JP7165606B2 - Communication status monitoring system - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a communication status monitoring system and a working machine using the same.

For example, in a work machine such as a hydraulic excavator that operates at a work site, work efficiency and accuracy are improved by transmitting and receiving various information related to the operating state and position of the work machine to and from a management server. there is something

As a technique related to monitoring the communication state of a communication terminal used for information transmission/reception, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses command acquisition processing means for acquiring service information describing the content of services to be provided to a vehicle from a management server. and command execution processing means for instructing monitoring of changes in communication states of a plurality of communication devices mounted on the vehicle when executing a first command included in the service information acquired by the command acquisition processing means; Monitors changes in the communication status of the plurality of communication devices based on instructions from the command execution processing means, and when the change occurs, sends the communication status of the communication device in which the change has occurred to the command execution processing means. and communication monitoring control processing means, wherein the command execution processing means, upon receiving the communication status sent from the communication monitoring control processing means, performs processing for the plurality of communication devices when the change occurs. In accordance with a second instruction containing and the service is provided by an application server according to a notification output from the controlled communication device.

JP 2018-20725 A

In the above-described prior art, a change in the communication state of a plurality of communication devices mounted on a vehicle is monitored, and when a change occurs, a change is made in accordance with a command including processing to be performed on the plurality of communication devices when a change occurs. controls the communicator that generated the However, no consideration has been given to identifying the cause when the communication device becomes unable to communicate, and it has been difficult to take appropriate measures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above. The purpose is to provide a machine.

The present application includes a plurality of means for solving the above problems. To give an example, in a communication status monitoring system provided with a communication terminal mounted on a work machine operating at a work site and a server capable of communicating, an information terminal capable of communicating with the server, wherein the communication terminal acquires communication record information including a record of communication with the server by the communication terminal, and acquires position information of the work machine at the work site; The communication performance location information obtained by linking the acquired communication performance information and the location information is transmitted to the server, and the server transmits the location information of the work machine when communication with the communication terminal is disabled. to the information terminal, and based on the information input to the information terminal, including the position information of the work machine, the cause of the inability to communicate with the communication terminal is determined. do.

According to the present invention, it is possible to monitor the communication state of a communication terminal, identify the cause when the communication terminal becomes unable to communicate, and take appropriate measures according to changes in the communication state.

1 is a side view schematically showing the appearance of a hydraulic excavator that is an example of a working machine; FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram schematically showing a communication status monitoring system; FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of a communication terminal. 9 is a flowchart showing communication performance information acquisition processing; 6 is a flowchart showing position information acquisition processing; 9 is a flowchart showing information combining processing; FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing processing contents of regional communication state map creation processing of the server; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a data format of communication track record location information; It is a figure which shows an example of a regional communication state map. 10 is a flow chart showing processing contents of communication state determination processing of the server;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a hydraulic excavator will be described as an example of a working machine, but the present invention can also be applied to other working machines that operate at work sites, such as dump trucks and cranes. It is possible.

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing the appearance of a hydraulic excavator, which is an example of a working machine according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the communication status monitoring system.

In FIG. 1, a hydraulic excavator 100 includes an articulated front work machine 6 (work machine) configured by connecting a plurality of front members (boom 6A, arm 6B, bucket 6C) that rotate in the vertical direction. , an upper revolving body 3 and a lower running body 2 (running device) which constitute a vehicle body, and the upper revolving body 3 is provided so as to be able to turn relative to the lower running body 2 . The upper revolving body 3 is configured by arranging each member on a revolving frame 31 serving as a base. The base end of the boom 6A of the front working machine 6 is supported by the front part of the upper rotating body 3 so as to be capable of rotating in the vertical direction, and one end of the arm 6B is an end (tip end) different from the base end of the boom 6A. ) is rotatably supported in the vertical direction, and a bucket 6C is rotatably supported in the vertical direction at the other end of the arm 6B.

The lower traveling body 2 includes a pair of crawlers 12a (12b) respectively wound around a pair of left and right crawler frames 11a (11b), and traveling hydraulic motors 13a (13b) (not shown) for driving the crawlers 12a (12b), respectively. mechanism), and constitutes the travel device of the hydraulic excavator 100 . In FIG. 1, only one of a pair of right and left components of the lower traveling body 2 is illustrated and denoted by reference numerals, and only parenthesized symbols are shown in the drawing for the other configuration. Illustration is omitted.

The front members 6A to 6C and the lower traveling body 2 are driven by hydraulic actuators such as a boom cylinder 16A, an arm cylinder 16B, a bucket cylinder 16C, and left and right travel hydraulic motors 13a (13b). Further, the upper swing structure 3 performs a swing motion with respect to the lower traveling structure 2 by a swing hydraulic motor 32 which is a hydraulic actuator.

On the revolving frame 31 constituting the upper revolving body 3, an engine 33 as a prime mover, a hydraulic pump 34 driven by the engine 33, and a boom cylinder 16A, an arm cylinder 16B, and a bucket cylinder 16C discharged from the hydraulic pump 34 are mounted. , a swing hydraulic motor 32, and a control valve 35 for controlling the direction and flow rate of hydraulic fluid supplied to the hydraulic actuators such as the left and right traveling hydraulic motors 13a and 13b, forming a hydraulic circuit system. The operation control of each hydraulic actuator 16A to 16C, 32, 13a, 13b drives a solenoid valve (not shown) with a control command generated based on the operation of an operation device (not shown) corresponding to each operation. to generate a drive signal, and the control valve 35 is driven and controlled by this drive signal.

An operator is mounted on the front portion of the revolving frame 31 that constitutes the upper revolving body 3 and on the lateral side (the left side in this embodiment) of the base end support portion of the boom 6A of the front working machine 6. An operator's cab 4 for operating the hydraulic excavator 100 is arranged.

Inside the operator's cab 4 are a seat for an operator, an operation device (not shown) for driving the front work equipment 6, traveling the lower traveling body 2, rotating the upper revolving body 3, and an engine. A key switch (not shown) for instructing the start and stop of 33 is arranged. The operation device is composed of a plurality of operation levers corresponding to the operations of the hydraulic actuators 16A to 16C, 32, 13a and 13b.

In FIG. 2, the communication status monitoring system is provided to communicate with a communication terminal 110 mounted on a hydraulic excavator 100, which is a work machine operating at a work site, and the communication terminal 110 via a communication network 400 (for example, the Internet). and an information terminal 300 capable of communicating with the server 200 via a communication network 400 .

Communication terminal 110 includes communication performance information acquisition section 111 , position information acquisition section 112 , information coupling section 113 , information storage section 114 , and communication module 115 .

3 to 6 are flowcharts showing the processing contents of the communication terminal, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the communication result information acquisition process in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is the position information acquisition process, and FIG. 6 is the information combination process. is. The processes in FIGS. 3 to 6 are exemplified for the case where they are executed at predetermined intervals. It may be executed when

As shown in FIG. 3, in the processing in the communication terminal 110, first, communication performance information acquisition processing is performed (step S100: FIG. 4).

As shown in FIG. 4, in the communication performance information acquisition process, first, the communication performance information acquisition unit 111 acquires information about the communication state from the communication module 115, such as radio wave intensity, communication progress, communication success/failure flag, and the like. communication record information, including information such as the communication record, the name of the communication carrier connected by communication, and the like (step S101).

Subsequently, the communication record information is converted into a data format that can be processed by the information combining unit 113 and transmitted to the information combining unit 113 (step S102). As a data format in which the position information is converted, for example, a binary format in consideration of reduction of the amount of communication can be considered.

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not an instruction signal instructing to stop the operation of the communication terminal 110 has been received (step S103), and if the determination result is NO, the processes of steps S101 and S102 are repeated. If the determination result in step S103 is YES, the communication performance information acquisition process (step S100) is terminated.

Here, the instruction signal for instructing to stop the operation of the communication terminal 110 is, for example, a signal indicating that a key switch provided in the operator's cab 4 of the hydraulic excavator 100 has been switched from the ON state to the OFF state. When detected by the controller, it is output from the controller to the communication terminal 110 . In addition to the condition that the key switch is switched to the OFF state and the operation stop is instructed, the condition that the communication module 115 of the communication terminal 110 has finished transmitting and receiving information may be used for determination.

Returning to FIG. 3, when the communication performance information acquisition process (step S100) is finished, the position information acquisition process is subsequently performed (step S110: FIG. 5).

As shown in FIG. 5, in the position information acquisition process, the position information acquisition unit 112 first acquires position information of the hydraulic excavator 100 at the work site based on information from the position information acquisition device 10 (step S111). The position information acquisition device 10 is, for example, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) typified by a GPS (Global Positioning System). Note that FIG. 1 exemplifies a GPS antenna including a position information calculation function as the position information acquisition device 10 . The position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 112 is the position coordinates of the hydraulic excavator 100 in the earth coordinate system or the position coordinates in the work site coordinate system preset for the work site.

Subsequently, the position information is converted into a data format that can be processed by the information combining unit 113, and transmitted to the information combining unit 113 (step S102). As a data format in which the position information is converted, for example, a binary format in consideration of reduction of the amount of communication can be considered.

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not an instruction signal instructing to stop the operation of the communication terminal 110 has been received (step S113), and if the determination result is NO, the processes of steps S111 and S112 are repeated. If the determination result in step S113 is YES, the communication performance information acquisition process (step S110) is terminated. The instruction signal for instructing to stop the operation of communication terminal 110 is the same as in the communication performance information acquisition process shown in step S100.

Returning to FIG. 3, after the positional information acquisition process (step S110) is completed, the information combining process is performed (step S120: FIG. 6).

As shown in FIG. 6, in the information combining process, first, the information combining unit 113 acquires communication record information from the communication record information acquisition unit 111 (step S121), and acquires position information from the position information acquisition unit 112. (Step S122), the communication performance information and the location information added in the previous process are compared with the communication performance location information 600 (described later) stored in the information storage unit 114 to determine whether they are different, that is, whether they have changed. (step S123).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the data format of the communication track record location information.

As shown in FIG. 8, the communication record location information 600 includes work machine identification information 610, information creation date/time information 620, communication status information 630, number of cases information 640, file end information 650, and the like.

The working machine identification information 610 is information for individually identifying a working machine, and for example, the serial number of the working machine (hydraulic excavator 100 in this embodiment) can be considered.

The information creation date/time information 620 may record the year/month/day/hour/minute/second when the communication record location information 600 was created.

The communication status information 630 is composed of information 631b to 633b, which is a combination of communication performance information and position information, and time stamps 631a to 633a indicating the date and time when each information was acquired. If there is no information combining the communication record information and the location information, "no data" is recorded. Information 631b to 633b can be added to the communication status information 630 up to the upper limit of the number of cases specified in the number of cases information 640, which will be described later. The information of the stamps 631a-633a is deleted from the oldest one. Note that FIG. 8 shows only part of the communication record information for the sake of simplicity. Also, although the radio wave intensity is illustrated by symbols, a numerical value may be used as the radio wave intensity.

The number information 640 is information that determines the upper limit of the number of pieces of information 631b to 633b included in the communication record location information 600. For example, N is a positive integer. However, the number of cases N may have a variable length instead of a fixed length.

The file end information 650 is information indicating the end of the information of the communication record position information 600 .

Returning to FIG. 6, if the determination result in step S123 is NO, that is, the communication performance information and the location information newly acquired by the information combining unit 113 are added to the communication performance location information 600 stored in the information storage unit 114. If there is no change from the communication performance information and location information added in the previous process, the process returns to step S100 in FIG. 3 (see FIG. 3A).

If the determination result in step S123 is YES, that is, the communication record information and the position information newly acquired by the information combining unit 113 are stored in the communication record position information 600 stored in the information storage unit 114. If the communication performance information and location information have changed from those added in step S124, the information combining unit 113 adds the communication performance information and location information newly acquired in this processing to the communication performance location information 600 (step S124). ), adds a time stamp to the added communication record information and position information to create communication record position information 600 (step S125), and stores the created communication record position information 600 in information storage unit 114 (step S126).

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not an instruction signal instructing the operation stop of the communication terminal 110 has been received (step S127), and if the determination result is NO, the processing of steps S121 to S126 is repeated. If the determination result in step S127 is YES, the information combining process (step S120) ends. The instruction signal for instructing to stop the operation of communication terminal 110 is the same as in the communication performance information acquisition process shown in step S100.

Returning to FIG. 3, when the information combining process (step S120) ends, it is subsequently determined whether communication is possible with the communication module 115 (step S130). 600 is transmitted to the server 200 via the communication module 115 (step S140).

Here, whether or not the communication module 115 can communicate is determined by, for example, whether or not the communication module 115 is connected to the base station 500 and can acquire the carrier name, or whether or not the data communication connection with the base station 500 is completed. or whether or not the connection with the server 200 is completed by performing a handshake with the server 200 .

The communication module 115 of the communication terminal 110 can communicate with the server 200 via the communication network 400 by performing mobile communication 501 with the base station 500 . The base station 500 performs mutual conversion so that the data format of the information transmitted and received via the mobile communication 501 and the data format of the information used on the communication network 400 match each other.

Further, when the processing in step S140 is finished, or when the determination result in step S130 is NO, it is determined whether or not an instruction signal instructing to stop the operation of communication terminal 110 has been received (step S150). If the determination result is NO, the processing of steps S100 to S140 is repeated. If the determination result in step S150 is YES, the process is terminated. The instruction signal for instructing to stop the operation of communication terminal 110 is the same as in the communication performance information acquisition process shown in step S100.

The server 200 manages information transmitted from a plurality of work machines (hydraulic excavator 100 in this embodiment) operating at a work site. It has The server 200 can output information about a specific work machine designated by the information terminal 300 or a work machine related thereto to the information terminal 300 or the like.

The information terminal 300 is a PC located in an office or the like located away from the work machine (hydraulic excavator 100 in the present embodiment) at the work site, or a smart phone or tablet carried by service personnel or customers. The information terminal 300 can access the server 200 by connecting to the communication network 400 through a line different from that of the mobile communication 501, output various requests to the server 200, and store them in the regional communication state data storage unit 202. You can browse the information provided.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the processing contents of the regional communication state map creation processing of the server.

As shown in FIG. 7 , in the regional communication state map creation process, the server 200 first uses the regional communication state estimating unit 201 to transmit the communication performance position information 600 transmitted from the hydraulic excavator 100 via the communication network 400 to the regional communication map. It is developed into a data format that can be processed by the state estimation unit 201 (step S200). The communication record position information 600 is transmitted from the hydraulic excavator 100 in a form such as a binary format that takes into consideration the reduction of communication traffic, etc., and is developed into a text format or numerical format that can be analyzed by the server 200 .

Subsequently, the communication success/failure flag is checked from the developed communication record location information 600 to determine whether the communication was successful (step S210). is set as a communication success area (step S220), and if the determination result is NO, a specific range based on the corresponding position information is set as a communication failure area (step S211). If the communication record location information 600 includes a plurality of sets of communication success/failure flags and location information, determination is made for each of them.

The method of determining the communication success area and the communication failure area is not particularly limited. A rectangle of a predetermined size with the center may be used. In addition, the radius (size in the case of a rectangle) of the circles indicating the communication success area and the communication failure area may be changed according to the radio wave intensity, etc., and furthermore, according to the communication frequency band and the communication carrier. The degree of change may be changed. If a plurality of communication carriers are used at the same time, the degree of change may be changed for each communication frequency band or communication carrier.

When the processing of steps S220 and S221 is finished, that is, when the communication success area and the communication failure area are set, the radio field intensity corresponding to each communication success area and communication failure area is set as additional information ( Step S230), a regional communication state map including these pieces of information is created and stored in the regional communication state data storage unit 202 (step S240), and the process ends.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a regional communication state map.

In FIG. 9, in the regional communication state map 700, a communication success area 701, a communication success estimation area 702, a communication failure area 703, and an unproven area 704 as well as the current position 100A of the hydraulic excavator 100 are set. .

A communication success area 701 is a communicable area, and indicates an area in which communication was successful in the past. Note that when there are a plurality of successful communication routes, they are superimposed and displayed on the regional communication state map 700 .

The communication success estimation area 702 is an area in which it is estimated that the radio wave intensity is sufficiently strong and that communication will be successful, based on preliminary information on the work site, although there is no record of communication.

A communication failure area 703 is an area in which the communication state is poor, and indicates an uncommunicable area in which communication has failed in the past.

A no-communication-record area 704 is a factory for which no communication-record position information has been created in the past.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the processing contents of the communication state determination processing of the server.

The communication state determination process may be performed on the server 200 once a day, or may be performed when instructed by the information terminal 300 .

As shown in FIG. 10, in the communication state determination process, the server 200 first receives communication from each work machine (eg, hydraulic excavator 100) operating at the work site within a predetermined period (eg, four days). It is determined whether or not actual position information has been received (step S300), and if the determination result is YES, the process is terminated.

In addition, if the determination result is NO, that is, if there is no communication status position information received from a specific working machine among the working machines operating at the work site within the prescribed period, the information terminal 300 receives the corresponding information. The server 200 is requested to transmit the status, position information, operating status, etc. of the working machine to be operated. For this request, e-mail or the like, or push notification of a smartphone may be used. Alternatively, the information of the work machine may be acquired by referring to the information input in advance.

After obtaining the information about the work machine in step S310, it is then determined using the local communication status map 700 whether or not the position of the work machine is within a communicable area (communication success area, communication success estimation area) (step S320), if the determination result is NO, a message indicating that the area is not communicable is transmitted to the information terminal 300 (step S321), and a notification prompting movement of the working machine (for example, movement to a communicable area) is made. is transmitted to the information terminal 300 (step S322), and the process ends. Incidentally, in step S322, by transmitting the regional communication status map 700 together with the notification prompting the movement of the work machine, it is possible to visually confirm the communicable area on the information terminal 300. FIG. Further, in step S322, the service person may go to the location of the work machine and transmit to the information terminal 300 that the operation data is to be directly downloaded.

Further, if the determination result in step S320 is YES, that is, if the position of the work machine is within a communicable area, based on the information (operation status) from the information terminal 300, within a predetermined period of time It is determined whether or not the working machine has been operated (step S330), and if the determination result is YES, the information terminal 300 is notified that the communication terminal 110 is defective, that is, there is a possibility of failure ( Step S340), the process ends.

Further, if the determination result in step S330 is NO, that is, if the working machine has not been operated within a predetermined period of time, the information terminal 300 is notified that the working vehicle is in a rest state ( Step S331), the process ends.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, the regional communication state is determined based on the communication result position information transmitted from the communication terminal 110 mounted on the work machine (the hydraulic excavator 100 in the present embodiment) to the server 200. Data is created, and when there is no communication from a specific work machine, a request is made to the information terminal 300 for the state, position, operating status, etc. of that work machine, and according to the information from the information terminal 300, a remote location (server 200 installation area), the cause of communication failure of the communication terminal 110 can be specified. Since it is possible to identify the cause of the communication failure from a remote location, it is possible to take appropriate measures according to changes in the communication state, thereby speeding up the service and saving labor.

Next, features of each of the above embodiments will be described.

(1) In the above embodiment, in the communication status monitoring system provided with the communication terminal 110 mounted on the work machine (for example, the hydraulic excavator 100) operating at the work site and the server 200 capable of communicating, the server and An information terminal 300 capable of communication is provided, and the communication terminal acquires communication performance information including the performance of communication with the server by the communication terminal, and acquires and acquires position information of the work machine at the work site. The communication result position information 600 linking the communication result information and the position information is transmitted to the server, and the server includes the position information of the work machine when communication with the communication terminal is impossible. Information prompting the input of information is transmitted to the information terminal, and the cause of the inability to communicate with the communication terminal is determined based on the information including the position information of the working machine input to the information terminal. .

Accordingly, it is possible to monitor the communication state of the communication terminal, identify the cause of the communication failure of the communication terminal, and take appropriate measures according to the change in the communication state.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, in the communication status monitoring system of (1), the server 200 controls the working machine (for example, the hydraulic excavator 100) at the work site based on the communication performance position information 600. ) and the radio wave intensity included in the communication record information are displayed in correspondence (for example, the regional communication state map 700), and is transmitted to the information terminal 300. FIG.

(3) In the above embodiment, in the communication status monitoring system of (1), the information terminal 300 communicates with the server 200 via an Internet line (for example, the communication network 400).

<Appendix>
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications and combinations within the scope of the invention. Moreover, the present invention is not limited to those having all the configurations described in the above embodiments, and includes those having some of the configurations omitted. Further, each of the above configurations, functions, etc. may be realized by designing a part or all of them, for example, with an integrated circuit. Moreover, each of the above configurations, functions, etc. may be realized by software by a processor interpreting and executing a program for realizing each function.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2... Undercarriage, 3... Upper revolving body, 4... Driver's cab, 6... Front working machine, 6A... Boom, 6B... Arm, 6C... Bucket, 10... Position information acquisition device, 11a, 11b... Crawler frame, 12a , 12b... crawler, 13a, 13b... traveling hydraulic motor, 16A... boom cylinder, 16B... arm cylinder, 16C... bucket cylinder, 31... revolving frame, 32... revolving hydraulic motor, 34... hydraulic pump, 35... control valve, 100 Hydraulic excavator 110 Communication terminal 111 Communication performance information acquisition unit 112 Position information acquisition unit 113 Information coupling unit 114 Information storage unit 115 Communication module 200 Server 201 Regional communication status Estimation unit 202 Local communication state data storage unit 300 Information terminal 400 Communication network 500 Base station 501 Mobile communication 600 Communication track record position information 610 Work machine identification information 620 Information Creation date and time information 630 Communication status information 631a to 633a Timestamp 631b to 633b Information 640 Number of records information 650 File end information 700 Regional communication status map 701 Successful communication area 702 Communication Estimated success area 703 Communication failure area 704 Unproven area

Claims (3)

In a communication status monitoring system equipped with a server capable of communicating with a communication terminal mounted on a work machine operating at a work site,
An information terminal capable of communicating with the server,
The communication terminal acquires communication performance information including a performance of communication with the server by the communication terminal, acquires position information of the work machine at the work site, and compares the acquired communication performance information with the position information. to the server, and
When communication with the communication terminal is disabled, the server transmits to the information terminal information prompting the input of information including the position information of the work machine. A communication status monitoring system, wherein a cause of communication failure by said communication terminal is determined based on information including position information. In the communication status monitoring system according to claim 1,
The server generates a map displaying the position of the work machine at the work site in correspondence with the radio field intensity included in the communication result information based on the communication result position information, and transmits the map to the information terminal. A communication status monitoring system characterized by: In the communication status monitoring system according to claim 1,
A communication status monitoring system, wherein the information terminal communicates with the server via an Internet line.

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