JPH1183529A - Position-detection informing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a position-detection informing device wherein, an operation time of a GPS receiver with large consumption current being minimum, an access is quickly responded with a current position. SOLUTION: In addition to a GPS receiver, a piezoelectric acceleration sensor 13 and a piezoelectric vibration gyro 24 with little current consumption are provided, and these acceleration sensor 13 and gyro 14 are used to detect a shift amount. Then, the GPS receiver 12 is triggered every time the shift amount becomes a constant value, for accurate GPS position-measurement, and it is stored in a measured data resister 11a. when an inquiry about current position occurs through an access through PHS communication network, a PHS communication part 10 and a microcomputer 11 respond it, and send a reply comprising a current position data stored in a current position register 11a to the inquiry.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a position detecting and notifying device which is carried by a guard or a wandering person to remotely detect the position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a device for remotely detecting the position of a guard or a wandering person, a device combining a GPS receiver and a portable telephone has been proposed. This device performs GPS positioning by a GPS receiver, and when a management station or the like accesses via a mobile phone, returns GPS positioning data at that time to notify the current position.

For this reason, in this device, a GPS receiver always functions so as to perform positioning so that positioning data can be immediately returned in response to access from a mobile phone.

[0004]

However, if the device is made small so that it can be carried by wanderers and the like, the built-in battery is limited to about 200 mAh.
Since the current consumption of the GPS receiver is as large as 100 mA to 150 mA, there is a problem that the battery is quickly consumed and the function cannot be provided when needed.

On the other hand, when the GPS receiver is turned on and the positioning operation is performed when the mobile phone accesses, the battery consumption is reduced, but the GPS receiver is turned on after the power is turned on. Positioning cannot be performed until about 30 seconds have elapsed, so if the communication condition is poor, or a person carrying this device (a person carrying the device), such as a security guard or a wandering person, goes out of the range of the cellular phone, such as in a building There is a drawback that if the user moves, the telephone is disconnected and the reply of the positioning data cannot be obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a position detection notifying apparatus which can immediately return positioning data to an access while minimizing the operation time of a GPS receiver which consumes a large amount of current.

[0007]

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication device, a satellite positioning device, a motion sensor, and a measurement data storage device, wherein the motion sensor detects a movement of a predetermined distance. Every time the satellite positioning means is started, positioning is performed, and positioning results are stored in the measurement data storage means; and in response to an inquiry via the communication means, the measurement data storage means And a measurement data notifying means for returning the data stored in the storage device.

[0008] The invention of claim 2 of the present application is characterized in that there is provided a correction means for correcting the contents of the measurement data storage means according to the detection contents of the motion sensor.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the motion sensor is constituted by, for example, a sensor for detecting relative motion such as an acceleration sensor or a gyro. By using a piezoelectric sensor or the like, current consumption can be suppressed to several milliamps. Then, the motion sensor detects the movement of the person carrying the device, and every time the detected amount (movement distance) becomes a constant value, activates the satellite positioning means to obtain accurate measurement data. That is, the satellite positioning means operates only at this time, and at other times, the satellite positioning means is off (power off). Such intermittent operation minimizes the power consumption by the satellite positioning means, and at every fixed distance, that is, at short intervals when the moving speed is high, and when the moving speed is low. Operates intermittently at long intervals, the error is within the above-mentioned fixed distance range, and accurate measurement data can always be returned. In addition, as the above-mentioned measurement data, in addition to the latitude / longitude data obtained by the independent positioning, pseudo distance data or time data obtained with each satellite can be used.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the measurement data is corrected according to data such as the moving distance and direction detected by the motion sensor. Thereby, even if the satellite positioning is performed intermittently, the accuracy of the measurement data during that period can be kept high. Further, by canceling the correction by newly performing satellite positioning every time the vehicle travels a certain distance, no correction error is accumulated.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a position detecting and notifying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This device is to be attached to a site such as the waist of a carrier such as a wanderer or a security guard. Battery capacity is minimized to make it portable. The device is a PHS communication unit 1
0, microcomputer 11, GPS receiver 12, acceleration sensor 1
3 and a gyro 14. PHS communication unit 10
Is a communication device that receives an access (call) from an administrator or a guardian via a PHS telephone communication network, and returns measurement data such as a current position coordinate in response thereto. For this purpose, it incorporates a modem function and a speech synthesis function as needed. The microcomputer 11 is A
It is a one-chip microcomputer with a built-in interface such as a / D converter and controls the operation of this device. A measurement data register 11a and a moving distance integrating register 11b are set in a RAM in the microcomputer 11. The interface of the microcomputer 11 includes the PHS communication unit 1
0, a GPS receiver 12 is connected, and an acceleration sensor 13 and a gyro 14 are connected to an A / D converter terminal. The GPS receiver 12 is a device that receives signals transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites and detects measurement data. Further, the acceleration sensor 13 and the gyro 14 can be operated with a current consumption of several mA by using a sensor utilizing a distortion voltage of a piezoelectric element due to motion (such as a piezoelectric vibrating gyroscope).

When using this device, the device is turned on and then attached to the waist of a wearer. When the power is turned on, the microcomputer 11 is started, and the GPS receiver 12 is first operated to measure the current position.
Stored in a. Then, in order to minimize the consumption of the battery, the GPS receiver 12 is turned off at the same time when the positioning is completed. After that, the acceleration sensor 13 and the gyro 14
The movement amount of the carrier is detected by the
1b. Then, when the amount of movement becomes equal to or more than a predetermined distance, the power of the GPS receiver 12 is turned on again to perform GPS positioning, and the content of the measurement data register 11a is updated. Thus, every time you move a certain distance,
By performing the positioning, it is possible to always store the data with the accuracy equal to or higher than the predetermined value while intermittently operating the GPS receiver 12. When the device is accessed by telephone, the PHS communication device 10 and the microcomputer 11 respond to this, and return the measurement data stored in the measurement data register 11a to the communication partner. The mode of this reply differs depending on the access partner station. That is, when there is access from the computer of the management station, the current position data is transmitted as it is using the modem function of the PHS communication device 10. The management station displays the position of the carrier on a map based on the current position data. In addition, when there is an access from a normal telephone such as a guardian of a wandering person (it is determined that there is no modem dial tone), the PHS communication device 10 transmits the current position data input from the microcomputer 11 by voice. The synthesis function replies by synthesizing it to a voice such as "I'm at the position of XX or い ま." The accessing person may determine the position of the carrier on the map based on the voice. If the voice guidance of the above position is latitude and longitude, 1/5000 or 1
The position of the carrier can be searched on a 1 / 1000th map.

The measurement data to be transmitted is not limited to latitude and longitude data, but may be, for example, pseudo distance data and measurement time data. When the management station or the like is a station that performs differential (DGPS) positioning, an accurate position of the device is determined based on positioning data (pseudo-range data) measured by itself or received from a reference station and the current position data (pseudo-range data). Position can be determined.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the position detection notification device. FIG. 3A is a flowchart showing a normal operation. FIG. 2B shows a GPS receiver 1.
3 is a flowchart of a position detection operation according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 7A, when the power is turned on, first, a GPS positioning operation is executed (s1). Here, the GPS positioning operation will be described with reference to FIG. First, the GPS receiver 12 is turned on and activated (s11). And
The GPS signal is received and the positioning of the current position is executed (s1
2), the positioning data is stored in the measurement data register 11a (s13). After this positioning operation, the GPS receiver 1
2 is stopped (s14), and the movement amount integrated value register 11b is cleared (s15).

In FIG. 1A, this GPS positioning (s
After 1), the detection value of the acceleration sensor 13 is read (s
2) The speed is calculated by integrating this value with time (s3).
Then, the detected value of the gyro 14 is read (s4), and the detected value is integrated over time to calculate the traveling direction (s5). The moving distance is calculated based on the speed data and the moving direction data calculated by the above operation, and the current moving distance is integrated into the moving distance integrating register 11b for integrating the moving distance from the immediately preceding GPS positioning (s6). The movement distance is monitored by repeatedly executing the operations of s2 to s6, and the integration value of the movement distance integration register 11b is a constant value (for example, 100 m).
If it exceeds (s7), the process returns to s1 to execute the GPS positioning operation again.

On the other hand, FIG. 2C is a flow chart showing the operation when there is access from a management station or a guardian. If there is a call via the PHS telephone network, P
The HS communication unit 10 goes off-hook and responds to this call (s20). Then, the microcomputer 11 reads out the current position data stored in the measurement data register 11a and inputs it to the PHS communication unit 10 (s21). It is determined whether the other party is a management station for data communication using a modem or a normal voice call (s22).
If it is a management station, the current position data is transmitted as it is using a modem (s23). If it is a normal voice call partner, an announcement based on the current position data is synthesized using a voice synthesis function and returned to the call partner. (S24). Thereafter, the telephone line is cut off to disconnect the telephone line (s25), and the notification operation ends.

In the above embodiment, the acceleration sensor 1
A gyro 14 is provided in addition to 3 so that GPS positioning is performed again when a certain distance from the previous positioning point is reached, but the length of movement is integrated regardless of the direction, that is, the length of the path of movement is measured. However, the GPS positioning may be performed again when this becomes a certain value or more. In this case, the gyro 13 is not required because there is no need to consider the moving direction. Further, even if the acceleration sensor 14 is provided in a plurality of directions,
It may be provided only in the direction (front).

If the acceleration sensor 13 and the gyro 14 are used, the moving direction can be detected in addition to the moving speed. Therefore, it is possible to stand by while correcting the current position data measured by the GPS using the moving direction. It is. FIG. 3 shows the operation of the position detection notification device in this case.

The flowchart of FIG. 3 shows an operation executed in place of the operation of FIG. 2A in the above embodiment. In the figure, after GPS positioning (s31),
The detection value of the acceleration sensor 13 is read (s32), and the speed is calculated by integrating this value with time (s33). Then, the detected value of the gyro 14 is read (s34), and the detected value is integrated over time to calculate the traveling direction (s35). A movement vector is determined based on the speed data and the movement direction data calculated by the above operation, and the contents of the measurement data register 11a are corrected with the movement vector (s36). Then, the current traveling distance is accumulated in the traveling distance accumulation register 11b (s37). The operations of s32 to s37 are repeatedly executed to monitor the moving distance. If the integrated value of the moving distance integrating register 11b exceeds a certain value (s38),
Returning to s31, the GPS positioning operation is executed again.

As described above, by correcting the contents stored in the measurement data register 11a with the detection values of the acceleration sensor 13 and the gyro 14, even if the vehicle moves after GPS positioning, the corrected current position data follows the movement. Can be stored, and highly accurate position data can always be returned for access. By performing such correction, an error caused by the movement of the carrier can be reduced, so that the movement distance until the GPS positioning is executed again can be extended, and the battery can be made longer.

Further, when the GPS positioning is executed, the data up to that time is canceled, so that no correction error is accumulated. Further, a correction error can be calculated based on the error between the new GPS positioning data and the data corrected from the previous GPS positioning, and the correction amount can be corrected to improve the accuracy.

In the case where the apparatus performs single positioning, the positioning error may be canceled by starting from a known point. In other words, when a person who walks around carries this device, he / she knows the latitude / longitude of his / her home in advance and inputs it to the device, and then turns on the device at home, thereby enabling the GPS-only positioning at that time. An error can be reduced by calculating the difference between the data and the actual latitude / longitude data and subtracting this difference at the time of subsequent GPS positioning.

Further, in the above embodiment, the GPS positioning is re-executed only when the vehicle has moved a predetermined distance or more. However, even if the moving distance is short, the GPS positioning may be re-executed at predetermined time intervals. .

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, satellite positioning is performed each time a movement of a predetermined distance or more is detected by the motion sensor, and this is stored in the measurement data storage means. It is not necessary to always operate the satellite positioning means, and in the case of a device driven by a battery, the consumption of the battery can be reduced, and an accurate position can be immediately returned to the access. .

In addition, since the movement sensor detects movement while the satellite positioning means is not operating and corrects the measurement data, high accuracy can be maintained even when satellite positioning is performed intermittently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a position detection and notification device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the position detection notification device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the position detection notification device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Position detection notification device 10 ... PHS communication part, 11 ... Microcomputer, 12 ... GPS receiver, 13 ... Acceleration sensor (piezoelectric acceleration sensor) 14 ... Gyro (piezoelectric vibration gyro),

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A communication device, a satellite positioning device, a motion sensor, and a measurement data storage device, wherein each time the motion sensor detects a movement of a fixed distance, the satellite positioning device is activated to start positioning. And a positioning control means for storing a positioning result in the measurement data storage means, and a measurement data notification means for returning data stored in the measurement data storage means in response to an inquiry via the communication means. A position detection notification device, comprising: 2. The position detecting and notifying device according to claim 1, further comprising a correcting unit that corrects the contents of the measurement data storage unit according to the contents detected by the motion sensor.