JP2003061935A - Personal information terminal and behavior discriminating system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To discriminate the posture state and walking state of the individual. SOLUTION: This behavior discriminating system is provided with an acceleration sensor 2 for detecting the acceleration, a storage means for storing the posture and/or behavior pattern of the human body as human body data, and a discriminating means 3 for checking the output from the acceleration sensor 2 with the human body data to discriminate between the posture state and/or operating state of the human body. The discriminating means 3 performs the discriminating operation according to the output of the accelerator sensor 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a personal information terminal for discriminating a posture and behavior of an individual, or a behavior discriminating system managed by wireless communication, and a method of operating this system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the care of elderly people has attracted attention due to the advent of an aging society. In particular, care of a patient with dementia and an elderly person who wanders around is very important, and various techniques have been proposed. It is considered that the means of tracking the behaviors of these elderly people and notifying the person or the outside when abnormal behavior is taken is very important from the viewpoint of care.

In addition, the behavior of a person is measured not only for the elderly,
If an action pattern can be obtained by analysis, for example, lighting and air conditioning can be comfortably controlled or safely operated, which is very effective for human life.

Furthermore, it is effective to measure the behavior not only in humans but also in animals and machines, and it is possible to use it for studying ecology, which has not been understood in the case of animals. If it can be measured, it can be operated efficiently and safely, which is very effective from the viewpoint of production activities. It is very important to understand “who (what)” “where” “what” to do in understanding the behavior of human body and objects. It is necessary to identify an individual or a specific object, detect the position in the room, and detect the motion or posture.

A method for identifying an individual or a specific object is RF-I.
An example is a method based on image recognition from D or CCD images. The RF-ID uses a radio wave of a specific frequency and is attached to a moving body such as a human body or an object (also referred to as a transponder; hereinafter referred to as a tag) and an antenna connected to a host device such as a computer (also referred to as a reader). (Unified as an antenna below), by performing two-way communication with
It is a system that receives the identification information of the tag and automatically identifies the object.

This system can be roughly classified into two types according to the reading distance of the tag. One is a short-range type that uses low frequencies, and the reading distance between the tag and antenna is 50c.
It is about m or less. These are generally read by an antenna installed on the floor by holding the tag over an antenna or sewing the tag on the end of pants.

The other is a long-distance type in which a battery is built in and a microwave is used as a radio wave, and the reading distance between a tag and an antenna exceeds 1 m. They are,
By carrying it on a part of the body or a part of the object, it is possible to read the tag information without being conscious when passing near the antenna. The method based on image recognition from the CCD image is a method of CC
An individual or a specific object is identified by shooting with a D camera, extracting the feature amount such as the shape of human face or object or mark by image recognition, and collating with the unique feature amount registered in advance. It is a thing. Examples of methods for identifying the position of a human body or an object in a room include extraction from a CCD image and extraction from temperature distribution information obtained by a two-dimensional infrared sensor.

In addition, in a very large building, P
A method of identifying an approximate position from the strength of radio waves from a plurality of base stations using HS or the like has been proposed. As a method of detecting a motion and a posture, a method of discriminating between a stationary state and a motion state using a pedometer (registered trademark), a mercury switch, or the like has been proposed for a long time.

Recently, various types of acceleration sensors and gyro sensors (angular acceleration sensors) have been improved in performance, and a method for detecting a walking state, a body inclination, a walking direction, etc. using them has been proposed.

[0010]

However, in order to detect the motion or posture of an individual or a specific object and effectively use this, it is necessary to improve the accuracy of the action discrimination, but sufficient accuracy is required. There was no detection method to have.

Further, in the background of the arrival of an aging society, it is necessary to effectively use the discrimination result in consideration of the care of the elderly in the home or the unexpected accident of the elderly living alone. So far, no system has been proposed so far that effectively discriminates individual postures and behaviors and feeds them back to operation.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is equipped with an acceleration sensor capable of detecting gravitational acceleration and capable of detecting the motion or posture of an individual or a specific object with sufficient accuracy. The present invention provides an information terminal and a personal action determination system using this personal information terminal.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a first invention (corresponding to claim 1) of the present invention provides an acceleration sensor for detecting an acceleration and a human body posture and / or action pattern. The human body data storage means for storing as data, and the state discriminating means for discriminating the posture state and / or the operating state of the human body by collating the output from the acceleration sensor with the human body data are provided. Is a personal information terminal that performs the determination operation based on the output of the acceleration sensor.

A second aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 2)
Is the personal information terminal according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the state determination means performs the determination operation based on an increase / decrease in the output of the acceleration sensor at a constant interval.

A third aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 3)
The state determining means has a first time measuring means and a second time measuring means for measuring a predetermined time, compares a predetermined threshold value with the output of the acceleration sensor, and the output outputs the threshold value. When it is below the threshold, the first timing means is activated, and when the output is above the threshold,
It is the personal information terminal according to the second aspect of the present invention, which operates the second timing means and determines that the human body is in a walking state based on the time measured by the first timing means and the second timing means.

A fourth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 4)
The state determination means has a first state determination counter, and when the output exceeds the threshold value while the first timing means is operating, the first timing means is stopped and the stop time point is reached. In the above, the time count value of the first time measurement means is compared with a predetermined time count threshold value, and if the time count value is less than or equal to the time count threshold value, the count of the first state determination counter is incremented by 1, and the count value is not less than the time count threshold value. If the count is 0,
When the output falls below the threshold value while the second timing means is operating, the first timing means is stopped, and the measured time value of the first timing means at the time of stop and the predetermined timing threshold value are set. In comparison, if the time count value is equal to or less than the time count threshold value, the count of the first state determination counter is increased by 1, and if the time count value is equal to or higher than the time count threshold value, the count is set to 0, and the count value is equal to or higher than a predetermined decision value. It is the personal information terminal according to the third aspect of the present invention, which determines that the human body is walking.

A fifth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 5)
The state determination means has a first state determination counter, and when the output exceeds the threshold value while the first timing means is operating, the first timing means is stopped and the stop time point is reached. In the case where the time count value is within the time count range, the count value of the first state determination counter is incremented by 1 and the count value is outside the time count range. For example, if the count is set to 0 and the output falls below the threshold value while the second timing means is operating, the second timing means is stopped, and the timing value of the first timing means at the time of stoppage. And the time value range, the count value of the first state determination counter is incremented by 1 when the time value is within the time value range, and the count value is set to 0 when the time value is outside the time value range, and the count value is predetermined. Is greater than or equal to the determined value of If a personal information terminal of the third of the present invention to determine that the human body is a walking state.

The sixth invention (corresponding to claim 6)
Is the personal information terminal according to the fourth or fifth aspect of the present invention, which resets the time count value to 0 when the first time count means or the second time count means stops.

The seventh invention (corresponding to claim 7)
The human body data storage means stores an average value of the output average of the acceleration sensor and the latest acceleration sensor output up to the previous time as an acceleration sensor output average, and the acceleration sensor output average up to the previous time includes the state It is the personal information terminal according to the first aspect of the present invention, which substitutes the acceleration sensor output average after the determination operation is completed by the determination means.

The eighth invention (corresponding to claim 8)
Is the personal information terminal according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, wherein the state determination means uses the acceleration sensor output average instead of the output.

The ninth invention (corresponding to claim 9)
The state determination means has a second state determination counter, and when the walking state is determined, a third numerical value preset in the human body data storage means is substituted into the second state determination counter. It is a personal information terminal of the present invention.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 10), when the result of the determination is not a walking state, the value of the second state determination counter is a positive number, The personal information terminal according to the ninth aspect of the present invention reduces this by a predetermined number.

In the eleventh aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 11), the state discrimination means generates a discrimination result indicating walking if the count 2 is a positive number.
Is a personal information terminal of the present invention.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 12), the state determination means compares a threshold value preset in the human body data storage means with an output from the acceleration sensor, and the output is The personal information terminal according to the first aspect of the present invention generates a predetermined determination result when the threshold value is exceeded.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 13), the acceleration sensor is configured separately from the human body data storage means and the state determination means, and is arranged at a predetermined position of the human body. It is a personal information terminal according to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, which is attachable.

The 14th aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 14) is the personal information terminal according to the 13th aspect of the present invention, wherein the threshold value can be changed according to a predetermined position of the human body.

The fifteenth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 15) further comprises a communication means for communicating with the outside.
The personal information terminal according to any one of the tenth to tenth aspects of the present invention.

A sixteenth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 16) is an action discrimination system including the personal information terminal of the fifteenth aspect of the present invention and a master unit for performing two-way communication with the personal communication information terminal. Is.

Further, in a seventeenth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 17), the personal information terminal is allowed to operate only when the latest determination result determined by the state determining means is different from the result of the previous determination. It is an action discrimination system according to the 16th aspect of the present invention, which transmits the latest discrimination result to the parent device.

The 18th aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 18) is the acceleration sensor for detecting the acceleration of the personal information terminal according to the 1st aspect of the present invention, and the posture and / or action pattern of the human body is used as human body data. The computer functions as all or a part of the human body data storage means for storing and the state determination means for comparing the output from the acceleration sensor with the human body data to determine the posture state and / or the operating state of the human body. It is a program to let you.

Further, a nineteenth invention (corresponding to claim 19) of the personal information terminal of the first invention is an acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration and a posture and / or action pattern of a human body as human body data. The computer functions as all or a part of the human body data storage means for storing and the state determination means for comparing the output from the acceleration sensor with the human body data to determine the posture state and / or the operating state of the human body. It is a medium carrying a program for causing it to be processed by a computer.

[0032]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) An individual action detection system according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. The configuration of this embodiment will be described below. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a personal information terminal of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the personal information terminal 1 has an acceleration sensor 2, a discriminating means 3, and a storing means 4 built therein, and is used by being worn on a human body.

The gravitational acceleration is detected by the acceleration sensor 2 and the detection result and the threshold value in the storage means 4 are referred to, whereby the discrimination means 4 detects the posture and / or motion of the human body.

The acceleration sensor 2 corresponds to the acceleration sensor of the present invention, the discrimination means 3 corresponds to the state discrimination means of the present invention, and the storage means 4 corresponds to the human body data storage means of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows the X-axis in the z-axis direction when a person wearing the personal information terminal 1 walks, that is, the walking surface.
The graph shows the output in the vertical direction on the Y plane. As a person walks, the waist moves up and down, so the output of the z-axis increases and decreases in a cycle corresponding to the walking cycle. Further, at the moment when the human body touches the ground, the reaction force causes acceleration in the direction opposite to the ground. The walking state can be detected by detecting an increase or decrease in the output according to the cycle, and the behavior such as a fall can be detected by detecting the acceleration caused by the reaction.

It should be noted that the human body has different magnitudes of changes in movement and posture depending on its body parts, and the accelerations corresponding thereto also differ. Therefore, the personal information terminal 1 of the present embodiment
When the is attached to each part of the human body, the threshold value in the storage means 4 is changed according to the part.

As shown in FIG. 13A, when the personal information terminal 1 is worn on the arm, a healthy person has a large range of movement of the arm.
Output is large. Therefore, it is necessary to set it larger than the threshold value when it is worn on the waist. Further, when the behavior of the arm decreases, it is considered that the wearer has an abnormality on the contrary. Therefore, when the output becomes smaller than the threshold value, the abnormality may be determined.

Further, the acceleration sensor 2 is the personal information terminal 1
It does not need to be built into the device, and may be attached at any place to be detected. For example, as shown in FIG. 13B, when the behavior detection target is the head, the acceleration sensor 2 is attached to the head.
May be provided so that the personal information terminal body is worn on the waist. At this time, the acceleration sensor 2 and the personal information terminal body may exchange information wirelessly or by wire.

(Second Embodiment) An individual action detection system according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The configuration of this embodiment will be described below.

First, FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the configuration of the personal information terminal 3 in the personal behavior detection system of the second embodiment. In the figure, 3a is a discriminating main body that operates based on inputs from the acceleration sensor 2 and the storing means 4, and 3b is a timer A, 3c that operates under the control of the discriminating main body 3a and corresponds to the first timing means of the present invention. Is the determination body 3a
A timer B, 3d corresponding to the second timing means of the present invention, which operates under the control of the above, is a state determination counter A corresponding to the first state determination counter of the present invention, and 3e is a second state determination counter of the present invention. It is a corresponding state determination counter B.

Next, FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the determination of walking based on the output in the z-axis direction when a human walks.
As a person moves his or her waist up and down as he walks, z
The output of the acceleration sensor 2 in the axial direction increases and decreases in a cycle corresponding to the walking cycle. Further, at the moment when the human body touches the ground, the reaction force causes acceleration in the direction opposite to gravity. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, a threshold value is set in advance to a level at which the output rises and falls with each increase / decrease in a cycle corresponding to the walking cycle.
Based on that, walking is discriminated through a predetermined algorithm.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the walking determination flow of this embodiment, which is an example of the above-mentioned predetermined algorithm. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

First, in step 402, when the output of the acceleration sensor 2 is smaller than the threshold value, the timer A3b is operated, and when the output of the acceleration sensor 2 is larger than the threshold value, the timer B3c is operated. .

Next, in step 404, the timer A3b
And / or while the timer B3c is operating, it is also judged whether or not the output of the acceleration sensor exceeds the threshold value again. If it does not exceed the threshold value, the judgment is performed again, and the process returns to step 401. If not, the process proceeds to step 405.

In step 405, it is determined whether or not the time measured by the timer A3b is within a predetermined range, and if it is within the range, the state determination counter A3d is incremented by one. If it is not within the predetermined range, the count value of the state determination counter A3d is reset to zero.

Next, in step 406, the timer B3
It is determined whether or not the time measured by c is within a predetermined range, and if it is within the range, 1 is added to the state determination counter A3d. If it is not within the predetermined range, the count value of the state determination counter A3d is reset to zero.

At step 407, the state determination counter A
It is determined whether or not the value stored in 3d is equal to or larger than a predetermined value. If the value is equal to or larger than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step 408, and the walking state is determined. If it is smaller than the predetermined value, re-determination is performed and the process returns to step 401.

Finally, when it is determined in step 409 that the user is in a walking state, a predetermined value is assigned to the state determination counter B3e, the timer A3b and the timer B3c are stopped,
The clock is reset to prepare for the next walking determination operation.

In the above operation, step 4
The operation is started from 02, and the determination is made by directly using the output of the acceleration sensor. However, in step 401, the average value of the acceleration sensor output average up to the previous time and the current acceleration sensor output is calculated as the acceleration sensor output. The average may be calculated and used as the output of the acceleration sensor. The calculated acceleration sensor output average is stored in the storage means, and is used when calculating the acceleration sensor output average at the time of the next determination, but if the storage means has a limit, the acceleration sensor output average is not used for determination. , The output can be used as it is. However, in that case, since the instantaneous output change caused by factors other than walking is also reflected, it is conceivable that the walking discrimination accuracy is lowered.

In the above operation, the timer A3
The time measured by b and B3c corresponds to the time value of the present invention, and the predetermined range compared with the time corresponds to the time value range of the present invention.

In the above operation, the timer A,
Although it is determined whether B is within a predetermined range, this may be a specific threshold value that is a timing threshold value.

(Third Embodiment) An individual action detection system according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The configuration of this embodiment will be described below. FIG. 5 shows a configuration diagram of the personal information terminal of the present invention, and FIG. 6 shows a signal flow between the personal information terminal and the master unit. As shown in FIG. 5, the acceleration sensor 2, the storage unit 4, and the determination unit 3 are built in the personal information terminal 1, and the personal information terminal 1 further performs wireless communication. It has a child device 5.

As shown in FIG. 6, the result detected by the acceleration sensor 2 is transmitted to the parent device 6 through the child device 5.
Note that the determination means 3 transmits the determination result to the master device 6 through the slave device 5 only when the determination result is generated and the result of the previous determination is different from the result determined this time. The frequency of transmission can be reduced, the risk of transmission data flow can be reduced, and power consumption can be reduced.

(Embodiment 4) The configuration of the individual action detection system of Embodiment 4 is the same as that of Embodiment 2, and FIG. 14 is used for the explanation. Further, FIG. 7 shows a walking determination flow according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, the same operations as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same step numbers, and detailed description will be omitted.

In this embodiment, step 404 'is provided instead of step 404 of the second embodiment, and step 407' is provided instead of step 407. Furthermore, when the determination result in step 404 ′ is No, and when the determination result in step 407 ′ is No.
If so, the operation moves to step 410.

In step 410, the determination body 3a refers to the value of the state determination counter B3e and determines whether this is a positive number. If the walking state is already determined in step 408, the state determination counter B3e stores a predetermined value, and thus the state determination counter A3d.
Even if the value of does not exceed the threshold value, it can be considered that the wearer of the personal information terminal 3 is in the walking state because of the continuity with the previous operation.

After the determination of the walking state, the process proceeds to step 411, the value of the state determination counter B3e is decremented by 1, and the walking determination operation is ended or redetermined.

In this case, only when the result of the previous discrimination is different from the result of the discrimination this time, the operation form of the system for transmitting the discrimination result to the parent device 6 through the child device 5 is adopted. As a result, it is possible to continuously recognize the walking state without performing extra transmission.

(Embodiment 5) Embodiment 5 is a posture detecting method using the personal information terminal 1. The configuration of the individual action detection system is similar to that of the second embodiment, and FIG. 14 is used for the description. 8A, 8B, and 8C schematically show the correspondence between the change in the posture of the human body and the orientation of the acceleration sensor 2 when the posture changes. The acceleration sensor 2 is assumed to be fixed to the personal information terminal 1.

Further, the personal information terminal 1 equipped with the acceleration sensor 2 is assumed to be mounted on the waist 7a of the human body, and the magnitude of the gravitational acceleration which changes with the inclination of the acceleration sensor 2 is assumed. The proportional output is processed by the discrimination means 3 in the personal information terminal 1.

FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C show the standing, sitting, and recumbent positions of the human body 7 in this order. The z axis is the vertical direction, and the direction toward the ground is positive. The x-axis is a direction in a plane parallel to the ground surface, and is assumed to be in the front direction of the human body (the front direction when the human body walks).

As can be seen from FIG. 8 (a), the orientation of the personal information terminal 1 attached to the waist 7a of the human body is vertical in the standing position, as shown in FIG. 8 (b). When the human body 7 is in a sitting position, the body 7 inclines, and when the human body 7 is in a recumbent position as shown in FIG. 8C, the human body 7 is rotated 90 degrees from the standing position. That is, the personal information terminal 1 has the waist 7 of the human body 7.
It inclines according to the posture of a.

In FIG. 9, the human body 7 is shown in FIGS. 8 (a) (b) (c).
In each case, a graph of the output of the acceleration sensor 2 when the posture is changed is shown. From the standing position (judgment A in the figure) of the human body shown in FIG.
When the posture shifts to the sitting position (judgment B in the drawing) shown in FIG. 8 and the lying position (judgment C in the drawing) shown in FIG. 8C, the angle of the waist 7a changes, and the gravitational acceleration component of the output of the acceleration sensor 2 Therefore, the posture of the human body wearing the personal information terminal 1 is determined by previously setting the threshold value A between the standing position and the sitting position and the threshold value B between the sitting position and the recumbent position for comparison. To do. In FIG. 9, the Z-axis output component 11 is compared with the threshold value A and the threshold value B. However, this is also compared when the x-axis output component is used instead of the z-axis output component. It is possible to go and determine.

It is also possible to set a threshold value on both the z-axis and the x-axis and determine the determination result only when both determination results match.

(Sixth Embodiment) An individual action detection system according to a sixth embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The configuration of this embodiment will be described below. FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of the personal information terminal of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 10, the acceleration sensor 2, the storage unit 4, and the determination unit 3 are built in the personal information terminal 1, and the personal information terminal 1 further includes a slave unit 5 that wirelessly communicates with a master unit (not shown). Built in.

Although the above is the same configuration as the above-described embodiments, the present embodiment further includes the buzzer 1.
2 and a switch 13 for the wearer to call.

In such a personal information terminal, when the wearer presses the switch 13, the slave unit 5 transmits a switch operation signal to the master unit. The master unit outputs a buzzer operation signal to the slave unit 5, and when the slave unit 5 receives this signal, the buzzer 12 operates.

(Embodiment 7) An individual action detection system according to Embodiment 7 will be described with reference to the drawings.

15 (a) and 15 (b) are similar to FIG. 8 used in the description of the fifth embodiment, the correspondence between the change of the posture of the human body and the orientation of the acceleration sensor 2 in the case of the change, respectively. It is shown in the figure. The acceleration sensor 2 is assumed to be fixed to the personal information terminal 1. Figure 15
15A shows a standing state of the human body 7, and FIG. 15B shows a state in which the human body 7 is lying down with its face facing the ground.

Next, in FIG. 11, the human body 7 is shown in FIG.
(B) In each case, the output of the acceleration sensor 2 is graphed when the posture is sequentially changed, that is, when the human body 7 is collapsed from the standing state to the front of the human body.

When the human body 7 falls from the standing position, the ground surface 15
At the moment when the human body 7 touches the ground at 0
A large acceleration is generated upward from the ground surface 150. Therefore, the output of the acceleration sensor 2 undergoes a sharp sharp spike-like decrease corresponding to this instantaneous acceleration.

The discriminating means 3 detects a collapse by detecting the sharp decreasing portion. So, in advance,
The threshold value C is set to a low output level that is not output in the normal operation, and when the output of the acceleration sensor 2 falls below this threshold value C, it is determined that the driver is disappointed.

It should be noted that it is better to use the x-axis output component in this discrimination method as shown in FIG. This is because the z axis used for normal acceleration detection is parallel to the ground surface 150 at the time of a fall. For this reason, if the same discrimination method is performed by using the output of the z-axis, the z-axis output at the time of a fall is orthogonal to the direction of acceleration on the ground and has no sensitivity. Will not be obtained.

Further, in the case of FIG. 11, the case where the human body 7 is collapsed in the front direction is shown. However, even when the human body 7 is collapsed in the rear direction, the output component in the x-axis direction may be similarly detected. However, in the case of a lateral side fall of the human body, both the x-axis and the z-axis are orthogonal to the acceleration in the ground direction at the time of the fall and have no sensitivity, and therefore the same determination method does not work. In this case, if a new acceleration sensor having a sensitivity in the y-axis direction, which is oriented in the side direction of the human body (the plane of the drawing is orthogonal to the drawing), is added, the same discrimination method as for the x-axis and the z-axis will cause the patient to suffer from disappointment. Can be determined.

(Embodiment 8) An individual action detection system according to Embodiment 8 will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 12 shows the discrimination means 3 of the personal information terminal 1.
6 shows a sequence diagram of an interaction processing with the wearer when it is determined that the wearer wearing the personal information terminal 1 has fallen. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIG.

When the discriminating means 3 discriminates that the user is a trainee, the discriminating means 3 transmits the caring information to the child device 5 (S120).
1). Upon receiving the collapse information, the slave unit 5 transmits a collapse occurrence signal indicating that the master unit 6 has collapsed (S120).
2). The parent device 6 receives the collapse occurrence signal and transmits an operation signal for operating the buzzer 12 in the personal information terminal 1 via the child device 5 (S1203). When the slave 5 receives the operation signal, the personal information terminal 1 operates the buzzer 12 based on the operation signal (S1204).

Subsequently, the wearer of the personal information terminal 1 is the buzzer 1
Check the operation sound of 2 and press the switch 13. Switch 1
A signal indicating that 3 is pressed is transmitted to the handset 5 (S1
205) and further transmitted from the handset 5 to the base 6 (S1).
206). When the master unit 6 receives this signal, it automatically outputs a signal for stopping the buzzer to the slave unit 5 (S1207). When the slave unit 5 receives the signal for stopping the buzzer, the slave unit 5 in the personal information terminal 1 The buzzer is stopped (S1208).

By doing so, even if the wearer of the personal information terminal 1 suffers from a fall, the wearer pushes or pushes the switch 13 after the buzzer of the personal information terminal 1 sounds after the fall state. The administrator who is the user of the base unit 6 can remotely know the safety of the wearer in the vicinity of the base unit 6 depending on whether or not there is any.

Further, for example, the administrator operates the buzzer 12 to confirm the reaction to the wearer, and the personal information terminal 1
If the wearer wearing the switch operates the switch 13 so that the buzzer 12 stops when the switch 13 turns on, it is possible to realize the interaction between the administrator and the wearer with respect to this system. Various system operations can be realized depending on the application of the user.

The base unit 6 receives data from the personal information terminal 1
In response to a signal indicating that the switch 13 has been pressed, the buzzer stop data is not automatically transmitted, but the fact that the switch has been pressed is notified to the base unit 6 by means of light or image display, mechanical sound, etc. Good. In this case, in order to stop the buzzer 12, it is sufficient to manually input the buzzer stop signal from the master unit according to the intention of the administrator who is the user of the master unit 6.

The present invention is based on all or part of the above-mentioned personal information terminal of the present invention (or device, element,
It is a program for causing a computer to execute the functions of circuits, units, etc., and is a program that operates in cooperation with the computer.

The present invention is a medium carrying a program for causing a computer to execute all or some of the functions of all or some of the means of the personal information terminal of the present invention described above, which is readable by the computer and The read program is a medium that executes the function in cooperation with the computer.

Note that a part of the means of the present invention means some of the plurality of means or a part of the functions of one means. Is.

A computer-readable recording medium in which the program of the present invention is recorded is also included in the present invention.

Further, one usage form of the program of the present invention may be a mode in which the program is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium and operates in cooperation with the computer.

Further, one usage form of the program of the present invention may be a mode in which it is transmitted through a transmission medium, read by a computer, and operates in cooperation with the computer.

Further, the data structure of the present invention includes a database, a data format, a data table, a data list, a data type, and the like.

Further, the recording medium includes a ROM and the like, and the transmission medium includes a transmission medium such as the Internet,
Light, radio waves, sound waves, etc. are included.

The computer of the present invention described above is
The hardware is not limited to pure hardware such as a CPU, and may include firmware, an OS, and peripheral devices.

As described above, the configuration of the present invention may be realized by software or hardware.

According to the present invention as described above, the wearer wearing the personal information terminal can take a posture such as standing, sitting, sleeping, walking, standing still, or the like. This is a phenomenon in which, when an action is taken, the wearer experiences an acceleration corresponding to the posture and the action.
The acceleration sensor in the personal information terminal outputs an output according to this acceleration, and the sensor output is continuously AD-converted and introduced into the discriminating means. The discriminating means discriminates the output by collating the output with the posture and action pattern of the human body stored in the storing means at regular intervals.
In addition, a handset is further built in the personal information terminal,
The child device performs bidirectional communication with the parent device by wireless communication. If you always send the result determined by the determination means to the parent device, the communication result is too high, and the determination result occurs.
Further, the discrimination result is transmitted to the master unit through the slave unit only when the result of the discrimination at the previous time is different from the result discriminated this time.

The discriminating means largely discriminates the posture and the action. First, a method of discriminating the posture will be described. The threshold value determined in advance is compared with the output from the acceleration sensor, and if the threshold value is exceeded, a determination result of standing (determination A) is generated. Further, if it is below the threshold value, it is compared with the next threshold value, and if it is above the threshold value, a discrimination result of sitting (determination B) is generated. If it is below the threshold, a determination result of lying down (determination C) is generated.

Next, a method of discriminating behavior will be described.
Another predetermined threshold value is compared with the output from the acceleration sensor, and if the threshold value is lower than the threshold value, it is determined that the user is in a collapsed state (determination D). Further, if the discriminated state is the state of collapse, the personal information terminal transmits a determination result of the determination D indicating the state of collapse to the parent device. Judgment result is judgment D
If it is, the wearer is immediately in a dangerous state,
A buzzer is further built in the personal information terminal, and the master unit transmits a signal for ringing the buzzer in the personal information terminal. Further, a switch is further incorporated in the personal information terminal, and the slave unit transmits a signal indicating that the switch is pushed to the parent unit when the switch is pushed. If the wearer and the administrator decide in advance that the buzzer sounds when the buzzer sounds, the switch responds by pressing the switch. The administrator can remotely know the safety of the wearer near the base unit.

As a method of detecting a walking state, a method of comparing a threshold value with an output and operating a unique timer for each of the cases where the threshold value is exceeded and the case where the threshold value is output is proposed. Moreover, when detecting a walking state, when only a momentary output is used for determination, or when a noise component is mixed in the output by hitting the personal information terminal somewhere, the output cannot always be correctly determined. In order to avoid this and accurately detect the walking state of the wearer, the high-frequency output that is a noise component can be removed by comparing the average value of the past several outputs with the threshold value.
The walking state can be accurately determined.

In the present invention, the sensors and the buzzers are included in the sensors incorporated in the personal information terminal, but this is not the only option, and
The sensor may be further equipped with a physiological sensor, an angular velocity sensor (gyro sensor), an inclination angle sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, or the like to detect the action of the human body.

In the present invention, a buzzer is provided in the personal information terminal as means for notifying the user, but visual means such as an LED or vibration generating means such as a vibrator may be used.

The personal information terminal may further be equipped with a GPS receiver or the like to detect the position of the wearer at the same time, and the parent device may be a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN).
It may be in the form of a system in which a management terminal connected to the Internet or the like for more centralized management is operated in the center.

This action discrimination system can be effectively operated by equipping the personal information terminal with an acceleration sensor for detecting the gravitational acceleration and detecting the posture of the human body, and a child device, and managing it by the parent device. .

[0101]

As is apparent from the above description, a personal information terminal and a personal behavior discriminating system for discriminating a personal behavior by an acceleration sensor can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a personal information terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an output graph when walking according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of determination of walking when walking according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a walking determination flow according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a personal information terminal according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a signal flow between a personal information terminal and a base unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a walking determination flow according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8A is a schematic view for explaining the orientation of the acceleration sensor of the personal information terminal according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8B is a schematic view of the acceleration sensor of the personal information terminal according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. Schematic diagram for explaining the direction (c) A schematic diagram for explaining the direction of the acceleration sensor of the personal information terminal according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an output graph corresponding to the orientation of the acceleration sensor according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a personal information terminal according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an output graph in the case of a fall according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an interaction processing sequence with a wearer according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13A is a diagram for explaining the operation of the personal information terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13B is a diagram for explaining the operation of the personal information terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration of a storage unit 3.

FIG. 15A is a schematic diagram for explaining the orientation of the acceleration sensor of the personal information terminal according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15B is a schematic view of the acceleration sensor of the personal information terminal according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention. Schematic diagram for explaining the direction

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Personal information terminal 2 Accelerometer 3 discrimination means 3a Discrimination body 3b timer A 3c timer B 3d Status judgment counter A 3e Status judgment counter B 4 storage means 5 cordless handsets 6 base unit 7 human body 7a waist 12 buzzers 13 switch

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kazuhiko Hashimoto             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akira Hattori             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shigeyuki Inoue             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 4C038 VA04 VB01 VB31

Claims (19)

[Claims] 1. An acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration, a human body data storage means for storing a posture and / or action pattern of a human body as human body data, an output from the acceleration sensor and the human body data are collated, and A personal information terminal, comprising: a state discriminating unit that discriminates a posture state and / or an operating state of a human body, the state discriminating unit performing the discriminating operation based on an output of the acceleration sensor. 2. The personal information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the state determination means performs the determination operation based on an increase / decrease in the output of the acceleration sensor at regular intervals. 3. The state determination means includes a first timing means and a second timing means for measuring a predetermined time, compares a predetermined threshold value with the output of the acceleration sensor, and outputs the output. If it is below the threshold, the first
When the clocking means is activated and the output exceeds the threshold value, the second
The personal information terminal according to claim 2, wherein the timekeeping means is activated to determine that the human body is in a walking state based on the time measured by the first timekeeping means and the second timekeeping means. 4. The state determining means has a first state determining counter, and stops the first timing means when the output exceeds the threshold value while the first timing means is operating. Comparing the time count value of the first time measurement means at the time of stop with a predetermined time count threshold value, and if the time count value is less than or equal to the time count threshold value, increments the count of the first state determination counter by 1, If it is above, the count is set to 0, the first timing means is stopped when the output falls below the threshold value while the second timing means is operating, and the first timing means at the time of stop Comparing the time count value with a predetermined time count threshold value, if the time count value is equal to or less than the time count threshold value, the count of the first state determination counter is incremented by 1, and if the time count value is equal to or higher than the time count threshold value, the count is set to 0, The count If it becomes more than a predetermined determination value, a personal digital assistant according to claim 3 to determine that the human body is a walking state. 5. The state determination means has a first state determination counter, and stops the first timing means when the output exceeds the threshold value while the first timing means is operating. Comparing the timed value of the first timed means at the time of the stop with a predetermined timed value range, and if the timed value is within the timed value range, the count of the first state determination counter is incremented by 1 to obtain the timed value. If it is outside the range, the count is set to 0, and when the output is below the threshold value while the second timing means is operating, the second timing means is stopped, and the first timing means at the time of stop Comparing the measured time value and the measured time range, if the measured time value is within the measured time range, increment the count of the first state determination counter by 1, and if it is outside the measured time range, set the count to 0, Count is a predetermined decision If it becomes more than a value, a personal digital assistant according to claim 3 to determine that the human body is a walking state. 6. The personal information terminal according to claim 4, wherein the state determination means resets the time count value to 0 when the first time measurement means or the second time measurement means stops. 7. The human body data storage / storage means stores an average value of the output average of the acceleration sensor and the latest acceleration sensor output up to the previous time as an acceleration sensor output average, and stores the average value of the acceleration sensor output average up to the previous time. The personal information terminal according to claim 1, wherein after the determination operation is completed by the state determination means, the acceleration sensor output average is substituted. 8. The personal information terminal according to claim 7, wherein the state determination means uses the acceleration sensor output average instead of the output. 9. The state determination means has a second state determination counter, and when the walking state is determined, a numerical value predetermined in the human body data storage means is substituted into the second state determination counter. The personal information terminal according to claim 3. 10. The personal information according to claim 9, wherein when the result of the determination is not a walking state, if the value of the second state determination counter is a positive number, the state determination means subtracts the predetermined number. Terminal. 11. The state determination means generates a determination result indicating walking if the count 2 is a positive number.
Or the personal information terminal as described in 10. 12. The state determination means compares a threshold value preset in the human body data storage means with an output from the acceleration sensor, and generates a predetermined determination result when the output exceeds the threshold value. The personal information terminal according to claim 1. 13. The personal information terminal according to claim 12, wherein the acceleration sensor is configured separately from the human body data storage means and the state determination means, and is attachable to a predetermined position of the human body. 14. The personal information terminal according to claim 13, wherein the threshold value can be changed according to a predetermined position of the human body. 15. The personal information terminal according to claim 1, further comprising communication means for communicating with the outside. 16. An action discriminating system comprising the personal information terminal according to claim 15 and a master unit that performs two-way communication with the personal communication information terminal. 17. The personal information terminal transmits the latest determination result to the parent device only when the latest determination result determined by the state determination means is different from the result of the previous determination. Item 16. The behavior determination system according to Item 16. 18. An acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration, a human body data storage unit for storing a posture and / or a behavior pattern of a human body as human body data, and an output from the acceleration sensor of the personal information terminal according to claim 1. A program for causing a computer to function as all or a part of a state determination unit that determines the posture state and / or the operation state of the human body by collating the above with the human body data. 19. The acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration, the human body data storage means for storing the posture and / or action pattern of the human body as human body data, and the output from the acceleration sensor of the personal information terminal according to claim 1. A medium carrying a program for causing a computer to function as all or part of a state determination means for determining the posture state and / or motion state of the human body by collating the human body data with the human body data. A medium characterized by being processable.