JP7438475B2 - Monitoring system and its control program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a monitoring system for monitoring whether a desired person is healthy or safe, and a control program therefor.

Specific examples of monitoring systems include those described in Patent Documents 1 and 2.
The monitoring systems described in these documents are equipped with a detection means for detecting abnormalities of the person to be watched in the residence, and when an abnormality is detected using this detection means, a notification to that effect is sent to the server. The system is configured so that the person watching is notified via the According to such a configuration, the person watching can detect an abnormality of the person being watched at an early stage, and can appropriately take countermeasures, such as rushing to the location of the person being watched.

On the other hand, the person watching over the person may want to simply and proactively confirm the safety of the person being watched over even if the person has not received a notification that an abnormality has occurred in the person being watched over. As a means for this purpose, when a guardian using a monitoring system operates a communication terminal to confirm the safety of the person being watched over, the server receives this and sends a predetermined call message to the communication terminal of the person being watched over. It is conceivable to configure it to transmit data.

However, when constructing the above-mentioned monitoring system, there are problems to be improved as described below.
That is, the person to be watched may have multiple communication terminals, such as a wearable computer such as a wristwatch or a smart speaker, in addition to a smartphone. In such a case, when the server receives a request to confirm the safety of the person being watched over, it is difficult for the server to determine which of the plurality of communication terminals of the person being watched should make the call. For example, among a plurality of communication terminals, one communication terminal that is considered to be closest to the person to be watched may be registered as a priority communication terminal, and a call may be made to this communication terminal. However, with such means, if the priority communication terminal is not placed near the person being watched over, it is not possible to appropriately confirm the safety of the person being watched over. Additionally, as a means to resolve this issue, it may be possible to send a call to all multiple communication terminals at the same time, but if such a method is adopted, there is a risk that the person being monitored may become confused. There is.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-73966 JP2019-23836A

The present invention was devised under the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring system capable of appropriately confirming the safety of a person under monitoring, and a control program therefor. This is an issue.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical measures.

The monitoring system provided by the first aspect of the present invention includes a first communication terminal held by the person being watched, a second communication terminal held by the person watching, and each of the first and second communication terminals. a server that transmits predetermined calling data to the first communication terminal when data communication is possible between the two and there is a request from the second communication terminal to confirm the safety of the person to be watched over; A monitoring system comprising: in the case where a plurality of first communication terminals exist as the first communication terminal, the server monitors the usage status of each of the plurality of first communication terminals. and when there is a request for the safety confirmation from the second communication terminal, the person to be watched over from among the plurality of first communication terminals is selected as the destination of the call data. The present invention is characterized in that it is configured to select one communication terminal currently in use by the person or one communication terminal used most recently.

According to such a configuration, the following effects can be obtained.
When a request from a guardian to confirm the safety of a person to be watched is sent to the server, the server sends a message to one of the multiple first communication terminals owned by the person to be watched, or the one that is currently in use, or the most recent communication terminal. The calling data is transmitted to one of the communication terminals used. For this reason, the probability that the calling data is sent to a first communication terminal located far away from the person being watched is quite low, and the calling data is sent to the first communication terminal that the person being watched is most likely to notice. There is a high possibility that data will be sent. Therefore, it is preferable to eliminate or reduce the need to repeatedly transmit the calling data from the server to the person to be watched over, and to smoothly confirm the safety of the person to be watched over. Since a call is not made all at once to a plurality of first communication terminals owned by the person to be watched over, it is also possible to avoid causing confusion to the person to be watched over.

In the present invention, preferably, after transmitting the calling data to any of the plurality of first communication terminals, the server transmits the calling data from the destination first communication terminal for a predetermined first time or more. If there is no response, the calling data is retransmitted to the first communication terminal of the destination, while if another first communication terminal is being used during the first time, , the retransmission destination of the calling data is changed to the other first communication terminal.

According to such a configuration, if due to some circumstances there is no response from the communication terminal to which the first communication data was transmitted among the plurality of first communication terminals, the predetermined first communication terminal After the time has elapsed, the calling data is retransmitted to the same first communication terminal, but if the person to be watched is using another communication terminal during the first time, the calling data is sent to this communication terminal. data will be retransmitted. Therefore, it is preferable for ensuring that the person to be watched is called out.

In the present invention, preferably, the server is capable of registering information regarding emergency personnel who rush to the location of the person to be watched when there is an abnormality in the person to be watched, and the server is preferably capable of registering information regarding emergency personnel who rush to the location of the person to be watched over, and If there is no response from any of the plurality of first communication terminals for a predetermined second period of time or more even though the calling data has been sent to one of them, the emergency personnel shall be contacted. is configured to request.

According to such a configuration, if there is some abnormality in the person to be watched over and there is no response to a call to confirm the safety of the person for a predetermined second period or more, the emergency personnel will watch over the person and visit the person's location. It becomes possible to have them rushed. Therefore, this is preferable in terms of protecting the person being watched.

In the present invention, preferably, when a plurality of emergency personnel are registered as the emergency personnel, the server is configured to provide information on the monitoring system based on schedule information and/or position information of each of the plurality of emergency personnel. The system is configured to select the personnel considered most suitable for rushing to the target person's location, and to request the selected personnel to rush to the location of the subject.

According to such a configuration, when there are a plurality of emergency personnel, the optimal personnel is selected from among them, which is reasonable.

In the present invention, preferably, the bathroom remote control for the water heater is capable of data communication with at least the server and has human body detection means capable of detecting when the person to be watched is present in the bathroom. , the server is configured to detect that the person to be watched over is present in the bathroom when the safety confirmation is requested from the second communication terminal, and to detect that fact using the human body detection means. If detected, the system is configured to transmit the calling data to the bathroom remote controller.

According to such a configuration, the following effects can be obtained.
When a person being watched over takes a bath, it is generally considered that they do not bring a communication terminal, such as a smartphone, into the bathroom. In such a case, if there is a request to confirm the safety of the person being watched, the server will send call data to the bathroom remote control, so the person being watched will be able to use the bathroom remote control to respond to the call. It is possible to detect that the This is convenient because it is possible to respond to requests for safety confirmation even while taking a bath.

The control program provided by the second aspect of the present invention is configured to control a first communication terminal held by a person to be watched, a second communication terminal held by a person being watched, and each of these first and second communication terminals. a server that transmits predetermined calling data to the first communication terminal when data communication is possible between the two and there is a request from the second communication terminal to confirm the safety of the person to be watched over; A control program stored in the server of the monitoring system and used for data processing by the server, comprising a plurality of first communication terminals as the first communication terminal; , the usage status of each of the plurality of first communication terminals can be grasped by the server, and when the server receives the request for safety confirmation from the second communication terminal, the server transmits the calling data. First, from among the plurality of first communication terminals, the server performs a process of selecting one communication terminal that is currently being used by the person to be monitored or one communication terminal that has been used most recently. It is characterized by containing data for execution.

By storing such a control program in a server capable of data communication with predetermined first and second communication terminals, it is possible to appropriately construct the monitoring system provided by the first aspect of the present invention. It is possible.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing an example of a schematic configuration of a monitoring system according to the present invention. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation processing procedure executed by a server of the monitoring system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 7 is a front view of main parts showing an example of a display screen in the second communication terminal. FIG. 3 is a front view of main parts showing an example of a display screen in the first communication terminal. 2 is a flowchart showing another example of the operation processing procedure executed by the server of the monitoring system shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

The monitoring system MY shown in FIG. A water heater WH installed in the residence of the target person 7, a server 8 connected to a communication network (wide area communication network) N having a wireless station N1, and a second communication held by a plurality of watchers 9 (9a to 9f), respectively. It is configured using terminals 2 (2a to 2f).

A line termination device 60 (modem) for the communication network N and a router 61 as a wireless LAN base unit connected to this are installed in the residence of the person to be monitored 7. The connection environment is in place.
The first communication terminals 1a to 1c are, for example, a smartphone, a wristwatch-type wearable computer, and a smart speaker, respectively, and all have voice or non-voice data input/output and communication functions.
Each second communication terminal 2 is, for example, a smartphone.

The hot water supply device WH is, for example, an instantaneous gas hot water supply device or a heat pump type hot water supply device, and its basic hardware configuration itself is the same as that of a conventionally known one. Specifically, the water heater WH includes a water heater main body part 3 for supplying hot water to the bathtub 50 via a piping part 51, and a communication part 30 of the water heater main body part 3 via a wiring L. It is equipped with remote controllers 4A and 4B for the kitchen and the bathroom that are communicatively connected. At least one of these two remote controllers 4A and 4B is equipped with a communication unit 49 (wireless LAN slave) that enables wireless communication with the router 61. As a result, the water heater WH can also be connected to the communication network N and the server 8.

The water heater WH has a bathroom monitoring function, and can detect if an abnormality occurs in the person to be watched 7 in the bathroom 5.
Specifically, the bathroom remote control 4B is equipped with a human body detection sensor Sa, which is capable of detecting when the person to be monitored 7 enters the bathroom 5. If the person to be watched 7 suffers from heat shock, for example, and his or her body movements stop or decrease for a predetermined period of time or more, the data processing unit 31 included in the water heater WH detects an abnormality. It is determined that this has occurred.

The remote controllers 4A and 4B for the kitchen and bathroom are originally used to set the temperature and amount of hot water in the bathtub 50, and to instruct the start/stop of hot water supply operation and bath reheating operation. It is equipped with a display section 40 capable of displaying images, a plurality of various operation switches 41, a speaker SP, a microphone MC, and the like. Although it is possible to include these remote controllers 4A and 4B as one of the first communication terminals referred to in the present invention, this embodiment does not treat them as such.
In the water heater WH, when it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the person to be monitored 7, this fact is notified using the display section 40 of the remote controllers 4A, 4B and the speaker SP, but in addition to this, The data indicating the abnormality described above is also transmitted to the server 8. The information is also transmitted to the plurality of second communication terminals 2 via this server 8, as will be described later.

In addition to the communication section 80, the server 8 includes a data processing section 82 including a storage section 82a. The storage unit 82a stores data D1 related to the person being watched over, data D2 related to the person being watched over, and data D related to emergency personnel who rush to the location of the person 7 to be watched over when there is an abnormality.
3, and data D4 of a control program for causing the server 8 to execute predetermined data processing to be described later. Application program data (not shown) for providing the first and second communication terminals 1 and 2 with a function corresponding to the monitoring system MY is also stored in the server 8. It is configured so that it can be downloaded to terminals 1 and 2 as appropriate.

Here, the data D1 regarding the person to be watched over includes information regarding the person to be watched over 7 himself, as well as information regarding the first communication terminals 1a to 1c. The data D2 regarding the guardians includes information regarding each of the guardians 9a to 9f as well as information regarding the plurality of second communication terminals 2a to 2f. The data D3 regarding emergency personnel is information regarding personnel who rush to the location of the person to be watched over 7 when an abnormality occurs in the person to be watched over. For example, all or many of the watchers 9a to 9f fall under this category, and in this embodiment, all of the watchers 9a to 9f are considered emergency personnel. When the emergency personnel is the watcher 9, the information is duplicated, but the information regarding the communication terminal held by the emergency personnel is also included in the data D3. Since it is necessary to select the most suitable person as the emergency personnel (such as a person who has free schedules and can quickly arrive at the location of the person to be monitored), information regarding the emergency personnel's schedule for each day of the week (whereabouts, work, etc.) must be selected. In addition to the previous address, working hours, etc., it also includes days, days of the week, time zones, etc. when it is possible or impossible to rush to the location of the person to be watched 7.
The data D1 to D3 described above are obtained by accessing the server 8 by operating the first and second communication terminals 1 and 2, and by operating the remote controllers 4A and 4B of the water heater WH, and stored in the storage section of the server 8. 82a, and its contents can be modified as appropriate.

This monitoring system MY is configured so that the server 8 executes data control as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

First, the server 8 constantly monitors the usage status of the plurality of first communication terminals 1 (S1), and also constantly monitors whether an abnormality is detected regarding the person being watched 7 in the bathroom 5 by the water heater WH. Yes (S2). If an abnormality is detected regarding the person to be watched over 7 and the server 8 receives this notification (S2: NO), the process moves to step S10 and starts selection processing of emergency personnel who will rush to the location of the person to be watched over 7. At the same time, the selected emergency personnel are requested to respond. However, the details will be described later.

Next, for example, when the second communication terminal 2a of the guardian 9a is used and a request is made to confirm the safety of the person to be watched 7, the server 8 selects the person to be watched 7 from among the plurality of first communication terminals 1. If there is one currently in use, it is specified, and if there is no one currently in use, the most recently used one is specified, and the specified first communication terminal 1 is sent to the specified first communication terminal 1. Send calling data (S3: YES, S4, S5). If the first communication terminal 1 is a smartphone, it is determined that the first communication terminal 1 is currently in use, for example, when its power is turned on or when movement of the smartphone is detected on the GPS. In the case of a wearable computer, when it is attached to the arm of the person to be watched 7, and in the case of a smart speaker, when the person to be watched 7 is talking to the smart speaker, the current usage status is determined. It is determined that it is inside. If there are a plurality of first communication terminals 1 currently in use, it may be determined in advance which one to send the calling data to.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a screen display when requesting safety confirmation using the second communication terminal 2. As shown in the figure, on the display unit 20, a character image Na such as "Confirm the safety of the person to be watched over" is displayed on the screen, and by tapping this part, you can access the server 8. A request is made to confirm the safety of the person.

FIG. 4 is an example of a screen display when the calling data is transmitted from the server 8 to the first communication terminal 1a. As shown in the figure, the display unit 10 includes a display Nb indicating that there has been a safety confirmation from the guardian △△, and a selection item display Nc for how to respond to this safety confirmation. be. Options include, for example, ``I'm very well and doing well,''``I'm doing well,'' and ``I'm not feeling well, so please come to my office.'' If the person being watched 7 taps any of the selection items mentioned above, a response with the same content as that listed in the tapped selection item is sent to the second communication terminal 2 via the server 8. It is set to be transmitted (S6: YES, S7).
Note that the display as shown in FIG. 4 can be similarly executed even when the first communication terminal 1 is a wearable computer. In the case of a smart speaker, voice output is performed instead of the above-mentioned display, and a response to a request for safety confirmation is input by voice.

On the other hand, unlike the above, although the calling data was sent to the first communication terminal 1a and the screen display as shown in FIG. 4 was made, for some reason the person being watched 7 did not respond. There may be no cases. If such a situation is left as it is, the watcher 9 who made the request to confirm the safety will feel very anxious.
For this reason, the server 8 receives no appropriate response from the first communication terminal 1a even though a predetermined first time T1 (for example, about 5 minutes, 10 minutes) has elapsed, and the If the second time T2 (for example, about one hour) has not elapsed, the first communication terminal 1a to which the original calling data was sent is retransmitted (S6: NO, S8: YES, S9: NO, S14). However, if a first communication terminal 1 different from the first communication terminal 1a is used by the person to be watched 7 during the first time T1, the other first communication The terminal 1 is made to retransmit the calling data.
In this way, by retransmitting the calling data and changing the retransmission destination, the person to be watched 7 can easily notice that the calling data is being sent, and respond to the request for safety confirmation. It becomes possible to perform the following accurately. Note that if there is still no response from the person to be watched 7, the above-mentioned retransmission of the calling data is repeatedly executed every time the first time T1 elapses until the second time T2 elapses.

If there is no response to the transmission of the calling data even after the second time T2 has elapsed, the server 8 selects the emergency personnel considered to be optimal from among the plural emergency personnel, and then A request is made to the personnel to rush to the location of the person to be watched 7 (S9: YES, S10). If there is no response from the person to be watched 7 even though the second time T2 has elapsed, there is a high possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the person to be watched 7, and it is highly likely that an abnormality has occurred in the person to be watched 7, and the emergency personnel will not be able to respond. The request is considered to be an appropriate response to the above-mentioned abnormality.
In addition, the emergency personnel considered to be optimal corresponds to, for example, the emergency personnel who can arrive at the location of the person to be watched 7 as soon as possible, and uses the GPS position information of the second communication terminal 2 held by the emergency personnel, The one closest to the location of the person to be watched 7 is selected. Alternatively, based on information regarding the date and time and information regarding a plurality of emergency personnel stored in advance in the storage unit 82a (information such as residence, work address, working hours, etc.), the person to be watched over 7 It is also possible to select the emergency personnel closest to the person's residence and who are considered to be able to act quickly as the optimal emergency personnel.

After selecting the most suitable emergency personnel as described above and requesting the selected emergency personnel to come to the rescue, if the emergency personnel responds to the server 8 to approve the emergency assistance. , the other emergency personnel (watcher 9) and the person to be watched 7 are notified of this, and are made aware of this (S11: YES, S12). On the other hand, if the dispatcher who is requested to come to the rescue refuses to come to the rescue or does not accept the request within a predetermined time, the server 8 selects another dispatcher who is considered to be the next best person. A request is made to the selected emergency personnel (S11: NO, S13). The selection of the emergency personnel and the request for assistance are repeatedly executed until at least one emergency personnel agrees to rush to the location of the person to be watched 7.

In this monitoring system MY, it is also possible to have a configuration that can execute data processing as shown in FIG. 5 instead of or in addition to the data processing described above.

That is, for example, when there is a request to confirm the safety of the person to be watched 7 using the second communication terminal 2a owned by the person watching 9a (S21: YES), the server 8 determines that the person 7 to be watched is present in the bathroom 5. It is determined whether or not to do so (S22). This determination can be made based on whether the human body detection signal from the human body detection sensor Sa in the bathroom 5 is turned on or off. As a result of this judgment, if the person to be watched 7 is present in the bathroom 5, calling data is transmitted to the bathroom remote controller 4B (S22: YES, S23). On the other hand, if the person to be monitored 7 does not exist in the bathroom 5, the one currently in use or most recently used from among the plurality of first communication terminals 1 is selected as described above. and transmits the calling data to the identified first communication terminal 1 (S22: NO, S4, S5).

It is considered that when the person to be watched 7 enters the bathroom 5, he or she does not carry the first communication terminal 1 with him or her. In such a case, even if the calling data is transmitted to the first communication terminal 1, it is unlikely that an accurate response will be made. On the other hand, if the calling data is transmitted to the bathroom remote control 4B, the person to be watched 7 can be expected to easily notice this data transmission and respond appropriately.
As can be understood from the data processing example shown in FIG. 5, in the present invention, the bathroom remote control 4B can be used as the first communication terminal 1 held by the person 7 who watches over it. The same applies to the kitchen remote control 4A.

The present invention is not limited to the content of the embodiments described above. The specific configuration of each part of the monitoring system according to the present invention can be modified in various ways within the intended scope of the present invention. The specific configuration of the control program according to the present invention can also be changed in various ways.

In the embodiment described above, the monitoring system MY is constructed using the water heater WH that can detect abnormalities of the person to be monitored 7 in the bathroom 5, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, it is also possible to construct a monitoring system without using the water heater WH. It is also possible to install a sensor similar to the human body detection sensor Sa in a toilet, kitchen, washroom, or other room to construct a monitoring system that covers a wide range of the residence of the person being monitored. A monitoring system that does not use a human body detection sensor or the like (a monitoring system that can appropriately perform the safety confirmation intended by the present invention) can also be used.
The specific types of the first and second communication terminals referred to in the present invention are not limited. In addition to the above-mentioned communication terminals, for example, mobile phones and tablet terminals can also be included.

MY Monitoring system N Communication network Sa Human body detection sensor WH Water heater 1 (1a to 1c) First communication terminal 2 (2a to 2f) Second communication terminal 5 Bathroom 7 Person to be monitored 8 Server 9 (9a to 9f) Monitoring person

Claims (6)

a first communication terminal owned by the person to be monitored;
A second communication terminal held by the guardian,
When data communication is possible with each of the first and second communication terminals, and there is a request from the second communication terminal to confirm the safety of the person being watched over, the first communication terminal a server that transmits predetermined calling data to the
A monitoring system equipped with
When a plurality of first communication terminals exist as the first communication terminal, the server is capable of grasping the usage status of each of the plurality of first communication terminals, and When there is a request for the safety confirmation from the second communication terminal, one of the plurality of first communication terminals that is currently being used by the person being watched over is selected as the destination of the calling data. , or one communication terminal used most recently. The monitoring system according to claim 1,
After the server transmits the calling data to any of the plurality of first communication terminals, if there is no response from the destination first communication terminal for a predetermined first time or more, While retransmitting the calling data to the first communication terminal of the destination, if another first communication terminal is being used during the first time, the calling data is retransmitted. A monitoring system configured to change a transmission destination to the other first communication terminal. The monitoring system according to claim 1 or 2,
The server is capable of registering information regarding emergency personnel who rush to the location of the person to be watched when there is an abnormality in the person to be watched, and sends the call to any of the plurality of first communication terminals. If there is no response from any of the plurality of first communication terminals for a predetermined second time period or more even though the communication data has been transmitted, the communication terminal is configured to request the emergency personnel to come to the terminal. A monitoring system. The monitoring system according to claim 3,
When a plurality of emergency personnel are registered as the emergency personnel, the server rushes to the location of the person being watched over based on schedule information and/or location information of each of the plurality of emergency personnel. A monitoring system is configured to select personnel considered to be most suitable for the situation and request the selected personnel to come to the rescue. The monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
a bathroom remote control for a water heater that is capable of data communication with at least the server and has human body detection means that can detect when the person to be watched is present in the bathroom;
When the server receives the safety confirmation request from the second communication terminal, if the person to be watched is present in the bathroom and this fact is detected using the human body detection means. The monitoring system is configured to transmit the calling data to the bathroom remote controller. data communication is possible between a first communication terminal held by the person to be watched, a second communication terminal held by the person being watched, and each of these first and second communication terminals; stored in the server of the monitoring system, comprising: a server that transmits predetermined call data to the first communication terminal when there is a request for safety confirmation regarding the person to be monitored from a communication terminal; A control program used for data processing by the server,
When a plurality of first communication terminals exist as the first communication terminal, the usage status of each of the plurality of first communication terminals can be grasped in the server,
When the server receives the request for safety confirmation from the second communication terminal, the server selects one of the plurality of first communication terminals that is currently being used by the person being watched over as the destination of the call data. A control program characterized in that the control program includes data for causing the server to execute a process of selecting one communication terminal, or one communication terminal used most recently.

Images