JP7263128B2 - Water discharge control device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a water discharge control device.

Conventionally, there has been known a program for sensing a person's hand or an object, estimating how the object is held from the positional information of the person's hand or the object detected by sensing, and estimating the object from the way the object is held. there is For example, the program described in Patent Literature 1 below estimates an article such as daily necessities or office supplies in a living space such as a home or an office based on how the article is held. In this program, how to hold an article and the positional relationship between the article and a person's hand are registered in advance in a database.

By the way, there is a demand for a faucet unit such as a kitchen or a bathroom vanity to automatically spout water on the condition that a person's hand is holding an article such as a plate. To meet such a demand, it is conceivable to use the above program.

WO2010/004719

However, it is not easy to appropriately and automatically spout water on the condition that the human hand is holding an article such as a plate with the above program. This is because, in order to automatically discharge water on the condition that a person's hand is holding an item such as a plate, the timing of water discharge and stop must be appropriately set, for example, water will not be discharged when only a plate is placed. This is because it needs to be controlled. With the above program, it was difficult to fully grasp the state of the equipment and the human hand necessary for such control.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a water discharge control device capable of appropriately and automatically discharging water on the condition that an article such as a plate is held by a person's hand. and

The water discharge control device of the present invention comprises a water discharge section, a water discharge switching section for switching between water discharge and water stop of the water discharge section, an imaging section for capturing an image of a water-related space around the water discharge section, and an article in the image. an article detection unit that detects information about the article from the image when the article is captured; and a human hand detection unit that detects information about the hand of the person from the image when the hand is included in the image. a gripping state in which the person's hand grips the item, or a non-gripping state in which the person's hand does not grip the item, based on the information on the item and the information on the hand of the person. and a control unit that controls the water discharge switching unit so that water is discharged in the gripped state and water is stopped in the non-gripped state based on the determination result of the determination unit. be.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a water discharge control device according to this embodiment; A diagram illustrating the state of detergent use in which a human hand is using detergent Flowchart showing an operation example of the water discharge control device Flowchart showing an operation example of the determination unit

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown below.
<Example>
An embodiment embodying the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG.
The water discharge control device S in this embodiment is installed in a place where water is used, such as a kitchen. The water discharge control device S includes, as shown in FIG. The switching control section C includes an article detection section 14 , a human hand detection section 15 , a spout detection section 16 , a determination section 17 and a control section 18 .

The water discharge switching unit 12 is an electromagnetic valve that switches between water discharge and water stop of the water discharge unit 10 . The imaging unit 13 is a camera that captures an image of the water-related space around the water discharging unit 10 . The product detection unit 14 detects information on the product 19 from the image when the product 19 is shown in the image. The human hand detection unit 15 detects information of the human hand 21 from the image when the human hand 21 is shown in the image. The water discharge port detector 16 sets the water discharge region T based on the position of the water discharger 10 . Based on the information on the item 19 and the information on the human hand 21, the determination unit 17 determines whether the item 19 is being gripped by the human hand 21 or is not gripped by the human hand 21. determine the state. Based on the determination result of the determination unit 17, the control unit 18 controls the water discharge switching unit 12 so that water is discharged in the gripped state and water is stopped in the non-gripped state.

The water discharger 10 has a water discharge pipe 11 having a water discharge port. The water discharge pipe 11 is installed, for example, on the counter around the kitchen sink.
The imaging unit 13 is arranged above the kitchen (for example, the ceiling of the kitchen, the bottom surface of the cabinet, etc.). The imaging unit 13 is installed so as to capture an image of the space below. The imaging unit 13 acquires an image of the plumbing space in which the water discharging unit 10 is installed. The water-related space is a space that includes the water discharge unit 10 and is a space in which water-related facilities such as a sink are provided. The imaging unit 13 images, for example, an area wider than the sink (such as an area including the sink and the stove). The imaging unit 13 transmits image information of the captured image to the product detection unit 14, the human hand detection unit 15, and the spout detection unit 16, for example, via a wireless communication line. The imaging unit 13 may capture a moving image or may capture a still image. Moreover, the imaging unit 13 may capture a color image or may capture a black-and-white image.

The product detection unit 14 has a contour extraction unit 14A that extracts a contour 19A of the product 19 from the image when the product 19 is shown in the image. Contour 19A of article 19 is a contour line formed along the outer edge of article 19, as shown in FIG. The contour 19A of the article 19 is extracted by known techniques for extracting contours from images, such as edge detection based on luminance differences in the image. The contour extraction unit 14A extracts the contour 19A of the article 19 by connecting the part of the contour 19A of the article 19 hidden by the human hand 21 so as to be continuous as shown in FIG.

The product detection unit 14 detects the size of the product 19 and the position of the product 19 from the outline 19A of the product 19 extracted from the image. That is, the information of the article 19 may be the shape, size or position of the article obtained from the contour 19A of the article 19 . The product detection unit 14 calculates, for example, the position coordinates of the product 19 as the position of the product 19 . The position coordinates of the article 19 may be coordinates indicating a position near the center of the contour 19A of the article 19, or a coordinate group indicating the contour 19A of the article 19. FIG. The product detection unit 14 outputs information on the product 19 to the determination unit 17 .

When a human hand 21 is shown in the image, the human hand detection unit 15 detects an object presumed to be a human hand from the objects shown in the image. For example, it is performed by comparing an image of a hand stored in advance in a storage unit (not shown) with an image of an object captured by the imaging unit 13 . The storage unit stores in advance images of the hand captured under various imaging conditions (imaging angle, illumination, etc.). When the image of the hand stored in the storage unit and the image of the captured object satisfy a predetermined similarity condition, the object is detected as the human hand 21 .

The human hand detection unit 15 has a frame extraction unit 15A for extracting the frame 21A of the human hand 21 from the image. The frame extracting unit 15A applies a rectangular frame (cell) to the human hand 21 detected from the image and extracts it. The frame 21A of the human hand 21 may be, for example, a rectangular frame including the human hand 21 to the wrist.

The human hand detection unit 15 detects the size and position of the hand from the frame 21A of the human hand 21 extracted from the image. That is, the information of the human hand 21 includes the shape of the hand (clamped hand, open hand, bent fingers, extended fingers, etc.), size or size obtained from the frame 21A of the human hand 21 location, etc. The human hand detection unit 15 calculates, for example, the position coordinates of the human hand 21 as the position of the human hand 21 . The positional coordinates of the human hand 21 may be coordinates indicating the vicinity of the tip of the frame 21A of the human hand 21 where the human finger is supposed to be arranged, or the coordinates of the frame 21A of the human hand 21. It may be a coordinate group showing the whole. The human hand detection unit 15 outputs information on the human hand 21 to the determination unit 17 .

The water discharge port detector 16 sets the water discharge region T from the position of the water discharger 10 . The water discharge region T is a region that includes the water discharger 10 and spreads in the vicinity of the water discharger 10, for example, a region that is slightly larger than the region where water is discharged from the water discharger 10 (water falls). The spout detection unit 16 detects the position of the spout of the water discharge unit 10 from the image captured by the imaging unit 13, and sets a region including the spout as a water discharge region T. FIG. The water discharge port detection unit 16 outputs the setting result of the water discharge area T to the determination unit 17 .

Based on the information on the article 19, the information on the human hand 21, and the setting result of the water discharge area T, the determination unit 17 determines whether the article 19 is held by the human hand 21 or whether the article 19 is held by the human hand 21. is in a non-grasped state.

The determination unit 17 determines that the hand 21 and the article 19 are in a gripping state when the human hand 21 and the article 19 have entered from the outside of the water discharge region T to the inside of the water discharge region T while maintaining a predetermined positional relationship. It is determined to be in a non-grasping state. When the human hand 21 and the product 19 are in a predetermined positional relationship, it is assumed that the human hand 21 is holding the product 19 . For example, when the person's hand 21 is in contact with the outer edge of the item 19, and when the top of the frame 21A of the person's hand 21 overlaps the outline 19A of the item 19 in the image.

In consideration of the extraction accuracy of the outline 19A of the article 19 and the frame 21A of the human hand 21, the positional relationship in which the human hand 21 is assumed to be holding the article 19 may be set. For example, assuming that the contour 19A of the article 19 and the frame 21A of the human hand 21 are extracted one size smaller than the actual contour of the article and the contour of the human hand, the outline 19A of the article 19 and the human hand Even if the frame 21A of the hand 21 is slightly separated, when the distance between the contour 19A of the article 19 and the frame 21A of the person's hand 21 is within a predetermined distance, or when the position coordinates of the article 19 and the person's hand 21 is a predetermined distance (the distance at which the human hand 21 is assumed to be holding the article 19), it is assumed that the human hand 21 is holding the article 19 You may set it with a positional relationship.

When the user's hand 21 and the article 19 enter the inside of the water spouting area T, it is presumed that the user held the article 19 and brought it to the water spouting area T in order to spout water onto the article 19. To some extent, when the person's hand 21 or article 19 is positioned within the spouting area T. This includes, for example, the case where at least part of the human hand 21 or article 19 in a predetermined positional relationship overlaps the water discharge region T when viewed from above in the vertical direction. That is, the human hand 21 and the product 19 entering the water discharge region T does not necessarily mean that the human hand 21 or the product 19 in a predetermined positional relationship are not necessarily positioned within the water discharge region T. . In this case, the extent to which part of the human hand 21 or the article 19 overlaps with the water ejection area T when the human hand 21 and the article 19 are inside the water ejection area T can be appropriately set. When the human hand 21 and the article 19 are positioned outside the water spouting region T is when the state in which the human hand 21 and the article 19 are inside the water spouting region T does not apply.

When the human hand 21 and the product 19 are not in a predetermined positional relationship outside the water discharge region T and the human hand 21 and the product 19 are in a predetermined positional relationship inside the water discharge region T, the judgment unit 17 is determined to be in the non-grasping state. As a result, for example, with the product 19 placed inside the water discharge region T, the human hand 21 enters the water discharge region T from the outside of the water discharge region T, and the positional relationship between the product 19 and the human hand 21 is changed. When the predetermined positional relationship is established, the determination unit 17 determines that the object is in the non-grasping state.

The determination unit 17 determines whether the detergent use state in which the human hand 21 is using the detergent or the detergent non-use state in which the human hand 21 is not using the detergent in the holding state. This determination is made based on information on the product 19 and information on the human hand 21 . As shown in FIG. 2, the hand 21 of the person using the detergent is in contact with the outer edge of the article 19 while the hand 21 holding the article 19 is in contact with the outer edge of the article 19. It is presumed to contact the central portion of article 19 . Therefore, the determination unit 17 is in a positional relationship in which the hand 21 of one person and the article 19 are assumed to be in a gripping state, and the tip of the frame 21A of the hand 21 of the other person is surrounded by the outline 19A of the article 19. It is determined that the detergent is being used when the tip of the hand 21 of the other person overlaps near the center of the area, or when the position coordinates of the tip of the other person's hand 21 are close to the position coordinates of the center of the article 19, and so on. When not, it is determined that the detergent is not used.

Based on the determination result of the determination unit 17, the control unit 18 controls the water discharge switching unit 12 (opens the electromagnetic valve) so that the water discharge unit 10 discharges water when the detergent is not used in the gripped state. The water discharge switching unit 12 is controlled (maintains the electromagnetic valve in a closed state) so that the water discharge unit 10 does not discharge water in the detergent use state and the non-holding state.

Next, the operation of the water discharge control device S in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the image capturing unit 13 captures an image of the plumbing space (step S100).
Next, the product detection unit 14 extracts the contour 19A of the product 19 from the image and detects information on the product 19 (step S101). Further, the human hand detection unit 15 detects the information of the human hand 21 by extracting the frame 21A of the human hand 21 from the image (step S102). The spout detector 16 extracts the spout from the image and sets the spout region T (step S103). Note that the order in which steps S101, S102, and S103 are performed may be changed.

The determination unit 17 determines based on the information on the product 19 detected by the product detection unit 14, the information on the human hand 21 detected by the human hand detection unit 15, and the water discharge region T set by the spout detection unit 16. Then, it is determined whether the human hand 21 is in a gripping state in which the article 19 is gripped or in a non-gripping state in which the human hand 21 is not gripping the article 19 (step S104). The operation of the determination unit 17 will be described later.

When the determination result of the determination unit 17 is the non-gripped state, the control unit 18 controls the water discharge switching unit 12 to keep the water discharger 10 stopped (step S105).
When the determination result of the determination unit 17 is the gripping state, the control unit 18 controls the water discharge switching unit 12 to cause the water discharger 10 to discharge water (step S106).

Next, an example of the operation of the determination unit 17 in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the determination unit 17 determines whether or not the article 19 and the human hand 21 are in a predetermined positional relationship (step S200). When the determination unit 17 determines that the product 19 and the human hand 21 are not in the predetermined positional relationship, it determines that the product is in the non-holding state (step S201).

When the determination unit 17 determines that the product 19 and the human hand 21 are in the predetermined positional relationship, it determines whether the product 19 and the human hand 21 are positioned within the water discharge area T (step S202). ). When determining that the product 19 and the human hand 21 are not positioned within the water discharge region T, the determination unit 17 determines that the product is in the non-holding state (step S201). When the determination unit 17 determines that the product 19 and the human hand 21 are positioned within the water discharge region T, the human hand 21 and the product 19 maintain a predetermined positional relationship and the water discharge region T is released from outside the water discharge region T. It is determined whether or not it has entered inside (step S203). When determining that the human hand 21 and the product 19 have not entered the water discharge region T from outside the water discharge region T while maintaining a predetermined positional relationship, the determination unit 17 determines that the object is in the non-holding state (step S201).

When determining that the human hand 21 and the product 19 have entered the water discharge region T from outside the water discharge region T while maintaining a predetermined positional relationship, the determination unit 17 determines that the user is in a gripping state (step S204). .

Next, the operation and effects of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.
The water discharge control device S of the present embodiment includes a water discharge unit 10, a water discharge switching unit 12, an imaging unit 13, an article detection unit 14, a human hand detection unit 15, a determination unit 17, a control unit 18, It has The water discharge switching unit 12 switches between water discharge and water stop of the water discharge unit 10 . The image capturing unit 13 captures an image of the water-related space around the water discharging unit 10 . The product detection unit 14 detects information on the product 19 from the image when the product 19 is shown in the image. The human hand detection unit 15 detects information of the human hand 21 from the image when the human hand 21 is shown in the image. Based on the information on the item 19 and the information on the human hand 21, the determination unit 17 determines whether the item 19 is being gripped by the human hand 21 or is not gripped by the human hand 21. determine the state. Based on the determination result of the determination unit 17, the control unit 18 controls the water discharge switching unit 12 so that water is discharged in the gripped state and water is stopped in the non-gripped state. According to this configuration, water is automatically discharged when the human hand 21 is gripping the product 19, and water is automatically stopped when the human hand 21 is not gripping the product 19. - 特許庁In other words, water can be prevented from being erroneously discharged onto the article 19 such as a plate placed in a sink or the like, and water can be properly automatically discharged on the condition that the article 19 is held by the human hand 21 .

Further, based on the information of the article 19 and the information of the human hand 21, the determination unit 17 moves the human hand 21 and the article 19 from the outside of the water discharge area T to the inside of the water discharge area T while maintaining a predetermined positional relationship. When it comes in, it is determined to be in the gripping state, and when not, it is determined to be in the non-gripping state. According to this configuration, for example, even if the hand 21 of a person entering the plumbing space approaches the article 19 while the article 19 is placed in the plumbing space, it is not determined to be in a gripping state. It is possible to accurately determine the gripping state and the non-gripping state.

Further, the product detection unit 14 detects information on the product 19 by extracting a contour 19A of the product 19 from the image. According to this configuration, it is possible to obtain information that is closer to the actual situation than, for example, extracting the article 19 from an image based on rough frames or the like.

Further, the determination unit 17 determines whether the detergent use state in which the human hand 21 is using detergent or the detergent non-use state in which the human hand 21 is not using detergent in the holding state. The control unit 18 controls the water discharge switching unit 12 so that water is stopped when the detergent is used and water is discharged when the detergent is not used. According to this configuration, since the detergent is not automatically spouted while the detergent is being used, it is possible to prevent the detergent from flowing out due to the automatic spouting.

<Other Examples>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments explained by the above description and drawings, and the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) In the above embodiment, the spout detector 16 sets the spout region T from the position of the spout 10. However, this is not restrictive. For example, the spout does not move and the position of the spout is fixed. In some cases, the position of the water discharger and the predetermined area may be stored (registered) in advance.
(2) In the above embodiment, the spout detector 16 extracts the position of the spout 10 from the image. If it rotates, the position of the spout may be detected based on the rotation angle of the spout.
(3) In the above embodiment, the human hand detection unit 15 extracts the frame 21A of the human hand 21 from the image and detects the information of the human hand 21. However, the human hand detection unit is not limited to this. Information on the human hand may be detected by extracting the outline of the human hand (a line that follows the outline of the human hand more precisely than the frame). As a result, it is possible to obtain information that is closer to the actual situation than if the information of the human hand is extracted using a rough frame, so that it is possible to more accurately determine the gripping state and the non-gripping state.
(4) In the above embodiment, the product detection unit 14 extracts the outline 19A of the product 19 from the image to detect the information of the product 19. However, the product detection unit detects the rough frame of the product from the image. You may extract and detect the information of articles.
(5) In the above embodiment, the determination unit 17 is in the gripping state when the human hand 21 and the product 19 move from the outside of the water discharge region T to the inside of the water discharge region T while maintaining a predetermined positional relationship. If not, it is determined that the object is in the non-holding state. Regardless, when the human hand and the article maintain a predetermined positional relationship, it may always be determined that the article is being held.

S... Water discharge control device T... Water discharge area 10... Water discharge unit 12... Water discharge switching unit 13... Imaging unit 14... Article detection unit 15... Human hand detection unit 17... Judgment unit 18... Control unit 19... Article 19A... Contour of article 21... human hand

Claims (5)

a water discharge section;
a water discharge switching unit that switches between water discharge and water stop of the water discharge unit;
an imaging unit that captures an image of a water-related space around the water discharge unit;
an article detection unit that detects information about the article from the image when the article is captured in the image;
a human hand detection unit that detects information of the human hand from the image when the human hand is captured in the image;
Based on the information on the item and the information on the person's hand, it is determined whether the person's hand is gripping the item or the person's hand is not gripping the item. a determination unit;
a control unit that controls the water discharge switching unit so that water is discharged in the gripped state and water is stopped in the non-gripped state based on the determination result of the determination unit;
A water discharge control device. Based on the information on the article and the information on the hand of the person, the determination section is configured to eject water from the water ejection section from outside the water ejection area of the water ejection section while maintaining a predetermined positional relationship between the human hand and the article. 2. The water discharge control device according to claim 1, wherein the gripping state is determined when entering the region, and the non-gripping state is determined otherwise. The water discharge control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the product detection unit detects information on the product by extracting a contour of the product from the image. The water discharge control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the human hand detection unit detects information on the human hand by extracting a contour of the human hand from the image. The determination unit determines whether the hand of the person is in a detergent use state in which the detergent is used in the gripping state or in a detergent non-use state in which the detergent is not used,
The water discharge control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the control unit controls the water discharge switching unit so that water is stopped when the detergent is used and water is discharged when the detergent is not used.

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