JP5037482B2 - Human body presence detection apparatus and human body presence detection method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a human body presence detection apparatus and a human body presence detection method having a function of determining whether or not a human body exists within a certain distance from a reference position.

  In recent years, from the viewpoint of energy saving measures, etc. for electronic devices that are operated by an operator such as a personal computer, it is possible to detect whether or not an operator exists in front of the electronic device without contact. Measures such as controlling the ON / OFF of the display are taken.

  As a method for detecting the presence of a human body such as an operator in a non-contact manner, for example, there is a method of extracting a human body image from a photographed image using a CCD camera or the like. This method has the advantage that the presence of a human body can be detected with certainty. However, a CCD camera or the like must be used, and an algorithm for extracting a human body image from a captured image becomes very complicated. The equipment becomes large and the cost is high.

  Therefore, a method for detecting the presence of a human body using a low-cost sensor has been studied. For example, a method using a pyroelectric infrared sensor has been proposed. However, this method using a pyroelectric infrared sensor is low in cost, but cannot specify the position, and it is difficult to detect the presence of a human body that is stationary.

Therefore, a method for detecting the presence of a human body by combining a plurality of sensors is sought, and a method of combining a pyroelectric sensor and an infrared distance measuring sensor (see Patent Document 1) or a moving object is detected based on a visible light image. A method of combining a moving body detection sensor that detects an amount of infrared rays or an infrared sensor that detects an amount of change in infrared rays (see Patent Document 2) has been proposed.
JP-A-8-338880 JP 2000-155177 A

  However, since the methods described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 both use a plurality of sensors in combination, as described above, the cost is inevitably high and the size can be reduced. Have difficulty.

  In addition, for electronic devices operated by an operator such as a personal computer, an electronic device such as detecting the presence of a human body that is an operator of the electronic device and controlling the display on / off of the display screen of the electronic device. There is also a demand to use for device control.

  Then, in such a case, it may be assumed that the operator leaves the electronic device in a short time and returns immediately. In such a case, simply using the detection result as to whether or not a human body is present may cause confusion.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to cope with the above-described situation, and can be realized at low cost, and detection of whether or not a human body exists can be performed by a human body as an operator. It is an object of the present invention to provide a human body presence detection device and a human body presence detection method that are easily adapted to control of electronic equipment.

  First, the human body presence detection apparatus of the present invention will be described. The human body presence detection device of the present invention is a human body presence detection device having a function of determining whether or not a human body exists within a certain distance from a reference position.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a human body presence detection apparatus 1 according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the human body presence detection device 1 includes a separation distance measurement unit 2, a determination result formation unit 3, a detection state information formation unit 4, a state transition pattern formation unit 5, and a determination unit 6.

  Among them, the separation distance measuring means 2 is installed at the reference position, and the separation distance from the reference position with respect to the existence position of the human body or the object 9 existing in a certain direction from the reference position is determined at every elapse of a certain time, that is, It has a function to measure at regular time intervals.

  The determination result forming unit 3 uses the above-described separation distance measurement unit 2 to determine the separation distance before the passage measured before and after the passage of a predetermined time and the separation measured at the passage of time after the measurement. By using the post-elapse separation distance, which is a distance, a function of performing the following processing is provided.

  That is, it is determined whether or not the separation distance after the passage is equal to or less than the certain distance, and whether or not the constant distance inside / outside determination result, which is information indicating the determination result, is substantially equal to the separation distance before the passage. And a motion determination result that is information indicating the determination result.

  The detection state information forming unit 4 has a function of forming detection state information including a constant distance inside / outside determination result formed by the determination result forming unit 3 and a movement / non-movement determination result.

  The state transition pattern forming unit 5 has a function of forming a state transition pattern from the previous detection state to the current detection state. The previous detection state is a detection state in detection state information formed by setting a time point before the elapse of a certain time from the latest measurement time point when the separation distance measuring unit 2 performs the measurement as a post-elapse measurement time point. The current detection state is a detection state in the current detection state information which is detection state information formed with the latest measurement time point as the measurement time point after the elapse of time.

  That is, the state transition pattern forming unit described above includes, as the detection state information, the previous detection state information at a point before a certain period of time has elapsed from the latest measurement point at which the separation distance measurement unit has performed measurement, and the current detection state at the latest measurement point. A state transition pattern is formed using the information.

  Then, the determination unit 6 selects the state transition pattern formed by the state transition pattern formation unit 5 that matches the reference state transition pattern stored in advance in association with the presence or absence of the human body. By doing so, it has a function of determining whether or not a human body exists within a certain distance from the reference position.

  In the human body presence detection apparatus 1 described above, the separation distance measuring means 2 used for measuring the separation distance from the reference position with respect to the presence position of the human body or the object 9 existing in a certain direction from the reference position is an infrared distance measurement. One distance measuring sensor such as a sensor or a laser beam distance measuring sensor may be used.

  Therefore, according to the human body presence detection device 1 described above, the distance from the reference position to the position of the human body or the object 9 existing in a certain direction from the reference position can be measured with one distance measurement sensor. Therefore, since it is not necessary to use a plurality of distance measuring sensors, the human body presence detection device can be realized at low cost.

  Further, whether or not a human body exists using a state transition pattern from the previous detection state at a time point before a certain time has elapsed from the latest measurement time point when the separation distance measuring unit 2 performs measurement to the current detection state at the latest measurement time point. Therefore, as described later, it is possible to determine whether or not a human body exists in the following state.

  That is, for example, when detecting the presence of an operator's human body in an electronic device operated by an operator such as a personal computer, it is assumed that the operator leaves the electronic device in a short time and returns immediately. However, it is possible to make a conditional judgment, which will be described later.

  In the above human body presence detection apparatus, it is reasonable to do the following. That is, the state transition pattern forming means detects when the past measurement time before the latest measurement time is the latest measurement time instead of the previous detection state information to form the state transition pattern. The current detection state information formed by the state information forming unit is used. This can be done for the following reason.

  That is, in the human body presence detection device, the determination result forming unit uses the pre-elapsed separation distance before the lapse of a predetermined time and the post-elapse separation distance after the lapse of time, so that the post-elapse separation distance is less than or equal to the predetermined distance. A fixed distance inside / outside determination result indicating whether or not there is, and a moving and static determination result indicating whether or not the pre-elapsed separation distance and the post-elapsed separation distance substantially coincide with each other are formed.

  The formation of the constant distance inside / outside determination result and the movement / non-execution determination result by the determination result forming unit is repeated every time a fixed time elapses, and using the formed constant distance inside / outside determination result and the movement / static determination result, detection state information is formed. Means form detection status information. In other words, the detection state information forming unit forms detection state information every time a predetermined time elapses.

  By the way, the state transition pattern forming means includes, as detection state information, previous detection state information that is detection state information at a time before a certain time elapses from the latest measurement time point when the separation distance measurement unit performs measurement, and at the latest measurement time point. This time detection state information which is detection state information is used.

  Then, the previous detection state information includes the current detection state information at the past time point formed by the detection state information forming means when the past time point before the latest measurement time point is the latest measurement time point. Since it is the same, it can be performed as described above.

  In the above human body presence detection apparatus, it is preferable to do the following. That is, the determination result inside / outside determination result formed by the determination result forming means indicates that the separation distance after the passage is “inside” if it is less than a certain distance, and “outside” if it is different from the certain distance or less, that is, not less than a certain distance. The result of the movement and static judgment is “static” when the post-elapse separation distance substantially matches the pre-elapse separation distance, and “moving” when the post-elapse separation distance is different from the pre-elapse separation distance. To do.

  These will be specifically described as follows. For example, when the human body is sitting on a chair or the like in front of the electronic device existing at the reference position as in the above example, the separation distance after the passage is equal to or less than a certain distance. Is “inside”. However, since the human body moves constantly to some extent, unlike a thing, the separation distance after the lapse differs from the separation distance before the lapse, so the movement determination result is “movement”.

  On the other hand, when there is only a chair or the like in front of the electronic device and there is no human body, the separation distance after the elapse is equal to or less than a certain distance, as described above. It becomes. However, since the chair, which is an object, does not move, the separation distance after the passage substantially coincides with the separation distance before the passage, and the result of the motion / static determination is “static”.

  Furthermore, if there is no human body or chair in front of the electronic device, and there is a human body or chair, etc. at a distance, the separation distance will not be less than a certain distance after the passage. Is “outside”, and if the human body is located at a distance, the motion determination result is “motion”, and if it is an object, it is “static”.

  In the human body presence detection apparatus, it is reasonable to do the following. That is, the detection state in the detection state information formed by the detection state information forming means is the first detection state in which the above-mentioned fixed distance inside / outside determination result and movement / non-movement determination result are composed of “in” and “motion”, respectively. 4 of a second detection state composed of “inside” and “static”, a third detection state composed of “outside” and “motion”, and a fourth detection state composed of “outside” and “static”. One of the two detection states is set.

  The above detection states will be specifically described based on the above example as follows. That is, since the first detection state is composed of “inside” and “movement”, the separation distance after the lapse is not more than a certain distance, and the separation distance after the lapse is different from the separation distance before the lapse. This is a state that does not match the previous separation distance (hereinafter, “different from the pre-elapsed separation distance” is expressed as “does not match the pre-elapsed separation distance”). In the above example, this is a case where a human body exists in a state of sitting on a chair or the like in front of the electronic device existing at the reference position.

  Since the second detection state is composed of “inside” and “static”, the post-elapse separation distance is equal to or less than a predetermined distance, and the post-elapse separation distance substantially coincides with the pre-elapse separation distance. This is a case where only an object such as a chair exists in front of the electronic device in the above example.

  Since the third detection state is composed of “outside” and “motion”, the separation distance after the passage is different from a certain distance or less, that is, not a certain distance or less (hereinafter, “different from a certain distance or less”). In addition, the post-elapse separation distance does not match the pre-elapse separation distance. In the above example, this is a case where a human body exists at a location away from the front of the electronic device.

  Since the fourth detection state is composed of “outside” and “static”, the post-elapse separation distance is not equal to or less than a predetermined distance, and the post-elapse separation distance is substantially equal to the pre-elapse separation distance. is there. In the above example, this is a case where only an object such as a chair exists in a place away from the front of the electronic device.

  By doing as described above, the human body presence detection device can be made simple and easy to understand.

  Furthermore, the human body presence detection in which the detection state in the detection state information formed by the detection state information forming unit is any one of the first detection state, the second detection state, the third detection state, and the fourth detection state. In the apparatus, it is preferable to do the following.

  That is, in the reference state transition pattern of the above-described human body presence detection apparatus, the following four patterns are stored in advance by the determination unit as patterns representing the presence of a human body within a certain distance from the reference position.

  These four patterns are the A1 state transition pattern in which the state transition pattern from the previous detection state in the previous detection state information to the current detection state in the current detection state information transitions from the first detection state to the first detection state, and the second detection. An A2 state transition pattern that transitions from the state to the first detection state, an A3 state transition pattern that transitions from the third detection state to the first detection state, and an A4 state transition pattern that transitions from the fourth detection state to the first detection state is there.

  Then, when the state transition pattern formed by the state transition pattern forming unit matches any one of these, the determination unit determines that the human body exists within a certain distance. is there.

  That is, in this case, as a result, the current state is the first detection state, that is, in the above example, the case where the human body is sitting on a chair or the like in front of the electronic device existing at the reference position. Therefore, it is reasonable to judge that a human body exists within a certain distance. Therefore, the human body presence detection apparatus can be made into a rational mechanism by doing as described above.

  Further, it is preferable to perform the following in the same manner as described above. That is, in the reference state transition pattern of the human body presence detection apparatus, the following five patterns are stored in advance by the determination unit as patterns indicating that no human body exists within a certain distance from the reference position.

  The five patterns are the B1 state transition pattern in which the state transition pattern from the previous detection state in the previous detection state information to the current detection state in the current detection state information transitions from the second detection state to the second detection state, and the third detection. A B2 state transition pattern for transition from the state to the third detection state, a B3 state transition pattern for transition from the fourth detection state to the fourth detection state, a B4 state transition pattern for transition from the third detection state to the fourth detection state, and It is a B5 state transition pattern which changes from the 4th detection state to the 3rd detection state.

  Then, when the state transition pattern formed by the state transition pattern forming unit matches any one of these, the determining unit determines that the human body does not exist within a certain distance. It is.

  In other words, in this case, as a result, in cases other than the first detection state, that is, in the above example, a case where a human body exists in a state where a human body is sitting on a chair or the like in front of the electronic device existing at the reference position. Since it is a case, it is reasonable to judge that a human body does not exist within a certain distance. Therefore, the human body presence detection apparatus can be made into a rational mechanism by doing as described above.

  Further, it is preferable to perform the following in the same manner as described above. That is, in the reference state transition pattern of the human body presence detection device described above, the following three patterns are stored in advance by the determination unit as patterns that conditionally indicate that a human body exists within a certain distance from the reference position. To do.

  These three patterns are a C1 state transition pattern in which the state transition pattern from the previous detection state in the previous detection state information to the current detection state in the current detection state information transitions from the first detection state to the second detection state, the first detection They are a C2 state transition pattern that transitions from the state to the third detection state, and a C3 state transition pattern that transitions from the first detection state to the fourth detection state.

  Then, when the state transition pattern formed by the state transition pattern forming unit matches any one of these, the determination unit is constant until the presence time elapses from that point. When it is determined that the human body exists within the distance and the elapse of the existence estimation time ends, a conditional determination is performed to determine that the human body does not exist within a certain distance.

  The above “presence presence time” is a predetermined length of time, and during this time, even if the human body does not exist, the human body is considered to exist. It is time to hesitate.

  The conditional judgment is the following judgment. That is, a reference state transition pattern that conditionally indicates that a human body exists within a certain distance from the reference position is a first detection state, a second detection state, a third detection state, or a fourth detection state. It is a pattern that transitions to either.

  This is the first detection state, that is, in the above example, when the human body is sitting on a chair or the like before the electronic device existing at the reference position, the human body is sitting on the chair or the like. It is in a transitioned state except when it exists.

  In this state, once there is a human body in front of the electronic device, this human body is away from the front of the electronic device, but it takes a short time to leave the front of the electronic device and returns immediately. This is a state in which there is a possibility that

  Therefore, in such a case, until the existence assessment time elapses, it is considered that the human body exists within a certain distance, and in this way, when the existence assessment time has elapsed, It is the conditional judgment described above that it is determined that no human body exists within a certain distance.

  By doing in this way, the human body presence detection apparatus can be made into a structure that is easily adapted to the control of an electronic device or the like operated by the operator.

  In the human body presence detection apparatus that uses the C1 state transition pattern, the C2 state transition pattern, and the C3 state transition pattern as the reference state transition pattern, the following state occurs.

  That is, in the middle of the existence assessment time, the state transition pattern newly formed by the state transition pattern forming unit is the A1 state transition pattern, the A2 state transition pattern, the A3 state transition pattern, or the A4 state. There may be a case where the state matches with any one of the transition patterns.

  In this case, when such a state occurs, as a result, the current state is the first detection state. In the above example, the human body sits on a chair or the like in front of the electronic device existing at the reference position. It is a state that actually exists. Therefore, it is not necessary to consider that a human body exists within a certain distance, and it should be determined that a human body actually exists.

  However, in the human body presence detection device using the above-described C1 state transition pattern, C2 state transition pattern, and C3 state transition pattern, once the determination means makes a conditional determination, until the presence detection time elapses. In the meantime, it is determined that the human body exists within a certain distance, and when the presence estimation time has elapsed, it is mechanically determined that no human body exists within the certain distance. Therefore, in practice, it is determined that the human body does not exist within a certain distance even though the human body exists in a chair or the like in front of the electronic device.

  Therefore, in order to avoid such a situation, it is preferable to do the following. That is, in the human body presence detection device using the above-described C1 state transition pattern, C2 state transition pattern, and C3 state transition pattern, a new state transition pattern forming unit is formed while the presence detection time has elapsed. When the determined state transition pattern matches any one of the A1 state transition pattern, the A2 state transition pattern, the A3 state transition pattern, or the A4 state transition pattern, the determination unit stops the conditional determination at that time. At the same time, it is newly determined that a human body exists within a certain distance. By doing in this way, it can avoid that the state mentioned above arises.

  Next, the human body presence detection method of the present invention will be described. The human body presence detection method according to the present invention is installed at a reference position, and measures a separation distance from the reference position with respect to the position of the human body or object existing in a certain direction from the reference position at every elapse of a certain time. This is a human body presence detection method that uses a measuring means and a computer to determine whether or not a human body exists within a certain distance from a reference position.

  In the human body presence detection method of the present invention, processing based on a determination result formation step, a detection state information formation step, a state transition pattern formation step, and a determination step is performed by the above-described computer.

  Among these, the determination result forming step uses the pre-elapsed separation distance before the elapse of the predetermined time and the post-elapse separation distance by the separation distance measurement unit by the separation distance measurement unit. A fixed distance inside / outside determination result indicating whether or not the post-elapse separation distance is equal to or less than a predetermined distance and a movement and static determination result indicating whether or not the pre-elapse separation distance and the post-elapse separation distance substantially coincide with each other are formed. It is a step which performs the process to perform.

  The detection state information forming step is a step of performing processing for forming detection state information composed of a constant distance inside / outside determination result and a movement / non-movement determination result.

  The state transition pattern formation step includes the previous detection state information at a time point before the elapse of the predetermined time from the latest measurement time point generated by the detection state information formation step and measured by the separation distance measuring unit, and the latest This is a step for performing a process of forming a state transition pattern based on current detection state information at the time of measurement.

  In the determination step, the state transition pattern formed by the state transition pattern formation step is selected from a plurality of reference state transition patterns previously stored in the computer in association with the presence / absence of the human body. This is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not a human body exists within a certain distance from the reference position.

  The processing mechanism by the human body presence detection method is the same as the processing mechanism in the human body presence detection device described above. The human body presence detection method has the same functions and effects as the human body presence detection device described above.

  According to the present invention, as the separation distance measuring means used for measuring the separation distance from the reference position with respect to the position of the human body or object existing in a certain direction from the reference position, an infrared distance measurement sensor, a laser beam, or the like is used. There may be only one sensor such as a distance measuring sensor.

  Therefore, a single distance measurement sensor can measure the separation distance from the reference position with respect to the position of a human body or an object existing in a certain direction from the reference position, so there is no need to use a plurality of distance measurement sensors. Therefore, the human body presence detection device can be realized at low cost.

  Further, according to the present invention, using the state transition pattern from the previous detection state at a time point before a certain time has elapsed further than the latest measurement time point measured by the separation distance measurement means to the current detection state at the latest measurement time point. Judgment is made as to whether or not a human body exists.

  Therefore, for example, when detecting the presence of an operator's human body in an electronic device operated by an operator such as a personal computer, it is assumed that the operator leaves the electronic device in a short time and returns immediately. It is possible to determine whether or not a human body exists so as to easily adapt to the case where the Accordingly, the human body presence detection device can be easily adapted to the control of the electronic device operated by the operator.

  Next, the human body presence detection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of human body presence detection apparatus 10 in the first embodiment. In FIG. 2, the human body presence detection apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment includes a CPU 11, a memory 12, an operation unit 13, a sensor I / F 14, a USB I / F 15, an interval pulse generation unit 16, and a distance measurement sensor 17. ing. Among these, the distance measuring sensor 17 is connected to the sensor I / F 14, and the others are connected to each other via the internal bus line 18. The USB cable 19 is connected to the USB I / F 15.

  The CPU 11 is composed of a microprocessor, and the memory 12 is composed of RAM, flash memory, or the like. The memory 12 stores software such as an OS and various processing programs necessary for controlling the human body presence detection device 10. The CPU 11 performs various processes in the human body presence detection apparatus 10 by software installed in the memory 12.

  The operation unit 13 includes a numeric keypad and is used for various settings for the human body presence detection device 10.

  The sensor I / F 14 is an interface for connecting the distance measurement sensor 17, and exchanges various signals with the distance measurement sensor 17. This sensor I / F 14 is provided with a FIFO register (First In First Out Resistor) capable of recording three data, which will be described later, as shown in FIG. In the FIFO register, output data of a distance measuring sensor 17 described later is recorded.

  The USB I / F 15 receives and receives various signals with an external device such as a personal computer and the supply of power from the external device via the USB cable 19. In FIG. 2, the portion of the USB I / F 15 that receives power supply is not displayed.

  The interval pulse generator 16 has a function of generating interval pulses. This interval pulse is a clock for shifting the FIFO register provided in the sensor I / F 14. The interval pulse is supplied to the FIFO register provided in the sensor I / F 14 through the clock signal line 20. The interval pulse is also used for software processing performed by the CPU 11 of the human body presence detection device 10.

  The distance measuring sensor 17 has a function of measuring a distance to the human body 21 or an object existing in front of the human body presence detecting device 10. As the distance measuring sensor 17, a sensor including an infrared projector and a light receiver is used. In the sensor provided with the infrared projector and light receiver, the distance is measured by the infrared light emitted forward from the projector reflected by the human body 21 or object existing in front of the human body presence detection device 10 and returned. This is done by receiving incoming reflected light. As the distance measuring sensor 17, a sensor using laser light may be used.

  The above-mentioned separation distance measuring means 2, determination result forming means 3, detection state information forming means 4, state transition pattern forming means 5, and determination means 6 are the above hardware constituting the human body presence detection device 10, and This is realized by a collaborative work by software stored in the memory 12 of the human body presence detection device 10.

  Further, as a computer used to execute the above-described human body presence detection method, the above-described human body presence detection device 10 configured by the components illustrated in FIG. 2 or the distance measurement sensor 17 from the components illustrated in FIG. A device composed of components other than the above, or a device having a function equivalent to this device is used.

  FIG. 3A is a plan view showing a state where the human body presence detection device 10 is used in the first embodiment, and FIG. 3B is a side view thereof. In the first embodiment, by using the human body presence detecting device 10 described above, a human body that is an operator sitting on a chair 22 that operates the personal computer 26 placed on the desk 25 to operate the personal computer. By detecting the presence of 21, the display on the display screen of the personal computer 26 is controlled to be turned on / off. In the figure, 23 is the wall of the room behind the human body 21 that is the operator, and 24 is the floor of this room.

  The human body presence detection device 10 is attached to the upper end of the display unit, which is the lid portion of the notebook computer 26, by a clip-shaped attachment, and is connected to the notebook computer 26 by the USB cable 19. As described above, the human body presence detection device 10 includes the distance measurement sensor 17, and the human body presence detection device 10 has a human body 21 as an operator in the forward direction of the distance measurement sensor 17. Is installed.

  Further, the presence / absence of the human body 21 by the human body presence detection device 10 is detected in the direction of the distance measurement sensor 17 provided in the human body presence detection device 10 from the tip of the distance measurement sensor 17 by a reference distance (DS). It is performed depending on whether or not the human body 21 that is the operator exists. The aforementioned reference position is a position where the human body presence detection device 10 is installed, and more specifically, the position of the tip of the distance measurement sensor 17 of the presence detection device 10. Moreover, since the human body presence detection apparatus 10 is attached to the notebook computer 26, the position where the notebook computer 26 is installed can be regarded as the reference position.

  In the first embodiment, the notebook computer 26 receives a signal (referred to as “human body presence signal”) from the human body presence detection device 10 that “a human body is present within the reference distance (DS)”. When the display of the display screen of the notebook computer 26 is turned ON and a signal “No human body is present within the reference distance (DS)” (referred to as “no human body presence signal”) is received, the display screen of the notebook computer 26 is displayed. The system that turns off the display is adopted. This “reference distance (DS)” corresponds to the “constant distance” described above. This reference distance (DS) is 1.5 m in the first embodiment.

  The signal output from the human body presence detection device 10 is either a “human body presence signal” or a “human body presence signal”, but once the “human body presence signal” is output, No signal is output during the state where a human body exists within the reference distance (DS) or the state where a human body exists within the reference distance (DS). When the “no human body exists within the reference distance (DS)” state, a “human body non-signal” is output.

  In addition, once the “no human body presence signal” is output, no signal is output during the “no human body is present within the reference distance (DS)” state. When the “human body exists” state is entered, a “human body presence signal” is output.

  Hereinafter, in the human body presence detection apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, the above-described human body presence signal and the human body absence signal are output, that is, within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position by the operator. A basic mechanism for detecting whether or not a human body 21 exists will be described.

  4 (a) to 4 (d), the human body presence detection device 10 is used in the first embodiment to explain an assumed state regarding the presence or absence of the human body performed by the human body presence detection device 10. It is a top view showing each state.

  FIG. 4A shows a state in which a human body 21 that is an operator of the notebook computer 26 is sitting on a chair 22 in front of the desk 25 on which the notebook computer 26 is placed. That is, it is a state in which “the human body 21 exists within the reference distance (DS)” with respect to the human body presence detection device 10. This state is referred to as detection state # 1.

  FIG. 4B shows a state in which the human body 21 as the operator of the notebook computer 26 does not sit on the chair 22 and only the chair 22 exists in front of the desk 25 on which the notebook computer 26 is placed. . That is, this is a state where “the object (chair 22) is present within the reference distance (DS)” with respect to the human body presence detection device 10. This state is referred to as detection state # 2.

  FIG. 4C shows a state in which the human body 21 exists at a position away from the front of the desk 25 on which the notebook computer 26 is placed. That is, it is a state where “the human body 21 exists outside the reference distance (DS)” with respect to the human body presence detection device 10. This state is referred to as detection state # 3.

  4D shows a state in which the human body 21 does not exist in front of the desk 25 where the notebook computer 26 is placed or in a position away from the front of the desk 25. That is, it is a state in which “the object (wall 23) exists outside the reference distance (DS)” with respect to the human body presence detection device 10. This state is referred to as detection state # 4.

  Since the human body presence detection device 10 detects the presence / absence of the human body 21 by distinguishing and detecting the detection state # 1, the detection state # 2, the detection state # 3, and the detection state # 4. is there. Therefore, in order to perform such detection, the human body presence detection device 10 is located in front of the human body presence detection device 10 from the front end of the distance measurement sensor 17 with respect to what is present in front of the human body presence detection device 10. The separation distance, which is the distance to the human body 21 or the object existing in, is measured every time “a certain period of time (referred to as interval time)” has elapsed.

  In the first embodiment, the time immediately before the elapse of the predetermined time (interval time) is referred to as the pre-elapse measurement time, and the separation distance measured at the pre-elapse measurement time is referred to as the pre-elapse separation distance. In addition, a time point immediately after the elapse of the certain time (interval time) is referred to as a post-elapse measurement time point, and a separation distance measured at the post-elapse measurement time point is referred to as a post-elapse separation distance.

  The fixed time (interval time) is, for example, 30 seconds in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a time chart illustrating the measurement timing of the separation distance by the distance measurement sensor 17 of the human body presence detection device 10 according to the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 5, the human body presence detection device 10 measures the separation distance every 30 seconds, which is an interval time. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, when the measurement of the separation distance is performed in the order of the time Tm, the time Tn, and the time Tp as time passes, the time Tp is the latest measurement time. The latest measurement time point is referred to as the current measurement time point. Then, the time point Tn 30 seconds before the time point Tp, which is the current measurement time point, is referred to as the previous measurement time point with respect to the current measurement time point, and further, the time point Tn 30 seconds before the time point Tn, which is the previous measurement time point. The time point Tn is referred to as the measurement time point before the current measurement time point.

  Then, in FIG. 5, the current measurement time point Tp is a post-elapse measurement time point with respect to the time point Tp, and the previous measurement time point Tn is a pre-elapsement measurement time point with respect to the time point Tp. The previous measurement time point Tn is a measurement time point after the passage of the time point Tn, and the last measurement time point Tm is a measurement time point before the passage of the time point Tn.

  As described above, the sensor I / F 14 of the human body presence detection apparatus 10 includes the FIFO register capable of recording three pieces of data shown in FIG. This FIFO register is shifted by the interval pulse described above. This interval pulse is a pulse generated every time the interval time elapses.

  The FIFO register capable of recording the above three data is a register having the following structure. That is, the data first input to the FIFO register is input to the first stage of the FIFO register. Next, when new data is input to the FIFO register, the data input to the first stage is shifted to the second stage, and new data is input to the first stage. Further, when new data is input to the FIFO register, the data input to the second stage is shifted to the third stage, and the data input to the first stage is shifted to the second stage. At the same time, new data is input to the first stage.

  The separation distance measured by the distance measurement sensor 17 of the human body presence detection device 10 every 30 seconds of the interval time is input to the FIFO register in the order of measurement. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the FIFO register holds the latest measurement time, that is, the separation distance measured at the current measurement time (referred to as the current separation distance (D1)) in the first stage. The eye holds the separation distance measured at the time of the previous measurement (referred to as the previous separation distance (D2)), and the third stage includes the separation distance measured at the time of the previous measurement (previous separation distance (D3)). Is held).

  Then, from the above description of the pre-elapse separation distance and the post-elapse separation distance (see FIG. 5), the post-elapse separation distance at the current measurement time Tp is the current separation distance (D1), and the pre-elapse separation distance is , The previous separation distance (D2). Further, the post-elapse separation distance at the previous measurement time Tn is the previous separation distance (D2), and the pre-elapse separation distance is the previous separation distance (D3).

  The human body presence detection device 10 detects whether or not the human body 21 as an operator exists within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position, that is, from the reference position, the reference distance (DS ), In order to determine whether or not the human body 21 that is the operator exists, as preparations, the current separation distance (D1), the previous separation distance (D2), and the previous separation distance (D3) ) To make the following determination.

  First, as a basic determination, a certain distance inside / outside determination and a motion determination are performed. The fixed distance inside / outside determination is a determination as to whether or not the above-described separation distance after elapse is equal to or less than a reference distance (DS). This constant distance inside / outside determination result is “inside” when the post-elapse separation distance is equal to or less than the reference distance (DS), and “outside” when the distance is not equal to or less than the reference distance (DS).

  The movement determination is a determination as to whether or not the post-elapse separation distance substantially matches the pre-elapse separation distance. The result of the movement determination is “motion” when the post-elapse separation distance substantially matches the pre-elapse separation distance, and “movement” if it does not match the pre-elapse separation distance.

  In the above motion determination, the post-elapse separation distance is not “whether or not coincident” with the pre-elapse separation distance, but “whether or not substantially coincides” as the determination method. The measurement performed by the distance measuring sensor 17 has a measurement error, so that the influence of the measurement error is avoided.

  The above-mentioned fixed distance inside / outside determination result and movement / non-motion determination result will be specifically described as follows. As shown in FIG. 4A, when the human body 21 is sitting on the chair 22 in front of the notebook computer 26 existing at the reference position, the separation distance after the elapse is equal to or less than the reference distance (DS). The result of the inside / outside determination for a certain distance is “inside”. However, unlike the human body, the human body moves constantly to some extent, and the separation distance after the lapse does not coincide with the separation distance before the lapse, so the movement determination result is “movement”.

  Since FIG. 4A is the detection state # 1 as described above, the state where the inside / outside determination result of the constant distance is “inside” and the movement determination result is “movement” is the detection state # 1. This detection state # 1 corresponds to the first detection state described above.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the chair 22 exists only in front of the notebook computer 26 and the human body 21 does not exist, the separation distance after elapse is equal to or less than the reference distance (DS) as described above. Therefore, the determination result of the constant distance inside / outside is “inside”. However, since the chair 22 that is an object does not move, the separation distance after the lapse of time substantially coincides with the separation distance before the lapse of time, and thus the movement / non-motion determination result is “still”.

  Since FIG. 4B is the detection state # 2 as described above, the state in which the constant distance inside / outside determination result is “inside” and the dynamic / static determination result is “static” is the detection state # 2. This detection state # 2 corresponds to the second detection state described above.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D, neither the human body 21 nor the chair 22 exists in front of the notebook computer 26 (in FIG. 4C, the chair 22 exists, When the human body 21 or the wall 23 is present at a distance, the separation distance does not become a certain distance or less after the passage, and the result of the certain distance inside / outside determination is “outside”. In addition, if the human body is present at a distance (FIG. 4 (c)), the motion / noisy determination result is “moving”, and if it is an object (FIG. 4 (d)), it is “static”.

  Since FIG. 4C is the detection state # 3 as described above, the state where the constant distance inside / outside determination result is “out” and the movement / noisiness determination result is “motion” is the detection state # 3. This detection state # 3 corresponds to the aforementioned third detection state. Further, FIG. 4D is the detection state # 4 as described above, and therefore, the state where the fixed distance inside / outside determination result is “out” and the dynamic / static determination result is “static” is the detection state # 4. This detection state # 4 corresponds to the aforementioned fourth detection state. FIG. 7 is a table showing these detection states.

  In the human body presence detection device 10 described above, the above-described fixed distance inside / outside determination and movement / non-motion determination are performed at two consecutive measurement time points, the current measurement time point Tp and the previous measurement time point Tn. That is, at two consecutive measurement points, the previous measurement point Tn and the current measurement point Tp, the detection state is any of detection state # 1 to detection state # 4 shown in the table of FIG. Detection state information indicating whether or not there is is formed.

  Among these, the detection state information at the previous measurement time Tn is referred to as previous detection state information, and the detection state information at the current measurement time Tp is referred to as current detection state information. The detection state in the previous detection state information is referred to as the previous detection state, and the detection state in the current detection state information is referred to as the current detection state.

  Based on these two detection states, as shown in FIG. 8, a state transition pattern for transitioning from the previous detection state to the current detection state is formed, and this state transition pattern is associated with the presence / absence of the human body in advance. By selecting a matching pattern from a plurality of reference state transition patterns stored in the memory 12 of the apparatus 10, the human body 21 as an operator exists within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position. A determination is made whether or not.

  The figure shows a case where the previous detection state is the detection state # 2, and the current detection state is the detection state # 1. The state transition pattern in this case is a state transition pattern in which the previous detection state transitions from the detection state # 2 to the detection state # 1 this time. Such a state transition pattern is expressed by using the detection state # 1 as the previous detection state and the detection state # 2 as the current detection state.

  Therefore, the memory 12 of the human body presence detection apparatus 10 has a plurality of reference state transition patterns which are references for determining whether or not the human body 21 as an operator exists within the reference distance (DS). It is remembered. FIG. 9 is a table showing this reference state transition pattern, and the reference state transition pattern is associated with the presence or absence of a human body as shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a reference state transition pattern diagram showing a specific state of this reference state transition pattern.

  The reference state transition patterns shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 are formed as follows. First, as a pattern indicating that a human body exists within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position, the A1 state transition pattern in which the previous detection state and the current detection state are the detection state # 1 and the detection state # 1, respectively. Detection state # 2, detection state # 1, A2 state transition pattern, detection state # 3, detection state # 1, A3 state transition pattern, detection state # 4, detection state # 1, A4 state transition pattern Is formed.

  In each of these cases, as a result, when the current state is the detection state # 1, that is, in the state where the human body 21 is sitting on the chair 22 in front of the notebook computer 26 existing at the reference position in FIG. Therefore, it can be determined that the human body 21 exists within the reference distance (DS).

  Next, as a pattern indicating that no human body exists within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position, the B1 state transition pattern in which the previous detection state and the current detection state are the detection state # 2 and the detection state # 2, respectively. , Detection state # 3, detection state # 3, B2 state transition pattern, detection state # 4, detection state # 4, B3 state transition pattern, detection state # 3, detection state # 4, B4 state transition pattern, and B5 state transition patterns that are detection state # 4 and detection state # 3 are formed.

  In each of these cases, as a result, a case other than the detection state # 1 is present, that is, a case other than FIG. 4A, and the human body 21 sits on the chair 22 in front of the notebook computer 26 existing at the reference position. In other cases (FIGS. 4B to 4D), it can be determined that the human body 21 does not exist within the reference distance (DS).

  Furthermore, as a pattern that conditionally indicates that a human body exists within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position, the previous detection state and the current detection state are the detection state # 1 and the C1 state where the detection state is # 2, respectively. A transition pattern, a detection state # 1, a C2 state transition pattern that is the detection state # 3, and a C3 state transition pattern that is the detection state # 1 and the detection state # 4 are formed.

  In addition, in the reference state transition patterns shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the state transition pattern in which the previous detection state and the current detection state are detection state # 2 and detection state # 3, detection state # 3, and detection, respectively. The state transition pattern which is the state # 2, the detection state # 4, the state transition pattern which is the detection state # 2, and the state transition pattern which is the detection state # 2 and the detection state # 4 are not described. This is because the state of detection state # 1 is inserted between these state transition patterns, and thus there is no detection pattern.

  In each of these cases, the following processing is performed. That is, when each of the above cases occurs, it is determined that the human body is present within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position until the existence observation time elapses from that point. When the process is completed, a conditional determination is performed to determine that no human body exists within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position. In the first embodiment, the above-mentioned presence estimation time is, for example, 5 minutes.

  The conditional judgment is the following judgment. That is, the reference state transition pattern that conditionally indicates that the human body exists within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position is the detection state # 1, the detection state # 2, the detection state # 3, or the detection state. It is a pattern that transitions to any of # 4.

  This is because the human body 21 is in the chair 22 in the detection state # 1, that is, in the state where the human body 21 is sitting on the chair 22 in front of the notebook computer 26 existing at the reference position in FIG. In a case other than the case where the user is sitting in the state 22, the state is a transition state.

  In this state, the human body 21 is present in front of the notebook computer 26. The human body 21 is separated from the front of the notebook computer 26, although it is separated from the front of the notebook computer 26 in a short time. This is a state that may be expected to return immediately.

  Therefore, in such a case, it is determined that a human body is present within the reference distance (DS) until the presence detection time elapses, and thus the determination is made and the elapse of the presence detection time ends. At this time, it is the conditional judgment described above that it is determined that the human body does not exist within the reference distance (DS).

  However, in the above case, the following inconvenience occurs. That is, once the conditional determination is made, it is determined that the human body 21 exists within the reference distance (DS) until the existence finding time elapses, and when the existence finding time has elapsed, If the human body 21 does not exist within the reference distance (DS), it is mechanically determined.

  Therefore, in actuality, the human body 21 is in a state of sitting in a chair 22 in front of the notebook computer 26 in FIGS. Nevertheless, at the time when the presence determination time has ended, it is determined that the human body 21 does not exist within the reference distance (DS).

  Therefore, in order to avoid such a situation, the following processing is performed. That is, a new state transition pattern obtained by measurement of a new separation distance by the distance measurement sensor 17 of the human body presence detection device 10 during the above-mentioned presence detection time has passed is an A1 state transition pattern, A2 If it is any of the state transition pattern, A3 state transition pattern, or A4 state transition pattern, the conditional judgment is stopped at that time, and the human body 21 newly exists within the reference distance (DS). The decision is made.

  Next, the processing operation of the human body presence detection apparatus 10 will be specifically described. In order to perform this processing operation, the human body presence detection device 10 stores, in the memory 12 of the human body presence detection device 10, the six reference states transition patterns shown in FIG. A recording area, three flags shown in FIG. 11B, and a timer TM configured by software are provided. This timer TM is used for measuring the presence time required in the above-described “conditional human body presence” state, and the time-up time of this timer TM is as described above in the first embodiment. 5 minutes.

  The six recording areas shown in FIG. 11A are a current inside / outside determination recording area M11, a current movement / non-execution determination recording area M12, a current detection state recording area M13, a previous inside / outside determination recording area M21, a forward rotation / static determination recording area M22, and This is the previous detection state recording area M23. The three flags shown in FIG. 11B are an initial cycle completion display flag F0, a human body presence / absence display flag F1, and a conditional human body presence display flag F2.

  In the human body presence detection device 10, the signal output from the human body presence detection device 10 is either a “human body presence signal” or a “human body absence signal” as described above. Once the “human body presence signal” is output, it is considered that “a human body exists within the reference distance (DS)” or “a human body exists within the reference distance (DS)”. In particular, no signal is output during the state of being turned on, and a “human body non-signal” is output for the first time when a “no human body is present within the reference distance (DS)” state.

  In addition, once the “no human body presence signal” is output, no signal is output during the “no human body is present within the reference distance (DS)” state. The “human body presence signal” is output for the first time when the “human body is present” state.

  However, immediately after the human body presence detection apparatus 10 should output a “human body presence signal” or “no human body presence signal” immediately after the start of the processing operation, immediately without checking the previous state, Need to be output. The initial cycle completion flag F0 is used to perform such processing. The initial cycle completion flag F0 is F0 = 0 while the initial cycle is not completed, that is, until either the “human body presence signal” or the “human body absence signal” is output. After the cycle is completed, that is, after either the “human body presence signal” or the “human body absence signal” is output, F0 = 1.

  Further, the human body presence / absence display flag F1 is F1 = 1 in a state where “a human body exists within the reference distance (DS)”, and in a state where “a human body does not exist within the reference distance (DS)”. F1 = 0. The conditional human body presence display flag F2 is F2 = 1 in the “conditional human body presence present” state, and F2 = 0 in other states.

  12 to 17 are flowcharts showing the processing operation of the human body presence detection apparatus 10 described above. Among these, FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are basic flowcharts of processing operations. At the start of this processing operation, at least three interval pulses are generated by the interval pulse generator 16 described above, so that the FIFO register provided in the sensor I / F 14 of the human body presence detection device 10 is provided. In addition, data of the separation distance measured by the distance measuring sensor 17 needs to be recorded.

  That is, the current separation distance (D1) is the first stage (FIFO1) of the FIFO register, the previous separation distance (D2) is the second stage (FIFO1) of the FIFO register, and the previous separation distance (D3) is All must be recorded in the third stage (FIFO3) of the FIFO register. Therefore, the processing operation of the human body presence detection apparatus 10 is started after at least three interval pulses are generated.

  12 and 13, when the processing operation of the human body presence detection device 10 is started, first, the initial cycle completion display flag F0, the human body presence / absence display flag F1, the conditional human body presence / absence display flag F2, and the timer TM are firstly displayed. Is reset (S1).

  Next, the conditional human body presence flag F2 is checked (S2). At this stage, the conditional human body presence flag F2 is F2 = 0 and not F2 = 1, so the process proceeds to S5.

  In S5, the presence / absence of an interval pulse is checked. If no interval pulse is generated (S6), the process returns to S2 and S2 and subsequent steps are repeated. When the interval pulse is generated (S6), the current determination result formation process (S100A), the previous determination result formation process (S100B), the current detection state information formation process (S200A), and the previous detection state information formation process (S200B). ) In this order.

  First, the current determination result formation process (S100A) is performed. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the current determination result forming process (S100A). In FIG. 14, first, the current separation distance (D1) is read from the FIFO 1 and compared with the reference distance (DS) (S101A). As a result of comparison, if the current separation distance (D1) is equal to or smaller than the reference distance (DS) (S102A), “inside” is recorded in the current inside / outside determination recording area M11 (S103A), and the process proceeds to S105A. As a result of the comparison, if the current separation distance (D1) is not less than or equal to the reference distance (DS) (S102A), “outside” is recorded in the current inside / outside determination recording area M11 (S104A), and the process proceeds to S105A.

  In S105A, the current separation distance (D1) is read from FIFO1 and the previous separation distance (D2) is read from FIFO2, and both are compared. If the comparison result shows that the current separation distance (D1) is substantially equal to the previous separation distance (D2), “static” is recorded in the current movement / non-execution determination recording area M12 (S107A), and the current determination result formation process (S100A) is terminated. To do. As a result of comparison, if the current separation distance (D1) is not substantially equal to the previous separation distance (D2), “movement” is recorded in the current movement determination recording area M12 (S108A), and the current determination result forming process (S100A). ) Ends.

  Next, a previous determination result formation process (S100B) is performed. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the previous determination result forming process (S100B). This previous determination result formation process (S100B) has the same flow operation as the current determination result formation process (S100A).

  The previous determination result formation process (S100B) is different from the current determination result formation process (S100A) in that FIFO2 is replaced by FIFO1, FIFO3 is replaced by FIFO2, and the previous internal / external determination recording area M11 is replaced. The determination recording area M21 is used, and the previous rotation static determination determination recording area M22 is used in place of the current movement determination determination recording area M12. The flow operation itself is the same as described above.

  Next, a current detection state information formation process (S200A) is performed. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the current detection state information forming process (S200A). In FIG. 16, first, it is checked whether or not the content of the current inside / outside determination recording area M11 is “inside” (S201A), and if it is “inside” (S202A), then the content of the current motion determination recording area M12 is It is checked whether it is “motion” (S203A).

  When the content of the current motion determination recording area M12 in S203A is “moving”, if it is “moving” (S204A), the detection state in this case is the detection state # 1, so the detection state # 1. Is recorded in the current detection state recording area M13 (S205A), and the current detection state information forming process (S200A) is terminated. If it is not “moving” (S204A), that is, if it is “static”, the detection state in this case is detection state # 2, so the detection state # 2 is recorded in the current detection state recording area M13 ( S206A), the current detection state information forming process (S200A) is terminated.

  If the content of the current inside / outside determination recording area M11 in S201A is “inside” and is not “inside” (S202A), that is, if it is “outside”, next, the current movement determination recording area M12 It is checked whether or not the content of is “motion” (S207A).

  If the content of the current motion determination recording area M12 in S207A is “moving”, if it is “moving” (S208A), the detection state in this case is the detection state # 3, so the detection state # 3 Is recorded in the current detection state recording area M13 (S209A), and the current detection state information forming process (S200A) is terminated. If it is not “moving” (S208A), that is, if it is “static”, the detection state in this case is detection state # 4, so that detection state # 4 is recorded in the current detection state recording area M13 ( S210A), the current detection state information forming process (S200A) is terminated.

  Next, a previous detection state information formation process (S200B) is performed. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the previous detection state information forming process (S200B). This previous detection state information formation process (S200B) has the same flow operation as the current detection state information formation process (S200A).

  The previous detection state information formation process (S200B) is different from the current detection state information formation process (S200A) described above in that the previous internal / external determination recording area M21 is replaced by the current internal / external determination recording area M11. Instead of this, the previous rotation state determination recording area M22 is used, and the previous detection state recording area M23 is used instead of the current detection state recording area M13, and the flow operation itself is the same as described above.

  In FIG. 12, the current determination result formation process (S100A), the previous determination result formation process (S100B), the current detection state information formation process (S200A), and the previous detection state information formation process (S200B) end in this order. Then, it progresses to S9 (FIG. 13).

  In S9, a pattern that matches the combination of the previous detection state of M23 and the current detection state of M13 is selected from the reference state transition patterns provided in the memory 12 of the human body presence detection device 10, and the process proceeds to S10. It is checked whether the selected pattern is A1 to A4, B1 to B5, or C1 to C3. If the selected pattern check in S10 does not correspond to any of A1 to A4, B1 to B5, or C1 to C3 (S27), do not do anything as it is normally impossible. Returning to S2, the processes after S2 are repeated.

  In the check of the selected pattern in S10, if it is A1 to A4 (S11), this is a state that “the human body exists within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position”. Then, next, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is checked (S12). At this stage, since F2 = 0 and not F2 = 1, the process proceeds to S13.

  In S13, the initial cycle completion display flag F0 is checked. At this stage, F0 = 0 and not F0 = 1. Next, after setting F0 = 1 (S17), “human body present” is output (S15), and the human body presence / absence display flag F1 is set. F1 = 1 (S16), the process returns to S2, and the processes after S2 are repeated.

  If the initial cycle is completed, F0 = 1 in the check of the initial cycle completion display flag F0 in S13. In this case, next, the human body presence / absence display flag F1 is checked (S14). . If F1 = 1 is not satisfied, that is, if F1 = 0, “the presence of a human body” is output (S15), and the presence / absence display flag F1 of the human body is set to F1 = 1 (S16). That is, in the check of the human body presence / absence display flag F1 in S14, if F1 = 1, nothing is done, the process returns to S2, and the processes after S2 are repeated.

  As described above, after the “human body presence presence signal” is output once, the above processing is in a state that “the human body exists within the reference distance (DS)” or “reference distance (DS This is because the “human body presence signal” is not particularly output during the state in which it can be considered that “the human body is present in ()”. In addition, when a “human body is present within the reference distance (DS)” after the “human body absence signal” is output, a “human body presence signal” is output. It is.

  If B1 to B5 are checked in the check of the selected pattern in S10 (S20), this is a state where “the human body does not exist within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position”. Then, next, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is checked (S21). At this stage, the conditional human body presence flag F2 is F2 = 0 and not F2 = 1, so the process proceeds to S22.

  In S22, the initial cycle completion display flag F0 is checked. At this stage, the initial cycle completion display flag F0 is F0 = 0 and not F0 = 1. Next, after setting F0 = 1 (S26), “No human body exists” is output (S24). The human body presence / absence display flag F1 is set to F1 = 0 (S25), the process returns to S2, and the processes after S2 are repeated.

  If the initial cycle is completed, F0 = 1 in the check of the initial cycle completion display flag F0 in S22. In this case, next, the human body presence / absence display flag F1 is checked (S23). . If F1 = 1, “No human body exists” is output (S24), and F1 = 0 is set (S25). If not, that is, if the human body presence / absence display flag F1 is checked in S23, F1 = If it is not 1, that is, if F1 = 0, do nothing, return to S2, and repeat the processing from S2.

  As described above, the above processing is performed after the “Human Body No Signal” is output once, especially during the “no human body within the reference distance (DS)” state. This is to prevent output of “no signal”. In addition, when the “no human body exists within the reference distance (DS)” after the “human body presence signal” is output, the “human body non-signal” is output. It is.

  If it is C1 to C3 in the check of the selected pattern in S10 (S27), this is a “conditional human body exists” state. Then, next, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is checked (S28). At this stage, the conditional human body presence flag F2 is F2 = 0 and not F2 = 1, so the process proceeds to S29.

  In S29, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is set to F2 = 1 (S29), the timer TM is started (S30), and the process proceeds to S13. The processing after S13 (processing for outputting “the presence of a human body”) is exactly the same as the case of A1 to A4 (S11) in the check of the selected pattern in S10.

  The above processing is based on the following reason. That is, in the “conditional human body exists” state, it is considered that the human body exists within the reference distance (DS) until the existence estimation time elapses. Therefore, the timer TM is started in order to measure the above-mentioned presence finding time, and a process of outputting “human body present” is performed in order to consider that a human body exists within the reference distance (DS).

  In the above check of S10, if it is A1 to A4 (S11) and B1 to B5 (S20), there is a condition between these processes and return to S2 (X3). S28 for performing the process of setting the human body presence display flag F2 to F2 = 1 is not included.

  For this reason, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 does not become F2 = 1 but remains at F2 = 0, and the timer TM is not started. Therefore, the process of returning to S2 and performing the processes after S2 performs the processes after the step of checking the presence or absence of the interval pulse of S5 by passing through S3 and S4.

  On the other hand, if it is C1 to C3 in the check in S10 (S27), the conditional human body presence flag F2 is displayed until these processes are performed and the process returns to S2 (X3). , S28 for performing the process of setting F2 = 1 is included.

  Therefore, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 becomes F2 = 1, and the timer TM is also started. Therefore, in this case, the process of returning to S2 and performing the processes after S2 is performed after the step of checking the conditional human body presence display flag F2 of S2. That is, in the check of the conditional human body presence display flag F2 in S2, since F2 = 1, it is next checked whether the timer TM is up (S3).

  If it is checked whether or not the timer TM is up in S3 (S4), the conditional human body presence flag F2 is set to F = 0 (S7), and the timer TM Is reset (S8), and the process proceeds to S23. The processing after S23 (processing for outputting “no human body”) is the same as the processing after S23 in the case of B1 to B5 in the check of the selected pattern in S10 (S20).

  The above processing is based on the following reason. In other words, in the “conditional presence of human body” state, it is considered that there is a human body within the reference distance (DS) until the presence detection time elapses, and the presence detection time elapses. At this point, it is determined that no human body exists within the reference distance (DS). Therefore, when the timer TM for measuring the presence time is up, a process of outputting “no human body” is performed.

  When the timer TM is not timed up in S3, if the timer TM is not timed up (S4), the presence or absence of an interval pulse is checked (S5), and an interval pulse is generated ( S6) After the current determination result formation process (S100A), the previous determination result formation process (S100B), the current detection state information formation process (S200A), and the previous detection state information formation process (S200B), the process proceeds to S10. move on.

  The processing after S10 in this case is a case where the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is F2 = 1. Therefore, the processing after S10 in this case will be described below.

  First, the case where the condition human body presence display flag F2 is A1 to A4 as a result of the check in S10 in the processing after S10 when F2 = 1 is described (S11) will be described.

  In this case, the “human body exists within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position”. Then, next, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is checked (S12). At this stage, as described above, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is F2 = 1. Next, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is set to F2 = 0, and the timer TM is set. After resetting, the process returns to S2, and the processes after S2 are repeated.

  The above processing is based on the following reason. In other words, in the “conditional presence of human body” state, it is considered that there is a human body within the reference distance (DS) until the presence detection time elapses, and the presence detection time elapses. At this point, it is determined that no human body exists within the reference distance (DS). However, a state in which “the human body exists within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position” is determined by the measurement of the new separation distance by the distance measurement sensor 17 of the human body presence detection device 10 while the presence detection time has elapsed. Then, it is not necessary to consider that a human body exists within the reference distance (DS). Therefore, the conditional human body presence flag F2 is set to F2 = 0, the timer TM is reset, and the process returns to S2.

  Next, the case where the condition human body presence display flag F2 is B1 to B5 as a result of the check in S10 in the processing after S10 when F2 = 1 (S20) will be described.

  This case is a state where “the human body does not exist within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position”. Then, next, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is checked (S21). At this stage, as described above, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is F2 = 1, so nothing is done, the process returns to S2, and the processes after S2 are repeated.

  The above processing is based on the following reason. That is, in the “conditional human body exists” state, it is considered that the human body exists within the reference distance (DS) until the existence estimation time elapses. Therefore, even if the human body does not exist within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position while the existence estimation time has elapsed, it should be considered that the human body exists within the reference distance (DS). Then, dare to return to S2 without doing anything without performing the process of outputting “no human body”.

  Next, the case where the condition human body presence display flag F2 is C1 to C3 as a result of the check in S10 in the processing after S10 when F2 = 1 is described (S27) will be described.

  This is a “conditional human body exists” state. Then, next, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is checked (S28). At this stage, as described above, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is F2 = 1, so nothing is done, the process returns to S2, and the processes after S2 are repeated.

  The above processing is based on the following reason. That is, in the “conditional human body exists” state, a special process is performed in which it is assumed that a human body exists within the reference distance (DS) until the existence estimation time elapses. However, at this stage, the conditional human body presence display flag F2 is already F2 = 1, and thus the above special processing has already been started. Therefore, in order to continue the special processing already performed, the process returns to S2 without doing anything.

  According to the human body presence detecting device 10 in the first embodiment, the distance measuring sensor 17 used for measuring the distance from the reference position to the position of the human body or the object existing in a certain direction from the reference position. One distance measuring sensor such as an infrared distance measuring sensor or a laser beam distance measuring sensor may be used.

  Therefore, it is possible to measure the distance from the reference position with respect to the position of the human body or the object existing in a certain direction from the reference position by one distance measuring sensor 17. Therefore, since it is not necessary to use a plurality of distance measuring sensors, the human body presence detection device 10 can be realized at low cost.

  Further, whether or not a human body exists using a state transition pattern from the previous detection state at a time before a certain time has elapsed from the latest measurement time point when the distance measurement sensor 17 performs measurement to the current detection state at the latest measurement time point. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not a human body exists as follows.

  In other words, when it is assumed that the operator leaves the front of the electronic device in a short time, such as when detecting the presence of the operator's human body in the electronic device operated by the operator such as a personal computer, etc. It is possible to determine the existence of a conditional human body that is easily adapted to the above.

<Embodiment 2>
The human body presence detection device in the second embodiment is almost the same as the human body presence detection device 10 in the first embodiment. The human body presence detection device in the second embodiment is different from the human body presence detection device 10 in the first embodiment in the following points.

  In the human body presence detection device 10 according to the first embodiment, in the processing operation of the human body presence detection device 10, the current separation distance (D1) is the first stage (FIFO1) of the FIFO register, and the previous separation distance (D2) is The second stage (FIFO1) of the FIFO register and the previous separation distance (D3) are recorded in the third stage (FIFO3) of the FIFO register.

  Then, the current detection state is formed by using the current separation distance (D1) of the first stage (FIFO1) of the FIFO register and the previous separation distance (D2) of the second stage (FIFO2) of the FIFO register.

  The previous detection state is formed by using the previous separation distance (D2) of the second stage (FIFO2) of the FIFO register and the previous separation distance (D3) of the third stage (FIFO3) of the FIFO register.

  However, the previous separation distance (D2) of the second stage (FIFO2) of the FIFO register is present in the first stage (FIFO1) of the FIFO register when the interval pulse that shifts the FIFO register is in the previous state. Similarly, the second-stage separation distance (D3) of the third stage (FIFO3) of the FIFO register is also present in the second stage (FIFO2) of the FIFO register.

  That is, the previous separation distance (D2) of the second stage (FIFO2) of the FIFO register used to form the previous detection state and the previous separation distance (D3) of the third stage (FIFO3) of the FIFO register are respectively , The interval pulse for shifting the FIFO register is the current separation distance (D1) of the first stage (FIFO1) of the FIFO register in the previous state and the previous separation distance (D2) of the second stage (FIFO2) of the FIFO register. Is the same.

  Therefore, the previous detection state is the same as the current detection state in the state immediately before the interval pulse for shifting the FIFO register. Therefore, instead of the previous detection state in the processing operation of the human body presence detection apparatus 10 described above, even if the interval pulse for shifting the FIFO register uses the current detection state in the previous state, the processing result does not change. . That is, the detection state recorded in the previous detection state recording area M23 may be the same as the detection state in which the interval pulse is recorded in the immediately previous detection state recording area M13.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, the flowchart shown in FIG. 18 is used instead of the flowchart in FIG. 12 in the processing operation of the human body presence detection apparatus 10 in the first embodiment.

  In the flowchart shown in FIG. 18, S1A, S1B, S100A, and S200A are inserted between S1 and S2 in the flowchart of FIG. 12, and S6A is inserted between S6 and S100A, and S100B and S200B. Is omitted.

  That is, in the second embodiment, the previous determination result formation process (S100B) and the previous detection state information formation process (S200B) described above are unnecessary. Further, the third stage (FIFO 3) of the FIFO register shown in FIG. 6 is not necessary, and the previous inside / outside judgment recording area M21 in the recording area shown in FIG. 11 provided in the memory 12 of the human body presence detecting device 10, and Also, the front rotation stillness determination recording area M22 is unnecessary.

  In the second embodiment, when the processing operation of the human body presence detecting device 10 is started, at least two interval pulses are generated by the interval pulse generating unit 16 described above. Data of the separation distance measured by the distance measurement sensor 17 needs to be recorded in the FIFO register provided in the sensor I / F 14.

  That is, the current separation distance (D1) needs to be recorded in the first stage (FIFO1) of the FIFO register, and the previous separation distance (D2) needs to be recorded in the second stage (FIFO1) of the FIFO register. is there. Therefore, the processing operation of the human body presence detection apparatus 10 when using the flowchart shown in FIG. 18 is started after at least two interval pulses are generated.

  Next, the flowchart shown in FIG. 18 used in the second embodiment will be specifically described. In FIG. 18, when the processing operation of the human body presence detection device is started, first, the initial cycle completion display flag F0, the human body presence / absence display flag F1, the conditional human body presence display flag F2, and the timer TM are reset. (S1), go to S1A.

  In S1A, the presence or absence of an interval pulse is checked. If an interval pulse is generated (S1B), the current determination result formation process (S100A) and the current detection state information formation process (S200A) are performed in this order.

  When the current determination result formation process (S100A) and the current detection state information formation process (S200A) are completed, the conditional human body presence flag F2 is checked (S2). Then, it is checked whether the timer TM is up (S3).

  If it is checked whether or not the timer TM is up in S3 (S4), the conditional human body presence flag F2 is set to F = 0 (S7), and the timer TM Is reset (S8), and the process proceeds to S23 (FIG. 13).

  If the condition human body presence display flag F2 in S2 is checked, if F2 = 1 is not satisfied, that is, if F2 = 0, the process proceeds to S5.

  In S5, the presence / absence of an interval pulse is checked. If no interval pulse is generated (S6), the process returns to S2 and S2 and subsequent steps are repeated. If the interval pulse is generated (S6), the detection state recorded in the current detection state recording area M13 is recorded in the previous detection state recording area M23 (S6A).

  When the process of S6A is completed, the current determination result formation process (S100A) and the current detection state information formation process (S200A) are performed in this order, and then the process proceeds to S9 (FIG. 13).

  The human body presence detection device according to the second embodiment has the same function as the human body presence detection device 10 according to the first embodiment. Therefore, the human body presence detection device according to the second embodiment has the same functions and effects as those of the human body presence detection device 10 according to the first embodiment.

<Embodiment 3>
The human body presence detection device according to the third embodiment is obtained by adding the contents described below to the human body presence detection device 10 according to the first embodiment or the human body presence detection device according to the second embodiment.

  That is, in the processing operation of the human body presence detection apparatus 10 in the first embodiment, the reference state transition pattern in the table showing the reference state transition pattern in FIG. 9 is a transition pattern from the previous detection state to the current detection state. The previous detection state and the current detection state are both formed based on the separation distance measured by the distance measurement sensor 17 of the human body presence detection device 10 when the human body presence detection device 10 is powered on. Based on detected detection state information.

  Then, immediately after the human body presence detection apparatus 10 is turned on, it takes time to grasp the previous detection state and the current detection state. Therefore, as the above reference state transition pattern, in the combination of the previous detection state and the current detection state, a new reference state transition using a state in which the human body presence detection device 10 is turned on instead of the previous detection state A pattern can also be adopted. The human body presence detection device according to the third embodiment is obtained by adding the new reference state transition pattern to the human body presence detection device 10 according to the first embodiment or the human body presence detection device according to the second embodiment.

  Specifically, for example, in FIG. 9, as a pattern indicating that no human body exists within the reference distance (DS) from the reference position, in addition to the B1 state transition pattern to the B5 state transition pattern, the following B6 state transition pattern: Add a B8 state transition pattern.

  The reference state transition pattern to be added is a combination pattern as follows. That is, the previous detection state and the current detection state are the power ON state, the detection state # 2, and the B7 state transition pattern are the power ON state, the detection state # 3, and B8, respectively. The state transition pattern is a combination pattern of the power ON state and the detection state # 4.

  By doing in this way, the human body presence detection device in the third embodiment has the same functions and effects as those of the human body presence detection device 10 in the first embodiment, and can further perform various human body presence detections.

It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the human body presence detection apparatus of this invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a human body presence detection device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. The state in which the human body presence detection apparatus in Embodiment 1 is used is shown, (a) is a plan view and (b) is a side view. (A)-(d) is the top view which showed each state in which the human body presence detection apparatus in Embodiment 1 is used. 6 is a time chart of the measurement timing of the separation distance by the distance measurement sensor of the human body presence detection device in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a FIFO register used in the human body presence detection apparatus in the first embodiment. 4 is a table showing detection states that are targets in the human body presence detection apparatus according to Embodiment 1. It is explanatory drawing of formation of the state transition pattern used with the human body presence detection apparatus in Embodiment 1. FIG. 4 is a table showing a reference state transition pattern used in the human body presence detection device in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a reference state transition pattern diagram used in the human body presence detection device in the first embodiment. (A) is explanatory drawing of a recording area, (b) is explanatory drawing of a flag and a timer used with the human body presence detection apparatus in Embodiment 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating a processing operation of the human body presence detection apparatus according to the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating a processing operation of the human body presence detection apparatus according to the first embodiment. 7 is a flowchart (No. 3) illustrating the processing operation of the human body presence detection device according to the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart (part 4) illustrating a processing operation of the human body presence detection apparatus according to the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart (No. 5) illustrating a processing operation of the human body presence detection device according to the first embodiment. 10 is a flowchart (No. 6) illustrating a processing operation of the human body presence detection device according to the first embodiment. 10 is a flowchart showing a part of the processing operation of the human body presence detection device in the second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Human body presence detection apparatus 2 Separation distance measurement means 3 Determination result formation means 4 Detection state information formation means 5 State transition pattern formation means 6 Judgment means 9 Human body or thing 10 Human body presence detection apparatus 11 CPU
12 Memory 13 Operation unit 14 Sensor I / F
15 USB I / F
16 Interval Pulse Generation Unit 17 Distance Measurement Sensor 18 Internal Bus Line 19 USB Cable 20 Clock Signal Line 21 Human Body 22 Chair 23 Wall 24 Floor 25 Desk 26 Notebook PC

Claims (8)

A separation distance measuring means that is installed at a reference position and measures a separation distance from the reference position with respect to the position of a human body or an object that exists in a certain direction from the reference position;
A constant indicating whether or not the post-elapsed separation distance is equal to or less than the predetermined distance by using the pre-elapsed separation distance before the elapse of the predetermined time and the post-elapsed separation distance after the elapse of time by the separation distance measuring means. A determination result forming means for forming a distance inside / outside determination result, and a movement determination result indicating whether or not the pre-elapse separation distance and the post-elapse separation distance substantially coincide;
Detection state information forming means for forming detection state information composed of the constant distance inside / outside determination result and the movement determination result;
As detection state information, state transition is performed by using the previous detection state information at a time before the predetermined time has elapsed from the latest measurement time point when the separation distance measurement unit performs measurement and the current detection state information at the latest measurement time point. State transition pattern forming means for forming a pattern;
By selecting the state transition pattern formed by the state transition pattern forming means from a plurality of pre-stored reference state transition patterns, the human body is within the predetermined distance from the reference position. A human body presence detection device comprising: a determination unit configured to determine whether or not it exists. The human body presence detection device according to claim 1,
The state transition pattern forming means forms the state transition pattern by replacing the previous detection state information with a past time point before the most recent measurement time point being the latest measurement time point. A human body presence detection apparatus using the current detection state information formed by the detection state information forming means. In the human body presence detection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The fixed distance inside / outside determination result formed by the determination result forming means is “inside” when the post-elapsed separation distance is equal to or less than the certain distance, and “outside” when different from the certain distance or less. In addition, when the post-elapse separation distance substantially matches the pre-elapse separation distance, it is “static”, and when it is different from the pre-elapse separation distance, it is “moved”,
The detection state in the detection state information formed by the detection state information forming means is a first detection state constituted by the “inside” and the “movement”, and a first detection state constituted by the “inside” and the “static”. Human body presence that is one of two detection states, a third detection state composed of the “outside” and the “motion”, or a fourth detection state composed of the “outside” and the “still” Detection device. In the human body presence detection device according to claim 3,
In the reference state transition pattern, a state transition pattern from the previous detection state in the previous detection state information to the current detection state in the current detection state information as a pattern indicating that a human body exists within the certain distance from the reference position A1 state transition pattern for transition from the first detection state to the first detection state, A2 state transition pattern for transition from the second detection state to the first detection state, and the first detection from the third detection state 4 patterns of A3 state transition pattern to transition to the state and A4 state transition pattern to transition from the fourth detection state to the first detection state are stored in advance,
The determination means is a human body presence detection device that determines that a human body exists within the predetermined distance when the state transition pattern formed by the state transition pattern formation means matches any one of them. In the human body presence detection device according to claim 3,
In the reference state transition pattern, a state transition pattern from the previous detection state in the previous detection state information to the current detection state in the current detection state information as a pattern indicating that no human body exists within the certain distance from the reference position Is a B1 state transition pattern that transitions from the second detection state to the second detection state, a B2 state transition pattern that transitions from the third detection state to the third detection state, and a fourth detection state to the fourth detection state. 5 patterns of a B3 state transition pattern for transitioning to a state, a B4 state transition pattern for transitioning from the third detection state to the fourth detection state, and a B5 state transition pattern from the fourth detection state to the third detection state Is stored in advance,
The determination unit is a human body presence detection device that determines that a human body does not exist within the predetermined distance when the state transition pattern formed by the state transition pattern formation unit matches any one of them. In the human body presence detection device according to claim 3,
In the reference state transition pattern, from the previous detection state in the previous detection state information to the current detection state in the current detection state information, a pattern that conditionally indicates that a human body exists within the certain distance from the reference position. A state transition pattern includes a C1 state transition pattern for transition from the first detection state to the second detection state, a C2 state transition pattern for transition from the first detection state to the third detection state, and the first detection state. 3 patterns of C3 state transition patterns for transitioning from the first to the fourth detection state are stored in advance,
When the state transition pattern formed by the state transition pattern forming unit matches any one of these, the determination unit is within the predetermined distance from the time until the existence estimated time elapses. A human body presence detection apparatus that performs a conditional determination to determine that a human body does not exist within the predetermined distance when the presence of the human body is determined to exist and the elapse of the presence determination time ends. The human body presence detection device according to claim 6,
In the middle of elapse of the existence estimation time, the determination unit newly sets the state transition pattern formed by the state transition pattern forming unit as the A1 state transition pattern, the A2 state transition pattern, and the A3 state. When one of the transition pattern and the A4 state transition pattern is met, the conditional judgment is stopped at that time, and a human body is newly determined that the human body exists within the predetermined distance. Detection device. Using a separation distance measuring means and a computer that are installed at a reference position and measure a separation distance from the reference position with respect to the position of a human body or an object existing in a certain direction from the reference position at every elapse of a predetermined time. A human body presence detection method performed,
In the computer,
A constant indicating whether or not the post-elapsed separation distance is equal to or less than a predetermined distance by using the pre-elapsed separation distance before the elapse of the predetermined time and the post-elapsed separation distance after the elapse of time by the separation distance measuring unit. A determination result forming step for forming a distance inside / outside determination result, and a motion determination result indicating whether or not the pre-elapse separation distance and the post-elapse separation distance substantially coincide with each other;
A detection state information forming step for forming detection state information composed of the constant distance inside / outside determination result and the movement determination result;
A state transition pattern that forms a state transition pattern based on the previous detection state information at a time point before the elapse of the predetermined time from the latest measurement time point when the separation distance measurement unit performs measurement and the current detection state information at the latest measurement time point Forming step;
By selecting the state transition pattern formed by the state transition pattern forming means from a plurality of pre-stored reference state transition patterns, the human body is within the predetermined distance from the reference position. And a determination step for determining whether or not it exists, and a process based on the determination step.

Images