JP2007058757A - Customer moving path information collection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a customer moving path information collection device which detects a customer moving path correctly with a simple configuration. <P>SOLUTION: The customer moving path information collection device is provided with; a positional information transmission means 22 which is provided near an arbitrary moving path and carries out radio transmission of the current positional information within the restricted predetermined range of transmission distance; a distance detection means 7 which is attached to a shopping cart and detects moving distance and an angular velocity detection means 9 which detects an angular velocity; an initial information setting means 17 which sets initial positional information when starting the move of the above shopping cart; a positional information receiving means 14 which receives the current positional information; a path information storage means 11 which stores distance, angular velocity, initial positional information and current positional information; an angular velocity correction means for correcting the above angular velocity from the current positional information; a moving position calculation means to calculate moving position based on the initial information, moving distance detected by the distance detection means and the angular velocity corrected by the angular velocity correction means; and a moving path information formation means which accumulates calculated moving position and forms moving path information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a customer movement route information collection device that collects customer movement route information.

As a conventional customer movement route information collection device, for example, a shopping cart in which a navigation system having a distance sensor, a direction sensor, and a height sensor is installed is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
According to this shopping cart, by having the navigation system, the shopper can easily and reliably reach the target sales floor in a short time and purchase the target product. It is impossible to grasp the flow line representing the movement path when

Therefore, when readers are installed at multiple locations where the presence of a pedestrian is to be detected, the pedestrian is allowed to wear a lightweight, small RF / ID tag, and the pedestrian approaches the reader within a preset distance, The reader receives the unique radio wave emitted by the RF / ID tag, collates the unique ID of the received radio wave, individually identifies and detects the walking car attached to the tag, and integrates the detection information of the reader Thus, there is known a pedestrian flow line observation system using ubiquitous technology that observes when and where a pedestrian is moving (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).
JP-A-6-107183 (first page, FIG. 1) Takashi Obata, 3 others, “A new service using ubiquitous technology: advanced-possibility of in-store marketing”, Proceedings of the 3rd Information Science and Technology Forum “Lecture 8” September 7, 2004 Internet <URL : Http: // www. ieice. org / jpn / event / program / FIT2004 / html / event / pdf / 19koiso. pdf>

However, in the conventional example described in Non-Patent Document 1, the RF / ID transmission radio wave carried by the pedestrian is detected by a reader arranged at a plurality of locations, thereby causing the pedestrian's flow line to be dotted. However, there is an unsolved problem that only discrete movement path information can be obtained and accurate movement path information cannot be collected.
In order to obtain accurate movement route information, it is necessary to arrange a large number of readers. This complicates the system configuration, increases installation costs, and changes the layout of the sales floor. There is an unresolved issue that needs to be done.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made paying attention to the unsolved problems of the above-described conventional example, and provides a customer movement route information collecting apparatus capable of accurately detecting a customer's movement route with a simple configuration. It is an object.

  A first invention is a customer movement route information collection device for collecting customer movement route information, and wirelessly transmits position information provided in the vicinity of a customer's arbitrary movement route within a predetermined range in which a transmission distance is limited. Position information transmitting means, distance detecting means for detecting a moving distance attached to a shopping cart used by a customer, angular velocity detecting means for detecting angular velocity, and initial information setting means for setting initial information at the start of movement of the shopping cart Position information receiving means for receiving position information wirelessly transmitted from the position information transmitting means, route information storage means for collecting and storing at least the angular velocity and position information, and stored in the route information storage means. Set by the angular velocity correction means for correcting the angular velocity stored in the route information storage means based on the position information and the initial information setting means The moving position calculating means for calculating the moving position based on the initial information, the moving distance detected by the distance detecting means and the angular velocity corrected by the angular velocity correcting means, and the moving position calculated by the moving position calculating means are stored. And a travel route information forming means for forming travel route information.

  In the first invention, the distance detection means and the angular velocity detection means provided in the shopping cart detect the distance and the traveling direction, the movement position from the initial position information is calculated by the movement position calculation means, and the calculated movement position is moved. Accurate movement route information is formed by correcting the position information based on the position information stored when the shopping cart enters the transmission range of the position information transmission means by the route formation means. be able to. In this case, it is not necessary to force the customer to set the initial position or to attach the transmitter, and the customer flow line can be accurately detected as the shopping cart moves.

  Further, the second invention is a customer movement route information collection device for collecting customer movement route information, wherein position information provided in the vicinity of an arbitrary movement route of the customer is within a predetermined range in which a transmission distance is limited. Position information transmission means for wireless transmission, distance detection means for detecting a movement distance attached to a shopping cart used by a customer, angular velocity detection means for detecting angular velocity, and initial information for setting initial information when the shopping cart starts to move Setting means; position information receiving means for receiving position information wirelessly transmitted from the position information transmitting means; path information storage means for collecting and storing at least the angular velocity and position information; and storing in the path information storage means Angular velocity correction means for correcting the angular velocity stored in the route information storage means on the basis of the position information that has been set, and the initial information setting means A moving position calculating means for calculating a moving position based on the set initial information, the moving distance detected by the distance detecting means and the angular velocity corrected by the angular velocity correcting means, and the moving position calculated by the moving position calculating means. Travel path information forming means for accumulating and forming travel path information, and travel path information acquisition means for acquiring travel path information formed at the charge settlement position and formed by the travel path information forming means. It is a feature.

In the second invention, the movement route information formed by the movement route information forming means in the first invention described above is acquired by the movement route information acquisition means arranged at the fee settlement position. In addition to the effects of the invention, there is an effect that the travel route information can be easily acquired from the shopping cart.
Furthermore, a customer movement route information collection device according to a third aspect of the invention is a customer movement route information collection device that collects customer movement route information, and transmits position information provided in the vicinity of the customer's arbitrary movement route as a transmission distance. Position information transmitting means for wirelessly transmitting within a predetermined range, distance detecting means for detecting a moving distance attached to a shopping cart used by a customer, angular velocity detecting means for detecting angular velocity, and start of movement of the shopping cart Initial information setting means provided in the shopping cart for setting initial information at times, position information receiving means provided in the shopping cart for receiving position information wirelessly transmitted from the position information transmitting means, and at least the angular velocity and position Route information storage means provided in the shopping cart for collecting and storing information, and disposed at a fee settlement position A travel route information acquisition unit that acquires route information stored in the route information storage unit, and the angular velocity based on the position information received by the position information reception unit among the travel route information acquired by the travel route information acquisition unit. Position calculation means for correcting the movement position, and a movement position calculation for calculating a movement position based on the initial information set by the initial information setting means, the movement distance detected by the distance detection means, and the angular velocity corrected by the angular velocity correction means And movement path information forming means for forming movement path information by accumulating movement positions calculated by the movement position calculation means.

In this third invention, it is not necessary to provide the shopping cart with angular velocity correction means, movement position calculation means, and intention route information forming means, so that the processing load on the shopping cart can be reduced. The processing apparatus can be simplified in size.
Furthermore, in the second or third invention, the customer movement route information collection device according to the fourth invention is the storage device that stores the route information storage means when the movement route information acquisition means obtains the route information. The present invention is characterized in that it is configured to delete the route information.

In the fourth aspect of the invention, when the movement route information acquisition means acquires the movement route information, the movement route information stored in the route information storage means is deleted, so that the previous customer's movement route information is securely deleted. be able to.
Still further, in the fourth invention, the customer movement route information collecting device according to the fifth invention is the route information stored when the route information storage means receives the initial information from the initial information setting means. It is characterized by comprising a route information erasure confirmation means for confirming that the route information is erased and erasing the route information when the route information is not erased.

In the fifth aspect of the invention, since it is possible to confirm whether or not the route information is erased after the route information is erased, the route information can be erased more reliably.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the customer travel route information collection device according to any one of the first to third aspects, the route information storage means stores the initial information when the initial information is received from the initial information setting means. The present invention is characterized in that it is configured to delete the route information.

In the sixth aspect of the invention, when the initial information is received, the travel route information is erased. Therefore, even when the customer stops shopping and returns the shopping cart to the cart storage area, the travel route information is surely obtained. Can be erased.
Furthermore, in the customer movement route information collection device according to the seventh invention, in any one of the first to sixth inventions, the position information transmission means is fixed to a fixed object disposed in the vicinity of the movement route. It is characterized by comprising a non-contact wireless communication tag.

In the seventh aspect of the invention, since the position information transmitting means is constituted by the non-contact type wireless communication tag fixed to a fixed object such as a column or wall surface disposed in the vicinity of the movement route, the layout of the sales floor is changed. Even if this is done, the position of the column is not changed, and there is an effect that it is not necessary to newly set the position information transmission means.
Furthermore, in the customer travel route information collection device according to the eighth invention, in any one of the first to seventh inventions, the angular velocity detection means is composed of a gyro that detects the yaw rate of the shopping cart. It is characterized by that.

In the eighth invention, since the yaw rate of the shopping cart is detected by the gyro, it is possible to reduce the angular velocity detecting means and to accurately detect the traveling direction of the shopping cart.
Still further, in the customer movement route information collection device according to the ninth invention, in any one of the first to eighth inventions, the distance detecting means responds to wheel rotation disposed on a wheel of a shopping cart. It is characterized by comprising a rotation sensor that generates a pulse.

In the ninth aspect of the invention, since a pulse is generated every time the rotation sensor travels a predetermined distance, it can be determined that the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance when one pulse is obtained and then the next pulse is obtained. The travel distance of the shopping cart can be easily detected.
Still further, in the customer travel route information collecting device according to the tenth invention, in any one of the first to ninth inventions, the initial information setting means includes direction information of a shopping cart arranged in a shopping cart place. And initial information transmitting means for transmitting position information as initial information.

In the tenth aspect of the invention, the initial information setting means is composed of the initial information transmitting means disposed in the shopping cart storage area, and the initial information transmitting means transmits the orientation information and position information of the shopping cart as initial information. In the shopping cart place, since the shopping cart is arranged with its orientation fixed, the initial position can be set accurately.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the customer movement route information collection device according to any one of the first to tenth inventions, the movement route information acquisition means is added to a POS system disposed at a fee settlement position. It is characterized by having.

  In the eleventh aspect of the invention, since the travel route information acquisition means is added to the POS system disposed at the fee settlement position, it is added to each POS system by a centralized management apparatus to which a plurality of POS systems are connected. It is possible to collect the travel route information acquired by the travel route information acquisition means and the purchased product information of the customer, and the effect that the purchase behavior of the customer can be accurately grasped can be obtained.

Furthermore, the customer travel route information collection device according to the twelfth aspect of the present invention is such that, in any one of the first to eleventh aspects, when the initial position information and the position information are received, the reception time is stored together with the position information. It is characterized by being configured.
In the twelfth aspect, since time information can be added to the travel route information, an effect that a more accurate customer behavior can be grasped can be obtained.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and a plurality of, for example, ten shopping units are provided in the vicinity of an entrance 2 in a store 1 that uses a shopping cart such as a supermarket or a department store. Cart yards 4A and 4B for arranging the carts 3 in a row in a predetermined direction are arranged.

  Each of these cart places 4A and 4B has a guide bar 5 for guiding the shopping cart 3 in a predetermined direction, as shown in FIG. The guide bar 5 includes side bar portions 5a and 5b arranged in parallel with an interval substantially equal to the width of the shopping cart 3, an end bar portion 5c connecting one end of the side bar portions 5a and 5b, a floor For example, it is composed of a column portion 5d that is planted on the surface and supports the side bar portions 5a and 5b. Then, with the plurality of shopping carts 3 arranged in tandem, the front bar of the shopping cart 3 is regulated by the end bar portion 5c, and the left and right side portions of the shopping cart 3 are guided by the side bar portions 5a and 5b. Are arranged in a column in a certain direction.

  The shopping cart 3 is provided with a control unit 6 for forming movement path information for measuring the movement path, and a wheel speed pulse corresponding to the rotation speed of the shopping cart 3 and a wheel speed pulse corresponding to the rotation speed are provided on the wheels 3a of the shopping cart 3. There is provided an incremental rotary encoder 7 capable of detecting a rotation direction by generating a rotation direction detection pulse having a phase difference of 90 ° with respect to the rotation pulse.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 6 includes a piezoelectric gyro 8 as an angular velocity detecting means for detecting the yaw rate of the shopping cart 3, and outputs a sensor unit 9 that outputs the angular velocity ω of the shopping cart 3. The angular velocity ω of the shopping cart 3 output from the unit 9 is collected, and the traveling information D before and after the shopping cart 3 is calculated based on the wheel speed pulse and the rotation direction detection pulse input from the rotary encoder 7. Further, an arithmetic processing device 10 configured by, for example, a CPU for performing wireless communication control with an external device, and a program necessary for arithmetic processing performed by the arithmetic processing device 10 are stored, and the collected travel route information And a memory POS (to be described later) controlled by the arithmetic processing unit 10 Communication control unit 12 that performs wireless communication with the system 32, a wireless communication antenna 13 connected to the communication control unit 12, and a position for correcting a movement path from an RFID tag 22 described later via the wireless communication antenna 13. An RFID receiving unit 14 that receives information, and a battery 15 that supplies power to the sensor unit 9, the arithmetic processing device 10, the communication control unit 12, and the RFID receiving unit 14 are provided.

  The cart locations 4A and 4B include a charging device 16 that charges the battery 15 of the control unit 6 mounted on the shopping cart 3 in a contact state or a non-contact state, and the shopping cart 3 is connected to the cart location 4A. Alternatively, when returned to 4B, the battery voltage Vb of the battery 15 is detected by the charging device 16, and when the battery voltage Vb is equal to or lower than a predetermined voltage, the battery 15 is charged in a contact state or a non-contact state. Furthermore, when there is an initial information transmission request from the control unit 6 mounted on the shopping cart 3 to the cart locations 4A and 4B, the absolute position information of the cart locations 4A and 4B and the direction indicating the vertical direction of the shopping cart 3 are displayed. An initial information transmitting device 17 configured by, for example, an RFID tag, which transmits information to the control unit 6 of the corresponding shopping cart 3 as initial information is provided.

On the other hand, an RFID tag 22 is installed as a position information transmitting means for transmitting the current position information to the column 21 adjacent to the moving path disposed in the store 1, and within a communication range of several meters from the RFID tag 22. The current position information is transmitted to the control unit 6 disposed in the shopping cart 3 that is located.
In addition, a POS (Point Of Sales) system 32 is provided at a checkout location 31 in the store 1 to checkout purchased products. As shown in FIG. 4, the POS system 32 includes a travel route data communication unit 33 as travel route information acquisition means for acquiring travel route information from the control unit 6 of each shopping cart 3, and the travel route data communication unit 33. A product information input unit 35 including a bar code reader or a numeric keypad for inputting product information, and a display unit 36 such as a liquid crystal display, an EL panel, or a plasma display for displaying settlement information. CPU for controlling the movement path data communication unit 33 to acquire the movement path information and performing a data acquisition process for performing settlement based on the purchased product information and the settlement amount information input from the product information input unit 35, for example, CPU And a program used for the arithmetic processing of the arithmetic processing unit 37. And communicates with a memory 38 that temporarily stores settlement information, settlement end time, and travel route information, and a plurality of personal computers 40 that perform external data analysis via a local area network (LAN) 39, for example. And an external communication control unit 41.

Each personal computer 40 is connected to a plurality of databases 43 via, for example, the local rear network 42, and stores the travel route information, settlement information, and settlement end time acquired from the POS system 32 in the database 43. A data analysis process for performing a movement path analysis is performed based on the movement path information, the settlement information, and the settlement end time.
And in the arithmetic processing unit 10 of the control unit 6 mounted in the shopping cart 3, the movement route information collection process shown in FIG. 5 is executed.

  This movement route information collection process is started when the supply of external power to the battery 15 of the control unit 6 is cut off by removing the shopping cart 3 from the cart locations 4A and 4B. Travel path information such as angular velocity ω, travel information D, stop time Tst, initial position information, current position information, current position acquisition time, reset time, and total travel distance L, which will be described later, stored in the memory 11 is deleted. If the travel route information is not erased, the process proceeds to step S2 and the travel route information is erased, and then the process proceeds to step S3. If the travel route information is erased, the process directly proceeds to step S3. To do.

In step S3, the movement start time is stored in the movement path information storage area of the memory 11, the counter for counting the wheel speed pulses output from the rotary encoder 7 is reset, and the piezoelectric gyro 8 is reset.
Next, the process proceeds to step S4, where the absolute position coordinates X ₀ , Y _{0 of the} shopping cart 3 and the shopping cart at the cart locations 4A, 4B transmitted from the initial information transmitting device 17 disposed at the cart locations 4A, 4B. obtains the composed initial position information on the current direction information theta ₀ of 3, and stores the acquired initial position information to the route information storage area of the memory 11.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S5 to start the movement route information forming process shown in FIG. 6, and then the process proceeds to step S6 to determine whether or not the RFID tag 22 disposed on the support column 21 exists, If the RFID tag 22 does not exist, the process proceeds to step S13 described later. If the RFID tag 22 exists, the process proceeds to step S7, and whether or not the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “1”. When the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “1”, it is determined that the state already within the communication range of the RFID tag 22 is continued, and the process jumps to step S15 described later. When the current position acquisition flag FP is reset to “0”, it is determined that the communication range of the RFID tag 22 has been reached for the first time, and the process proceeds to step S8.

In this step S8, it is determined whether or not the current position information is received from the RFID tag 22. If the current position information is not received, the process waits until the current position information is received. If the current position information is received, the process proceeds to step S9. Then, after storing the current position information and the current position information acquisition time in the movement path information storage area of the memory 11, the process proceeds to step S10.
In this step S10, the piezoelectric gyro 8 is reset to remove the drift, then the process proceeds to step S11, the gyro reset time is stored in the movement path storage area of the memory 11, and then the process proceeds to step S12. After the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “1”, the process proceeds to step S15.

  On the other hand, if the determination result of step S6 is that the RFID tag 22 is not present, it is determined whether or not the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “1”, and the current position acquisition flag FP is reset to “0”. If the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “1”, it is determined that the state where the RFID tag 22 does not exist is continued and the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “1”. It is determined that the vehicle has left the range, the process proceeds to step S14, the current position acquisition flag FP is reset to “0”, and then the process proceeds to step S15.

  In step S15, it is determined whether or not a travel route information acquisition request has been received from the travel route data communication unit 33 of the POS system 32. If a travel route information acquisition request has not been received, the process returns to step S6, where When the information acquisition request is received, the process proceeds to step S16, and shopping from when the wheel speed pulse is obtained to the count N of the counter for counting the wheel speed pulse until the next wheel speed pulse is obtained. The total travel distance L is calculated by multiplying the travel distance ΔL of the cart 3, and then the process proceeds to step S17 to store the angular velocity ω, travel information D, stop time Tst, initial position information, current position stored in the memory 11 The travel route information composed of information, travel start time, current position acquisition time, gyro reset time, and total travel distance L is supplied to the communication control unit 12. Then, the process proceeds to step S18, and the travel route information collection process is terminated after the travel route information stored in the memory 11 is erased.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, when the travel route information forming process is started in step S5, first, in step S21, it is determined whether or not a wheel speed pulse has been input. When it is not input, it waits until it is input. When a wheel speed pulse is input, the process proceeds to step S22, and after reading the current time Tn, the process proceeds to step S23, and the wheel speed pulse is counted. After incrementing the count value N of the software counter, the process proceeds to step S24.

  In this step S24, it is determined whether the shopping cart 3 is moving forward or backward based on the combination of the wheel speed pulse and the direction detecting pulse and the previous combination. When the shopping cart 3 is moving forward, the process proceeds to step S25. Then, the travel information D is set to “1” representing forward travel, and then the process proceeds to step S27. When the travel information is traveling backward, the process proceeds to step S26 and the travel information D is set to “0” representing backward travel. Control goes to step S27.

  In step S27, the angular velocity ω detected by the piezoelectric gyro 8 is read, and then the process proceeds to step S28, where the previous current time Tn-1 is subtracted from the current time Tn to obtain the pulse time ΔT (= Tn−T). (n-1)) is then calculated, and then the process proceeds to step S29 to determine whether or not the time between pulses ΔT is equal to or longer than the minimum stop time Tmin that can be determined that the preset shopping cart 3 is stopped. When ΔT ≧ Tmin, it is determined that the engine is in the stop state, and the process proceeds to step S30. After setting the inter-pulse time ΔT as the stop time Tst, the process proceeds to step S32, and when ΔT <Tmin, If it is determined that there is not, the process proceeds to step S31, the stop time Tst is set to “0”, and then the process proceeds to step S32.

In step S32, the angular velocity ω, the travel information D, and the stop time Tst are stored in the travel route information storage area formed in the memory 11, and then the process returns to step S21.
5 and 6, the process of step S4 and the initial information transmitting device 17 correspond to the initial information setting means, the processes of steps S7 to S14 correspond to the position information receiving means, and steps S4, S9, S11. , S17 and S32 and the memory 11 constitute path information storage means.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, in the data acquisition process executed by the arithmetic processing unit 37 of the POS system 32, first, in step S41, communication with the communication control unit 12 of the control unit 6 of the shopping cart 3 is possible. In a state where communication with the communication control unit 12 is not possible, the system waits until communication is possible. When communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S42.

  In this step S42, a movement route information acquisition request for requesting transmission of movement route information is transmitted to the communication control unit 12, and then the process proceeds to step S43 to determine whether or not the movement route information has been received from the communication control unit 12. If the travel route information is not received, the process waits until the travel route information is received. When the travel route information is received, the process proceeds to step S44, where the travel route information is temporarily stored in the memory 38 and then step S45. Migrate to

In this step S45, a settlement process is performed based on the purchased product information input from the product information input unit 35, and then the process proceeds to step S46, where the movement path information, the settlement information, and the settlement end time thereof are displayed in the external communication control unit. The data is output to 41 and transmitted to the personal computer 40, and then the process returns to step S41.
In the process of FIG. 7, the processes of steps S41 to S45 correspond to the movement route information acquisition unit.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8, the data analysis process executed by the personal computer 40 is started when the travel route information, the settlement information, and the settlement end time are received from the external communication control unit 41 of the POS system 32. In step S51, it is determined whether or not there is a reception history of the current position coordinates transmitted from the RFID tag 22 in the moving path analysis information. The process jumps to S54, and if there is a reception history of the current position coordinates, the process proceeds to step S52.

In this step S52, referring to the time information, the current position acquisition time and the gyro reset time are read, the drift component is estimated from the gyro reset interval and the gyro specification, and the wheel speed pulse is input based on the drift amount. Each stored angular velocity ω is corrected every time.
Next, the process proceeds to step S53, where it is determined whether or not the correction process based on all current position information has been completed. When the correction process has not been completed, the process returns to step S52, and when the correction process has been completed, the process proceeds to step S54. Migrate to

In the step S54, and calculates the rotation angle θn of the shopping cart 3 by integrating the angular velocity ω of the corrected, then the process proceeds to step S55, successively the rotation angle θn to the azimuth information theta ₀ in the initial position information acquisition Is added, the cumulative rotation angle θa of the shopping cart 3 is calculated, and then the process proceeds to step S56 where the traveling information D is “1” indicating whether the shopping cart 3 is in the forward state or the backward state. If it is in the forward state, the process proceeds to step S57, and the travel distance ΔL of the shopping cart 3 from when the wheel speed pulse is obtained until the next wheel speed pulse is obtained is corrected. After setting as a value + ΔL, the process proceeds to step S59. When the vehicle is in the reverse state, the process proceeds to step S58, and the travel distance ΔL is set as a negative value -ΔL. To migrate to Luo step S59.

In step S59, the calculation of the following formulas (1) and (2) is performed based on the travel distance ΔL and the cumulative rotation angle θa set in step S57 or S58, so that the wheel speed pulse is input. Position coordinates X ′, Y ′ are calculated.
X ′ = X + ΔL cos θa (1)
Y ′ = Y + ΔL sin θa (2)

  Next, the process proceeds to step S60, where the calculated position coordinates X ′, Y ′ and the accumulated rotation angle θa are stored as movement path analysis information. Then, the process proceeds to step S61, where position coordinates are calculated for all angular velocities ω. It is determined whether or not the calculation of the currently estimated position has been completed. When the calculation of the current estimated position has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S62, the next angular velocity ω is read, and the process returns to step S54. When the calculation is completed, the process proceeds to step S63.

In this step S63, the moving route represented by the calculated position coordinates is matched with the actual sales floor layout, and then the process proceeds to step S64, where the marketing data is based on the moving route analysis information, time information, and settlement information. After the marketing data generation process for generating is performed, the process ends.
In the marketing data generation process, the position coordinates X ′ and Y ′ whose stop time Tst is set to other than “0” and the cumulative rotation angle θa are extracted, and the position coordinates X ′ and Y ′ are matched with the sales floor layout. By taking this, it is possible to detect in which area the shopping cart 3 is facing in which direction.

In addition, the staying time in the store can be calculated from the movement start time and the time at the end of payment, and by providing the RFID tag 22 for each sales floor, it is based on the path information and the communication start time between the RFID tag 22. It is possible to calculate the stay time by area.
Furthermore, by combining the stop time Tst and the purchased product, the time required for purchasing the product can be calculated.

In the processing of FIG. 8, the processing of steps S51 to S53 corresponds to the angular velocity correction means, the processing of steps S54 to S59 corresponds to the movement position calculation means, and the processing of step S60 corresponds to the movement route information forming means. Yes.
Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.
Now, it is assumed that a plurality of shopping carts 3 are arranged in a row in the cart yard 4A, 4B. At this time, the movement route information, the cumulative rotation angle θa, and various acquisition time information stored in the memory 11 of the control unit 6 provided in each shopping cart 3 arranged in the cart yard 4A, 4B are all deleted. At the same time, the battery 15 is charged by the charging device 16.

In this state, when the customer enters the store from the entrance 2 and pulls out the shopping cart 3 from, for example, the cart yard 4A, and the charging state of the battery 15 by the charging device 16 is canceled, the control unit 6 performs FIG. The movement route information collection process shown in FIG.
For this reason, first, the travel path information such as the angular velocity ω, the travel information D, the stop time Tst, the initial position information, the current position information, the current position acquisition time, the reset time, and the total travel distance L stored in the memory 11 is deleted. It is determined whether or not the travel route information is erased (step S1). If the travel route information is not erased, the travel route information is erased (step S2). For this reason, the previous shopping cart 3 was pulled out from the cart yard 4A or 4B and started to move. However, when shopping is stopped halfway, the movement path information up to that point remains stored in the memory 11. Since the movement route information is deleted when the information acquisition process is started, it is possible to reliably prevent the previous movement route information from being accumulated.

Then, the movement start time of the shopping cart 3 is stored in the movement path information storage area of the memory 11 and the counter for counting the wheel speed pulses is reset to set the count value N to “0”. The gyro 8 is reset (step S3).
Next, the initial position information composed of the absolute position coordinates X ₀ and Y _{0 of the} shopping cart 3 and the absolute direction information θ ₀ is acquired from the initial information transmitting device 17 disposed on the exit side of the cart place 4A. Store in the movement path information storage area of the memory 11 (step S4).

Next, the movement route information forming process shown in FIG. 6 is activated (step S5).
In this state, when the shopping cart 3 is retracted along the side bar portions 5a and 5b and is completely pulled out from the cart storage 4A toward the desired sales floor, the wheels 3a are reversed by first retracting the shopping cart 3. Then, a wheel speed pulse and a direction detection pulse are output from the rotary encoder 7 and input to the control unit 6.

  Therefore, when a wheel speed pulse is input in the movement route information forming process of FIG. 6, the current time Tn is read (step S22), and then the count value N of the software counter is incremented (step S23). Based on the combination of the wheel speed pulse and the direction detection pulse and the previous combination, it is detected that the vehicle is moving backward, and thus the travel information is set to “0” representing the backward movement (step S26), and then the piezoelectric type. The angular velocity ω is read from the gyro 8 (step S27), and the previous time Tn-1 is subtracted from the current time Tn to calculate the inter-pulse time ΔT (= Tn-Tn-1) (step S28).

In this case, since the shopping cart 3 continues to retreat, the stop time Tst is set to “0” when the inter-pulse time ΔT becomes less than the minimum stop time Tmin (step S30). Then, the angular velocity ω, the travel information D, and the stop time Tst are stored in the movement route information storage area of the memory 11, and the process returns to step S21.
With this travel route information forming process, every time the shopping cart 3 moves and a wheel speed pulse is input from the encoder 7, the angular velocity ω, the travel information D, and the stop time Tst are sequentially stored in the travel route information storage area.

Thereafter, when the shopping cart 3 reaches the communicable area with the RFID tag 22 disposed on the support column 21, the process moves from step S6 to step S7 in the movement route information collection process of FIG. Is reset to “0”, the process proceeds to step S 8, and the current position coordinates X _P and Y _P and the direction information θ _P are acquired from the RFID tag 22. At this time, the RFID tag 22 has the current position coordinates X _P1 , Y _{P1 to} X _P4 , Y _P4 and the direction information θ in each path when the communication range reaches the communication range for each path near the support column 21. and transmits to the control unit 6 of the cart 3 and can communicate the current position information composed of the _P1 through? _P4. For this reason, in the control unit 6, when the communication with the RFID tag 22 is enabled in the movement route information collection process of FIG. 5, the current position acquisition flag FP is reset to “0”, so the process proceeds to step S8. When the current position information is acquired, the current position information and the acquisition time are stored in the current position information storage area (step S9).

Next, the piezoelectric gyro 8 is reset (step S10), the gyro reset time is stored in the reset time storage area, and the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “1”. At this time, since the shopping cart 3 has not been moved to the checkout station and the movement route information acquisition request has not been received, the process returns to step S6 in the process of FIG.
At this time, the shopping cart 3 is moving within the communication range of the RFID tag 22, but since the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “1”, the current position coordinates are not acquired again. When the travel route information forming process 6 is executed, the travel route information of the shopping cart 3 is sequentially stored in the travel route storage area.

Thus, as the shopping cart 3 moves, travel route information is collected and stored in the travel route information storage area, and the reset time of the piezoelectric gyro 8 is stored in the travel path information storage area. Remembered.
Thereafter, when the shopping is finished and the shopping cart 3 is moved to the checkout office, communication with the movement path data communication unit 33 provided in the POS system 32 becomes possible. When the information acquisition request is received, the process proceeds from step S15 to step S16 in the travel route information collection process of FIG. 5 to calculate the total travel distance L by multiplying the count value N of the software counter by the travel distance ΔL, and then the travel The travel path information including the angular velocity ω, travel information D, stop time Tst, initial position information, current position information, current position acquisition time, gyro reset time, and total travel distance L stored in the path storage area When the data is transmitted to the data communication unit 33 and the transmission is completed, the travel route information stored in the travel route storage area is deleted. In addition, after the count value N of the software counter is cleared to “0”, the movement route information acquisition process is terminated.

In the POS system 32, the travel route data communication unit 33 acquires travel route information from the shopping cart 3, and performs predetermined settlement processing based on the purchased product information input from the product information input unit 35 to obtain the settlement information. The settlement information and the settlement end time and movement route information are transmitted to the personal computer 40.
When the personal computer 40 receives the settlement information and the movement route information from the POS system 32, the personal computer 40 executes a data analysis process. In this data analysis process, it is determined whether or not the current position information transmitted from the RFID tag 22 is received. When the current position information is received, the gyro is based on the current position information acquisition time and the gyro reset time. A reset interval is calculated, a drift component is estimated from the gyro reset interval and the gyro specification, and each stored angular velocity ω is corrected each time a wheel speed pulse is input based on the drift amount (step S52).

For each of the angular velocity ω of correction ends, by integrating it calculates the rotation angle θn of the cart 3 (step S54), by adding the sequential rotation angle θn to the azimuth information theta ₀ of the initial information, shopping The cumulative rotation angle θa of the cart 3 is calculated individually (step S55), and by determining whether the vehicle travels forward or backward based on the travel information D, the sign of the travel distance ΔL is set, and then the above formulas (1) and (2 ) To calculate the position coordinates X ′ and Y ′ when the wheel speed pulse is input (step S59), and the calculated position coordinates X ′ and Y ′, the cumulative rotation angle θa and the stop time Tst. Is stored in the database 43 as travel route analysis information.

Then, by matching the position coordinates of the travel route analysis information stored in the database 43 with the sales floor layout, the sales floor layout and the travel route analysis information are matched, and then the travel route analysis information, time information, and settlement information. After performing the marketing data generation process for generating the marketing data based on the process, the process ends.
In the marketing data generation process, the position coordinates X ′ and Y ′ whose stop time Tst is set to other than “0” and the cumulative rotation angle θa are extracted, and the position coordinates X ′ and Y ′ are matched with the sales floor layout. By taking this, it is possible to detect in which area the shopping cart 3 is facing in which direction.

In addition, the staying time in the store can be calculated from the movement start time and the time at the end of payment, and by providing the RFID tag 22 for each sales floor, it is based on the path information and the communication start time between the RFID tag 22. It is possible to calculate the stay time by area.
Furthermore, by combining the stop time Tst and the purchased product, the time required for purchasing the product can be calculated.

Furthermore, based on the travel path analysis information for each customer stored in the database, the customer's flow line is judged, and layout that takes into account customer trends such as setting of sales floor layout that is efficient for shopping and distribution of customer congestion Settings can be made.
The position coordinate calculation process in the data analysis process will be described in more detail. First, the absolute position coordinates X ₀ and Y ₀ of the initial information transmitting device 17 are stored as the initial position, and the azimuth information θ ₀ is set as the cumulative rotation angle θa. Store in the cumulative rotation angle storage area. Thereby, the initial position of the shopping cart 3 is stored in the movement route storage area. At this time, it is assumed that the direction of the side bar portions 5a and 5b of the cart yard 4A is the Y-axis direction of the XY orthogonal coordinate system, and the azimuth information θ ₀ is 90 °.

The angular velocity ω detected by the piezoelectric gyro 8 when the wheel speed pulse is input when the shopping cart 3 is retracted to be pulled out from the cart yard 4A is determined by the shopping cart 3 in the side bar portions 5a and 5b. The detected angular velocity ω is “0”, and the rotation angle θn obtained by integrating this is also 0 °.
Therefore, since the cumulative rotation angle θa is set to the initial orientation information θ ₀ = 90 °, the new cumulative rotation angle θa obtained by adding the rotation angle θn = 0 ° to the cumulative rotation angle θa maintains 90 °. To do.

On the other hand, since the shopping cart 3 is retracted, a negative value −ΔL is set as the travel distance ΔL, and the position coordinates X ₁ ′, Y ₁ ′ are calculated according to the equations (1) and (2), cos θa = Since 0, sin θa = 1, X ₁ ′ = X ₀ , Y ₁ ′ = Y ₀ −ΔL, and the calculated position coordinates X ₁ ′, Y ₁ ′ are stored in the movement path storage area. Therefore, the current estimated position coordinates X ₁ ′ and Y ₁ ′ move from the initial position coordinates X ₀ and Y ₀ in the negative direction in the Y-axis direction by a travel distance ΔL as shown in FIG.

Thereafter, since the shopping cart 3 continues to move backward, the current estimated position coordinates X _j ′ and Y _j ′ (j = 2, 3,...) Sequentially move in the negative direction in the Y-axis direction by the travel distance ΔL.
Thereafter, when the shopping cart 3 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the angular velocity ω of the shopping cart 3 is detected from the piezoelectric gyro 8 accordingly, and by integrating this, a negative rotation angle θn is calculated and accumulated. The rotation angle θa decreases from 90 °.

Therefore, the position coordinates X _j ′, Y _j ′ calculated according to the equations (1) and (2) are moved according to the rotation of the shopping cart 3 as shown in FIG. Is moved forward in the X-axis direction, the cumulative rotation angle θa becomes 0 °, and the travel distance ΔL becomes a positive value, and the position coordinates X _j ′, calculated according to the equations (1) and (2) are obtained. Y _j ′ moves in the X-axis direction.

Thereafter, when the shopping cart 3 is moved forward while being rotated counterclockwise in order to go to the sales floor 51 close to the cart yard 4A, the position coordinates X _j ′, Y _j ′ corresponding to the movement path of the shopping cart 3 are set accordingly. This is calculated and sequentially stored in the movement path storage area.
In this way, the cumulative rotation angle θa is updated as the shopping cart 3 moves, and the current estimated position coordinates X _j ′, Y _j ′ are sequentially calculated and sequentially stored in the movement path storage area. Since the detection error is accumulated in the piezoelectric gyro 8, in order to correct this, the shopping cart 3 reaches a position near the RFID tag 22 disposed on the column 21, and wireless communication with the RFID tag 22 is performed. When it becomes possible, in the movement route information collection process of FIG. 5, the process proceeds from step S6 to step S7, and the current position acquisition flag FP is reset to “0”. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S8 and the RFID tag 22 Current position coordinates X _P and Y _P and azimuth information θ _P are acquired. At this time, the RFID tag 22 has the current position coordinates X _P1 , Y _{P1 to} X _P4 , Y _P4 and the direction information θ in each path when the communication range reaches the communication range for each path near the support column 21. and transmits to the control unit 6 of the cart 3 and can communicate the current position information composed of the _P1 through? _P4. Therefore, in the control unit 6, it is possible to determine from which direction the RFID tag 22 has been approached from the moving path so far, and the current position coordinates X _Pi and Y _Pi corresponding to the approach direction and the direction information θ _Pi. (I = 1 to 4) is determined, and the current position coordinates X _Pi and Y _Pi are stored in the movement path storage area, and the azimuth information θ _Pi is stored in the cumulative rotation angle storage area as the cumulative rotation angle θa.

  As described above, according to the embodiment, by providing the shopping cart 3 with the incremental rotary encoder 7 and the piezoelectric gyro 8, it is possible to accurately detect the movement path of the shopping cart 3. . At this time, it is not necessary for the customer to have a device for detecting the moving route, and the moving route can be detected without bothering the customer.

  Moreover, regarding the accumulated error that occurs in the piezoelectric gyro 8, the current position coordinates and direction can be corrected by communicating with the RFID tag 22 disposed on the support column 21. Since the expression gyro 8 is reset, the influence of the accumulated error can be suppressed. At this time, since the RFID tag 22 is provided on the column 21, there is an effect that it is not necessary to change the position of the RFID tag 22 even when the layout of the sales floor is changed.

  Further, the control unit 6 mounted on the shopping cart 3 only performs the collection process of the movement route information, and does not need to perform the angular velocity correction process, the movement position calculation process, and the movement route information formation process. Since it is performed by the arithmetic processing device (personal computer 40), it is possible to reduce the arithmetic load on the arithmetic processing device 10 and to apply an inexpensive CPU, and to simplify the size of the arithmetic processing device 10 itself.

  Moreover, since the travel route information acquisition means for acquiring the travel route analysis information collected by the control unit 6 of the shopping cart 3 is provided at the checkout office where the charge of the shopping item is settled, until the customer pays the fee after starting shopping. It is possible to reliably acquire the travel route information of the customer, and store the payment information of the POS system provided at the checkout office and the travel route analysis information together in the database, so that the relationship between the customer's travel route and the purchased product can be determined. It is possible to accurately grasp and accurately analyze customer trends, and by using this analysis result, it is possible to set a sales floor layout that allows customers to shop efficiently.

  In the above embodiment, the case has been described in which the incremental rotary encoder 7 is provided on the fixed wheel 3a of the shopping cart 3 so as to grasp the forward and backward movement of the wheel 3a. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, when the forward and backward movement of the shopping cart 3 is detected by providing a longitudinal acceleration sensor, a wheel speed sensor that outputs a wheel speed pulse according to the rotation of the wheel 3a is provided instead of the rotary encoder 7. In short, a sensor capable of measuring the moving direction and the moving distance of the shopping cart 3 may be provided.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where position coordinate X ', Y' was calculated based on traveling distance (DELTA) L and cumulative rotation angle (theta) a, it is not limited to this, Traveling speed V of the shopping cart 3 Can be calculated according to the following equations (3) and (4), and any other estimated navigation (dead reckoning) can be applied. it can.

X ′ = X + V · Δt · cos θa (3)
Y ′ = Y + V · Δt · sin θa (4)
Here, Δt is a sampling period.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case where the personal computer 40 performs data analysis processing to calculate the position coordinates X ′, Y ′ and the cumulative rotation angle θa has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. 3, every time the current position information is acquired from the RFID tag 22 by the arithmetic processing unit 10 of the control unit 6 arranged in 3, the drift amount of the piezoelectric gyro 8 is calculated, and the angular velocity collected so far based on the drift amount The position information is calculated by correcting the ω, calculating the above formulas (1) and (2) based on the corrected angular velocity ω and the cumulative rotation angle θa, and storing the position information as movement path analysis information. It may be.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case where the RFID tag 22 is disposed on the support column 21 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is disposed on a structure such as a wall surface, ceiling, or floor surface of a building. Can do. Further, short-range wireless communication means such as Bluetooth or wireless LAN can be applied with the communication range limited instead of the RFID tag.
Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the piezoelectric gyro is applied as the angular velocity detecting means has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a gyro having an arbitrary configuration can be applied. It is only necessary to detect the angular velocity (yaw rate) generated in Fig. 3, and an angular velocity sensor other than a gyro can be applied.

It is a schematic structure figure showing one embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows a cart place. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the control unit arrange | positioned at the shopping cart. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a POS system. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the movement route information collection process procedure performed with a control unit. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the movement route information formation process procedure performed with a control unit. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the data acquisition process procedure performed with a POS system. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the data-analysis processing procedure performed with the personal computer for analysis. It is explanatory drawing which shows the movement path | route of a shopping cart.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Store, 2 ... Entrance / exit, 3 ... Shopping cart, 3a ... Fixed wheel, 4A, 4B ... Cart place, 5 ... Guide bar, 6 ... Control unit, 7 ... Encoder, 8 ... Piezoelectric gyro, 9 ... Sensor unit, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Processing unit, 11 ... Memory, 12 ... Communication control part, 13 ... Wireless communication antenna, 14 ... RFID receiving part, 15 ... Battery, 16 ... Charging device, 17 ... Initial information transmission device, 21 ... Support | pillar, 22 ... RFID tag 31... Checkout office 32. POS system 33. Moving path data communication unit 34. Wireless communication antenna 35. Product information input unit 36. Display unit 37 37 arithmetic processing unit 38. ... Personal computer for analysis, 43 ... Database, 51 ... Sales floor

Claims (12)

A customer movement route information collection device for collecting customer movement route information,
Position information transmission means for wirelessly transmitting position information provided in the vicinity of a customer's arbitrary movement route within a predetermined range in which the transmission distance is limited, and distance detection means for detecting the movement distance attached to the shopping cart used by the customer Angular velocity detecting means for detecting angular velocity, initial information setting means for setting initial information at the start of movement of the shopping cart, position information receiving means for receiving position information wirelessly transmitted from the position information transmitting means, and at least Route information storage means for collecting and storing the angular velocity and position information, and angular velocity correction means for correcting the angular velocity stored in the route information storage means based on the position information stored in the route information storage means And the initial information set by the initial information setting means, the moving distance detected by the distance detecting means, and the angular velocity correcting means. A moving position calculating means for calculating a moving position based on the angular velocity, and a moving path information forming means for accumulating the moving position calculated by the moving position calculating means to form moving path information. Customer travel route information collection device. A customer movement route information collection device for collecting customer movement route information,
Position information transmission means for wirelessly transmitting position information provided in the vicinity of a customer's arbitrary movement route within a predetermined range in which the transmission distance is limited, and distance detection means for detecting the movement distance attached to the shopping cart used by the customer Angular velocity detecting means for detecting angular velocity, initial information setting means for setting initial information at the start of movement of the shopping cart, position information receiving means for receiving position information wirelessly transmitted from the position information transmitting means, and at least Route information storage means for collecting and storing the angular velocity and position information, and angular velocity correction means for correcting the angular velocity stored in the route information storage means based on the position information stored in the route information storage means And the initial information set by the initial information setting means, the moving distance detected by the distance detecting means, and the angular velocity correcting means. A moving position calculating means for calculating a moving position based on the angular velocity, a moving path information forming means for accumulating the moving positions calculated by the moving position calculating means to form moving path information, and a fee settlement position. A customer travel route information collection device comprising: travel route information acquisition means for acquiring travel route information formed by the travel route information forming means. A customer movement route information collection device for collecting customer movement route information,
Position information transmission means for wirelessly transmitting position information provided in the vicinity of a customer's arbitrary movement route within a predetermined range in which the transmission distance is limited, and distance detection means for detecting the movement distance attached to the shopping cart used by the customer And angular velocity detecting means for detecting angular velocity, initial information setting means provided in the shopping cart for setting initial information at the start of movement of the shopping cart, and position information wirelessly transmitted from the position information transmitting means Stored in the position information receiving means provided in the shopping cart, the route information storage means provided in the shopping cart for collecting and storing at least the angular velocity and the position information, and the route information storage means provided in the fee settlement position Travel route information acquisition means for acquiring the route information being acquired, and the movement acquired by the travel route information acquisition means Of the road information, the angular velocity correcting means for correcting the angular velocity based on the positional information received by the positional information receiving means, the initial information set by the initial information setting means, the moving distance detected by the distance detecting means, and the angular velocity correction. A moving position calculating means for calculating a moving position based on the angular velocity corrected by the means, and a moving path information forming means for accumulating the moving position calculated by the moving position calculating means to form moving path information. A customer travel route information collection device characterized by the above.   The said route information storage means is comprised so that the memorize | stored route information may be erase | eliminated when the said movement route information acquisition means acquires route information. Customer travel route information collection device.   The route information storage means confirms that the stored route information is erased when initial information is received from the initial information setting means, and erases the route information when the route information is not erased. 5. The customer movement route information collection device according to claim 4, further comprising route information erasure confirmation means.   The route information storage means is configured to delete the stored route information when initial information is received from the initial information setting means. The customer travel route information collection device described in the paragraph.   The said position information transmission means is comprised with the non-contact-type radio | wireless communication tag fixed to the fixed object arrange | positioned in the vicinity of the movement path | route, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 6 characterized by the above-mentioned. Customer travel route information collection device.   8. The customer travel route information collection device according to claim 1, wherein the angular velocity detection unit includes a gyro that detects a yaw rate of the shopping cart. 9.   The customer according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the distance detecting means includes a rotation sensor that generates a pulse corresponding to wheel rotation disposed on a wheel of a shopping cart. Travel route information collection device.   10. The initial information setting means includes initial information transmitting means for transmitting, as initial information, direction information and position information of a shopping cart disposed in a shopping cart place. The customer travel route information collection device according to Item 1.   The customer travel route information collection device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the travel route information acquisition unit is added to a POS system disposed at a fee settlement position.   4. The route information storage unit is configured to store a reception time together with position information when receiving initial position information and position information. Customer travel route information collection device.

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