JP2003233882A - Equipment monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an equipment monitoring system for detecting a state of equipment installed in a dark room without installing light fixture in the dark room and for informing a monitoring center at a remote place of the state. <P>SOLUTION: The equipment monitoring system is constituted so that a display unit 20 emits light by detecting an abnormality of the equipment, an imaging means 5 of a monitoring device 20 acquires an image signal including light emission, an image processing apparatus 6 discriminates the state of the equipment, transmits information data to the monitoring center at the remote place via a communication line 30 and the state of the equipment is detected on the side of the monitoring center 40 at the remote place where the information data are received. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a failure or abnormality of various facilities installed inside a dark room (hereinafter, simply referred to as a dark room) such as a warehouse, a machine room or an electric room where light does not enter during normal times. The present invention relates to a facility monitoring system for detecting and notifying a status to a monitoring center in a remote place.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique relating to a monitoring device for monitoring the condition of equipment installed in a dark room such as an electric room or the condition of the dark room itself, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3107754 (the title of the invention is "distance room distant monitoring system"). , The patentee is the same as the applicant.)

The monitoring system according to the invention of this patent monitors the condition of electric equipment such as a transformer installed in one room of an apartment house and the condition of a rental room. Although this room is called a supply transformer room or a rental room, it is often a dark room because it is not illuminated during normal times. In the following description, it is simply called a rental room.

In order to monitor the condition, a plurality of sensors for monitoring the condition of the electric equipment or the rented room are provided, and the light emitting module for collecting the detection signals of the plurality of sensors converts the infrared signals into the infrared signals, which are then transmitted to the monitoring device. It is possible to receive an alarm at a remote place by converting it into an electric signal again at the monitoring terminal and transmitting it to the remote center side via the public line.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned "loan room facility remote monitoring system" as described above, since the wireless transmission by the infrared ray is performed between the light emitting module to which the sensor is connected and the monitoring terminal, a narrow rental space is provided. There is an advantage that it is easy to build a monitoring system without the need to lay cables indoors.

However, the monitoring items targeted by the monitoring system are, for example, transformer heating, secondary cable heating,
There are many types such as the temperature in the rental room and the humidity in the rental room. If the monitoring items are different, it is necessary to emit an infrared ray having a different pattern signal from each light emitting module, and the number of these patterns also varies. For this reason, the monitoring terminal has to receive infrared rays of different patterns and determine and recognize which abnormal state.
An O / E converter, a logic unit, and the like must be provided for discrimination, which is technically excellent, but also has improvements such as simplification of the circuit.

Therefore, a monitoring system is conceivable in which the state of the electric equipment and the state of the rented room are imaged using a camera and the image is processed. In recent years, cameras have become cheaper and the environment is easier to use. In addition, the applicant of the present invention is Japanese Patent Application 20
00-238534 (Invention title “recognition processing device and recognition processing method for status indicator”) and Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-2
76019 (Invention title "Automatic patrol system and automatic patrol method") is jointly filed, and the inventions according to these prior applications particularly use a state indicator such as a meter to image the pointer position of the meter by image processing. It specifies and notifies the monitoring value in a remote place of the meter's guideline value.

Therefore, in order to recognize the equipment in the dark room by using the apparatus according to these prior applications, a method of providing lighting equipment in the dark room and imaging the equipment by the imaging means can be considered. However, in order to ensure sufficient and uniform illuminance in the monitoring area, it is necessary to provide lighting equipment such as lighting, illuminance sensor, switch, control device, wiring, replacement work due to the life of the lighting, laying of switches and wiring. In addition, the increase in power consumption causes an increase in cost when constructing, maintaining and inspecting the monitoring device.

Therefore, unlike the environment in which the lighting device is always used, such as the environment assumed in the invention of the prior application, the equipment state in a dark environment such as a dark room assumed in the present application is In the case of monitoring, it is required to adopt a method different from the conventional one so that it can be monitored using inexpensive and simple equipment.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide lighting equipment such as a lamp, an electric lamp, and a fluorescent lamp in a dark room such as a warehouse, a machine room, or an electric room. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facility monitoring system that detects the state of a facility installed in the darkness of a dark room and notifies the state to a monitoring center in a remote place.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, according to the equipment monitoring system of the first aspect of the present invention, the monitoring device monitors one or a plurality of indicators for displaying the status of the equipment. In the equipment monitoring system for notifying the remote monitoring center of the status of the equipment, the display is
An abnormality detecting means for detecting an abnormality of the equipment and outputting a detection signal, a contact opened / closed by the detection signal from the abnormality detecting means, a power source connected to the contact, and the contact closed by the abnormality detection. In this case, the monitoring device is connected to the power source and emits light, and the monitoring device detects the presence or absence of light emission by using image capturing means for capturing an image of the display and image signals output from the image capturing means. An image processing device for generating notification data for notifying the state of the equipment and transmitting the notification data to a remote monitoring center.

Further, according to the facility monitoring system of claim 2, in the facility monitoring system of claim 1, the image processing device detects the position of light emission in the image, and the type and state of the facility are detected according to the position. Is specified.

According to the facility monitoring system of the third aspect, in the facility monitoring system of the first aspect, the image processing device detects the luminescent color in the image and indicates the type and state of the facility by the color. It is characterized by specifying.

According to the equipment monitoring system described in claim 4, in the equipment monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the power source of the display is:
It is a battery or a battery.

According to the equipment monitoring system described in claim 5, in the equipment monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the monitoring center is wired to the image processing device or It is characterized by being one or a plurality of personal computers connected wirelessly.

Further, according to the equipment monitoring system described in claim 6, in the equipment monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, between the monitoring center and the image processing device. It is characterized by intervening network.

Further, according to the equipment monitoring system described in claim 7, in the equipment monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the monitoring device captures an image of the display. Means and an image transmission device for transmitting the image signal output from the image pickup means to a remote monitoring center, and the remote monitoring center detects the presence or absence of light emission using the transmitted image signal. And an image processing device for recognizing the state of the equipment.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of an equipment monitoring system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a display unit included in an equipment monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The display 10 includes an abnormality detecting unit 1 including a detector 1a and a controller 1b, a contact 2, a power source 3, and a light emitting unit 4. Equipment such as transformers are installed in dark rooms such as warehouses, machine rooms, and electric rooms that are normally dark.
0 is attached.

Detector 1a connected to equipment not shown
Is specifically a sensor or a measuring instrument. Examples of the sensor include, for example, a sensor that determines whether or not the temperature of the transformer body or the mouth of the branch terminal block cable of the transformer has reached a specified value, or whether the water level of the flooded water in the dark room has reached a specified value. And a sensor for detecting whether or not the door of the dark room is open / closed in order to determine the intrusion into the dark room. Moreover, examples of the measuring device include a measuring device that measures voltage and current at various places of equipment such as a transformer and temperature and humidity in a dark room and outputs a measured value.

When a detection signal is sent from the detector 1a, which is a sensor or a measuring instrument, to the controller 1b, the controller 1
b determines the equipment state. For example, if the temperature of the equipment is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, it is determined that the equipment is in an overheated state, and if the water level in the dark room is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, it is determined that the dark room is in the flooded state. If is closed after being opened, it is determined that someone has entered.

When the above determination is made, the controller 1b issues a control signal to close the contact 2. Specifically, the contact 2 is an A contact which is normally open and is closed by a control signal. Contact 2
When is closed, the power source 3 and the light emitting means 4 are electrically connected, and the light emitting means 4
Emits light. The power supply 3 is preferably a battery or a battery in order to simplify the structure, but a DC power supply obtained by transforming and rectifying an AC commercial power supply may be adopted depending on the situation of the power supply equipment. The light emitting means 4 is specifically an LED (Light Emitting Diode).

As described above, the display device 10 of the present invention has a simple structure because it has a structure in which the contact 2 makes the power source 3 conductive by the control signal emitted from the controller 1b to turn on the light emitting means 4. Further, it is not necessary to make the light emitting means 4 emit light for a long time, and it is sufficient to emit light only during a period in which an image pickup means (ITV camera) described later can pick up an image. The power source 3 such as a battery can prolong the service life and can reduce the number of maintenance and inspection work of the power source 3.

Next, a monitoring device that monitors the display 10 and a monitoring center that performs a monitoring operation by a signal transmitted from the monitoring device will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of the equipment monitoring system of the embodiment of the present invention.

The display 10 is installed in equipment (not shown) arranged in a dark room such as a warehouse, a machine room, and an electric room. On the other hand, an image pickup means 5 for picking up an image of the entire room or a part thereof is installed at a position facing the light emitting means 4 of the display device 10. The image pickup means 5 is, for example, an ITV that constantly photographs.
It is a camera or a digital camera that acquires a still image or a moving image. The imaging unit 5 constantly or intermittently acquires an image including the light emitting unit 4 in its field of view and outputs an image signal. This image signal is either an analog signal or a digital signal. This image signal is transmitted to the image processing device 6. Even if the equipment body is located in a non-dark place such as outdoors, the light emitting means 4 and the imaging means 5 may be housed in a dark place such as a light-tight box.

In the image processing device 6, if the input image signal is an analog signal, it is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter and then taken into the device.
If the input signal is a digital signal, it is taken into the device as it is and used for image processing.

The image processing will be briefly described. Figure 3
[Fig. 6] is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of image processing. For example, there is a case where there is only one display device 10 in the dark room. In that case, the presence or absence of light emission is detected. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3A, when light emission (white circle in FIG. 3A) in darkness (hatched area in FIG. 3A) is detected, it is determined that an abnormality occurs in the facility or the dark room. Can be detected. This detection is to detect areas having different colors and different brightness, and is a basic process in image processing. By detecting the presence / absence of light emission in this manner, it becomes possible to detect the presence / absence of an abnormality in the equipment.

In some cases, there may be a plurality of display devices 10 in the dark room. In that case, it is not possible to determine which equipment has an abnormality simply by detecting the presence or absence of light emission. Therefore, items regarding the relative positional relationship of the light emitting means and the type of abnormality of which equipment the light emitting means at the relative position correspond to are registered in advance. By doing so, even when there are a plurality of display devices 10, it is possible to determine which equipment has an abnormality.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3B, light emission in the dark (hatched area in FIG. 3B) (FIG. 3B)
Then, the white circle) is detected, and further the relative position is detected. For example, the leftmost light emission position shown in FIG.
0) as a reference, and the relative position of the central light emission is (a1, b
1), the relative position of the rightmost light emission can be specified as (a2, b2). As described above, the light emission at the position (0, 0) determines the reference, and therefore, the reference light emitting means is always emitted regardless of which light emitting means emits light. By registering the type of equipment and the state of the equipment in association with the relative position from the reference coordinates (0, 0), it is possible to determine what kind of abnormality has occurred in which of the plurality of equipment in the dark room. Become.

Further, the image pickup means 5 is firmly fixed so as not to move, and an item regarding what kind of abnormality of which equipment the light emitting means at an absolute position in the image corresponds to is registered in advance. By doing so, even when there are a plurality of display devices 10, it is possible to determine which equipment has an abnormality. In this case, the reference light emitting means required at the relative position is unnecessary, and the configuration can be further simplified.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3B, light emission in the dark (hatched area in FIG. 3B) (FIG. 3B)
Then, the white circle) is detected. For example, the leftmost light emission position shown in FIG. 3B is (0, 0), the central light emission absolute position is (a1, b1), and the rightmost light emission absolute position is (a2, b2). If it is specified, by registering which equipment is in what kind of state in association with the absolute position, it is possible to determine that an abnormality has occurred in the equipment or the dark room.

Further, the display color of the light emitting means of the display is changed and displayed, the color is discriminated by image processing, and the light emitting means emitting this color corresponds to what kind of abnormality of what equipment. The item about whether to do it is registered in advance.
By doing so, even when there are a plurality of display devices 10, it is possible to determine what kind of abnormality has occurred in which equipment. Also, it is not necessary to register the relative position and the absolute position.

The image processing device 6 determines the state of the equipment in the dark room in this manner and generates notification data. This notification data is, for example, text data, and is data that notifies what kind of state change has occurred in which equipment. Also, instead of the text data, HTML data or the like can be appropriately used. In short, any data can be used as long as it is a notification of an abnormality in the equipment state. The specific structure of the data is appropriately selected according to the actual situation.

The notification data thus output from the image processing device 6 is transmitted to the monitoring center 40, which is a remote place outside the dark room, via the communication line 30 shown in FIG. Note that the communication line 30 is not limited to being wired, and may include wireless. Whether to use wired or wireless is appropriately selected. Based on the received notification data, the computer 7 in the monitoring center 40 displays the content of the notification on a display device (not shown) to notify the monitoring staff of the facility abnormality. Furthermore, a voice may be used to call attention to the surveillance staff.

As described above, when a failure or abnormality of equipment installed in a dark room which is normally in a dark state occurs, the image pickup means 5 captures the light emission of the display 10 to obtain an image, and the light emission position is analyzed. Then, by recognizing the type and state of the equipment and transmitting the notification data that is an alarm to the monitoring center 40 side, the monitoring staff can rush to the site and take action.

By using the above-mentioned contact 2 to notify a facility failure or abnormality to a facility equipped with a darkroom by issuing an alarm such as a siren or a bell, the person in the facility can be notified. You can immediately rush to deal with equipment abnormalities. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, a personal computer 7 can be connected by a LAN (Local Area Network) so that monitoring can be performed from a plurality of locations, and when an abnormal situation occurs, an observer at the nearest location immediately rushes to the site. You can also deal with it. These configurations are also selected appropriately.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a configuration block diagram of an equipment monitoring system according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the entire system shown in FIG. 2, the dark room and the monitoring center 40 are connected via the communication line 30. For example, it is particularly assumed that the dark room and the monitoring center 40 are installed in the same facility. Was there. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the dark room and the monitoring center 40 are not in the same facility, and that a monitoring person at a remote place is notified of the equipment state.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, between the monitoring device 20 and the monitoring server 8 of the monitoring center 40,
It is assumed that the notification data is transmitted by connecting to the network 70 via the analog modem 50 or the PHS modem 60. The monitoring server 8 is a mobile phone or PDA (Personal Personal) that can exchange e-mails via the network 80.
Digital Assistant) -Sends an e-mail to the personal digital assistant 100 such as a palmtop personal computer or the personal computer 100. The network 80 is a network in which the Internet can be used, and ISDN (In
It includes integrated service digital network) lines, analog public lines, and various leased lines.

With such an overall configuration, the signal processed by the monitoring device 20 is transmitted to the remote monitoring center 40 as notification data, and is sent to the portable information terminal 90 or the personal computer 100 as an electronic mail. ,
For example, a patrol observer who is watching the e-mail sent to the portable information terminal 90 can stop the patrol midway and immediately go to the dark room. Further, the e-mail sent to the personal computer 100 Observers in remote areas will be able to rush by using a car. As described above, according to the present embodiment, it becomes possible for a surveillance staff member at a remote place to detect the equipment abnormality, and the system can be made more convenient.

Further, in the equipment monitoring system shown in FIG. 4, instead of the image processing device 6 installed in each monitoring device 20, the analog modem 50 or the PHS modem 60 is simply used as the image signal output from the image pickup means 5. It is also possible to provide an image transmission device that is connected to the network 70 via the network and transmits the image, and an image processing device having a high processing capability for image recognition may be arranged only in the remote monitoring center 40. By adopting such a system, for example, a manned monitoring center 40 calls a monitoring device for equipment that is regularly arranged in a distributed manner, collects images of inspection targets, and has a patrol function that recognizes the equipment state from each image. It is possible to construct a system according to the purpose, such as supporting or labor saving of on-site facilities without going to a remote place.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, a warehouse, a machine room,
It is possible to provide an equipment monitoring system that detects the status of equipment and notifies the status to a remote monitoring center without providing lighting equipment such as lamps, electric lights, and fluorescent lights in a dark room such as an electric room. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a display unit included in an equipment monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of an equipment monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of image processing.

FIG. 4 is a configuration block diagram of an equipment monitoring system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Display 1 Abnormality detection means 1a Detector (sensor or measuring instrument) 1b controller 2 contacts 3 power supply (battery or battery) 4 Light emitting means (LED) 20 Monitoring device 5 Imaging means 6 Image processing device 30 communication lines 40 supervision center 7 personal computer 8 monitoring server 50 analog modem 60 PHS modem 70 network 80 network 90 Mobile information terminal 100 personal computer

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 7/18 H04N 7/18 D (72) Inventor Hirosuke Kawasaku 1-3-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No.F-term in Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. GG19 5K101 KK14 MM07 NN06 NN18

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A facility monitoring system in which a monitoring device monitors one or a plurality of indicators for displaying the status of the facility and notifies the monitoring center at a remote place of the status of the facility, wherein the indicator indicates an abnormality of the facility. An abnormality detection unit that detects and outputs a detection signal, a contact that is opened and closed by the detection signal from the abnormality detection unit, and a power supply connected to the contact,
A light emitting unit that is connected to the power source and emits light when the contact is closed due to abnormality detection; and the monitoring device includes an image capturing unit that captures an image of the display unit, and an image signal output from the image capturing unit. The presence or absence of light emission is detected using to generate notification data for notifying the state of equipment,
An equipment monitoring system, comprising: an image processing device that transmits this notification data to a remote monitoring center. 2. The equipment monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the image processing device detects a position of light emission in an image and specifies a type and a state of the equipment based on the position. 3. The equipment monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the image processing device detects a light emission color in an image and specifies the type and state of the equipment by the color. 4. The equipment monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the power source of the display unit is a battery or a battery. 5. The equipment monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the monitoring center is one or a plurality of personal computers connected to the image processing apparatus by wire or wirelessly. An equipment monitoring system characterized by the above. 6. The equipment monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein a network is interposed between the monitoring center and the image processing apparatus. 7. The equipment monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the monitoring device includes an image pickup unit for picking up an image of the display, and an image signal output from the image pickup unit. An image transmission device for transmitting to a remote monitoring center, and an image processing device for recognizing the state of equipment by detecting the presence or absence of light emission using the transmitted image signal. An equipment monitoring system characterized by comprising.