JP2019103073A - Electrical apparatus and electrical apparatus system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a controller and home electric system having the same, capable of facilitating transmission of control information to a home electric appliance.SOLUTION: A controller 13 includes a microphone 21, an identification section, an estimation section and a communication section 24. The microphone 21 collects sound from the outside. The identification section identifies the sound from a position of a home electric appliance installed outward in the sound collected by the microphone 21. The estimation section estimates a direction in which a home electric appliance is positioned against the microphone 21 on the basis of the sound identified by the identification section. The communication section 24 outputs control information for control of a home electric apparatus to the outside.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  An embodiment of the present invention relates to an electrical device that outputs control information for controlling a home appliance to the outside, and an electrical device system including the same.

  Conventionally, there are cases where a plurality of home appliances in a home or the like are operated in cooperation. For example, when the user who is out of the office wants to switch on / off the power of the air conditioner, when using the infrared emitting function of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner, that is, the robot cleaner, the position of the air conditioner is specified and the robot cleaner moves to near that position. There is a need. In addition, when air conditioning the entire building with multiple air conditioners, it is possible to control efficiently by knowing the position of each air conditioner. Furthermore, when a plurality of speakers are installed, the volume can be appropriately controlled based on the positions of the speakers. As described above, when home appliances are linked, the function can be improved by specifying the respective position information. For example, there is known a method of registering the position of a home appliance in map data using a mobile terminal such as a smartphone. In this case, it is necessary for the user to operate the portable terminal to indicate the position of the home appliance, and the input is complicated.

JP, 2017-146742, A Patent No. 6054123 gazette

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an electric device that easily transmits control information to a home appliance and an electric device system including the electric device.

  The electric device according to the embodiment includes a sound collection unit, an identification unit, an estimation unit, and an output unit. The sound collection unit collects the sound emitted from the outside. The identification unit identifies the sound emitted from the position of the home appliance installed outside in the sound collected by the sound collection unit. The estimation unit estimates the direction in which the home appliance is located with respect to the sound collection unit based on the sound identified by the identification unit. The output unit outputs control information for controlling the home appliance to the outside.

It is an explanatory view showing electric equipment of a 1st embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of an electrical equipment same as the above. It is explanatory drawing which shows the electric equipment system provided with the electric equipment same as the above. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing flow of the electric equipment and household appliances in an electric equipment system same as the above. It is explanatory drawing which shows the electric equipment system provided with the electric equipment of 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the electric equipment of 3rd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of an electrical equipment same as the above. It is explanatory drawing which shows the electric equipment of 4th Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of an electrical equipment same as the above. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing flow of the electric equipment and household appliances in an electric equipment system same as the above. It is explanatory drawing which shows the electric equipment of 5th Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the electric equipment system provided with the electric equipment of 6th Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing flow of the electric equipment in an electric equipment system same as the above, a household appliance, and a server.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 11 denotes a home appliance system which is an electric appliance system. The home appliance system 11 includes, for example, one or more home appliances 12 installed in a room R, which is a predetermined area in a home, and a control device (home appliance control device) 13 which is an electric device that controls the home appliance 12. Have.

  The home appliance 12 includes a receiving unit 15 that receives a control signal that is a wireless signal, and the operation can be controlled according to a control command included in the control signal received by the receiving unit 15. Examples of the home appliances 12 include a refrigerator ER, an air conditioner (air conditioner) AC, a lighting LT, a television receiver TV, and a washing machine LA. For example, in the case of the refrigerator ER, it is possible to control the inside temperature by receiving the control signal. In the case of the air conditioner AC, control of on / off switching, switching of heating / cooling, temperature adjustment and the like is possible by receiving a control signal. In the case of the illumination LT, it is possible to switch on / off, to control the brightness and the color, and the like by receiving the control signal. In the case of a television receiver TV, control of on / off switching, channel selection, increase / decrease in volume, etc. is possible by receiving a control signal. In the case of the washing machine LA, control such as switching on / off or selection mode is possible by receiving the control signal. That is, the home appliance 12 can perform arbitrary control according to the function which each has by receiving a control signal.

  The home appliance 12 is provided with a sound output unit 16, and the sound output unit 16 is configured to output the sound SO from the installed position. The sound output unit 16 may be built in the home appliance 12 in advance, or may be attached separately. In addition, the sound output unit 16 may output a predetermined characteristic sound for each home appliance 12 or generates an operation sound characteristic to the home appliance 12 as a characteristic sound, such as a mechanism portion that is simply incorporated. It may be something. When a predetermined characteristic sound is produced by the sound output unit 16, for example, a sound that is difficult to encounter in daily life to avoid false detection, or a sound having a frequency higher than an audible frequency to prevent the user from perceiving Thus, the control device 13 can easily detect the sound SO. Further, the sound output unit 16 may output the sound SO at predetermined time intervals in a predetermined cycle, or may continuously output the sound SO.

  The control device 13 is installed, for example, at a predetermined position in the room R in the present embodiment. According to the layout of the room R and the life of the user, the installation position of the control device 13 can select an appropriate position which is easy to communicate with the home appliance 12 or the like and which does not easily disturb the life. The control device 13 includes a microphone (microphone) 21 which is a sound collecting unit. In addition, the control device 13 may include an input unit 22. Furthermore, the control device 13 includes a control unit 23. The control device 13 also includes a communication unit 24 which is an output unit that outputs a control signal. The control device 13 includes a main body 25 in which the microphone 21, the input unit 22, the control unit 23, and the communication unit 24 are integrally disposed. The control device 13 is driven by using a commercial power source or a built-in battery as a power source.

  The microphone 21 collects sound from the outside of the control device 13 (main body 25). The microphone 21 has, for example, predetermined directivity in the present embodiment. That is, the microphone 21 is set to have different sensitivities depending on the sound collection direction. Usually, this microphone 21 is set to have the highest sensitivity in the direction in which it is directed. Further, the microphone 21 outputs the detected sound to the control unit 23 as an electric signal. Further, in the present embodiment, the microphone 21 is provided so as to be movable. That is, the microphone 21 can change the sound collection direction by the sound collection moving unit 27. Therefore, the control device 13 includes the sound collection moving unit 27. Specifically, the sound collection moving unit 27 can periodically change the sound collection direction of the microphone 21 by turning the microphone 21, for example. The sound collection moving unit 27 is configured to include, for example, a holding unit that holds the microphone 21 and a moving mechanism such as a motor or a gear that moves the holding unit.

  The input unit 22 can externally input an instruction to control each of the plurality of home appliances 12. For example, the input unit 22 may be a key, a button, or a touch panel to which an instruction is input by a direct operation from the user, an instruction may be input by a gesture of the user, or the communication unit 24 is connected. When an output function is provided, an instruction may be wirelessly input from an external device having a communication function such as a smartphone or a dedicated remote control via the communication unit 24. Alternatively, the user's voice may be input using the microphone 21. An instruction may be input.

  The control unit 23 includes a sound receiving unit 31 that receives the sound detected by the microphone 21. Further, the control unit 23 includes an identification unit 32 that identifies a sound. Furthermore, the control unit 23 includes an operation control unit 33 that controls the operation of the sound collection moving unit 27. Further, the control unit 23 includes an estimation unit 34 that estimates the position of the home appliance 12. Furthermore, the control unit 23 includes a memory 35 which is a storage unit. The control unit 23 also includes a detection unit 36 that detects the self position of the control device 13. Further, the control unit 23 includes a signal generation unit 37 that generates a signal output from the communication unit 24. The control unit 23 includes a communication control unit 38 that controls the operation of the communication unit 24. Therefore, the control device 13 includes the sound receiving unit 31. The control device 13 also includes an identification unit 32. Furthermore, the control device 13 includes an operation control unit 33. In addition, the control device 13 includes an estimation unit 34. Further, the control device 13 includes a memory 35 which is a storage unit. The control device 13 also includes a detection unit 36. Furthermore, the control device 13 includes a signal generation unit 37. The control device 13 is provided with a communication control unit 38.

  The sound receiving unit 31 has a function of an A / D converter which receives the sound detected by the microphone 21 as an electric signal and converts it into a digital signal.

  The identification unit 32 is a sound SO emitted from the position (sound output unit 16) of the home appliance 12 installed outside the sound collected by the microphone 21 (sound received by the sound reception unit 31). To identify The identification unit 32 filters the sound collected by the microphone 21 (sound received by the sound reception unit 31), for example, and removes noise so that the sound SO emitted from the home appliance 12 can be identified. It has become. Moreover, this identification part 32 may be comprised so that the sound SO each emitted from the position of each household appliances 12 may be identified in this embodiment. In this case, the identification unit 32 can identify the sounds SO emitted from the positions of the household electrical appliances 12 based on, for example, the frequencies and timbres of the characteristic sounds of the household electrical appliances 12 by filtering.

  The operation control unit 33 can control the direction of the microphone 21 by controlling the operation of the sound collection moving unit 27 as necessary.

  The estimation unit 34 analyzes the data of the sound SO identified by the identification unit 32 to estimate the direction of the home appliance 12. In this embodiment, the estimation unit 34 can further estimate the distance from the control device 13 (microphone 21) to the home appliance 12 by analyzing the data of the sound SO identified by the identification unit 32. There is. That is, the estimation unit 34 can estimate the relative position of the home appliance 12 with respect to the control device 13 by estimating the direction and the distance of the home appliance 12. A specific method of estimation by the estimation unit 34 will be described later.

  The memory 35 can store the shape (including the size and the like) of the room R as map data. The memory 35 can store other information required for various controls. The map data stored in the memory 35 may be externally input by the user via the input unit 22 or the like, and the memory 35 is preferably nonvolatile.

  The detection unit 36 detects the self position of the control device 13 on the map data stored in the memory 35 based on, for example, an image of a ceiling of the room R and the like.

  The signal generation unit 37 starts control (sound generation) of sound SO from the sound output unit 16 of the home appliance 12 or a control signal for causing the home appliance 12 to execute control corresponding to the instruction input to the input unit 22. It generates various signals such as a sound generation start request signal and a sound generation stop request signal for ending the process.

  The communication control unit 38 controls the operation of the communication unit 24 to enable input and output of signals via the communication unit 24.

  The communication unit 24 outputs control information for controlling the home appliance 12 to the outside. In the present embodiment, the communication unit 24 can directly communicate a signal with the home appliance 12 (the receiving unit 15) using an electromagnetic wave such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or infrared light. The communication unit 24 is configured to output, as control information, a control signal (control command) for control that can be received by the home appliance 12 in the direction estimated by the estimation unit 34. The communication unit 24 may have a function of an electric device receiving unit (control device receiving unit) that receives signals from the home appliance 12 or another device.

  Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the control flow shown in FIG.

  As an outline, the control device 13 collects an external sound by the microphone 21 (step S1), and the sound SO emitted from the position of the home appliance 12 included in the sound collected by the microphone 21 is detected by the identification unit 32. The identification (step S2) and the identified sound SO are analyzed (step S3), and the estimation unit 34 estimates the direction of the home appliance 12 (step S4). The estimation unit 34 may further estimate the distance to the home appliance 12. Control information for controlling the home appliance 12 is output from the communication unit 24 as a control signal in the direction estimated by the estimation unit 34. And the household appliances 12 which received this output control signal by the receiving part 15 control operation | movement according to the control signal (step S5).

  In more detail, the control device 13 first picks up an external sound while turning the microphone 21 by the operation control unit 33 operating the sound collection moving unit 27. The sound collecting operation may be performed constantly or may be performed only when an instruction to control the home appliance 12 is input from the user to the input unit 22.

  In the home appliance 12, the sound output unit 16 outputs the sound SO to the outside. The output of the sound SO from the sound output unit 16 may be turned on / off in response to a request from the control device 13, or may be continued regardless of the request from the control device 13. For example, when sound collection by the microphone 21 is started, the home electric appliance 12 which receives the sound emission start request signal from the reception unit 15 by outputting the sound emission start request signal from the communication unit 24 of the control device 13 in a nondirectional manner. The output of the sound SO may be started from the sound output unit 16.

  The sound picked up by the microphone 21 is A / D converted by the sound reception unit 31 and input to the identification unit 32. The identification unit 32 filters the input data to remove noise, and identifies the sound SO emitted from the position of the home appliance 12 included in the sound data. This identification is performed by comparison with information on the sound SO registered in advance in the memory 35 or the like.

  In the estimation unit 34, when the identification unit 32 identifies the sound SO emitted from the position of the home appliance 12, the direction in which the sound is relatively large corresponds to the direction of the home appliance 12 that is the source of the sound SO. presume. Further, the estimation unit 34 estimates the distance from the home appliance 12 that is the transmission source of the sound SO based on the volume in the direction in which the sound SO is relatively large. At the time of estimation of this distance, for example, the time information when the sound SO is output from the sound output unit 16 of the home appliance 12 is communicated between the home appliance 12 and the control device 13, and the sound SO by the microphone 21 of the control device 13 It is also possible to use a method of utilizing the difference between the reception timing of the signal and the output timing of the sound SO as a phase difference. As a result, since the estimation unit 34 can estimate the relative position of the home appliance 12 with respect to the control device 13, the location where the home appliance 12 in the room R is installed based on the self position of the control device 13 detected by the detection unit 36. It becomes possible to estimate These estimations by the estimation unit 34 can be performed for each home appliance 12.

  The estimation by the estimation unit 34 may be performed only once or may be performed multiple times. When the estimation is performed only once, the reaction speed until the control signal is output as the control information is improved, and when it is performed multiple times, the accuracy of the estimation can be improved. At this time, when the sound output unit 16 of the home appliance 12 starts output of the sound SO with the reception of the sound generation start request signal as a trigger, estimation of the direction and distance of the home appliance 12 by the estimation unit 34 ends. Then, the control device 13 outputs the sound generation stop request signal from the communication unit 24 so that the home appliance 12 which receives the sound generation stop request signal from the reception unit 15 stops the output of the sound SO from the sound output unit 16. It is also good.

  In addition, the signal generation unit 37 generates a control signal for controlling the home appliance 12 based on the instruction input to the input unit 22.

  Then, the communication control unit 38 controls the operation of the communication unit 24, and outputs the control signal generated by the signal generation unit 37 as control information toward the target home appliance 12 estimated by the estimation unit 34. Do.

  The position of the home appliance 12 estimated by the estimation unit 34 can be stored on map data of the room R of the memory 35. Generally, since there is little opportunity for the home electric appliance 12 installed in the room R to greatly change its position, the home electric appliance 12 whose position is once stored in the memory 35 will not be greatly changed from the position of the control device 13 thereafter. When communicating, the control device 13 outputs control information from the communication unit 24 based on the position stored in the memory 35 to estimate the direction and distance of the home appliance 12 without performing the operation for searching again. There is a high probability that it will be possible to establish communication in time. In this case, for the estimation of the direction and distance of the home appliance 12 by the estimation unit 34, when the installation position of the home appliance 12 or the installation position of the control device 13 changes due to remapping of the room R, etc. When communication with 12 is not established, or when the user instructs the input unit 22 or the like, it may be performed again.

  In this manner, the sound SO generated from the position of the home appliance 12 outside the sound collected by the microphone 21 is identified by the identification unit 32, and the microphone 21 is identified based on the identified sound SO. By estimating the direction in which the home appliance 12 is located by the estimation unit 34, for example, the control device 13 can automatically estimate the direction of the home appliance 12 without separately instructing the user, and output from the communication unit 24 to the outside It is easy to transmit control information for control to the home appliance 12.

  In the present embodiment, the communication unit 24 outputs a control signal for control that can be received by the home appliance 12 as control information in the direction estimated by the estimation unit 34, so that the output direction of the control signal can be easily narrowed. Thus, the control information can be more easily transmitted to the home appliance 12.

  Furthermore, since the estimation unit 34 estimates the distance along with the direction of the home appliance 12 based on the magnitude of the sound SO detected by the microphone 21, the position of the home appliance 12 can be detected by the direction and the distance. The control information can be more easily transmitted to T.12.

  In addition, the map data indicating the shape of the installed room R is stored in the memory 35, and the position of the home appliance 12 is detected by the detection unit 36 detecting the self position of the control device 13 on the stored map data. Can be estimated as the position in the installed room R according to the relative position from the self position of the control device 13, so it becomes easier to output the control information to the home appliance 12 to be controlled more reliably, and It becomes easy to share the location information of the device 12 with other devices.

  Furthermore, if a predetermined feature sound is generated from the position of the home appliance 12, the feature sound is identified by the identification unit 32, and the direction in which the home appliance 12 is located is determined based on the element of this feature sound, for example, the volume. Since estimation is made, the sound SO emitted from the home appliance 12 to be controlled is not easily confused with the sounds emitted from other devices etc., and the estimation accuracy of the direction (position) of the home appliance 12 can be further enhanced.

  And by providing the input part 22 which can input the instruction | indication of control with respect to each of the some household appliances 12 from the outside, in the identification part 32, the sound SO each emitted from the position of each household appliance 12 is identified, and it estimates. If the direction in which each home appliance 12 is located is estimated in unit 34 and control information for controlling home appliance 12 corresponding to the instruction input to input unit 22 among each home appliance 12 is output to the outside For example, it is controlled to emit different sounds SO according to the installation position to the home appliance 12 such as a plurality of speakers, or the air volume and temperature according to the installation position to the home appliance 12 such as a plurality of air conditioners It becomes easy to control each of the plurality of home electric appliances 12 such as control to become as follows.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, about the structure and effect similar to the said 1st Embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the second embodiment, in the first embodiment, the communication unit 24 of the control device 13 indirectly communicates with the home appliance 12 via the external device 41 such as a wireless router (home gateway). It is a wireless module.

  The external device 41 is installed at a predetermined position in the room R. The external device 41 includes an external device receiving unit 43 capable of receiving a signal output from the communication unit 24. The external device receiving unit 43 may have a function of receiving signals from, for example, the home appliance 12 or other devices, as well as the communication unit 24. The external device 41 further includes an external device transmission unit 44 capable of outputting a control signal that can be received by the home appliance 12 (the receiving unit 15). The external device 41 can output a control signal that can be received by the receiver 15 of the home appliance 12 by the external device transmitter 44. The external device reception unit 43 and the external device transmission unit 44 may be an integral module or may be configured separately.

  In addition, the signal generation unit 37 of the control device 13 causes the external device 41 (external device transmission unit 44) to output a control signal to cause the home appliance 12 to perform control corresponding to the instruction input to the input unit 22. Can be generated as control information. That is, the control information is not limited to the control command (control signal) for directly controlling the home appliance 12, but may be a signal including position information for causing the external device 41 to output the control command.

  Then, as in the first embodiment, the control device 13 collects an external sound by means of the microphone 21 in general, and is emitted from the position of the home appliance 12 included in the sound collected by the microphone 21. The identified sound SO is identified by the identification unit 32, and the identified sound SO is analyzed, and the estimation unit 34 estimates the direction of the home appliance 12. The estimation unit 34 may further estimate the distance to the home appliance 12. Control information for controlling the home appliance 12 is output from the communication unit 24 as a control signal in the direction estimated by the estimation unit 34. Then, in the external device 41, when the external device reception unit 43 receives an information signal from the communication unit 24 of the control device 13, the external device transmits a control signal for controlling the operation of the home appliance 12 in response to the information signal. The signal is output from the unit 44 in the direction of the home appliance 12 estimated by the estimation unit 34 of the control device 13. As a result, the home appliance 12 receiving the output control signal by the receiver 15 controls the operation in response to the control signal.

  As described above, the communication unit 24 outputs the control signal for control that can be received by the home appliance 12 in the direction estimated by the estimation unit 34 to the external device 41 by the control signal. By outputting an information signal for control as control information, the installation position of the control device 13 and the installation position of the external device 41 can be made different. Therefore, the control device 13 is installed at a position where it is easy to pick up the sound SO emitted from the position of the home appliance 12 by the microphone 21, that is, a preferred position for detecting the direction (position) of the home appliance 12 By installing at a position where communication is easy with respect to 12, the estimation accuracy of the direction (position) of the home appliance 12 by the estimation unit 34 and the communication accuracy of the control information to the home appliance 12 are individually improved. It will be possible to

  In the second embodiment, as the external device 41, for example, any external device capable of communicating with the home appliance 12 may be used instead of a device dedicated to communication, such as a wireless router. it can.

  Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. In addition, about the structure and effect similar to said each embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the third embodiment, in each of the above-described embodiments, the control device 13 includes a plurality of microphones 21.

  These microphones 21 are arranged apart from each other. That is, these microphones 21 are arranged at mutually different positions in the main body 25. Therefore, these microphones 21 have a predetermined positional relationship with each other. That is, the distance between the microphones 21 and the positional relationship between the microphones 21 are fixed in advance. For example, a non-directional microphone 21 is preferably used, but may have predetermined directivity.

  Then, as in the above embodiments, the control device 13 picks up an external sound with each of the microphones 21 and identifies the sound SO emitted from the position of the home appliance 12 included in the sound picked up with the microphone 21. , And analyze the identified sound SO to estimate the direction and distance of the home appliance 12.

  At this time, the estimation unit 34 uses the difference in the distance from the sound source of the sound SO to each of the microphones 21 and sets the phase difference with the other sounds SO with reference to one of the plurality of picked up sounds SO. The position is estimated from the coordinates of the home appliance 12 using the principle of triangulation based on the timing of picking up the sound SO and the positional relationship of the known microphones 21. That is, this estimation unit 34 can simultaneously estimate the direction and distance of the sound source of the sound SO, that is, the direction of the home appliance 12 emitting the sound SO and the distance to the home appliance 12 at the same time. Therefore, the estimation by the estimation unit 34 in the present embodiment is one of the modes of estimating the direction in which the home appliance 12 is positioned with respect to the microphone 21 based on the sound identified by the identification unit 32.

  Then, in the control device 13, the communication control unit 38 controls the operation of the communication unit 24 to output control information from the communication unit 24. At this time, as in the first embodiment, for example, in the case where the control device 13 (communication unit 24) can directly communicate with the home appliance 12, in the direction of the home appliance 12 estimated by the estimation unit 34. A control signal is output as control information. In the case where the control device 13 (the communication unit 24) indirectly communicates with the home appliance 12 via the external device 41 such as a wireless router as in the second embodiment, the communication unit 24 An information signal is output as control information to the external device 41, and a control signal corresponding to the control information is output from the external device 41 which has received this information signal by the external device receiving unit 43 in the direction of each home appliance 12 .

  As described above, by providing the plurality of microphones 21 in the control device 13, it is possible to improve the detection accuracy of the direction and distance of the home appliance 12 that outputs the sound SO picked up by the microphones 21.

  Next, a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10. In addition, about the structure and effect similar to said each embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the fourth embodiment, in the first or second embodiment, the control device 13 is a self-propelled vacuum cleaner that performs cleaning while performing autonomous traveling (self-propelled), that is, a robot cleaner. is there. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the control device 13 itself is a home appliance.

  The control device 13 includes a drive wheel 51 which is a moving unit (drive unit (travel drive unit)) for moving (traveling) the control device 13 (main body 25) on the floor surface. The control device 13 also includes a cleaning unit 52. Further, the control device 13 includes a sensor unit 53 as a position information acquisition unit.

  The drive wheel 51 is disposed at a lower portion facing the floor surface of the main body 25. Preferably, the drive wheels 51 are arranged in pairs. Further, each drive wheel 51 is driven via a motor 55, respectively. Therefore, the rotational directions and rotational speeds of the left and right drive wheels 51 are controlled independently. Note that, instead of the drive wheel 51, an endless track or the like can be used as a moving unit.

  The cleaning unit 52 cleans dust as the control device 13 is moved (traveled) by the drive wheel 51. In the present embodiment, the cleaning unit 52 is, for example, an electric blower that exerts a negative pressure on the floor to absorb dust, a rotating brush that scrapes dust off the floor, or a side brush that scrapes dust on the floor or the like. The electric cleaning unit is driven by power supply, but may be a non-electric cleaning unit such as a cloth for wiping off dust attached to the floor surface or the wall.

  The sensor unit 53 can detect position information in the room R of the control device 13. Here, the position information detected by the sensor unit 53 refers to information indicating the distance or positional relationship between the control device 13 in the room R and an object (an obstacle such as a wall or furniture) in the room R, a predetermined reference position (for example, Information that indicates the direction and distance of movement from the charging stand). Therefore, as the sensor unit 53, for example, an obstacle sensor which is a distance detection unit (distance detection unit) using a camera, an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor or the like, or the number of rotations of the left and right drive wheels 51 (motor 55) A rotation number sensor such as a rotary encoder that detects each of the

  Furthermore, the control unit 23 includes a traveling control unit 57 that is a movement control unit that moves (travels) the control device 13 by controlling the operation of the driving wheel 51 (motor 55). The control unit 23 may also include a cleaning control unit 58 that controls the operation of the cleaning unit 52. Furthermore, the control unit 23 includes a sensor connection unit 59. That is, the control device 13 includes the traveling control unit 57. The control device 13 also includes a cleaning control unit 58. Furthermore, the control device 13 includes a sensor connection unit 59 which is a position detection unit.

  The travel control unit 57 controls the operation of the drive wheel 51 by controlling the amount of energization of the motor 55. The travel control unit 57 may have a function of a travel route setting unit that sets a travel route of the control device 13 based on, for example, the map data of the room R stored in the memory 35. Further, when the traveling control unit 57 detects an obstacle on the traveling route of the control device 13 by the sensor unit 53, the traveling control unit 57 can also control the traveling of the control device 13 so as to avoid the obstacle. In the present embodiment, the control device 13 is moved by the traveling control unit 57 and the drive wheel 51 (motor 55) to realize the function of the sound collection moving unit that changes the sound collection direction of the microphone 21. The functions of the sound collection moving unit 27 and the operation control unit 33 in the first and second embodiments may not necessarily be provided, but may be combined and used.

  The sensor connection unit 59 has a function of detecting the self position of the control device 13 on the map data of the room R stored in the memory 35 based on the position information detected by the sensor unit 53. In addition, the sensor connection unit 59 may have a function of a map creating unit that creates or updates the map data of the room R stored in the memory 35 based on the position information detected by the sensor unit 53. A known technique such as SLAM can be used in the detection of the self-location and the creation of map data.

  Then, as in the above embodiments, the control device 13 picks up the external sound by the microphone 21 and the sound SO emitted from the position of the home appliance 12 included in the sound picked up by the microphone 21 is detected by the identification unit 32. After the identification and analysis of the identified sound SO, the estimation unit 34 estimates the direction and distance of the home appliance 12.

  In the present embodiment, as methods of estimating the direction and distance of the home appliance 12, for example, the following three methods can be considered.

  In the first method, the drive control unit 57 drives the drive wheel 51 (motor 55) to move the control device 13 to a plurality of locations in the room R, and the phase difference of the sound SO picked up by the microphone 21 at each position. Is a way to use In this case, for example, the sound generation start request signal is output from the communication unit 24 of the control device 13, and the home appliance 12 receiving this sound generation start request signal at the reception unit 15 outputs the sound SO at a constant cycle from the sound output unit 16. Start. In the control device 13, the traveling control unit 57 controls the operation of the drive wheel 51 (motor 55), moves to another position in the room R and stops by the output of the next sound from the sound output unit 16. (Step S11 and step S12), it is determined whether or not the sound is detected by the microphone 21 at that position (step S13). When a sound is detected, the microphone 21 collects a sound (step S14), and the identification unit 32 identifies the sound SO (step S15). In addition, when the sound is not detected, it moves to another position of the room R again and stops (return to step S11 and step S12). This is repeated as many times as necessary for data analysis in the estimation unit 34. That is, it is determined whether or not the sound SO has been detected for the number of times necessary for data analysis (step S16), and when the number of times necessary for data analysis is detected, move to another position in the room R again Stop (return to step S11 and step S12). When the number of times necessary for data analysis is detected, the estimation unit 34 analyzes the data (step S17), and estimates the direction and distance of the home appliance 12, that is, the position of the home appliance 12 (step S18). At this time, the estimation unit 34 utilizes the periodicity of the output of the sound SO from the sound output unit 16 to detect the self position of the control device 13 detected by the sensor connection unit 59 and the timing at which the reception of the sound SO is expected. And the phase difference between the timing of the first received sound SO and the direction and distance of the home appliance 12 are estimated. In this method, it is essential that the control device 13 can detect its own position at each position where the sound SO is detected by the microphone 21. Then, in this method, if the position of the home appliance 12 can be estimated, the control device 13 outputs a sound generation stop request signal, and the home appliance 12 receiving this sound generation stop request signal at the reception unit 15 generates a sound from the sound output unit 16 Stop the SO output.

  In the second method, the driving wheel 51 (motor 55) is driven by the traveling control unit 57 by using the microphone 21 having directivity, and the control device 13 is moved to a plurality of locations in the room R, and at each position. This is a method of using the volume which is an element of the sound picked up by the microphone 21. In this case, the home appliance 12 outputs the sound SO at a constant volume from the sound output unit 16, and the control unit 13 controls the operation of the drive wheel 51 (motor 55), so that the inside of the room R is It moves to another position and stops, and the microphone 21 picks up sound at that position. The estimation unit 34 estimates, for example, that the direction in which the sound SO picked up by the microphone 12 is relatively large is the direction of the home appliance 12 that is the transmission source of the sound SO. Further, in the estimation unit 34, the control detected by the sensor connection unit 59 from the home appliance 12 that is the source of the sound SO based on the direction in which the sound SO is relatively large and the position in which the sound SO is relatively large. The distance to the self position of the device 13 is estimated. This is repeated as many times as necessary for data analysis in the estimation unit 34. In this method, it is essential that the control device 13 can detect its own position at each position where the sound SO is detected by the microphone 21.

  The third method is to drive the drive wheel 51 (motor 55) by the traveling control unit 57 to collect the sound while moving the control device 13 (microphone 21) in the room R, and to change the frequency that is the element of sound. Based on the Doppler effect. In this case, the home appliance 12 continues to output the sound SO continuously from the sound output unit 16, and the traveling control unit 57 controls the operation of the driving wheel 51 (motor 55) to continuously operate the room R. Pick up the sound SO by the microphone 21 while continuing to move. The estimation unit 34 estimates the direction of the home appliance 12 based on the movement (the self position, the direction, and the speed) of the control device 13 and the change in the frequency of the sound SO picked up continuously by the microphone 21. For example, when sound is collected by the microphone 21 while moving at a predetermined speed along a predetermined direction, if the frequency of the sound SO increases or decreases, the estimation unit 34 generates a sound in a predetermined direction or a tangent direction thereof. It can be estimated that the direction is toward or away from the home appliance 12 that is the source. Therefore, for example, when sound is collected by the microphone 21 while moving at a predetermined speed along a predetermined direction, if there is a position at which the frequency of the sound SO switches from increase to decrease or from decrease to increase, the estimation unit 34 It can be estimated that the home appliance 12 that is the source of the sound SO is located in the direction of the normal to the predetermined direction at that position. By performing this while moving along a plurality of different predetermined directions (at least predetermined directions crossing each other) at a plurality of positions, in the estimation unit 34, the position of the home appliance 12 is determined as a position where the plurality of estimated directions intersect. The position (direction and distance of home appliance 12) is estimated. At this time, it is preferable that the predetermined direction in which the control device 13 moves is, for example, a linear direction or an arc direction (turning) in order to easily detect a change in frequency of the sound SO picked up by the microphone 21. In this method, it is essential that the control device 13 can detect its own position while the microphone 21 detects the sound SO.

  Note that when collecting sound with these microphones 21, dust such as a floor surface may be cleaned by the cleaning unit 52 at the same time, but when driving sound of the cleaning unit 52 is collected as noise by the microphone 21. If necessary, the operation of the cleaning unit 52 may be stopped, and an operation mode for estimating the direction of the home appliance 12 and an operation mode for driving the cleaning unit 52 for cleaning may be used. It may be set separately.

  Then, in the control device 13, the communication control unit 38 controls the operation of the communication unit 24 to output control information from the communication unit 24, as in the third embodiment. At the time of this output, for example, it is also possible to cause the control device 13 to travel to a position where it is easy to receive control information (control signal or information signal). That is, when a control signal is output as control information, driving wheel 51 (motor 55) is driven by travel control unit 57 to make control device 13 approach toward home appliance 12 or between home appliance 12 The control signal can be output to the home appliance 12 from the position where there is no obstacle or the like that may interfere with communication. Further, when outputting an information signal as control information, if the control device 13 can recognize the position of the external device 41, the driving control unit 57 drives the drive wheel 51 (motor 55) to control the control device 13. The external device 41 can be made to approach or moved to a position where there is no obstacle or the like that may interfere with communication with the external device 41, and an information signal can be output from that position.

  In this manner, by making the control device 13 movable by the drive wheel 51, the sound SO of the home appliance 12 installed at any position in the room R can be easily picked up by the microphone 21, and the control device 13 can The range of the home appliance 12 which can pick up the sound SO by the microphone 21 can be expanded. Further, by detecting the positions before and after the movement of the control device 13 by the sensor connection unit 59, the estimation information of the estimation units 34 at a plurality of positions can be used in combination, so that the estimation accuracy of the position of the home appliance 12 is improved. .

  Moreover, since the function of the control device 13 can be realized by the robot cleaner provided with the cleaning unit 52 that cleans along with the movement, a separate device becomes unnecessary.

  Furthermore, if a predetermined feature sound is generated from the position of the home appliance 12, the feature sound is identified by the identification unit 32, and the home appliance 12 is positioned based on the element of the feature sound, for example, the volume and frequency. Since the direction is estimated, it is difficult to confuse the sound SO emitted from the home appliance 12 to be controlled with the sound emitted from other devices etc., and the estimation accuracy of the direction (position) of the home appliance 12 can be further enhanced. .

  In the fourth embodiment, the control device 13 may be configured as a watching robot (monitoring robot) that does not include the cleaning unit 52 (and the cleaning control unit 58).

  Next, a fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, about the structure and effect similar to said each embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the fifth embodiment, in the first or second embodiment, the control device 13 includes a wireless communication function and a voice input / output function (voice interface function), and the home appliance 12 based on the voice input from the user. So-called smart speakers that assist operations such as Therefore, in the present embodiment, the control device 13 itself is a home appliance.

  The control device 13 includes a speaker 61 capable of outputting sound to the outside. The speaker 61 has a function of notifying the user by sound (voice) in addition to the function of outputting music and the like. A plurality of speakers 61 may be provided in the main body 25.

  The control unit 23 further includes an output control unit (not shown) that controls the operation of the speaker 61 and causes the speaker 61 to output a sound. That is, the control device 13 further includes an output control unit.

  Then, as in the above embodiments, the control device 13 picks up the external sound by the microphone 21 and the sound SO emitted from the position of the home appliance 12 included in the sound picked up by the microphone 21 is detected by the identification unit 32. After identifying and analyzing the identified sound SO, the estimation unit 34 estimates the direction and distance of the home appliance 12 and outputs control information from the communication unit 24.

  Thus, since the function of the control device 13 can be realized by the smart speaker provided with the speaker 61, a separate device is not necessary. In particular, in the case of a smart speaker, since a microphone 21 for voice input from the user is provided in advance, an external sound for estimating the position of the home appliance 12 by the estimation unit 34 by using the microphone 21 There is no need to provide a dedicated configuration to pick up.

  The fourth and fifth embodiments may be combined with the third embodiment. That is, in the fourth and fifth embodiments, a plurality of microphones 21 may be provided.

  A sixth embodiment will now be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. In addition, about the structure and effect similar to said each embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the sixth embodiment, the communication unit 24 can communicate with the server 71 on the network NT such as the Internet via the external device 41 in the fourth embodiment.

  The server 71 is connected to the external device 41 via the modem M and the network NT. In the present embodiment, the server 71 has the functions of an estimation unit, a map creation unit, and a storage unit.

  Then, while the traveling control unit 57 controls the operation of the driving wheel 51 (motor 55) to move the room R (step S21), the control device 13 externally detects the position information detected by the sensor unit 53 from the communication unit 24. The movement is output to the device 41 and stopped at a predetermined position (step S22). The external device 41 transmits the position information received by the external device reception unit 43 to the server 71 via the modem M and the network NT.

  Then, the server 71 creates map data of the room R based on the position information (step S23) and stores it (step S24). The map data created by the server 71 is transmitted to the external device 73 such as a smartphone having a communication function and a display function via the network NT, and is displayed on the external device 73 (step S25).

  Further, the control device 13 outputs a sound generation start request signal from the communication unit 24 to the home appliance 12, and the home appliance 12 receiving the sound generation start request signal by the reception unit 15 outputs the sound SO from the sound output unit 16. . In the control device 13, the microphone 21 collects the sound (step S26), and the communication unit 24 outputs the data of the collected sound and the information of the home appliance 12 to which the sound was generated to the external device 41, and this information is externally The external device 41 received by the device receiving unit 43 transmits this information to the server 71 via the modem M and the network BT. At this time, the sound data to be transmitted to the server 71 may be data that has been A / D converted by the sound reception unit 31 or may be data that has been filtered by the identification unit 32. Therefore, the server 71 may have the function of an identification unit.

  Then, the server 71 analyzes the sound data (step S27) and estimates the direction and distance of the home appliance 12, ie, the position of the home appliance 12 (step S28), as in the estimation unit 34 of each of the above embodiments. , On the map data of the room R (step S29). Then, the position of the home appliance 12 is transmitted to the external device 73 via the network NT, displayed on the external device 73 (step S30), and can be browsed by the user.

  As described above, by displaying the map data of the room R in combination with the position of the home electric device 12, the user can easily identify the home electric device 12 by associating the type of the home electric device 12 with the position thereof. It is possible to provide an interface that is easier to understand, that is, easy to use.

  In the sixth embodiment, the server 71 creates map data, specifies the position of the home appliance 12, and stores various information, but any of the other home appliances 12 and external devices may be used. You may share it with me. The display can also be performed by any device.

  In the above embodiments, the plurality of home appliances 12 are separately controlled according to the control information from the control device 13. However, only a specific single home appliance 12 is controlled from the control device 13. Control may be performed according to the information.

  Furthermore, any plurality of units in the control unit 23 may be integrally provided, or may be separately provided separately from the control unit 23.

  While certain embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and the gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

11 Household appliance system that is an electrical equipment system
12 Household appliances
13 Control device which is electrical equipment
21 Microphone that is a sound collection unit
22 Input section
Communication unit which is an output unit
32 Identification unit
34 Estimator
35 Memory which is a storage unit
36 Detector
41 External device
51 Drive wheels that are moving parts
52 Cleaning department
59 Sensor connection that is a position detection unit
61 speaker
SO sound

Claims (12)

A sound collection unit that collects sound from the outside,
An identification unit for identifying the sound emitted from the position of the home appliance installed outside in the sound collected by the sound collection unit;
An estimation unit that estimates a direction in which the home appliance is located with respect to the sound collection unit based on the sound identified by the identification unit;
And an output unit that outputs control information for controlling the home appliance to the outside. The electric device according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs a control signal for control that can be received by the home appliance as control information in a direction estimated by the estimation unit. The output unit outputs an information signal for controlling the home appliance by the control signal to an external device capable of outputting a control signal for control that can be received by the home appliance in a direction estimated by the estimation unit. The electrical device according to claim 1, which outputs as control information. The electric device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the estimation unit estimates the distance to the home appliance based on the volume of the sound emitted from the position of the home appliance and collected by the sound collection unit. . A storage unit for storing map data indicating the shape of the installed area;
The electrical device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: a detection unit that detects a self position on the map data. The identification unit identifies a predetermined characteristic sound emitted from the position of the home appliance,
The electric device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the estimation unit estimates the direction in which the home electric appliance is located based on the characteristic sound identified by the identification unit. A moving unit capable of moving the floor surface,
The electric device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: a position detection unit that detects a self position before and after movement by the movement unit. The electric device according to claim 7, further comprising: a cleaning unit that cleans along with the movement by the moving unit. It is a smart speaker provided with the speaker. The electric equipment as described in any one of the Claims 1 thru | or 6 characterized by the above-mentioned. It has an input unit that allows external input of control instructions for each of the multiple home appliances,
The identification unit identifies the sound emitted from the position of each home appliance,
The estimation unit estimates the direction in which each of the home appliances is located,
The output unit outputs control information for controlling the home appliance corresponding to the instruction input to the input unit among the home appliances, to the outside. Electrical equipment. Home appliances,
A sound collecting unit for collecting external sound, an identification unit for identifying a sound emitted from the position of the household electrical appliance in the sound collected by the sound collecting unit, and a sound identified by the recognition unit An estimation unit for estimating the direction in which the home appliance is located with respect to the sound collection unit, and a control signal that can be received by the home appliance is estimated by the estimation unit as control information An electric device system comprising: an electric device including an output unit outputting in a direction. Home appliances,
An external device capable of outputting a control signal for control that can be received by the home appliance;
A sound collecting unit for collecting external sound, an identification unit for identifying a sound emitted from the position of the household electrical appliance in the sound collected by the sound collecting unit, and a sound identified by the recognition unit To the external device capable of outputting the control signal in the direction of the home appliance estimated by the estimation unit; And an output unit configured to output control information for controlling the home appliance according to the control signal.

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