JP6570616B2 - Remote operation system, controller, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention, a remote control system, controller, you and, on the program.

  Techniques have been proposed for remotely operating a device from a terminal such as a smartphone via a network.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, when the remotely operated device receives the operation instruction information from the terminal, whether or not the instructed operation may be executed based on the presence or absence of a direct user who is affected by the operation is determined. This invention is described. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228688 describes that the result of the determination is notified to the terminal and displayed.

  Patent Document 2 describes a controller that generates an operation signal based on remote operation information received from a terminal via the Internet and remotely operates home appliances and the like. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes that the state of the device, the level of operation speed, and the like are displayed by turning on an LED (Light Emitting Diode) included in the controller.

JP 2004-254163 A JP 2007-074008 A

  When a device is remotely controlled, it appears unnatural to the users around the device as if the device is operating freely. Therefore, it is desirable to notify the users around the device of information related to remote operation such as the operator and the operation location.

  In the invention described in Patent Document 1, the operator side terminal is notified of the determination result as to whether or not the remote operation may be executed, but no information is given to the users around the remotely operated device. Not notified.

  Further, in the invention described in Patent Document 2, although the state of the device, the level of operation speed, and the like are displayed on the controller, there is no disclosure or suggestion about notifying information related to remote operation. In addition, information is not notified to users around the remotely operated device.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a remote operation system or the like capable of notifying peripheral users of information related to remote operation when a device is remotely operated.

In order to achieve the above object, a remote control system according to the present invention includes:
And the operation terminal, the controller and the apparatus equipped with the information output unit includes a user terminal, and the device via the controller from the operation terminal A remote control system for remotely controlling,
The operation terminal includes a transmission unit that transmits operation information related to the remote operation to the controller.
The controller is
A specifying unit for specifying an output mode of the information output unit corresponding to the operation information received from the operation terminal;
A command transmission unit that transmits a command for controlling the information output unit to the output mode specified by the identification unit;
The equipment is
A notification unit that notifies the operation information by controlling the information output unit based on a command received from the controller ;
The user terminal is
A terminal information output unit;
A receiving unit that receives the operation information notified by the notification unit;
A terminal notification unit that controls the terminal information output unit to notify the received operation information in a mode different from the notification by the notification unit .

  According to the present invention, when the device is remotely operated, the output mode of the information output unit of the device is controlled so as to correspond to the information related to the remote operation. Therefore, when a device is remotely operated, information on the remote operation can be notified to surrounding users.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the remote control system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of an operating terminal. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a controller. It is a figure which shows the structural example of an output mode table. It is a figure which shows the structural example of an output mode table. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of an apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a remote operation instruction | indication process. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a communication process. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a remote operation process. It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the remote control system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a user terminal. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of an information notification process.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

(Embodiment 1)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described. The configuration of the remote control system 1 according to Embodiment 1 is shown in FIG. The remote operation system 1 is a system for remotely operating a device 40 in a house 70 from a remote operation terminal 20 via a controller 30. The remote operation system 1 includes a Web server 10, an operation terminal 20, a controller 30 and a device 40 installed in a house 70. Both the operation terminal 20 and the controller 30 have a function of connecting to the Internet 50 and are connected via the Web server 10 so that data communication is possible. Further, the controller 30 and the device 40 are connected to each other via a home network 60 such as ECHONET (Energy Conservation and Homecare Network) so that data communication is possible.

  The Web server 10 is a server that is connected to the operation terminal 20 and the controller 30 via the Internet 50. The Web server 10 stores various types of information (user ID, user name, password, identification information of the operation terminal 20, IP address of the controller 30, etc.) for identifying a user who has contracted for a remote operation service. Further, the Web server 10 holds a remote operation request (details will be described later) received from the operation terminal 20 and transmits it to the controller 30 that has received the inquiry.

  The operation terminal 20 is a smartphone, for example, and is used by a user who is a remote operation operator to remotely operate the device 40 in the house 70. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the operation terminal 20 includes a communication unit 21, a touch panel 22, a position acquisition unit 23, a storage unit 24, and a control unit 25.

  The communication unit 21 includes a wireless interface compliant with standards such as WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) and 3G (3rd Generation), connects to the Internet 50 wirelessly, and transmits a request to the Web server 10.

  The touch panel 22 includes a liquid crystal panel and a touch pad, displays various screens, accepts a user's touch operation from the displayed screen, and outputs information indicating the received point on the screen to the control unit 25. For example, the user operates the touch panel 22 to instruct remote operation of the device 40.

  The position acquisition unit 23 includes a GPS unit and acquires position information of the operation terminal 20.

  The storage unit 24 plays a role as a so-called secondary storage device (auxiliary storage device), and includes, for example, a readable and writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory.

  The control unit 25 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and controls each unit of the operation terminal 20. Moreover, the control part 25 is provided with the transmission part 251 as a functional structure relevant to this invention. The transmission unit 251 controls the communication unit 21, operation content information indicating the content of remote operation of the device 40, operation information related to the remote operation (user ID of the operator, position information of the user terminal 80, etc.), Is transmitted to the Web server 10.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the controller 30 is a computer that controls and monitors the device 40 in the house 70. As shown in FIG. 3, the controller 30 includes a home communication unit 31, an external communication unit 32, a storage unit 33, and a control unit 34.

  The in-home communication unit 31 is an access point for wireless connection compliant with a standard such as ZigBee, and performs data communication with the device 40 via the in-home network 60 under the control of the control unit 34. The external communication unit 32 includes a communication interface such as a NIC (Network Interface Card), and transmits a request to the Web server 10 via the Internet 50 under the control of the control unit 34.

  The storage unit 33 plays a role as a so-called secondary storage device (auxiliary storage device), and includes, for example, a readable and writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory.

  The storage unit 33 stores an output mode table 331. The output mode table 331 defines the relationship between the operation information indicating the user ID and the operation position of the operator and the output mode of the information output unit 42 (details will be described later) of the device 40 corresponding to the operation information. It is a table.

  Here, an example of the output mode table 331 is shown in FIGS. FIG. 4A is an example of the output mode table 331 that defines the relationship with the output mode of the information output unit 42 when the operation information indicates an operator (user ID, user name). From this figure, it can be seen that the information output unit 42 of the device 40 outputs blue light when a remote operation is performed by a user (operator) having the user ID “U0001” and the user name “Taro Taro”.

  FIG. 4B is an example of an output mode table 331 that defines the relationship with the output mode of the information output unit 42 when the operation information indicates the position of the operation terminal 20 that has instructed the remote operation. From this figure, it can be seen that when remote operation of the device 40 is instructed from within 1 km, the information output unit 42 outputs (lights) light at intervals of 0.5 seconds. Instead of such a table, an expression indicating the relationship between the distance between the operation terminal 20 and the controller 30 and the lighting time interval of the information output unit 42 may be stored in the storage unit 33.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the control unit 34 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls each unit of the controller 30. Moreover, the control part 34 is provided with the specific | specification part 341 and the command transmission part 342 as a functional structure relevant to this invention.

  The specifying unit 341 specifies the output mode of the information output unit 42 of the device 40 corresponding to the operation information acquired from the operation terminal 20 via the Web server 10 with reference to the output mode table 331.

  The command transmission unit 342 creates an operation command for operating the device 40 based on the operation content information received from the operation terminal 20. In addition, the command transmission unit 342 creates a mode control command for controlling the information output unit 42 of the device 40 in the output mode specified by the specifying unit 341. Then, the command transmission unit 342 transmits the created operation command and mode control command to the device 40 via the home network 60.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the device 40 is a device to be remotely operated from the operation terminal 20, and is, for example, an air conditioner, a video recorder, or a water heater. As shown in FIG. 5, the device 40 has a main function for realizing the original function as the device 40 (for example, an air conditioning function for an air conditioner, a recording function for a recorder, and a hot water supply function for a water heater). In addition to a functional unit (not shown), a communication unit 41, an information output unit 42, a storage unit 43, and a control unit 44 are provided.

  The communication unit 41 is, for example, a communication adapter for connecting the home network 60, and performs data communication with the controller 30 via the home network 60 under the control of the control unit 44.

  The information output unit 42 includes LEDs for each color, and emits light in a specific color or blinks in a specific pattern or time interval based on control from the control unit 44. Instead of physically providing the information output unit 42, an LED or the like originally provided in the main function unit of the device 40 may be substituted for the information output unit 42.

  The storage unit 43 plays a role as a so-called secondary storage device (auxiliary storage device), and includes, for example, a readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory.

  Returning to FIG. 5, the control unit 44 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and controls each unit described above. For example, the control unit 44 executes a remote operation instructed from the operation terminal 20 by executing an operation command received from the controller 30. Moreover, the control part 44 is provided with the notification part 441 as a functional structure relevant to this invention. The notification unit 441 notifies operation information to surrounding users by controlling the output mode of the information output unit 42 based on the mode control command received from the controller 30.

  Next, an operation when the device 40 is remotely operated by the remote operation system 1 will be described.

  First, the remote operation instruction process performed on the operation terminal 20 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, a user who is an operator of remote operation touches a specific icon from the touch panel 22 of the operation terminal 20, and in response to the touch operation, the control unit 25 activates an application for remote operation (step S11). ). Then, the user operates the touch panel 22 to input the operation content information indicating the content of the remote operation on the device 40, the user ID of the user, and the password from the screen of the application to instruct the remote operation. . In response to this instruction, the control unit 25 of the operation terminal 20 performs a remote operation including the input information, the current position information acquired by the position acquisition unit 23, the IP address of the controller 30, and the like. The request is transmitted to the web server 10 (step S12). This completes the remote operation instruction process. Upon receiving a remote operation request from the operation terminal 20, the Web server 10 performs user authentication using the user ID and password included in the request, and then receives the received remote operation request until there is a request from the controller 30. Hold.

  Next, processing performed by the controller 30 will be described. In the controller 30, the communication process shown in FIG. 7 is repeatedly executed while the power is on.

  First, the controller 34 of the controller 30 waits for a certain time (for example, 3 minutes) (step S21). Then, the control unit 34 inquires of the Web server 10 whether or not the remote operation request for the device 40 managed by the own device is held (step S22). In response to the inquiry from the controller 30, the Web server 10 checks whether or not the remote operation request including the IP address of the controller 30 is currently held, and returns the result.

  If there is no remote operation request (step S23; No), the process returns to step S21. When there is a remote operation request (step S23; Yes), the control unit 34 downloads this remote operation request from the Web server 10 (step S24).

  Subsequently, the control unit 34 creates an operation command for causing the operation target device 40 to execute the operation indicated by the operation content information included in the downloaded remote operation request (step S25).

  Subsequently, the control unit 34 refers to the output mode table 331, and specifies the output mode of the information output unit 42 corresponding to the operation information (user ID and position information) included in the downloaded remote operation request (step) S26). And the control part 34 produces the aspect control command for controlling the information output part 42 to the specified output aspect for a fixed time (for example, 5 minutes) (step S27).

  And the control part 34 transmits the produced operation command and the mode control command to the apparatus 40 of operation object (step S28), and a process returns to step S21.

  Next, processing performed by the device 40 that is a target of remote operation will be described. In the device 40, the remote operation process shown in FIG. 8 is repeatedly executed while the power is on.

  First, the control unit 44 of the device 40 determines whether or not an operation command has been received from the controller 30 (step S31). If no operation command has been received (step S31; No), the process proceeds to step S33. When the operation command is received (step S31; Yes), the control unit 44 executes an operation according to the operation command (step S32). Thereby, in the device 40, an operation (remote operation) instructed by the operator from the operation terminal 20 is executed.

  Subsequently, the control unit 44 determines whether or not an aspect control command has been received from the controller 30 (step S33). When the mode control command has not been received (step S33; No), the process proceeds to step S31. When the mode control command is received (step S33; Yes), the control unit 44 controls the information output unit 42 based on the mode control command. Thereby, the information output unit 42 outputs light in a mode corresponding to the operation information, and the operation information is notified to the users around the device 40 who saw the light (step S34). Then, the process returns to step S31.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, when the device 40 is remotely operated, the output mode of the information output unit 42 of the device 40 is controlled so as to correspond to the operation information related to the remote operation. Therefore, it becomes possible to notify the operation information to the users around the operated device 40.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the information output unit 42 is configured by a relatively simple LED or the like, and the operation information is notified by the light emission output mode of the information output unit 42. Therefore, the LED or the like originally provided in the device 40 can be substituted for the information output unit 42, and operation information can be notified from the device 40 with a relatively inexpensive configuration without adding a new configuration to the device 40. it can.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described focusing on differences from the first embodiment described above. In addition, about the structure same or equivalent to Embodiment 1, while using an equivalent code | symbol, the description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

  In the first embodiment, the operation information is notified to neighboring users by the output mode of the information output unit 42 of the device 40. However, in this case, the user needs to know in advance the relationship between the output mode and the operation information (for example, the relationship between the light emission color and the operator). On the other hand, in this embodiment, it is possible to notify the user of operation information more directly.

  FIG. 9 shows the configuration of the remote control system 2 according to the present embodiment. Compared with the remote operation system 1 according to the first embodiment, the remote operation system 2 newly includes a user terminal 80.

  The user terminal 80 is a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or the like possessed by users around the device 40. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the user terminal 80 includes a receiving unit 81, a touch panel 82, a storage unit 83, and a control unit 84.

  The receiving unit 81 is a camera, and receives (captures) light corresponding to the operation information output from the information output unit 42 of the device 40.

  The touch panel 82 includes a liquid crystal panel and a touch pad, displays various screens, receives a user's touch operation from the displayed screen, and outputs the received position information to the control unit 84. The touch panel 82 functions as a terminal information output unit of the present invention that outputs operation information received by the receiving unit 81.

  The storage unit 83 plays a role as a so-called secondary storage device (auxiliary storage device), and includes, for example, a readable and writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory.

  The storage unit 83 includes an output mode table 831. This output mode table 831 is substantially the same table as the output mode table 331 stored in the storage unit 33 of the controller 30, and is, for example, a table as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

  The control unit 84 includes a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), and the like, and controls each unit of the user terminal 80. Moreover, the control part 84 is provided with the terminal notification part 841 as a functional structure relevant to this invention. The terminal notification unit 841 outputs the operation information received by the reception unit 81 to the touch panel 82 in a mode different from the information output unit 42 of the device 40.

  Next, a process performed at the user terminal 80 of the remote operation system 2 will be described. In addition, about operation | movement of the operating terminal 20, the controller 30, and the apparatus 40, since it is the same as that of Embodiment 1, it abbreviate | omits.

  Similar to the first embodiment, the information output unit 42 of the remotely operated device 40 outputs light having a mode corresponding to the operation information. The user who sees this brings the receiving unit 81 (camera) of the user terminal 80 close to the device 40. Then, the user performs a specific operation from the touch panel 82 of the user terminal 80 and instructs activation of an operation information notification application. In response to this instruction, the control unit 84 of the user terminal 80 executes the information notification process shown in FIG.

  First, the receiving unit 81 of the user terminal 80 continuously captures light output from the information output unit 42 of the device 40 based on an instruction from the control unit 84. And the control part 84 discriminate | determines the output mode (color of light emission, time interval) of this light by analyzing each imaged image (step S41).

  Subsequently, the control unit 84 refers to the output mode table 831 and acquires operation information corresponding to the output mode determined in step S41 (step S42). For example, consider a case where an output mode in which blue light is output at intervals of 0.5 seconds can be acquired in step S41. In this case, from the output mode table 331 illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the control unit 84 can acquire operation information indicating that the operator with the user name “Taro Taro” is performing remote operation from a location within 1 km. .

  Subsequently, the control unit 84 outputs (displays) the acquired operation information on the touch panel 82 in a more easy-to-understand manner different from the first embodiment, and notifies the user (step S43). For example, in the above-described example, the control unit 84 may display a text message such as “Taro Patent is operating remotely from a location close to (1 km or less)” on the touch panel 82. When the user terminal 80 includes a speaker, such a text message may be output from the speaker. This completes the information notification process.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the operation information is notified by the text message, voice, or the like from the user terminal 80 possessed by the users around the device 40. Therefore, the user can directly know the operation information without having to know the relationship between the output mode and the operation information in advance.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, since the operation information is output by a text message, voice, or the like, more complicated types of operation information can be output. For example, the operation terminal 20 transmits a comment sentence input by the operator at the time of a remote operation instruction to the controller 30 as operation information. The controller 30 replaces the received comment text with a variable-length encoded code such as a Morse code, and transmits a mode control command for controlling to emit light in a light emission pattern corresponding to the encoded code to the information output unit 40. 42 is controlled. Then, the user terminal 80 executes the above-described information notification process, analyzes the encoded code (Morse signal) indicated by the light emission pattern of the information output unit 42 to obtain a comment sentence, and displays the comment portion on the touch panel 82. It can also be displayed.

(Modification)
In addition, this invention is not limited to said each embodiment (Embodiment 1, 2), Of course, the various change in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention is possible.

  For example, in each of the embodiments described above, in the communication process (FIG. 7), the controller 30 inquires the Web server 10 about the presence or absence of a remote operation request at regular intervals (steps S21 to S22), thereby downloading the remote operation request ( Step S24). However, if the controller 30 and the web server 10 can be always connected by a method such as web socket or long polling, a remote operation request may be acquired without making such an inquiry. That is, the Web server 10 may immediately transmit the remote operation request received from the operation terminal 20 to the controller 30 that is always connected. By doing in this way, it becomes possible to improve the responsiveness of remote operation more.

  The remote operation systems 1 and 2 may include a mail server instead of the Web server 10. In this case, the operation terminal 20 transmits a remote operation request to the mail server by e-mail. Then, the controller 30 inquires of the mail server whether or not the remote operation request is held, and may be downloaded when there is a remote operation request.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, the operation information is notified to surrounding users by the form of light output from the information output unit 42 of the device 40. However, other types of information may be output from the information output unit 42, and the operation information may be notified depending on the mode. For example, the information output unit 42 may be configured by a speaker, and the operation information may be notified to neighboring users according to the sound mode (sound type, volume, etc.) output from the information output unit 42.

  Further, the information output unit 42 may be configured by an LED and a speaker, and the operation information may be notified by a combination of output light and sound modes. For example, in the case of remote operation from the operator with the user ID “U0001”, a beep sound may be output from the information output unit 42 of the device 40 together with blue light.

  In the above embodiments, information indicating the operator and the operation position has been described as an example of operation information. However, other types of information related to remote operation may be used as operation information. For example, a comment input by operating the touch panel 22 of the operation terminal 20 when the operator instructs remote operation may be used as the operation information.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, by applying a program executed by the controller 30 to an existing computer or the like, it is possible to cause the computer or the like to function as the controller 30 according to the present invention.

  Such a program distribution method is arbitrary, for example, a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read-Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), an MO (Magneto Optical Disk), or a memory card. It may be stored and distributed in a network, or distributed via a communication network such as the Internet.

  Various embodiments and modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the present invention. Further, the above-described embodiment is for explaining the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the present invention. That is, the scope of the present invention is shown not by the embodiments but by the claims. Various modifications within the scope of the claims and within the scope of the equivalent invention are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention can be suitably employed in a system such as a HEMS (Home Energy Management System).

  1, 2 Remote operation system, 10 Web server, 20 Operation terminal, 30 Controller, 40 Device, 50 Internet, 60 In-home network, 70 Housing, 80 User terminal, 21 Communication unit, 22 Touch panel, 23 Location acquisition unit, 24 Storage unit , 25 control unit, 251 transmission unit, 31 in-home communication unit, 32 external communication unit, 33 storage unit, 331 output mode table, 34 control unit, 341 identification unit, 342 command transmission unit, 41 communication unit, 42 information output unit, 43 storage unit, 44 control unit, 441 notification unit, 81 reception unit, 82 touch panel, 83 storage unit, 831 output mode table, 84 control unit, 841 terminal notification unit

Claims (9)

An operation terminal, a controller, a device including an information output unit, and a user terminal, a remote operation system for remotely operating the device from the operation terminal via the controller,
The operation terminal includes a transmission unit that transmits operation information related to the remote operation to the controller.
The controller is
A specifying unit for specifying an output mode of the information output unit corresponding to the operation information received from the operation terminal;
A command transmission unit that transmits a command for controlling the information output unit to the output mode specified by the identification unit;
The equipment is
A notification unit that notifies the operation information by controlling the information output unit based on a command received from the controller;
The user terminal is
A terminal information output unit;
A receiving unit that receives the operation information notified by the notification unit;
A terminal notification unit that controls the terminal information output unit and notifies the received operation information in a manner different from the notification by the notification unit;
Remote control system. An operation terminal, a controller, and a device including an information output unit, a remote operation system for remotely operating the device from the operation terminal via the controller,
The operation terminal includes a transmission unit that transmits operation information including position information of the operation terminal instructing the remote operation to the controller.
The controller is
A specifying unit for specifying an output mode of the information output unit corresponding to the operation information received from the operation terminal;
A command transmission unit that transmits a command for controlling the information output unit to the output mode specified by the identification unit;
The equipment is
A notification unit for notifying the operation information by controlling the information output unit based on a command received from the controller;
Remote control system. The information output unit outputs sound,
The specifying unit specifies a sound output mode corresponding to the operation information;
The remote control system according to claim 1 or 2. The information output unit outputs light;
The specifying unit specifies an output mode of light corresponding to the operation information;
The remote control system according to claim 1 or 2. The information output unit outputs sound and light,
The specifying unit specifies a combination of a sound output mode and a light output mode corresponding to the operation information;
The remote control system according to claim 1 or 2. The terminal notification unit
Outputting a voice or message corresponding to the received operation information from the terminal information output unit;
The remote control system according to claim 1. The operation information includes information for specifying an operator of the remote operation.
The remote control system according to any one of claims 1 to 6. Based on a remote operation instruction from an operation terminal, a controller that operates a device including an information output unit,
A specifying unit that specifies an output mode of the information output unit corresponding to operation information including position information of the operation terminal that has instructed the remote operation received from the operation terminal;
A command transmission unit for transmitting a command for controlling the information output unit to the output mode identified by the identification unit;
Controller with. Based on a remote operation instruction from the operation terminal, a computer for operating a device including an information output unit,
A specifying unit for specifying an output mode of the information output unit corresponding to the operation information including the position information of the operation terminal received from the operation terminal;
A command transmission unit that transmits a command for controlling the information output unit to the output mode specified by the identification unit;
Program to function as.

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