the center of the display unit 35,
The image of the map scrolls to the right, and when touching a location at the upper right from the center of the display unit 35, it scrolls to the upper right. When the user touches the center of the display unit 35, the map is scrolled so that the current position of the searched person is in the center. Further, in the description so far, a map on a reduced scale is selected so that the current positions of both the searcher and the sought person are combined and displayed on the same map. Alternatively, the scale of the map to be displayed may be changed. It is preferable that the information of the map once downloaded is cached in the storage unit 34. In this case, before downloading the map information from the map server 22, the storage unit 34 is searched to determine whether the map information downloaded and cached up to the previous time is reusable (cached). It determines whether or not the area and scale indicated by the map information are appropriate), and if it can be reused, interrupts the download process and uses the cached map information.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the searched person also moves, it is preferable that the destination can be estimated to some extent. In order to achieve this object, the search terminal 3 of the present embodiment acquires the information on the history of the current position of the transmitting terminal 1 stored in the center-side device 2,
Using the information of this history, the moving route of the searched person is displayed.

In this case, the position management server 23 of the center-side device 2 has a clock (not shown), and uses the information on the time measured by the clock to specifically add the history of the current position of the transmitting terminal 1. At this time, the information on the time at the time of the additional recording is associated. Then, the search terminal 3 requests position information of the searched person together with information on how long the past history information is needed (time condition information).

In response to the request, the location management server 23 selects information matching the information of the time condition from the history of the information of the current position, and transmits the selected information to the search terminal 3. The search terminal 3 receives this information and displays the travel route (A) of the searched person as shown in FIG. In this display,
A mark (B) indicating the current position of the user, a mark indicating the moving route and a diagram (X) are combined and displayed on the map.
Here, it is preferable that the mark indicating the moving route is highlighted by a method such as color coding so that the latest information on the current position is easy to understand.

Although FIG. 7 shows an example in which the vector line segment from the current position of the person in charge of search to the current position of the person to be searched is not displayed, this may be displayed. The distance and the direction in which the player is facing may be displayed together.

In the above description, the location management server 23 receives the inquiry about the location information when performing the location information providing process, and provides the location information of the searched person as it is. Inquiry is made to the instruction server 27 of the control unit 12 using the responsible person identifier and the command identifier received together with this inquiry, and the transmitting terminal of the transmitting terminal 1 accompanying the searched person associated with the searching person concerned By obtaining the identifier and providing information on the current location related to this calling terminal identifier, it will not respond to inquiries from irrelevant search personnel, taking into account the privacy of the searchee and For example, it becomes possible to cope with a case where the search terminal 3 is stolen.

Further, when the transmitting terminal 1 is a general PHS or the like,
In the case where the search terminal 3 has a function of sounding a ringing sound, the search terminal 3 may call the PHS according to an instruction from a search staff. As a result, the calling terminal 1 sounds a ringing tone, and the searched person can be specified with certainty. In other words, even if it is not a PHS, the transmitting terminal 1 is provided with a sound output unit that sounds a specific sound in response to a received signal, and responds to a signal from an operator such as a telephone station or a signal from the center apparatus 2. It is preferable to make the sound sound. In this case, the search terminal 3 transmits a signal instructing sounding of the voice to the telephone station or the center-side device 2 according to the operation of the search staff.
When the center-side device 2 receives this signal, the center-side device 2 transmits an instruction to sound a sound to the corresponding transmitting terminal 1.

When the search support system according to the present embodiment is used, the transmitting terminal 1 is previously attached to candidates to be searched (toddlers who may be lost or patients who have a wandering habit), and In the position management server 23 of the side device 2,
The information on the current position intermittently received from the calling terminal 1 is stored. Then, once a case such as a lost child occurs, the center side grasps the situation, and the center side operates the control console 26 to search for the search person in possession of the search terminal 3 via the instruction server 27. Select and give search instructions to the searcher. Then, on the control unit 12 side, the clerk identifier and command identifier set in the search terminal 3 of the selected search clerk, the terminal identifier of the transmitting terminal 1 attached to the searched person pertaining to the search instruction, and the like. Is associated with.

The person in charge of the search operates the search terminal 3 to inquire of the information on the current position of the person to be searched according to the instruction, and checks his / her current position. Then, the search terminal 3 downloads the map information suitable for displaying the position information from the map server 22, and combines and displays each information. As a result, a screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display unit 35 of the search terminal 3, and the current position of the user and the current position of the searched person are displayed on one map.

When another operation is performed, information on the moving route of the searched person is acquired and displayed on the display unit 35 as shown in FIG. The information on the travel route is received based on conditions such as “the travel route within the past hour”. still,
This condition may be not only a time condition but also a geographic condition such as “a moving route within 5 km”.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a search support system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The search support system according to the present embodiment has the same configuration as the search support system according to the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, but in the first embodiment,
While the search terminal 3 has requested or displayed a map of an appropriate scale so as to be able to effectively support the search, here, the center-side device determines the area and scale of the map information provided to the search terminal 3. The difference is that the second location management server 23 makes the determination.

That is, in the present embodiment, when the center receives a request to search for a person to be sought with the transmitting terminal 1, the control unit 12 of the center-side device 2 searches for the search terminal 3 with the person in charge of the search. A search response command including a command identifier is transmitted to the server. Then, a signal for inquiring the current position of the sought person corresponding to the command identifier is received from the control unit 36, and the current position of the sought person acquired by the position information management unit 11 based on the information of the GPS satellite 5 and the positioning server is received. The information is transmitted to the search terminal 3. The position information management unit 11 similarly obtains the current position of the search terminal 3 and outputs it to the position management server 23. Then, the position management server 23 determines from the information on the current positions of the person in charge of the search and the person to be searched, which scale of the map can be displayed simultaneously, and among the map information of the scales that can be displayed, A small-scale map (the most detailed map information that can be displayed by both of them, hereinafter referred to as an “optimal-scale map”) is selected, and, together with the selected map information, a map having a scale one step larger than the scale (one map scale) The search terminal 3 transmits to the search terminal 3 the map information indicating a wide range of steps) and a scale one step smaller than the selected scale (map information indicating a narrow range of one step). In addition, it is preferable that the selected optimal scale map is also transmitted together with the attribute information indicating that it is the optimal scale map.

Thus, the control unit 36 of the search terminal 3 stores the transmitted plurality of map information in the map information storage unit 37, displays the optimal scale map on the position management server 23, and displays the map on the map. The display showing the relative positional relationship between the person in charge of search and the person to be searched can be performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

In this case, it is preferable that the search terminal 3 and the center-side device 2 communicate with each other as needed to display the relative positional relationship between the current position of the person in charge of search and the current position of the person to be searched. This supports a smooth search activity.

In the present embodiment, the location management server 23, even after once downloading to the search terminal 3,
Since the information on the relative current position between the person in charge of the search and the person being searched is acquired and managed, while the map information is already displayed, it is necessary to determine at which timing the map information is appropriate for display. When the search terminal 3 should change the scale, the position information management unit 11 may issue a change instruction. In that case, the search terminal 3 selects the map information of the scale to be displayed (optimal scale map),
Provide map information of the missing scale.

[0041]

According to the present invention, the current position information of the person in charge of search and the current position information of the person to be searched are acquired, and the person in charge of the search is displayed on the map based on the current position information of the person in charge of search and the person to be searched. Since the search support device combines and displays the relative positional relationship between the user and the sought person, the visibility can be improved and a quick search can be supported.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a search support system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of a center-side device 2.

FIG. 3 is a configuration block diagram of a search terminal 3;

FIG. 4 is a configuration block diagram of a transmitting terminal 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the search terminal 3.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a display on the search terminal 3.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a display on the search terminal 3.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 originating terminal, 2 center device, 3 search terminal, 4
Mobile phone base station, 5 GPS satellites, 6 networks, 1
1 location information management unit, 12 control unit, 21, 25 communication unit, 22 map server, 23 location management server, 26
Control console, 27 instruction server, 31 RF section, 3
2 operation unit, 33 geomagnetic sensor, 34 storage unit, 35
Display unit, 36 control unit, 37 map information storage unit.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 17/30 380 G06F 17/30 380D 5K067 17/60 144 17/60 144 506 506 G08G 1/005 G08G 1 / 005 1/137 1/137 G09B 29/00 G09B 29/00 A H04Q 7/34 G01S 5/14 // G01S 5/14 H04B 7/26 106A F term (reference) 2C032 HB22 HB25 HC11 HC13 HC22 HC24 HC25 HC38 HD04 HD13 2F029 AA07 AB07 AC02 AC09 AC14 AC19 AC20 AD07 5B075 KK07 KK13 KK33 KK37 ND03 ND06 ND20 ND22 ND34 PP10 PP12 PP30 PQ02 PQ13 PQ20 PQ32 PQ48 PQ49 PQ66 PQ69 UU14 UU40 5H05 FF2A22 FF15 FF12A DD20 DD51 EE02 FF03 FF23 JJ52 JJ56

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A search support device connected to a map database for managing map information of a plurality of scales, wherein: means for obtaining current position information of a searcher; and obtaining current position information of a person to be searched. Means for acquiring and recording a plurality of pieces of map information of different scales, which are map information of an area selected based on the current position information of the search clerk and the sought person, from the map database; Means for displaying a map of a predetermined scale from the recorded map information; and means for combining and displaying the relative positional relationship between the searcher and the sought person on the displayed map. Search support device. 2. The search support device according to claim 1, wherein the means for displaying the map when one of the person in charge of the search or the person to be searched deviates from the displayed map is recorded. Based on the information on the current positions of the searcher and the sought person from the map information being searched, a map of a reduced scale that can be displayed by both the searcher and the sought person is selected, and the selected map is displayed. A search support device characterized by displaying. 3. The search support device according to claim 1, further comprising: means for selecting a map of a reduced scale specified by the search staff, and displaying the map. . 4. A transmitting terminal attached to a sought person and transmitting position information of the sought person, a center device receiving position information of the sought person from the transmitting terminal and providing the position information, A search terminal possessed by a search technician, wherein the center-side device has means for managing map information of a plurality of scales, and the search terminal is configured to search for a search target with respect to the center-side device. Means for inquiring position information, means for receiving position information provided in response to the inquiry, means for acquiring information on the current position of the search terminal, and the received position information of the searched person and the search terminal. Means for acquiring and recording a plurality of maps at a plurality of scales based on the information on the current position; displaying a map of a scale designated by a searcher among the recorded maps; Searcher and search terminal Means for displaying a relative positional relationship with the search support system.