JP4037834B2 - Lost child prevention search system and route guidance system and automatic police box system using them - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is a search for lost children that check each other's whereabouts, and the way to the destination when the accompanying children get lost or between friends like in urban hustle and amusement parks. The present invention relates to a system for providing a service for providing directions to an unknown person.

  Conventionally, the main services that have been carried out in ordinary police boxes are lost child and elderly lost child search and route guidance.

  With regard to lost child searches, especially when the accompanying small children get lost or get away with each other, such as in urban hustle and amusement parks, the parent and child each have a mobile phone or PHS. If possible, it was possible to mutually confirm the whereabouts.

  Further, a stray child having an RF-ID storing an identification code, a register for writing information in the RF-ID, a discovery contact for reading the RF-ID signal and displaying a requirement, and a controller for controlling them. There is a discovery communication system for meeting people (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Also, there is a system for detecting and reporting the location of a person or an object by inputting an ID number from a vending machine at an amusement park and transmitting it to a center (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  For road guidance, car navigation systems (car navigation systems) used in cars are becoming popular. Shipments in 1998 recorded 1.352,000 units, an increase of 17.9% from the previous year. Its functions are highly sophisticated such as those with communication functions and map representations with bird's-eye view functions.

A car navigation system has a route search engine that has an internal representation that expresses an automobile road with nodes (intersections) and links (roads that connect the intersections) and calculates the shortest route when a starting point and a destination are input. In the case of a car driver, it is easy to navigate based on the intersection such as “turn right next” or “turn left at the next intersection”.
JP 2000-232519 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-3572

  However, when searching for a lost child, if at least one of the friends does not have a mobile phone like a child, it is impossible to confirm whereabouts with the mobile phone or PHS.

  The use of an IC tag can be considered as a method for mutually confirming whereabouts between people who do not have a mobile phone or PHS. Each friend has an IC tag, and an IC tag reader is installed in the town, and his / her own position information is input to the IC tag reader as appropriate. IC tag reader information is sent to the server, and when you want to know where your peers are, search the server information to get information on which IC tag reader was most recently. This makes it easy to find lost children and friends.

  However, at present, the cost of IC tags and IC tag readers is still high, and there is a problem that cost effectiveness cannot be obtained when considering the business model of services.

  In order to find a specific store like a tavern in a shopping street in the street, you can use vending machines that are usually installed in units of several tens of meters instead of using the intersection as a node. Easy to explain as a node. For example, it is natural to say, “There is a vending machine 30 meters to the right, and there is a shop that is a little beyond that”.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a lost child prevention search system that confirms the location of each other when a companion child gets lost in an urban hustle or amusement park, or between friends, and a route to the destination. It is an object of the present invention to provide a route guidance system for guiding a route to a person who does not know the situation, and an automatic police box system using them.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, in the present invention, a lost child prevention search and route guidance system using an IC tag is constructed using a vending machine in the city. When the present invention is incorporated into a vending machine in the city, the vending machine is equipped with a billing function, and it becomes easy to charge the cost of the service realized by the present invention from the user. The problem of computerization can be solved all at once.

  In order to realize such a service, the vending machine needs to be equipped with an IC tag reader and an IC tag creation unit. In addition, it is necessary to connect vending machines in the city to servers via networks. On the other hand, the server needs to perform processing corresponding to information storage requests and search requests from individual vending machines.

  Many such vending machines are already installed in the city, and there is a mechanism in which each vending machine is already connected to the center via PHS for inventory management. This is realistic because no new investment is required.

  The present invention has an effect of effectively utilizing vending machines that exist in many street corners as unmanned police boxes in Japan. In particular, by connecting a vending machine instead of using it alone, it is possible to provide services that allow vending machines to navigate in conjunction with distance guidance and find lost children far away. This is an important effect of the present invention.

  In the case of unmanned police box, these services need to be provided free of charge, so it is necessary to realize it with the budget of the local government. However, if the number of police boxes can be reduced, a budget saving effect can be obtained.

  As for route guidance, it is not positioned as a police box, but when a nearby store performs as part of its own store service, the registered stores invest in each other, which also has an effect as an advertising medium.

  In the case of a lost child search, there is an effect that the vending machine is provided with a service for searching each other for a companion who does not have a mobile phone or PHS.

  It can also be a paid service. In this case, since the vending machine is used, the price of the service can be easily obtained by using the charging function of the vending machine. The method of issuing IC tags to users can use the same mechanism that passes products from vending machines to users like juices and sweets as a product sold by vending machines, and is consistent with vending machines. very good.

  Next, the best mode of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The principle of the lost child search of the present invention is as follows. A user (eg, a mother) comes to the city with a child and goes in front of a vending machine to purchase lost child prevention and search services. When the user pays a vending machine a specified amount (for example, the service is continuously performed at 100 yen for 1 hour), two IC tags are provided from the vending machine. The IC tag is affixed to the clothes by the user and the child one by one. When a user and a child are separated from each other in a busy street, the child goes to a nearby vending machine and presents his IC tag to the vending machine. Information about which vending machine is in front is sent to the server. On the other hand, when the mother notices that she lost sight of her child, she goes to a nearby vending machine and presents her IC tag to the vending machine, indicating which vending machine the tag holder is in front of. Information is sent to the server. Mothers and children each know where their partner is and can easily meet again.

  FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the lost child search system of the present invention. The IC tag issue management unit 11, the IC tag progress management unit 12, the vending machine installation location information map 13, and the server clock 14 are installed in the server 10 of the center. Other than that, it is installed in one vending machine 20. There is a network connection between the server and the vending machine. Since a small amount of information is transmitted and received by communication, a network connection via PHS is sufficient. In today's vending machines, it is common to use PHS to notify the center of the inventory status in the vending machine, and this can be achieved by using these devices.

  The service use application from the user is received by the service application receiving unit 21 of the vending machine 20. The location registration request accepting unit 22 accepts a command for registering the user's own location information. The position detection request receiving unit 23 receives a command from the user to search for the position of his / her companion.

  The IC tag creation unit 24 is a machine that issues an IC tag in which designated contents are written, and a normal commercially available one may be used. The clock 25 and the server internal clock 14 are ordinary clocks that can present the current time. The charging unit 26 may use a charging device incorporated in a normal vending machine as it is. The IC tag reading unit 27 is a machine that reads the contents of the IC tag presented by the user, and a normal commercially available one may be used. The vending machine name storage unit 28 records a name or ID number uniquely assigned to each vending machine and can be realized by a normal register memory.

  The vending machine installation location information map 13 in the server 10 includes a geographical area covered by the service according to the present invention, and is a normal map in which detailed information on the position of the vending machine is described.

  Of the present invention, the IC tag issue management unit 11, the IC tag progress management unit 12, the service application reception unit 21, the location registration request reception unit 22, and the location detection request reception unit 23 operate actively. Hereinafter, the operation of these five will be described with reference to a flowchart.

  In FIG. 2, when the IC tag issue management unit 11 is instructed by the service application accepting unit 21 to issue a new tag with a start time and an end time, the name of the IC tag that is not currently used is displayed. Two are created, and four sets of the service start time and the service end time, which are appended with the two, are recorded and saved as one record (S11).

  When the IC tag name is passed from the position detection request accepting unit 23 and an instruction to present a paired IC tag name is given, the parent IC tag name or child IC is selected from the four records stored. The tag name is checked to see if the IC tag name passed exists, and if it does not exist, it is notified (S12). If there is, the current time is checked with reference to the server clock 14 to check whether the current time is between the service start time and the service end time in the four sets of records. If not, the fact that it does not exist is notified (S13). If the current time is in between, the IC tag name paired with the IC tag name passed in the four sets of records is returned (S14).

  In FIG. 3, when the IC tag progress management unit 12 receives an instruction from the location registration request accepting unit 22 to add the IC tag name, the vending machine name, the current time, and newly register the location information. (S21), a record in which the passed IC tag name, vending machine name, and current time are made into three sets is created and recorded (S22).

  When the IC tag name is added from the position detection request receiving unit 23 and an instruction to search the position information is received (S23), a record including the IC tag name is selected from the three records stored. All are searched, and a list is created in which the vending machines in the record and the values of the input time are rearranged in order of oldest input time (S24). Information indicating the position of the vending machine in the retrieved record is added to the vending machine installation location information map 13 and output together with the list (S25).

  In FIG. 4, the service application receiving unit 21 requests the charging unit 26 to charge when receiving an application for new use from the user. The billing unit 26 is notified that billing has been completed normally (S31). With reference to the clock 25, the current time is set as the service start time (S32). The time length corresponding to the billing accepted by the billing unit 26 is calculated, and the time obtained by adding the time length to the service start time is set as the service end time (S33). A service start time and a service end time are added to the IC tag issue management unit 11 and an application for issuing a new tag is made (S34). When the parent IC tag name and the child IC tag name are received from the IC tag issue management unit 11, the IC tag creation unit 24 is instructed to issue a tag corresponding to the tag name (S35). The issued IC tag is delivered to the user (S36).

  In FIG. 5, when the location registration request accepting unit 22 is instructed by the user to register its own location (S41), the user's IC tag is passed to the IC tag reader 27 and the IC tag name is set. Read (S42). The current time is read from the clock 25, the vending machine name is taken out from the vending machine name storage unit 28, three pieces of information are added together with the IC tag name, and the IC tag progress management unit 12 is instructed to add a new record. (S43).

  In FIG. 6, when the position detection request accepting unit 23 is presented with an IC tag by the user and requested to present the position information of the holder of the paired IC tag (S51), the IC tag is converted into the IC tag. The data is transferred to the reader 27 and the IC tag name is examined (S52). The IC tag issue management unit 11 is instructed to pass the IC tag name and present the paired IC tag name. If the answer is that the corresponding tag name does not exist, the fact is notified to the user (S53). If the corresponding tag name exists, the tag name is added, and the IC tag progress management unit 12 is instructed to reply with the name of the vending machine that input the tag name and the input time (S54). The answer result of the IC tag progress management unit 12 is presented to the user (S55).

  Next, an unmanned police box system that combines the lost child search system and the route guidance system described below will be described. FIG. 7 represents a selection panel for a vending machine incorporating the unmanned police box system of the present invention. When the user selects “Lost child search”, the service described above is provided. When the user selects “way guidance”, the service described below is provided.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the road guidance system of the present invention. On the premise that vending machines are connected by a network, a road inquiry request is first registered in an IC tag with a unique name (called a question ID). For this reason, when you are navigating several vending machines in a row (for example, “There is a vending machine after 10 meters, but if you turn left at the intersection there, There ’s another vending machine about 15 meters away, and it ’s as soon as you turn to the right. ”) If you ’re looking for a way to get lost, When you approach the machine and hold the IC tag with your question ID registered, it will explain the route from the vending machine to the destination again. This function is convenient because an IC tag is issued for each request for route guidance, and an explanation of how to get to the destination is started immediately by approaching the vending machine and holding the IC tag.

  FIG. 9 shows the configuration of the route guidance system of the present invention. 31 is a vending machine vs store correspondence table in the server 30, 32 is a vending machine movement explanation storage part in the server 30, 33 is a question ID vs destination correspondence table in the server 30, and 40 is a vending machine. .

  The vending machine 40 is uniquely assigned to each vending machine, an IC tag creation unit that issues an IC tag in which specified content is written, an IC tag reading unit that reads the content of the IC tag presented by the user, and A vending machine ID storage unit for recording the ID number, and a display unit for displaying the explanation text of the route guidance or a voice output unit for outputting by voice. It is assumed that there are a plurality of vending machines 40, which are connected via a network, and information on 31, 32, and 33 is shared among the vending machines. In the figure, 31, 32, and 33 are connected by the server 30 with dotted lines. Actually, implementation methods such as a file server and a database server are common, but there are other implementation methods in which one vending machine also serves as a server.

  VM in 31 and 32 is an abbreviation for Vending Machine (vending machine). The vending machine vs store correspondence table 31, the vending machine movement explanation storage unit 32, and the question ID vs destination correspondence table 33 can be realized by any of a main memory, a file, and a database.

  In the vending machine vs. store correspondence table 31, the store may be a store name such as “Izakaya ABC”, but may also be a phone number of the store (eg “03-123-4567”). For example, a person looking for a tavern may know a phone number.

  The question ID in the question ID vs destination correspondence table 33 is a unique number (for example, 13653) inside the IC tag held by the user. The vending machine 40 includes an IC tag reader.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the route guidance processing according to the present invention. When a person searching for a route inputs a destination such as a store name or a telephone number to the vending machine 40, the data is sent to the server 30. The server 30 receives the destination data, creates a question ID paired with the destination as an unused unique IC tag name, stores it as a pair in the question ID vs destination correspondence storage unit 33, and vending machine A question ID paired with the destination is returned to 40 (S61).

  The vending machine 40 receives the question ID paired with the destination, instructs the IC tag creation unit to create an IC tag in which the question ID is recorded as the IC tag name, and the created IC tag. To the user. When the user presents the issued IC tag to the vending machine, the question ID is read by the IC tag reading unit and sent to the server 30. The server 30 searches the question ID vs destination correspondence storage unit 33 and asks the question ID. A destination corresponding to the ID is found and the destination is temporarily saved (S62).

  The server 30 retrieves the temporarily stored destination, searches the vending machine vs. store correspondence table 31, finds the vending machine ID closest to the destination, and temporarily stores it (S63). Next, the server 30 searches the vending machine change explanation storage unit 32, takes out the explanation with the vending machine ID at the current location as the starting point and the temporarily stored vending machine ID as the destination, and automatically The vending machine 40 temporarily stores the explanatory text (S64). Then, the vending machine 40 presents the temporarily saved explanation to the person who is looking for a way (S65).

It is a block diagram of the lost child search system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process of an IC tag issue management part. It is a flowchart which shows the process of an IC tag progress management part. It is a flowchart which shows the process of a service application reception part. It is a flowchart which shows the process of a position registration request | requirement reception part. It is a flowchart which shows the process of a position detection request | requirement reception part. It is a figure showing the selection panel of the unmanned police box system of this invention. It is a figure explaining the principle of the route guidance system of this invention. It is a block diagram of the route guidance system of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the route guidance process by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10,30 Server 11 IC tag issue management part 12 IC tag progress management part 13 Vending machine installation place information map 14 Clock in server 20, 40 Vending machine 21 Service application reception part 22 Location registration request reception part 23 Position detection request reception Unit 24 IC tag creation unit 25 clock 26 billing unit 27 IC tag reading unit 28 vending machine name storage unit

Claims (6)

A lost child prevention search system in which a plurality of vending machines that issue IC tags and a server that issues and manages the IC tags are network-connected,
The server
When the IC tag issue command, service start time, and service end time are received, two unique IC tag names that are not used are created, and four sets of records are created and recorded together with the service start time and service end time. When the command to store and respond to the paired IC tag name is received together with the IC tag name, the IC tag name is the parent IC tag name or child IC tag name from the four records stored. 4 sets included in any of the above are retrieved, the value of the clock in the server is read, and it is confirmed that the value is included between the searched 4 sets of service start time and service end time. An IC tag issue management unit that outputs the name of the paired IC tag stored in, and outputs that the corresponding paired IC tag name does not exist;
When an IC tag holder's progress status storage command is given together with an IC tag name, a specific vending machine name, and time, it is recorded and stored as three sets of records, and the IC tag holder's progress instruction command is stored along with the IC tag name. An IC tag progress management unit that takes out three sets of records having the IC tag name from the three sets stored and stored, and sorts and outputs the records in time order;
The vending machine is
A clock that holds the current time,
When an IC tag name is designated, an IC tag creation unit that issues a tag in which the tag name is written;
An IC tag reading unit for reading the contents when the IC tag is passed;
A vending machine name storage unit storing a unique name for each vending machine;
When the user's service application is accepted, the time is read from the clock and held as a service start time, and a predetermined elapsed time is added to the current time and held as a service end time. An IC tag issue command is issued to the IC tag issue management unit with two times of the time and the service end time, and two IC tag names of a parent IC tag name and a child IC tag name are received as a response to the command, Instructing the IC tag creation unit to create two IC tags in which the two IC tag names are recorded, and a service application acceptance unit that passes the created IC tag to the user;
When receiving a location registration command while presenting an IC tag from a user having an IC tag issued by the service application accepting unit or an accompanying person, the IC tag reading unit reads the IC tag name, and the IC tag A position where the name, the name of the vending machine stored in the vending machine name storage unit, and the current time held by the clock are extracted to create three sets, and the IC tag progress management unit is instructed to store the record A registration request receiving unit;
When receiving an instruction to post the location of the accompanying person while posting the IC tag from either the user having the IC tag issued by the service application receiving unit or the accompanying person, the posted IC tag is An IC tag reading unit reads the tag name, passes the tag name to the IC tag issue management unit, issues a command to respond to the paired IC tag name, and if there is no pair, there is no paired tag To the user, and if present, receives the tag name of the pair from the tag issue management unit, and gives the IC tag progress management unit a command to present the pair tag name and the progress of the IC tag holder. A position detection request accepting unit that receives the vending machine installation location information map and presents it to the user, instructing and arranging the three sets of records in which the paired tag names are registered in order of time. Lost prophylaxis search system according to claim Rukoto. An IC tag issue management server of a lost child prevention search system in which a plurality of vending machines that issue IC tags are connected to a network,
When the IC tag issue command, service start time, and service end time are received, two unique IC tag names that are not used are created, and four sets of records are created and recorded together with the service start time and service end time. When the command to store and respond to the paired IC tag name is received together with the IC tag name, the IC tag name is the parent IC tag name or child IC tag name from the four records stored. 4 sets included in any of the above are retrieved, the value of the clock in the server is read, and it is confirmed that the value is included between the searched 4 sets of service start time and service end time. An IC tag issue management unit that outputs the name of the paired IC tag stored in, and outputs that the corresponding paired IC tag name does not exist;
When an IC tag holder's progress status storage command is given together with an IC tag name, a specific vending machine name, and time, it is recorded and stored as three sets of records, and the IC tag holder's progress instruction command is stored along with the IC tag name. An IC tag issue management server comprising: an IC tag progress management unit that takes out three sets having the IC tag name from three sets stored and stored, and sorts and outputs the records in time order . An IC tag issuing vending machine for a lost child prevention search system connected to a server that issues and manages IC tags,
A clock that holds the current time,
When an IC tag name is designated, an IC tag creation unit that issues a tag in which the tag name is written;
An IC tag reading unit for reading the contents when the IC tag is passed;
A vending machine name storage unit storing a unique name for each vending machine;
When the user's service application is accepted, the time is read from the clock and held as a service start time, and a predetermined elapsed time is added to the current time and held as a service end time. An IC tag issue command is issued to the server with both the time and service end time added, and two IC tag names, a parent IC tag name and a child IC tag name, are received as a response to the command, and the IC tag creation unit A service application receiving unit that instructs to create two IC tags that record the two IC tag names, and passes the created IC tags to the user;
When receiving a location registration command while presenting an IC tag from a user having an IC tag issued by the service application accepting unit or an accompanying person, the IC tag reading unit reads the IC tag name, and the IC tag A location registration request accepting unit that takes out three names, a vending machine name stored in the vending machine name storage unit and a current time held by the clock, creates three sets, and instructs the server to record and save When,
When receiving an instruction to post the location of the accompanying person while posting the IC tag from either the user having the IC tag issued by the service application receiving unit or the accompanying person, the posted IC tag is An IC tag reading unit reads the tag name, passes the tag name to the server, and issues a command to respond with the paired IC tag name. If there is no pair, the user confirms that there is no paired tag. If it exists, it receives the tag name of the pair from the server, instructs the server to present the tag name of the pair and the progress of the IC tag holder, and registers the tag name of the pair And a position detection request accepting unit for receiving a vending machine installation location information map and presenting it to the user. Issued a vending machine. A lost child prevention search method using an IC tag by a system in which a plurality of vending machines that issue IC tags and a server that issues and manages the IC tags are connected to a network,
When the vending machine accepts the user's service application, it reads the time from the clock and holds it as the service start time, adds the predetermined elapsed time to the start time and holds it as the service end time. A step of issuing an IC tag issue command to the server with the service start time and the service end time added;
When the server receives the IC tag issue command, the service start time, and the service end time, it creates two unused unique IC tag names, and includes four sets of records including the service start time and the service end time. Creating and keeping records,
The vending machine receives two IC tag names of a parent IC tag name and a child IC tag name as a response to the command, creates two IC tags in which the two IC tag names are recorded, and passes them to the user When,
When the vending machine accepts a location registration command while presenting an IC tag from a user having an issued IC tag or an accompanying person, the IC tag name is read, and the IC tag name and vending machine name are read. Taking out three of the name of the vending machine stored in the storage unit and the current time held by the clock, creating three sets, and instructing the server to record and save,
When the server is given an IC tag holder's progress status storage instruction together with an IC tag name, a specific vending machine name and time, recording and storing three sets of records;
When the vending machine accepts an instruction to post an IC tag from either a user having the issued IC tag or its companion and presenting the whereabouts of the companion, the read IC tag is read. Issuing a command to pass the tag name to the server and respond with a paired IC tag name;
When the server receives an instruction to respond with a paired IC tag name together with the IC tag name, the IC tag name is either the parent IC tag name or the child IC tag name from the four records stored. When the four sets included in the search are retrieved and the value of the clock in the server is read out, and it is confirmed that the value is included between the searched four sets of service start time and service end time, the values are stored in the four sets. Outputting a paired IC tag name, otherwise outputting that there is no corresponding IC tag name;
The vending machine informs the user that there is no paired tag if no IC tag name exists, and if present, receives the paired tag name from the server;
The vending machine instructing the server to provide a presentation command of the pair tag name and the history of the IC tag holder;
When the server is given an IC tag holder's progress presentation command together with the IC tag name, the server extracts three sets of records having the IC tag name from the three recorded records, sorts them in time order, and outputs them. Steps,
The vending machine receives the vending machine installation location information map, which is arranged in order of time from the three records in which the paired tag names are registered from the server, and presents it to the user. A lost child prevention search method characterized by including. A route guidance system in which a plurality of vending machines that issue IC tags and a server that issues and manages the IC tags are network-connected,
The server
A vending machine vs. store correspondence table that stores correspondence between a store to be searched by a person and a vending machine ID closest to the store;
An inter-vending machine movement explanation storage unit that stores route explanations on how to go from a vending machine ID as a starting point to a destination vending machine ID as a destination;
A question ID vs destination correspondence table for storing a pair of question IDs paired with a destination for which the user has inquired;
Upon receiving the destination from the vending machine, a question ID paired with the destination is created as an unused unique IC tag name, stored as a pair in the question ID vs destination correspondence storage unit, and Means for returning a question ID paired with the destination to the vending machine;
Receiving the question ID from the vending machine, searching the question ID vs destination correspondence storage unit to find the destination corresponding to the question ID, and searching the vending machine vs store correspondence table from the destination Then, find the vending machine ID closest to the destination, search the vending machine change description storage unit, and use the vending machine ID of the current location as the starting point, and the vending closest to the destination Means for taking out an explanatory note with the machine ID as the destination and sending it to the vending machine;
The vending machine is
When an IC tag name is designated, an IC tag creation unit that issues a tag in which the tag name is written;
An IC tag reading unit for reading the contents when the IC tag is passed;
A vending machine ID storage unit storing a unique vending machine ID for each vending machine;
When a destination is input from the user, the destination is sent to the server, and as a response, a question ID paired with the destination is received, and the question ID is sent to the IC tag creation unit as an IC tag A service application acceptance unit that instructs to create an IC tag recorded as a name, and passes the created IC tag to the user;
When an IC tag is presented by a user having an IC tag issued by the service application receiving unit, the question ID is read by an IC tag reading unit and sent to the server, and the explanatory text is received as a response, A route guidance system comprising means for presenting to a user.   An automatic police box system comprising the lost child prevention search system according to claim 1 and the route guidance system according to claim 5.

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