JP2014203415A - Sound adding device for visually impaired person - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology which properly perform alarm output and evacuation guidance, even when commercial power cannot be obtained.SOLUTION: A control unit 12 of a sound adding device 10 controls each structure element in an integrated manner, and carries out sound output to speakers 1-4. The control unit 12 carries out the output processing of voice guidance for emergency such as the occurrence of power failure. For example, the control unit 12 obtains an operation state (a power obtaining state and the like) from another sound adding device 10 through a communicating portion 16, related to the output processing, and carries out predetermined processing according to the residual capacity of an emergency power source 20. The control unit 12 holds evacuation guiding route data having a plurality of route patterns, and carries out voice guiding processing by selecting a proper route pattern from the evacuation guiding route data in an emergency voice guidance.

Description

  The present invention relates to a sound adding device for a visually impaired person installed at an intersection or the like.

  As a road crossing support device for visually handicapped persons, a sound adding device for visually handicapped persons (hereinafter also simply referred to as “sound adding device”) that notifies the visually handicapped person of the state of a pedestrian traffic light through a speaker. Is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2012-113585 A

  By the way, with respect to a general sound addition device, various technologies have been proposed in terms of convenience during normal operation and consideration of the surrounding environment where no problems or the like have occurred. No technology in the perspective was introduced or proposed.

  For example, during a large-scale disaster, the commercial power supply may be lost and the traffic signal may be operated by an emergency power supply (emergency battery or emergency power generation device). There is a need for a technology that can guide evacuees, including, to appropriate shelters. For evacuees, there is a possibility that once they get lost, there is a risk that there will be no clue to return to an appropriate route, and countermeasures have been demanded.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the above situations, Comprising: It is providing the technique which solves the said subject.

The present invention is an acoustic addition device for a visually impaired person installed at an intersection, wherein a power unit that acquires power from commercial power or an emergency power source and the emergency power source become in a state where the commercial power cannot be used. And a control unit that outputs a predetermined emergency guidance voice set for a state where the commercial power cannot be used.
Moreover, the said control part may detect whether the state which cannot use the said commercial power is a power failure, and when it is a power failure, you may perform the said emergency guidance audio | voice output.
In addition, the communication unit includes a communication unit that communicates with another sound adding device for visually impaired persons installed at surrounding intersections, and the control unit is configured to communicate with the other visually impaired person sound that is configured so that the communication unit can communicate with the other. As a result of communication with the additional device, it may be determined that a power failure has occurred in all of the other acoustic additional devices for the visually impaired when the input of commercial power is abnormal or when communication is not possible.
In addition, when the control unit determines that there is a power failure, among the other visually-impaired person sound-adding devices, the control unit does not guide in the direction of the other visually-impaired person sound-impairing device that cannot communicate, Emergency guidance voice output may be performed.
Further, as a result of the communication performed by the communication unit, the control unit is configured to perform normal guidance when the power is obtained from the commercial power in some of the other sound-added devices for the visually impaired. May be output.
Further, the emergency guidance voice output may be content for guiding to a predetermined evacuation site.
Further, the emergency guidance voice output is a content for guiding to a predetermined evacuation site, and the control unit has a plurality of route patterns to the predetermined evacuation site and cannot communicate from a plurality of route patterns. The emergency guidance voice output may be performed so as to guide with the shortest route pattern that avoids the separate visually impaired person sound adding device.
In addition, the control unit obtains the output state of the traffic signal provided alongside, and transmits it to the other sound-improving device for visually impaired persons via the communication unit, and from the other sound-adding device for the visually impaired The route pattern may be determined such that the output state of the other traffic signal is acquired and the direction of the traffic signal in which the output state of the other traffic signal is abnormal is not guided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique for appropriately outputting an alarm or evacuation guidance even when commercial power cannot be acquired.

It is the figure which showed the evacuation guidance path | route to an evacuation place based on this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the operation example of the normal time of the sound addition apparatus in the intersection based on this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the operation example at the time of the evacuation guidance output of the sound addition apparatus in the intersection based on this embodiment. It is the figure which showed schematic structure of the sound addition apparatus based on this embodiment. It is the figure which showed schematic structure of the signal controller based on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement at the time of power activation based on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the normal operation | movement sequence based on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the evacuation guidance output sequence based on this embodiment.

  Next, modes for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter, simply referred to as “embodiments”) will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

  First, an outline of the present embodiment will be described.

  As input power monitoring, communication is performed between sound adding apparatuses equipped with an emergency power supply, and it is determined whether there is an input abnormality (commercial power off state). When all of the sound adding devices that have performed communication are abnormal in input or communication is disconnected (communication impossible state), a power failure is detected and evacuation guidance is performed. When the device itself or some device has an input abnormality, normal operation (normal operation sequence) is performed as a sound addition device.

  For monitoring the output power, the sound adding device equipped with an emergency power supply or the traffic signal at the intersection serving as a guide for the guidance destination detects the output power and holds the data in its own device. When the output power falls below a certain level, the output is abnormal, and communication is performed between the sound adding devices equipped with the emergency power supply.

  As a method of changing the evacuation guidance route, set multiple patterns for the evacuation route, and the contents of the communication message (acoustic destination device output error) with the sound adding device equipped with an emergency power supply and the traffic signal at the intersection that serves as a guide destination Make changes as appropriate.

  Next, a specific example will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an evacuation guide route to an evacuation site, and FIG. 1 (a) shows an evacuation guide route when all the sound adding devices 10 are in an operating state in a predetermined area. 1 (b) shows an evacuation guidance route when some of the sound adding devices 10 are in a non-operating state. FIG. 2 shows an example of normal operation at the first intersection C1. FIG. 3 shows an example of operation at the time of evacuation guidance output at the first intersection C1, and corresponds to the operation of FIG. In addition, in FIG.2 and FIG.3, illustration of a signal lamp device is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a traffic light 80 is installed at a predetermined intersection (first to fourth intersections C1 to C4) of a plurality of roads intersecting north and south, and at the same time, a sound addition device (first to first intersections). 4 sound adding devices 10a to 10d) are also provided. When the first to fourth sound adding devices 10a to 10d are not distinguished, they are simply referred to as “sound adding device 10”. The configurations and operations of the sound adding device 10 and the traffic light 80 will be described later.

  The first to fourth sound adding devices 10a to 10d perform general normal operation and synchronize with the traffic signal 80 provided in the case where power can be obtained from commercial power (or commercial power source) without any power failure. Voice guidance. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the course in the north-south direction is a blue signal (progress indication), the sound pattern “Piyo” is repeatedly output from the speaker 1 (SP1 in the figure) and the speaker 2 (SP2 in the figure). The

  When the supply from the commercial power is stopped, the first to fourth sound addition devices 10a to 10d switch the power source from the commercial power 90 to the emergency power source 20 (see FIG. 4 described later), and further communicate with each other. Determine whether a power outage has occurred. If the use of commercial power is continued in the other acoustic addition devices 10, it is determined that no power failure has occurred, and switching from the commercial power 90 to the emergency power source 20 is performed in all of the other acoustic addition devices 10. If it has been made or if communication is not possible, it is determined that a power outage has occurred in the surrounding area.

  And as shown to Fig.1 (a), when the power failure has generate | occur | produced, the sound addition apparatus 10 outputs the audio guidance for evacuation guidance which guides to the predetermined evacuation place EA. Here, as a route from the first intersection C1 to the evacuation site EA, a route from the first intersection C1 toward the north and toward the east at the second second intersection C2 is set as a predetermined evacuation guidance pattern. ing. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the first sound adding device 10a at the first intersection C1 indicates that a power failure has occurred and the next signal (second intersection C2) along with the normal voice pattern “Piyo”. )

  As shown in FIG. 1 (b), when any of the sound adding devices 10 or the traffic lights 80 becomes inoperable due to communication failure, the sound that is assumed to be in the operation stop state is generated. Voice guidance is output so as not to be guided in the direction of the additional device 10 or the like. Here, the second sound adding device 10b (or the traffic signal 80) at the second intersection C2 is in an abnormal state. In such a situation, if guided to the second intersection C2, the evacuees may lose sight of the direction of travel. Therefore, the sound adding device 10a at the first intersection C1 outputs a voice guidance that leads in the direction of the third intersection C3 (third sound adding device 10c) in the east direction. At the third intersection C3, the voice guidance guided in the north direction by the third sound addition device 10c is output.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 1B, when it is assumed that the second sound addition device 10b (or its traffic light 80) at the second intersection is in an operation stop state, guidance as shown in FIG. It is inappropriate. Therefore, the first sound adding device 10a at the first intersection, for example, if the course in the north-south direction is a green signal (progress indication), “The previous intersection has disappeared due to a power failure. And a guidance on the content of another route proceeding to the third intersection C3 is output.

  A configuration for realizing the above operation will be described with reference to a functional block diagram of the sound adding device 10 in FIG. 4 and a functional block diagram of the traffic light 80 in FIG. 5.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the sound adding device 10 includes a control unit 12, a power unit 14, a communication unit 16, a power measurement unit 18, an emergency power supply 20, and speakers 1 to 4 (FIGS. 2 and 3). Middle SP1 to SP4).

  Assuming that the speakers 1 to 4 are set at the first intersection C1 shown in FIG. 2, the speakers 1 and 2 perform sound output when the north-south direction is shown, and the speakers 3 and 4 4 outputs audio when the east-west direction is a progress indication.

  The control unit 12 includes a control unit 31 and a storage unit 32. The control unit 31 comprehensively controls each component of the sound adding device 10 and outputs sound to the speakers 1 to 4. Moreover, the control part 31 performs the output process of the audio guidance for emergency, such as the time of a power failure, as a characteristic process in this embodiment. For example, the control unit 12 acquires the operation status (power acquisition status, etc.) of the power source from another sound addition device 10 via the communication unit 16 or the remaining capacity of the emergency power source 20 in connection with the output processing. A predetermined process is performed according to the above. The storage unit 32 has its own signal ID number for distinguishing it from the sound addition device 10 of another traffic signal, and the sound addition of a plurality of communication destinations for communicating with the sound addition device 10 of another predetermined traffic signal. The traffic signal ID number of the device 10, the voice data having a plurality of voice patterns for outputting information for normal time and emergency, and the positions of the plurality of predetermined communication destination sound adding devices 10 are the traffic signal ID numbers. The evacuation guide route data having a plurality of evacuation route patterns for guiding the refugee to the evacuation site in an emergency is stored. In emergency voice guidance, the control unit 31 communicates with another predetermined traffic signal, selects an appropriate route pattern from the evacuation guidance route data according to the state of the traffic signal on the evacuation route, and further, the voice data An appropriate voice pattern is selected from the voice guidance process. The details of the emergency voice guidance output process will be described later with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  The power unit 14 normally acquires power from the commercial power 90 as a power source, and acquires power from the emergency power source 20 when the commercial power 90 is lost due to a power failure or the like. In addition, the power unit 14 notifies the control unit 12 which power source is the commercial power 90 or the emergency power source 20 to the control unit 31.

  The communication unit 16 communicates with the communication unit 56 of the traffic light 80 and also communicates with the communication unit 16 of another sound adding device 10.

  The power measuring unit 18 measures the power usage state of the emergency power supply 20 and notifies the control unit 12 of the measurement result.

  The emergency power source 20 is composed of a built-in or external battery or an emergency power generator. Note that the emergency power supply 20 of the sound adding device 10 may be shared with the emergency power supply of the signal controller 50.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the traffic light 80 includes a signal lamp 70 and a signal controller 50. The signal controller 50 includes a control unit 52, a power unit 54, a communication unit 56, a power measurement unit 58, and a lamp color opening / closing unit 60.

  The control unit 52 controls each component centrally. The power unit 54 acquires power from the commercial power 90 and also acquires power from an emergency battery (not shown) at the time of a power failure or the like. The communication unit 56 communicates with the sound adding device 10 and communicates with the traffic control system. The power measuring unit 58 acquires the power usage status (more specifically, the lighting state of the signal lamp 70) from the lamp color opening / closing unit 60 and holds it in a predetermined storage area. Notify The lamp color opening / closing unit 60 controls the operation of the signal lamp unit 70.

  The operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation when the power is turned on. When the power is turned on (S10), the control unit 31 of the control unit 12 reads the evacuation guide route data from the storage unit 32 (S11). At this time, a route pattern set as an initial value is read from a plurality of route patterns.

  The control unit 31 constantly monitors whether or not there is a commercial power source, that is, whether or not power is supplied from the commercial power 90 (S12).

  When there is a commercial power source (Y in S12), the control unit 31 performs voice guidance output from the speakers 1 to 4 in a normal operation sequence (S13).

  When the commercial power is lost (N in S12), that is, when connected to the emergency power source 20 as a power source, the control unit 31 shifts the control state to the evacuation guidance output sequence (S14).

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a normal operation sequence. When starting the normal operation sequence (S20), the control unit 31 outputs a predetermined guide sound in accordance with the color state of the signal lamp device 70 in synchronization with the signal controller 50 (S21).

  Furthermore, the control part 31 acquires from the electric power part 14, when the signal which calculates | requires the condition of a power supply to be used is received from the sound addition apparatus 10 of the other signal apparatus with a predetermined signal apparatus ID number (Y of S22). The status of the power source being used, that is, the fact that the commercial power 90 is being used is transmitted to the sound adding device 10 of another signal device together with its own signal device ID number (S23). When this process ends, the process returns to S12 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an evacuation guidance output sequence. When the evacuation guidance output sequence is started (S30), the control unit 31 measures the power of the emergency power source 20 via the power measuring unit 18 (S31), and the measurement result of the power of the emergency power source 20 and the power The status of the power source in use acquired from the unit 14, that is, the use of the emergency power source 20, and its own traffic signal ID number are transmitted as output states to the sound adding device 10 of other traffic signals. At the same time, an output state from the sound adding device 10 of another traffic signal is received and acquired based on the traffic signal ID number (S32).

  The control unit 31 determines whether or not all communication destinations (the other sound addition devices 10) are in a commercial power supply cutoff state or a communication cutoff state (S33). That is, in all the other sound addition apparatuses 10, when it is in the operation state by the emergency power source 20 or in a situation where the operation state cannot be acquired, the control unit 31 determines that it is an emergency state such as a power failure.

  When all communication destinations (other sound addition apparatuses 10) are not in a commercial power supply interruption or communication interruption state (N in S33), that is, power is supplied from commercial power 90 in any of the sound addition apparatuses 10 If so, the control unit 31 performs voice guidance output according to the normal operation sequence (S34), and returns to the process of S12 shown in FIG.

  When all communication destinations (other sound addition devices 10) are in a commercial power supply or communication cut-off state (Y in S33), the control unit 31 determines whether there is an output abnormality in the other sound addition devices 10 or the like. Judgment is made (S35). This is because when there is an output abnormality, it is not appropriate as an intersection to be guided as an evacuation guidance route.

  When there is an output abnormality (Y in S35), the control unit 31 performs an evacuation route change process (S37). That is, the control unit 31 refers to the storage unit 32 as necessary to change the route pattern of the evacuation route.

  After performing the evacuation route change process (S37) or when there is no output abnormality in the process of S35 (Y of S35), the control unit 31 is based on the route pattern set using the speakers 1 to 4. The evacuation guidance voice output is started (S36). When the book processing ends, the processing returns to S12 shown in FIG.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, by constantly monitoring the commercial power supply (commercial power 90) and the output power of the sound adding device 10 equipped with the emergency power supply 20 and the traffic signal 80 at the intersection serving as a guide point of guidance, The evacuees can be safely guided to the evacuation route by turning on the traffic light 80 and voice guidance.

  In particular, in a conventional sound adding device equipped with an emergency power supply, when the commercial power 90 is “off”, it is simply determined that the input is abnormal. Therefore, if an input error is a power failure condition, it is possible to properly determine whether the sound adding device itself has been turned off for some reason or whether commercial power cannot be supplied (power failure). could not. However, according to the present embodiment, such a determination can be appropriately performed, and a power failure can be detected in units of areas where evacuation guidance is performed.

  Moreover, when a power failure occurs due to a disaster, the evacuee can be appropriately evacuated by outputting the “evacuation route” as an evacuation guidance sound. Moreover, it is desirable that the evacuation route passes through an intersection with a traffic signal connected to an emergency battery or the like so that a pedestrian can safely guide evacuation even at night. In the past, there was a risk that the traffic signal at the intersection where the evacuation was guided did not operate normally due to the signal light being extinguished due to the collapse of the traffic signal or the battery running out of the emergency power supply. However, in the present embodiment, communication is performed to check whether the lighting state of the traffic signal at the intersection serving as a guide mark is normal, and the evacuation guidance route is changed depending on the contents, so that evacuation guidance can be performed safely.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the combination of each component and processing process, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the presence / absence of an abnormality in the other sound adding device 10 is determined as a premise of performing emergency voice guidance output processing, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the sound adding device 10 may be determined as a single unit, and emergency voice guidance output processing may be performed. For example, when the emergency power supply 20 is switched and operating, there is a possibility that some abnormality has occurred at the intersection where the sound adding device 10 is installed. Therefore, the sound adding device 10 may output a warning guide or the like that alerts the evacuees.

10, 10a to 10d Sound adding device 12, 52 Control unit 14, 54 Power unit 16, 56 Communication unit 18, 58 Power measurement unit 20 Emergency power supply 31 Control unit 32 Storage unit 50 Signal controller 60 Light color opening / closing unit 70 Signal light Signal 80 Traffic light 90 Commercial power C1 First intersection C2 Second intersection C3 Third intersection C4 Fourth intersection SP1 Speaker 1
SP2 Speaker 2
SP3 Speaker 3
SP4 Speaker 4
EA evacuation site

Claims (8)

An audio addition device for a visually impaired person installed at an intersection,
A power unit that obtains power from commercial power or an emergency power source;
A control unit for outputting a predetermined emergency guidance voice set for a state in which the commercial power cannot be used when the commercial power cannot be used and the emergency power source is used. ,
A sound adding device for the visually impaired, characterized by comprising:   The visual impairment according to claim 1, wherein the control unit detects whether or not the state where the commercial power cannot be used is a power failure, and performs the emergency guidance voice output when the power failure occurs. Sound adder for the elderly. A communication unit that communicates with another visually-impaired sound adding device installed at nearby intersections,
The control unit communicates with the other sound-impairing device for visually impaired persons that the communication unit is set to be communicable. If it is or if communication is not possible, it is determined that a power outage has occurred.   When it is determined that the control unit is in a power failure, the emergency use is performed so as not to guide to the direction of the other visually impaired person sound adding device that cannot communicate among the other visually impaired person sound adding devices. The sound adding device for visually impaired persons according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a guidance voice is output.   The control unit, as a result of the communication performed by the communication unit, in some of the other visually-impaired apparatus for visually impaired persons, when power is acquired from the commercial power, the guidance guidance voice during normal operation The sound adding device for visually impaired persons according to any one of claims 3 to 4, wherein output is performed.   The sound adding device for visually impaired persons according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the emergency guidance voice output is content to be guided to a predetermined shelter. The emergency guidance voice output is a content for guiding to a predetermined shelter,
The control unit has a plurality of route patterns to the predetermined evacuation site, and guides from a plurality of route patterns with the shortest route pattern avoiding the another visually-impaired device for visually impaired persons that cannot communicate. The sound adding device for visually impaired persons according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the emergency guide voice output is performed.   The control unit obtains an output state of a traffic signal provided alongside, and transmits the signal to another visual adder device for visually impaired persons via the communication unit. 8. The visually impaired person according to claim 7, wherein the route pattern is determined so as not to be guided to a direction of a traffic light in which an output state of the other traffic light is abnormal. Sound adding device.

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