JP6747093B2 - Communication system and care support system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a communication system including a battery-driven operation unit and a care support system including the communication system.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in hospitals, an operation unit (emergency button) called a nurse call switch has been used as a means for a hospitalized patient to call a nurse at a nurse station from the room. A nurse call by a patient, that is, a nurse's call is made by operating the operation unit by the patient when the patient cannot handle the situation by himself. The operation of the operation unit is usually performed by pressing an emergency button, grasping it, etc. By this, information indicating an emergency is transmitted to the nurse station and the nurse can be called.

On the other hand, nursing care (insurance) facilities are also equipped with facilities for making emergency calls similar to such nurse calls. When a cared person in the living room calls for emergency assistance or when he/she needs some assistance even in times other than an emergency, he/she calls the caregiver who is waiting at the block in the care facility by operating the operation unit to make an emergency call. be able to.

The emergency call is basically a notification made when a cared person or a patient (hereinafter also referred to as a cared person, etc.) requests immediate attention. Therefore, even if the care giver or the like makes an emergency call, if information to that effect is not transmitted to the other party, a serious accident may occur. Therefore, the operation unit, which is a switch for making an emergency call, must always operate reliably.

Here, in recent years, in order to allow a cared person to freely carry the operation unit in the living room, a system is used in which the operation unit is driven by a battery and an emergency call by the operation unit is made wirelessly. ing. In such a system, since the operation unit is always operated by the battery, it is necessary for the battery to have a capacity necessary for communication at all times, and when the battery level becomes low, the battery is replaced with a new battery. Need to be replaced. Therefore, in the above system, it is necessary to appropriately manage the remaining amount of the battery that drives the operation unit.

Regarding the management of the remaining battery level, for example, there is a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1. In Patent Document 1, in an electronic device in which a battery unit having a built-in secondary battery is mounted, it is expected that the actual power consumption value of the electronic device (actual power consumption value Pa) and the current operation mode of the electronic device are supported. The calculated power consumption value (predicted power consumption value Pb) is acquired, and the actual power consumption value Pa is compared with the sum of the predicted power consumption value Pb and the threshold value S. Then, if Pa>(Pb+S), the actual power consumption value Pa is selected, while if Pa≦(Pb+S), the predicted power consumption value Pb is selected, and the remaining power value of the battery is selected as the selected power consumption. By dividing by the value (Pa or Pb), the remaining usable time of the electronic device is calculated. As a result, even if the actual power consumption value Pa is higher than the predicted power consumption value Pb, the power will not be turned off earlier than the usable time (time assumed by the user), and the reliability of the remaining battery level will be improved. It is possible to improve the sex.

JP, 2011-35966, A (refer to claim 1, paragraphs [0004], [0005], [0008], [0015] to [0030], and Figs. 1 to 3).

By the way, for example, immediately after the battery of the operation unit is replaced with a new one, when the remaining battery level (voltage) after replacement is low, it is considered that the replaced battery is defective. Such defective batteries include, for example, old batteries that have been stored for a long time, used batteries, and non-genuine batteries that are sold at a lower price than genuine products. If the battery is defective, it will run out quickly after the battery is replaced.For example, even if you replace the battery, the battery will run out the day after the replacement and It is possible that something that is not normally expected, such as the inability to make an emergency call.

Even if the battery is a genuine product and the remaining amount of the battery is sufficient, if the operation unit itself has a malfunction, an emergency call cannot be properly made. Such operation failure of the operation unit may be, for example, connection failure of terminals between the main body of the operation unit and the battery.

In order to avoid situations in which emergency calls cannot be made due to abnormalities such as defective batteries or defective operating parts, not only managing the remaining battery level, but also monitoring for such defective batteries. If necessary, it is desirable to take appropriate measures such as urging battery replacement to a genuine product and maintenance of the operation unit.

In this respect, the technique of Patent Document 1 described above is not limited to managing the remaining battery level, and is not capable of monitoring whether or not there is a battery defect as described above, and therefore an abnormal situation resulting from a battery defect or the like. It is not possible to avoid (a situation where emergency calls cannot be made).

Further, in recent years, in nursing care facilities, for the purpose of supporting the daily life of the care recipient, the interior of the living room is photographed by a camera, and the state of the care recipient is recognized by image recognition. A system (hereinafter, also referred to as a care support system) for monitoring a fall in a house or a fall from a bed is being used. Even in the care support system, since the emergency call by the operation unit is utilized, it is desired to avoid an abnormal situation caused by a defective battery or the like.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is not only to manage the remaining battery level of the operating section in a system in which the operating section is driven by a battery, but also to prevent battery failures and operating sections. It is to provide a communication system capable of avoiding an abnormal situation caused by a battery defect and a defect of the operation unit by monitoring the presence or absence of the defect of the above, and a care support system including the communication system.

A communication system according to one aspect of the present invention is a communication unit installed in a living room, operated by a user in the living room, driven by a battery, and has characteristics related to user operation information and a characteristic value of the battery. An operation unit that transmits information to the communication unit, and the operation information and the characteristic information that are transmitted from the operation unit via the communication unit are managed, and an operation history of the operation unit based on the operation information is managed. A management server for managing the battery, wherein the management server calculates a unique integrated value of the current consumption of the battery by the operation of the operation unit based on the operation history, and includes the unique integrated value. A calculation unit that calculates an estimated integrated value of current consumption from the start of use, and determines the remaining amount of the battery based on the characteristic value and the estimated integrated value, and determines whether the battery and the operation unit are defective. It has a judging unit for judging, and an output unit for outputting information indicating the remaining amount of the battery and the presence or absence of the defect judged by the judging unit.

When the operation unit transmits the operation information of the user (for example, information that a button is pressed) and the characteristic information regarding the characteristic value (for example, voltage value, discharge current value) of the battery that drives the operation unit to the communication unit, These pieces of information are transmitted from the communication unit to the management server and are managed there. Further, since the operation history of the user who operates the operation unit is known based on the above operation information, such operation history is also managed by the management server.

In the management server, the calculation unit calculates the unique integrated value of the battery current consumption by the operation of the operation unit based on the operation history, and further estimates the current consumption from the start of use of the battery including the unique integrated value. The integrated value is calculated. Then, the determination unit determines the remaining amount of the battery and whether or not there is a defect in the battery and the operation unit based on the characteristic value and the estimated integrated value. Information indicating the determined remaining battery level and the presence/absence of the defect is output from the output unit.

In this way, the determination unit determines not only the remaining battery level of the operating unit but also the presence of defects in the battery and the operating unit. Can be properly monitored. When the battery is defective or the operating unit is defective, the system administrator can be prompted by the output of the information to replace the battery with a genuine product or perform maintenance on the operating unit. it can. As a result, it is possible to prevent an abnormal situation such as the inability to transmit the operation information of the operation unit (for example, an emergency call) due to a defective battery and a defect in the operation unit.

The determination unit determines whether or not there is a defect in the battery and the operation unit based on the difference between the rank of the remaining battery level based on the characteristic value and the rank of the remaining battery level based on the estimated integrated value. May be.

If the rank of the remaining battery level based on the characteristic value and the rank of the remaining battery level based on the estimated integrated value are different, it is possible that a defective battery or a defective operating unit has occurred. It becomes easy to determine the presence or absence of defects.

When the rank of the remaining battery level based on the characteristic value is higher than the rank of the remaining battery level based on the estimated integrated value by a predetermined level or more when the remaining battery level is higher, the determination unit determines While determining that there is a defect, if the rank of the remaining battery level based on the characteristic value is lower than the rank of the remaining battery level based on the estimated integrated value by a predetermined level or more, the battery level is lower. It may be judged that there is a defect.

Judgment is made by distinguishing between a defective battery and a defective operating section by determining whether the rank of the remaining battery level based on the characteristic value is higher or lower than the rank of the remaining battery level based on the estimated integrated value by a predetermined level or more. can do.

The management server, for each combination of each rank when the possible range of the characteristic value is divided into a plurality of ranks, and each rank when the possible range of the estimated integrated value is divided into a plurality of ranks. The storage unit further stores a table in which information indicating the remaining amount of the battery and the presence or absence of a defect in the battery or the operation unit is stored in advance. By referring to the information associated with the combination of the rank to which the characteristic value of the characteristic information transmitted from the communication unit belongs and the rank to which the estimated integrated value calculated by the calculation unit belongs, the remaining battery level And whether or not there is a defect in the battery and the operation unit.

Since the judging unit judges the remaining amount of the battery and the presence/absence of a defect in the battery and the operating unit by referring to the table stored in the storage unit, the judgment can be made immediately and easily.

The characteristic value may be a voltage value of the battery. The effect described above can be obtained in the configuration of the system in which the voltage value of the battery is used as the characteristic value and the information of the voltage value is transmitted as characteristic information from the operation unit to the management server via the communication unit.

The table is a matrix-like table in which m is an integer of 2 or more, and a range in which the voltage value as the characteristic value can be taken and a range in which the estimated integrated value can be taken are each divided into m ranks. , The rank of the voltage value is rank 1 to m from the higher voltage value to the lower rank, and the rank of the estimated integrated value is rank 1 to m from the lower to the higher current consumption value. And x and y are each an integer of 1 to m, and a combination of any rank x of the voltage value and any rank y of the estimated integrated value is represented by A(x, y). At this time, a part of the combination A(x, y) of each rank satisfying x<y is associated with the information indicating that the operation unit has a defect, and the combination A(x of each rank satisfying x>y , Y) may be associated with information indicating that the battery is defective.

As described above, in the combination A(x, y) of each rank in the table, the determination unit refers to the table by associating the information with the defective operation unit or the information with the defective battery. Thus, it is possible to distinguish between the defective battery and the defective operating portion.

The output unit may include a display unit that displays information indicating the remaining amount of the battery and the presence or absence of the defect. Information indicating the remaining battery level and whether or not the battery is defective is displayed on the display unit, so that the system administrator can immediately see the remaining battery level and the defective battery by looking at the displayed information. can do.

The management server may further include a control unit that controls the transmission of the information indicating the remaining amount of the battery and the presence/absence of the defect to an external terminal device. In this case, the owner of the terminal device (for example, a mobile terminal) can display the information received from the management server on the display unit of the terminal device and immediately recognize the remaining battery level and whether there is a defect. Depending on the situation, it is possible to take appropriate measures such as battery replacement.

A care support system according to another aspect of the present invention is a care support system including the communication system described above, wherein the communication unit of the communication system includes a moving body detection unit that detects a moving body in a living room, and the management The server manages information about the moving body transmitted from the moving body detection unit.

The above-mentioned communication unit includes a moving body detection unit to form a care support system. Information about a moving body (for example, a cared person) in the living room is transmitted from the moving body detection unit to the management server and managed there. Also in such a care support system, by using the above-mentioned communication system, the management server can manage the remaining battery level of the operation unit and monitor whether the battery and the operation unit are defective. As a result, it is possible to avoid an abnormal situation caused by a defective battery of the operation unit and a defect of the operation unit itself.

The moving body detection unit includes an imaging unit that captures an image of a living room by capturing an image, an image recognition unit that performs image recognition processing on the image data of the image acquired by the imaging unit, radio wave emission and It may include a radio wave detection unit that detects biological information of a care-receiver as a moving body in the living room by reception. As described above, in the care support system in which the communication unit includes the moving body detection unit that has the imaging unit, the image recognition unit, and the radio wave detection unit and detects the moving body (careee), the above-described effects can be obtained.

According to the above configuration, in the system in which the operation unit is driven by the battery, the management server can not only manage the remaining battery level of the operation unit, but also monitor whether or not the battery is defective or the operation unit is defective. .. As a result, it is possible to avoid an abnormal situation due to a defective battery and a defective operating unit.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the operation part of the said communication system. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the management server of the said communication system. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the relationship between the general discharge characteristic of a lithium ion battery, and the estimated integrated value of consumption current. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a rank classification of a battery residual amount typically. It is a flow chart which shows a flow of operation in the above-mentioned management server. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display of the said battery remaining amount. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other display example of the said battery remaining amount. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display when an operation part has a defect. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display when there is a defective battery. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the table previously stored in the memory|storage part of the said management server. It is explanatory drawing which shows the correspondence of a voltage value, a battery remaining amount, and a rank. It is explanatory drawing which shows the correspondence of an estimated integrated value, a battery remaining amount, and a rank. It is explanatory drawing which shows the schematic structure of the care support system to which the said communication system is applied. In the care support system, it is an explanatory view schematically showing a state in a living room in which a moving body detection unit is installed. It is a block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the said moving body detection unit. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the optical detection part of the said moving body detection unit. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically an example of the image acquired by the imaging|photography by the said optical detection part.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this specification, when the numerical range is described as A to B, the numerical range includes the lower limit A and the upper limit B.

〔Communications system〕
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a communication system 1 of this embodiment. The communication system 1 includes a communication unit 2, an operation unit 3, and a management server 4.

The communication unit 2 is a unit installed in a living room 101 of a building (for example, a nursing facility) to mediate communication between the operation unit 3 and the management server 4, and includes a communication unit and a control unit. It is configured. The communication unit 2 can be configured by a moving body detection unit 10 (see FIG. 14 and the like) that detects a moving body in the living room 101, and details of this point will be described later.

The communication unit 2 and the management server 4 are communicably connected via a communication line NW. The communication line NW is configured by, for example, a wired LAN (Local Area Network), but may be a wireless LAN, or may be an Internet line, a telephone line, a line capable of high-speed communication by an optical fiber, or the like.

The operation unit 3 is a device that is operated (for example, pressed) by a user (for example, a cared person) in the living room 101 when making an emergency call to the management server 4 via the communication unit 2. The emergency call is a notification (call) when the user requests an immediate action. That is, when the user operates the operation unit 3, the operation information (information indicating an emergency) is transmitted to the management server 4 via the communication unit 2. As a result, the management server 4 transmits, for example, the information indicating that the emergency call is made to the mobile phones 5a to 5e of the caregiver, and the caregiver can call the user in the living room 101. ..

In addition, in FIG. 1, the management server 4 and the mobile phones 5a to 5e communicate with each other via the Wi-Fi base stations 6a and 6b. However, the management server 4 and the mobile phones 5a to 5e communicate with each other via other base stations. Alternatively, the communication may be performed directly without using the Wi-Fi base stations 6a and 6b. Wi-Fi (registered trademark) refers to a wireless LAN standard certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Hereinafter, details of the operation unit 3 and the management server 4 will be sequentially described.

(Operation part)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the operation unit 3. The operation unit 3 has an operation button 3a, a communication unit 3b, a voltage detection unit 3c, and a control unit 3d, and is driven by the battery BT.

The battery BT is a rechargeable secondary battery such as a lithium-ion battery, but may be a primary battery such as an alkaline battery. The battery BT is housed in the main body of the operation unit 3 and electrically connected to the terminals of the main body. Further, the battery BT can be detached from the main body and can be replaced appropriately.

Since the operation unit 3 is driven by a battery, the communication between the operation unit 3 and the communication unit 2 is performed wirelessly. The wireless communication at this time may be infrared communication, communication based on a short-range wireless communication standard called Bluetooth (registered trademark), or another wireless communication method. By driving the operating unit 3 by the battery BT, the user in the living room 101 can freely carry the operating unit 3 in the living room 101, and operate the operating unit 3 from anywhere in the living room 101. It becomes possible to make an emergency call.

The operation button 3a is a portion pressed by the user. The operation unit 3 may have an operation switch for switching ON/OFF instead of the operation button 3a. The communication unit 3b is an interface for transmitting the operation information by pressing the operation button 3a and the characteristic information regarding the characteristic value of the battery BT to the communication unit 2. The above operation information is information indicating that the user has pressed the operation button 3a, and when the operation button 3a is pressed, a signal such as infrared rays is transmitted from the communication section 3b to the communication unit 2 as operation information. To be done. The characteristic value of the battery BT refers to the voltage value or current value (discharge current value) of the battery BT. Here, as an example, a case where a voltage value is used as the characteristic value will be described.

The voltage value of the battery BT is acquired by the voltage detection unit 3c as a characteristic detection unit. The voltage detection unit 3c periodically measures the voltage value of the battery BT and provides the value obtained by the measurement to the communication unit 3b as characteristic information. Such a voltage detection unit 3c can be configured by an existing voltage detection circuit. The control unit 3d includes a central processing unit (CPU) that controls the operation of each unit of the operation unit 3.

(Management server)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the management server 4. The management server 4 manages the operation information of the operation unit 3 and the characteristic information (for example, voltage value) of the battery BT transmitted from the operation unit 3 via the communication unit 2, and the operation unit based on the transmitted operation information. 3 is an external terminal device that manages the operation history of item 3. Here, the operation history of the operation unit 3 is information regarding the date and time when the user uses the operation unit 3 (presses the operation button 3a), and can be grasped from the above operation information.

The management server 4 includes an arithmetic unit 4a, a determination unit 4b, an output unit 4c, a storage unit 4d, a communication unit 4e, a clock unit 4f, and a control unit 4g. The control unit 4g is configured by a CPU that controls each unit of the management server 4, grasps the operation history from the above operation information and stores the operation history in the storage unit 4d, and also stores the characteristic information (characteristic value) of the battery BT. The information is stored in the unit 4d and these pieces of information are managed.

The operation information is transmitted from the operation unit 3 to the management server 4 via the communication unit 2 each time the operation button 3a is pressed by the user, but it is used as a characteristic value of the battery BT. Since the voltage value is regularly measured by the operation unit 3 (voltage detection unit 3c), the characteristic information is regularly transmitted from the operation unit 3 to the communication unit 2 and further periodically from the communication unit 2 to the management server 4. Sent to you. Hereinafter, the periodical transmission of the characteristic information from the operation unit 3 to the communication unit 2 is referred to as regular communication.

The calculation unit 4a calculates a unique integrated value (corresponding to D2 below) of the current consumption of the battery BT by the operation of the operation unit 3 based on the above operation history, and further includes the unique integrated value. Is a block for calculating an estimated integrated value of current consumption from the start of use (corresponding to D below), and is composed of an arithmetic circuit for performing a specific calculation. The method of calculating the estimated integrated value will be described in more detail below.

The current consumption of the battery BT per unit time in the regular communication is i (mA/sec), the elapsed time from the start of use (replacement time) of the battery BT is t (sec), and the operation unit 3 is operated once. The total current consumption per hit (per push of the operation button 3a) is Ia (mA), and the number of times the operation unit 3 is operated from the start of using the battery BT (the number of times the operation button 3a is pressed) is n. (Times). In this case, the integrated current consumption D1 of battery BT (regular communication integrated value) required for the periodic communication is i×t (mA), and the integrated current consumption D2 of battery BT peculiar to the operation of operation unit 3 (specific integrated value). Is Ia×n (mA). Therefore, the estimated integrated value D(mA) of the consumption current from the start of use of the battery BT is D1+D2=(i×t)+(Ia×n).

It should be noted that the consumption current i and the total consumption current Ia are known in advance, and regarding the elapsed time t, if the use start date and time of the battery BT is known (for example, information on the use start date and time of the battery BT is stored in the storage unit). If it is stored in 4d), it can be grasped by the clocking from the above-mentioned use start date and time by the clocking unit 4f. The number of times n can be grasped based on the operation information transmitted. Therefore, the estimated integrated value D can be calculated by the above equation.

The determination unit 4b determines the remaining amount of the battery BT (corresponding to the replacement time) based on the characteristic value (for example, voltage value) included in the transmitted characteristic information and the estimated integrated value D calculated by the calculation unit 4a. This is a block for determining whether or not there is a defect in the battery BT and whether or not there is a defect in the operation unit 3. In particular, the determination unit 4b determines the battery BT and the operation unit 3 based on the difference between the rank of the remaining amount of the battery BT based on the characteristic value (for example, the voltage value) and the rank of the remaining amount of the battery based on the estimated integrated value D. Judge whether or not there is a defect. Such a determination unit 4b can be configured by, for example, a CPU, and the control unit 4g can also serve as the determination unit 4b. The details of various determination methods in the determination unit 4b will be described later.

The output unit 4c is a block that outputs information indicating the remaining amount of the battery BT determined by the determination unit 4b and the presence/absence of a defect in the battery BT and the operation unit 3. The output unit 4c includes a display unit 4c ₁ . The display unit 4c ₁ is a display device that displays information indicating the remaining amount of the battery BT, the presence or absence of a defect in the battery BT, and the operation unit 3, and is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display device or an organic EL (electro-luminescence) display device. It The output unit 4c may be configured to include an image forming apparatus (composite machine, printer, copier, etc.) that outputs the above information by printing on a recording medium such as paper.

The storage unit 4d stores various information transmitted from the operation unit 3 to the management server 4 via the communication unit 2, information calculated by the calculation unit 4a of the management server 4 (for example, the estimated integrated value D), and the determination unit 4b. As a result of the determination, the memory is a memory that stores a control program for operating each unit of the management server 4, and is configured by, for example, a hard disk, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a non-volatile memory, or the like. The communication unit 4e is an interface for transmitting and receiving (communicating) information with the communication unit 2 and other terminal devices (for example, mobile phones 5a to 5e, see FIG. 1). The clock unit 4f is a timer that measures time, and measures, for example, the elapsed time or the number of days from the time when the battery BT was replaced by the operation unit 3.

(About judgment method of remaining battery level and presence/absence of defect in judgment section)
Next, details of various determination methods in the determination unit 4b will be described.

FIG. 4 schematically shows the relationship between general discharge characteristics of a lithium-ion battery as the battery BT and the estimated integrated value of current consumption. It should be noted that the estimated integrated value here indicates only the power consumption in the regular communication, and does not include the power consumption caused by the operation of the operation unit 3. As shown in the figure, although the discharge characteristics of the plurality of lithium ion batteries a1 to a3 are different from each other, after the time (tmax), which is considered to be the life, after the battery replacement, any of the lithium ion batteries a1 to a3 is discharged. It can be seen that the voltage value drastically drops due to the discharge. Therefore, the battery residual amount can be managed for any of the lithium ion batteries a1 to a3 with the voltage value (for example, 2.0 V) and the estimated integrated value (for example, 200 mA) corresponding to the battery life as a reference. In the present embodiment, the remaining battery level is ranked based on the voltage value (for example, 2.0 V) corresponding to the battery life and the estimated integrated value (for example, 200 mA), and the battery at the time when an arbitrary time has elapsed since the battery was replaced. The remaining amount (rank) is determined. Specifically, it is as follows.

FIG. 5 schematically shows an example of ranking of the remaining amount of the battery BT. For example, when the voltage value of the battery BT is C, the determination unit 4b determines that the remaining amount is “full” if C>2.8 at the time t when an arbitrary time has elapsed since the battery was replaced. At the same time, this remaining amount is set to "rank 1", and if 2.2<C≤2.8, it is determined that the remaining amount is "sufficient", and this remaining amount is set to "rank 2", and 2.0 <C≦2.2, it is determined that the remaining amount is “small” (battery replacement is required), and this remaining amount is set to “rank 3”. When C≦2.0, the remaining amount is “nearly low” It is determined that "(battery has run out)" and this remaining amount is set to "rank 4". The unit of the above voltage value is V (volt).

Similarly, the determination unit 4b determines that the remaining amount is “full” when the estimated integrated value D obtained by the calculation unit 4a at the time t when an arbitrary time has elapsed since the battery replacement is 0<D≦150. When 150<D≦180, the remaining amount is determined to be “sufficient”, and the remaining amount is set to “rank 2” and 180< When D≦200, it is determined that the remaining amount is “small” (battery replacement is required), and this remaining amount is set to “Rank 3”. When D>200, the remaining amount is “almost no” (battery exhausted). And the remaining amount is set to "rank 4". In addition, the unit of the above-mentioned estimated integrated value D and the numerical value indicating the consumed current is mA.

Further, the determination unit 4b determines whether or not there is a defect in the battery BT and whether or not the operation unit 3 has a defect as follows.

For example, when the rank of the remaining amount of the battery BT based on the voltage value C and the rank of the remaining amount of the battery BT based on the estimated integrated value D are both the same (where n is any integer of 1 to 4, which rank is Also, when n is also n), the ranks of the remaining amounts obtained by the two methods have the same result, and therefore the reliability of the obtained result (rank) is considered to be high. Therefore, the determination unit 4b determines that neither the battery BT is defective nor the operation unit 3 is defective.

On the other hand, for example, when the remaining amount of the battery BT based on the voltage value C is "rank 4" and the remaining amount of the battery BT based on the estimated integrated value D is "rank 1", the battery based on the voltage value C is determined. When the rank of the remaining battery level of the BT is lower than the rank of the remaining battery level of the battery BT based on the estimated integrated value D by a predetermined step (for example, one step or two steps) or more, the estimated integrated value D is Since it is small, it is assumed that the usage period of the battery BT is short, but the actually measured remaining amount of the battery BT is small. In this case, the battery BT is a battery that originally has a low remaining amount, such as an old battery that has been stored for a long period of time, a used battery, or a non-genuine battery that is sold cheaper than a genuine product. It is highly likely that it is defective.

On the contrary, for example, in the case where the remaining amount of the battery BT based on the voltage value C is “rank 1” and the remaining amount of the battery BT based on the estimated integrated value D is “rank 4”, it is based on the voltage value C. When the rank of the remaining amount of the battery BT is higher than the rank of the remaining amount of the battery based on the estimated integrated value D by more than a predetermined level (for example, one level or two levels), the battery BT has a long period of time. Although it is estimated that the remaining battery level is low (the battery BT is near the end of its service life) due to the use of the It is conceivable that the battery BT is not actually consumed due to the (connection failure).

In this way, when the rank of the remaining amount of the battery BT based on the voltage value C and the rank of the remaining amount of the battery BT based on the estimated integrated value D are different, the battery BT is defective or the operation unit 3 is defective. Is possible. Therefore, the determination unit 4b determines whether there is a defect in the battery BT based on the two types of remaining ranks, that is, the remaining rank based on the voltage value C and the remaining rank based on the estimated integrated value D, and It is possible to determine whether or not there is a defect in the operation unit 3, and thus it is possible to easily and reliably determine whether or not there is a defect. In particular, the determination unit 4b determines whether the rank of the remaining amount based on the voltage value C is higher or lower than the rank of the remaining amount based on the estimated integrated value D by a predetermined level or more, and thus the defective battery BT is defective. And the defect of the operation unit 3 can be reliably distinguished and determined.

(About the operation of the management server)
Next, the operation of the management server 4 in the communication system 1 having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations in the management server 4.

When the management server 4 receives the operation information of the operation unit 3 and the voltage information as the characteristic information from the operation unit 3 via the communication unit 2 (S1), the operation unit 4a of the management server 3 starts operation of the battery BT. The estimated integrated value D of the current consumption is calculated by using the above-described calculation formula (S2). That is, the calculation unit 4a calculates the integrated value of the consumption current of the battery BT (specific integrated value, integrated consumption current D2) due to the operation of the operation unit 3 on the basis of the operation history obtained from the operation information, and also performs the periodical operation. An integrated value of the current consumption of the battery BT required for communication (periodic communication integrated value, integrated current consumption D1) is calculated, and these are summed to calculate an estimated integrated value D of current consumption. Then, the determination unit 4b determines the rank of the remaining battery level from the obtained estimated integrated value D with reference to FIG. 5 (S3). The battery remaining amount obtained based on the estimated integrated value D is also referred to as a battery remaining amount B0 below.

Subsequently, the determination unit 4b determines the remaining amount of the battery BT as a rank from the voltage information (from the voltage value C included in the voltage information) with reference to FIG. 5 (S4). Note that the battery remaining amount obtained based on the voltage value C is also referred to as a battery remaining amount B1 below.

Next, the determination unit 4b determines whether or not the rank of the battery remaining amount B1 based on the voltage value C is higher than the rank of the battery remaining amount B0 based on the estimated integrated value D by a predetermined level (for example, two levels) or more. (S5). In the case of Yes in S5, that is, when the rank of the battery remaining amount B1 is higher than the rank of the battery remaining amount B0 by a predetermined level or more, the determination unit 4b determines that the operation unit 3 is defective due to the above reason ( S6) and then the process proceeds to S10.

On the other hand, if No in S5, that is, if the rank of the battery remaining amount B1 is not higher than the rank of the battery remaining amount B0 by a predetermined level or more, then the determination unit 4b determines that the rank of the battery remaining amount B1 is the battery remaining amount. It is determined whether or not the rank is lower than the rank of the quantity B0 by a predetermined level (for example, two levels or more) (S7). In the case of Yes in S7, that is, when the rank of the battery remaining amount B1 is lower than the rank of the battery remaining amount B0 by a predetermined level or more, the determination unit 4b determines that the battery BT is defective due to the above reason (S8). ), and then the process proceeds to S10.

Further, in the case of No in S7, that is, when the rank of the battery remaining amount B1 is not lower than the rank of the battery remaining amount B0 by a predetermined level or more, the determination unit 4b determines that the operation unit 3 and the battery BT are not defective. (S9), and then the process proceeds to S10.

In S10, the display unit 4c ₁ of the output section 4c is, the battery level B1 which is determined in S4, displays information indicating the result of the determination in S6, S8 or S9. For example, FIG. 7 shows a display example of the battery remaining amount B1, and FIG. 8 shows another display example of the battery remaining amount B1. In FIG. 8, characters are further added to the display example of FIG. 7 to make it easier to understand the state of the remaining amount. In the display unit 4c _1, the battery level indication B1 corresponding to one rank 1 to rank 4 is made.

9 shows a display example when the operation unit 3 has a defect, and FIG. 10 shows a display example when the battery BT has a defect. For any, with a warning mark indicating that it is a defect, information indicating the contents are displayed on the display unit 4c _1. In addition, when the process proceeds from S9 to S10, the display as in FIGS. 9 and 10 is not displayed, or a display indicating no defect is displayed. Therefore, in S10, at least one of the displays of FIGS. 7 to 10 is displayed (for FIG. 7 or 8, only the display of the corresponding rank is displayed).

In the determination method of this embodiment, a battery defect and an operation unit defect cannot be detected at the same time (since the conditions of S5 and S7 cannot be satisfied at the same time). 9 and FIG. 10 are not simultaneously displayed on the display unit 4c ₁ .

The display unit 4c ₁ may display the battery remaining amount B0 instead of the battery remaining amount B1, but the battery remaining amount B0 is obtained based on the estimated integrated value D, Since the remaining battery amount B1 directly obtained based on this has less error and is considered to be more accurate as the remaining battery amount, the state of the remaining battery amount B1 is displayed here.

As described above, the determination unit 4b of the management server 4 determines not only the remaining battery level of the operation unit 3 but also the presence/absence of a defect in the battery BT and the operation unit 3. Therefore, in addition to the management of the remaining battery level, Whether or not the battery BT and the operation unit 3 are defective can be appropriately monitored. If the battery is defective or the operating unit 3 is defective due to the output of information from the output unit 4c, the system administrator is requested to replace the battery with a genuine product or perform maintenance on the operating unit 3, for example. Can be urged. As a result, even if the user in the living room 101 operates the operation unit 3, an abnormal situation occurs in which operation information is not transmitted (emergency call does not arrive) due to a defective battery and a defect in the operation unit 3. It can be avoided.

In addition, the display unit 4c ₁ displays the information regarding the remaining battery level, the presence/absence of a defective battery, and the presence/absence of a defective operating unit, so that the system administrator can see the displayed information and It is possible to immediately recognize the presence or absence of a defective battery, etc., and it is possible to replace the battery with a genuine product or perform maintenance on the operation unit 3 as necessary.

Incidentally, the control section 4g of the management server 4, the information to be displayed on the display unit 4c _1, i.e., the remaining battery level is determined by the determining unit 4b, the presence or absence of a battery failure, the information as to whether or not the operation unit failure, the communication unit You may perform control which transmits to an external terminal device (for example, mobile telephone 5a) via 4e. In this case, the mobile terminal displays various received information on its own display unit so that the owner of the mobile terminal (for example, a caregiver) can determine the battery status and the presence/absence of the defect (remove from the management server 4). It becomes possible to grasp it immediately (even if it is in a different place). Then, the owner of the mobile terminal can take appropriate measures (battery replacement, etc.) as necessary.

(A method for determining remaining battery level and whether there is a defect using a table)
FIG. 11 schematically shows a table stored in advance in the storage unit 4d of the management server 4. The determination unit 4b may determine the remaining amount of the battery BT, the presence/absence of a defect in the battery BT, and the presence/absence of a defect in the operation unit 3 with reference to the table.

The table shown in FIG. 11 is obtained in each rank when the range in which the voltage value included in the voltage information transmitted from the operation unit 3 via the communication unit 2 can be taken is divided into a plurality of ranks, and the calculation unit 4a. Information indicating the remaining amount of the battery BT and the presence/absence of a defect in the battery BT or the operation unit 3 is previously set for each combination with each rank when the range in which the estimated integrated value can be taken is divided into a plurality of ranks. It is associated. Note that, in FIG. 11, the above-mentioned information indicating that there is a defect is indicated by a warning mark for convenience.

More specifically, the above table is a matrix-like table in which m is an integer of 2 or more and the range of possible voltage values and the range of possible estimated integrated values are each divided into m ranks. , Where m=4. In this table, the rank of the voltage value is rank 1 to m from the higher voltage value to the lower rank, and the rank of the estimated integrated value is rank 1 to m from the lower current consumption value to the higher rank. m. Therefore, the smaller the rank of the voltage value (the smaller the numerical value indicating the rank), the higher the voltage value, that is, the more the remaining battery amount. Further, the smaller the rank of the estimated integrated value, the smaller the estimated integrated value (value of current consumption), that is, the more the remaining battery amount.

A combination of any rank x of voltage values and any rank y of estimated integrated values is represented by A(x, y), where x and y are integers of 1 to m, respectively. For example, A(1,2) indicates a combination of the voltage value and the estimated integrated value (remaining amount rank) such that the voltage value belongs to rank 1 and the estimated integrated value belongs to rank 2.

FIG. 12 shows the correspondence relationship between the voltage value C, the battery remaining amount B1, and the rank x included in the voltage information of the battery BT, and FIG. 13 shows the estimated integrated value D and the battery remaining amount obtained by the calculation unit 4a. The correspondence between B0 and rank y is shown. Here, for convenience, the correspondence relationship of FIG. 12 and the correspondence relationship of FIG. 13 are set to be the same as the correspondence relationship shown in FIG. 5, but the voltage value C corresponding to each rank is set. The upper and lower limits of the range and the upper and lower limits of the range of the estimated integrated value may be changed to values different from those in FIG.

In the table shown in FIG. 11, a part of the combination A(x, y) of each rank satisfying x<y is associated with information indicating that the operation unit 3 has a defect. Specifically, information indicating that the operation unit 3 has a defect is associated with each combination of ranks represented by A(1,3), A(1,4), and A(2,4). There is. In addition, information indicating that the battery BT has a defect is associated with a part of the combination A(x, y) of each rank that satisfies x>y. Specifically, for each rank combination represented by A(2,1), A(3,1), A(4,1), and A(4,2), the battery BT is defective. Information is associated. The reason why the information indicating that the operation unit 3 or the battery BT is defective is associated with each other as described above is as follows.

In the combination A(x, y) of any rank x of the voltage value C and any rank y of the estimated integrated value D, when x<y, the battery remaining amount B1 based on the voltage value C is the estimated integrated value. Since it is estimated that the battery is nearing the end of its life because it is larger than the battery remaining amount B0 based on D, the battery BT is not actually exhausted, and therefore the operation unit 3 has a defect (for example, operation). There is a high possibility that a terminal connection failure between the main body of the unit 3 and the battery) has occurred. On the other hand, when x>y, the battery remaining amount B1 based on the voltage value C is smaller than the battery remaining amount B0 based on the estimated integrated value D, and it is unlikely that the battery BT will be greatly consumed in a short period of time. The battery BT is an old battery, a non-genuine product, or the like, which originally has a small remaining amount, and is likely to have a defective battery.

On the other hand, with respect to each rank combination for which x=y (for example, A(1,1), A(2,2), A(3,3), A(4,4)), the remaining battery charge B0·B1 Since it is the same, it is considered that the battery is normally consumed and there is a low possibility that a defective operation unit or a defective battery has occurred. In addition, even if x>y or x<y, for each rank combination close to x=y (for example, A(1,2), A(3,2), etc.), due to the influence of the error, the operation unit It cannot be said that the battery is defective or the battery is defective, and is considered to be included in the range where the battery is normally consumed.

For the above reason, the information of the defective operation unit or the defective battery is associated only with a part of A(x, y) where x>y or x<y.

The information on the remaining battery level of the battery BT associated with the combination A(x, y) of each rank is associated with the information on the remaining battery level B1 obtained based on the voltage information (voltage value C). This is because the battery remaining amount B1 is obtained based on the voltage value C directly measured by the operation unit 3, and the battery remaining amount B0 obtained based on the estimated integrated value D calculated by the calculating unit 4a. This is because there is less error as the remaining amount and it is considered to be more accurate. In the table of FIG. 11, the information of the remaining battery level is shown in the same notation as in FIG. 7 for convenience.

When the table is stored in the storage unit 4d, the determination unit 4b determines that the rank x to which the voltage value C included in the voltage information transmitted from the communication unit 2 belongs in the table, for example, after S4 of FIG. And the information associated with the combination of the rank y to which the estimated integrated value D calculated by the calculation unit 4b belongs may be referred to. As described above, the combination A(x, y) of each rank is associated with the information indicating the remaining amount of the battery BT and the presence/absence of a defect in the battery BT and the operation unit 3 in advance. By referring to the information of the combination A(x, y), it is possible to immediately and easily determine the remaining battery level and the presence/absence of a defect. The determination result of the battery remaining amount and the presence/absence of a defect in the determination unit 4b is output by the output unit 4c (see S10).

Further, in the above table, the information associated with a part of the combination A(x, y) where x>y and the information associated with a part of the combination A (x, y) where x<y are included in the operation unit 3. The information indicating that there is a defect and the information indicating that there is a defect in the battery BT are different from each other. As a result, the determination unit 4b can reliably determine the presence/absence of a defect in the operation unit 3 and the presence/absence of a defect in the battery BT by referring to the table.

In the above, an example of detecting the voltage value of the battery BT of the operation unit 3 and using this voltage value as a characteristic value to judge the remaining amount of the battery BT and the presence/absence of a defect in the battery BT or the like has been described. The discharge current value of the battery BT may be detected, and the discharge current value may be used as a characteristic value to determine the remaining amount of the battery BT and the presence/absence of a defect in the battery BT or the like. However, the relationship between the magnitude of the voltage value and the magnitude of the discharge current value is reversed (for the battery level, for example, when the voltage value is large, the discharge current value is small).

[Care support system]
The communication system 1 described above can be applied to a care support system. Hereinafter, a care support system including the call system 1 of the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of the care support system 300 of this embodiment. The care support system 300 is a system for supporting the daily lives of a care receiver living in a nursing facility and a patient hospitalized in a hospital, and is also called a watching system. The cared person or the patient is an object to be supported by the care support system 300, that is, a target person (examinee) who is managed by recognition or detection by the image recognition system 20 or the radio wave detection unit 30 described later. Hereinafter, as an example, a case where the care support system 300 is constructed in a nursing facility will be described.

The nursing care facility is provided with a staff station 100 and a living room 101. The staff station 100 is a so-called station for caregivers who support the lives of cared people living in care facilities. The staff station 100 is provided with a server 100a. The server 100a is a terminal device that is communicatively connected to a later-described motion detection unit 10 installed in a living room 101 via a communication line 200, and includes a server main body 100a ₁ including a CPU and a display unit 100b. To be done. The server 100a and the communication line 200 correspond to the management server 4 and the communication line NW shown in FIG. 1 and the like, and the display unit 100b corresponds to the display unit 4c ₁ . The communication line 200 may be a wired LAN, a wireless LAN, or any other communication line.

The server 100a receives and manages various information (for example, a captured image in the living room 101 and biological information (for example, breathing state) of the care receiver) transmitted from the moving body detection unit 10 via the communication line 200. The display unit 100b displays the received information. Thereby, the manager of the nursing care facility, the caregiver, or the like can grasp the health condition of the care receiver by looking at the information displayed on the display unit 100b. The display unit 100b can be configured by a display of a personal computer, for example. Further, when it is recognized by the image recognition processing in the image recognition system 20 to be described later that the care receiver's operation is abnormal, such as the care receiver falling on the floor, the server 100a causes the moving object detection unit 10 to operate. Information of that fact is received, and the data of the photographed image in the living room 101 acquired by the optical detection unit 23 of the moving body detection unit 10 is transmitted to the mobile terminal owned by the caregiver to detect the abnormality of the care receiver. It is also possible to inform the caregiver. When transmitting image data from the server 100a to the mobile terminal, the size and resolution of the image are adjusted appropriately.

At least one living room 101 is provided in the care facility, and FIG. 14 shows an example in which two living rooms 101 are provided. In the living room 101, one bed 102 used by the cared person is installed. When two or more cared persons move into one living room 101, a plurality of beds 102 corresponding to the cared persons are installed.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a state in the living room 101 in which the moving body detection unit 10 is installed. As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the moving body detection unit 10 is installed on the ceiling portion 101 a of each living room 101, and is connected to the communication line 200 so as to communicate therewith. When the living room 101 is a multi-bed room in which a plurality of beds 102 are installed, one moving body detection unit 10 is installed for each bed 102. The moving body detection unit 10 is an example of the communication unit 2 described above.

(Motion detection unit and image recognition system)
Next, details of the above-described moving body detection unit 10 will be described. FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the moving body detection unit 10. The moving body detection unit 10 is a unit that detects information about the care-receiver in the living room 101, and includes an image recognition system 20, a radio wave detection unit 30, and a unit control unit 40. The details of the image recognition system 20 will be described later. Since the moving body detection unit 10 includes various sensors such as the radio wave detection unit 30 described above and an optical detection unit 23 described later, it is also called a sensor box.

The radio wave detection unit 30 is a sensor that detects a moving object in the living room 101 by emitting and receiving a radio wave. In the present embodiment, the radio wave detection unit 30 is configured by a microwave Doppler sensor for individually emitting and receiving radio waves and detecting biological information of the care receiver. The radio wave detection unit 30 includes a radiation unit and a reception unit (not shown). For example, the microwave of the 24 GHz band is radiated toward the bed in each room, and the reflected wave reflected by the care recipient and Doppler-shifted. To receive. As a result, the radio wave detection unit 30 can detect the respiratory state, sleep state, heart rate, etc. of the cared person from the received reflected wave.

When the cared person is breathing (including during sleep), a minute movement of the body (micro body movement) occurs due to the breathing of the cared person. Therefore, detecting the breathing state and the sleeping state of the care receiver is the same as detecting the microscopic movement of the care receiver. From this, it can be said that the radio wave detection unit 30 functions as a microscopic body movement detection unit that detects microscopic body movements of the care-receiver (subject).

The unit control unit 40 controls the operations of the image recognition system 20 and the radio wave detection unit 30 and also performs image processing and signal processing on the information obtained from the image recognition system 20 and the radio wave detection unit 30 to obtain the result. Is a control board that outputs to the server 100a as information regarding the state of the care-receiver. The unit control section 40 includes a main control section 41, an information processing section 42, an interface section 43, a storage section 24, and an image recognition section 25. The storage unit 24 and the image recognition unit 25 are provided in the unit control unit 40 here, but may be provided separately from the unit control unit 40. The details of the storage unit 24 and the image recognition unit 25 will be described later.

The main control unit 41 is composed of a CPU that controls the operation of each unit in the moving body detection unit 10. The information processing unit 42 and the image recognition unit 25 may be configured by the CPU described above (or may be integrated with the main control unit 41), or may be another arithmetic unit or a circuit that performs a specific process. It may be configured. The main controller 41 corresponds to the controller of the communication unit 2 described above.

The information processing unit 42 determines a predetermined value for information (for example, image data) output from the optical detection unit 23 of the image recognition system 20, which will be described later, or information (for example, data regarding a breathing state) output from the radio wave detection unit 30. Signal processing is performed based on the algorithm. The information obtained by the signal processing is used for image recognition in the image recognition system 20 (especially the image recognition unit 25).

A network cable (not shown) of the communication line 200 is electrically connected to the interface unit 43. The information about the state of the care receiver detected by the moving body detection unit 10 based on the image and the microwave is transmitted to the server 100a via the interface unit 43 and the communication line 200. The interface unit 43 is also an interface for receiving the operation information and the characteristic information transmitted from the operation unit 3, and corresponds to the communication unit of the communication unit 2 described above.

Next, details of the image recognition system 20 will be described. The image recognition system 20 includes an illumination unit 21, an illumination control unit 22, and an optical detection unit 23.

The illumination unit 21 is configured to include an LED (Light Emitting Diode) that emits infrared rays (for example, near-infrared light) to enable shooting in darkness, and the ceiling portion 101a of the living room 101 (see FIG. 15). ), and illuminates the interior of the living room 101. For example, the lighting unit 21 has a plurality of LEDs and illuminates the floor surface 101b (see FIG. 15) in the living room 101 and the wall connecting the ceiling portion 101a and the floor surface 101b. The illumination control (light emission of infrared rays) by the illumination unit 21 is performed by the illumination control unit 22.

The optical detection unit 23 is an imaging unit that captures an image of the interior of the living room 101 under the illumination of the illumination unit 21, and is configured by, for example, a camera. FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the optical detection unit 23, and FIG. 18 schematically shows an example of an image acquired by photographing with the optical detection unit 23. The optical detection unit 23 is arranged adjacent to the illumination unit 21 in the central portion of the ceiling 101a of the living room 101, and acquires an image of a point directly above which the visual field direction is directly below by photographing. The optical detection unit 23 includes a lens 51, an image sensor 52, an AD conversion unit 53, an image processing unit 54, and a control calculation unit 55.

The lens 51 is, for example, a fixed focus lens, and is configured by a general super wide-angle lens or a fisheye lens. As the ultra wide-angle lens, a lens having a diagonal angle of view of 150° or more can be used. As a result, as shown in FIG. 18, the entire living room 101 can be photographed from the ceiling portion 101a, and the cared person in the living room 101 and the entire room can be photographed without a blind spot.

The image sensor 52 is composed of an image sensor such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). The image sensor 52 is configured by removing the IR cut filter so that the state of the care-receiver can be detected as an image even in a pitch dark environment. The output signal from the image sensor 52 is input to the AD conversion unit 53.

The AD conversion unit 53 receives an analog image signal of the image captured by the image sensor 52 and converts the analog image signal into a digital image signal. The digital image signal output from the AD conversion unit 53 is input to the image processing unit 54.

The image processing unit 54 receives the digital image signal output from the AD conversion unit 53, and executes image processing such as black correction, noise correction, color interpolation, and white balance on the digital image signal. .. The image-processed signal output from the image processing unit 54 is input to the image recognition unit 25.

The control calculation unit 55 executes a calculation such as AE (Automatic Exposure) related to the control of the image sensor 52, and also controls the exposure time and the gain of the image sensor 52. In addition, the control calculation unit 55 performs a calculation such as a suitable light amount setting and a light distribution setting for the illumination unit 21 as necessary, and also performs control. The control calculation unit 55 may have the function of the illumination control unit 22 described above.

The image recognition system 20 described above further includes the storage unit 24 and the image recognition unit 25 described above.

The storage unit 24 is a memory that stores a control program executed by the unit control unit 40 and various types of information, and is configured by, for example, a RAM, a ROM, a non-volatile memory, or the like.

The image recognition unit 25 performs image recognition processing on the image data of the image acquired by the optical detection unit 23. More specifically, the image recognition unit 25 receives the signal after the image processing unit 54 of the optical detection unit 23 has performed the image processing, extracts the contour of the object, for example, and performs the shape matching by a method such as pattern matching. The image recognition processing for recognizing is executed. Thereby, the image recognition unit 25 can recognize the state of the care receiver in the living room 101.

Here, as the state of the care receiver in the living room 101, wake-up, leaving the bed, entering the bed, falling, etc. are assumed. Waking up refers to a state in which the care receiver wakes up and stands up on the bed. Bed leaving refers to a state in which a cared person raises his/her body on the bed, and then goes down to the floor and leaves the bed. Bed entry refers to the action of the care-receiver rising from the floor surface to the bed and lying down. Fall refers to an operation in which the care receiver falls on the floor. The above-mentioned wake-up, leaving the bed, entering the bed, and falling are associated with the movement (body movement) of the body of the care-receiver, and are small body movements (small movements of the body such as breathing) detected by the radio wave detection unit 30. ) Is distinguished.

The care support system 300 described above includes the communication system 1 described above, and the communication unit 2 of the communication system 1 includes the moving body detection unit 10 that detects a moving body (for example, a cared person) in the living room 101. Then, the server 100a functions as a management server that manages information about the moving body transmitted from the moving body detection unit 10.

Since the care support system 300 includes the communication system 1 described above, the server 100a can manage the remaining battery level of the operation unit 3 and can monitor whether the battery is defective or the operation unit 3 is defective. Therefore, in the care support system 300, it is possible to prevent an abnormal situation such as an emergency call of the care receiver not being delivered due to the operation of the operation unit 3 due to a defective battery of the operation unit 3 and a defect of the operation unit itself. be able to.

In particular, the communication unit 2 includes the moving body detection unit 10, and in the care support system 300 that monitors the fall of the care receiver in the living room 101 by the moving body detection unit 10, the communication unit 2 is caused by a defective battery and a defective operation section. It is possible to avoid an abnormal situation.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in a system that makes an emergency call by operating an operation unit, for example.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Communication system 2 Communication unit 3 Operation part 4 Management server 4a Calculation part 4b Judgment part 4c Output part 4c ₁ Display part 4d Storage part 4g Control part 5a-5e Mobile phone (terminal device)
10 Motion Detection Unit 24 Optical Detection Section (Imaging Section)
25 image recognition unit 30 radio wave detection unit 100a server (management server)
101 Living room 300 Care support system BT battery

Claims (8)

A communication unit installed in the living room,
An operation unit that is operated by a user in the living room and is driven by a battery , and transmits operation information of the user and information on the voltage value or discharge current value of the battery to the communication unit,
Management for managing the operation information transmitted from the operation unit via the communication unit and information on the voltage value or the discharge current value of the battery , and managing the operation history of the operation unit based on the operation information. With a server,
The management server is
Based on the operation history, a unique integrated value of the current consumption of the battery by the operation of the operation unit is calculated, and an estimated integrated value of the current consumption from the start of use of the battery including the unique integrated value is calculated. An arithmetic unit,
The remaining amount of the battery is determined based on the voltage value or the discharge current value of the battery, and the remaining amount of the battery is determined based on the estimated integrated value, and further the voltage value or the discharge current value of the battery is determined. Based on the difference between the rank of the remaining amount of the battery based on the battery and the rank of the remaining amount of the battery based on the estimated integrated value, a determination unit that determines whether or not there is a defect in the battery and the operation unit,
One of the remaining amount of the battery based on the voltage value or the discharge current value of the battery determined by the determination unit and the remaining amount of the battery based on the estimated integrated value, the remaining amount of the battery and the defect. communication system, characterized in that an output unit for outputting information indicating the presence or absence of. The determination unit determines whether the rank of the remaining amount of the battery based on the voltage value or the discharge current value of the battery is higher than the rank of the remaining amount of the battery based on the estimated integrated value. If higher than the above, while determining that there is a defect in the operation unit, the rank of the remaining amount of the battery based on the voltage value or the discharge current value of the battery, than the rank of the remaining amount of the battery based on the estimated integrated value, The communication system according to claim 1, wherein when the remaining battery level is lower than a predetermined level, the battery is determined to be defective. A communication unit installed in the living room,
An operation unit that is operated by a user in the living room and is driven by a battery, and transmits operation information of the user and information on the voltage value or discharge current value of the battery to the communication unit,
Management for managing the operation information transmitted from the operation unit via the communication unit and information on the voltage value or the discharge current value of the battery, and managing the operation history of the operation unit based on the operation information. With a server,
The management server is
Based on the operation history, a unique integrated value of the current consumption of the battery by the operation of the operation unit is calculated, and an estimated integrated value of the current consumption from the start of use of the battery including the unique integrated value is calculated. An arithmetic unit,
For each combination of each rank when the possible range of the voltage value or discharge current value of the battery is divided into a plurality of ranks, and each rank when the possible range of the estimated integrated value is divided into a plurality of ranks And a storage unit that stores a table in which information indicating the remaining amount of the battery and the presence or absence of a defect in the battery or the operation unit is associated in advance,
In the table, the rank to which the voltage value or discharge current value of the battery included in the information transmitted from the communication unit belongs and the rank to which the estimated integrated value calculated by the calculation unit belongs are associated with each other. A determination unit that determines the remaining amount of the battery and whether there is a defect in the battery and the operation unit by referring to the information
A communication system comprising: an output unit that outputs information indicating the remaining amount of the battery and the presence/absence of the defect determined by the determination unit. The table is a matrix-like table in which m is an integer of 2 or more and each of the possible range of the voltage value and the possible range of the estimated integrated value is ranked into m.
In the table,
The rank of the voltage value is rank 1 to m from the higher voltage value to the lower rank, and the rank of the estimated integrated value is rank 1 to m from the lower to the higher current consumption value. , X and y are each an integer of 1 to m, and a combination of any rank x of the voltage value and any rank y of the estimated integrated value is represented by A(x, y). ,
Information indicating that the operation unit has a defect is associated with a part of the combination A(x, y) of the respective ranks where x<y.
The communication system according to claim 3, wherein a part of the combination A(x, y) of each rank satisfying x>y is associated with information indicating that the battery is defective. 5. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the output unit includes a display unit that displays information indicating the remaining amount of the battery and the presence or absence of the defect. The management server further includes a control unit that controls the transmission of the information indicating the remaining amount of the battery and the presence/absence of the defect to an external terminal device. The communication system according to. A care support system including the communication system according to claim 1.
The communication unit of the communication system includes a moving body detection unit for detecting a moving body in a living room,
The care support system, wherein the management server manages information about the moving body transmitted from the moving body detection unit. The moving body detection unit,
An imaging unit that captures an image of the living room by capturing an image,
An image recognition unit that performs image recognition processing on the image data of the image acquired by the imaging unit,
The care support system according to claim 7, further comprising: a radio wave detection unit that detects biological information of a cared person as a moving body in a living room by emitting and receiving a radio wave.

Images