JP2003132463A - Activity grasping device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To grasp the activity of a person to be watched in detail. SOLUTION: In this life watching system (activity grasping device), human sensing sensors 12 sensing the movement of a body are disposed at various places in the house of the person to be watched. A hit count n (count data) of an RAM 11e (count means) is counted up by one by a processing part 11a of a control device 11 according to the sensing of the sensor 12. The count result is displayed at the display means of a server computer or a client terminal or the like.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for grasping the activity amount of a person to be watched over, such as an elderly person living alone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For the coming aging society, attention is being paid to a system for watching over the lives of the elderly living alone and supporting their care. In this system, the presence / absence of an abnormality is determined by sensing the living activity of the person being watched in the home in real time by a human sensor or the like. The main body of living activity information is
The whereabouts or destination of the subject.

[0003]

However, even if the whereabouts and the moving destination are known, it may not be enough to judge the activity status of the person being watched over. For example, it is difficult to discriminate between the case where the worker is in the living room for a long time and the case where he / she has fallen down, and only information that they are in the living room is obtained.

[0004]

In order to solve the above problems, an activity amount grasping apparatus according to the present invention comprises a plurality of motion sensors, counting means, data processing means, and display means. . The human sensor is provided in each watching area of the house of the watching target and is sensitive to the movement of the human body. The counting means counts the number of times the human sensor detects. The data processing means processes the count data by the counting means so as to contribute to the grasp of the activity amount of the watching target person.

Here, the data processing means preferably includes a display means for displaying the count data. More preferably, it includes a data dividing unit that divides the count data of the counting unit by a certain period, and a display unit that individually displays the divided count data or displays them in a time series. The data dividing means has a reading means for reading the count data of the counting means at a certain period, a reset means for resetting the counting means after the reading, and a transmitting means for sending the read count data to the display means. Is desirable. The "certain period" may be a certain period of time (for example, one hour or one day), and the period during which the person being watched continues to be in one watching area (the period determined by the data processing means as such). And so on.

More preferably, the data processing means is a movement determining means for determining whether or not the person to be watched has moved from one watching area to another watching area based on the output of the human sensor. A reading means for reading the count data of the counting means each time the movement judging means judges that it has moved, and a reset means for resetting the counting means after the reading.
Display means for individually displaying the read count data or for displaying a list in a time series.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a life watching system 1 (activity amount grasping device) in which an elderly person living alone is a target person A. The watching system 1 is the target house 90
The home monitoring device 10, a server computer 20 (display means) of a management center, and a client terminal (display means) such as a personal computer 30 or a mobile phone 31 of the above-mentioned subject's family or a care center.

The home watching apparatus 10 is provided with a control device 11 and a plurality of human sensor 12 (human body detecting means). These devices 11 and 12 are the power line 9 of the house 90.
They are connected to each other via 9.

As shown in FIG. 2, the human sensor 12 is arranged in different places 91 to 96 (watching area) of the target person's house 90. Hereinafter, when distinguishing which location 91 to 96 the human sensor 12 is, the reference numeral 12 indicates the letters A to F.
Shall be attached. That is, the presence sensor 12A is arranged in the toilet 91, the presence sensor 12B is arranged in the corridor 92, the presence sensor 12C is arranged in the living room 93, and the presence sensor 12D is arranged in the bedroom 94. Entrance 95
A human sensor 12E is installed in the bathroom 96, and a human sensor 12F is installed in the washroom 96.

As shown in FIG. 3, each human sensor 12 is
The sensor unit 12a and the signal conversion unit 1 in the sensor unit 12a.
The processing unit 12d connected via 2b and the processing unit 1
ROM 12f (nonvolatile memory) and communication unit 12e connected to 2d, and plug 12 connected to communication unit 12e
g and. The plug 12g is connected to the outlet 99a of the power line 99.

The sensor section 12a is composed of a pyroelectric infrared detector which is sensitive to the movement of the human body. The sensitive signal of the sensor unit 12a, that is, the detection signal of the movement of the human body,
The signal is converted into a digital signal by the signal conversion unit and sent to the processing unit 12d.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4C, R
House code h (subject's house identification number) is included in OM12f.
A setting table for registering the sensor code x (sensor identification number) is provided. The house code h is for identifying the individual target person's house 90, and is assigned to each of the watching apparatuses 10 of each house. Ie 1
The human sensor 12 in each house 90 has the same house code h.

The sensor code x is for identifying the individual human sensor 12 in the house 90. That is, each human sensor 12 is assigned a unique sensor code x different from the others. Below, which human sensor 1
When distinguishing between two sensor codes x, the sensor code code x is the individual code 12A to 12F of the motion sensor.
Shall be attached with a subscript. That is, the sensor code toilet human sensor 12A is x _12A, sensor cord hallway human sensor 12B is x _12B, the sensor code of Living human sensor 12C are x _12C, bedroom human sensor 12D The sensor code is x _12D , the sensor code of the entrance sensor 12E is x _12E , and the sensor code of the toilet sensor 12F is x _12F .

Although FIG. 4 shows only the setting tables of the human presence sensors 12A to 12C in the toilet 91, the corridor 92, and the living room 93, the human presence sensors 1 in other places 94 to 96 are shown.
The setting table for 2D to 12F is similar. In this embodiment, since one human sensor 12 is provided at each of the locations 91 to 96 in the house 90,
The sensor code x described above also serves as a code for identifying each location 91 to 96.

The processing unit 12d of the human sensor 12 attaches the house code h and the sensor code x to the information indicating that the sensor unit 12a is sensitive, and sends it to the communication unit 12e. The communication section 12e converts the signal into a signal and then sends the signal to the power line 99.

Next, the control device 11 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the control device 11 includes a processing unit 11a, and the processing unit 11a includes the downlink communication unit 1
1b, upstream communication unit 11c (transmitting means), timer 11d,
A RAM 11e (volatile memory), a ROM 11f (nonvolatile memory), etc. are connected.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the immediately preceding sensor code x ₀ , hit count n (count data), etc. are stored in the RAM 11e. Previous sensor code x
₀ is the sensor code x of the motion sensor 12 that was sensitive immediately before. The hit count n indicates the number of times of sensation of all the human sensor 12A to 12F up to the present after it is determined that the target person A has moved to the present location.
Thereby, the RAM 11e constitutes the "counting means" in the claims.

As shown in FIG. 5 (b), the ROM 11f is provided with a setting table for registering the house code h, the movement confirmation time T (for example, 30 seconds) used in the movement determination which will be described later. . The movement confirmation time T is 9
It is desirable to add some margin (about 10 seconds) to the time (usually 20 seconds or less) required to move between the two most distant places that are used daily within 0. Moreover, it is desirable that the time required for the main living activity is not longer than that for the shortest required time (for example, urination). In the case of urination, it takes about 40 seconds from entering the toilet 91 to exiting it. Therefore, as described above, T = 30 seconds is generally desirable.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a plug 11g is extended to the downlink communication section 11b of the control device 11, and the plug 11g is connected to the outlet 99 of the power line 99.
connected to a. In addition, the upstream communication unit 11c
It is connected to the server computer 20 via a communication network 40 such as a DN network, an IP network or an analog telephone network. The sensor information on the power line 99 is the communication unit 11
It is captured by b, converted into a signal, and sent to the processing unit 11a. The processing unit 11a makes a movement determination, which will be described later, based on the captured information, and sends the result to the communication unit 11c. The communication unit 11c converts the signal and then transmits the signal to the server computer 20 via the communication network 40.

The server computer 20 accumulates and manages information and the like from the control device 11. The server computer 20 is connected to the client terminals 30 and 31 via a communication network 41 such as WAN, public telephone network, mobile telephone network, or Internet.
As a result, the accumulated information is stored in the client terminal 3 in the form of a Web page, an electronic mail, a telephone message or the like.
It is transmitted to 0 and 31.

The processing section 11a of the control device 11
The processing operation by will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. It is assumed that the watching target person A has just entered the living room 93, for example. Then, the processing unit 11 a of the control device 11 causes the living room 9 of the target person A to be 9
It is assumed that the decision to move to 3 has just been made. R
The hit count n of the AM 11e has just been initialized (n = 0) by confirming the movement to the living room 93 (see steps 210 and 211 in FIG. 8). In addition, RAM11
just before the sensor code x ₀ of e is made to the sensor code x _12C in the living room motion sensor 12C.

As shown in FIG. 6, the processing section 11a executes a main flow for grasping the activity amount of the target person A. That is, it is determined whether or not the sensitive signal of the human sensor 12 is received (step 100). In addition, the determination target is not limited to the living room 93, but all the motion sensors 12A to 12 in the house 90.
It is F.

When the person A watching the living room 93 moves his or her body, the living room sensor 12C senses it. This sensitive signal reaches the control device 11 through the power line 99.
The processing unit 11a of the control device 11 checks whether or not the house code h included in this sensitive signal matches the one registered in the ROM 11f. If they match, in step 100, it is determined that there is "sensitivity (yes)". When they do not match, that is, when a signal from another person's house to be monitored comes in, it is determined to be “no” and a sensitive signal is sent to the power line 99. This can avoid interference with other homes.

The processing section 11a sends "yes" at step 100.
Hit count n of the RAM 11e when it is judged as "s"
Is overwritten with the value counted up by one (step 1
01). Further, the processing unit 11a reads the sensor code x included in the received sensitive signal (step 102).
It is determined whether or not this sensor code x is the same as the sensor code x ₀ immediately before the RAM 11e (step 103). Here, since both the codes x and x ₀ are the sensor code x _12C of the living room sensor 12C, it is determined to be “yes”. This returns to the beginning of the main flow and starts over from step 100. In this way, each time the watching target person A in the living room 93 moves, the living room sensor 12C senses (step 100) and the hit count n is incremented (step 101). As a result, the number of movements of the watching target person A in the living room 93 can be counted. As a result, the amount of activity can be grasped.

After that, the watching target person A goes to the toilet 91.
Suppose that you have entered the corridor 92 from the living room 93 to save yourself. Then,
The corridor human sensor 12B responds. The processing unit 11a is
By receiving the sensitive signal of
Judge as “yes” and count up the hit count n.
(Step 101) and the sensor of the received signal
Read the code x (step 102), RAM 11e
Sensor code x immediately before ₀(Step 10)
3). In this case, the sensor code of the received signal is x_12BAnd
On the other hand, the sensor code immediately before the RAM 11e is x₀=
x_12CTherefore, it is judged as “no” in step 103.
Be done. As a result, the flow proceeds to the movement determination flow.

In the movement determination flow, the processing section 11a
Functions as a "movement determining means" or a "data dividing means". More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the processing unit 1
1a first sets the sensor code x ₀ immediately before in the RAM 11e,
From the sensor code x _12C up to that point, the previous step 1
The sensor code _x12B read in 02 is rewritten (step 200). Further, the timer 11d starts the measurement of the elapsed time t for confirming the movement (step 2).
01).

Then, it is judged whether or not the sensitive signal of the human sensor 12 is received (step 202). The judgment targets are not limited to the living room 93 and the corridor 92, but all the motion sensors 12A to 12F in the house 90.

At this time, it is assumed that the watching target person A is still moving in the corridor 92. Then again, the hall sensor 12
B is sensitive. As a result, the processing unit 11a determines “yes” in step 202. And the RAM 11e
The hit count n of 1 is continuously incremented by 1 from the main flow (step 203). Also, the sensor code x of the received signal is read (step 20
4), collate with the sensor code x ₀ immediately before in the RAM 11e (step 205). Here, since both the codes x and x ₀ are the sensor code x _12B of the hallway presence sensor 12,
It is determined to be “yes”.

As a result, the routine proceeds to step 207, where RO
The movement confirmation time T (= 30 seconds) stored in M11f is read. Then, it is determined whether or not the time measurement value t has reached the movement confirmation time T (t ≧ T). If it is still (t <T), the process returns to step 202, and it is determined whether or not there is any one of the human sensor 12's sensitivity.

At this time, it is assumed that the person A to be watched over arrives at the toilet 91 upon arrival. Then, the toilet human sensor 12A responds. As a result, the processing unit 11a determines “yes” in step 202. And RAM1
The hit count n of 1e is incremented by 1 (step 203), the sensor code x of the received signal is read (step 204), and the sensor code x _{0 of the} RAM 11e is checked (step 205). In this case, while the sensor code of the received signal is _x12A ,
Since the immediately preceding sensor code in the RAM 11e is x ₀ = x _12B, it is determined to be “no” in step 205.

As a result, the processing unit 11a resets the time measurement value t (step 206) and then returns to step 200 to immediately precede the sensor code x _{0 in the} RAM 11e.
_Is rewritten from the sensor code x _12B thus far to the sensor code x _12A read in step 204. Then, the time measurement is redone (step 201).

Then, in step 202, the motion sensor 12 is detected.
Examine the presence or absence of sensitivity. At this time, if the watching target person A does not move still in the toilet 91, it is determined to be "no". This jumps to step 207 and t
It is determined whether or not ≧ T, and if not, the process returns to step 202. Thus, step 202 and step 2
The determination of 07 is alternately repeated.

When the person A to be watched moves in the toilet 91, the human sensor 12 for the toilet senses again. As a result, the processing unit 11a determines “yes” in step 202, increments the hit count n by 1 (step 203), and outputs the sensor code x of the received signal.
Is read (step 204) and collated with the sensor code x ₀ immediately before in the RAM 11e (step 205). Here, since both codes x and x ₀ are the sensor code x _12A of the toilet motion sensor 12A, it is determined to be “yes”. As a result, the process proceeds to step 207, and it is determined whether t ≧ T.

As described above, the person A to be watched over is in the toilet 91.
As long as it stays in step 202, directly from step 202, or through steps 203, 204, 205 to step 20
The operation of proceeding to 7 is repeated. Then, every time the watching target person A moves in the toilet 91, the hit count n is incremented (step 203).

Then, the toilet human sensor 12A is used for the first time.
The fixed movement time T (30 seconds) has elapsed since the time of sensing (t ≧
When it becomes T), it is determined to be “yes” in step 207.
To be done. As a result, the processing unit 11a performs the steps in FIG.
Proceed to 210, where it is the first time that the target person A to watch
Is determined to have been transferred, and the immediately preceding sensor code x at this point ₀
Is read from the RAM 11e. This code x₀By
The moving destination of the watching target person A is specified. I.e. reading
Code x taken₀Location of human sensor 12 (see
Area) is specified as the destination. The last sensor in this case
Saccord is x_12ATherefore, the destination is specially the toilet 91.
Is determined.

At the same time, the processing section 11a (reading means) also reads the hit count n. This hit count n
Is the number of times the human sensor A has responded from the time when it is determined that the person A to be monitored has moved to the living room 93 to the time when it is determined that the person A has moved to the toilet 12A (mainly during the period of time in the living room 93). The person A mainly indicates the number of movements in the living room 93, that is, the amount of activity.

The data x ₀ read by the processing unit 11a,
n is transmitted to the server computer 20 from the communication unit 11c as living activity information (movement destination information and activity amount information at the place before moving). Since the sensitive information of the human sensor 12 is not transmitted to the server computer 20 one by one, but only the finally determined result data is transmitted, the amount of transmitted information can be significantly reduced.
Therefore, the communication time can be made extremely short and the communication cost can be made extremely low.

After the transmission, the processing section 11a (reset means)
Resets the hit count n of the RAM 11e (step 211). Further, the time measurement value t is reset and stopped (step 212). Then, returning to the main flow of FIG. 6, next, the person A to be watched is mainly the toilet 91.
Will count the number of operations.

The transmission information in step 210 includes
The house code h read from the ROM 11f is also attached. As a result, the server computer 20 can specify the device 10 that is the source of the signal, and by extension, which target person A is the information. Then, the server computer 20 stores the received information in a database. Since the amount of information is compressed significantly, memory can be saved.

In response to the request, the server computer 20 tabulates the accumulated information and outputs it to its own output terminal and client terminals 30 and 31. FIG. 9 shows an example of the output screen 40. This screen 40 is mainly viewed by the operator of the management center or the caregiver of the care sensor when examining the situation of the target person A in detail.

The screen 40 includes a time column 41 and a destination column 42.
And an integrated value column 43 are provided. In the time column 41,
The times at which the living activity information is received from the in-home watching device 10 are listed in time series. The destination column 42 is the sensor column 4
4 and the code column 45. In the sensor column 44, the destination of movement at each time (whereabouts after that time) is specified and displayed from the sensor code x ₀ in the living motion information. In the code column 45, the place code (watching area code) assigned to the destination place is displayed.

Then, in the integrated value column 43, the numerical values of the hit count n included in the information at each time are listed. This numerical value is the number of movements of the target person A at each place of residence, and serves as an index of the amount of activity. Thereby, the operator or the caregiver can know the living behavior of the target person A in more detail and more accurately. For example, when the user stays in the living room or the bedroom for a long time, it is possible to easily determine whether there is any activity there or a situation in which the person falls down and cannot move. Then, even if the abnormality is determined by the abnormality determination performed by the control device 11 separately, if there is a certain amount of activity, it can be inferred that the abnormality is not actually abnormal, and the abnormality determination of the control device 11 can be supplemented. On the other hand, when there is almost no activity, it can be estimated that an abnormality actually occurs, and appropriate measures can be taken.

Although not shown, the standard screen that can be viewed on the client terminals 30 and 31 of the family of the subject A has a time axis of 24 hours set in the horizontal direction, for example. The whereabouts (life pattern) that is changing moment by moment is displayed in a band-like manner by being color-coded for each whereabouts in chronological order. Attach it above or below this band display,
The hit count n at the location is directly displayed as a numerical value, or is visually recognizable in a color such as gray whose shade varies depending on the size of the count.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications can be made. For example, the data processing means is not limited to one that contributes to grasping the activity amount of the watching target person by simply displaying the count data of the counting means. It may be useful for watching and monitoring the activity amount of the target person by determining the degree and further notifying the determination result. The display means
Instead of displaying the count data divided for each certain period in a time series, only the data for the requested period may be individually displayed in response to, for example, a viewer's request. The “certain period” is not limited to the period from the determination of one movement confirmation to the determination of the next movement determination, and may be a certain period such as one hour or one day.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By monitoring the count data and using it as an index of the amount of activity of the target person, the state of the target person can be known in detail and accurately. By displaying the count data on the display means, the activity amount can be surely grasped. By dividing the count data by the data dividing means for each certain period and displaying the divided data on the display means, the activity amount can be more easily grasped. By using the movement determination means, etc., the count data is divided according to the period between the movement determination after one movement determination and the next movement determination, and the divided data is displayed on the display means, so that the amount of activity is calculated for each location. Therefore, the activity amount can be more easily understood.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a life watching system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an arrangement state of a motion sensor of the life watching system in a house.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a control device and a motion sensor of the life watching system.

FIG. 4A is a table exemplifying data items of a setting table stored in a ROM of a toilet motion sensor. (B) A table exemplifying the data items of the setting table stored in the ROM of the hallway presence sensor. (C) A table exemplifying the data items of the setting table stored in the ROM of the living room sensor.

5A is a table showing an example of data items stored in a RAM of the control device. FIG. (B) A table exemplifying the data items of the setting table stored in the ROM of the control device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a main flow for grasping living activity information by a processing unit of the control device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a movement determination flow for grasping living activity information by the processing unit of the control device.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a movement determination flow for grasping life activity information by the processing unit of the control device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a server computer or a client terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Life Monitoring System (Activity Monitoring Device) 11 Control Device 11a Processing Unit (Data Processing Device, Data Dividing Device, Movement Determination Device, Reading Device, Reset Device) 11c Uplink Communication Unit (Transmission Device) 11e RAM (Count of Control Device) Means) 12 human sensor 20 server computer (data processing means, display means) 30, 31 client terminal (data processing means, display means) 90 watching target person's house n hit count (count data)

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of motion sensors provided in each of the watching areas of a person's house to be watched and sensitive to movement of a human body.
(B) Counting means for counting the number of times of the human sensor, and (C) data processing means for processing the count data by the counting means so as to contribute to the grasp of the activity amount of the watching target person. A device for grasping the amount of activity. 2. The data processing means includes display means for displaying the count data.
The activity amount grasping device described in. 3. The data processing means comprises a data dividing means for dividing the count data of the counting means by a certain period, and a display means for displaying the divided count data individually or in a time series. The activity amount grasping apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the activity amount grasping apparatus is included. 4. The movement determination means, wherein the data processing means determines whether or not the watching target person has moved from one watching area to another watching area based on the output of the motion sensor. A reading unit that reads the count data of the counting unit each time the movement determining unit determines that the count unit has moved, a reset unit that resets the counting unit after the reading, and an individual display or time series of the read count data. 2. The activity amount grasping apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit for displaying a list side by side.