JP2020003900A - Tree watching system - Google Patents

Abstract

To reduce labor required in managing and monitoring a forest even when a forest is located in a remote place or a forest is located over a wide range.SOLUTION: A tree watching system includes: multiple slave units 20 to be attached to trees in a forest; and a master unit 10 for receiving monitoring information acquired by the slave units 20 and to be transmitted by radio, and also transmitting the monitoring information to a monitoring server 40 by using specific small power radio communication. Monitoring information includes at least one among an acceleration, a vibration, and an inclination angle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a tree watching system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique suitable for use in grasping the state of a tree in a forest.

  Forests owned by absent villages account for about a quarter of the private forest area nationwide. In addition, it is expected that the number of unregistered forests due to owner deaths will increase and that the number of forests with unknown owners will increase accordingly. As a result, the management of thinning and the like cannot be performed sufficiently, and the risk of occurrence of a disaster due to a fall or a fall due to a typhoon or the like increases. We call on the absentee villagers to manage the forest through the “Furusato Forest Congress” and “direct mail”, but they have little effect. On the other hand, the increase in fuel demand for woody biomass power generation has led to an increase in uncut logging.

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries / Forestry Agency "2017 Forest and Forestry Trends"

  The problem of managing and monitoring forests is that a great deal of effort is required, especially when the forests are in remote areas or the forests are extensive. In addition, there is a problem that it is difficult to secure a power supply of a device for performing management and monitoring, particularly when a forest exists over a wide area.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a tree watching system that can reduce the labor required for forest management and monitoring even when the forest is located in a remote place or the forest exists over a wide area. And Another object of the present invention is to provide a tree watching system capable of managing and monitoring a forest while independently securing a power source.

  In order to achieve such an object, a tree watching system of the present invention includes a slave unit attached to a tree in a forest, receives monitoring information acquired by the slave unit and wirelessly transmitted, and transmits the monitoring information to a specified low power. And a master unit for transmitting to the server using wireless communication, and the monitoring information includes at least one of acceleration, vibration, and tilt angle.

  Therefore, according to the tree watching system, the monitoring information including at least one of the acceleration, the vibration, and the inclination angle acquired by the slave attached to the tree is transmitted to the server through the specified low-power wireless communication. .

  In the tree watching system of the present invention, the master unit may include a solar cell. In this case, the master unit can operate autonomously for a long time.

  In the tree watching system of the present invention, the master unit may have a clock function. In this case, the time relating to the acquisition and transmission of the monitoring information is specified.

  According to the tree watching system of the present invention, it is possible to transmit monitoring information on the state of trees obtained via a network including a slave unit and a master unit to a server, so that it is not necessary to directly enter the forest. The state of the trees can be grasped, and the labor for managing and monitoring the forest can be reduced. Moreover, since the monitoring information is transmitted to the server using the specified low-power wireless communication, it is possible to grasp the state of the trees while suppressing the communication cost, and reduce the monitoring cost of the trees in the forest. It becomes possible to reduce.

  According to the tree watching system of the present invention, when the master unit is provided with a solar cell, the master unit can be operated independently for a long period of time, so that the labor for forest management and monitoring is further increased. It becomes possible to reduce.

  In the tree watching system of the present invention, when the master unit is provided with a clock function, it is possible to specify the time relating to the acquisition and transmission of the monitoring information, so that the occurrence time of the event (in other words, the situation) can be determined. It is possible to consider the measures taken into consideration, and it is possible to improve the usefulness of the information as forest monitoring information.

It is a flow chart explaining an example of an embodiment of a tree watching system concerning the present invention. It is a functional block diagram showing the whole tree composition of an example of an embodiment of a tree watching system concerning the present invention. It is a functional block diagram explaining composition of an apparatus in a tree watching system of an embodiment.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be described in detail based on an example of an embodiment shown in the drawings.

  1 to 3 show an example of an embodiment of a tree watching system according to the present invention.

  The tree watching system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of slave units 20 attached to trees in a forest, receives monitoring information acquired by these slave units 20 and wirelessly transmitted, and transmits the monitoring information to a specific low-power wireless communication. And the master device 10 that transmits the monitoring information to the monitoring server 40, and at least one of acceleration, vibration, and inclination angle is included in the monitoring information.

《System configuration》
The tree watching system has, as a rough configuration, a master unit 10 and a slave unit 20 which are installed on the forest side and constitute a wireless communication network, and include a wide area communication network 39 (specifically, for example, the Internet). It has a communication station 30 and a monitoring server 40 that communicate with each other.

  Master device 10 and slave device 20 have a communication function of transmitting information between them, and master device 10 and communication station 30 have a communication function of transmitting information between them. A network including the slave unit 20, the master unit 10, and the communication station 30 is configured by using the communication unit 30.

  The base unit 10 has at least a communication function, is installed in a forest to be managed and monitored, and receives and collects information (referred to as “monitoring information”) on trees and the like transmitted from the child unit 20. The monitoring information is transmitted to the communication station 30.

  The monitoring information according to the present invention includes information on the state of the tree and, if necessary, information such as weather conditions surrounding the tree.

  Master device 10 includes control unit 11, storage unit 12, memory 13, communication unit 17, communication unit 18, and power supply unit 19.

  The control unit 11 of the master unit 10 controls the entire master unit 10 and performs calculations related to processing and transmission of monitoring information, and is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit).

  The storage unit 12 of the master device 10 is a device capable of storing at least data and programs, and is, for example, a ROM (abbreviation for Read Only Memory).

  The memory 13 of the base unit 10 serves as a memory space that is a work area when the control unit 11 executes various controls and calculations, and is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory).

  The control unit 11 executes a predetermined program stored in, for example, a ROM serving as the storage unit 12 and collects monitoring information from the slave unit 20 according to the program, and transmits the collected monitoring information to the communication station 30. Or to communicate.

  The control unit 11 transmits the monitoring information transmitted from the slave unit 20 and received (specifically, various data measured or detected by the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20) to the communication station 30. Performs processing to convert to a format suitable for transmission to.

  The communication unit 17 of the base unit 10 is a communication interface having a function for performing communication with the communication unit 28 of the slave unit 20, includes a wireless module for performing wireless communication, and has a communication module 28 of the slave unit 20. At least a function of receiving an electric signal transmitted from the computer.

  The communication unit 18 of the base unit 10 is a communication interface having a function for performing communication with the communication station 30, includes a wireless module for performing wireless communication, and transmitting an electric signal to the communication station 30. At least.

  The communication unit 18 is configured to be able to communicate with the communication station 30 by using specific low-power wireless communication.

  As a specific low-power wireless communication method used between the master device 10 and the communication station 30, a specific example is LPWA (abbreviation of Low Power Wide Area). Specifically, the LPWA includes, for example, SIGFOX (registered trademark) and LoRa (registered trademark).

  When communication is performed using the LPWA as a communication method between the master device 10 and the communication station 30, the communication unit 18 of the master device 10 is configured as an LPWA communication module for performing communication using the LPWA.

  The power supply unit 19 of the base unit 10 is not limited to a specific type of power supply, and an appropriate type of power supply is appropriately selected in consideration of the situation of the installation location.

  The power supply unit 19 includes, for example, a built-in power supply (that is, a battery), an external power supply that is directly connected (specifically, for example, an AC power supply that is generally used), a solar cell (in other words, a solar power generation module), and the like. A solar cell is preferred in that master device 10 can operate autonomously for a long period of time.

  When a solar cell (photovoltaic power generation module) is used as the power supply unit 19, the base unit 10 generates power by operating the solar cell satisfactorily in a well-lighted condition in the forest to be managed or monitored. It is preferable to be installed in a place where power can be output by performing the operation.

  Note that master device 10 may include sensor unit 14 similarly to slave device 20 described below. In this case, the function provided by the sensor unit 14 of the base unit 10 (in other words, the type of a situation or state to be measured or detected) and the function provided by the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 are the same. Or may be different. That is, the base unit 10 serves as the sensor unit 14, specifically, for example, an acceleration sensor, a vibration sensor, a tilt sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, an illuminance sensor, a microphone, a GPS (abbreviation for Global Positioning System), and a tilt. One or more functions of a switch, a reed switch, a rainfall measurement meter, a counter sensor, and a plurality of Doppler sensors may be provided.

  Master device 10 may have a clock function. When base device 10 has a clock function, information transmitted from base device 10 to communication station 30 when communication from base device 10 to communication station 30 includes time information (in other words, a time stamp) is included. It may be made to be possible.

  A parent device number is assigned to each of the parent devices 10 as necessary. The base unit number is given to each of the base units 10 as a unique and unique one so that the base units 10 can be distinguished from each other and individually identified and specified. Note that, as the parent machine number, a device number, a production number, or the like originally assigned to the device as the parent machine 10 may be used.

  Therefore, the information sent from master device 10 to communication station 30 may be a combination data of the master device number and the monitoring information, or a combination data of the master device number, the monitoring information, and the time information.

  The slave unit 20 has at least a function as a sensor and the like and also has a communication function, is attached to a tree in the forest to be managed and monitored, and measures information on the state of the tree and information such as weather conditions surrounding the tree. In addition, the acquired information (ie, the monitoring information) is transmitted to the master device 10 by detecting or detecting the information.

  The slave 20 may be attached to at least one of the trees in the forest to be managed or monitored, or may be attached to a plurality of trees. In other words, the child device 20 may be attached to all trees in the forest to be managed or monitored, but need not necessarily be attached to all trees.

  In addition, the slave unit 20 may be preferentially attached to a tree that is likely to be uncut without cutting or a tree along a forest boundary among trees in the forest to be managed or monitored.

  At least one child device 20 is installed so as to be communicable (in other words, connected) to one parent device 10, and usually, a plurality of child devices 20 are communicable. They are installed in a certain way (in other words, connected).

  The slave unit 20 includes a control unit 21, a sensor unit 22, a communication unit 28, and a power supply unit 29, and transmits monitoring information acquired by the sensor unit 22 to the master unit 10 using the communication unit 28. Note that the child device 20 may include the same components as the storage unit 12 and the memory 13 of the parent device 10 described above, as necessary.

  The control unit 21 of the slave unit 20 performs an operation related to control of the entire slave unit 20 and transmission of monitoring information, and is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit).

  The control unit 21 measures and detects the monitoring information by the sensor unit 22 and transmits the monitored and measured monitoring information to the master device 10.

  The sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 is configured as a device / function for acquiring monitoring information, and acquires a state and a state (particularly, a physical state) necessary for managing and monitoring a forest including at least a state of a tree. And a device / function for acquiring weather conditions surrounding the trees and the like as necessary.

  The sensor unit 22 is specifically configured to have, for example, a function as at least one of an acceleration sensor, a vibration sensor, and an inclination sensor. If necessary, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, And at least one of the illuminance sensors.

  The sensor unit 22 may have functions as a microphone, a GPS, a tilt switch, a reed switch, a rainfall measurement meter, a counter sensor, a plurality of Doppler sensors, and the like.

  With the tilt switch, the degree of inclination of the tree can be observed, and furthermore, the occurrence state of the inclined tree and the fallen tree can be observed, and therefore, the presence or absence of logging can be detected. With the reed switch, the distance between the tree and the ground and the presence or absence of intrusion at the periphery can be observed, and furthermore, the occurrence of a fallen tree or a fallen tree can be observed, and therefore, the presence or absence of logging can be detected. The wind speed can be estimated by a plurality of Doppler sensors.

  The sensor unit 22 may be configured to have a single function, or may be configured to have a plurality of functions.

  The communication unit 28 of the slave unit 20 is a communication interface having a function for communicating with the communication unit 17 of the master unit 10, includes a wireless module for performing wireless communication, and has a communication module 17 of the master unit 10. At least a function of transmitting an electric signal to the device.

  The power supply unit 29 of the slave unit 20 is not limited to a specific type of power supply, and an appropriate type of power supply is appropriately selected in consideration of the situation of the installation location.

  The power supply unit 29 includes, for example, a built-in power supply (specifically, for example, a button battery), a wireless power supply device (only as an example, a rectenna), a solar cell (in other words, a solar power generation module), and the like. Wireless power supplies and solar cells are preferred in that the machine 20 can operate autonomously for long periods of time.

  When a solar cell (photovoltaic power generation module) is used as the power supply unit 29, the slave unit 20 has good sunlight conditions in the forest to be managed and monitored, and the solar cell operates well to generate power. It is preferable to be installed at a point where the power can be output.

  The slave 20 may have a clock function. When the slave unit 20 has a clock function, the time information when the sensor unit 22 measures and detects the monitoring information is acquired, or when communication from the slave unit 20 to the master unit 10 is performed, the slave unit 20 Time information (in other words, a time stamp) may be included in the information sent to the device 10.

  A slave unit number is assigned to each of the slave units 20. The child device numbers are given to each of the child devices 20 as unique and unique so that the child devices 20 can be distinguished from each other and individually identified and specified. Note that, as the slave unit number, a device number or a serial number originally assigned to the device as the slave unit 20 may be used.

  Therefore, the information sent from the child device 20 to the parent device 10 may be a combination data of the child device number and the monitoring information, or a combination data of the child device number, the monitoring information, and the time information.

  The communication station 30 is installed in the forest to be managed or monitored or around the forest to be managed or monitored, and transfers the monitoring information transmitted from the master device 10 to the monitoring server 40. 39 (specifically, for example, the Internet), a function of receiving an electric signal by communicating with the master device 10 and transmitting an electric signal by communicating with the monitoring server 40. At least the function of performing

  The communication station 30 is configured to be able to communicate with the communication unit 18 of the master device 10 by using specific low-power wireless communication.

  As described above, a specific low-power wireless communication system used between the base unit 10 and the communication station 30 specifically includes, for example, LPWA, and the LPWA specifically includes, for example, SIGFOX (registered trademark). And LoRa (registered trademark).

  For example, when SIGFOX is used as the LPWA, the master device 10 is positioned as a “Sigfox device” and the communication station 30 is configured as a “Sigfox base station” and communicates with the monitoring server 40 via the Sigfox platform and the Internet. Communication takes place between.

  Alternatively, when LoRa is used as the LPWA, the master device 10 is positioned as a “LoRa device” and the communication station 30 is configured as a “LoRa gateway”, and the monitoring server is connected via a 3G / LTE base station and the Internet. Communication is performed with the communication device 40.

  The communication station 30 includes a wireless module for performing wireless communication or a wired module for performing wired communication in order to connect to the wide area communication network 39 (specifically, for example, the Internet). Connect to the communication network 39.

  The communication station 30 has a function of communicating with a wide area communication network 39 (specifically, for example, the Internet). The communication station 30 also has a function of performing protocol conversion for performing communication with the wide area communication network 39, that is, a communication protocol for specific low-power wireless communication between the master device 10 and the communication station 30. A function of converting the communication protocol into a communication protocol for communication between the communication server and the wide area communication network 39 (more specifically, communication with the monitoring server 40 via the wide area communication network 39).

  A monitoring server 40 is connected to the wide area communication network 39 (specifically, for example, the Internet), and a user terminal 42 to which monitoring information is provided from the monitoring server 40 is connected.

  That is, the communication station 30 and the monitoring server 40 are each configured to be communicable via the wide area communication network 39, and the monitoring server 40 and the user terminal 42 are communicable via the wide area communication network 39. Respectively.

  The user terminal 42 in the present invention is not limited to a specific device, but includes various modes such as a mobile / portable (in other words, portable) device and a fixed device. Specifically, the user terminal 42 is, for example, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet PC, and various portable information terminals (also referred to as “PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)”), for example. A terminal and a stationary terminal such as a personal computer and a facsimile are exemplified.

  The monitoring server 40 connects to the wide area communication network 39 (specifically, for example, the Internet) and distributes the monitoring information via the communication station 30 to distribute the monitoring information transmitted from the master device 10 to the user terminal 42. It has at least a function of performing communication with the device 10 to receive an electric signal and a function of connecting to the wide area communication network 39 and performing communication with the user terminal 42 to transmit an electric signal.

  The monitoring server 40 includes a wireless module for performing wireless communication or a wired module for performing wired communication in order to connect to the wide area communication network 39 (specifically, for example, the Internet), and uses a wireless communication method or a wired communication method. The connection to the wide area communication network 39 is established.

  The monitoring server 40 has a function of communicating with the wide area communication network 39 (specifically, for example, the Internet). The monitoring server 40 also has a function of performing protocol conversion for performing communication with the user terminal 42 as necessary, that is, a communication between the communication station 30 and the monitoring server 40 through the wide area communication network 39. Of the communication between the monitoring server 40 and the user terminal 42 via the wide area communication network 39.

《System operation》
An example is given in which the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 is configured to have a function as a sensor for detecting acceleration, and is attached to a tree in a forest to be managed or monitored and information is collected. explain.

  Specifically, the slave unit 20 is fixed to and attached to the surface of the trunk of the tree or the surface of the branch that separates from the trunk, and the movement of the trunk or the branch of the tree is detected. Is assumed.

  As a processing procedure of the tree watching system according to the present invention, first, the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 detects the movement of the trunk or the branch of the tree and measures the acceleration. It is acquired (S1).

  Data related to the acceleration acquired by the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 (specifically, an electric signal representing the acceleration data) is transmitted as monitoring information to the communication unit 17 of the base unit 10 by wireless communication through the communication unit 28. Is performed (S2).

  Measurement of acceleration as monitoring information by the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 and transmission of the measured acceleration measurement data (specifically, an electrical signal representing the measurement data) to the master unit 10 are set in advance. This is performed at predetermined intervals.

  The acceleration data received by communication unit 17 of base unit 10 is stored in memory 13 of base unit 10. When master device 10 also has sensor unit 14, data of acceleration measured by sensor unit 14 of master device 10 is also stored in memory 13.

  The data stored in the memory 13 may be deleted in order from the oldest data in accordance with the capacity of the memory 13 or a predetermined time after the data is input / stored in the memory 13. The information may be deleted every time it elapses.

  Next, the control unit 11 of the master device 10 determines whether the acceleration data as the monitoring information stored in the memory 13 is normal or abnormal (S3).

  The timing / timing at which the control unit 11 determines whether the acceleration data is normal or abnormal may be performed each time the acceleration data is stored (in other words, input) in the memory 13. Alternatively, it may be performed at predetermined intervals set in advance.

  The determination of whether the acceleration data is normal or abnormal is, for example, such that the time-series acceleration data for a certain tree is determined to be abnormal when the change within a predetermined time is large, or When the change from the initial state value of a certain tree is large, it is determined that the state is abnormal, or, alternatively, the change of the time-series acceleration data of the certain tree within a predetermined time and the certain It is conceivable to consider both the change from the value of the initial state of the tree and the value of the tree and determine that the tree is abnormal.

  The determination as to whether the acceleration data is normal or abnormal is made, for example, using a preset threshold value. If the value of the change in the measured acceleration within a predetermined time is larger than the threshold value, the abnormality is determined. Or, if the value of the difference between the measured acceleration value and the initial state value is greater than a threshold value, it is determined that the value is abnormal, or If the value of the change in the measured acceleration within a predetermined time is larger than a threshold value and the difference between the measured acceleration value and the initial state value is larger than the threshold value, it is determined to be abnormal. It is conceivable that.

  The threshold for determining whether the acceleration data is normal or abnormal is not limited to a specific value, and the sensor unit 22 (that is, the acceleration sensor) is attached to a tree trunk or a branch. On the premise of this, an appropriate value is appropriately set in consideration of, for example, considering that a situation in which a tree is leaning or falling can be determined to be abnormal.

  Further, the control unit 11 of the master device 10 may calculate a predetermined index / index value and determine whether the acceleration data is normal or abnormal based on the calculated index / index value. good.

  Specifically, for example, after the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 is configured to have a function as a three-axis acceleration sensor, each time an observation is performed by the sensor unit 22, an observation value vector based on the observation value is generated. The magnitude of the vector (that is, the magnitude of the projection vector) when projecting to the installation vector based on the initial value at the time when the installation of the slave unit 20 is completed is calculated, and the magnitude of the calculated projection vector is calculated. Whether the acceleration data is normal or abnormal may be determined based on this.

  A value representing the magnitude of the projection vector is such that a positive value indicates that the tree is tilted within a range of 90 ° from the posture of the tree at the time of installation of the device (ie, the slave unit 20), and 0 (zero) indicates that the tree has fallen (In other words, it is rotated by 90 ° compared to the posture of the tree at the time of installation of the device), and a negative value is greater than 90 ° compared to the posture of the tree at the time of installation of the device. It is in the state that it is doing.

  When it is determined whether the acceleration data is normal or abnormal based on the magnitude of the projection vector, a preset threshold value may be used. For example, when the value indicating the magnitude of the projection vector is smaller than a threshold value, it may be determined that the projection vector is abnormal.

  When the control unit 11 of the base unit 10 determines that the acceleration data as the monitoring information is normal (S3: Yes), the base unit 10 outputs a signal indicating that the acceleration data is normal (“normal signal”). ) May be transmitted (S4a), or nothing may be transmitted (S4b).

  The normal signal is transmitted to the communication station 30 by the specified low-power wireless communication through the communication unit 18 of the master device 10 (S4a).

  The transmission of the normal signal from the base unit 10 may be performed according to the remaining power of the power supply unit 19 of the base unit 10. That is, if the remaining power is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, a normal signal is transmitted. If the remaining power is less than the predetermined value, the normal signal is not transmitted. Alternatively, a transmission interval may be set in advance for each remaining power, and whether or not a normal signal is transmitted may be determined based on the remaining power and the elapsed time from the previous transmission processing. .

  Note that the parent device 10 and the child device 20 may shift to the sleep mode / sleep state while not performing the communication processing to suppress power consumption and save power. By minimizing power consumption and saving power, a solar cell (in other words, a photovoltaic module) is used as the power supply 19 of the parent device 10 and the power supply 29 of the child device 20. In this case, the communication process can be performed even in a nighttime period when no power is generated by solar power generation.

  The normal signal received by the communication station 30 is sent to the monitoring server 40 via the wide area communication network 39 (specifically, for example, the Internet), and is recorded and accumulated in the monitoring server 40.

  When the magnitude of the projection vector described in connection with the above-described process of S3 is calculated, the calculated magnitude of the projection vector is, for example, a value in a range from +10.0 to -10.0 (ie, The standardized value is set to a value in increments of 0.1, and the standardized value is sent to the monitoring server 40 via the wide area communication network 39 (specifically, for example, the Internet) and recorded on the monitoring server 40. It may be stored.

  The value representing the magnitude of the projection vector is a value after standardization, +10.0 indicates that the posture of the tree at the time of installation of the device (that is, the child device 20) is maintained, and 0.0 indicates that the tree has fallen. (In other words, it is rotated by 90 ° compared to the posture of the tree at the time of installation of the device), and -10.0 is opposite to the posture of the tree at the time of installation of the device (( In other words, it may be standardized to represent a state of being rotated by 180 °).

  For example, by using the values standardized as described above, three numerical values as initial values and three numerical values as observation values at the time of equipment installation grasped by the function as a three-axis acceleration sensor become one numerical value. Since the compression is performed, the state quantity having a large amount of information can be reduced to data having a small capacity. For this reason, when communication is performed using specific low-power wireless communication (for example, LPWA) as a communication method between the master device 10 and the communication station 30, the communication speed may be low or the communication amount may be small. It is possible to transmit monitoring information without being restricted by the restriction of doing so, and it is possible to appropriately inform the state of forests and trees.

  Information (specifically, for example, a normal signal and a standardized value of the magnitude of a projection vector) recorded and accumulated in the monitoring server 40 is appropriately obtained by accessing the monitoring server 40 from the user terminal 42. -It may be made available for browsing at any time.

  On the other hand, when the control unit 11 of the master unit 10 determines that the acceleration data as the monitoring information is abnormal (S3: No), the master unit 10 indicates that the acceleration data is abnormal as an emergency transmission. A signal (referred to as “abnormal signal”; included in one of the monitoring information) is transmitted (S5).

  The abnormal signal is transmitted to the communication station 30 by the specified low-power wireless communication through the communication unit 18 of the master device 10.

  The abnormal signal received by the communication station 30 is sent to the monitoring server 40 via the wide area communication network 39 (specifically, for example, the Internet).

  Here, the type of an event (in other words, a situation) occurring in the forest may be inferred by the control unit 11 of the master device 10 based on the acceleration data.

  Specifically, for example, when it is determined that a plurality of trees have fallen or fallen in a relatively short time, it is assumed that a natural disaster has occurred in the forest such as a landslide. Or, if it is determined that a plurality of trees have fallen or fall over a relatively long time at a certain interval, it is concluded that illegal logging has been performed. You may do so.

  The monitoring server 40 that has received the abnormality signal distributes an alarm (referred to as “tilt tree alarm”) notifying that the acceleration data is abnormal to the user terminal 42 (S6).

  The distribution of the tilted tree alarm from the monitoring server 40 to the user terminal 42 is performed via a wide area communication network 39 (specifically, for example, the Internet) (in other words, by a communication path including the wide area communication network 39 at least in part). 3.) It is performed for various user terminals 42 by various communication methods.

  The fallen tree warning may be notified to, for example, a government office, a university, and / or a research institution other than the forest owner after obtaining permission from the forest owner, for example.

  By the above-described processing, the slave unit 20 attached to the tree senses when the tree in the forest has fallen or fell due to natural effects such as wind or soil runoff, or when the tree has fallen due to artificial unrestricted logging. The tree owner is notified of the state of the tree. Therefore, for example, even when the forest is away from the tree owner of the forest, the tree owner can know the state of the tree.

  If the sensor unit 14 of the master unit 10 and the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 are configured to have a function as a vibration sensor or an inclination sensor, the vibration data or the inclination angle data may be normal or abnormal. If it is determined that the vibration data or the inclination angle data is abnormal after the determination, the base unit 10 transmits a signal indicating that the data is abnormal as an emergency transmission, and the monitoring server 40 An alert for notifying that data is abnormal may be delivered to the user terminal 42.

  When the master unit 10 and the slave unit 20 are configured to further have other functions in addition to the function as the acceleration sensor, the vibration sensor, or the inclination sensor, the master unit 10 A signal indicating the status or state of the forest may be transmitted based on the acquired information or various information transmitted from the slave unit 20.

  Specifically, for example, when the sensor unit 14 of the master unit 10 and the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 are configured to have a microphone function, the sound data (in other words, the volume data) is normal or abnormal. When it is determined that the audio / volume data is abnormal after the determination, the base unit 10 transmits a signal indicating that the data is abnormal as emergency transmission, and the monitoring server 40 May be delivered to the user terminal 42 to notify that is abnormal.

  Alternatively, when the sensor unit 14 of the master unit 10 and the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 are configured to have a function as a reed switch, it is determined whether the data of the reed switch is normal or abnormal. When it is determined that the data of the reed switch is abnormal, the base unit 10 transmits a signal indicating that the data is abnormal as emergency transmission, and the monitoring server 40 notifies that the data is abnormal. The warning may be delivered to the user terminal 42.

  When the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 is configured to have a function as a GPS, the position information of the tree acquired by the GPS is different from the initial position information at the time when the installation of the slave unit 20 is completed. If it is determined that the position is the same or different, and it is determined that the position is different from the position at the time of installation of the device, the base unit 10 transmits a signal indicating that the position information is abnormal as emergency transmission. The monitoring server 40 may deliver an alarm to the user terminal 42 indicating that the position information is abnormal. When the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 is configured to have a function as a GPS, and when it is determined that the data acquired by the function as the acceleration sensor, the vibration sensor, or the inclination sensor is abnormal. Then, a function as a GPS may be activated so that the position of a tree that has fallen due to illegal logging can be tracked, for example.

  When the sensor unit 14 of the master unit 10 and the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 are configured as having various functions as described above, for example, vibration, tilt angle, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, illuminance, voice / volume , GPS, tilt switch, reed switch, rainfall, and wind speed may be sent to the monitoring server 40 and recorded and stored in the monitoring server 40. The various data recorded and accumulated in 40 may be browsed as needed and at any time by accessing the monitoring server 40 from the user terminal 42.

  When the sensor unit 14 of the parent device 10 or the sensor unit 22 of the child device 20 has a plurality of functions, or when the function of the sensor unit 14 of the parent device 10 and the function of the sensor unit 22 of the child device 20 are different, A plurality of types of information (specifically, for example, various measurement data) acquired by the sensor units 14 and 22 are not transmitted from the master unit 10 at the same time, but different types of information are sequentially transmitted from the master unit 10. It may be transmitted.

  Specifically, for example, acceleration data is transmitted in the n-th communication, temperature data is transmitted in the next (n + 1) -th communication, acceleration data is transmitted in the next (n + 2) -th communication, Further, the atmospheric pressure data may be transmitted in the next (n + 3) -th communication (n is a natural number).

  According to the needs of the user, the content of the information to be transmitted (in other words, the type of data) is discarded, and the type of information transmitted in one transmission process is selected and transmitted in one transmission process. When the specific low-power wireless communication (for example, LPWA) is used as the communication method between the master device 10 and the communication station 30, the communication speed is low. Monitoring information can be transmitted without being constrained by restrictions such as low traffic and low traffic, and it is also possible to appropriately inform the state of forests and trees and respond appropriately to user needs. Will be possible.

  Further, when the sensor unit 14 of the master unit 10 and the sensor unit 22 of the slave unit 20 are configured as having various functions as described above, various data, particularly information on weather (specifically, temperature, humidity, , Atmospheric pressure, illuminance, etc.) may be notified to other than the forest owner, for example, a public office, a university, and / or a research institution.

  According to the tree watching system configured as described above, the monitoring information regarding the state of the tree acquired via the network including the child device 20 and the parent device 10 attached to the tree is transmitted to the monitoring server 40. can do. For this reason, it is possible to grasp the state of the tree without directly entering the forest, and it is possible to reduce the labor required for managing and monitoring the forest.

  According to the tree watching system configured as described above, the monitoring information on the state of the tree is transmitted to the monitoring server 40 using the specified low-power wireless communication, so that the communication cost is reduced. The state of the trees can be grasped while the tree is being monitored, and the cost of monitoring trees in the forest can be reduced.

  Although the above-described embodiment is an example of a preferred embodiment for carrying out the present invention, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the present invention is not limited thereto without departing from the gist of the present invention. The invention can be variously modified.

  The tree watching system of the present invention can be used, for example, in the fields of forest management, utilization of forest resources, and the like because it can monitor the trees and know the state of the trees.

Reference Signs List 10 base unit 11 control unit 12 storage unit 13 memory 14 sensor unit 17 communication unit 18 communication unit 19 power supply unit 20 slave unit 21 control unit 22 sensor unit 28 communication unit 29 power supply unit 30 communication station 39 wide-area communication network 40 monitoring server 42 User terminal

In order to achieve such an object, a tree watching system of the present invention specifies a slave unit attached to a plurality of trees in a forest, receives monitoring information acquired by the slave unit and wirelessly transmitted, and specifies the monitoring information. A master unit for transmitting to the server using low-power wireless communication, wherein the monitoring information includes at least one of acceleration, vibration, and tilt angle, and a plurality of trees may fall or fall. They try to determine whether it is illegal logging or a natural disaster depending on the length of time .

Claims (3)

  A slave unit attached to a tree in the forest and a master unit that receives monitoring information acquired and wirelessly transmitted by the slave unit and transmits the monitoring information to a server using specific low-power wireless communication. A tree watching system, wherein the monitoring information includes at least one of acceleration, vibration, and inclination angle.   The tree watching system according to claim 1, wherein the master unit includes a solar cell.   The tree watching system according to claim 1, wherein the master unit has a clock function, and the monitoring information includes time information.