JP6986457B2 - Position detection system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a position detection system capable of accurately specifying the moving direction of a moving body by using a plurality of beacon signal generators and a communication terminal that receives the beacon signals.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-95499 (Patent Document 1), a beacon transmitter and a plurality of beacon receivers arranged on a predetermined route are used to pass a beacon transmitter provided in a mobile body (vehicle). A technique for determining the traveling direction of a moving body (vehicle) by detecting the order is disclosed.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-191584 (Patent Document 2) discloses a technique for determining the traveling direction of an object based on the order in which ID information is acquired by two radio signal receiving devices.

Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-65771 (Patent Document 3), when the position of a moving body is detected indoors by using an optical beacon and the satellite imposition system using GPS or the like is used outdoors, it is referred to as indoors. An optical beacon transmitter is installed between the outdoor and the mobile body, and an optical beacon receiver that receives the optical beacon from the optical beacon transmitter is attached to the moving body to indicate that the moving body has moved from outdoors to indoors or from indoors to outdoors. A position detection system for detection is disclosed.

Jitsukaihei 2-95499 Gazette Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-191584 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-65771

When trying to determine that a worker (moving object) is moving (detecting the moving direction) from indoors to outdoors or from outdoors to indoors using a beacon signal, the environment in which the surrounding radio waves are reflected between indoors and outdoors. Is different. In particular, the reflection of radio waves becomes complicated near the doorway. Therefore, even if two beacon signal generators are arranged indoors and outdoors, and the communication terminal carried by the worker (mobile body) tries to determine the traveling direction according to the order in which the beacon signals are received from the two beacon signal generators. Often, a moving object may make a judgment as if it repeatedly moves in and out of the doorway, or may make a wrong judgment in the direction of travel. Further, when an optical beacon is used as in Patent Document 3, there is a problem that it cannot be used in an environment where light does not reach.

An object of the present invention is to provide a position detection system capable of reliably determining the traveling direction of a moving body using a beacon signal.

The present invention communicates with one or more beacon signal generators that are installed at a plurality of predetermined installation positions in a moving area in which one or more moving objects move and generate a beacon signal including a beacon ID. It has a terminal and a positioning unit. One or more communication terminals are attached to one or more mobile objects and receive one or more beacon signals, and in a predetermined determination cycle, a beacon signal for position determination is obtained from the radio field strength of the received one or more beacon signals. The beacon ID determination storage unit that determines and stores the beacon ID of the beacon signal generator that determines and generates the beacon signal for position determination as the beacon ID for position determination, the beacon ID for position determination, and itself. It has a transmitting unit that transmits position determination information including a specified terminal ID. The position-fixing unit has a predetermined determination cycle based on the beacon ID for position determination determined by one or more communication terminals, the terminal ID, and information on a plurality of predetermined installation positions in the mobile area. Determine the position of one or more moving objects in the moving area.

In the present invention, the plurality of beacon signal generators are a cross-border determination beacon signal generator arranged in a boundary region between an adjacent first region and a second region in a moving region, and a boundary determination beacon signal. It includes a first beacon signal generator and a second beacon signal generator arranged in a first region and a second region with a generator in between. Then, the beacon ID determination storage unit has a first threshold value for the beacon signal generated by the first beacon signal generator, a second threshold value for the beacon signal generated by the second beacon signal generator, and a cross-border determination beacon. The signal generator has a reset threshold value for the generated beacon signal and a confirmation threshold value smaller than the reset threshold value. Then, the beacon ID determination / storage unit resets the position-determining beacon ID when the communication terminal receives a beacon signal equal to or higher than a predetermined reset threshold value generated by the cross-border determination beacon signal generator. After that, in the position-fixing unit, the radio wave intensity of the beacon signal generated by the first beacon signal generator is equal to or higher than the first threshold value, and the radio wave strength of the beacon signal generated by the cross-border determination beacon signal generator is equal to or lower than the confirmation threshold value. Occasionally, it is determined that the moving body has moved from the boundary region to the first region, and the beacon ID of the first beacon signal generator is defined as the beacon ID for position determination. Further, in the beacon ID determination storage unit, the radio wave strength of the beacon signal generated by the second beacon signal generator is equal to or higher than the second threshold value, and the radio wave strength of the beacon signal generated by the beacon signal generator for cross-border determination is equal to or lower than the confirmation threshold value. When is, it is determined that the moving body has moved from the boundary region to the second region, and the beacon ID of the second beacon signal generator is defined as the beacon ID for positioning.

As in the present invention, a cross-border determination beacon signal generator is provided, and when the communication terminal receives a beacon signal equal to or higher than the reset threshold value from the cross-border determination beacon signal generator, the previous position determination beacon is provided. The ID is reset, the beacon ID of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator is used as the position determination beacon ID, and then the signal strength of the beacon signal from the cross-border determination beacon signal generator is equal to or less than the confirmation threshold. (Assuming that the communication terminal is some distance from the boundary area), move from the boundary area to the first area based on the first threshold value and the second threshold value and the radio field strength of the received beacon signal. If it is determined whether the signal has been moved or the signal has moved to the second moving area and the beacon ID for positioning is updated, the moving body passes through the boundary area and moves to either the first area or the second area. Can be reliably determined whether or not has moved. Therefore, it is possible to prevent erroneous determination of the traveling direction.

The first threshold value, the second threshold value, the reset threshold value, and the confirmation threshold value are the distance between the first beacon signal generator and the cross-border determination beacon signal generator, and the second beacon signal generator and the cross-border determination. It is defined so that it can be clearly determined that the moving body is in the first region and the moving body is in the second region after the reset based on the distance to the beacon signal generator. ing. This makes it possible to reliably prevent erroneous determination even when the radio wave reflection environment is poor.

It is preferable that the beacon ID determination storage unit determines the radio wave strength based on the average value of the radio wave strengths of the plurality of beacon signals received within the period of one cycle of the determination cycle. This makes it possible to prevent erroneous determination due to measurement variation in radio field strength.

The average value can be calculated by a known method for calculating the average value. For example, it is calculated as a simple average of multiple radio wave strengths of a plurality of beacon signals, or as a median value of the radio wave strengths of a plurality of beacon signals, or the remaining radio waves excluding the maximum and minimum values of the radio wave strengths of a plurality of beacon signals. It can be obtained as a simple average value of intensity.

Further, as a place where the present invention can be applied, for example, when the first area is inside the building and the second area is outdoors, or when the first area is a specific floor of the building. , For example, if the second area is above or below a particular floor of the building. In these places, the reflection situation of radio waves is complicated, and it is suitable for applying the present invention.

When the length dimension (width dimension) of the boundary area between the first area and the second area where the moving object moves becomes long, such as a large building in the middle of construction, a large exhibition hall, a large hall, etc. May not be covered by the transmission range of one cross-border determination beacon signal generator. That is, the length dimension in the width direction of the boundary region orthogonal to the direction in which the first region, the boundary region, and the second region are lined up cannot be covered by the beacon signal transmission range of one cross-border determination beacon signal generator. Multiple cross-border bead signal generators in the width direction to the border so that the boundary area is covered by the transmission range of the plurality of cross-border bead signal generators if they do not have a length dimension. It is preferable to arrange the first beacon signal generator and the second beacon signal generator for each of the plurality of cross-border determination beacon signal generators at intervals. By doing so, even if the width dimension of the boundary region is long, the traveling direction of the moving body can be reliably detected.

When the transmission range of the beacon signal of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator is the same as or narrower than the transmission range of the beacon signal of the first beacon signal generator and the transmission range of the beacon signal of the second beacon signal generator. Preferably lowers the value of the reset threshold value below the first threshold value and the second threshold value. This will ensure that the reset is performed.

It is a top view which shows the 1st and 2nd beacon signal generators, the beacon signal generator for cross-border determination, and the communication terminal attached to a moving body in 1st Embodiment of the position detection system of this invention. It is a figure used to explain the structure of the embodiment of FIG. It is the same figure as FIG. 1 which shows the 2nd Embodiment of the position detection system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of processing in Embodiment of FIG. It is a graph which shows the radio wave intensity of each beacon signal which changes with the movement of the moving body in the embodiment of FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the position detection system according to the first embodiment of the present invention is installed in the first beacon signal generator 10 and the second moving area R2 installed in the first moving area R1. A beacon signal generator 30 for cross-border determination installed in the boundary region between the second beacon signal generator 20 and the first moving region R1 and the second moving region R2, and a communication terminal mounted on the moving body 50 to receive the beacon signal. It comprises a device 40 and a position determining unit 60 that determines the position of the moving body 50 by using the beacon ID of the beacon signal received by the communication terminal 40.

The first beacon signal generator 10, the second beacon signal generator 20, and the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 are installed at predetermined installation positions in the moving area, and the beacon signal including the beacon ID is transmitted to a predetermined radio wave. It occurs at intensity (RSSI).

The moving area in which the moving body 50 moves is divided into an adjacent first area R1 and a second area R2, and an entrance / exit E through which the moving body 50 can come and go in the boundary area between the first area R1 and the second area R2. Is provided. The first beacon signal generator 10 is arranged in the first region, the second beacon signal generator 20 is arranged in the second region, and the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 is arranged at the entrance / exit E between them. ..

As shown in the figure, the first beacon signal generator 10 and the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 are installed at positions where the transmission ranges that can be received by the communication terminal 40 partially overlap. Similarly, the positional relationship between the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 and the second beacon signal generator 20 is the same. The transmission range of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 is set to be wide enough to cover the range in the width direction of the entrance / exit E without omission.

In the present embodiment, the first region R1 is inside the building and the second region R2 is outdoors, or the first region R1 is on a specific floor of the building and the second region R2 is on a specific floor of the building. Or it is supposed to be on the lower floor. In these places, the reflection condition of radio waves is complicated, and it is suitable for applying this embodiment.

Each beacon signal generator 10, 20 and 30 may be any beacon signal generator as long as it generates a beacon signal including an ID. However, as the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30, one that meets the conditions such as the shape and size of the entrance / exit E is selected.

Note that, in FIGS. 1 and 2, for convenience of explanation, only the first beacon signal generator 10 and the second beacon signal generator 20 closest to the boundary region are shown in the respective regions R1 and R2, respectively, but each region is shown. In R1 and R2, in order to detect the position of the moving body 50 in each region R1 and R2, a plurality of installation positions predetermined by the plurality of first beacon signal generators 10 and the second beacon signal generator 20, respectively. Is located in. The beacon signal generators 20 and 30 are preferably mounted on the ceiling in the moving area in order not to hinder the movement of the moving body 50 and to avoid the influence of the object existing in the moving area. The beacon signal generator 10 has a predetermined radio wave intensity and generates a beacon signal including a unique beacon ID (identifier) from the top to the bottom of a pole such as a utility pole installed outdoors. Each beacon signal generator 10, 20 and 30 generates a beacon signal including a unique beacon ID (identifier) with a predetermined radio wave intensity.

Further, the moving body 50 is not one displayed in FIG. 1, but a plurality of moving bodies are moving in the moving area, and a plurality of communication terminal 40s are also provided for each moving body 50, and each of them is a beacon signal. Each beacon signal emitted by the generators 10, 20 and 30 is received by the omnidirectional antenna, the received result is converted into data and transmitted to the position-fixing unit 60 by wireless communication.

In the present embodiment, the mobile body 50 is, for example, a worker working in a factory, and the communication terminal 40 is attached to the helmet of the worker. The communication terminal 40 determines the beacon signal for determining the radio strength position of one or more received beacon signals in a predetermined determination cycle, and generates the beacon signal for determining the position. Beacon ID of the beacon signal generator. It has a beacon ID determination storage unit 41 that determines and stores the beacon ID for position determination, and a transmission unit 42 that transmits position determination information including the beacon ID for position determination and a terminal ID that identifies itself.

The position-fixing unit 60 includes a received data storage unit 70 and a current position-determining unit 80, and is composed of a positioning beacon ID and a terminal ID that are determined by each communication terminal 40 and sent from the transmitting unit 42. The position of the moving body 50 is determined. Specifically, the position-determining unit 60 has a plurality of predetermined determination cycles (5 seconds in the present embodiment) within the moving region of the plurality of beacon signal generators including the beacon signal generators 10, 20 and 30. The position of the moving body 50 is determined from the information on the installation position (corresponding to the information stored as map data of the installation position of the beacon signal generator in the moving area), the beacon ID for positioning, and the terminal ID. In the present embodiment, the radio wave strength is not directly used for determining the position, but is used for determining the condition for updating the current position, and the detailed current position is determined by the radio wave strength. is not it.

The beacon ID determination storage unit 41 of each communication terminal 40 determines the position based on the radio field strength of a plurality of received beacon signals in a predetermined measurement cycle (for example, 1/10 second) shorter than the determination cycle (1 second). The beacon signal to be used is determined, and the beacon ID of the beacon signal generator that generates the beacon signal for position determination is determined and stored as the beacon ID for position determination. The current position determination unit 80 of the position determination unit 60 includes a beacon ID for position determination from the communication terminal 40 held in the received data storage unit 70, a terminal ID of the communication terminal 40, and a plurality of beacon signal generators. The position of the moving body 50 is determined by reading out the information of a plurality of predetermined installation positions in the moving area.

The beacon ID determination storage unit 41 has a first threshold value T1 for the beacon signal generated by the first beacon signal generator 10, a second threshold value T2 for the beacon signal generated by the second beacon signal generator 20, and a cross-border determination beacon. The signal generator 30 has a reset threshold value Tr for the generated beacon signal and a confirmation threshold value Tv smaller than the reset threshold value. When the communication terminal 40 receives a beacon signal equal to or higher than the reset threshold value Tr generated by the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30, the beacon ID determination storage unit 41 uses the beacon ID for position determination that has already been determined. Reset. After the reset, the beacon ID determination storage unit 41 has the radio wave strength of the beacon signal generated by the first beacon signal generator 10 having a radio wave strength of the first threshold T1 or more and the beacon signal generator 30 for cross-border determination. When is equal to or less than the confirmation threshold Tv, it is determined that the moving body 50 has moved from the boundary region to the first region R1, and the beacon ID of the first beacon signal generator is defined as the beacon ID for position determination. Further, after the reset, the beacon ID determination storage unit 41 has a radio wave of the beacon signal generated by the beacon signal generator 30 for cross-border determination and the radio wave strength of the beacon signal generated by the second beacon signal generator 20 is equal to or higher than the second threshold value T2. When the intensity is equal to or less than the confirmation threshold Tv, it is determined that the moving body 50 has moved from the boundary region to the second region R2, and the beacon ID of the second beacon signal generator is defined as the beacon ID for position determination.

The first threshold value T1, the second threshold value T2, the reset threshold value Tr, and the confirmation threshold value Tv are the distance between the first beacon signal generator 10 and the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30, and the second beacon signal generator 20. Based on the distance from the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30, it is clearly determined that the moving body 50 exists in the first region R1 and that the moving body 50 exists in the second region R2 after the reset. It is stipulated so that it can be done. This makes it possible to reliably prevent erroneous determination even when the radio wave reflection environment is poor.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transmission range of the beacon signal of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 is larger than the transmission range of the beacon signal of the first beacon signal generator 10 and the transmission range of the beacon signal of the second beacon signal generator 20. When the transmission range is set to be narrower, or when the transmission ranges of both are the same in other embodiments, the value of the reset threshold value Tr is set lower than the first threshold value R1 and the second threshold value R2. This will ensure that the reset is performed.

The beacon ID determination storage unit 41 averages the radio field strengths of the beacon signals received by the communication terminal 40 in a measurement cycle (1/10 second) shorter than one cycle within one cycle (1 second) of the determination cycle. The radio field strength is determined based on the target value. This makes it possible to prevent erroneous determination due to measurement variation in radio field strength.

The "average value" in the present embodiment can be calculated by a known calculation method of the average value, and is obtained as a simple average of a plurality of radio wave intensities of a plurality of beacon signals. In other embodiments, it may be obtained as the median value of the radio field strengths of the plurality of beacon signals, or as a simple average value of the remaining radio wave strengths excluding the maximum and minimum values of the radio field strengths of the plurality of beacon signals. ..

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an arrangement state of a beacon signal generator according to a second embodiment of the position detection system of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the moving area is divided into a first area R12 and a second area R22, and between the first area R12 and the second area R22 through which the moving body 50 equipped with the communication terminal 40 passes between them. The boundary region is provided with an entrance / exit E having a long length dimension (width dimension). In such a case, the transmission range of one cross-border beacon signal generator cannot cover the entire entrance / exit E. That is, the length dimension in the width direction of the boundary region orthogonal to the direction in which the first region R12, the boundary region, and the second region R22 are lined up (the length dimension of the entrance / exit E) is one beacon of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator. When the length dimension cannot be covered by the signal transmission range, the boundary area is covered by the transmission range of a plurality of cross-border determination beacon signal generators as in the present embodiment. ..

In the present embodiment, two cross-border determination beacon signal generators 32 are arranged in the boundary region at intervals in the width direction, and one for each of the two cross-border determination beacon signal generators 32. The 1-beacon signal generator 12 and the 2nd beacon signal generator 22 are arranged side by side in a direction orthogonal to the width direction in the boundary direction. By doing so, even if the width dimension of the boundary region is long, the traveling direction of the moving body can be reliably detected.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a part of a software algorithm used when the beacon ID determination storage unit 41 in the communication terminal 40 of the first embodiment is realized by using a computer. Using this flowchart, the operation when the moving direction of the moving body is determined by the position determining system of the first embodiment will be described. The beacon ID determination storage unit 41 determines whether or not the beacon signal has been received within one cycle (step S1), and if the beacon signal is received, the communication terminal is within one cycle by a predetermined measurement cycle shorter than the determination cycle. The average value of the radio wave intensity is calculated for each beacon ID of the plurality of beacon signals received by the device 40 (for each beacon ID emitted by the beacon signal generators 10, 20 and 30), and the calculated average value is calculated. It is recorded and held in the internal memory as the radio wave strength (step S2). As described above, the average value is a simple average of the radio wave intensities for each beacon ID received in a cycle of 1/10 second within a period of one cycle (1 second).

The beacon ID determination storage unit 41 that has executed step 2 performs a determination process of determining whether or not the moving body 50 is in the area R1 or the area R2 from the previously adopted beacon ID (current position information) for position determination (step S3). .. This is whether the moving body 50 was in the area R1 or the area R2 in the previous determination cycle, and whether the beacon ID of the first or second beacon signal generator 10 or 20 was adopted for determining the beacon ID for position determination. Or it means that it is determined whether the beacon ID of the beacon signal generator 30 for boundary determination is adopted for determining the beacon ID for position determination. The fact that the mobile body 50 is not in the region R1 or R2 means that the mobile body 50 is in the boundary region.

Next, the calculation process of whether or not the radio wave intensity of the beacon signal of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 is equal to or higher than the reset threshold value Tr (step S4), whether or not the confirmation threshold value is Tv or less (step S5), and the first beacon signal. The calculation process of whether or not the radio wave intensity of the beacon signal of the generator 10 or the second beacon signal generator 20 is equal to or higher than the first threshold value T1 or the second threshold value T2 (step S6) is performed. Since these processes are performed on the premise of the determination in step S7 or less, which will be described later, the arithmetic processes may be performed in parallel regardless of the order of the arithmetic operations.

First, it is determined whether or not the moving body 50 in step S3 is in the area R1 or R2 (step S7). It is determined whether the mobile body 50 is considerably close to the boundary determination beacon signal generator 30) (step S8). If YES in step S8, the beacon ID for position determination used for determining the current position is reset, and it is determined that the moving body 50 is located in the boundary region (step S9). That is, the beacon ID of the beacon signal generator 30 for cross-border determination is adopted as the beacon ID for position determination. If NO in step S8, the beacon ID for position determination used for determining the current position is not updated (step S10), and the beacon ID used for determining the beacon ID for position determination one cycle before is adopted. .. That is, it is determined that the moving body 50 is located in the region R1 or R2.

Returning to step S7, if step S3 is NO, that is, if it is determined in the previous determination cycle that the moving body 50 is located in the boundary region, the first beacon signal generator 10 or the first bead signal generator 10 or the first in step S6. 2 Whether the signal strength of the beacon signal of the beacon signal generator 20 is equal to or higher than the first threshold value T1 or the second threshold value T2 (the mobile body 50 is considerably close to the first beacon signal generator 10 or the second beacon signal generator 20). It is determined whether or not (step S11). If NO, it is determined that the mobile body 50 is still in the boundary region, the beacon ID of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator remains the same as the position-determining beacon ID, and the position-determining beacon ID is not updated. (Step S14). As a result, the position determining unit 60 does not update the current position.

If the determination in step S11 is YES, is the radio field intensity of the cross-border determination beacon signal received in step S5 equal to or less than the confirmation threshold Tv (whether the moving body 50 is considerably far from the boundary determination beacon signal generator 30? ) Whether or not is determined (step S12), and if NO, the beacon ID is not updated (step S14). If YES, the moving body 50 is very close to the first beacon signal generator 10 or the second beacon signal generator 20 and far away from the boundary determination beacon signal generator 30, so that the beacon ID for position determination is It is updated to the beacon ID of the first beacon signal generator or the beacon ID of the second beacon signal generator. As a result, the moving body 5 0 current position is updated to determine by the position determination unit 60 is determined to be located within the region R1 or R2 (step S11). In the present embodiment, in the communication terminal 40, the mobile body 50 determines whether it is indoors, outdoors, or at the entrance / exit, but when there are many entrances / exits, the position-determining unit 60 determines which entrance / exit it is in. It will be. Any method may be adopted for determining the position of the moving body using the beacon signal and the beacon ID indoors and outdoors. For example, as in the present embodiment, the function of the communication terminal 40 to determine the beacon ID for position determination can be used as it is. In this case, the communication terminal 40 sends the beacon ID for position determination to the position determination unit 60 both indoors and outdoors, and the position determination unit 60 is based on the sent beacon ID for position determination. The position of the moving body may be determined.

Finally, the transmission data is recorded and held in the internal memory of the beacon ID determination / storage unit 41 for the determination of the next cycle (step S15), and the processing of one determination cycle is completed.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the relationship between the distance traveled from the mobile body 50 of FIG. 1 from the region R2 to the region R1 through the entrance / exit E of the boundary region and the radio field intensity (RSSI). The communication terminal 40 mounted on the mobile body 50 initially located in the region R2 receives the beacon signal from the beacon signal generator 20 with high radio field strength (RSSI). When the moving body 50 moves, the RSSI of the beacon signal from the beacon signal generator 20 becomes smaller, while the radio wave strength of the beacon signal from the beacon signal generator 30 for cross-border determination becomes larger.

When the radio wave intensity of the beacon signal from the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 becomes equal to or higher than the reset threshold value Tr, it is determined that the moving body 50 has entered the boundary region, the information of the beacon ID for position determination is reset, and the moving body is used. It is determined that 50 is in the boundary region.

When the moving body 50 continues to move, the radio wave intensity of the beacon signal from the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 decreases, but even if it becomes less than the reset threshold value Tr, it is not determined that the moving body 50 has left the boundary region immediately. Further, the moving body 50 moves, and the radio wave intensity of the beacon signal generated by the first beacon signal generator 10 becomes equal to or higher than the first threshold value T1 and the beacon signal of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 becomes equal to or lower than the confirmation threshold value Tv. For the first time, it is determined that the moving body 50 has reached the area R1, and it is determined that the moving body 50 is located in the area R1.

Although the first threshold value T1 and the second threshold value T2 are set to the same value in FIG. 5, the difference between the devices of the first beacon signal generator 10 and the second beacon signal generator 20 and the regions R1 and R2 are different. Different values are set for the first threshold value T1 and the second threshold value T2 according to various conditions such as differences in the environment.

When the radio field strength of the beacon signal of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 changes as shown by the solid line, the radio wave strength of the beacon signal of the first beacon signal generator 10 becomes equal to or higher than the first threshold value T1. Therefore, the radio field intensity of the beacon signal of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 becomes the confirmation threshold Tv or less, but changes as shown by the two-point chain line, and the first threshold value is reached after the confirmation threshold Tv or less first. It does not matter if it becomes T1 or more.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 is provided and the communication terminal 40 receives a beacon signal equal to or higher than the reset threshold Tr from the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30. The position determination beacon ID used for determining the current position is reset to use the position determination beacon ID as the beacon ID of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30, and then the cross-border determination beacon signal. Assuming that the radio field strength of the beacon signal from the generator 30 is equal to or less than the confirmation threshold value Tv (assuming that the communication terminal is separated from the boundary region to some extent), the first threshold value T1 and the second threshold value T2 By updating the position determination beacon ID based on the radio wave strength of the received beacon signal, it is determined whether the threshold area has moved to the first region R1 or the second region R2. It is possible to reliably determine whether the moving body has moved to the region of the first region R1 or the second region R2 after passing through the region.

When entering the boundary area in this way, the beacon signal generator 30 for cross-border determination is reset early even if it is still far away, and when advancing from the boundary area, it is reset late even if it is far away from the beacon signal generator 30 for cross-border determination. By doing so, it is possible to prevent erroneous determination of the traveling direction of the moving body 50 regardless of a bad environment such as a bad radio wave reflection environment.

When the first area and the second area correspond to the upper floor and the lower floor indoors, the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 may be installed so that the boundary area becomes the landing of the stairs. .. In this case, if it is determined that the user has entered either the first area or the second area, that is, the upper floor or the lower floor after resetting at the landing, the area entered thereafter (entered). The position of the moving body is specified only based on the beacon signal from the beacon signal generator installed on the floor). By doing so, even when a plurality of beacon signals arrive from the vertical direction, it is possible to prevent erroneous position determination.

When the escalator is installed indoors, the central area of the escalator is set to be the boundary area where the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 is installed. Further, when an elevator is installed in the room, a cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 is installed on the ceiling inside the elevator so that the inside of the elevator becomes the central region of the boundary region. Then, when the elevator door is open, the transmission range of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator 30 may be determined so that the boundary region includes a predetermined range outside the elevator door.

In the present embodiment, the determination cycle (5 seconds) in which the position-determining unit 60 determines the position of the moving body is made longer than the determination cycle (1 second) in which the beacon ID for position determination is determined. Although the calculation load of the position-determining unit 60 when the number increases is reduced, it goes without saying that the determination cycle and the determination cycle may be the same.

According to the position detection system of the present invention, the traveling direction of the moving body can be reliably determined by using the beacon signal.

10 1st beacon signal generator 20 2nd beacon signal generator 30 Boundary determination beacon signal generator 40 Communication terminal 41 Beacon ID determination storage unit 42 Transmitter unit 50 Mobile unit 60 Position determination unit 70 Received data storage unit 80 Current position Determination part R1 1st area R2 2nd area E Doorway

Claims (8)

A plurality of beacon signal generators that are installed at a plurality of predetermined installation positions in a moving area in which one or more moving objects move and generate a beacon signal including a beacon ID.
The one or more moving bodies are mounted on the one or more moving bodies and receive the one or more beacon signals, and from the radio wave strength of the one or more beacon signals received and the beacon ID in a predetermined determination cycle, the one or more moving bodies. The beacon ID of the beacon signal generator that determines the position-determining beacon signal used to determine the position in the moving region and generates the position-determining beacon signal is used as the position-determining beacon ID. A beacon ID determination storage unit that determines and stores the beacon ID, and one or more communication terminals having a transmission unit that transmits position determination information including the beacon ID for position determination and a terminal ID that identifies itself.
The one or more communication terminals have a predetermined determination cycle based on the determined beacon ID for position determination, the terminal ID, and the information of the plurality of predetermined installation positions in the mobile area. A positioning unit for determining the position of the one or more moving bodies in the moving region is provided.
The plurality of beacon signal generators include a cross-border determination beacon signal generator arranged in a boundary region between an adjacent first region and a second region in the moving region, and the boundary determination beacon signal generator. A first beacon signal generator and a second beacon signal generator arranged in the first area and the second area with a device in between are provided.
The beacon ID determination storage unit has a first threshold value for the beacon signal generated by the first beacon signal generator, a second threshold value for the beacon signal generated by the second beacon signal generator, and the cross-border. The determination beacon signal generator has a reset threshold value for the generated beacon signal and a confirmation threshold value smaller than the reset threshold value.
When the communication terminal receives the beacon signal equal to or higher than the predetermined reset threshold value generated by the cross-border determination beacon signal generator, the beacon ID determination storage unit determines the position before that. The beacon ID of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator is set as the position determination beacon ID, and then the radio field strength of the beacon signal generated by the first beacon signal generator is the first. When the radio wave intensity of the beacon signal generated by the cross-border determination beacon signal generator is equal to or higher than the threshold value and equal to or lower than the confirmation threshold value, it is assumed that the moving body has moved from the boundary region to the first region. The beacon ID of the first beacon signal generator is determined and defined as the position determination beacon ID, or the radio field strength of the beacon signal generated by the second beacon signal generator is equal to or higher than the second threshold value. When the radio wave intensity of the beacon signal generated by the cross-border determination beacon signal generator is equal to or less than the confirmation threshold value, it is determined that the moving body has moved from the boundary region to the second region. A position detection system characterized in that the beacon ID of the second beacon signal generator is defined as the beacon ID for determining the position. The first threshold value, the second threshold value, the reset threshold value, and the confirmation threshold value are the distance between the first beacon signal generator and the cross-border determination beacon signal generator, and the second beacon signal. After the reset, the moving body is present in the first region and the moving body is moved to the second region based on the distance between the generator and the cross-border determination beacon signal generator. The position detection system according to claim 1, which is defined so that it can be determined that the signal has been used. The position according to claim 1, wherein the beacon ID determination storage unit determines the radio wave strength based on an average value of the radio wave strengths of a plurality of the beacon signals received within one cycle of the determination cycle. Detection system. The average value is obtained as a simple average of a plurality of radio field strengths of the plurality of beacon signals, is obtained as a median value of the radio wave strengths of the plurality of beacon signals, or is the maximum value of the radio wave strengths of the plurality of beacon signals. The position detection system according to claim 3, wherein the position detection system is obtained as a simple average value of the remaining radio wave strength excluding the minimum value. The position detection system according to claim 1, wherein the first area is inside the building and the second area is outdoors. The position detection system according to claim 1, wherein the first area is a specific floor of a building, and the second area is a floor above or below the specific floor of the building. The length dimension in the width direction of the boundary region orthogonal to the direction in which the first region, the boundary region, and the second region are lined up is the transmission range of the beacon signal of one of the cross-border determination beacon signal generators. It has a length dimension that cannot be covered by
To cover the boundary region in the transmission range of the plurality of cross-border determination beacon signal generator, the plurality of cross-border determination beacon signal generator are spaced apart in the width direction to the boundary region ,
The position according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first beacon signal generator and the second beacon signal generator are arranged for each of the plurality of cross-border determination beacon signal generators. Detection system. The transmission range of the beacon signal of the cross-border determination beacon signal generator is the same as the transmission range of the beacon signal of the first beacon signal generator and the transmission range of the beacon signal of the second beacon signal generator. The position detection system according to claim 1, wherein the value of the reset threshold value is lower than the first threshold value and the second threshold value when the value is narrow.

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