JP2015065903A - Access point device for work machine and work machine communication system comprising access point device for work machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable an access point device, that is a work machine, and a portable terminal to easily perform radio communication, and also to easily acquire a state of the work machine.SOLUTION: An access point device 4 for work machine which is attached to a work machine 2 and connects the work machine 2 and a portable terminal 3 by radio communication, comprises: a storage unit 32 which stores a predetermined identifier; a state acquisition unit 33 which acquires a state of the work machine 2; an information addition unit 34 which, on the basis of the state of work machine acquired by the state acquisition unit 33, adds status information indicating the state of the work machine to a transmission signal including the identifier; and a communication unit which transmits the transmission signal to which the status information is added, to the portable terminal 3.

Description

  The present invention relates to a work machine access point device for wireless communication between a work machine such as an agricultural machine such as a tractor, a combiner, a rice transplanter, a backhoe construction machine, and a portable terminal, and a work provided with the work point access point apparatus. The present invention relates to a communication system.

In recent years, in order to improve the efficiency of work plans in the field and to improve the quality of the harvested items in the field, it has been desired to collect and use field data related to the field such as the contents of work performed in the field. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for collecting field data using an agricultural machine such as a tractor or a combine.
In Patent Document 1, the data collection device attached to the agricultural machine stores the work start time, work end time, work date, machine identification code, worker name, and field number in association with each other. I have to.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-231329

  In Patent Document 1, it is possible to acquire information when the agricultural machine is operated by attaching the data collection device to the agricultural machine, but it is not possible to acquire the collected information from a remote place. It was. Therefore, it is conceivable to access the agricultural machine from a remote location using a portable terminal and collect the data of the agricultural machine. In this case, if the connection between the agricultural machine and the portable terminal is established, the information when the agricultural machine is working can be obtained, but the state of the agricultural machine cannot be grasped unless the acquired information is calculated or analyzed. Is the actual situation.

  Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention provides an access point device, that is, an access point device for a work machine that can easily perform wireless communication between the work machine and a portable terminal and can easily grasp the state of the work machine. Is intended to provide.

The technical means of the present invention for solving this technical problem is characterized by the following points.
The invention according to claim 1 is an access point device for a work machine that is attached to the work machine and connects the work machine and the mobile terminal by wireless communication, and a storage unit that stores a predetermined identifier; A status acquisition unit that acquires the status of the work implement; and an information addition unit that adds status information indicating the status of the work implement to a transmission signal including the identifier based on the status of the work implement acquired by the status acquisition unit And a communication unit that transmits the transmission signal to which the status information is added to the portable terminal.

In the invention according to claim 2, the information adding unit adds status information when the state of the work machine is changed to the transmission signal, and the communication unit adds the transmission signal to which the status information is added to the work machine. It transmits to a portable terminal, after the state of changes.
In the invention according to claim 3, the information adding unit adds status information indicating the state of the work implement to the identifier, and the communication unit transmits the identifier to which the status information is added to the portable terminal. It is characterized by.

The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that, after the operation of the work machine is stopped, the communication unit transmits a transmission signal to which the status information is added or an identifier to which status information is added to the portable terminal. .
In the invention which concerns on Claim 5, the information collection part which collects the operation information regarding a work machine is provided, The said information addition part shows that the preparation which transmits the operation information collected in the said information collection part to a portable terminal was completed Completion information is added to the transmission signal.

In the invention which concerns on Claim 6, the said information collection part acquires the signal output from the some electronic device mounted in the said working machine as operation information, and collects operation information after the operation | movement stop of the said electronic device. The operation is stopped.
In the invention which concerns on Claim 7, It is a communication system of the working machine provided with the portable terminal and the access point apparatus for working machines with which it was mounted | worn with a working machine and connected the said working machine and the said portable terminal by radio | wireless communication. The work machine access point device is based on a storage unit that stores a predetermined identifier, a state acquisition unit that acquires a state of the work machine, and a state of the work machine acquired by the state acquisition unit. An information adding unit for adding status information indicating the state of the work machine to the transmission signal including the identifier, and a communication unit for transmitting the transmission signal to which the status information is added to the portable terminal. Includes a display unit for displaying status information included in the transmission signal.

The present invention has the following effects.
According to the first and seventh aspects of the invention, after acquiring the state of the work machine, status information indicating the state of the work machine is transmitted as a transmission signal including an identifier, that is, wireless between the portable terminal and the communication unit. Since it can be transmitted by being included in a signal used to establish communication, the state of the work implement can be grasped without establishing wireless communication between the mobile terminal and the communication unit. In addition, even when wireless communication between the mobile terminal and the communication unit is established, it is possible to grasp the state of the work machine only by acquiring the transmission signal by the mobile terminal.

According to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, it can grasp | ascertain easily that the state of the working machine changed on the portable terminal side only by receiving the transmission signal.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 3, the state of a working machine can be grasped | ascertained only by receiving the identifier used in order to establish the wireless communication of a portable terminal and a communication part with a portable terminal.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, after stopping a working machine, the state of the said working machine can be grasped | ascertained.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 5, the operation information of the working machine collected by the information collection part can be acquired with a portable terminal, and operation information can be arranged with a portable terminal. In addition, since the information adding unit adds completion information indicating that the operation information collected by the information collecting unit is ready to be transmitted to the mobile terminal to the transmission signal, the mobile terminal only acquires the transmission signal. Thus, it is possible to grasp that the access point device side is ready to transmit work machine operation information.

  According to the invention of claim 6, the information collecting unit acquires the signals output from the plurality of electronic devices mounted on the work machine as the operation information and performs the operation of collecting the operation information after the operation of the electronic device is stopped. Since the operation is stopped, the signal output from the electronic device, that is, the operation information can be acquired without missing.

It is a general view of the communication system of a working machine. It is a figure which shows the flow which a portable terminal connects to an access point apparatus. (A) It is a figure which shows SSID when the state of an ignition switch changes, (b) It is a figure which shows the change of SSID when a warning generate | occur | produces. It is explanatory drawing at the time of performing the communication process by a communication part intermittently. It is a figure which shows the change of SSID in 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining the operation stop of the control apparatus in 2nd Embodiment. It is the whole tractor side view.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 shows an overall view of a communication system for a work machine.
As shown in FIG. 1, a communication system 1 for a work machine is a system that performs wireless communication between a work machine 2 such as an agricultural machine or a construction machine and a portable terminal 3. That is, this system can perform wireless communication between the work machine 2 that performs various work and the specific mobile terminal 3 that has accessed the work machine 2.

  The work machine communication system 1 includes a work machine access point device 4. The work machine access point device 4 is for establishing wireless communication between the work machine 2 and the portable terminal 3 and is mounted on the work machine 2. As will be described later, the work machine access point device 4 performs wireless communication with the portable terminal 3 by Wi-Fi (registered trademark) compliant with the IEEE 802.11 series which is a communication standard. On the other hand, the mobile terminal 3 is configured by, for example, a smart phone (multifunctional mobile phone) or a tablet PC having a relatively high computing capability. The portable terminal 3 also performs wireless communication with the work machine access point device 4 by Wi-Fi (registered trademark) compliant with the IEEE 802.11 series which is a communication standard.

  As described above, in the communication system 1 of the work machine 2, the work machine 2 and the mobile terminal 3 can be easily accessed via the work machine access point device 4. Can be acquired via the access point device 4 for work implements, and various signals can be transmitted from the portable terminal 3 to the work implement 2. A plurality of portable terminals 3 can be connected to the access point device 4.

Hereinafter, the working machine is a tractor which is one of the agricultural machines, and the working machine communication system and the working machine access point device will be described in detail. For convenience of explanation, the explanation will be made by referring to the “work machine access point device” as “access point device”.
As shown in FIG. 7, the tractor 2 is configured by mounting an engine 11, a transmission device 12, and the like on a traveling vehicle (traveling vehicle body) 10 having front and rear wheels. A three-point link mechanism 13 and the like are provided at the rear portion of the traveling vehicle 10 so as to be lifted and lowered. A working device 14 such as a tilling device, a fertilizer spraying device, a pesticide spraying device, a sowing spraying device, and a harvesting device is detachably attached to the three-point link mechanism 13. In addition, an independently mounted cabin 15 is provided behind the engine 11, and a driver's seat 16 is provided in the cabin 15. A display device 18 that displays various information of the tractor 2 is provided around the driver's seat 16.

  Now, the tractor 2 is equipped with a plurality of electronic devices. This electronic device is a device for operating the tractor 2, and includes, for example, a sensor (accelerator pedal sensor, lever detection sensor, crank position sensor, fuel sensor, water temperature sensor, etc.), switch (ignition switch, parking brake switch, PTO switch, etc.), a display device constituted by a display panel or the like, a control device constituted by a CPU or the like. The plurality of electronic devices are connected by a vehicle communication network N1 such as CAN, LIN, or FlexRay. In the vehicle communication network N1, a detection signal detected by a sensor, a switch signal indicating a switch state, and an operation unit (for example, an engine, a solenoid valve, a pump, or the like) that operates the tractor 2 is operated by control of the control device. Command signal (control signal) and the like are output. Note that a notification signal for notifying a warning or a failure is also output to the vehicle communication network N1.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a plurality of control devices, which are one of electronic devices, and a work machine access point device connected to each control device via a vehicle communication network.
As shown in FIG. 1, the tractor 2 includes, as the control device 20, for example, a first control device 20 </ b> A that controls the engine 11, a second control device 20 </ b> B that controls the transmission 12 and the three-point link mechanism 13, A third control device 20C that controls the display device 18 is provided. The control devices 20 such as the first control device 20A, the second control device 20B, and the third control device 20C are connected to sensors, switches, and the like, and switches that indicate detection signals and switch states detected by the sensors. The signal is output to the vehicle communication network N1 via the control device 20.

The first control device 20A includes, for example, an accelerator pedal sensor that detects an operation amount of an accelerator pedal when an accelerator pedal is operated, a lever detection sensor that detects a shift lever position when a shift lever for shifting is operated, and a crank position The engine speed and the like are controlled based on a signal from a crank position sensor or the like that detects this. The second control device 20B controls the lifting and lowering of the three-point link mechanism 13 based on a position lever sensor or the like that detects an operation amount of an operation member (operation lever) that operates the three-point link mechanism 13. The third control device 20C controls the display device 18 based on signals from sensors, switches, and the like.
8 controls the movement of the pointer meter provided on the LED 8, ON / OFF of the LED, display on the liquid crystal display unit, and the like. The control of the first control device 20A, the second control device 20B, and the third control device 30C is not limited to those described above. Electronic devices such as the access point device 4, the first control device 20A, the second control device 20B, and the third control device 30C are operated by the power of the battery mounted on the tractor 2, as shown in FIG. The point device 4 connects the vehicle communication network N1 provided in the tractor 2 to an external network (external communication network) of the tractor 2 such as the portable terminal 3, and is detachably attached to the tractor 2 by a connector or the like. Has been. The access point device 4 includes a communication unit (communication module) 30 that performs wireless communication with the mobile terminal 3 and a control unit 31 that controls the communication unit 30.

  The communication unit 30 performs wireless communication based on Wi-Fi (registered trademark) conforming to the IEEE 802.11 series, which is a communication standard, and converts data (signals) received from the outside into the communication method of the access point device 4. The data (signal) transmitted from the control unit 31 is changed to the IEEE802.11 series communication method and output to the outside. That is, the communication unit 30 outputs data (signal) received from the outside to the control unit 31 or transmits data (signal) output from the control unit 31 to the outside.

The communication unit 30 includes a storage unit 32. The storage unit 32 includes a non-volatile memory and the like, a unique MAC address set on the network, an identifier for identifying the access point device 4 (for example, a service set identifier, that is, an SSID), an encryption key (Network key) and the like are stored.
The control unit 31 instructs the start of communication by outputting a wakeup signal for starting wireless communication to the communication unit 30, or outputs the sleep signal for ending wireless communication to the communication unit 30 to end communication. Command. In addition, the control unit 31 changes a data transmission / reception interval, a data length, and the like in the communication unit 30 by transmitting a setting value related to data transmission / reception with the communication unit 30 to the communication unit 30. Further, the control unit 31 converts the data received from the vehicle communication network N1 into the communication method of the access point device 4, and transmits the data received from the vehicle communication network N1 to the communication unit 30. The operation of the control unit 31 is not limited to that described above.

The control unit 31 includes a storage unit 36 that temporarily stores various data acquired from the vehicle communication network N1. Further, the storage unit 36 provided in the control unit 31 and the storage unit 32 provided in the communication unit 30 may be integrated.
FIG. 2 shows a flow of connecting the mobile terminal to the access point device.
In connecting the portable terminal 3 to the access point device 4, first, the access point device 4 and the electronic device are activated. Specifically, by turning on the ignition switch 35 of the tractor 2 and supplying power from the battery to the communication unit 30 and the control unit 31 of the access point device 4 and the electronic equipment of the tractor 2, the access point device 4 and the electronic device Start the device.

Then, after the access point device 4 is activated, when the control unit 31 acquires a signal that the ignition switch 35 is turned on via the vehicle communication network N1 (S1), the control unit 31 sends a wake-up signal to the communication unit 30. Output (S2). When the wake-up signal from the control unit 31 is input, the communication unit 30 starts communication processing and outputs a transmission signal including its own MAC address and SSID as an identifier, that is, a beacon to the outside. Is started (S3). When the mobile terminal 3 receives the beacon transmitted from the communication unit 30 to the outside, the mobile terminal 3 displays the SSID included in the beacon on the display unit 3a configured with a liquid crystal panel or the like (S4), and the network key is displayed on the display unit 3a. An input screen is displayed (S5). After the network key is input on the input screen of the portable terminal 3, the network key is transmitted from the portable terminal 3 to the access point device 4 (S6), and the network key transmitted from the portable terminal 3 to the access point device 4 is transmitted. When input, the communication unit 30 collates (authenticates) the network key transmitted from the portable terminal 3 and the network key stored in the storage unit 32 (S7). When the network verification (authentication) is established, the communication unit 30 establishes the mobile terminal 3.
Is established and wireless data communication is permitted (S8). On the other hand, if the verification of the network key from the portable terminal 3 and the network key stored in the storage unit 32 is not established, the communication unit 30 does not establish wireless communication with the portable terminal 3 and permits data communication. No (S9). Note that the process of establishing wireless communication between the communication unit 30 and the mobile terminal 3 is not limited to the process described above, and the process of displaying the network key on the input screen may be omitted.

  In this way, when wireless communication with the portable terminal 3 is established by the communication unit 30, data stored in the storage unit 36 (data flowing in the vehicle communication network N <b> 1 of the tractor 2) is carried via the communication unit 30. It can be transmitted to the terminal 3. Moreover, the data of the portable terminal 3 can be transmitted to the communication unit 30, the control unit 31, or the control device 20 mounted on the tractor 2 or other devices.

  By connecting the mobile terminal 3 to the access point device 4, bidirectional data communication can be performed between the mobile terminal 3 and the tractor 2 equipped with the access point device 4. By performing data communication between the mobile terminal 3 and the access point device 4 and acquiring data on the tractor 2 side, it is possible to grasp what state the tractor 2 is in. For that purpose, the mobile terminal 3 and the access point apparatus 4 must be established. In addition, after establishing wireless communication between the mobile terminal 3 and the access point device 4, if the data received on the mobile terminal 3 side is not calculated (analyzed, converted, etc.), the state of the tractor 2 is grasped. It is difficult. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the state of the tractor 2 can be easily grasped on the mobile terminal 3 side by providing a state acquisition unit 33 and an information addition unit 34 in the control unit 31 of the access point device 4. I can do it.

Hereinafter, the state acquisition unit 33 and the information addition unit 34 of the control unit 31 will be described in detail.
The state acquisition unit 33 includes a program stored in the control unit 31. The state acquisition unit 33 acquires various states of the tractor 2. The state acquisition unit 33 acquires a signal excluding the command signal from the detection signal, the switch signal, the command signal (control signal), and the notification signal that flow in the vehicle communication network N1. For example, the state acquisition unit 33 acquires a fuel value detected by the fuel sensor as a detection signal, acquires a signal indicating on / off of the ignition switch 35 as a switch signal, and indicates that the battery is up as a notification signal. Get the indicated signal. The signal acquired by the state acquisition unit 33 is not limited to the signal described above as long as the signal can acquire the state of the tractor 2.

  The information adding unit 34 adds status information indicating the state of the tractor to the transmission signal transmitted from the communication unit 30 of the access point device 4 based on the state of the tractor acquired by the state acquiring unit 33. Here, the transmission signal is a broadcast signal used when establishing wireless communication between the mobile terminal 3 and the access point device 4 (communication unit 30), and is a signal including an identifier such as an SSID. Specifically, the information adding unit 34 adds status information to an identifier (for example, SSID) included in the transmission signal. In particular, the information adding unit 34 adds status information to an identifier such as an SSID when the state of the tractor changes. In addition, the control part 30 grade | etc., Previously stored the character, number, symbol, etc. which represent the status information of a tractor.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the SSID is changed by the information adding unit 34. FIG. 3A shows a change in the SSID due to a change in the ignition switch, and FIG. 3B shows a change in the SSID due to the presence or absence of a warning. The information adding unit 34 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3A, when the ignition switch (IG-SW) is turned on at time P1, the control device 20 of the tractor 2 is activated (control device “ON”), and the communication unit 30 is activated and carried. Transmission of a transmission signal (beacon) to the terminal 3 is started (communication “ON”). Here, when the name of the SSID stored in the communication unit 30 is, for example, “KUBOTA”, the communication unit 30 transmits an SSID indicating “KUBOTA” to the outside. Then, when the ignition switch 35 is turned off at time P2, the control device 20 of the tractor 2 stops.

As described above, from time point P1 to time point P2, the state acquisition unit 33 sequentially acquires the state of the tractor in which the ignition switch 35 is on and the state of the tractor in which the ignition switch 35 is off, and adds information. The unit 34 monitors the state of the tractor acquired by the state acquisition unit 33 in this way.
The information adding unit 34 indicates that the ignition switch 35 has been turned off at the end of “KUBOTA”, which is an SSID (identifier), because the ignition switch 35 has changed from on to off at time P2. Is added as status information. Then, the information adding unit 34 outputs “KUBOTA-S”, which is a new SSID to which status information is added, to the communication unit 30, and the communication unit 30 outputs the SSID “KUBOTA-S” transmitted from the information adding unit 34 to the outside. Send to. Note that the symbol “-” shown between “KUBOTA” and status information “S” indicates the identifier notation (KUBOTA) stored in the storage unit 32 in advance and the identifier added newly. This is a delimiter for allowing the user or the like to understand the notation (S).

  In this way, by changing the SSID when the ignition switch (IG-SW) changes, the mobile terminal 3 side simply displays the SSID transmitted from the access point device 4 on the display unit 3a, and the ignition switch 35 It can be understood that the engine has been turned off, in other words, that the engine of the tractor 2 has stopped and the tractor 2 has stopped operating.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the ignition switch (IG-SW) is turned on at the time point P1 and the tractor 2 is operating, that is, the controller 20 of the tractor 2 is operating. Assume that a warning signal is input to the control unit 31 via the vehicle communication network N1 at the time point P3. That is, it is assumed that the state acquisition unit 33 acquires a warning signal at the time point P3. Since the warning signal is input at the time point P3, the information adding unit 34 adds “E” indicating that a warning has occurred to “KUBOTA” that is an SSID (identifier) as status information. Then, the information adding unit 34 outputs “KUBOTA-E”, which is a new SSID added with status information, to the communication unit 30, and the communication unit 30 outputs the SSID “KUBOTA-E” transmitted from the information adding unit 34 to the outside. Send to.

In this way, by changing the SSID when a warning occurs, the mobile terminal 3 side can grasp that the warning has occurred simply by displaying the SSID transmitted from the access point device 4 on the display unit 3a. it can.
In the above-described embodiment, characters indicating status information (for example, S or E) are added to the end of the SSID (for example, KUBOTA) stored in advance in the access point device 4. The indicated characters or the like may be added anywhere in the SSID stored in advance in the access point device 4. For example, a new SSID may be set to “S-KUBOTA” by adding characters or the like as status information to the head or middle part of “KUBOTA” that is SSID stored in advance in the access point device 4. It may be “KUBOSTA”.

  As described above, since the access point device 4 includes the state acquisition unit 33, the information addition unit 34, and the communication unit 30, the status information indicating the state of the work implement is added to the transmission signal including the predetermined identifier. Then, the communication unit 30 can notify the portable terminal 3 of the state of the work machine simply by outputting a transmission signal such as a beacon to the portable terminal 3. In particular, the information adding unit 34 adds the status information after the change to the transmission signal when the state of the work machine changes, and the communication unit transmits the transmission signal with the status information added to the portable terminal. The mobile terminal 3 can grasp that the work machine has changed. Here, since the status information is added to the identifier (SSID) included in the transmission signal, the worker can grasp the state of the work machine only by looking at the identifier used in wireless communication. In other words, since the identifier is changed by adding status information to the identifier (SSID) included in the transmission signal, the state of the work machine can be grasped by looking at the identifier (SSID) after the change.

For example, as described above, the access point device 4 transmits that the ignition switch 35 is turned off by adding it to the SSID, so that the tractor has changed from the operating state to the non-operating state by this SSID. I can grasp it. Further, as described above, the access point device 4 can recognize that a warning has occurred in the tractor because the warning is generated by adding the SSID to the SSID.

The communication unit 30 transmits an identifier (for example, SSID) to which status information is added to the portable terminal 3 after the work machine is stopped, that is, after the ignition switch is turned off. The state of the machine can be grasped.
In the above-described embodiment, the communication unit 30 continuously outputs the communication process and the beacon even when the ignition switch 35 is turned off, that is, when the control device 20 stops operating. However, the communication part 30 performs the communication process which outputs a beacon intermittently, when the control apparatus 20 stops operation | movement for more than predetermined time (for example, several minutes or more). In other words, the communication unit 30 intermittently performs communication processing with the mobile terminal 3 when the tractor is in a non-operating state. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the ignition switch 35 is turned off at a time point P2, and a few minutes have elapsed since the tractor is in a non-operating state (the control device is in a non-operational state), the time point P4 is reached. Communication processing of the communication unit 30, that is, communication processing such as processing for outputting a beacon to the outside is executed intermittently. For example, after the elapse of time P4, the control unit 31 repeatedly outputs a wake-up signal and a sleep signal to the communication unit 30 at predetermined time intervals, and intermittently executes communication processing by the communication unit 30. For convenience of explanation, the process in which the communication unit 30 intermittently performs communication processing is referred to as intermittent communication processing.

  The communication unit 30 includes a time calculation unit 37 that calculates the total time during which the communication unit 30 has performed communication processing. This time calculation unit 37 is composed of a timer, and as shown in FIG. 4, in a situation where the communication unit 30 is executing intermittent communication processing, the time T1 during wake-up is integrated and the integrated value is obtained. Total time (intermittent total time). The control unit 31 monitors the intermittent total time calculated by the time calculating unit 37, and when the total intermittent time exceeds a predetermined time (limit time), the communication processing of the communication unit 30, that is, wireless communication is completed. To stop. Here, the limit time is calculated based on the total power consumption consumed when the communication unit 30 performs intermittent communication processing over a long period of time, and the communication unit 30 is intermittent over the limit time. If the communication process is continued, the power charged in the battery is consumed, and the tractor 2 is set to prevent the battery from being inactivated. That is, the limit time is provided to prevent the battery from running out, and if the total intermittent time is within the limit time, the tractor 2 can be operated by the battery power.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the tractor is provided with a power supply line L that connects the battery and the communication unit 30. The power supply line L is a line that supplies power to the communication unit 30, the control unit 31, and the like even when the ignition switch 35 is turned off. The power supply line L is provided with a switch 38. The switch 38 is turned on and off by the control unit 31. When the total intermittent time is within the limit time, the switch 38 is turned on and the battery power is supplied to the communication unit 30. When the total intermittent time calculated by the time calculation unit 37 reaches the limit time, the control unit 31 switches the switch 38 from on to off and completely stops power supply to the communication unit 30. Thereby, since the electric power from a battery is not supplied to the communication part 30, a battery run-up can be prevented.

  Now, the time calculation unit 37 continues to count the total intermittent time when the ignition switch 35 is OFF. Here, when the ignition switch 35 is switched from OFF to ON and the engine is operated, power is supplied to the battery due to the operation of the engine and charging proceeds. Therefore, the time calculation unit 37 initializes the intermittent total time. In other words, the total intermittent time is reset to zero, that is, the total intermittent time is reset. That is, when the tractor changes from the non-operating state to the operating state, the time calculating unit 37 sets the total intermittent time to zero. When the tractor engine is operated, the control unit 30 switches the switch 38 from OFF to ON.

As described above, since the access point device 4 includes the time calculation unit 37 that calculates the total time during which the communication processing has been performed, the control unit 31 monitors the total time calculated by the time calculation unit 37 and performs the total calculation. When the time becomes very long, the wireless communication by the communication unit 30 can be stopped. Thereby, for example, after a worker (user) who operates the mobile terminal 3 performs wireless data communication with the access point device 4 to perform bidirectional data communication, the communication state is lost due to forgetting to disconnect the wireless communication. Wireless communication can be automatically disconnected over a long period of time, and battery consumption can be prevented.

  Further, since the communication unit 30 intermittently performs communication processing with the mobile terminal 3 when the work machine is in a non-operating state, the mobile terminal 3 is connected to the access point device even when the work machine is in a non-operating state. 4 and the power consumption at the time of communication processing can be suppressed. In addition, the time calculation unit 37 calculates the total time (intermittent total time) while the communication process is intermittently performed, and the control unit 31 causes the communication unit 30 to perform when the total intermittent time is equal to or longer than a predetermined time. Since wireless communication is stopped, it is possible to prevent the battery from running up due to the effect of the mobile terminal 3 not being connected to the access point device 4 over a long period of time when the work machine is not in operation.

The time calculation unit 37 initializes the total time (intermittent total time) when the work machine changes from the non-operating state to the operating state. It is possible to return to zero, and it is possible to continuously perform communication processing performed between the mobile terminal 3 and the access point device 2.
[Second Embodiment]
The access point device 4 according to the second embodiment includes an information collection unit 39 that collects operation information of work machines. The information collecting unit 39 is composed of a program stored in the control unit 31. A configuration different from the first embodiment will be described.

  When the work machine is an agricultural machine such as a tractor, a combine, or a rice transplanter, the information collecting unit 39 uses various agricultural work data related to the agricultural work when the agricultural machine is operating as operation information via the vehicle communication network. Collect automatically. For example, when a cultivator is connected to the rear portion of the tractor 2 as the working device 14 and the tractor 2 is operated, data such as the rotational speed of the rotary, the load of the rotary, the engine rotational speed, the vehicle speed, and the tilling depth are stored in the vehicle communication network. Is output. The information collecting unit 39 acquires data such as the rotational speed of the rotary, the load of the rotary, the engine rotational speed, the vehicle speed, and the tilling depth as farm work data. The rotary speed, rotary load, engine speed, vehicle speed, tilling depth, and the like are detected by an electronic device such as a sensor mounted on the tractor 2 or the tilling device.

  In addition, when the work device 14 is a fertilizer spraying device, a pesticide spraying device, or a seeding spraying device, data such as vehicle speed, engine speed, spraying amount (fertilizer spraying amount, pesticide spraying amount, seeding spraying amount) is stored in the vehicle communication network. The information collection unit 39 outputs the vehicle speed, the engine speed, the fertilizer application amount, the agricultural chemical application amount, and the sowing application amount as farm work data. Note that the fertilizer application amount, the agricultural chemical application amount, the seeding application amount, and the like are also detected by the tractor 2, the fertilizer application device, the agricultural chemical application device, the electronic device mounted on the seeding application device, and the like. Alternatively, when the work device 14 is a harvesting device, data such as the vehicle speed, engine speed, and harvest amount are output on the vehicle communication network, and the information collection unit 39 uses the farm speed data for the vehicle speed, engine speed, and harvest amount. Get as. The amount of harvest is also detected by an electronic device attached to the tractor or harvesting device. The farm work data collected by the information collection unit 39 is temporarily stored in the storage unit 36. The storage unit 36 sequentially stores farm work data when the tractor 2 is operated. The information collecting unit 39 calculates the collected farm work data into communication data. The vehicle communication network data (agricultural work data) flows at intervals of several ms, and the amount of data for the agricultural work data may be enormous. Therefore, the information collection unit 39 calculates the collected farm work data by statistical processing or the like, converts it into data of units of 1 second to several tens of seconds, for example, and stores the converted data in the storage unit 36.

  The information adding unit 34 adds completion information indicating that preparation for transmitting the data collected by the information collecting unit 39 from the vehicle communication network to the portable terminal 3 via the communication unit 30 is completed to the transmission signal. That is, the information adding unit 34 adds completion information to a signal (transmission signal) transmitted for broadcasting among signals transmitted from the communication unit 30 to the mobile terminal 3. Specifically, the information adding unit 34 adds completion information to an identifier (for example, SSID) included in the transmission signal.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the SSID is changed by the information adding unit 34 in the second embodiment. The information adding unit 34 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, when the ignition switch (IG-SW) is turned on at the time point P1, the control device 20 of the tractor 2 is activated, data corresponding to the farm work data is output to the vehicle communication network, and information Collection by the collection unit 39 is started (collection “ON”). In addition, the communication unit 30 is activated and starts transmitting a transmission signal (beacon) to the mobile terminal 3 (communication “ON”). Here, when the name of the SSID stored in the communication unit 30 is, for example, “KUBOTA”, the communication unit 30 transmits an SSID indicating “KUBOTA” to the outside. Then, when the ignition switch 35 is turned off at the time point P2, the control device 20 of the tractor 2 stops and data corresponding to the farm work data does not flow to the vehicle communication network. Here, at the time point P2, the collection of data flowing through the vehicle communication network by the information collection unit 39 ends, but the information collection unit 39 calculates the collected data, that is, converts it into communication data (communication data). Processing proceeds. When the conversion to communication data is completed at a time point P5 after a predetermined time has elapsed from the time point P2, and the collected farm work data can be transmitted to the portable terminal 3 via the communication unit 30, the information collection unit 39 is an information addition unit. 34 is notified that preparation for transmission to the portable terminal 3 has been completed. In response to the notification from the information collecting unit 39, the information adding unit 34 adds “G” indicating that preparation for transmission of farm work data is complete to “KUBOTA” as an SSID (identifier) as completion information. Then, the information adding unit 34 outputs “KUBOTA-G”, which is a new SSID to which the completion information is added, to the communication unit 30, and the communication unit 30 outputs the SSID “KUBOTA-G” transmitted from the information adding unit 34 to the outside. Send to. The symbol “-” shown between “KUBOTA” and the completion information “G” indicates the identifier notation (KUBOTA) stored in advance in the storage unit 32 and the identifier added newly. This is a delimiter for allowing the user or the like to understand the notation (G).

  In this way, when the preparation for transmission of the farm work data (operation information) collected by the information collection unit 39 is completed, the SSID transmitted from the access point device 4 is displayed on the mobile terminal 3 side by changing the SSID. When the mobile terminal 3 side is ready to transmit farm work data, in other words, by accessing the access point device 4 only by displaying on 3a, the farm work data temporarily stored in the storage unit 36 is stored. It is possible to grasp that all can be acquired.

  In the embodiment described above, when the ignition switch (IG-SW) is turned off, the operation of the control device 20 is stopped and the operation information of the work implement (tractor) does not flow in the vehicle communication network. The control device 20 does not stop operating immediately after the ignition switch 35 is turned off, but may stop operating after approximately several tens of ms. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the control device 20 stops its operation after a time T3 has elapsed from the time point 2 at which the ignition switch 35 is turned off. As shown in FIG. 6, the operation stop of the information collection unit 39, that is, the end of the collection process including the above-described calculation is at least later than the operation stop of the control device 20 that controls the tractor 2.

  According to this, since the access point device 4 includes the information collection unit 39, the operation information (for example, farm work data) of the work machine collected by the information collection unit 39 can be transmitted to the portable terminal 4. The farm work data can be organized on the terminal 4 side. In this case, the information addition unit 34 adds completion information indicating that preparation for transmitting the operation information collected by the information collection unit 39 to the portable terminal 4 is completed to the SSID (identifier). Thus, it is possible to grasp that the access point device 4 side is ready to transmit work machine operation information. The information collection unit 39 outputs signals output from a plurality of electronic devices mounted on the work machine as operation information and outputs the operation information collection after stopping the operation of the electronic device. The signal, that is, the operation information can be acquired without missing.

The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.
In the communication system 1 of the access point device 4 and the work machine 2, the work machine 2 is not limited to the tractor 2, but may be an agricultural machine such as a combine or a rice transplanter, or a construction machine such as a backhoe. . Further, in the communication system 1 of the work machine 2, data exchange between the mobile terminal 3 and the access point device 4 is not limited to the above-described transmission / reception of work information. For example, the mobile terminal 3 sends a control signal to the access point device 4. Or the like to operate the work machine 2, or any other type of communication between the work machine 2 and the portable terminal 3 via the access point device 4. It may be anything.

  Further, the access point device 4 does not include all of the state acquisition unit 33, the information addition unit 34, the time calculation unit 37, and the information collection unit 39, but the state acquisition unit 33, the information addition unit 34, and the time calculation unit. 37 and the information collection part 39 may be provided. Further, the communication unit 30 of the access point device 4 may not perform intermittent communication processing when the work machine is in a non-operating state.

  In the above-described embodiment, the status information is added to the identifier (SSID) set in the access point device 4 as a transmission signal. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a method of adding status information to the transmission signal including the identifier. Any method can be used. For example, when transmitting a beacon including an identifier to the mobile terminal 3, status information may be added to a part of a beacon frame constituting the beacon.

  Further, the method of adding status information to the identifier transmitted from the access point device 4 to the mobile terminal 3, that is, the method of changing the identifier is not limited to the above-described one, and a character indicating the identifier (for example, KUBOTA) A new identifier may be obtained by exchanging a part of the characters and characters indicating status information (for example, S, G, etc.), or by changing the order of characters indicating identifiers determined in advance based on the status information. The identifier may be used, or the character of the new identifier itself may be changed based on the status information.

  In the above-described embodiment, the communication unit 30 is completely stopped by turning off the switch 38 and stopping the power supply to the communication unit 30. However, the present invention is not limited to this method, and the total intermittent time is predetermined. Any method may be used as long as the communication processing of the communication unit 30 is continuously stopped when the above is reached. For example, the communication unit 30 may be stopped by continuously putting the communication unit 30 in a sleep state when the total intermittent time becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined value. In addition, the intermittent total time is the total time that the communication unit 30 is waked up, but the total time when the communication unit 30 enters the process to output the beacon and then enters the process of stopping the beacon, that is, The time required for processing may be used instead of the physical time when the beacon is output.

1 Communication system for work equipment 2 Work equipment (tractor)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Portable terminal 4 Access point device 10 for working machines Traveling vehicle 11 Engine 12 Transmission 13 Three-point link mechanism 14 Working device 15 Cabin 16 Driver's seat 18 Display device 20 Control device 20A First control device 20B Second control device 20C Third Control device 30 Communication unit 31 Control unit 32 Storage unit 33 Status acquisition unit 34 Information addition unit 35 Ignition switch 37 Time calculation unit 38 Switch 39 Information collection unit N1 Vehicle communication network

Claims (7)

An access point device for a work machine that is attached to the work machine and connects the work machine and the mobile terminal by wireless communication,
A state acquisition unit for acquiring the state of the work implement;
An information adding unit for adding status information indicating the state of the work implement to a transmission signal including a predetermined identifier based on the state of the work implement obtained by the state obtaining unit;
A communication unit that transmits the transmission signal to which the status information is added to the mobile terminal;
An access point device for a work machine, comprising:   The information adding unit adds status information when the state of the work machine is changed to the transmission signal, and the communication unit transmits the transmission signal with the status information added to the portable terminal after the state of the work machine is changed. The work machine access point device according to claim 1, wherein:   The information adding unit adds status information indicating a state of the work machine to the identifier, and the communication unit transmits the identifier to which the status information is added to the portable terminal. 2. An access point device for a work machine according to 2.   The said communication part transmits the identifier with which the status signal was added or the identifier to which the status information was added to the said portable terminal after the operation stop of the said working machine, The any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned. An access point device for a work machine as described in 1. It has an information collection unit that collects operation information related to work equipment,
The said information addition part adds completion information which shows that the preparation which transmits the operation information collected in the said information collection part to a portable terminal was completed to the said transmission signal, The any one of Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned. An access point device for a work machine as described in 1.   The information collection unit acquires signals output from a plurality of electronic devices mounted on the work machine as operation information, and stops the operation of collecting operation information after the operation of the electronic device is stopped. The work machine access point device according to claim 5. A work machine communication system comprising a mobile terminal and a work machine access point device that is attached to the work machine and connects the work machine and the mobile terminal by wireless communication,
The work machine access point device includes a storage unit that stores a predetermined identifier, a state acquisition unit that acquires a state of the work machine, and a state of the work machine that is acquired by the state acquisition unit. An information adding unit that adds status information indicating the state of the work machine to a transmission signal including an identifier, and a communication unit that transmits the transmission signal to which the status information is added to the portable terminal,
The communication system for a working machine, wherein the portable terminal includes a display unit that displays status information included in the transmission signal.

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