JP2020005555A - Animal state determination device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an animal state determination device and a program capable of determining a health state of an animal on the basis of an excretion action of the animal.SOLUTION: An animal state determination device includes: an acquisition part for acquiring excretion time information on an excretion time of an animal and determination information for determining a health state of the animal; a determination part for determining the health state of the animal on the basis of the excretion time information and the determination information; and an output part for outputting information based on a result of the determination by the determination part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an animal state determination device and a program.

  Conventionally, in order to manage the health of animals such as cats, it has been desired to collect biological information of animals. It is also known that the excretion behavior of animals is generally greatly related to animal health. For this reason, in order to manage the health of animals, it is desired to acquire biological information on the excretion behavior of animals.

  Patent Literature 1 discloses a method of processing biological information of an animal while identifying the individual. For example, an individual animal is identified based on a captured image of the animal, and the amount of excretion (urine amount, etc.) and the excretion time of the individual are determined based on the difference between the output of the load cell before entering the animal toilet and the output of the load cell after leaving the room. Is disclosed.

JP 2018-7625A

  However, the relationship between animal excretion behavior and animal health is very complex. For this reason, it has been difficult to determine the health condition of the animal based on the biological information even if the biological information on the excretion behavior can be obtained.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an animal state determination device and a program capable of determining a health state based on an excretion behavior of an animal.

  One embodiment of the present invention is based on the excretion time information related to the excretion time of the animal, the determination information for determining the health state of the animal, and an acquisition unit that obtains the excretion time information and the determination information. An animal condition determination device comprising: a determination unit that determines a health condition of the animal; and an output unit that outputs information based on a determination result by the determination unit.

  One embodiment of the present invention is the above-described animal condition determination device, wherein the excretion time information includes a staying time during which the animal stayed in the animal litter box, and the animal resting just before excretion in the animal litter box. The information indicates the stationary time.

  One embodiment of the present invention is the above-described animal state determination device, wherein the determination information includes the past stay time of the animal, the past rest time of the animal, the stay time of another animal, or other Is information based on the past rest time of the animal.

  One aspect of the present invention is the above-described animal state determination device, wherein the stay time and the still time are excretion behavior measurement devices that measure the behavior of a cat provided in the own device provided in the animal toilet. Is calculated based on the output of

  One aspect of the present invention is a computer, comprising: an excretion time information obtaining step of obtaining excretion information on an excretion time of an animal; a determination information obtaining step of obtaining determination information for determining a health condition of the animal; A program for executing a determining step of determining a health condition of the animal based on information and the determining information, and an outputting step of outputting information based on a determination result by the determining unit.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an animal state determination device and a program that can determine a health state based on the excretion behavior of an animal.

It is a figure showing the schematic structure of animal state judging system 100 containing the animal state judging device concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the network structure in a cat owner's house. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an animal toilet 20. It is a figure which shows the change of the excretion operation measurement value and the excretion measurement value after a cat enters the animal litter box 20 and excretes urine and stool until it leaves. It is a figure which shows the change of the excretion operation measurement value and the excretion measurement value after a cat enters the animal litter box 20 and excretes urine and stool until it leaves. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a feeding device 22. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the mobile terminal 21. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a database stored in a storage device of the mobile terminal 21 and determination information. 9 is a data table showing a specific example of a state information table. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a server 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a database stored in a storage device of a server 10. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating determination information stored in a storage device of a server 10. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the portable terminal 21 when it is determined that an abnormality has occurred. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example when an abnormality is notified from the server to the portable terminal. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the excretion information of a cat. It is a flowchart which shows the content of a process which determines a health condition. It is a sequence diagram showing processing of an animal condition judging device. It is a sequence diagram showing processing of an animal condition judging device.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for implementing the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, an embodiment in which the animal state determination device of the present invention is applied to an animal toilet, a server, and a portable terminal will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an animal state determination system 100 including an animal state determination device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The animal state determination system 100 includes a server 10, a network 30, and animal toilets 20-1, 20-2, 20-N, mobile terminals 21-1, 21-2, 21-N, and feeding devices 22-1, 22. -2, 22-N. “N” is an integer of 1 or more. Hereinafter, any one of the animal litter boxes 20-1, 20-2, and 20-N is referred to as an animal litter box 20 unless otherwise specified. Unless the mobile terminals 21-1, 21-2, 21-N are particularly distinguished, an arbitrary one is referred to as a mobile terminal 21. An arbitrary one of the feeding devices 22-1, 22-2, and 22-N is referred to as a feeding device 22 unless otherwise specified.

  The animal toilet 20 and the feeding device 22 are provided in a cat owner's house. The mobile terminal 21 is the owner's mobile terminal. The animal toilet 20 can communicate with the portable terminal 21. The mobile terminal 21 can communicate with the server 10 via the network 30. The feeding device 22 can communicate with the server 10 via the network 30. The owner can communicate with the server 10 using various communication devices from a place other than the owner's house. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the owner can communicate with the server 10 from a place other than the owner's house by a communication device such as a portable terminal 40 and a PC (Personal Computer) 41. The network 30 includes the Internet, a general telephone line, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a network configuration in a cat owner's house. A router 50 connected to the network 30 is provided at the owner's house. The portable terminal 21 and the router 50 are communicably connected by wire communication or wireless communication. The portable terminal 21 and the router 50 are connected by, for example, a wireless LAN. The animal litter box 20 and the portable terminal 21 are communicably connected by wire communication or wireless communication. The animal litter box 20 and the portable terminal 21 are connected by, for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy (hereinafter, referred to as “BLE”). The feeding device 22 and the portable terminal 21 are connected by BLE.

  Next, the configurations of the animal litter box 20, the portable terminal 21, the feeding device 22, and the server 10 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the animal litter box 20. The animal toilet 20 includes an excretion detection unit 301, an excretion operation detection unit 302, a cat ID acquisition unit 303, a state information management unit 305, and a state information output unit 306. The animal toilet 20 is provided with an absorption sheet as a sheet for receiving cat excrement. The absorption sheet is made of, for example, a material that absorbs moisture. Therefore, the absorbent sheet can absorb urine excreted by the cat. Cat sand is installed in the animal toilet 20 as an object to receive cat feces. Cat sand is formed using a material that is adsorbed on the surface of the stool and surrounds the periphery of the stool, for example.

  The animal litter box 20 includes an arithmetic unit (for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit)), a storage device (for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory)), an RTC (Real Time Clock), a communication device, and the like. Is provided. The processing executed by the animal litter box 20 is executed by the arithmetic unit. The storage device stores a program for controlling the animal litter box 20 and various information.

  The excretion detection unit 301 detects the presence or absence of excretion of the cat that has entered the animal litter box 20 and the start and end of excretion. The information detected by the excretion detection unit 301 may be referred to as excretion detection information in the following description. The excretion detecting unit 301 captures, for example, sensing devices such as a liquid sensor, a touch sensor, and a temperature sensor disposed on the animal litter box 20 and images of animals excreted in the animal litter box 20 and animal excrement. Excretion is detected by analyzing the obtained images. The excretion detection information detected by the excretion detection unit 301 includes state information management together with an ID (hereinafter, referred to as “cat ID”) for identifying a cat uniquely assigned to the cat and time information obtained from the RTC. Output to the unit 305. The state information management unit 305 stores the excretion detection information, the cat ID, and the time information in the storage device in association with each other. Note that the animal litter box 20 may be configured to include a camera.

  The excretion operation detection unit 302 detects entry and exit based on whether the cat has entered and exited the animal litter box 20 or whether the cat has passed through a location where the cat can enter the animal litter box 20. Further, the excretion operation detection unit 302 detects an excretion operation in the cat litter box 20. The information detected by the excretion detector 302 may be referred to as excretion information in the following description. The excretion detecting unit 302 is, for example, a part where the animal can enter in the animal litter box 20, a sensing device such as an infrared sensor, a touch sensor, an optical sensor, and a temperature sensor attached to the animal litter box 20, or a camera. By analyzing an image obtained by photographing a place where the animal can enter and the inside of the animal litter box 20, the entrance / exit and excretion operation are detected. The excretion operation information detected by the excretion operation detection unit 302 is output to the state information management unit 305 together with the cat ID and the time information obtained from the RTC. The state information management unit 305 stores the excretion operation information, the cat ID, and the time information in the storage device in association with each other.

  The cat ID acquisition unit 303 acquires a cat ID from a cat approaching the animal litter box 20 or a cat entering the animal litter box 20. The cat ID acquiring unit 303 acquires a cat ID from, for example, a cat device attached to the cat in advance. Alternatively, the cat ID acquisition unit 303 identifies the cat that entered by analyzing an image obtained by photographing a cat that enters the animal litter box 20 with a camera, and acquires the cat ID of the identified cat. Is also good. The obtained cat ID is output to the excretion detection unit 301 and the excretion operation detection unit 302.

  The state information management unit 305 is based on the information output by the excretion detection unit 301 and the excretion operation detection unit 302, and based on the date and time when the cat enters the animal litter box 20, the date and time when the cat exits the animal litter box 20, and the preparatory excretion operation when entering. The number of times, the excretion start date and time, and the excretion end date and time are determined. Then, the state information management unit 305 stores these determination results in the storage device in association with the cat ID.

  The state information management unit 305 functions as an acquisition unit and a determination unit. The state information management unit 305 obtains behavior information in order to calculate excretion time information relating to cat excretion time. The excretion time information is information on the time in excretion. The behavior information is information relating to the behavior of the cat in the animal litter box 20. For example, the behavior information indicates behaviors such as entry, wandering before excretion, stop immediately before excretion (hereinafter referred to as “excretion preliminary operation”), excretion start, excretion end, and exit.

  The state information management unit 305 determines the cat's health based on the excretion time information and the determination information. For example, the state information management unit 305 calculates the excretion time information based on the behavior information, the excretion detection information detected by the excretion detection unit 301, and the excretion operation information detected by the excretion operation detection unit 302. The excretion time information is the entry time, the wandering time before excretion, the excretion preparatory operation time, the excretion start time, the excretion end time, and the exit time. The state information management unit 305 calculates the excretion time based on the excretion start time and the excretion end time. The state information management unit 305 determines the cat's health based on the excretion time information and the determination information.

  The state information management unit 305 calculates a predetermined time required for excretion as a threshold used for the determination based on the determination information. The state information management unit 305 determines the current cat health state based on the excretion time information and the threshold. In the excretion time information, when the time required for excretion (wandering time before excretion, time in a stopped state immediately before excretion, excretion time) exceeds the threshold, the state information management unit 305 may determine that the cat is not healthy. Is high (there is a high possibility of a disease such as urinary calculus or renal failure). In the excretion time information, when the time required for excretion (wandering time before excretion, time in a stopped state immediately before excretion, excretion time) is within a threshold, the state information management unit 305 may determine that the cat is healthy. Is determined to be high. Hereinafter, a specific example of the determination method performed by the state information management unit 305 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  A method for determining the entry date and time will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing changes in the excretion behavior information and the excretion detection information from when the cat enters the animal litter box 20 and excretes urine and stool until it leaves. The vertical axis of the graph of FIG. 4 indicates the measurement value of cat excretion behavior by the excretion detection device (hereinafter referred to as “excretion measurement value”) and the measurement value of cat excretion by the excretion information detection device (hereinafter “excretion measurement value”). "). The horizontal axis of the graph in FIG. 4 indicates time. In the graph of FIG. 4, the excretion behavior measurement value and the excretion measurement value before the cat enters are based on zero. The excretion measurement value of the present embodiment is detected as a flag indicating the presence or absence of excretion, but is not limited to this, and other measurement methods may be used as long as the presence or absence of excretion can be determined.

  At timing T1 when the cat enters the animal litter box 20, the excretion behavior measurement value increases. The state information management unit 305 stores the timing T1 at which the excretion behavior measurement value increases as the date and time when the cat entered the animal litter box 20. Thereafter, the excretion behavior measurement value increases until timing T2, but the excretion behavior measurement value increases and decreases from timing T2 to timing T3. In this state, the cat is moving to a desired position in the housing. From the timing T3 to the timing T4, the excretion behavior measurement value hardly changes. This state is a stopped state in which the cat does not move to start excretion. The state information management unit 305 stores the timing T3 at which the measurement value of the excretion behavior has hardly changed as the stop start date and time.

  At timing T4, the excretion measurement value changes from “absent” to “present”. The state information management unit 305 stores the timing T4 at which the excretion measurement value changes to “Yes” as the excretion start date and time. Further, the state information management unit 305 stores the excretion start date and time or the timing when the stop state ends as the stop end date and time. From the timing T5, the excretion measurement value returns to “absent”, and the excretion behavior measurement value decreases. At timing T6, the excretion behavior measurement value stops decreasing. The state information management unit 305 stores this timing T6 as the exit date and time. In the case of FIG. 4, the state information management unit 305 determines that the cat is highly likely to be healthy based on the excretion time information and the determination information.

  If the measured excretion value does not change between the intrusion date and the exit date and time, the state information management unit 305 determines that urination has not occurred. In addition, when there is no change in the excretion measurement value even though the excretion preliminary operation is detected, it is determined that there is no excretion.

  The state information output unit 306 stores the entry date and time, the exit date and time, the excretion start date and time, the excretion end date and time, the stop start date and time, the stop end date and time, the presence or absence of excretion, and the number of preparatory excretion operations at the time of entry stored in the state information storage unit 205. Output to terminal 21. The entry date and time, the exit date and time, the excretion start date and time, the excretion end date and time, the stop start date and time, the stop end date and time, the excretion presence / absence, and the number of preparatory excretion operations at the time of entry, which are output to the portable terminal 21, may be deleted from the storage device. Good.

  When the animal litter box 20 can communicate with the mobile terminal 21, the entry date and time, the exit date and time, the excretion start date and time, the excretion end date and time, the stop start date and time, the stop end date and time, the presence or absence of excretion, and the number of preparatory operations when entering are real-time. Is output. On the other hand, when the animal litter box 20 cannot communicate with the portable terminal 21, the entry date and time, the exit date and time, the excretion start date and time, the excretion end date and time, the stop start date and time, the stop end date and time, the presence or absence of excretion, and the number of preparatory operations during entry are Buffered in the storage device. Thereafter, the entry date and time, the exit date and time, the excretion start date and time, the excretion end date and time, the stop start date and time, the stop end date and time, the presence or absence of excretion, and the number of preparatory excretion operations during entry that were buffered when communication with the mobile terminal 21 became possible May be output.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing changes in the excretion behavior measurement value and excretion detection information from when the cat enters the animal litter box 20 and excretes urine and stool until it leaves. The vertical axis of the graph in FIG. 5 indicates the excretion behavior measurement value and the excretion measurement value. The horizontal axis of the graph in FIG. 5 indicates time. In the graph of FIG. 5, the excretion behavior measurement value and the excretion measurement value before the cat enters are based on zero.

  At timing T1 when the cat enters the animal litter box 20, the excretion behavior measurement value increases. The state information management unit 305 stores the timing T1 at which the excretion behavior measurement value increases as the date and time when the cat entered the animal litter box 20. Thereafter, the excretion behavior measurement value increases until timing T2, but the excretion behavior measurement value increases and decreases from timing T2 to timing T3. In this state, the cat is moving to a desired position in the housing. From the timing T3 to the timing T4, the excretion behavior measurement value hardly changes. This state is a stopped state in which the cat does not move to start excretion. The state information management unit 305 stores the timing T3 at which the measurement value of the excretion behavior has hardly changed as the stop start date and time.

  At timing T4, the excretion measurement value changes from “absent” to “present”. The state information management unit 305 stores the timing T4 at which the excretion measurement value changes to “Yes” as the excretion start date and time. Further, the state information management unit 305 stores the excretion start date and time or the timing when the stop state ends as the stop end date and time. In FIG. 5, the cat stops again between the timing T5 and the timing T6 and between the timing T8 and the timing T9. Based on the excretion time information and the determination information, the state information management unit 305 determines that the cat is highly likely to be unhealthy (likely to have a disease such as urinary calculus and renal failure).

  The cat performs the excretion behavior from the timing T6 to the timing T8, but the measured excretion value changes to “Yes” only from the timing T6 to the timing T7. For this reason, the state information management unit 305 determines that the cat is highly likely to be unhealthy based on the excretion behavior measurement value and the excretion measurement value. That is, the state information management unit 305 determines that urine is not actually excreted even though the cat wants to excrete. Further, the state information management unit 305 stores the excretion start date and time or the timing when the stop state ends as the stop end date and time. From timing T10, the excretion measurement value becomes “absent” and the excretion behavior measurement value decreases. At timing T12, the excretion behavior measurement value stops decreasing. The state information management unit 305 stores the timing T12 as the exit date and time.

  The state information output unit 306 stores the entry date and time, the exit date and time, the excretion start date and time, the excretion end date and time, the stop start date and time, the stop end date and time, the presence or absence of excretion, and the number of preparatory excretion operations at the time of entry stored in the state information storage unit 205. Output to terminal 21. The entry date and time, the exit date and time, the excretion start date and time, the excretion end date and time, the stop start date and time, the stop end date and time, the excretion presence / absence, and the number of preparatory excretion operations at the time of entry, which are output to the portable terminal 21, may be deleted from the storage device. Good.

  When the animal litter box 20 can communicate with the portable terminal 21, the entry date and time, the exit date and time, the excretion start date and time, the excretion end date and time, the stop start date and time, the stop end date and time, the presence or absence of excretion, and the number of excretion preliminary operations at the time of entry are as follows: Output in real time. On the other hand, when the animal litter box 20 cannot communicate with the portable terminal 21, the entry date and time, the exit date and time, the excretion start date and time, the excretion end date and time, the stop start date and time, the stop end date and time, the presence of excretion, and the The number of times is buffered in the storage device and buffered when it becomes possible to communicate with the mobile terminal 21, the entry date and time, the exit date and time, the excretion start date and time, the excretion end date and time, the stop start date and time, the stop end date and time, the presence or absence of excretion, And the number of excretion preparatory operations at the time of entry.

  As described above, based on the behavior information, the state information management unit 305 determines the wandering time before excretion, the excretion start date and time, the excretion end date and time, the stop start date and time, the stop end date and time, the stop end date and time, the presence of excretion, and the time of entry. Calculate the number of pre-excretion operations of. The state information management unit 305 sets at least one of the time from the stop start date and time to the stop end date and time (time in the stop state), the excretion start date and time to the excretion end date and time (excretion time), and the wandering time before excretion. The cat's health status is determined based on the cat. In the present embodiment, as an example, the state information management unit 305 has been described as determining a health state. However, the state information management unit 305, the entire cat information management unit 345 of the server 10, and the comparison unit 325 of the mobile terminal 21 are described. At least one of the functional units may perform the same determination.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the feeding device 22. The feeding device 22 includes a food weight detection unit 312, a water weight detection unit 313, a cat ID acquisition unit 314, a feeding information management unit 316, and a feeding information output unit 317.

  The feeding device 22 includes an arithmetic device (eg, CPU), a storage device (eg, ROM, RAM), an RTC, a communication device, and the like. The processing executed by the feeding device 22 is executed by the arithmetic device. The storage device stores a program for controlling the feeding device 22, various information, and the like.

  The cat ID acquisition unit 314 acquires a cat ID from a cat approaching the feeding device 22. With this configuration, the cat ID acquisition unit 314 acquires the cat ID of the cat that has eaten or drank cat food or water provided in the own device. The acquired cat ID is output to the hood weight detection unit 312 and the water weight detection unit 313. The hood weight detection unit 312 detects the weight of the cat hood stored in the own device at a predetermined cycle (for example, a cycle of 100 milliseconds). The cat food stored in the own device is provided to the cat so that the cat approaching the feeding device 22 is ready to eat. The technology for providing cat food can be realized using a known technology. Food weight is reduced as cat food is consumed by cats. The weight detected by the hood weight detection unit 312 may be referred to as a hood weight in the following description. The detected food weight is output to the feeding information management unit 316 together with the cat ID and the time information obtained from the RTC. The feeding information management unit 316 stores the food weight, the cat ID, and the time information in association with each other in the storage device.

  The water weight detection unit 313 detects the weight of water at a predetermined cycle (for example, at a cycle of 100 milliseconds). The water stored in the own device is provided to the cat so that the cat approaching the feeding device 22 can be ingested. The technique for providing water can be realized using a known technique. Water weight is reduced by the consumption of water by cats. The weight detected by the water weight detection unit 313 may be expressed as water weight in the following description. The detected water weight is output to the state information management unit 305 together with the cat ID and the time information obtained from the RTC. The feeding information management unit 316 stores the water weight, the cat ID, and the time information in association with each other in the storage device.

  When the food weight changes, the feeding information management unit 316 stores the difference between the food weight before the change and the food weight after the change as the food intake. When the water weight changes, the feeding information management unit 316 stores the difference between the water weight before the change and the water weight after the change as the water intake. The feeding information management unit 316 stores the date and time when the food weight changes or the water weight changes as the feeding date and time. The feeding information management unit 316 stores the food intake or water intake and the feeding date and time in association with each other. In the following description, information on feeding (food and drink of animals) such as food intake, water intake, and feeding date and time is referred to as “food and drink information”.

  The feed information output unit 317 outputs the food intake and the water intake stored by the feed information management unit 316 to the portable terminal 21. The output food intake and water intake are output to the portable terminal 21 together with the cat ID and the time information. The food intake and the water intake output to the portable terminal 21 may be deleted from the feeding information management unit 316 together with the associated cat ID and time information.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the mobile terminal 21. The portable terminal 21 includes a status information receiving unit 321, a feeding information receiving unit 322, a determination information acquiring unit 323, an individual cat information managing unit 324, a comparing unit 325, a comparison result output unit 326, a cat information output unit 327, and a user information registering unit. 328, a user information output unit 329, a cat attribute information registration unit 330, a cat attribute information output unit 331, a toilet information registration unit 332, and a toilet information output unit 333.

  Further, the mobile terminal 21 includes an arithmetic device (for example, a CPU), a storage device (for example, a ROM and a RAM), an RTC, a communication device, a display device, an input device, and the like. The processing executed by the mobile terminal 21 is executed by the arithmetic device. The storage device stores a program for controlling the mobile terminal 21 and various information.

  The state information receiving unit 321 receives the entry date / time, the exit date / time, the excretion start date / time, the excretion end date / time, the stop start date / time, the stop end date / time, the excretion measurement value, the biological information measurement value, and the excretion behavior measurement value from the animal litter box 20. Then, the information is output to the individual cat information management unit 324. The feed information receiving unit 322 receives the food intake amount and the water intake amount, the cat ID and the time information associated therewith from the feed device 22, and outputs them to the individual cat information management unit 324. The biological information measurement value represents measurement information about the cat's body, such as a photographed image during excretion of the cat and an estimated value of the cat's body length. The excretion behavior measurement value is, for example, a detection value of a cat entering or leaving, or a measurement value such as an optical measurement value, a mechanical measurement value, or a temperature measurement value of a cat's behavior in a toilet, and a measurement relating to the cat's behavior. Represents information. The excretion measurement value represents measurement information on cat excretion, such as the color of cat feces, the presence or absence of cat urine, the urine momentum of cats, and the type of excretion indicating feces or urine.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a database (hereinafter, referred to as “DB”) stored in a storage device of the mobile terminal 21 and determination information. FIG. 8A is a diagram showing the excretion DB. The excretion DB includes the entry date and time, the exit date and time, the stop start date and time, the excretion start date and time, the excretion end date and time, the excretion measurement value, the biological information measurement value, and the excretion behavior measurement value.

  FIG. 8B is a diagram illustrating a feeding DB. The feeding DB includes a feeding date and time, a feeding type, and a feeding amount. Among them, the feeding type indicates that the food or drink is cat food or water. The unit of the feed amount is ml (milliliter) for water and g (gram) for cat food.

  In addition, the individual cat information management unit 324 generates determination information (individual excretion, individual feeding) for determining the health condition of the animal using the excretion DB and the feeding DB. FIG. 8C shows the determination information (individual excretion), and FIG. 8D shows the determination information (individual feeding). The determination information shown in FIGS. 8C and 8D is an average value of the parameters shown in the excretion DB and the feeding DB, and the aggregation period includes, for example, three months.

  Each parameter in the determination information (individual excretion) will be described. The average stay time indicates the average time from the entry date and time to the exit date and time in the counting period. The average stop time indicates the average time from the stop start date and time to the stop end date and time in the counting period. The average excretion time indicates an average time from the excretion start date and time to the excretion end date and time in the counting period. The average number of excretions indicates the average value of the number of excretions per day in the counting period. The average excretion behavior measurement value indicates the average value of each item of the excretion behavior measurement value different from the number of excretions and excretion time during the aggregation period. The average excretion measurement value indicates the average value of the excretion measurement values during the aggregation period. The average biological information measurement value indicates the average value of each item of the biological information measurement value during the aggregation period.

  Judgment information (individual feeding) is composed of four parameters from the average feeding amount to the average number of feedings using the cat ID as a key. Are the determination information in the case of cat food, and the third average feeding amount and the fourth average feeding number are the determination information in the case where the food and drink are water.

  Each parameter in the determination information (individual feeding) will be described. The average feed amount indicates the average value of the daily feed amount during the aggregation period. The average number of times of feeding indicates the average value of the number of times of feeding per day during the aggregation period. The above-described judgment information (individual excretion) and judgment information (individual feeding) are collectively expressed as judgment information (individual).

  Returning to the description of FIG. 7, the cat information output unit 327 outputs to the server 10 the information shown in the excretion DB and the feed DB stored by the individual cat information management unit 324. The determination information acquisition unit 323 acquires the determination information (homogeneous excretion) and the determination information (homogeneous feeding) from the server 10, and acquires the determination information (individual) from the individual cat information management unit 324. The judgment information (same kind excretion) and the judgment information (same kind feeding) are judgment information based on state information of other cats and the like. The judgment information (same kind excretion) and the judgment information (same kind feeding) are collectively expressed as judgment information (same kind). Details of the determination information (same type) will be described later.

  The comparison unit 325 compares the state information with the determination information, and outputs a comparison result to the comparison result output unit 326. The comparison result output unit 326 outputs the comparison result output by the comparison unit 325 to a display device or another device.

  The user information registration unit 328 acquires the nationality, gender, date of birth, and first and last name of the cat owner input by the user. The user information output unit 329 outputs each piece of information obtained by the user information registration unit 328 to the server 10. The cat attribute information registration unit 330 acquires the type, gender, date of birth, and name of the cat input by the user. The kind ID is an ID for identifying a kind uniquely assigned to a cat kind. The gender indicates the gender of the cat. The date of birth indicates the date of birth of the cat. The name indicates the name of a cat.

  The cat attribute information output unit 331 outputs each information acquired by the cat attribute information registration unit 330 to the server 10. The toilet information registration unit 332 acquires the toilet ID, the use start date of the animal toilet 20, and the date and time of replacement of the seat, which are input by the user. The toilet ID is identification information uniquely assigned to the toilet. The replacement date and time indicates the date and time when the seat was replaced in the toilet indicated by the toilet ID. The toilet information output unit 333 outputs each piece of information acquired by the toilet information registration unit 332 to the server 10. The sheet replacement date and time is input by the user every time the sheet is replaced.

  FIG. 9 is a data table showing a specific example of the state information table. The state information table is a data table that is stored by the state information management unit 305 and includes a cat ID, excretion operation information, excretion detection information, and time information. The data items of the cat ID, the number of preparatory excretion operations, the excretion operation information (entry date and time, exit date and time, excretion start date and time, excretion end date and time), and excretion detection information (excretion presence / absence) have been described with reference to FIG. I do. The status information table may store data items other than those described above.

  FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the server 10. The server 10 includes a cat information receiving unit 341, a user information receiving unit 342, a cat attribute information receiving unit 343, a toilet information receiving unit 344, an entire cat information managing unit 345, a registered information managing unit 346, a determination information providing unit 347, and a cat. An information providing unit 348 is provided. Note that the server 10 receives information on cats owned by each owner in order to communicate with the portable terminal 21 of each owner.

  In addition, the server 10 includes an arithmetic device (for example, a CPU), a storage device (for example, a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD)), an RTC, a communication device, a display device, an input device, and the like. . The processing executed by the server 10 is executed by the arithmetic device. The storage device stores a program for controlling the server 10, various information, and the like.

  The cat information receiving unit 341 receives the information output from the cat information output unit 327 of the mobile terminal 21 and outputs the information to the entire cat information management unit 345. The information output by the cat information output unit 327 is information shown in the excretion DB and the feed DB shown in FIG.

  The whole cat information management unit 345 stores the information output to the cat information reception unit 341 in a storage device. Therefore, the excretion DB and the feed DB shown in FIG. The whole cat information management unit 345 uses the excretion DB and the feeding DB to generate determination information (same type of excretion, same type of feeding) for determining the health condition of the animal. The judgment information (same kind excretion) and the judgment information (same kind feeding) are collectively expressed as judgment information (same kind). Details of the determination information (same type) will be described later.

  The user information receiving unit 342 receives the information output from the user information output unit 329 of the mobile terminal 21 and outputs the information to the registration information management unit 346. The cat attribute information receiving unit 343 receives the information output by the cat attribute information output unit 331 of the mobile terminal 21, and outputs the information to the registration information management unit 346. The toilet information receiving unit 344 receives the information output by the toilet information output unit 333 of the mobile terminal 21 and outputs the information to the registration information management unit 346. The registration information management unit 346 stores information output by the user information reception unit 342, the cat attribute information reception unit 343, and the toilet information reception unit 344 in a storage device.

  The determination information providing unit 347 provides the determination information (of the same type) to the mobile terminals 21, 40, the PC 41, and the like. The cat information providing unit 348 provides the information shown in the excretion DB and the feed DB stored in the server 10 to the mobile terminals 21, 40, the PC 41, and the like.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a database stored in the storage device of the server 10. FIG. 11A shows the excretion DB. FIG. 11B is a diagram illustrating a feeding DB. The excretion DB and the feeding DB have the same configuration as the excretion DB and the feeding DB in FIG. FIG. 11C illustrates the user DB. The user DB is a DB for recording various information related to the user. The user DB includes a user ID, a nationality, a gender, a date of birth, and a first and last name. The user ID is an ID for identifying a user uniquely assigned to the user at the time of user registration.

  FIG. 11D is a diagram illustrating the product type DB. The type DB includes a type ID and a type name. The variety ID is an ID for identifying a variety name uniquely assigned to a variety name (including a hybrid). FIG. 11E is a diagram showing the cat DB. The cat DB includes a cat ID, a user ID, a kind ID, a gender, a date of birth, and a name. The user ID shown in the cat DB is the user ID of the cat owner corresponding to the cat ID.

  FIG. 11F is a diagram illustrating the toilet DB. The toilet DB includes a toilet ID and a user ID. The user ID indicated by the toilet ID is the user ID of the owner of the toilet corresponding to the toilet ID. FIG. 11G is a diagram illustrating the sheet DB. The sheet DB includes a toilet ID and a replacement date and time.

  The whole cat information management unit 345 uses the excretion DB and the feed DB to generate determination information (same type) for determining the health state of the animal. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the determination information stored in the storage device of the server 10. FIG. 12A shows the determination information (homogeneous excretion), and FIG. 12B shows the determination information (homogeneous feeding). The determination information shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B is an average value of the parameters shown in the excretion DB and the feeding DB. The totaling period may be set arbitrarily. For example, the entire cat information management unit 345 totals the average value of the parameter every three months.

  Judgment information (homogeneous excretion) is provided for each birth year using the variety ID as a key. Therefore, the determination information (homogeneous excretion) is the determination information for each birth year of each variety.

  Each parameter in the determination information (individual excretion) will be described. The average stay time indicates the average time from the entry date and time to the exit date and time in the counting period. The average stop time indicates the average time from the stop start date and time to the stop end date and time in the counting period. The average excretion time indicates an average time from the excretion start date and time to the excretion end date and time in the counting period. The average number of excretions indicates the average value of the number of excretions per day in the counting period. The average excretion behavior measurement value indicates an average value in the aggregation period of each item of the excretion behavior measurement value different from the stop time, the number of excretions, and the excretion time. The average excretion measurement value indicates the average value of each item of the excretion measurement value during the aggregation period. The average biological information measurement value indicates the average value of each item of the biological information measurement value during the aggregation period.

  The determination information (feed of the same kind) is provided for each birth year using the variety ID as a key. Therefore, the determination information (feeding of the same kind) is the determination information for each breed's birth year.

  The judgment information (the same kind of feeding) includes four parameters from the average amount of feeding to the average number of times of feeding, but the first average amount of feeding and the second average number of times of feeding are judgment information when the food and drink are cat food. The third average feed amount and the fourth average number of times of feeding are determination information when the food and drink are water.

  Each parameter in the determination information (individual feeding) will be described. The average feed amount indicates the average value of the daily feed amount during the aggregation period. The average number of times of feeding indicates the average value of the number of times of feeding per day during the aggregation period.

  The operation of an application (hereinafter, referred to as a “cat application”) that operates on the mobile terminal 21 will be described. The animal litter box 20 detects the animal state information and transmits the information to the portable terminal 21. The mobile terminal 21 displays the received animal state information by the cat application. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the portable terminal 21 when it is determined that an abnormality has occurred. The display example of a compares the number of times of urinating action (the action becomes almost stationary) with the number of times of urine excretion (change in the excretion time) while the cat enters the toilet. However, this is a screen displayed when urine is emitted less frequently for urination behavior. The display example of b shows the time from when the cat using the animal litter 20 enters to urinate, and the average time between the entry of the cat using the other animal litter 20 and urination. , Is a screen displayed when there is a difference equal to or greater than the threshold value. In FIG. 13, for example, the time when the tama (cat name) enters the animal litter box 20, the number of excretion preparatory operations, the number of excretions, and the determination result of the health condition are displayed. For this reason, by displaying a screen like the display example in FIG. 13, the user (for example, the cat owner) may have no urine even if the cat tries to urinate in addition to the cat's health condition. You can recognize that there is.

  When the server 10 receives various kinds of information from the animal litter box 20 and determines the cat's health, the server 10 sends a message to the portable terminal 21 when the cat's health is determined to be abnormal. To send a notification. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a display example when the server 10 notifies the portable terminal 21 of an abnormality. The display example of a is an example in which, when the portable terminal 21 receives the notification from the server 10, the application installed on the portable terminal 21 displays the notification with an icon. In the display example b, when the mobile terminal 21 receives an application execution instruction (selection of an application icon, etc.), the application is activated and displays the notification content (result that the cat's health condition is determined to be abnormal). This is an example. In FIG. 14, for example, the time required for the tama (cat name) to enter the animal litter box 20, the time required for excretion, the average time required for excretion of the same cat species, and the health condition determination result are shown. Is displayed.

  Further, excretion information of a cat using the animal litter box 20 may be displayed on the portable terminal 21. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a display example of cat excretion information. For example, the display example of “a” indicates the average number of excretions of cats using the animal litter box 20 (the number of times the cat enters the toilet and the number of detections of excretion per day), and the average staying time of the cat litter 20 ( This is an example in which comparison results of the urination time of other cats or general cats and cats using the animal litter box 20 and the number of times urination could not be performed are shown. In FIG. 15, for example, the average number of times a tama (cat name) has entered the animal litter box 20 per day, the average time spent in the animal litter box 20, and the average time required to excrete the same cat species The result of comparison as to whether or not the urination time is long, the number of times that urination could not be performed, and the determination result of the health condition are displayed. In the display example of b, when there is an abnormality in the comparison result, the result shows an excretion tendency (output such as "The urination tends to be long" or "The number of times that urination could not be performed frequently") and a coping method This is an example in which the proposal (output for prompting a visit to a hospital) is presented together with the display example of a. The presentation of the information by the mobile terminal 21 may be not only a display on the display but also a sound or vibration from a speaker.

  As described above, by the mobile terminal 21 presenting the information regarding the excretion behavior in the cat's animal litter box 20, the user (owner of the animal) can confirm that the animal is different from the normal state, or that the other animal, or It is possible to recognize in more detail whether the state is different from a general standard or the like.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating processing for determining a health condition.
First, the state information management unit 305 acquires state information including action information (step S101). The determination information obtaining unit 323 obtains the determination information (Step S102). The state information management unit 305 calculates excretion time information based on the behavior information, the excretion detection information, and the excretion behavior information (Step S103). The state information management unit 305 determines whether or not the time included in the excretion time information and representing the stopped state in which the animal does not move to start excretion is within the time required for excretion of the past animal ( Step S104). If the time of the stop state is within the time required for excretion of the past animal, the state information management unit 305 determines that the possibility that the animal is healthy is high (step S105). The application displays the determination result (animal health state) of the state information management unit 305 to the user (Step S106). When the time of the stop state exceeds the time required for excretion of the past animal, the state information management unit 305 determines that the possibility that the animal is sick is high (step S107). After that, the processing makes a transition to Step S506.

  FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing of the animal state determination device. Note that FIG. 17 illustrates a case where the data is analyzed not by the state information management unit 305 but by the entire cat information management unit 345 of the server 10. The animal litter box 20 measures the data of the excretion measurement value and the excretion behavior measurement value (step S201). Next, the animal litter box 20 sends the measured data to the portable terminal 21 (step S202). The mobile terminal 21 stores the acquired data (Step S203). The mobile terminal 21 sends the measurement data to the server 10 (Step S204). The server 10 stores the received data. Then, the server 10 analyzes the received data by the whole cat information management unit 345 (step S205). The server 10 stores the result of analyzing the data (Step S206). The server 10 specifies the presentation information associated with the analysis result (Step S207). The data analysis may be performed by the mobile terminal 21. By analyzing the data with the portable terminal 21, it is not necessary to perform communication each time for the analysis, so that it can be used offline. The server 10 sends the analysis result and the presentation information to the mobile terminal 21 (Step S208). The mobile terminal 21 displays at least one of the analysis result and the presentation information to the user (Step S209).

FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing of the animal state determination device. The description of the processing described in FIG. 19 is omitted.
The animal litter box 20 performs step S201. Next, the animal litter box 20 sends the measurement data to the server 10 (step S301). The server 10 stores the received measurement data (Step S302). The mobile terminal 21 notifies the server 10 of a measurement data analysis request (step S303). Thereafter, the processing of steps S205 to S209 is performed. The analysis of the measurement data may be performed before receiving the analysis request. Thereby, since only the server 10 stores the measurement data, the processing load on the mobile terminal 21 is reduced.

  According to the animal state determination device configured as described above, by including the state information management unit 305, the behavior information, the excretion detection information detected by the excretion detection unit 301, and the excretion detection unit 302 detect the excretion detection information. Obtain excretion behavior measurements. In addition, determination information is obtained by including the determination information obtaining unit 323. The state information management unit 305 calculates excretion time information based on the behavior information, the excretion detection information, and the excretion behavior information. Further, the state information management unit 305 calculates a time required for excretion of past animals based on the determination information. Therefore, for example, when the time included in the excretion time information indicating the stopped state in which the animal does not move to start excretion is less than the time required for excretion of the past animal, Can be determined to be highly likely to be healthy. For example, when the time included in the excretion time information and indicating the stopped state in which the animal does not move to start excretion exceeds the time required for excretion of the past animal, the state information management unit 305 determines that the animal is healthy. It is possible to determine that there is a high possibility that this is not the case. By confirming these determination results, the user can know the health condition of the animal.

[Modification]
The state information management unit 305 partially differentiates the change in increase / decrease in the excretion behavior information, so that the time of entry, the time of wandering before excretion, the time of a stopped state immediately before excretion, the time of start of excretion, the time of end of excretion, and the exit May be calculated.
The state information management unit 305 may store at least one of the behavior information and the excretion time information.
If the information on the excretion behavior measurement value acquired from the excretion operation detection unit 302 is an abnormal value exceeding a predetermined threshold, the state information management unit 305 may exclude the abnormal value when calculating the excretion time information.

  If the animal litter box 20 can communicate with the server 10, the animal litter box 20 may have a buffered entry date / time, exit date / time, excretion start date / time, excretion end date / time, stop start date / time, stop end date / time, excretion status, and The number of preparatory excretion operations at the time of entry may be directly output to the server 10. The animal litter box 20 may output the buffered information to the server 10 only when the communication with the mobile terminal 21 is not possible. In addition, when the data amount of the buffered information of the animal litter box reaches a predetermined value (for example, tens of percent of the bufferable data capacity), the animal litter box 20 sends the above information to the server 10 or the portable terminal 21. May be output.

The processing of the animal state determination device in the above-described embodiment may be realized by a computer. In that case, a program for realizing this function may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on this recording medium may be read and executed by a computer system. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, and a CD-ROM, and a storage device such as a hard disk built in a computer system. Further, a “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a communication line for transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, which dynamically holds the program for a short time. Such a program may include a program that holds a program for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory in a computer system serving as a server or a client in that case. The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above, or may be a program that can realize the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system, It may be realized using a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).
In the above-described embodiment, each function of the mobile terminal 21 may be configured to be included in the server 10. For example, when the mobile terminal 21 displays a web site provided by the server 10 using a browser, the mobile terminal 21 transmits and receives information to and from the server 10, and transmits information received from the server 10 to a display of the mobile terminal 21. The server 10 may include an output unit that outputs from a speaker and a receiving unit that receives input and operation from a user, and each function illustrated in FIG. 7 such as determination and comparison of a health state based on excretion information may be included in the server 10. With such a configuration, it is possible to provide a system that achieves the same effect as the above-described system without installing a special application on the mobile terminal 21 side.

  As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments, and includes a design and the like within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention.

10 server 20 animal toilet 21, 40 portable terminal 22 feeder 30 network 41 PC
100 Animal condition determination system 301 Excretion detection unit 302 Excretion operation detection unit 303 Cat ID acquisition unit 305 Status information management unit 306 Status information output unit 312 Food weight detection unit 313 Water weight detection unit 314 Cat ID acquisition unit 316 Feeding information management unit 317 Feed information output unit 321 State information reception unit 322 Feed information reception unit 323 Judgment information acquisition unit 324 Individual cat information management unit 325 Comparison unit 326 Comparison result output unit 327 Cat information output unit 328 User information registration unit 329 User information output unit 330 Cat Attribute information registration unit 331 Cat attribute information output unit 332 Toilet information registration unit 333 Toilet information output unit 341 Cat information reception unit 342 User information reception unit 343 Cat attribute information reception unit 344 Toilet information reception unit 345 Whole cat information management unit 346 Registration information Management unit 347 Judgment information providing unit 348 Cat Information Provision Department

Claims (5)

An excretion time information relating to the excretion time of the animal, and determination information for determining the health condition of the animal,
Based on the excretion time information and the determination information, a determination unit that determines the health state of the animal,
An output unit that outputs information based on a determination result by the determination unit,
An animal state determination device comprising: 2. The animal according to claim 1, wherein the excretion time information is information indicating a staying time of the animal staying in the animal litter box and a resting time of the animal remaining in the animal litter box immediately before excretion. 3. State determination device. The determination information is information based on a past stay time of the animal, a past rest time of the animal, a past stay time of another animal, or a past rest time of the other animal. 3. The animal condition determination device according to 2. The animal state judging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the stay time and the rest time are calculated based on an output of an excretion behavior measurement device that measures the behavior of a cat provided in the own device. On the computer,
An excretion time information obtaining step of obtaining excretion information on the excretion time of the animal,
A determination information obtaining step of obtaining determination information for determining the health condition of the animal,
A determining step of determining a health condition of the animal based on the excretion information and the determination information;
An output step of outputting information based on the determination result;
The program to execute.

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