JP2009076088A - Equipment controller, equipment control method and equipment control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To acquire target environment information by taking temporal elements into consideration, and to control household electric appliances based thereon in an arbitrary region. <P>SOLUTION: An equipment controller comprises terminal equipment such as a PC, and provided with a display device. Map information is displayed on the display device, and a user designates regional information showing a desired region by viewing the map information displayed on a display device. The equipment controller determines an area corresponding to the designated regional information, and acquires time elements, for example, dates and time or the like when the regional information is designated by the user. Then, the output content is determined based on the determined area and the acquired time elements. In this case, the output content shows an environment in the designated region. Then, the equipment controller determines equipment to be controlled corresponding to the output content, and operates control corresponding to the output content to the equipment to be controlled. For example, when the temperature and humidity in the designated region are acquired as an output content, the equipment controller controls an air conditioner to be controlled to reproduce the temperature and the humidity. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a device control method for controlling various devices in accordance with user input.

  In recent years, network control technology for home appliances and the like has advanced, and a method for remotely controlling home appliances in the user's home from the outside via the Internet or a public line using a terminal device such as a mobile phone is known. is there.

  On the other hand, a method has also been proposed in which a user designates control conditions for home appliances on the Internet web and controls home appliances in the house according to the conditions. For example, in Patent Document 1, place names of places and environment information in the place are prepared in advance in the server. When the user designates an arbitrary place name on the Internet web, the user is in accordance with the environment information corresponding to the place. What controls the air conditioner at home is described.

JP 2003-287266 A

  However, with the method of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the user can specify a place by selecting from a place name prepared in advance, and cannot obtain environmental information of an arbitrary place on the map. Also, for example, environmental information such as temperature and humidity changes according to the season, time (morning, day and night), etc. even in the same place, and the target environmental information is not always obtained simply by specifying the area.

  Examples of problems to be solved by the present invention include the above. An object of the present invention is to acquire target environment information for an arbitrary region in consideration of time factors, and control home appliances and the like based on the acquired environment information.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the device control apparatus includes a display unit that displays map information on a display device, an input unit that receives designation of regional information by a user on the display device, and the designated regional information. Based on the area determination means for determining the corresponding area, the time element acquisition means for acquiring the time element when the region information is specified by the user, the output contents based on the determined area and the acquired time element Output determining means for determining, controlled device determining means for determining the controlled device corresponding to the output content, device control means for performing control according to the corresponding output content for the determined controlled device, It is characterized by providing.

  In the invention according to claim 6, an apparatus control method connected to a controlled apparatus and executed in a terminal device including a computer includes a display step of displaying map information on a display device, and a user on the display device. An input process for receiving designation of area information; an area determination process for determining an area corresponding to the specified area information; a time element acquisition process for acquiring a time element when the area information is designated by the user; Based on the determined area and the acquired time element, an output determination step for determining the output content, a device determination step for determining a controlled device corresponding to the output content, and the determined controlled device And a device control step for performing control according to the corresponding output contents.

  In the invention according to claim 7, the device control program connected to the controlled device and executed in the terminal device including a computer is a display means for displaying map information on a display device, and a region by a user on the display device. Input means for receiving specification of information, area determination means for determining an area corresponding to the specified area information, time element acquisition means for acquiring a time element when the area information is specified by the user, determined area And output determining means for determining the output content based on the acquired time element, device determining means for determining the controlled device corresponding to the output content, and the output content corresponding to the determined controlled device. The computer is caused to function as device control means for performing a corresponding control.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the device control device includes display means for displaying map information on a display device, input means for receiving designation of regional information by a user on the display device, and designated regional information. Based on the area determination means for determining the corresponding area, the time element acquisition means for acquiring the time element when the region information is specified by the user, the output contents based on the determined area and the acquired time element Output determining means for determining, controlled device determining means for determining the controlled device corresponding to the output content, device control means for performing control according to the corresponding output content for the determined controlled device, Is provided.

  The device control apparatus is configured by a terminal device such as a PC, and includes a display device. The map information is displayed on the display device, and the user looks at the map information displayed on the display device and designates the region information indicating the desired region. The device control apparatus determines an area corresponding to the designated area information and acquires a time element when the area information is designated by the user, for example, a date, time, and the like. Then, the output content is determined based on the determined area and the acquired time element. Here, the output content indicates the environment in the designated area. Then, the device control apparatus determines a controlled device corresponding to the output content, and performs control according to the output content for the controlled device. For example, when the temperature and humidity of a designated area are obtained as output contents, the device control apparatus controls an air conditioner or the like as a controlled device and reproduces the temperature and humidity.

  In one aspect of the device control apparatus, the time element acquisition unit acquires the date and time when the user designates the area information as the time element. Thus, the output contents are determined based on the environment when the user designates the area information, and the controlled device is controlled.

  In another aspect of the device control apparatus, the device control apparatus includes an area definition database that stores correspondence between area information including latitude and longitude and a plurality of areas defined in advance. The area is determined with reference to the area definition database.

  In a preferred example, the controlled device is an air conditioner, the output content includes temperature and humidity, and the device control means indicates the temperature and humidity in the space where the air conditioner is installed. Control to temperature and humidity. In another preferred example, the controlled device is an AV device that reproduces video and / or audio, and the device control means reproduces video and / or audio corresponding to the area and the time element. The AV device is controlled as described above.

  In another aspect of the present invention, a device control method connected to a controlled device and executed in a terminal device including a computer includes: a display step of displaying map information on a display device; and a region by a user on the display device An input process for receiving specification of information, an area determination process for determining an area corresponding to the specified area information, a time element acquisition process for acquiring a time element when the area information is specified by the user, and a determination Based on the obtained area and the acquired time element, an output determination step for determining the output content, a device determination step for determining a controlled device corresponding to the output content, and the determined controlled device, And a device control step for performing control according to the corresponding output contents. According to this method, the output content is determined based on the environment corresponding to the area information designated by the user, and the controlled device is controlled.

  In another aspect of the present invention, a device control program connected to a controlled device and executed in a terminal device including a computer includes display means for displaying map information on a display device, and regional information by a user on the display device. Input means for receiving designation, area determining means for determining an area corresponding to the specified area information, time element acquiring means for acquiring a time element when the area information is specified by the user, the determined area, and Based on the acquired time element, output determining means for determining the output content, device determining means for determining the controlled device corresponding to the output content, and depending on the corresponding output content for the determined controlled device The computer is caused to function as device control means for performing the control. By executing this program on the terminal device, the device control apparatus described above can be realized. In a preferred example, the device control program is stored in a storage medium and handled.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a device control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The device control system 1 includes a control terminal 3 as a device control device. The control terminal 3 is configured by, for example, a personal computer (PC) equipped with a computer. In addition, the control terminal 3 includes a display device, an input device, and the like (not shown). As the display device, for example, a liquid crystal display device or the like is used. As an input device, a keyboard, a mouse or the like is used. The user operates the input device while looking at the display device to execute input, designation, selection, and the like of necessary information.

  The control terminal 3 is connected to a plurality of controlled devices 7 via a device control network 4. Illustrated examples of the controlled device 7 include a lighting device 7 a, an air conditioner 7 b, an audio playback device 7 c, and a video playback device 7 d, but the controlled device 7 is not limited to these and can be controlled through the device control network 4. Various devices can be controlled devices. In this embodiment, it is assumed that these controlled devices 7 are installed in the user's home or room. These devices are generally called network compatible devices. The device control network 4 may be a wired network or a wireless network.

  The audio reproduction device 7c is configured by a so-called stereo component, an audio system including a plurality of speakers, and the like. The video playback device 7d is composed of a DVD player, a video player, or the like. Note that the audio playback device 7c and the video playback device 7d may be integrated. Also, the audio playback device 7c and the video playback device 7d are collectively referred to as AV devices.

  The control terminal 3 is connected to a map information database (hereinafter, “database” is referred to as “DB”) 11, an area definition DB 12, an environment data DB 13, and a corresponding device DB 14. The map DB 11 stores general map data. This map data is used for displaying a map on the display device of the control terminal 3, for example, as shown in FIG.

  The area definition DB 12 stores a relationship between a predetermined area and geographic information (specifically, latitude and longitude) constituting the area. The contents of the area definition DB 12 are schematically shown in FIG. As illustrated, the area definition DB 12 stores “area name”, “area code”, “latitude”, and “longitude” for each of a plurality of predetermined areas. Each area may be defined in units of prefectures, for example, or may be defined for each larger or smaller area. Further, the map may be defined in a mesh shape by dividing it horizontally and vertically by latitude and longitude. The example of FIG. 3 is an example when the area is defined in a mesh shape. The “area name” is a name given to the area. The “area code” is an identification code assigned to each area. By referring to this area definition DB 12, the area corresponding to them can be determined from the latitude and longitude.

  The environment data DB 13 defines the correspondence between the input condition for controlling the controlled device 7 and the output content indicating the control method of the controlled device 7 according to the input condition. An example of the environmental data DB 13 is schematically shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, “input conditions” are roughly divided into “space elements” and “time elements”. “Spatial element” includes the area name and area code described above. On the other hand, the “time element” includes “year / month / day”, “time”, “season”, “period”, and the like.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, the output contents are classified into items such as “weather”, “sight”, “hearing”, “olfaction”, and “tactile”. As described above, the output content indicates an environment realized by the control of the controlled device 7.

  The corresponding device DB 14 indicates a correspondence relationship between the output content illustrated in FIG. 4 and the controlled device 7 controlled according to the output content. An example of the corresponding device DB 14 is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, controlled devices to be controlled and control contents are shown for each output content.

  Hereinafter, a specific description will be given with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. The output contents related to the item “weather” include “weather”, “temperature”, “humidity” and the like. The weather is realized mainly by controlling the lighting device 7a, and the temperature and humidity are realized mainly by controlling the air conditioner 7b. The output contents related to the item “sight” include “still image” and “moving image”, and these are mainly realized by the video reproduction device 7d. The output content related to the item “hearing” includes “voice” and “music”, and these are mainly realized by the voice reproduction device 7c.

  The output content related to the item “olfaction” includes “odor”, which is mainly realized by an aroma generator which is another example of the controlled device 7. The output content related to the item “tactile sense” includes “wind speed” and “air”. The wind speed is realized by a fan that is another example of the controlled device 7, and the air is realized by a dehumidifier that is another example of the controlled device. The output content related to the item “others” includes “slope”. This indicates the inclination of the reclining seat (swing chair) on which the user sits. That is, the inclination shown here is realized by controlling the inclination of a reclining seat which is another example of the controlled device 7.

  As described above, when the space element and the time element are determined as the input conditions, the output contents, that is, the control contents of the various controlled devices 7 are determined accordingly. Although details will be described later, the spatial element is determined by the user operating the control terminal 3 and specifying the area information. On the other hand, the time element is determined by automatically acquiring the date, time, etc. when the user designates the area information, or by the user individually inputting it.

  In the present embodiment, each of the above DBs 11 to 14 is directly connected to the control terminal 3, but the control terminal 3 can also obtain real-time information from a server or DB on the web via the Internet or the like. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the control terminal 3 is connected to the real-time DB 15 through the Internet 5 as an example in that case.

  The real-time DB 15 stores information acquired in real time among information stored in the environment data DB 13. For example, the real-time DB 15 can store actual weather information as a weather information DB. An example of a weather information DB that stores real-time information is shown in FIG. In this example, actual weather information at each time is stored for each area indicated by the area code. Therefore, if the above-mentioned various controlled devices 7 are controlled using this weather information DB, the user reproduces the environment such as the actual weather in a specified date and time in the designated area in his / her room. be able to.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the interactive information DB as an example of other real-time information stored in the real-time DB 15. As shown in the figure, the interactive information DB stores actual information at each time for each area indicated by the area code. Specifically, images, videos, collected sounds, etc. taken locally at a certain time are stored as interactive information. Therefore, if the above-mentioned various controlled devices 7 are controlled using this interactive information DB, the user can change his / her environment such as actual scenery, sound, atmosphere, etc., in a specified date and time. Can be reproduced in the room.

  Next, device control processing by the control terminal 3 will be described. FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of the device control process. This process is realized by the control terminal 3 equipped with a computer executing a device control program prepared in advance.

  In FIG. 8, the user first operates the control terminal 3 to specify a desired region or place, and the control terminal 3 receives this specification (step S11). Specifically, the user displays map information on the display device of the control terminal 3 by a predetermined operation. A typical example at this time is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 2A, a Japan map is displayed on the display device. Here, when the user operates an input device such as a mouse to specify a certain region / location on the map, for example, a message indicating that the specification has been accepted is displayed as shown in FIG.

  When the user designates the area / location in this way, the control terminal 3 acquires the latitude and longitude of the designated area / location and refers to the area definition DB 12 to determine an area corresponding to the designated area / location ( Step S12). The area thus determined corresponds to a spatial element in the input conditions shown in FIG. That is, the spatial element in the input condition is determined by the designation of the area / location by the user.

  In addition, the control terminal 3 determines a time element in the input condition (step S13). In a preferred example, the control terminal 3 automatically acquires the date and time when the user designates the area / location in step S12, using a clock function or the like provided in the terminal. Note that items such as “period” can be input by the user as needed. In another example, the user can input the season, time, period, and the like.

  When the time element is acquired in this way, the control terminal 3 refers to the environment data DB illustrated in FIG. 4 and determines the output content based on the area and the time element (step S14). At this time, the control terminal 3 may acquire real-time information with reference to the real-time DB 15.

  Next, the control terminal 3 refers to the corresponding device DB 14 and determines the controlled device 7 to be controlled based on the output content determined in step S14 (step S15). Then, the control terminal 3 controls each controlled device 7 based on the determined output content and the controlled device 7 (step S16). For example, the control terminal 3 controls the air conditioner 7b so that the temperature and humidity correspond to the area and time element specified by the user, or music prepared corresponding to the area and time element specified by the user, The audio playback device 7c or the video playback device 7d is controlled so as to play back video or the like.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the user designates a desired area / location on the map displayed on the display device instead of selecting from the area options prepared in advance. The controlled device can be controlled according to the environment. Further, the user can designate a desired area / location without knowing the place name or area name to be designated.

  If the time information when the user designates the region / location is automatically acquired as a time element, the controlled device 7 is controlled based on the environment at that time in the region / location designated by the user. can do.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the apparatus control system which concerns on an Example. The example of a map display in a display apparatus is shown. The example of area definition DB is shown. The example of environmental data DB is shown. The example of corresponding | compatible apparatus DB is shown. The example of weather information DB is shown. The example of interactive information DB is shown. It is a flowchart of an apparatus control process.

Explanation of symbols

1 device control system 3 control terminal 4 device control network 5 internet 7 controlled device 11 map information DB
12 Area definition DB
13 Environmental Data DB
14 Supported device DB
15 Real-time DB

Claims (8)

Display means for displaying map information on a display device;
Input means for receiving designation of regional information by the user on the display device;
An area determining means for determining an area corresponding to the specified area information;
A time element acquisition means for acquiring a time element when the region information is designated by the user;
Output determining means for determining the output content based on the determined area and the acquired time element;
Device determining means for determining a controlled device corresponding to the output content;
A device control apparatus comprising: device control means for performing control according to the corresponding output content with respect to the determined controlled device.   The device control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time element acquisition unit acquires a date and time when a user designates the area information as the time element. An area definition database that stores the correspondence between area information including latitude and longitude and a plurality of areas defined in advance,
The device control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the area determination unit determines the area with reference to the area definition database. The controlled device is an air conditioner, and the output content includes temperature and humidity,
The said apparatus control means controls the temperature and humidity in the space in which the said air conditioner was installed to the temperature and humidity which the said output content shows, The apparatus as described in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. Control device. The controlled device is an AV device that reproduces video and / or audio,
5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device control unit controls the AV device to reproduce video and / or audio corresponding to the area and the time element. Control device. A device control method connected to a controlled device and executed in a terminal device including a computer,
A display step of displaying map information on the display device;
On the display device, an input step of receiving designation of regional information by a user;
An area determination process for determining an area corresponding to the specified area information;
A time element acquisition step of acquiring a time element when designation of regional information is performed by the user;
An output determining step for determining the output content based on the determined area and the acquired time element;
A device determination step for determining a controlled device corresponding to the output content;
A device control method comprising: a device control step for controlling the determined controlled device according to the corresponding output content. A device control program connected to a controlled device and executed in a terminal device including a computer,
Display means for displaying map information on a display device;
Input means for receiving designation of regional information by the user on the display device;
Area determining means for determining an area corresponding to the specified area information;
A time element acquisition means for acquiring a time element when the region information is specified by the user;
Output determining means for determining the output content based on the determined area and the acquired time element;
Device determining means for determining a controlled device corresponding to the output content;
A device control program for causing the computer to function as device control means for performing control in accordance with the corresponding output contents with respect to the determined controlled device.   A storage medium storing the device control program according to claim 7.

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