JPS63238477A - Searching system of whereabouts - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the accurate and rapid detection of the present position of a body to be detected, by a system wherein the position of the body to be detected is determined on the basis of a reception signal of a signal electric wave which is transmitted from a transmitting means fitted to said body. CONSTITUTION:A transmitting unit 6 is fitted to an aged person 4 as a body to be detected. Moreover, receiving units 11A-11C are provided in an area near an old people's home 2 where the aged person is supposed to loiter. The units 11A-11C are provided with receiving antennas 8A-8C having directivity, respectively. An antenna rotating unit 14 rotates the receiving antenna 8 so that the amplitude of a reception signal outputted from a receiver 16 be the maximum. Thereby an area within a circle of a radius R around the old people's home is covered as a searchable area. Meanwhile, a received signal wave is transferred as a reception voltage through a high-frequency cable 12 and converted into a reception signal by the receiver 16. The reception signal is transferred through a signal cable 10 and inputted to a computer 20 through the intermediary of an interface 18. Then a display unit 22 displays the position of the aged person 4 on the basis of the result of search by the computer 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [H Features of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a location finding system for finding the whereabouts of a moving detected object.

(Prior Art) As Japan becomes an aging society, the number of people housed in nursing homes for the elderly is increasing. However, there is a limit to the number of nurses who can take care of the elderly, and there is a risk that nurses may not be able to adequately monitor the elderly.

Particularly in the case of so-called ``blunt old people,'' their behavior exceeds nurses' expectations, and their whereabouts are often lost. When a person went missing, they would investigate the missing person manually, with the help of many nurses and the police.

(Problem that the invention seeks to solve) However, there are limits to the investigative abilities of nurses and police.
Sometimes it can lead to a serious accident. Additionally, there was a limit to increasing the number of nurses, and sufficient measures could not be taken.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and is a whereabouts detection system capable of quickly and accurately detecting the position of a detected object such as a so-called "blunt old man" and investigating the whereabouts of the detected object. The purpose is to provide

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) 1-The purpose is to provide a transmitting means that is attached to a moving detected object and transmits a signal radio wave specific to each detected object, and a transmitting means that transmits signal radio waves specific to each detected object; m number of directional receiving antennas for receiving signal radio waves, and receiving means for amplifying the received voltages received by each of the plurality of directional receiving antennas and outputting a received signal for each directional receiving antenna; Antenna rotation means for determining the direction of each of the plurality of directional reception antennas so that the received signal from the reception means is maximized or minimized for each directional reception antenna, and each directional reception antenna determined by the antenna rotation means. This is achieved by a location finding system characterized in that it includes a position determining means for determining the position of the detected object based on the direction of the detected object, and searches for the whereabouts of the detected object.

The above object includes a transmitting means that is attached to a moving detected object and transmits a signal radio wave specific to each detected object, and a plurality of omnidirectional receiving antennas for receiving the signal radio waves from the transmitting means. T! a receiving means for amplifying the received voltage received by each of the plurality of omnidirectional receiving antennas and outputting a received signal for each omnidirectional receiving antenna; This can also be achieved by a whereabouts searching system, which includes a position determination means for determining the position of the detected object based on the detected object, and searches for the whereabouts of the detected object.

(Function) Since the present invention is configured as described above, the signal radio waves transmitted from the transmitting means attached to the detected object are received by the receiving antenna, and the received voltage received by the receiving antenna is amplified. The position of the detected object is determined based on the received signal.

(Example) A location finding system according to a first example of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The whereabouts finding system according to this embodiment is used to find out the whereabouts of elderly people in nursing homes, and when a missing person is found, the system is used to promptly locate and protect the missing person and prevent accidents. .

A transmitting device 6, which will be described later, is attached to the elderly person 4 as the object to be detected. Receiving devices 11A, 111B and 11C for receiving signal radio waves from the transmitting device 6 are provided in areas near the nursing home 2 where the elderly 4 are likely to wander. The receiving devices 11A, 111B, and IIC each have directional receiving antennas 8A, 8B, and 8C. For example, as shown in FIG. 1(a), three receiving devices 11A are arranged at approximately equal intervals on the circumference of a radius R centered on the nursing home 2.
, IIB, and 11C are installed. This receiving device 1
There are receiving antennas 8A, 8 on the top of 1A, IIB, IIC.
B and 8C are provided.

The receiving devices 11A, IIB, and IIC are connected to devices in the nursing home 2 by a signal cable 10. As the receiving antennas 8A, 8B, and 8C, for example, multi-element Yagi antennas with sharp directivity are used.

By arranging the receiving devices 11A, IIB, and IIC having the receiving antennas 8A, 8B, and 8C in this way, the area within the circle of radius R centered on the nursing home 2 can be searched i=
This becomes a highly effective receiving area. If the directionality is sharp, the direction to the detected object can be determined accurately, increasing the accuracy of exploration. Note that although three receiving antennas are used in this embodiment, more receiving antennas may be used. The more there are, the more accurate the exploration will be.

In the receiving device 11, a receiver 16 is provided below the receiving antenna 8 as shown in FIG.
connected with. The signal radio wave received by the receiving antenna 8 is transmitted as a received voltage through the high frequency cable 12, and the transmitted received voltage is converted into a received signal by the receiver 16. The received signal is transmitted through the signal cable 10 and input to the computer 20 via the interface 18 .

The computer 20 searches for the location of each elderly person using a method that will be described later. The computer 20 is provided with a display section 22, which displays the location of each wandering elderly person based on the search results of the computer 20.

An antenna rotation device 14 for rotating the receiving antenna 8 is installed below the receiving antenna 8. This antenna rotation device 14 is connected to the receiver 16 of each receiving antenna 8.
The receiving antenna 8 is rotated so that the magnitude of the received signal outputted from the antenna is maximized. The direction in which the received signal is maximum is useful information for searching for each elderly person, and the position of each elderly person is determined by using the algorithm described later along with the strength of the received signal.

Details of the transmitting device 6 worn by the elderly person 4 are shown in FIG. The main body 28 of the transmitting device 6 is placed in the pocket 24 of each elderly person, as shown in FIG. 2<a), for example. A transmitting antenna 26 is attached to one end of this main body 28. This transmitting antenna 26 has a length that corresponds to the wavelength of the radio waves to be transmitted.

On the other hand, this transmitting antenna 26 is hung around the neck of each elderly person and also plays the role of holding the transmitting device 6. A loading coil 30 for matching is connected to the transmitting antenna 26 .

The main body 28 has a built-in battery 36 as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the battery 36 is constituted by a rechargeable battery, and a pair of electrodes 3 are used to charge the battery 36 from the outside.
4 is provided. Further, a power switch 28a is provided at the top of the main body 28 for turning the power on and off.

FIG. 4 shows the detailed configuration of the whereabouts searching system according to this embodiment. The transmitter 40 is for transmitting a signal radio wave, and a signal radio wave having an oscillation frequency determined by a crystal oscillator 42 is transmitted from the transmitter 40 into the air via the transmitting antenna 26. By using crystal oscillators 42 with different frequencies, signal radio waves with different frequencies are transmitted to each elderly person 4. Also, the transmitter 40 has a timer 38.
is provided. The transmitter 40 is activated at regular intervals determined by the timer 38, and the transmitter 40 is configured to transmit signal radio waves for a predetermined period of time at each regular interval. The power source of this transmitter 6 is a battery 36, which is applied to a timer 38 and a transmitter 40 via a power switch 28a. In addition,
This battery 36 is a rechargeable battery, and is charged by applying a predetermined voltage to the electrode 34 from the outside. By charging, the battery 36 can be used for a long period of time without having to be replaced. Note that the diode 35 is for preventing reverse current of charging current.

The receiving device 11A111B111C has a transmitting antenna 26
Receive signal radio waves transmitted from. The signal radio waves are received by receiving antennas 8A, 8B, 8C, and the received voltages are received by receivers 16A, 16B.

16C and converted into a received signal. The antenna synchronization devices 14A, 14B, 14C are connected to the receivers 16A, 1
The receiving antennas 8A and 8B are arranged so that the received fA signal converted by 6B and 16C is maximized.

Rotate 8C. The thus determined directions of each receiving antenna 8A, 8B, 8C and the strength of the received signal are sent to the computer 20 (detection unit 44) via the signal cable 10 and interface 18.

The detection unit 44 is provided with a memory 46 and a position determination unit 48. The memory 46 stores each receiving device 11 that has been sent.
Receiving antennas 8A, 8B, 8 from A, 11B, 11C
Store the direction of C and the strength of the received signal. Position determination unit 48
are the receiving antennas 8A, 8B, 8 stored in the memory 46.
The position of each elderly person to be detected is determined from the direction of C and the strength of the received signal. This determination is basically made using trigonometry. That is, receiving antennas 8A and 8B.

Draw a straight line from the 8C position towards the direction of maximum strength,
The position where these straight lines intersect is determined to be the position of each elderly person. The strength of the received signal is used to confirm whether the position determined in this way is correct. The distance from each receiving device 11A, IIB, IIC to the transmitting device 6 (elderly person 4) can be determined from the strength of the received signal. A circle is drawn with the position of each receiving device 11A, 111B, 11C as the center and these distances as a radius, and if the found position is within the common area of these circles, that position is determined to be correct.

Note that these calculations for determining the position are automatically performed by the position determining section 48.

When the position of each elderly person is determined by the position determination unit 48,
The position signal is output to the display unit 22, and the display unit 22 displays the position where the elderly person 4 is thought to be. The nurse can understand the investigation area from the display on the display unit 22 and can proceed to the investigation.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

The transmitting device 6 is powered on by the power switch 28a.

Then, the timer 38 starts operating and the transmitter 4 is activated at regular intervals.
0 to the frequency of the crystal oscillator 42 is transmitted into the air via the transmitting antenna 26. The transmitting device 6 in this state is placed in each elderly person's chest pocket, for example, and the transmitting antenna 26 is hung on each elderly person's 4 to prevent it from falling.

When a person goes missing in the nursing home 2, the reception frequencies of the receivers 16A, 16B, and 16C are set so that the radio waves of the frequency of the transmitter 6 worn by the missing person are received. Signal radio waves transmitted from the missing person's transmitter 6 are received by each receiving antenna 8A, 8B, and 8C, and transmitted via the high frequency cable 12 to the receiver 16A,
16B.

° Converted to received signal by 16C. The antenna rotation devices 14A, 14B, 14C determine the direction in which the strength of each received signal is maximum, and rotate each receiving antenna 8A, 8B, 8.
Rotate C. Once the direction in which the strength of the received signal is maximum is determined, that direction is detected by the detection unit 4 via the signal cable 10.
4, and also sends the strength of the signal radio wave at that time to the detection section 44.

The memory 46 of each detection unit 4 stores these sent data. The location determination unit 48 determines the location of the missing person from this stored data.

For example, if the h° direction from each receiving antenna 8A, 8B, 8C to the transmitting device 6 is 135 degrees for receiving antenna 8A, = 30 degrees for receiving antenna 8B, and 60 degrees for receiving antenna 8C, As shown in FIG. 6, lines (broken lines in FIG. 6) are drawn in the above direction from each receiving antenna 8A, 8B, 8C. Point 2, where these lines intersect, is estimated to be the location of the missing person. Further, from the strength of each received signal, if the missing person is located at a distance #rA from the receiving antenna 8A, a distance MrB from the receiving antenna 8B, and a distance #rC from the receiving antenna 8C,
As shown in FIG. 6, draw circles with radii of "A%rB, rC, centering on each receiving antenna 8A, 8B, 8C,
If point 2 is within the common area of these circles, then each receiving antenna 8A.

It can be seen that point 2 obtained from the directions 8B and 8C definitely indicates the position of the missing person.

A signal indicating position 2 determined in this manner is sent to the display section 22, and the display section 22 displays position 2 on the screen. The nurse who sees this display immediately heads to position 2 to investigate.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the location of a missing person can be reliably known, and an efficient and reliable investigation can be carried out quickly.

A second embodiment of the location finding system of the present invention is shown in FIG. Components that are the same as those in the above embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and their explanations will be omitted. In this embodiment, the receiving device 11
The feature is that a vertical omnidirectional antenna is used as the receiving antenna 8. The receiving device 11 is simply provided with the omnidirectional receiving antenna 8 and a receiver 16 that converts the received voltage of the signal radio waves received by the receiving antenna 8. An antenna rotation device 14 is not provided. This is because the receiving antenna 8 is non-directional, so the strength of the received signal does not change even if it rotates. receiver 16
The intensities of the received signals from A, 16B, and 16C are sent to the memory 46 of each detection unit 4 via the signal cable 10 and the interface 18 and stored therein. The position determining unit 48 determines the position fiz of the transmitting device 6 worn by the elderly person 4 in the following manner based on the strength of the received signal received by each of the receiving antennas 8A, 8B, and 8C. From the strength of each received signal, each receiving antenna 8A, 8B.

The distances rA, rB, and rC from 8C to the receiver 16 are determined. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, each receiving antenna 8A, 8B
, centering on position 8C, radius r A s r Bs
r You can draw a circle of C. Position 2 will be within the common area of these circles. The position determination unit 48 outputs a signal indicating this area to the display unit 22, and the display unit 22 displays this area.

According to this embodiment, the location of a missing person can be reliably known, and an efficient and quick investigation can be carried out.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible.

For example, in the first embodiment using a directional receiving antenna, the directional receiving antenna was rotated to determine the direction so that the received signal was maximized, but the directional receiving antenna was rotated so that the received signal was minimized. The direction may also be determined by In addition, in the above embodiment, the device was used to detect the whereabouts of elderly people in a nursing home, but it may be used to detect any detected object, such as a device to find out the location of each worker in a factory. good. Further, the object to be detected is not limited to a human being, but may also be an animal, as in the case of a device for investigating the whereabouts of animals in a free-ranging zoo. Furthermore, the object to be detected is not limited to living things, but may also be objects.

[Effects of the Invention] As described below, according to the present invention, the current position of the detected object can be accurately and quickly known, and the whereabouts of the detected object can be quickly known.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the whereabouts search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams showing the transmitting device of the companion search system, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the transmitter of the companion search system. A block diagram, FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the position determination method of the companion search system, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an outline of the whereabouts detection system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the position determination method of the companion search system. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a position determination method of the exploration system. 2... Nursing home, 4... Elderly person, 6... Transmitting device, 8... Receiving antenna, 10... Signal cable,
12...High frequency cable, 14...Antenna rotation device, 16...Reception (Km, 18 Interface, 20
... Computer, 22 ... Display section, 24 ... Pocket, 26 ... Transmission antenna, 28 ... Main body, 3
0... Loading coil, 34... Electrode, 36...
...Battery, 38 timer, 40...transmitter, 42...
Crystal oscillator, 44...detection section, 46...memory, 4
8...Position determination section. Applicant's agent Mr. Sato (a) (b) Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transmitting means attached to a moving detected object and transmitting a signal radio wave specific to each detected object, and a plurality of directivity for receiving signal radio waves from the transmitting means. a receiving antenna; a receiving means for amplifying received voltages respectively received by the plurality of directional receiving antennas and outputting received signals for each of the directional receiving antennas; Antenna rotation means that determines the direction of each of the plurality of directional reception antennas so as to maximize or minimize each reception antenna, and the detected object based on the direction of each of the directional reception antennas determined by the antenna rotation means. and a position determining means for determining the position of the detected object, the system for searching for the whereabouts of the detected object. 2. A transmitting means attached to a moving detected object and transmitting a signal radio wave specific to each detected object, and a plurality of omnidirectional receiving antennas for receiving signal radio waves from the transmitting means; receiving means for amplifying received voltages received by each of the plurality of omnidirectional receiving antennas and outputting a received signal for each of the omnidirectional receiving antennas; and a receiving signal for each of the omnidirectional receiving antennas from the receiving means. a position determining means for determining the position of the detected object based on the intensity of the detected object, and the system searches for the whereabouts of the detected object.