JP2008081298A - Functional variable remote monitoring system, functional variable information processor, functional variable remote monitoring method, and functional variable remote monitoring program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily perform a heavy load image processing and enhance the safety of the operating state of a lift. <P>SOLUTION: A passenger conveyor 1 side monitoring camera 7 outputs the image data on the operating state of the passenger conveyor 1 to an agent device 4. When the image data is input into the agent device 4, the profiles of passengers and articles in the image data are analyzed. When the agent device 4 discriminates according the results of the analysis that the abnormality of the operation of the passenger conveyor 1 is found, it outputs a control signal for instructing the issue of alarm. An alarm device 8 issues alarm to the user of the passenger conveyor 1 when it receives the control signal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a function-variable remote monitoring system, a function-variable information processing apparatus, a function-variable remote monitoring method, and a function-variable remote monitoring program.

  Conventionally, in order to maintain the safety of operation of elevators such as man conveyors and elevators, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, when detectors are arranged at various places on the man conveyor and this detector detects an abnormality There are things that stop the operation, or that the control device of the man conveyor or the remote monitoring device on the maintenance company's side performs the image processing of the monitoring image of the condition of the man conveyor and stops the operation when the dangerous situation is confirmed .

For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, a man conveyor control device captures an image of the operation state of a man conveyor and determines the presence or absence of a passenger based on the image.
JP-A-10-226482 JP 2001-19338 A

  The processing as described above is realized as a function of a man conveyor control device for driving the man conveyor and a remote monitoring device on the maintenance company side.

  However, the man conveyor control device and the remote monitoring device have already performed excessive calculation processing, and there is a limit to allow this to perform image processing with a larger load.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a function variable remote monitoring system and a function variable remote monitoring that can easily perform image processing with a large load and can improve the safety of the operating state of the elevator. A method, a function variable type remote monitoring program, and a function variable type information processing apparatus are provided.

  That is, the function variable type remote monitoring system according to the present invention includes an elevator control device that controls the operation of the elevator, a remote monitoring terminal device that transmits information indicating this to the remote monitoring center when an abnormality occurs in the elevator control device, A system having an imaging device that images a specific location, and an agent device that operates independently of the elevator control device and the remote monitoring terminal device. The agent device transmits a control program for each purpose transmitted from the remote monitoring center. It memorize | stores and analyzes the image which the imaging device image | photographed by running this program, and discriminate | determines the presence or absence of the abnormality concerning operation | movement of an elevator.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to perform image processing with a large load without difficulty, and to improve the safety of the operating state of the elevator.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a variable function remote monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a man conveyor is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the function variable remote monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a man conveyor control device 2 that controls the operation of the man conveyor 1 as a device on the man conveyor 1 side to be monitored, It has a remote monitoring terminal device 3 and an agent device 4.

  The man conveyor control device 2 is connected to the remote monitoring terminal device 3 and the agent device 4. The man conveyor control device 2 controls the man conveyor 1 and outputs a signal indicating this to the remote monitoring terminal device 3 when the operation state of the man conveyor 1 to be controlled is abnormal.

The remote monitoring terminal device 3 monitors the man conveyor control device 2, inputs a signal from the man conveyor control device 2, and transmits it to the center device 6 of the remote monitoring center via the communication line network 5.
The center device 6 grasps the operation status of the man conveyor 1 based on the information from the remote monitoring terminal device 3, and displays a message indicating an abnormality or the like on the monitoring table as necessary.

  The agent device 4 is a variable function information processing device that operates independently of the man conveyor control device 2 and the remote monitoring terminal device 3 and executes a control program for each purpose transmitted from the center device 6. Thus, a specific control process related to the monitoring of the operation status of the man conveyor 1 is performed.

  Further, as a device on the side of the man conveyor 1, a monitoring camera 7 is provided in the vicinity of the boarding / alighting plate of the man conveyor 1, and an alarm for operating the man conveyor 1 is issued in the vicinity of the place where the monitoring camera 7 is installed. An alarm device 8 is provided.

  The monitoring camera 7 is a photographing device that photographs a predetermined portion such as a step or a side plate of the man conveyor 1 as a still image or a moving image in order to monitor the operation state of the man conveyor 1. The alarm device 8 operates in accordance with a control signal from the agent device 4.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the agent device of the variable function remote monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2, the agent device 4 includes a control unit 41 that controls the operation of the entire device, a storage device 42 that is a storage unit, and communication interfaces 43 and 44.

The storage device 42 is a nonvolatile storage medium (for example, a hard disk drive), and stores a control program executed by the control unit 41.
The communication interface 43 is connected to the man conveyor control device 2, the monitoring camera 7 and the alarm device 8. The communication interface 44 is connected to the remote monitoring terminal device 3.

  The control unit 41 includes an image analysis unit 45, an abnormality determination unit 46, an alarm control unit 47, an index generation unit 48, a transmission control unit 49 as a transmission unit, and a program update unit 50 as a program update unit.

  The image analysis unit 45 analyzes the image captured by the monitoring camera 7. The abnormality determination unit 46 is a determination unit that determines whether or not there is an abnormality in the operation status of the man conveyor 1 based on the analysis result by the image analysis unit 45.

The alarm control unit 47 is an alarm activation control unit that activates the alarm device 8 as necessary. The index generation unit 48 generates an index of an image captured by the monitoring camera 7. This index includes a representative image of the moving image.
The transmission control unit 49 transmits the indexed image to the center device 6 via the remote monitoring terminal device 3.

  In the present invention, each function of the image analysis unit 45, the abnormality determination unit 46, the alarm control unit 47, the index generation unit 48, and the transmission control unit 49 is a control program for each purpose stored in the program storage area of the storage device 42. It is realized by executing. The purpose-specific control program is transmitted by the center device 6, and therefore the function of the control unit 41 can be changed according to the executed control program.

  When the remote monitoring terminal device 3 receives the control program for each purpose transmitted from the center device 6, it transmits it to the agent device 4. When the communication interface 44 of the agent device 4 receives the program from the remote monitoring terminal device 3, the program update unit 50 reflects the program transmitted from the center device 6 in the program area in the storage device 42.

  The program stored in the program area can be freely rewritten remotely by causing the program update unit 50 to reflect the update program transmitted from the center device 6 in the program area. That is, the communication interface 44 functions as a receiving unit that receives the update program.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the center device of the variable function remote monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 3, the center device 6 of the remote monitoring center includes a control unit 61 that controls the operation of the entire device, a storage device 62, a communication interface 63, an input device 64, and a display device 65. The storage device 62 stores a control program by the control unit 61. The communication interface 63 is connected to the remote monitoring terminal device 3 via the communication line network 5.

Next, the operation of the system having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing operation of the agent device of the variable function remote monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the monitoring camera 7 on the side of the man conveyor 1 captures still images and moving images of the operating status of the man conveyor 1, and sends the still image data and moving image data to the agent device 4 at predetermined time intervals. It is transmitting (step S1).

  When the communication interface 43 of the agent device 4 receives the image data transmitted from the monitoring camera 7, the control unit 41 stores this image data in the storage device 42. Then, the image analysis unit 45 of the control unit 41 analyzes the contours of passengers and objects in this image data (step S2).

  When the image analysis by the image analysis unit 45 is completed, the abnormality determination unit 46 determines whether an abnormality related to the operation of the man conveyor 1 is recognized based on the analysis result (step S3). For example, the operation of the step of the man conveyor 1 has stopped, an obstacle has been placed on the step, a person has fallen on the step plate, an object has been caught in the gap between the step and the side plate, It is determined whether a child or the like is riding on the basis of a control program for each purpose corresponding to each purpose.

  When the abnormality determination unit 46 determines that an abnormality related to the operation of the man conveyor 1 is recognized (YES in step S3), the alarm control unit 47 issues an alarm to notify the man conveyor 1 side of this abnormality. A control signal for reporting is output to the alarm device 8 via the communication interface 43. When receiving the control signal from the alarm control unit 47, the alarm device 8 issues an alarm to the user of the man conveyor 1 by outputting a predetermined alarm sound, a caution message, or the like (step S4). Further, a control signal is output to the man conveyor control device 2 to stop the man conveyor 1 as necessary.

  The information of the alarm sound and the caution message described above may be stored in a memory (not shown) of the alarm device 8, or the information of the alarm sound and the caution message for each type of abnormality is stored in the storage device 42 of the agent device 4. Is stored in advance, the alarm control unit 47 reads out the alarm sound and the caution message according to the type of abnormality determined by the abnormality determination unit 46 from the storage device 42, and the control signals for issuing these warnings are alarmed. You may make it output to the apparatus 8. FIG.

  Then, the index generation unit 48 captures image data of a time zone that covers a predetermined range before and after the photographing time of the image related to the abnormality determined by the abnormality determination unit 46 among the image data stored in the storage device 42. Extracting and generating an index of these image data (step S5).

The transmission control unit 49 transmits the index generated by the index generation unit 48 and the image data related to the index to the remote monitoring terminal device 3 via the communication interface 44. The remote monitoring terminal device 3 transmits the image data from the transmission control unit 49 to the center device 6 via the communication line network 5 (step S6).
When the communication interface 63 of the center device 6 receives the image data, the control unit 61 stores the image data in the storage device 62.

  In this state, when a predetermined operation is performed on the input device 64 of the center device 6, the control unit 61 causes the display device 65 to display an image data index screen. When an image is selected by an operation on the input device 64 according to this screen, the control unit 61 causes the display device 65 to display this image. The image data from the man conveyor 1 side is not limited to the storage device 62 of the center device 6 but may be stored in a storage device of an external server device.

  As described above, in the variable function type remote monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention, the agent device 4 that operates separately from the man conveyor control device 2 and the remote monitoring terminal device 3 responds to the required image analysis. Since the control program for each purpose is received and the image analysis of the man conveyor 1 is performed according to the purpose, the operation status of the man conveyor 1 can be monitored without imposing a burden on the man conveyor control device 2 and the remote monitoring terminal device 3. Can be done.

  In particular, as an image analysis method in the image analysis unit 45 and a determination method in the abnormality determination unit 46, an optimum method can be selected in consideration of the model of the man conveyor 1 to be monitored and the installation environment. That is, a control program suitable for the man conveyor 1 (corresponding to the purpose) can be selected in the center device 6, and only the control program can be stored in the agent device 4 and executed. Therefore, the agent device 4 can be provided with a function corresponding to the control target. Moreover, the calculation load of the man conveyor control device 2 is suppressed.

  In addition, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where this invention was applied to a man conveyor, not only this but this invention is applicable also to elevators, such as an elevator.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be omitted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, you may combine suitably the component covering different embodiment.

The block diagram which shows the structural example of the function variable type remote monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the structural example of the agent apparatus of the function variable type remote monitoring system according to embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structural example of the center apparatus of the function variable type remote monitoring system according to embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows an example of the processing operation of the agent apparatus of the variable function type remote monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Man conveyor, 2 ... Man conveyor control apparatus, 3 ... Remote monitoring terminal device, 4 ... Agent apparatus, 5 ... Communication network, 6 ... Center apparatus, 7 ... Monitoring camera, 8 ... Alarm apparatus, 41, 61 ... Control Unit, 42, 62 ... storage device, 43, 44, 63 ... communication interface, 45 ... image analysis unit, 46 ... abnormality determination unit, 47 ... alarm control unit, 48 ... index generation unit, 49 ... transmission control unit, 50 ... Program update unit, 64 ... input device, 65 ... display device.

Claims (7)

Elevator control device for controlling the operation of the elevator, remote monitoring terminal device for transmitting information indicating this to a remote monitoring center when an abnormality occurs in the elevator control device, an imaging device for photographing a specific part of the elevator, and the elevator control A system having an agent device that operates independently of the device and the remote monitoring terminal device,
The agent device is:
Storage means for storing a purpose-specific control program transmitted from the remote monitoring center;
A variable function comprising: a discriminating unit that analyzes an image captured by the imaging device by executing a control program stored in the storage unit and discriminates whether there is an abnormality in the operation of the elevator. Remote monitoring system. The agent device is:
The discriminating means further comprises transmission means for transmitting, to the remote monitoring center, an image related to the abnormality out of images photographed by the photographing device when the abnormality relating to the operation of the elevator is discriminated. The function variable type remote monitoring system according to claim 1. It further has an alarm device that issues an alarm to the use point of the elevator,
The agent device is:
The variable function type remote monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising alarm activation control means for activating the alarm device when the determination means determines that there is an abnormality related to the operation of the elevator. . The elevator is a man conveyor,
The function variable type remote monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the elevator control device is a man conveyor control device. Storage means for storing a control program for each purpose to be transmitted;
A discriminating unit that discriminates whether or not the control target is abnormal by analyzing an image of a specific part of the control target by executing a control program stored in the storage unit;
A function-variable information processing apparatus that operates independently of a control device that controls the operation of the control target and a monitoring terminal device that transmits information indicating the control target when an abnormality occurs in the control target. Elevator control device for controlling the operation of the elevator, remote monitoring terminal device for transmitting information indicating this to a remote monitoring center when an abnormality occurs in the elevator control device, an imaging device for photographing a specific part of the elevator, and the elevator control A remote monitoring method used in a system having an agent device that operates independently of a device and a remote monitoring terminal device and includes a storage device that stores a control program for each purpose transmitted from the remote monitoring center,
The agent device is:
The function-variable remote comprising: a determination step of analyzing an image captured by the imaging device by executing a control program stored in the storage device and determining whether or not there is an abnormality in the operation of the elevator Monitoring method. Elevator control device for controlling the operation of the elevator, remote monitoring terminal device for transmitting information indicating this to a remote monitoring center when an abnormality occurs in the elevator control device, an imaging device for photographing a specific part of the elevator, and the elevator control A program used in a system having a computer that operates independently of the device and the remote monitoring terminal device and has a storage device that stores a control program for each purpose transmitted from the remote monitoring center,
The computer,
A computer-readable program that analyzes the image captured by the imaging device by executing a control program stored in the storage device and functions as a determination unit that determines whether there is an abnormality in the operation of the elevator Function variable remote monitoring program.

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