JPH05258191A - Home automation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily execute multiple and complicated operations by improving operability in a home automation system. CONSTITUTION:The home automation system is the system where a personal computer 21 intensively operates equipments 25, 39, 43, 49 and 53 which are distributed in the respective positions of a house. The inter-house arrangement drawing of the house is displayed to the picture output device 21c of the personal computer 21, the equipments 25, 39, 43, 49 and 53 to be operated are displayed at the corresponding positions in the inter-house arrangement drawing so as to be selection and designation possible and the operation states of the equipments 25, 39, 43, 49 and 53 are displayed in the inter-house arrangement drawing as an animation when the equipments 25, 39, 43, 49 and 53 are operated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a home automation system for centrally managing a house, and more particularly to improving operability by visual effects.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, home automation systems (HA systems) have attracted attention as a means of conserving and speeding up house management, for example, by intensively operating lighting, door locks, bath water heating, etc. Has been done. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a house for explaining a conventional HA system. A remote controller 3 is attached to a room having a long stay, for example, a living room 1, and the remote controller 3 is provided with a plurality of switches and display lamps (not shown). The remote controller 3 is wire-connected to a device or a sensor provided in each room, and can operate the monitor of the entrance 5, the closing of the door 7, the boiling of the bath 9, the fire alarm, the air conditioner 11 and the like, and the operation state ( Whether it is operating or not) is indicated by the indicator lamp.

Therefore, taking the case of filling the bath 9 with water as an example, the switch of the remote controller 3 is operated without actually going to the bathroom to drive a water supply pump (not shown) (or open a solenoid valve) to fill the bath. Sometimes, the signal from the water level sensor is displayed on the full water display lamp of the remote controller 3 so that the water pool can be confirmed. in this way,
By making it possible to centrally operate the devices distributed in various parts of the house at one place, it is not necessary to go to each place to perform an operation or check, thus saving labor and speeding up. Yes, it can make the living environment more rational.

[0004]

However, when the functions that can be controlled in a house are increased due to the development of various sensors and the spread of automatic devices, in the remote controller 3 in which switches and display lamps are simply arranged, the switch group The number will increase, the appearance will decrease, and it will be difficult to distinguish,
The operability will be significantly reduced. In addition, in air conditioners, etc., the functions of controlling and checking are
Since there are various things such as temperature setting and presence / absence of dehumidification, the display power cannot be sufficiently displayed by only the display lamps, and it is impossible to provide an easy-to-understand display, which also causes an erroneous operation. Further, in recent years, with the spread of communication control devices using telephone lines, there is an increasing demand for various controls of these houses from a remote location.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a home automation system capable of performing a large number of complicated operations by visually expressing a moving image and capable of controlling a large number of contacts. Therefore, the purpose is to improve operability.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, a home automation system according to the present invention has a configuration in which a plurality of devices distributed in various parts of a house and a personal computer are connected via an input / output interface,
A home automation system for centralized control of equipment by a personal computer, displaying a layout of a house in a house on an image output device of the personal computer,
It is characterized in that the equipment to be operated can be selectively specified and displayed at the corresponding position in the home layout plan, and when the equipment is operated, the operating state of this equipment is displayed as a video in the home floor plan. Is.

[0007]

The home layout drawing is displayed on the image output device, and the device displayed at the corresponding position in the home layout drawing becomes the selection designation object, and the selection operation can be visually performed. When the device is operated by the selection operation, the operating state of the device is displayed as a moving image in the in-house layout plan, and the operating state is visually confirmed, and the recognition is easy and quick.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of a home automation system (HA system) according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an HA system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an operation sequence,
FIG. 3 is a system diagram for explaining an operation from a remote place, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a home layout diagram displayed on the screen. Incidentally, FIG.
The arrow lines representing the wiring paths inside are not displayed on the actual screen. As shown in FIG. 1, a CRT 21c, which is an image output device, is connected to a master controller 21a of a personal computer (personal computer) 21 via a CRT display control section 21b, and the CRT 21c is previously input as data to the master controller 21a. The arrangement in the house (for example, the one shown in FIG. 4) is displayed in a three-dimensional image in an easy-to-understand manner. A keyboard 21d and a mouse 21e, which are input devices, are connected to the master controller 21a.
Data e can be input to open and close the device operation switch, select the device operation function, and the like.

For example, a pointer p whose display position is controlled by the mouse 21e is displayed on the house layout drawing (see FIG. 4) displayed on the CRT 21c, and the pointer p indicates the operation position displayed on the house layout drawing. It can be selected and specified. Further, a storage means 21f (hard disk or the like) is connected to the master controller 21a, and the storage means 21f is adapted to store the data of the above-mentioned house layout plan, a control program, and the like. Incidentally, FIG.
In the above, only the second floor internal layout is shown, but in the case of a multi-story floor, the first floor and third floor internal layouts are naturally stored in the storage means 21f as data on another screen.

A security camera 25 and a human detection sensor 27, which are devices, are connected to the master controller 21a via, for example, an input / output interface (I / O) 23. The security camera 25 is based on a detection signal from the human detection sensor 27. , And is controlled by the master controller 21a. That is, when the human detection sensor 27 detects a person at a predetermined position, the detection signal is output from the master controller 21.
Then, the master controller 21a operates the security camera 25 based on the detection signal.

Similarly, the master controller 21a has input / output interfaces 29, 31, 33, 35, 37.
Input / output interfaces 29-3
7 is a relay to various devices in the house. That is, the input / output interface 29 is a lighting device 39 and a human detection sensor 41, the input / output interface 31 is a motor 43 for supplying water in a bathroom, a temperature sensor 45, a water level measurement sensor 47, and the input / output interface 33 is a drive for a shutter. Motor 49, limit sensor 51
The input / output interface 35 is the solenoid 53 in the lock mechanism, and the input / output interface 37 is the human detection sensor 57 and the fire sensor 5 in the security mechanism.
9 and the vibration sensor 61 are respectively connected to wiring (see the arrow in FIG. 4).

As shown in FIG. 3, a modem 63 is connected to the master controller 21a of the personal computer (personal computer) 21, and the modem 63 is connected to a public line (telephone line). Therefore, data from another personal computer 65 can be input to the personal computer 21 via a telephone line. In other words, the personal computer 21 can control various connected devices even from a remote location.

An operation procedure of the home automation system according to the present embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration will be described. When power is input to the personal computer 21, a home layout diagram is displayed on the CRT 21c as an initial display (see 71 in FIG. 2), and the input waiting state is entered. In the case of a multi-story house, the screen is switched by inputting the number of floors (1 to N), and the in-house layout diagram of the desired floor is displayed (Fig. 2
Middle, 73). In the present embodiment, this home layout diagram is the main menu screen.

Here, for example, the procedure of boiling the bath will be described as an example. First, the position of the bath in the house layout on the main menu screen is designated by operating the mouse 21e. When a bath is designated by operating the mouse 21e, the bath-related subroutine in the processing program stored in advance in the personal computer 21 is scanned. When the bath-related processing program is executed, the screen becomes a bath-related submenu, and operations such as driving of the water supply motor 43 and ignition can be performed by signal input (see 75 in FIG. 2).

Since the temperature sensor 45 and the water level measuring sensor 47 are connected to the master controller 21a via the input / output interface 31, a series of operations from water supply to water supply stop, ignition, and extinguishment are performed. Based on the control of the master controller 21a, it can be automatically performed. That is, if only a signal for starting water supply is input, first, the motor 43 is driven to supply water into the bathtub, and when the water level reaches the position of the water level measurement sensor 47, the motor 43 is stopped and at the same time. Ignition of the bath kettle is performed. When the temperature sensor 45 detects that the water temperature has reached the set temperature, the fire is extinguished, and the master controller 21a automatically performs a series of operations for boiling water. When the hot water supply system is used, the ignition / extinguishing operation becomes unnecessary, and the motor 43 and the water level measuring sensor 47 control the hot water supply operation.

When operating an air conditioner (not shown), first, the mouse 21e is operated to specify the air conditioner on the layout of the house, and the CRT 21c displays a sub menu relating to the air conditioner. In the submenu of the air conditioner, operation contents such as wind direction, air volume, temperature setting, presence / absence of dehumidification are displayed, and it is possible to select from these operation contents. Then, when the operation is selected from the operation contents of the sub-menu and the air conditioner is operated, a display is made on the in-house layout plan so that the operating state can be easily recognized. For example, in the cooling operation, the blast is displayed in blue, and the expression of the blast is displayed in real time in a moving image (animation) showing the flow of the wind. In this way, by visually expressing the operating state of equipment with various functions by animation,
The operating status of the device becomes clear and the complicated operating status can be recognized very easily.

[0017]

As described in detail above, in the home automation system according to the present invention, the devices dispersed in various parts of the house are centrally operated by the personal computer to display the house layout of the house on the image output device. , The equipment to be operated can be selected and designated at the corresponding position in the house layout plan, and the operating status is displayed as a movie in the house layout plan when the equipment is activated. It becomes possible to visually confirm the above according to the actual arrangement in the house. As a result,
A large number of complicated operations can be easily performed, and the operability of the home automation system can be significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an HA system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation sequence.

FIG. 3 is a system diagram illustrating an operation from a remote place.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a home layout diagram displayed on a screen.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a house for explaining a conventional HA system.

[Explanation of symbols]

21 personal computer 21c image output device 23, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37 input / output interface (I / O) 25 security camera (device) 39 lighting (device) 43, 49 motor (device) 53 solenoid (device)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A home automation system in which a plurality of devices dispersed in various parts of a house are connected to a personal computer via an input / output interface, and the devices are centrally operated by the personal computer. A diagram is displayed on the image output device of the personal computer, and the device to be operated is selectively displayed at a corresponding position in the house layout plan. When the device is operated, the operating state of the device is displayed. A home automation system characterized by displaying as a moving image in the house layout drawing.