JP2015210885A - Control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control illumination in a facility at a low system cost.SOLUTION: A control system 100 comprises: a central monitoring device 101 that manages information on a monitored object in a facility consisting of a plurality of regions; a plurality of area controllers 1 each of which is provided so as to correspond to a partial region of the facility and that manages information on a monitored object in the region; an illuminating fixture 3 that illuminates one section of the partial region; a human detection sensor 4 that detects humans in the one section; and a plurality of control units 2 that have dimming control means for the illuminating fixture 3 and power supply control means. The area controller 1 notifies the control units 2 of a control command related to the illuminating fixture 3, on the basis of the detection information by the human detection sensor 4.

Description

  The present invention relates to a control system that controls lighting and air conditioning in a facility.

  In large-scale facilities such as offices and commercial facilities, a large amount of electric power is used for lighting and air conditioning when operating the facilities. In recent years, the facility operation method that contributes to energy saving by suppressing the driving of unnecessary electrical equipment. Is attracting attention.

  As a typical mechanism for realizing energy saving, a control system using a human sensor that detects a person existing in a room and controls lighting and air conditioning is known. As a control system using such a human sensor, Patent Literature 1 discloses an illumination control system using a high-precision human detection sensor instead of the far-infrared pyroelectric human sensor widely known in the past. Yes.

  The conventional far-infrared pyroelectric human sensor could only capture a person's movement, whereas the illumination control system of Patent Document 1 detects even a person's stay / absence / entrance / exit states. It is possible to achieve more accurate lighting control that captures the movement of people.

JP 2013-089548 A

An example of a conventional control system is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, a conventional control system 500 includes a central monitoring apparatus 501, a lighting control system 502, an air conditioning control system 503, and a wireless system 504, and is a lighting system for a facility having a plurality of layers. And control air conditioning.
Each of the lighting control system 502, the air conditioning control system 503, and the wireless system 504 manages the lighting, air conditioning, and wireless environment in the entire facility. For example, the lighting control system 502 manages brightness adjustment of lighting fixtures and power on / off in the entire facility.

  The central monitoring device 501 is used as a host device of the lighting control system 502, the air conditioning control system 503, and the wireless system 504, and comprehensively manages the lighting and air conditioning of the facility. That is, the central monitoring apparatus 501 collects various information from each of the lighting control system 502, the air conditioning control system 503, and the wireless system 504, and aggregates these information. Then, the central monitoring apparatus 501 notifies control commands for each of the lighting control system 502, the air conditioning control system 503, and the wireless system 504 based on the collected information, and manages lighting and the like.

  In such a conventional control system 500, information used in one system is notified to another system via the central monitoring apparatus 501, and used for facility operation. Therefore, the conventional control system 500 has a problem that communication and processing loads are concentrated on the central monitoring apparatus 501 and the system cost is increased.

  Further, since preferable brightness, temperature, and the like vary depending on the individual, it is preferable that the control of lighting and air conditioning is not uniform but different control depending on the individual. In this respect, the lighting control system of Patent Document 1 can accurately detect a place where a person is present in real time, but cannot identify an individual, and cannot perform individual lighting control or air conditioning control.

  Here, as a mechanism for identifying an individual, a personal authentication system using a wireless tag in which identification information for identifying an owner is incorporated, and a face authentication system by analyzing a captured image of a surveillance camera are known. . However, if these personal authentication system and face authentication system are simply incorporated into the conventional control system 500, the communication and processing load of the central monitoring apparatus 501 further increase, and the system cost will be further increased.

  The increase in communication and processing load is particularly noticeable when managing the location information of people in the facility in real time. If various types of information are constantly obtained from the personal authentication system and face authentication system, the communication and processing load is increased. It will be enormous. In addition, in order to improve the real-time property, identification information must always be obtained from the wireless tag, and the battery life of the wireless tag is shortened, causing a problem in operation.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide a control system capable of reducing the system cost.

  The control system of the present invention is provided in association with a central monitoring device that manages information related to a monitoring target in a facility composed of a plurality of areas, and a part of the facility, and information related to the monitoring target in the partial area A plurality of area controllers that transmit a part of the information to the central monitoring device, a lighting device that illuminates a section of the partial area, and a person in the section that the lighting device illuminates And a plurality of control units provided in association with the lighting fixtures and having a dimming control unit and a power source control unit for the corresponding lighting fixtures, and the area controller is based on the human detection sensor Based on the detection information, the control unit is notified of a control command relating to the lighting fixture.

  According to this control system, the facility is divided into a plurality of areas, and lighting control in each area is performed in units of area controllers. In other words, in the control system, when a human detection sensor detects a person in a section, this detection information is notified to the control unit via the area controller, and the control unit performs dimming control or power control of the lighting fixtures in the section. Is called. Thereby, since it is sufficient to transmit only a part of information from the area controller to the central monitoring device, it is possible to prevent communication and processing loads from being concentrated on the central monitoring device. Further, since the area controller is also provided for each area constituting the facility, communication and processing loads are not concentrated on the area controller. As a result, according to the control system of the present invention, the system cost can be reduced.

  In addition, some of the plurality of control units may further include wireless communication means capable of performing wireless communication with an electronic device existing in a predetermined range.

  By doing in this way, a lighting system and a radio | wireless communication infrastructure can be unified, and equipment and installation construction costs can be reduced.

  The wireless communication device further includes a wireless tag that transmits identification information for identifying an owner at a predetermined timing to a part of the control units having the wireless communication unit, and the area controller includes detection information by the human detection sensor and The control unit may notify the control unit of the control command based on the identification information acquired by the wireless communication unit.

  By doing in this way, since the person who stays in a lighting division can be specified, the lighting control suitable for an individual can be performed and it is suitable. Even in this case, since the lighting control is performed in units of area controllers, it is possible to deal with the local system instead of the entire facility, and the amount of processing information can be reduced. In addition, since the identification information of the wireless tag and the detection information of the human detection sensor are used together, the real-time property can be improved without shortening the transmission interval of the identification information from the wireless tag. The lifetime can be extended.

  The air conditioner may be further provided in association with a section of the partial area, and the area controller may control the air conditioner based on the detection information and the identification information.

  By doing in this way, it is possible to suitably control not only the lighting in the facility but also the air conditioning.

  According to the present invention, lighting (and air conditioning) in a facility can be controlled at a low system cost.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of a control system. It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of a control system. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the light control area of a control unit, and the human detection area of a human detection sensor. It is a figure which shows the function structure of an area controller. It is a figure which shows an example of the flow of a process of a control system. It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of the conventional control system.

[System configuration of control system 100]
With reference to FIG.1 and FIG.2, the control system 100 of this invention is demonstrated. 1 and 2 are diagrams showing a system configuration of the control system 100. FIG. In addition, illustration of the air conditioner 6 is abbreviate | omitted in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the control system 100 includes a central monitoring device 101 and a floor control system 102, and controls lighting, air conditioning, and the like of a facility having a plurality of levels.

The central monitoring apparatus 101 manages information related to a monitoring target in a facility composed of a plurality of areas. Here, in this embodiment, for example, illumination or air conditioning in a facility is set as a monitoring target. Of course, the central monitoring apparatus 101 may manage other various electronic devices, the communication environment in the facility, fire fighting / crime prevention facilities, and the like as monitoring objects.
The central monitoring apparatus 101 appropriately collects the collected information so that it can be easily recognized by a person, and accumulates the information. When an abnormality occurs, the central monitoring apparatus 101 issues an alarm or reports to the outside.

The floor control system 102 controls lighting, air conditioning, and the like in a partial area in the facility. In order to facilitate understanding, in this embodiment, each level in the facility is a partial area. Therefore, the one floor control system 102 controls lighting, air conditioning, and the like in the first hierarchy.
The floor control system 102 includes an area controller 1 with a unique device ID (address), a control unit 2a, 2b, a lighting fixture 3, a human detection sensor 4, a wireless device 5, and an air conditioner 6. And communication I / F7.

  The area controller 1 is provided in association with a partial area of the facility, that is, for each floor control system 102, and manages information related to the monitoring target in the partial area. In addition, the area controller 1 transmits a part of information related to the monitoring object to the central monitoring device 101.

  The control units 2a and 2b (hereinafter collectively referred to as “control unit 2” when not distinguished from each other) are provided in association with the lighting fixture 3, and the dimming control means and the power supply control means of the corresponding lighting fixture 3 are provided. Have. Here, the dimming control means is a functional configuration for exerting a function of adjusting the brightness of the lighting fixture 3, and the power control means has a function of switching the power on / off of the lighting fixture 3. It is a functional configuration for exhibiting.

The control unit 2a is a control unit 2 having wireless communication means, and the control unit 2b is a control unit 2 having no wireless communication means. At least some of the control units 2 in the control unit 2 in the floor control system 102 are control units 2a having wireless communication means.
The wireless communication means is a functional configuration for exerting a function of performing wireless communication with an electronic device (for example, the wireless device 5) that exists in a predetermined range where wireless communication is possible. Specifically, the control unit 2a functions as an access point in the wireless communication network.

  A plurality of lighting fixtures 3 are provided for a partial area managed by the area controller 1, and illuminates one section of the partial area.

The human detection sensor 4 detects a stay / absence / entrance / exit of a person in a section illuminated by the lighting fixture 3. Since the specific configuration of the human detection sensor 4 is described as a high-precision human body detection sensor in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 by the present applicant, detailed description thereof is omitted.
The human detection sensor 4 can discriminate between a human body and other heat sources such as a PC (personal computer), a copying machine, and a fax machine, and discriminate between the human body and the remaining heat of the human body remaining on a chair, desk, or the like. Further, the human detection sensor 4 can detect a stationary human body for a long time and a completely stationary human body, and can grasp whether one or a plurality of people stay in the detection area.

  The content detected by the human detection sensor 4 is transmitted to the area controller 1 as detection information. The detection information may be transmitted directly from the human detection sensor 4 to the area controller 1 or may be transmitted to the area controller 1 via the control unit 2. The “2F floor control system 102” shown in FIG. 1 is a system configuration example in the case where the detection information is directly transmitted to the area controller 1, and the “1F floor control system 102” transmits the detection information to the control unit 2. It is an example of a system configuration in the case of transmitting to the area controller 1 via.

  Here, the relationship between the control area of the lighting fixture 3 by the control unit 2 (hereinafter referred to as “light control area”) and the detection area of the human detection sensor 4 (hereinafter referred to as “person detection area”) is as follows. As shown in FIG. 3A shows the relationship between the dimming control area and the human detection area when the control unit 2 is installed on the lighting fixture 3 in a one-to-one relationship. FIG. 3B shows the lighting fixture. 3 shows the relationship between the dimming control area and the human detection area when the control unit 2 is installed in a many-to-one relationship.

In the example shown in FIG. 3A, the lighting fixture 3 and the human detection sensor 4 are installed for each unit section obtained by finely dividing a partial area of the facility (in this embodiment, each floor). The luminaire 3 uses this unit section as an illumination area, and the human detection sensor 4 uses a region substantially the same as the illumination area as a human detection area. The control unit 2 adjusts the brightness in the unit section by controlling the dimming output of the lighting fixture 3.
That is, in the example shown in FIG. 3A, the dimming control area, the human detection area, and the illumination area are substantially the same area, and the control unit 2 is provided for each dimming control area. Control the light control area independently.

  On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 3B, the lighting fixture 3 and the human detection sensor 4 are a group of devices, and a plurality of them are installed in the dimming control area of the control unit 2. The control unit 2 collectively controls the dimming output of the group of lighting fixtures 3 based on the detection information of the group of human detection sensors 4, and adjusts the brightness in the dimming control area.

Returning to FIG. 1, the wireless device 5 is an electronic device capable of wireless communication with the control unit 2 a having wireless communication means. In the present embodiment, the wireless device 5 is an active wireless tag owned by a user who uses the facility (hereinafter, the wireless device 5 is referred to as a wireless tag 5).
The wireless tag 5 transmits identification information for identifying the owner to the control unit 2a at a predetermined timing. Although the predetermined timing is arbitrary, in the control system 100 of the present invention, as will be described later, since the detection information of the human detection sensor 4 and the personal identification information are collected to manage the person in the facility, it is continuously continuous. It is not necessary to make a call periodically, and it is sufficient to make a call intermittently at regular intervals.

The air conditioner 6 is communicably connected to other devices via the communication I / F 7 and manages air conditioning in a partial area (for example, each floor) of the facility. The control of the air conditioner 6 may be performed via the area controller 1 or may be performed without using the area controller.
The “2F floor control system 102” shown in FIG. 1 is a system configuration example in the case of controlling the air conditioner 6 via the area controller 1, and does not go through the “1F floor control system 102” area controller. It is a system configuration example in the case of controlling the air conditioner 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, the area controller 1, the control unit 2, and the lighting fixture 3 are supplied with power by a power line L1. Therefore, the wireless communication network realized by the wireless communication means of the control unit 2a does not need to consider the battery life.
Moreover, the control unit 2 and the lighting fixture 3 are connected by the light control line L2, and the light control by the control unit 2 is performed.

The human detection sensor 4, the area controller 1, and the control unit 2 are connected by a predetermined sensor communication line L3 such as RS485, and detection information detected by the human detection sensor 4 is notified to the area controller 1 and the control unit 2. .
The area controller 1 is connected to the central monitoring apparatus 101 via a predetermined communication line L4 such as Ethernet (registered trademark). The area controller 1 transmits a part of information related to the monitoring object in a partial area of the facility to the central monitoring apparatus 101 via the communication line L4.

  The control unit 2a and the wireless tag 5 are wirelessly connected by a wireless communication network realized by the control unit 2a. The identification information stored in the wireless tag 5 is transmitted to the control unit 2a via the wireless communication network. The identification information transmitted to the control unit 2a is transmitted to the area controller 1 via the sensor communication line L3 or a communication line (not shown).

[Functional configuration of area controller 1]
Next, the functional configuration of the area controller 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the area controller 1 is a computer including a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, and at least.

  The control unit 11 is configured by a CPU, for example, and functions as an information aggregation unit 13, a control command generation unit 14, and a notification unit 15 by executing various programs stored in the storage unit 12.

  The storage unit 12 is configured by, for example, a ROM and a RAM. The storage unit 12 stores various programs for causing the area controller 1 to function. The storage unit 12 stores information related to the owner of the wireless tag 5 in association with the identification information transmitted by the wireless tag 5. The information regarding the owner includes, for example, personal information regarding lighting / air conditioning such as visual acuity and temperature sensation in addition to the name, gender, age, etc. of the owner. Moreover, it is good also as including the personal information regarding work conditions, such as overtime application, early morning work application, or holiday work application, as information regarding an owner.

  The storage unit 12 may also store environmental information in the facility. As environmental information, for example, sunshine hours in an arbitrary range in the facility, illuminance in the range, layout information of electronic equipment (heat source) in the facility, and the like can be considered. These pieces of information may be set in advance by the manager of the facility, and an illuminometer (not shown) is installed in an arbitrary range in the facility, and measured values from the illuminometer are collected and stored. It is good to do.

The information aggregating unit 13 acquires and aggregates the detection information and the identification information of the wireless tag 5 from the plurality of human detection sensors 4 and the plurality of control units 2 a installed in a partial area managed by the area controller 1.
For example, the information aggregating unit 13 detects the detection based on the detection timing of the human detection sensor 4, the reception timing (time) of the control unit 2a, and the installation location linked to the device ID of the human detection sensor 4 or the control unit 2a. Collect information and identification information. Thereby, the presence of the person detected by the person detection sensor 4 and the owner of the wireless tag 5 can be linked.

  As described above, the information aggregating unit 13 aggregates the detection information and the identification information, so that the position information of the person can be acquired in detail and in real time. That is, by associating the identification information of the wireless tag 5 with the person detected by the person detection sensor 4, it is possible to acquire the position information of the individual person in the facility. At this time, if the human detection sensor 4 always detects the presence of a person, it is sufficient that the association with the individual is performed at a necessary timing, so even if the transmission interval of the wireless tag 5 is intermittent, the details And real-time position information can be acquired.

  The control command generation unit 14 generates a control command for the lighting fixture 3 and the air conditioner 6 based on the detection information and the identification information collected by the information aggregation unit 13. Specifically, the control command generation unit 14 generates a control command based on the individual position information and various information stored in the storage unit 12.

As an example, when generating a control command based on personal position information and personal information related to lighting / air conditioning, the control command generation unit 14 is configured such that the lighting fixture 3 is more than normal in a section where a person with low vision is present, for example. A control command is also generated to illuminate brightly. In addition, the control command generation unit 14 generates a control command that makes the air conditioner 6 (cooling) in the summer modest in a section where there are many women, for example.
Further, the control command generation unit 14 may generate a control command based on environmental information in the facility in addition to personal information. For example, if the sunshine hours and the illuminance are different even in a section where a person is present, the control command may be generated so that the brightness of the lighting fixture 3 is different. Similarly, the control command for the air conditioner 6 may be made different depending on the layout of the facility (position of the heat source).

Moreover, when generating a control command based on personal location information and personal information regarding work status, the control command generation unit 14 further generates a control command by using calendar information such as the current date and time and day of the week. For example, when there is a person in the facility even though the working time has passed, the control command generation unit 14 refers to personal information regarding the working status of the existing person and determines whether an overtime application or the like has been made. judge. Then, the control command generation unit 14 sets the brightness of the lighting fixture 3 to be low when there is no overtime application, for example, when there is no overtime application, etc. The control command is generated so that the brightness of the lighting fixture 3 is sufficient.
Of course, similarly to the personal information related to lighting / air conditioning, the control command generation unit 14 may generate the control command using the environmental information in the facility in addition to the personal information related to the work status.

  The notification unit 15 notifies the control unit 2 and the air conditioner 6 of the generated control command. Thereby, the lighting fixture 3 and the air conditioner 6 are controlled based on a control command.

[Processing of control system 100]
Next, the processing procedure of the control system 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing flow in the case where the area controller 1 notifies the wired control unit 2b of a control command in the processing of the control system 100.

With reference to FIG. 5A, first, the area controller 1 refers to the detection information from the human detection sensor 4, and in the section where the control unit 2b manages the lighting fixture 3, the human detection sensor 4 is a human. Is detected (step S1). When this determination is YES, the area controller 1 moves the process to step S2, and when this determination is NO, the area controller 1 moves the process to step S5.
When the human detection sensor 4 detects a person, it is preferable to immediately control the lighting / air conditioning. On the other hand, when the human detection sensor 4 does not detect a person, the lighting / air conditioning control is immediately performed. There is no need. Therefore, the area controller 1 may make the timing for performing the process of step S2 different from the timing for performing the process of step S5. That is, the process of step S2 when a person is detected is performed immediately after step S1, while the process of step S5 when a person is not detected may be performed after a predetermined time.

In step S2, the area controller 1 determines whether or not the wireless tag 5 has been detected near the section managed by the control unit 2b.
When this determination is YES, as shown in (1) of FIG. 5 (B), a person is present in the section managed by the control unit 2b, and an individual can be specified by the wireless tag 5, The area controller 1 specifies an individual existing in the section (step S3). As a result, the area controller 1 generates a control command suitable for the identified individual and notifies the control unit 2b (step S8).

  On the other hand, when the determination in step S2 is NO, as shown in (2) of FIG. 5B, a person exists in the section managed by the control unit 2b, but in the nearby wireless type control unit 2a, Since the wireless tag 5 has not been detected, the area controller 1 determines that a person is staying in the section (step S4). As a result, the area controller generates a general-purpose control command without using personal information and notifies the control unit 2b (step S8).

When the human detection sensor 4 does not detect a person in the section (NO in step S1), the area controller 1 determines whether or not the wireless tag 5 is detected in the vicinity of the section (step S5).
When this determination is YES, as shown in (3) of FIG. 5B, since the individual outside the section managed by the control unit 2b can be identified by the wireless tag 5, the area controller 1 An individual is specified (step S6). As a result, the area controller 1 generates a control command suitable for the identified individual and notifies the control unit 2b (step S8). For example, although there is no person in the section of the control unit 2b, but there is a person near the section, the area controller 1 generates a control command to illuminate the section of the control unit 2b while reducing the brightness. And notify.

  On the other hand, when the determination in step S5 is NO, as shown in (4) of FIG. 5 (B), no one exists near the section managed by the control unit 2b. It is determined that no person is present in the vicinity (step S7). As a result, the area controller generates a control command to stop the lighting fixture 3 and the air conditioner 6, and notifies the control unit 2b (step S8).

[Effect of control system 100]
According to the control system 100 described above, the facility is divided into a plurality of areas, and illumination / air conditioning control in each area is performed for each area controller 1. That is, in the control system 100, when a person is detected in a section where the human detection sensor 4 is present, this detection information is notified to the control unit 2 via the area controller 1, and the control unit 2 controls the dimming of the lighting fixture 3 in the section. Control or power supply control is performed. As a result, it is sufficient to transmit only a part of information from the area controller 1 to the central monitoring apparatus 101, so that communication and processing loads can be prevented from being concentrated on the central monitoring apparatus 101. Further, since the area controller 1 is also provided for each area constituting the facility, communication and processing loads are not concentrated on the area controller 1. As a result, according to the control system 100 of the present invention, the system cost can be reduced.

  Moreover, since some control units 2a of the control units 2 have wireless communication means, the lighting system and the wireless communication infrastructure can be unified, and equipment and installation costs can be reduced. it can.

  In addition, the area controller 1 links the identification information obtained using the wireless tag 5 with the detection information of the human detection sensor 4 and specifies the person staying in the lighting section in order to acquire the position information. Can do. Thereby, it is possible to perform lighting control suitable for an individual, which is preferable. Even in this case, since the lighting control is performed for each area controller 1, it is possible to cope with the floor control system 102 instead of the entire facility, and the processing information amount can be reduced. Further, since the identification information of the wireless tag 5 and the detection information of the human detection sensor 4 are used in an aggregated manner, the transmission interval of the wireless tag 5 can be made intermittent, and the battery life of the wireless tag 5 can be extended. Can do.

  In addition, since the area controller 1 also controls the air conditioner 6, it can suitably control not only the lighting in the facility but also the air conditioning.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Area controller 11 ... Control part 12 ... Memory | storage part 13 ... Information aggregation part 14 ... Control command generation part 15 ... Notification part 2 (2a, 2b) ... Control unit 3 ... Lighting equipment 4 ... Human detection sensor 5 ... Wireless tag (wireless device)
6 ... Air conditioner 7 ... Communication I / F
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Control system 101 ... Central monitoring apparatus 102 ... Floor control system L1 ... Power supply line L2 ... Dimming control line L3 ... Sensor communication line L4 ... Communication line 500 ...・ Control system 501 ... Central monitoring device 502 ... Lighting control system 503 ... Air conditioning control system 504 ... Wireless system

Claims (4)

A central monitoring device for managing information related to objects to be monitored in a multi-area facility;
A plurality of area controllers that are provided in association with a partial area of the facility, manage information about the monitoring target in the partial area, and transmit a part of the information to the central monitoring device;
A lighting fixture that illuminates a section of the partial area;
A human detection sensor for detecting a person in the section illuminated by the lighting fixture;
A plurality of control units which are provided in association with the lighting fixtures, and have dimming control means and power supply control means for the corresponding lighting fixtures;
With
The area controller notifies the control unit of a control command related to the lighting fixture based on detection information by the human detection sensor.
Control system. Some control units of the plurality of control units further include wireless communication means capable of wireless communication with electronic devices existing in a predetermined range.
The control system according to claim 1. A wireless tag for transmitting identification information for identifying the owner at a predetermined timing to some control units having the wireless communication means,
The area controller notifies the control unit of the control command based on detection information from the human detection sensor and the identification information acquired by the control unit by the wireless communication unit.
The control system according to claim 2. An air conditioner provided in correspondence with a section of the partial area;
The area controller controls the air conditioner based on the detection information and the identification information.
The control system according to claim 3.

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