JP2003051890A - Diagnostic system for trees - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a diagnostic system for trees, which can reduce the cost of management and care for trees in a garden and around a building and making gardening companies, reluctant to call so far, familiar to users of the system. SOLUTION: The system installs a camera 3 for photographing outward appearance of a tree to obtain a signal and a sensor 2 for catching a physical change in the tree or its peripheral environment to obtain a signal to the tree T, a diagnostic object, a communication device 1 at the side of the diagnostic object transfers data converted from the obtained signals to a diagnostic center via a communication network C, and the diagnostic center reproduces and records the transferred data for visual recognition and analysis by a diagnostic person.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a system for managing and caring for trees planted in gardens and buildings.

[0002]

[Prior Art] Planting trees in gardens and buildings requires regular management and maintenance by a landscape builder in order to maintain trees. In this case, the target is a living thing, unlike a machine that can predict the exhaustion condition routinely with the passage of time.Therefore, when managing and maintaining, the landscaper first makes a preliminary inspection of the site and diagnoses it, and the necessary personnel and materials , It was necessary to prepare the equipment and start the work later.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned case, the personnel for diagnosing the site travels on a business trip, so that transportation and personnel expenses are required for that purpose, which is a financial burden for the owner.
Also, since I had to be present at the time of the preliminary inspection, the restraint was troublesome for the owner, especially in the case of a private garden. For this reason, the owner tends to dislike regular inspections and tends to request a spot-based diagnosis only when the trees grow and become uneven. However, when a tree is sometimes damaged by a pest, the initial symptoms cannot be discriminated by the layperson, and there is a possibility that the damage may be irreversible just because the diagnosis is not performed regularly.

On the other hand, on the side of the landscaping company, it is necessary to dispatch experienced veteran personnel for accurate diagnosis of the site, even though it is a preliminary inspection. Since the labor was lacking, it was not worth the cost of the diagnosis from the owner.
In order to propose the subsequent work to the owner according to the result of the diagnosis, make a detailed record of the condition of the tree at the site and bring it back to the company, and plan the necessary personnel, materials, equipment and working time based on it. However, the complicated administrative work of creating a quotation had to be done, and the burden was heavy.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention was created for the purpose of providing a diagnostic system useful for the management and maintenance of trees. That is, the diagnostic system of the present invention arranges a camera for photographing the appearance of a tree and converting it into a signal, and a sensor for converting the physical quantity of the tree or its surrounding environment into a signal and arranging it for the tree to be diagnosed, The obtained signal is converted to data and transferred from the communication device on the diagnosis target side to the diagnostic center via the communication network, and the diagnostic center reproduces and records the transferred data for visual recognition and analysis by the diagnostician. And

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A specific embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2 are views showing a first embodiment of the monitoring system of the present invention.

The present invention replaces the five senses of a human with a camera and a sensor, and changes the state of trees in a garden or building (changes in physical quantity).
The basic idea is to capture and send this to a diagnostic center in a remote location. The inventor of the present application has learned from many years of experience and research in the landscaping industry that if a landscape builder having experience can grasp the next state of a tree, accurate diagnosis can be performed even in a remote place. (1) Appearance of trees (most pests can be judged from their appearance) (2) Temperature of trees (particularly foliage) (3) Temperature of environment where trees are placed (4) Humidity (water content) of trees (5 ) Soil humidity (water content) The appearance of trees in (1) above can be captured by an imaging device such as a camera. The temperature of the trees and their environment in (2) and (3) can be detected by a temperature sensor. In this case, in addition to the contact type as the temperature sensor, a radiation temperature sensor that captures infrared rays radiated from trees can be assumed,
If cost permits, it is ideal to capture the temperature distribution by scanning the tree using thermography.
Humidity and water content of trees and soil in (4) and (5) can be detected by humidity sensor and moisture sensor.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a garden equipped with the above-mentioned cameras and sensors, and here, a relatively large garden attached to a commercial building is assumed. Reference numeral 3 in the figure is a CCD camera for capturing the appearance of the tree T, and here, the building B
It is arranged to overlook the garden G in the high place of. In this case, the thermography 4 may be arranged here if necessary. Reference numeral 2 in the figure denotes various sensors. Here, a temperature sensor that captures the temperature of the tree and the temperature of the surrounding environment, and a humidity sensor and moisture sensor that captures the humidity (moisture content) of the tree and the humidity (moisture content) of the soil are used in the garden. It is placed in G. The types and arrangements of the cameras and sensors described above are merely examples, and it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to these.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the hardware of the diagnostic system of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a communication device provided on the diagnosis target side, which can receive and transfer signals from the camera 3 and various sensors 2 described above, and signals from the thermography 4 provided as necessary. It has the function of converting to data and communicating with the diagnostic center.
In this embodiment, a telephone line C such as ISDN is assumed as a communication network, and the communication device 1 is provided with a calling and receiving function connectable to such a public line.

Reference numeral 10 in the figure denotes a communication device provided on the diagnostic center side, and here it is assumed that it is connected to a computer. The communication device 10 is provided with a keyboard for a diagnostician to operate and a display for reproducing and displaying transferred data, and a customer-specific database 11 for accumulating data for each diagnostic object and data analysis. The academic database 12 is provided for reference. This communication device 10 is also provided with a calling and receiving function that can be connected to a public line. In addition to calling by calling the communication device 1,
From the communication device 1 on the diagnosis target side to the communication device 1 on the diagnosis center
You may call 0. In the latter case, the communication is carried out for a certain period of time by periodically making an automatic call, and the data during that time is automatically stored in the communication device 10 of the diagnostic center.

The communication device 1 on the diagnosis target side is provided with an answering machine or the like so as to have a function of receiving a message transmitted from the diagnosis center, and at the same time, an image signal captured by a portable digital camera A function for inputting via the media M or the like may be provided. For example,
When a diagnostician who looks at the entire tree in the garden through the display of the diagnostic center finds some abnormality and needs a more detailed image, the camera on the diagnosis target side has a moving mechanism in the shooting direction by remote control. It is originally desirable to have a zoom mechanism. In this case, by providing the function as described above,
Not only can the person on the side of the diagnosis receiving the message requesting the enlarged image from the diagnostician to obtain the same result by taking a picture of the required area with the camera and sending it to the diagnostic center, but also for example macro photography or leaf photography. It is also possible to do things that cannot be achieved with remote control shooting, such as shooting the back side of the.

Further, a camera 5 having a zoom mechanism 6 which is movable in a photographing direction by a remote control is connected to the communication device 1 on the diagnosis target side to photograph a site or a building where a tree is placed, and the state thereof is shown. You may transfer to the security center 20 via the telephone line C. As a result, the security center 20
In this way, it becomes possible for security guards to monitor the condition of the premises and buildings for crime prevention. In this case, the tree diagnosis and the monitoring for crime prevention can be performed by sharing the hardware and the communication environment, so that the cost required for them can be reduced.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a second monitoring system according to the present invention.
It is a block diagram of hardware showing an example. In this embodiment, a telephone line is used as a communication network in the first embodiment, whereas a network N having a bidirectional communication function is used.
The difference is that (here, the Internet is used as an example). Therefore, since the cameras and sensors arranged on the diagnosis target side are common, the detailed description thereof will be omitted by attaching the same reference numerals.

Reference numeral 51 in the figure denotes a communication device provided on the diagnosis target side, and here, it has a configuration in which a personal computer P and an adapter A are combined. The adapter A has a function of taking in signals from the camera 3, various signals from the sensors 2, and signals from the thermography 4 provided as necessary, and transferring them to the personal computer P via the interface. On the other hand, the personal computer P has a function of accessing the web page of the server S1 of the diagnostic center via the network N and transferring the above-mentioned data, and the operation required for the operation of this system is performed on the browser screen of the personal computer P. It is executed on the displayed menu. It also has the function of sending and receiving e-mail with the diagnostic center as needed.

As in the case of the first embodiment, the server S1 of the diagnostic center is provided with a keyboard for a diagnostician to operate and a display for reproducing and displaying the transferred data, and data for each diagnostic object. A customer-specific database 11 for accumulating data and an academic database 12 to be referred to when analyzing data are provided.

Further, similarly to the case of the first embodiment, the adapter A on the diagnosis object side is connected to a camera 5 having a zoom mechanism 6 which is movable in the photographing direction by remote control, and a site or a building where trees are placed. The inside may be photographed and the state may be transferred to the server S2 of the security center via the network N.

In this case, all the data of the appearance of the trees and the data obtained from the sensors are once transferred to the security center server S2 and recorded, and the diagnosis center side accesses the security center server S2 as required. Then, these data may be extracted. This system is rational because monitoring for security must be done for 24 hours and must be in real time, whereas monitoring for tree diagnosis is not necessarily required.

When the above-mentioned network is used as the communication network, in a recent situation where the communication cost is low, it is possible to continuously connect to the diagnostic center for 24 hours and constantly send data. It is also possible to do the following using a web browser or e-mail. (1) Notify the customer of the diagnosis result on the screen and provide an estimate of the required work. (2) When trimming, convey the image as an image. (3) For simple work that can be done even by the owner, such as simple cutting, fertilization, disinfection, and irrigation, use the images together with the guidance. (4) Always accept questions from the owner via email.

[0019]

The present invention having the above construction has the following unique effects. (1) Since there is no need to visit the site during the diagnosis, the time and financial burden on the owner is small, and the landscape builder does not have to hire valuable human resources. (2) Even if work is required as a result of diagnosis, it is possible to plan personnel, materials, equipment and work time at the same time within the same diagnosis center and create a quotation, so clerical work is reduced and an accurate quotation is submitted. can do. (3) In the case of the second embodiment, questions and charges can be easily inquired by using e-mail, so that a landscape builder having a high threshold can be easily used. (4) Even if all the work is done on the client side, it is possible to receive appropriate consulting from an expert by using this system. (5) When data is constantly transferred using a network such as the Internet as in the second embodiment, the damage of pests can be known promptly, and the damage can be stopped in advance. (6) As described in the embodiments, it is possible to implement the surveillance system for crime prevention at the same time by utilizing the communication device and the communication environment of the present invention, so that there is no waste.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a diagnostic system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the garden on the side of the diagnosis target.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a diagnostic system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

G garden T tree 1 communication device 2 sensors 3 cameras C communication network 10 diagnosis center

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A camera for photographing the appearance of a tree and converting the signal into a signal, and a sensor for detecting the change in the physical quantity of the tree or its surrounding environment and converting the signal to the tree to be diagnosed are obtained. A tree characterized by converting the signal to data and transferring it from the communication device on the diagnosis target side to the diagnostic center via the communication network, and at the diagnostic center, reproducing and recording the transferred data for the visual recognition and analysis of the diagnostician. Diagnostic system. 2. The communication device on the diagnosis target side is connected to a camera for photographing the appearance of trees and a camera capable of photographing the site or building where the trees are placed, and the obtained signals are converted into data. The tree diagnosis system according to claim 1, wherein the communication device on the diagnosis target side transfers the data to a diagnosis center and a security center via a communication network, and the security center reproduces and records the transferred data for visual recognition by a security guard. 3. The communication device on the diagnosis target side has a function of receiving a message transmitted from the diagnosis center, and further comprises means for inputting an image signal photographed by a portable camera. Tree diagnostic system. 4. The tree according to claim 1, wherein the communication network is a telephone line, and the communication is started by calling or receiving an incoming call from the communication device on the diagnosis target side. Diagnostic system. 5. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication means is a network having a bidirectional communication function, and the communication is started by accessing the server of the diagnosis center from the communication device on the diagnosis target side. Tree diagnostic system.