JPH02126185A - Weather-dependent controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically control various kinds of apparatuses corresponding to the weather by providing a means which observes the weather and a means which forecasts the subsequent weather based on the output data of the weather observing means. CONSTITUTION:An alarm clock main body 3 is provided with an outdoor weather displaying section 10, current time displaying section 11, alarm set time displaying section 12, section 13 for displaying the weather after a fixed time period, and section 14 for displaying set contents of external apparatuses. In the section 14, a content indicating that the alarm is actuated earlier than the alarm setting time of the section 12 by one hour is displayed when a weather forecast is required. Moreover, when a laundry drying switch 15 is set to the turned-on state, a control signal is automatically sent to an automatic laundry drying machine 5 so as to cause the machine 5 to make laundry taking-in works when the probability of having rain or snow is high.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention provides a weather-based control device for controlling an alarm and/or an external device such as an automatic laundry drying machine based on the weather. Regarding.

(Prior art) For example, JP-A-59-95486 "Weather Forecasting Device" and JP-A-60-135886 "Weather Forecasting Device" have already been used to automatically predict the weather for several hours or days. A FI system has been developed to do this.

However, there is no device that automatically controls external equipment based on predicted weather. For example, current alarm clocks sound an alarm at a preset time, and no device has been developed that automatically changes the alarm time depending on the weather. Recently, an automatic laundry dryer equipped with a rain sensor has been developed, which automatically takes in the laundry when it actually rains.
You cannot take in the laundry before it is shaken.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, in recent years, due to worsening traffic conditions, commuting times often change significantly depending on the weather. Therefore, when using an alarm clock, always use an alarm clock early in anticipation of the worst case scenario. It is necessary to set an alarm time. For example, in rainy weather, it is difficult to use bicycles, bicycles, etc., and people have to use means such as buses or walking, which take more time.

Therefore, it is necessary to always set the alarm time early in anticipation of rainy weather.

Another problem with automatic laundry drying machines is that the dryer does not operate unless it actually rains, and when the laundry is taken in, it is already a little wet.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and is a method for automatically predicting the weather and automatically controlling the operation of external equipment such as an alarm clock or an automatic laundry drying machine based on the predicted value. The purpose is to provide a device for

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the device of the present invention includes a means for observing the weather, and a method for determining the subsequent weather based on the output data from the weather observation means. The gist of the present invention is to consist of means for predicting, and means for forming a control signal for an alarm clock and/or an external device based on the output of the predicting means.

(Function) Based on continuous weather observation for a certain period of time, if you predict the weather several hours or days from now based on past data, control will be applied based on this predicted value! Automatically control and set the operating conditions of 11 equipment. With this, for example, in the case of an alarm clock, it is possible to control the alarm operating time to be automatically changed depending on weather conditions.

(Embodiments) Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the state of use of a device in which an embodiment of the present invention is incorporated into an alarm clock, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the external appearance of this alarm clock.

As shown in Figure 1, this device is equipped with a weather 1
2. The alarm clock main body 3 is made up of a weather measuring means 1 and an alarm clock main body 3 that can be placed at any place indoors.In the alarm clock main body 3, a means for forming a control signal based on observation data from the weather observing means 1 is integrated. It has been incorporated. , 5 is an automatic laundry drying machine equipped with a movable arm 4 that expands and contracts in response to the control signal from the alarm clock main body 3. The weather observation means 1 includes, for example, a barometric pressure sensor 6, a humidity sensor 7, and a rainfall/snowfall state 8, and a measuring section 9 having a thermometer collects the data and transmits it to the alarm clock main body 3 by radio. The alarm clock main body 3 predicts the weather after a preset time from the transmitted data, and delays or advances the alarm time based on this predicted value.

If there is a high probability of rain or snow, a control signal is sent to the automatic laundry dryer R5 wirelessly, causing the movable arm 4 to contract and take in the laundry.

As shown in FIG. 2, the alarm clock body 3 includes an outdoor weather display section 10, a current time display section 11, an alarm setting time display section 12, a weather display section 13 for displaying the weather after a certain period of time, and an external device. The display section 14 showing set contents such as the following is shown on the right. In the illustrated clock, the display section 10 displays the outdoor temperature and humidity, the display section 12 displays the C alarm activation time set at 6:30, and the display section 13 forecasts the weather for 8 hours later. There is. On the display unit 14, the setting contents,
That is, the display section 12 indicates that the alarm will be activated 30 minutes earlier than the alarm setting time if rain is predicted at the set time, or by one hour if snow is predicted. Furthermore, if you set the laundry drying switch 15 to ON,
When there is a high probability of rain or snow, automatic laundry drying is limited to 15%.
It sends out the ll signal and automatically takes in the laundry. Note that the alarm setting time and the setting contents on the display section 14 can be set arbitrarily by the user.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. First, the weather observation section 20 is equipped with a thermometer, an atmospheric pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, and a rainfall/snowfall sensor as described above, and observes temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, and rainfall/snowfall conditions. This observation data is transmitted wirelessly to, for example, a weather prediction section 21 and a weather data update/storage section 22 built into the alarm clock main body 3. Particularly, among the weather data, atmospheric pressure data is transmitted to the weather forecasting section 21, and the weather is predicted based on changes in atmospheric pressure.

FIG. 4 shows the c! FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the prediction principle for an example of predicting the weather 8 hours from now based on the measured value of a barometer. Figure 4 (a) is a graph in which the vertical axis is the change in atmospheric pressure and the horizontal axis is time, and Figure (b)
) is a method for predicting the weather, for example, 8 hours from now, based on the difference between the current atmospheric pressure and the maximum or minimum point of atmospheric pressure closest to the present, which appears in diagram <a>, and the weather conditions at that time. It is a prediction diagram. In Figure (b), the atmospheric pressure difference between the closest past pole and the present is shown on the horizontal axis, and the weather at the past pole is shown on the vertical axis, and the weather 8 hours later is displayed at the intersection of both provinces based on a rule of thumb. It is something. For example, Figure (a)
Since the current atmospheric pressure is 7 Illb higher than the minimum value 5 hours ago and the weather at that time is rainy (snowy), it is predicted from Figure (b) that the weather in the 8th hour will be sunny/cloudy.

The difference between rain and snow is due to the temperature at the moment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of data held in the weather data update/holding section 22 of FIG. 3. Here, as shown in the figure, there is a weather data storage section 23 that stores the past four hours' weather from the observation section 20 divided into, for example, four hours ago, two hours ago, and the present, and a weather data storage section 23 that stores weather prediction data from the forecasting section 21, for example. It has a storage section 24 for storing weather prediction data for 2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours, and 8 hours.

Note that the weather data in the storage unit 23 includes actual weather data including rainfall and snow gauge data in the observation unit 20. Further, each data in the storage units 23 and 24 is sequentially updated at regular intervals.

The data in the weather data update/holding section 22 is then input to the alarm control section 25 and the external device control section 26. These control units 25 and 26 include an alarm control setting content input unit 27,
External device control ll The control contents are input separately via the setting contents input section 28. For example, alarm system t! In the setting content input section 27, you can turn the alarm on or off, the alarm activation time, and if it is raining or snowing or there is a high probability of rain, you can set the alarm activation time to advance or advance by an arbitrary amount of time. The user can arbitrarily input the setting contents. In addition, in the external device control setting content input section 28, if the device to be controlled is an automatic laundry drying machine, if it is not raining or snowing and the probability of rain is low, the period from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. In the meantime, make settings such as hanging the laundry to dry. It also sets a switch that controls on/off of this setting. As shown in the figure, each control section 25, 26 receives clock information from two clock sections.

The alarm control section 25 and the external device control section 26 compare the contents set via the input sections 27 and 28 with each weather data from the weather data update/holding section 22 as described above, and change the alarm time before or after the alarm time. Alternatively, it may be left as is and a signal for activating the alarm 30 or activating the external device 31 when that time is reached is configured. Each of the control setting content input units 27 and 28 is connected to, for example, a clock display unit 32 as shown in FIG. 2, and displays the setting content.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are diagrams showing examples of processing routines in the alarm control section 25. FIG. The example shown in FIG.
This is an example of a case where the alarm is set to operate 30 minutes earlier than the set time if it rains or snows or the probability of rain or snow falls at 0 minutes. In addition, the figure (
a) t: A setting example is shown in the flowchart of the process in FIG. In the blow-tate tote shown in Figure (b), when the alarm activation is set, first, in step 1, the alarm activation time when the condition is met, in this case 30 minutes before the alarm setting time, is waited until the alarm activation time is reached. In step 2, it is determined whether the conditions shown in Figure (a) are satisfied. The weather data update/storage unit 22 obtains the actual weather from one hour before the set time to the present and the weather forecast for up to 30 minutes after the set time. If the conditions are met, it is confirmed in step 3 that there is no reset, and then the alarm is activated in step 4. If the conditions are not met in step 2, the steam is activated. Monitoring continues to see if the condition is met until the time (step 5). If the condition is met during this time, the alarm is activated. If the condition is not met and the alarm activation time comes, step 6), the alarm is activated and the first Return to step.

Note that in the reset state, there are no judgment conditions, so all judgments become true, and this processing routine can be used.

Figure 7 shows the process for activating the alarm one hour later than the set time if it rains or snows, or the probability of it falling is high, from 2 hours before to 3 hours after the set time of alarm activation. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a routine. An example of setting conditions is shown in Figure (a), and a flowchart of the process is shown in Figure (b).

As shown in Figure (b), when alarm activation is set, the alarm control 1f 1525 waits for the alarm activation time (step 1), and at that time, determines whether the condition is met. (Step 12).

At this time, if the condition is not satisfied, step 15
After confirming the presence or absence of reset in step 17, the alarm is activated normally. On the other hand, if the condition is met in step 12, in step 13, the processing when the condition is met is to suspend the activation of the alarm, that is, not to sound it, or to wait until after a certain set time, in this case one hour. Decide whether to activate the alarm. At this time, if it is determined that the alarm is pending, the process returns to the first step via the reset in step 16. On the other hand, if it is determined that the alarm should be activated after a certain period of time, the process waits for the certain period of time to elapse (step 14), activates the alarm (step 17), and returns to the initial process.

Note that if it is determined in steps 15 and 16 that there is a reset, the determination condition is no longer present, so all determinations become true, and this processing routine ends.

FIG. 8 shows an example of processing when controlling an external device, such as an automatic laundry drying machine, based on weather data. The control conditions at this time, as shown in Figure <a>, are that there is no rain or snow or there is a low probability that it has fallen from 0 hours before the current time to 1 hour after the current time, and the current time is noon. When the time is between 6 o'clock and 6 p.m., the movable arm of the laundry drying rack is activated to dry the laundry. At this time, if the probability of rain or snow falling increases, the movable arm is operated in the opposite direction to take in the laundry.

The above conditions apply to the external device control setting input section 2 in Figure 3.
8, the signal is input to the external device control unit 26. Once the conditions have been set, the time and weather data at that time are constantly monitored in step 21 of the processing routine shown in FIG. 3(b), and it is determined whether the conditions are met. If the conditions are not met, that is, it is raining or snowing, or there is a high probability of this happening, it is determined in step 22 whether the laundry is being dried, and if it is, an instruction is given to take in the laundry (step 22). 23). If it has not been dried, it is determined in step 24 whether there is a reset or not, and if there is no reset, the process returns to the first step. On the other hand, if the conditions are satisfied in step 21, it is determined in step 25 whether the laundry is being dried or not, and if the laundry is not being dried, a command to dry the laundry is issued (step 26). If it has been dried, it is determined that it has not been reset (step 24), and then the process returns to the first step and continues to monitor whether the conditions are met again. In addition, if the reset is applied, the judgment condition disappears, so all judgments become true, and after the laundry is taken in (step 27),
Exit this processing routine.

As described above, the machine constantly monitors the situation and automatically controls the loading and drying of laundry if there is a change.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above in detail with reference to the embodiments, according to the apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to automatically control various devices in response to changes in the weather. For example, if the device of this invention is applied to an alarm clock, the alarm activation time will be automatically changed depending on the weather, allowing the user to get enough sleep without worrying about the weather. . Further, by applying the present invention to, for example, devices that perform various housework tasks, further automation of housework tasks can be promoted.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the usage state of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external view of an alarm clock according to an embodiment of the invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the device; FIG.

Claims (1)

[Claims] means for observing the weather, means for predicting future weather based on output data from the weather observation means, and means for forming a control signal for an alarm clock and/or an external device based on the output of the prediction means; A weather control device characterized by comprising: