WO2015159361A1

WO2015159361A1 - Device control apparatus, device control system, terminal apparatus, device control method, and program

Info

Publication number: WO2015159361A1
Application number: PCT/JP2014/060701
Authority: WO
Inventors: 聡司峯澤; 矢部　正明; 一郎丸山
Original assignee: 三菱電機株式会社
Priority date: 2014-04-15
Filing date: 2014-04-15
Publication date: 2015-10-22
Also published as: JPWO2015159361A1; JP6279071B2

Abstract

A device control apparatus (100) is an apparatus for controlling electric devices installed in a dwelling. A storage unit (108) stores device control schedule data (106) including a control schedule for devices to be controlled. A current position acquisition unit (110) acquires current position information indicating the current position of a user. A calculation unit (111) calculates a distance or traveling time from the current position, which is indicated by the current position information acquired by the current position acquisition unit (110), to a reference position of a control area. An update unit (112) compares the distance or traveling time calculated by the calculation unit (111) with a predetermined threshold value and updates the device control schedule data (106) in accordance with a result of the comparison.

Description

DEVICE CONTROL DEVICE, DEVICE CONTROL SYSTEM, TERMINAL DEVICE, DEVICE CONTROL METHOD, AND PROGRAM

The present invention relates to a device control device, a device control system, a terminal device, a device control method, and a program.

A control system that controls an electric device in accordance with the life of a user has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses an example in which when a user's wake-up time or the like is set on an air conditioning setting screen for setting an air conditioner, the air conditioner is controlled accordingly.

Patent Document 1 describes an example in which “6:30” is set in the wake-up time setting item on weekdays (Monday to Friday) on the air conditioning setting screen. In accordance with this setting, information such as “6:30” for the time, “wake up” for the control mode, and “Monday to Friday” for the day-of-week condition is stored in the schedule database of the control device described in Patent Document 1. The control device described in Patent Literature 1 controls the air conditioner in the control mode when the conditions stored in the time, day of the week conditions, and the like of the schedule database are met.

According to Patent Document 1, it is possible to register various control contents based on user behavior such as time to go home and bathing time in the schedule database.

JP 2002-278604 A

However, in general, a user's schedule may be changed according to various circumstances. Some user actions are not predetermined.

Suppose, for example, that a schedule is set for the air conditioner to operate at the scheduled return time. In this case, if the return time is significantly later than scheduled, power may be wasted. In addition, if the return home time is earlier than scheduled, it may take time for the user to manually operate the air conditioner, and the comfort of life may not be improved.

¡In order to reduce energy consumption and improve the comfort of life, it is desirable to control electrical equipment according to schedule changes and actions that have not been decided in advance.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a device control device and the like that can appropriately control an electric device according to a user's action.

In order to achieve the above object, the device control apparatus according to the present invention controls an electric device installed in the control area. The device control apparatus includes: a current position acquisition unit that acquires current position information indicating a user's current position; a device control schedule storage unit that stores device control schedule data including a control schedule for a device to be controlled; and the current position acquisition unit Calculating means for calculating the distance or moving time from the current position indicated by the current position information acquired by the reference position of the control region, the distance or moving time calculated by the calculating means and a preset threshold value And updating means for updating the device control schedule data in accordance with the comparison result.

According to the present invention, the device control schedule data is updated based on the result of comparing the distance or movement time from the current position to the reference position and a preset threshold value. Thereby, when the current position of the user is not an appropriate position at the control time of the apparatus control schedule, the apparatus control schedule data can be updated so as to be appropriate. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately control the electric device according to the user's action.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the apparatus control system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the floor plan of the house which concerns on Embodiment 1, and installation of an electric equipment. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a device control apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of reference position data according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of device control schedule data according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of terminal data according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a reference position setting process according to the first embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flow of a current position acquisition process according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the flow of the apparatus control schedule change process which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the flow of the apparatus control schedule change process which concerns on the modification 3. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a transmission determination process according to Modification Example 4. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the apparatus control system which concerns on the modification 5. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the apparatus control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the apparatus control schedule data which concern on Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the moving means data which concern on Embodiment 2. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a device control schedule change process according to the second embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the apparatus control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of position history data according to the third embodiment. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of interlocking rule data according to the third embodiment. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of user operation interlocking processing according to the third embodiment. It is a figure showing the example of the time change of distance DP from a reference position to a user's present position. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the apparatus control system which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the floor plan of the house which concerns on Embodiment 4, and installation of an electric equipment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the apparatus control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 4. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the apparatus control schedule data which concern on Embodiment 4. It is a figure which shows an example of the terminal data which concern on Embodiment 4. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a device control schedule change process according to the fourth embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the apparatus control apparatus which concerns on the modification 6. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the division data which concern on the modification 6. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the apparatus installation data which concern on the modification 6. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the apparatus control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the apparatus control schedule data which concerns on Embodiment 5. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the division position data which concerns on Embodiment 5. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a device control unit according to a fifth embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a partition presence / absence interlocking process according to the fifth embodiment. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of an adjacent room interlocking process according to the fifth embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the apparatus control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 6 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the apparatus control schedule data which concern on Embodiment 6 of this invention. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of region presence / absence interlocking processing according to the sixth embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The same elements are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the device control apparatus 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention controls the device together with the electric devices 101a to 101f installed in the house and the mobile terminal 102 carried by the resident of the house as a user. The system 103a is configured.

As shown in the figure, the device control apparatus 100 communicates with electric devices 101a to 101f (details will be described later) via a communication network N1. In addition, the device control apparatus 100 communicates with the mobile terminal 102 via the communication network N2. The mobile terminal 102 is, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a security buzzer device, or the like, and acquires current position information indicating the current position by communicating with the GPS satellite 104.

The communication network N1 is typically a wireless home network, but may be an arbitrarily configured communication network such as a wired home network or a home network that combines wireless and wired communication. The communication network N2 is, for example, the Internet, and is typically configured by combining wireless and wired.

The electrical devices 101a to 101f are, for example, lighting 101a to 101c, air conditioners 101d to 101e, and a refrigerator 101f as shown in FIG. The figure shows an example in which the lights 101a to 101c are installed in each of the kitchen, living room, and bedroom, the air conditioners 101d to 101e are installed in each of the living room and bedroom, and the refrigerator 101f is installed in the kitchen. Hereinafter, the electric devices 101a to 101f will be referred to as “electric device 101” unless otherwise distinguished.

Note that the house is an example of a control area in which the device control apparatus 100 can control the electric device 101. It is sufficient that one or more types of one or more electric devices 101 are installed in the house. The type of the electric device 101 is not limited to the lighting devices 101a to 101c, the air conditioners 101d to 101e, and the refrigerator 101f, and may be, for example, an IH (Induction Heating) cooker, an electric water heater, a television receiver, or the like. The kitchen, living room, and bedroom are examples of compartments that divide a house that is a control area. There may be two or more sections, for example, a child's room, a study, a reception room, a bathroom, and the like.

The device control apparatus 100 controls the electric device 101 by communicating with the electric device 101. Functionally, as shown in FIG. 3, the device control apparatus 100 functionally updates the device control schedule according to the storage unit 108 for storing various data 105 to 107 and the current position of the user, and updates the device control. And processing / control units 109 to 114 for controlling the electric device 101 according to the schedule.

Here, the device control schedule is a schedule for controlling a specific electric device (control target device) 101 among the electric devices 101. “Update” includes “adding a new”, “changing an existing one”, and “deleting an existing one”.

Such an apparatus control apparatus 100 includes, for example, a microcomputer, a semiconductor memory, a communication interface, and the like in which a program is previously incorporated. Note that the device control apparatus 100 may be incorporated in the electric device 101. Further, the functions of the device control device 100 and the processing executed by the device control device 100, which will be described in detail later, may be realized by a general-purpose computer executing a software program. The functions of the device control device 100 and the processing executed by the device control device 100 may be realized by a terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal executing a software program.

The reference position data 105 is data indicating the reference position. The reference position is a position of the house, and may be appropriately selected as a position representing the house by the user, for example. The reference position data 105 according to the present embodiment indicates a set of latitude and longitude of the reference position, as shown in FIG.

The device control schedule data 106 is data indicating the device control schedule of the control target device 101. The device control schedule data 106 according to the present embodiment indicates a device control schedule (control time, control target device 101, control content) associated with a user action, as shown in FIG.

User action is information indicating user action. In the device control schedule, the user operation indicates how the device control schedule is set in relation to the user's operation, and is selected from a predetermined list, for example.

The device control schedule data 106 illustrated in the figure includes, for example, device control schedules set in association with user operations of “going out” and “returning home”. According to the device control schedule corresponding to “going out” in the figure, the device control apparatus 100 reads “all electrical devices 101a to 101e except the refrigerator 101f” at “8:00 am on March 3, 2014”. To “OFF”. According to the device control schedule data 106 corresponding to “returning home” in the drawing, the device control apparatus 100 turns “ON” the “living air conditioner 101d” at “19:00 AM on March 3, 2014”. To.

Here, “OFF” means that the operation of the control target device 101 is stopped. “Stopping the operation” means stopping an operation for exhibiting the original function of the control target device 101. That is, even when the operation is stopped, the electric device 101 receives control from the device control apparatus 100 or the like. “ON” is to start the operation of the control target device 101.

The device control schedule data 106 is created in response to a user input to an input unit (not shown) such as a touch panel and stored in the storage unit 108. The device control schedule data 106 may be automatically created by the device control apparatus 100 in conjunction with a user's schedule and stored in the storage unit 108.

The terminal data 107 is data indicating a notification destination to the mobile terminal 102 carried by the user. The terminal data 107 according to the present embodiment indicates a mail address assigned to the mobile terminal 102 as shown in FIG.

Refer to FIG. The reference position setting unit 109 acquires the reference position data 105 and stores it in the storage unit 108. For example, the reference position setting unit 109 acquires the current position information acquired in the house by the mobile terminal 102 from the mobile terminal 102 as the reference position data 105 and stores it in the storage unit 108.

The current position acquisition unit 110 acquires current position information acquired by the mobile terminal 102 carried by the user from the mobile terminal 102 at a predetermined timing.

The calculation unit 111 calculates a distance DP from the current position of the user to the reference position. The calculation unit 111 according to the present embodiment calculates a linear distance DP from the current position to the reference position.

The update unit 112 compares the distance DP calculated by the calculation unit 111 with the threshold value DT1, and updates the device control schedule data 106 according to the comparison result.

Specifically, the update unit 112 according to the present embodiment acquires data indicating the distance DP from the calculation unit 111, and compares the distance DP with the threshold value DT1.

Here, the threshold value DT1 may typically be set in advance based on the position of the user before a predetermined time (for example, 15 minutes) from the control time. That is, in the present embodiment, for example, the threshold DT1 may be set to a value that is assumed to be appropriate as the distance between the reference position and the user position at the control time.

The threshold value DT1 may be set in advance by, for example, a user input to an input unit (not shown). Further, for example, the threshold value DT1 may be set by the device control apparatus 100 based on a history of the movement of the user and the time when the user actually operated the electric device 101. The data indicating the set threshold value DT1 may be held by the update unit 112, for example.

The update unit 112 changes the device control schedule data 106 according to the result of comparing the distance DP and the threshold value DT1 and the user operation included in the device control schedule data 106.

An example of changing the device control schedule data 106 is as follows. At the control time of the device control schedule related to returning home, the updating unit 112 delays the control time when the distance DP is larger than the threshold value DT1, and advances the control time when the distance DP is smaller than the threshold value DT1. In the control time of the device control schedule related to going out, the update unit 112 delays the control time when the distance DP is smaller than the threshold value DT1.

When the device control schedule data 106 is changed, the update unit 112 notifies the notification unit 113 of the changed content. If the device control schedule data 106 has not been changed, the device control unit 114 is notified of this fact.

When the update unit 112 updates the device control schedule data 106, the notification unit 113 notifies the mobile terminal 102 to that effect.

Specifically, when the notification unit 113 receives a notification from the update unit 112, the notification unit 113 acquires the terminal data 107 stored in the storage unit 108. The notification unit 113 creates an e-mail that includes the change content included in the notification from the update unit 112. The notification unit 113 transmits the created e-mail to the e-mail address indicated by the acquired terminal data 107.

The device control unit 114 controls the electric device 101 according to the device control schedule indicated by the device control schedule data 106 stored in the storage unit 108.

More specifically, upon receiving a notification from the updating unit 112, the device control unit 114 acquires the device control schedule data 106 that is a target of the notification from the storage unit 108. The device control unit 114 controls the control target device 101 according to the acquired device control schedule data 106. That is, the device control unit 114 transmits an instruction corresponding to the control content included in the device control schedule data 106 to the control target device 101 included in the device control schedule data 106 via the communication network N1. By including such a device control unit 114, the electric device 101 is actually controlled according to the device control schedule updated by the update unit 112. Therefore, the electric device 101 can be appropriately operated according to the user's action.

Note that the device control unit 114 may monitor the device control schedule data 106 stored in the storage unit 108 while acquiring the current time measured by a time measuring unit (not shown), for example. Then, after detecting that the control time included in the device control schedule data 106 has arrived, the device control unit 114 receives the notification from the update unit 112 and controls the control target device 101 as described above. Good.

So far, the configuration of the device control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment has been described. From here, the process which the apparatus control apparatus 100 performs is demonstrated.

FIG. 7 shows the flow of the reference position setting process according to the present embodiment. The reference position setting process is a process for setting a reference position. The reference position setting process may be executed as an initial setting and then appropriately executed.

The reference position setting unit 109 requests the current position information from the mobile terminal 102 when, for example, the device control apparatus 100 operates in the reference position setting mode in response to a user input to an input unit (not shown) (step S101).

Here, for example, the device control apparatus 100 and the mobile terminal 102 may communicate via the communication network N1, or may communicate via the communication network N2. An address required according to a communication network to be used may be further included in the terminal data 107.

The mobile terminal 102 that has received the request in step S101 waits for an instruction from the user and communicates with the GPS satellite 104 to acquire current position information. The mobile terminal 102 transmits the acquired current position information to the device control apparatus 100. The reference position setting unit 109 acquires the reference position data 105 from the mobile terminal 102 (step S102).

The reference position setting unit 109 stores the current position information acquired in step S102 in the storage unit 108 as reference position data 105 (step S013). Thereby, the reference position setting unit 109 ends the reference position setting process.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 2, when the user operates and inputs the device control apparatus 100 installed in the home, the mobile terminal 102 is usually carried by the user and in the home. Therefore, the current position information acquired as a response to the user's input operation to the device control apparatus 100 by the mobile terminal 102 can be regarded as a reference position. Therefore, when receiving the request in step S101, the mobile terminal 102 may immediately communicate with the GPS satellite 104 to acquire current position information and transmit it to the device control apparatus 100 without waiting for the user's instruction. According to this, the reference position information can be set in the device control apparatus 100 by a simple method.

However, as described above, the mobile terminal 102 waits for the user's instruction and communicates with the GPS satellite 104 to acquire the current position information, so that the user arbitrarily selects where the reference position is in the home. can do. Therefore, since the position where comfortable control for the user is performed can be selected as the reference position, the comfort of the user's life can be improved.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flow of current position acquisition processing according to the present embodiment. The current position acquisition process is a process for acquiring current position information.

As shown in the figure, the mobile terminal 102 communicates the current position information with the GPS satellite 104 and transmits it to the device control apparatus 100 at a constant time interval ΔT. Thereby, the current position acquisition unit 110 of the device control apparatus 100 periodically acquires current position information from the mobile terminal 102.

FIG. 9 shows a flow of device control schedule change processing according to the present embodiment. The device control schedule change process is a process for changing the device control schedule data 106 according to the current position and operation of the user. The device control schedule change process is executed every time the current position acquisition unit 110 acquires current position information from the mobile terminal 102, for example.

The calculating unit 111, when acquiring the current position information acquired by the current position acquiring unit 110, determines whether or not there is an update target (step S111).

Here, the update target satisfies the condition (update target extraction condition) for extracting the update target from the device control schedule data 106 stored in the storage unit 108. The update target extraction condition may be appropriately determined in advance. The update target extraction condition according to the present embodiment is that the control time arrives within a predetermined time (for example, 15 minutes) from the current time.

Specifically, the calculation unit 111 acquires the current time measured by a time measuring unit (not shown). The calculation unit 111 extracts, from the storage unit 108, device control schedule data 106 including a control time that arrives within a predetermined time (for example, 15 minutes) from the current time as an update target.

If the device control schedule data 106 to be updated is not extracted, the calculation unit 111 determines that there is no update target (Step S111; No), and ends the change process related to returning home.

When the device control schedule data 106 to be updated is extracted, the calculation unit 111 determines that there is an update target (Step S111; Yes), and calculates the distance DP (Step S112).

Specifically, the calculation unit 111 acquires the reference position data 105 from the storage unit 108. The calculation unit 111 calculates a distance DP between the reference position indicated by the acquired reference position data 105 and the current position indicated by the current position information acquired by the current position acquisition unit 110. The distance DP according to the present embodiment is a linear distance between the current position and the reference position. The distance DP may be a road calculated based on map information or the like. The map information may be stored in advance by the storage unit 108 or may be acquired via the Internet or the like.

The updating unit 112 compares the distance DP calculated by the calculating unit 111 with the threshold value DT1, and determines whether or not the distance DP is larger than the threshold value DT1 (step S113).

When it is determined that the distance DP is greater than the threshold value DT1 (step S113; Yes), the update unit 112 changes the control time of the device control schedule data 106 extracted in step S111 according to the user operation (step S114). .

More specifically, when the device control schedule data 106 is associated with “return home” as the user action, the update unit 112 delays the control time. When the device control schedule data 106 is associated with “going out” as the user operation, the update unit 112 advances the control time. Each of the delay time and the advance time in step S114 may be appropriately determined, for example, 5 minutes, 1 hour, and the like. Different times may be set for the delay time and the advance time.

Here, when it is determined Yes in step S113, the distance DP is larger than the threshold value DT1. This means that the user is far away from a position suitable for executing the device control schedule at that control time.

From such a current position of the user, if the user action is returning home, it is predicted that the returning home will be delayed from the schedule. If the user action is going out, it is predicted that the going out was earlier than planned. Therefore, the update unit 112 delays the control time when the user action is “going home”, and advances the control time when the user action is “going out”. Thereby, it becomes possible to control the electric device 101 according to the change of the user's schedule.

When it is determined that the distance DP is not greater than the threshold value DT1 (step S113; No), the update unit 112 compares the distance DP indicated by the data acquired from the calculation unit 111 with the threshold value DT1. Thereby, the update part 112 determines whether distance DP is smaller than threshold value DT1 (step S115).

When it is determined that the distance DP is not smaller than the threshold value DT1 (step S115; No), the update unit 112 ends the device control schedule change process.

Here, when it is determined No in step S115, the distance DP is equal to the threshold value DT1. This means that the user is in a position suitable for executing the device control schedule at the control time. Therefore, the update unit 112 ends the device control schedule change process without updating the device control schedule data 106 as it is.

When it determines with distance DP being smaller than threshold value DT1 (step S115; Yes), the update part 112 changes the control time of the apparatus control schedule data 106 extracted by step S112 according to user operation (step S116). .

Specifically, when the device control schedule data 106 is associated with “return home” as the user action, the updating unit 112 advances the control time. When the device operation schedule data 106 is associated with “going out” as the user operation, the update unit 112 delays the control time. Each of the delay time and the advance time in step S116 may be appropriately determined, for example, 5 minutes, 1 hour, and the like. Different times may be set for the delay time and the advance time.

Here, when it is determined Yes in step S115, the distance DP is smaller than the threshold value DT1. This means that the device control schedule is closer to a position suitable for execution at the control time.

From such a current position of the user, if the user action is returning home, it is predicted that the returning home will be earlier than scheduled. If the user action is going out, it is predicted that the going out was later than planned. Therefore, the updating unit 112 advances the control time when the user action is “going home”, and delays the control time when the user action is “going out”. Thereby, it becomes possible to control the electric device 101 according to the change of the user's schedule.

The update unit 112 changes the device control schedule data 106 extracted in step S112 according to the control time calculated in step S114 or step S116 (step S117).

Specifically, the update unit 112 causes the storage unit 108 to store the device control schedule data 106 in which the control time of the device control schedule data 106 extracted in step S112 is replaced with the control time calculated in step S114 or step S116. When the update unit 112 changes the device control schedule data 106, the update unit 112 notifies the notification unit 113 of the change and the change content.

When the notification unit 113 receives a notification of the change from the update unit 112, the notification unit 113 notifies the content of the change to the mobile terminal 102 carried by the user (step S118).

Specifically, the notification unit 113 creates an e-mail indicating the change contents based on the notification from the update unit 112. The notification unit 113 transmits the created electronic mail to the mail address indicated by the terminal data 107 stored in the storage unit 108.

Thereby, the notification unit 113 ends the change process related to returning home.

By executing the device control schedule change process, if the user's schedule is changed or predicted to have occurred, the device control schedule can be adjusted appropriately without the user's operation. Therefore, it is possible to control the device according to the user's action.

The first embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

According to this embodiment, when a change occurs in the user's schedule, the change in the schedule can be predicted and the device control schedule can be adjusted appropriately without the user's operation. Therefore, it becomes possible to control the electric apparatus 101 according to a user's action.

According to the present embodiment, the current position acquisition unit 110 periodically acquires current position information from the mobile terminal 102 carried by the user. Accordingly, the device control apparatus 100 can sequentially acquire the current position of the user with little time delay. Therefore, it is possible to accurately predict whether or not the user's schedule has changed.

According to the present embodiment, when the update unit 112 updates the device control schedule data 106, the notification unit 113 notifies the mobile terminal 102 carried by the user that the device control schedule data 106 has been updated. To do. Thus, the user can know that the device control schedule data 106 has been updated. Therefore, if an update not suitable for the user's actual behavior has been made, the user can appropriately modify the device control schedule using the mobile terminal 102 or the like. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately control the device according to the user's action.

According to the present embodiment, the current position information is acquired as the reference position data 105 from the mobile terminal 102 in the house as the control area, and the reference position is stored in the storage unit 108. Thereby, the reference position can be easily set in the device control apparatus 100 using the mobile terminal 102.

Note that the method of setting the reference position by the reference position setting unit 109 is not limited to this. For example, the reference position may be set using information indicating an address of a house that the user inputs to an input unit (not shown). The reference position may be set using map information provided through the Internet or the like. The reference position may be set using information indicating latitude and longitude provided by the map information. Also by these, the reference position can be easily set in the device control apparatus 100.

Note that the present embodiment may be modified as follows.

Modification 1
In the first embodiment, the example in which the device control schedule data 106 is changed according to the result of comparing the distance DP from the current position to the reference position and the threshold value DT1 has been described. However, the device control schedule data 106 may be changed according to the result of comparing the time required for movement from the current position to the reference position (movement time TP) and a threshold value TT set in advance accordingly. .

In the present modification, the calculation unit 111 calculates the movement time TP from the current position indicated by the current position information acquired by the current position acquisition unit 110 to the reference position indicated by the reference position data 105 stored in the storage unit 108. .

The travel time TP may be calculated using, for example, software installed in advance, a service provided through the Internet, or the like.

The update unit 112 may change the device control schedule data 106 by a process similar to the device control schedule change process described in the first embodiment. Specifically, for example, in step S113 and step S115, the comparison between the distance DP and the threshold value DT1 may be replaced with a comparison between the movement time TP and the threshold value TT.

This modification also has the same effect as that of the first embodiment.

Modification 2
In the first embodiment, the example in which the common threshold DT1 is used in step S113 and step S115 has been described. However, different threshold values may be adopted in step S113 and step S115. Specifically, for example, in step S115, a threshold value DT1_2 smaller than the threshold value DT1_1 adopted in step S113 may be adopted.

When the common threshold value DT1 is adopted in step S113 and step S115 as in the first embodiment, the device control schedule data 106 is changed except when it is determined that the distance DP is equal to the threshold value DT1. . That is, the device control schedule data 106 is changed even when the difference between the distance DP and the threshold value DT1 (distance suitable for the user's actual behavior) is slight. As a result, there is a possibility that the control time that is generally suitable for the user's behavior is changed, so that it is not suitable for the user's behavior.

In the present modification, different threshold values DT1_1 and DT1_2 are employed in step S113 and step S115, respectively. Thereby, when the difference between the distance DP and the threshold value DT1_1 (distance suitable for the user's actual behavior) is slight (smaller than the difference between the threshold value DT1_1 and the threshold value DT1_2), the device control schedule data 106 is not changed. . Therefore, it is possible to appropriately control the device according to the user's action.

Modification 3
In the first embodiment, the example in which the common threshold value DT1 is adopted even in different user operations in step S113 and step S115 has been described. However, for example, if importance is attached to comfort when returning home, it is desirable that the threshold value DT1 is set, for example, far away so that the control target device is more reliably controlled when returning home. Further, in order to prevent forgetting to turn off the electric device 101 when going out and reduce waste of energy consumption, it is desirable to set the threshold value DT1 close, for example. Therefore, a different threshold may be set for each user operation.

In this modification, the threshold value DT1 is set as a threshold value corresponding to “going home” and the threshold value DT2 is set as a threshold value corresponding to “going out”. Data indicating each of the threshold value DT1 and the threshold value DT2 is held by the updating unit 112, for example.

The update unit 112 specifies a threshold value corresponding to the user action associated with the device control schedule included in the device control schedule data 106 among the threshold value DT1 and the threshold value DT2. The update unit 112 compares the identified threshold value (threshold value DT1 or threshold value DT2) with the distance DP calculated by the calculation unit 111. The update unit 112 updates the device control schedule data 106 associated with the user operation according to the comparison result. Here, the device control schedule data 106 associated with the user operation is device control schedule data 106 including a device control schedule associated with the user operation.

An example of the device control schedule change process according to this modification is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, in the device control schedule change process according to this modification, steps S123 and S125 are executed instead of steps S113 and S115 of the device control schedule change process according to the first embodiment. The

In step S123, the updating unit 112 specifies a threshold value corresponding to the user action associated with the device control schedule included in the device control schedule data 106 extracted in step S111, from the threshold value DT1 and the threshold value DT2.

Specifically, when the user action associated with the device control schedule included in the device control schedule data 106 extracted in step S111 is “going home”, the update unit 112 sets the threshold value DT1 as a threshold value used for comparison. Identify. When the user action associated with the device control schedule included in the device control schedule data 106 extracted in step S111 is “going home”, the updating unit 112 specifies the threshold value DT2 as the threshold value used for comparison. .

In step S123, the update unit 112 compares the specified threshold value (threshold value DT1 or threshold value DT2) with the distance DP calculated by the calculation unit 111, and the distance DP is greater than the specified threshold value (threshold value DT1 or threshold value DT2). It is determined whether or not.

When it is determined that the distance DP is larger than the specified threshold value (threshold value DT1 or threshold value DT2) (step S123; Yes), the updating unit 112 executes step S114. When it is determined that the distance DP is not greater than the specified threshold value (threshold value DT1 or threshold value DT2) (step S123; No), the updating unit 112 executes step S125.

In step S125, as in step S123, a threshold value used for comparison is specified. Specifically, the updating unit 112 specifies a threshold value corresponding to the user action associated with the device control schedule included in the device control schedule data 106 extracted in step S111, from the threshold value DT1 and the threshold value DT2.

In step S125, the update unit 112 compares the specified threshold value (threshold value DT1 or threshold value DT2) with the distance DP calculated by the calculation unit 111, and the distance DP is smaller than the specified threshold value (threshold value DT1 or threshold value DT2). Whether or not (step S125).

When it is determined that the distance DP is smaller than the specified threshold value (threshold value DT1 or threshold value DT2) (step S125; Yes), the updating unit 112 executes step S116. When it is determined that the distance DP is not smaller than the specified threshold value (threshold value DT1 or threshold value DT2) (step S125; No), the update unit 112 ends the device control schedule change process.

In step S117, the updating unit 112 changes the device control schedule data 106 associated with the user action corresponding to the threshold specified in step S123 or step S125.

According to this modification, the device control schedule data 106 is changed with a threshold value corresponding to the user action. Therefore, when a change occurs in the user's schedule, the change in the schedule can be predicted and the device control schedule can be adjusted more appropriately without the user's operation. Therefore, it becomes possible to control the electric apparatus 101 according to a user's action.

Modification 4
In the first embodiment, the example in which the mobile terminal 102 periodically transmits the current position information to the device control apparatus 100 has been described. However, the current position information may be transmitted from the mobile terminal 102 to the device control apparatus 100 when a predetermined condition (transmission determination condition) is satisfied.

The transmission determination condition according to this modification includes a condition defined by the relationship between the current position and the reference position. Specifically, when the mobile terminal 102 carried by the user determines that the relationship between the current position and the reference position satisfies the transmission determination condition, the mobile terminal 102 periodically transmits the current position information. The current position acquisition unit 110 periodically acquires current position information from the mobile terminal when the mobile terminal 102 determines that the relationship between the current position and the reference position satisfies the transmission determination condition.

The transmission determination process executed by the mobile terminal 102 to determine the transmission timing of the current position information in this modification will be described with reference to FIG. The figure shows an example in which the distance DP between the current position and the reference position is larger than a predetermined threshold DT3 as the relationship between the current position and the reference position included in the transmission determination condition. The transmission determination process is executed periodically, for example.

The relationship between the current position and the reference position, which is a condition, may be that the distance DP between the current position and the reference position is smaller than a predetermined threshold value DT3. Different transmission determination conditions may be employed according to user operations.

As shown in FIG. 11, the mobile terminal 102 communicates with the GPS satellite 104 to acquire current position information (step S131).

The mobile terminal 102 calculates a distance DP between the current position indicated by the current position information acquired in step S131 and the reference position indicated by the reference position data 105 (step S132). Here, the reference position data 105 referred to by the mobile terminal 102 may be set in advance in the mobile terminal 102.

The mobile terminal 102 compares the distance DP calculated in step S132 with a preset threshold value DT3, and determines whether or not the distance DP is larger than the threshold value DT3 (step S133).

When it is determined that the distance DP is not greater than the threshold value DT3 (step S133; No), the mobile terminal 102 ends the transmission determination process.

When it is determined that the distance DP is greater than the threshold value DT3 (step S133; Yes), the mobile terminal 102 transmits the current position information acquired in step S131 to the device control apparatus 100 (step S134). Thereby, the mobile terminal 102 ends the transmission determination process. Then, the current position acquisition unit 110 of the device control apparatus 100 acquires the current position information transmitted in step S134.

The functions of the mobile terminal 102 and the processing executed by the mobile terminal 102 according to this modification may be realized by installing and executing a program on the mobile terminal 102, for example.

According to this modification, the current position information is not transmitted to the device control apparatus 100 when the user is at a position away from the threshold value DT3 from the house.

When the user is away from the threshold value DT3 from the house, it is predicted that a considerable amount of time is required until returning home, and therefore it is highly possible that the necessity of executing the device control schedule associated with returning home is low.

Also, when the user is away from the house from the threshold value DT3, it can be predicted that a certain long time has passed since the user went out. It is likely that the need to execute a device control schedule associated with going out is poor.

Therefore, when the current position acquisition unit 110 cannot acquire the current position information from the mobile terminal 102 before a predetermined time (for example, 15 minutes) before the control time, device control schedule data including the control time in the device control schedule 106 may be deleted by the update unit 112. In such a case, it is possible to suppress battery consumption of the mobile terminal 102 and power consumption of the device control apparatus 100 by not transmitting / receiving the current position information.

Modification 5
In Embodiment 1, the example which the mobile terminal 102 and the apparatus control apparatus 100 communicate directly via the communication network N2 was demonstrated. However, the device control system 103b may include a server device 115 in addition to the mobile terminal 102 and the device control device 100, as shown in FIG. Server device 115 communicates with mobile terminal 102 and device control device 100 via communication network N2. Therefore, the mobile terminal 102 and the device control apparatus 100 communicate via the server apparatus 115.

According to this modification, the same effects as those of the first embodiment are obtained.

For example, when the server device 115 is accessed from a personal computer (not shown) of the user's office, the server device 115 may notify the device control apparatus 100 that the current position of the user is the office. By acquiring this information as current position information by the current position acquisition unit 110, it is possible to specify that the current position of the user is a work place.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the example in which the calculation unit 111 calculates the distance DP has been described. In the present embodiment, an example in which the travel time is calculated instead of the distance DP will be described.

The device control apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment is configured in substantially the same manner as the device control apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. The device control apparatus 200 includes a storage unit 108 according to the first embodiment, a storage unit 208 instead of the calculation unit 111 and the update unit 112, a calculation unit 211, and an update unit 212, and further includes a weather information acquisition unit 216.

As shown in the figure, the storage unit 208 stores device control schedule data 206 instead of the device control schedule data 106 according to the first embodiment, and further stores moving means data 217.

Device control schedule data 206 includes schedule contents in addition to the information included in device control schedule data 106 according to Embodiment 1, as shown in FIG.

The schedule content is the content of the user's schedule, for example, company, shopping, travel, visitor, etc. In the schedule contents illustrated here, the company, shopping, and travel are accompanied by “going out” that is a user action of going out of the house and “returning home” that is a user action of returning to a house.

The schedule content included in the device control schedule data 206 may be input by the user as in the first embodiment, or may be set in conjunction with the user's schedule.

As shown in FIG. 15, the moving means data 217 is data including the user's scheduled contents and moving means corresponding to the scheduled contents.

The moving means data 217 shown in the figure indicates “company” as scheduled contents and moving means corresponding to “company”. The moving means is determined for each “section” divided into the starting point and the destination point of movement, and the moving means data 217 shown in FIG. The moving means may be further determined according to the weather, and the moving means data 217 shown in the figure includes moving means according to the weather for a part of the section (“Company B to home”). The moving means data 217 shown in the figure includes the moving time of each section in addition to the moving means of each section.

Specifically, the moving means data 217 shown in the figure indicates that the moving means is “walking” and the moving time is “10 minutes” for the section “company-A station”. The moving means data 217 shown in the figure indicates that the moving means is “train” and the moving time is “20 minutes” for the section “Company A to B station”.

In the moving means data 217 shown in the figure, moving means corresponding to the weather is defined for the section “Company B to home”. More specifically, in the moving means data 217 shown in the figure, the normal (other than raining) moving means is “bicycle”, and the moving time is “5 minutes”. The moving means in the rain is “walking”, and the moving time is “10 minutes”.

Such moving means data 217 may be set by user input, for example, or may be set using information provided through the Internet or the like. Of course, the moving means data 217 may be set in combination.

The weather information acquisition unit 216 acquires weather information indicating the current weather. Specifically, the weather information acquisition unit 216 acquires weather information generally provided through the Internet, for example.

Similar to the calculation unit 111 according to the first modification, the calculation unit 211 extends from the current position indicated by the current position information acquired by the current position acquisition unit 110 to the reference position indicated by the reference position data 105 stored in the storage unit 208. The travel time TP is calculated.

Specifically, the calculation unit 211 refers to the movement means data 217 associated with the device control schedule data 206 according to the scheduled content, and calculates the movement time TP from the current position to the reference position.

In addition, when the moving unit data 217 associated with the device control schedule data 206 according to the schedule content includes a moving unit according to the weather, the calculation unit 211 calculates the weather acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 216 from the moving unit data 217. The moving means corresponding to the information is specified. And the calculation part 211 calculates the said movement time according to the specified moving means.

The update unit 212 performs substantially the same processing as the update unit 112 according to the first embodiment. The update unit 212 is different from the update unit 112 according to the first embodiment in comparing the travel time TP and the threshold value TT instead of comparing the distance DP and the threshold value DT1.

So far, the configuration of the device control apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment has been described. From here, the process which the apparatus control apparatus 200 performs is demonstrated.

The device control apparatus 200 executes substantially the same processing as the device control apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, a part of the device control schedule change process is different from the device control schedule change process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 16 shows a flow of device control schedule change processing according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, in the device control schedule change process according to the present embodiment, instead of step S112, step S113, and step S115 of the device control schedule change process according to the first embodiment, step S212, step S213 and step S215 are executed.

In step S212, the calculation unit 211 calculates the travel time TP (step S212).

More specifically, the calculation unit 211 acquires the moving means data 217 from the storage unit 208 using the scheduled content included in the device control schedule data 206 to be updated as a key.

For example, the device control schedule data 206 to be updated is the one shown in FIG. 14 whose scheduled content is “company” and whose user action is “return home”. The calculation unit 211 acquires the moving means data 217 whose schedule content is “company”, that is, the data shown in FIG.

The calculation unit 211 specifies where in the section included in the moving means data 217 the user is based on the reference position indicated by the reference position data 105 acquired by the current position acquisition unit 110. For example, it is assumed that the current position of the user is in the middle of “A station to B station”.

The calculation unit 211 acquires the reference position data 105 from the storage unit 208. The calculation unit 211 calculates a travel time TP from the current position to the reference position (home) based on the current position in the identified section and the reference position indicated by the acquired reference position data 105.

For example, the calculation unit 211 calculates the travel time from the current position to the B station by performing a prorated calculation of the travel time “20 minutes” of “A station to B station” included in the travel means data 217 of FIG. . According to this method, when the current position of the user is in the middle of “A station to B station”, the travel time from the current position to B station is half of “20 minutes”, that is, “10 minutes”. Calculated.

For example, in the case of train travel time, for example, a program installed in advance, a service provided through the Internet, or the like may be used. For example, the required time from the nearest station to the B station at the current position may be the travel time from the current position to the B station. Further, train delay information may be considered.

Next, the calculation unit 211 calculates the travel time from “B station to home”. In the case of the moving means data 217 in FIG. 15, the moving means corresponding to the weather is set for “B station to home”. Therefore, the calculation unit 211 calculates the travel time of “B station to home” based on the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 216.

For example, when the weather is rainy, the calculation unit 211 sets the travel time of “B station to home” to “10 minutes” based on the travel means data 217 shown in FIG. In addition, when the travel time is not set in the travel means data 217, the speed determined in advance according to the travel means (for example, 4km per hour in the case of "walking") and the remaining section using the travel means. The travel time may be calculated based on the road.

The calculation unit 211 adds “10 minutes”, which is the travel time from the current position to the B station, and “10 minutes”, which is the travel time from the B station to the home, so that the travel time TP is “20 minutes”. Is calculated.

In step S213, the update unit 212 compares the travel time TP calculated by the calculation unit 211 with the threshold TT, and determines whether the travel time TP is greater than the threshold TT.

If it is determined that the travel time TP is greater than the threshold value TT (step S213; Yes), the updating unit 212 executes step S114. When it determines with the movement time TP not being larger than threshold value TT (step S213; No), the update part 212 performs step S215.

In step S215, the updating unit 212 compares the travel time TP calculated by the calculation unit 211 with the threshold TT, and determines whether the travel time TP is smaller than the threshold TT.

When it is determined that the travel time TP is smaller than the threshold value TT (step S215; Yes), the update unit 212 executes step S116. When it determines with the movement time TP not being smaller than threshold value TT (step S215; No), the update part 212 complete | finishes an apparatus control schedule change process.

According to this modification, the movement time TP is calculated in consideration of the moving means. As a result, an accurate movement time TP from the current position to the reference position can be calculated, and the device control schedule data 206 can be changed based on the movement time TP. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately control the electric device 101 according to the user's action.

According to this modification, the movement time TP is calculated in consideration of the moving means according to the weather. As a result, a more accurate movement time TP from the current position to the reference position can be calculated, and the device control schedule data 206 can be changed based on the movement time TP. Therefore, it becomes possible to control the electric device 101 more appropriately according to the user's action.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the first embodiment, the device control schedule data 106 is set based on a user input or set in conjunction with a user schedule. Since the user's schedule is normally input by the user, some user input is required to set the device control schedule data 106.

In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which appropriate device control schedule data 106 corresponding to a user's action is set without input by the user.

The device control apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment is configured in substantially the same manner as the device control apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. The device control apparatus 300 includes a storage unit 308 according to the first embodiment, a storage unit 308 instead of the current position acquisition unit 110 and the update unit 112, a current position acquisition unit 310, and an update unit 312, and further includes a user action specifying unit 318. Is provided.

As shown in the figure, the storage unit 308 stores position history data 319 and interlocking rule data 320 in addition to the data 105 to 107 stored by the storage unit 108 according to the first embodiment.

The position history data 319 is data indicating a user position history. As shown in FIG. 18, the position history data 319 includes a time and the position of the user at that time.

The interlocking rule data 320 includes a user action and a rule for creating a control schedule in conjunction with the user action (interlocking rule). The interlocking rule data 320 shown in FIG. 19 includes a interlocking rule for turning “OFF” the electrical devices 101 of “all except the refrigerator” for the user operation of “going out” “after 5 minutes from the time of going out”. Also, the interlocking rule data 320 shown in the figure includes an interlocking rule that “the air conditioner in the living room” 101d is set to “ON” for “10 minutes before arrival at home” for the user operation “return home”.

The example of the interlocking rule data 320 is not limited to these. For example, for a user operation of “running”, “store hot water in the bathtub” when “arriving at home” with “hot water heater” as the control target device. The interlocking rule may be included.

The current position acquisition unit 310 acquires current position information in the same manner as the current position acquisition unit 110 according to the first embodiment. When acquiring the current position information, the current position acquisition unit 310 according to the present embodiment associates the acquired current position information with the current time acquired from the timekeeping unit (not shown), and stores the storage unit 308 as the position history data 319. Remember me.

The user action specifying unit 318 monitors the position history data 319 stored in the storage unit 308 and specifies the user action based on the user position history. The history of the user's position corresponds to current position information that the current position acquisition unit 310 sequentially acquires.

The update unit 312 creates a device schedule according to the user operation and the interlocking rule in addition to the processing executed by the update unit 112 according to the first embodiment. The updating unit 312 stores the device control schedule data 106 indicating the created device schedule in the storage unit 308.

Specifically, when a user action is specified by the action specifying unit, the update unit 312 stores the link rule data 320 including the specified user action in the storage unit 308 when the link rule data 320 including the specified user action is stored. Obtained from the storage unit 308. The update unit 312 creates a device schedule according to the interlocking rules included in the acquired interlocking rule data 320.

So far, the configuration of the device control apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment has been described. From here, the process which the apparatus control apparatus 300 performs is demonstrated.

The device control apparatus 300 executes the user operation interlocking process shown in FIG. 20 in addition to the processes executed by the device control apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. The user action interlocking process is a process for adding the device control schedule data 106 to the storage unit 308 in conjunction with the user action specified based on the user position history. The user operation interlocking process is executed periodically, for example.

The user action specifying unit 318 acquires the latest predetermined number (for example, five) of position history data 319 from the storage unit 308 (step S301).

The user action specifying unit 318 calculates a distance DP from the reference position to the current position (step S302). The distance DP here is a linear distance. The distance DP may be a road.

An example of the result of calculation in step S302 is shown in FIG. It is assumed that the solid line 321 and the dotted line 322 in the figure are examples at the time when the latest points are different.

The user action specifying unit 318 determines whether or not the current position of the user is gradually away from the reference position (step S303).

When it is determined that the user is gradually away from the reference position (step S303; Yes), the user action specifying unit 318 specifies the user action as “going out” (step S304). In the example represented by the solid line 321 in FIG. 21, the user is gradually away from the reference position. Therefore, in this case, the user action is specified as “going out”.

When receiving the notification that the user operation specifying unit 318 has specified “going out” from the user operation specifying unit 318, the updating unit 312 creates a device control schedule based on the interlocking rule data 320 in which the user operation is “going out” (step S305). .

In the example of the interlocking rule data 320 shown in FIG. 19, the update unit 312 sets the control time to 5 minutes after the time when step S304 is executed, sets all the electric devices 101a to 101e except the refrigerator 101f as control target devices, Create a device control schedule with “OFF” as the control content.

When it is determined that it is not gradually away from the reference position (step S303; No), the user action specifying unit 318 determines whether or not the current position of the user is gradually approaching the reference position (step S306). When it is determined that the reference position is not gradually approached (step S306; No), the user action specifying unit 318 ends the user action interlocking process.

When it is determined that the position is gradually approaching the reference position (step S306; Yes), the user action specifying unit 318 specifies the user action as “returning home” (step S307). In the example represented by the dotted line 322 in FIG. 21, the user gradually approaches the reference position. Accordingly, in this case, the user action is specified as “return home”.

When receiving the notification that the user operation specifying unit 318 has specified “return home”, the update unit 312 creates a device control schedule based on the link rule data 320 in which the user operation is “return home” (step S308). .

In the example of the linkage rule data 320 shown in FIG. 19, the update unit 312 controls “ON” by setting the control time as 10 minutes before the predicted time of arrival at the home, setting the air conditioner 101d in the living room as the control target device. Create a device control schedule for the contents. Here, the time of arrival at home may be calculated from the history of the user's position. For example, it may be calculated based on the average speed of the user calculated from the position history, the latest distance DP, and the current time.

The update unit 312 adds the device control schedule data 106 in which the device control schedule created in step S305 or step S308 is associated with the corresponding user action to the storage unit 308 (step S309). Here, the “user operation corresponding to the device control schedule” is a “user operation” included in the linkage rule data 320 referred to when the device control schedule is created.

Thereby, the update unit 312 ends the user operation interlocking process.

According to the present embodiment, the device control schedule is automatically set based on the history of the position of the user without input by the user. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately control the electric device according to the user's action.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
In the first to third embodiments, an example in which there is one user has been described. There may be a plurality of users. In the present embodiment, a case where the user is a family of three (a father, a mother, and a child) will be described as an example.

As shown in FIG. 22, device control apparatus 400a according to the present embodiment includes electric devices 101a to 101h installed in a house and movements carried by each of the residents (father, mother, and child) of the house as a user. A device control system 403 is configured together with the terminals 402a to 402c.

The device control apparatus 400a communicates with the electric devices 101a to 101h (details will be described later) via the communication network N1, as shown in FIG. The device control apparatus 400a communicates with each of the mobile terminal 402a carried by the father, the mobile terminal 402b carried by the mother, and the mobile terminal 402c carried by the child via the communication network N2. The mobile terminals 402a to 402c may be configured similarly to the mobile terminal 102 according to the first embodiment.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 23, the house includes a child room in addition to the sections (kitchen, living room, bedroom) in which electric devices 101a to 101f similar to the house according to the first embodiment are installed. Have. In the children's room, an illumination 101g and an air conditioner 101h are installed.

Functionally, the device control apparatus 400a according to the present embodiment includes a reference position setting unit 109 and a device control unit 114 similar to those of the device control apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment as shown in FIG. The device control apparatus 400a includes a storage unit 408a, a current position acquisition unit 410, a calculation unit 411a, and a notification unit 413a instead of the storage unit 108, the current position acquisition unit 110, the calculation unit 111, and the notification unit 113 according to the first embodiment. Prepare.

The storage unit 408a stores the reference position data 105 similar to that in the first embodiment. The storage unit 408a stores device control schedule data 406 and terminal data 407 in place of the device control schedule data 106 and the terminal data 107 stored in the storage unit 108 according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 25, the device control schedule data 406 further includes a user for specifying the user in addition to the user operation and the device control schedule similar to those of the first embodiment. The user information included in the device control schedule data 406 is the subject of the user operation associated with the user information, in other words, the device control schedule associated with the user information is set in relation to the user operation of anyone. Indicates whether it is a thing.

As shown in FIG. 26, the terminal data 407 includes user information, a mail address assigned to each of the mobile terminals 402a to 402c, and other notification destinations.

The user information included in the terminal data 407 indicates the subject carrying the mobile terminals 402a to 402c to which the mail address associated with the user information is assigned. The other notification destination is information for specifying a user who should be notified at the same time when notifying the user indicated by the associated user information. The user information shown in the figure indicates that, when notifying a child, notifying the mother at the same time.

The current position acquisition unit 410 acquires current position information in the same manner as the current position acquisition unit 110 according to the first embodiment, and also acquires information for specifying the user carrying the mobile terminals 402a to 402c as the acquisition source. To do. For example, in the present embodiment, if a mail address is acquired, the user carrying the mobile terminals 402a to 402c can be specified by referring to the terminal data 407.

The calculation unit 411a calculates the distance DP from the current position to the reference position when there is device control schedule data 406 to be updated, as with the calculation unit 111 according to the first embodiment.

Unlike the calculation unit 111 according to the first embodiment, the calculation unit 411 according to the present embodiment is a user related to the device control schedule data 406 to be updated from the current position information acquired by the current position acquisition unit 410. Identify things. Then, the calculation unit 411a calculates a distance DP from the current position indicated by the specified current position information to the reference position indicated by the reference position data 105.

As in the notification unit 113 according to Embodiment 1, the notification unit 413a notifies any of the mobile terminals 402a to 402c when the update unit 112 updates the device control schedule data 406.

Unlike the notification unit 113 according to the first embodiment, the notification unit 413a according to the present embodiment identifies a user associated with the updated device control schedule data 406, and the mobile terminals 402a to 402c carried by the identified user Notify that it has been updated.

So far, the configuration of the device control apparatus 400a according to the present embodiment has been described. From here, the process which the apparatus control apparatus 400a performs is demonstrated.

The device control apparatus 400a according to the present embodiment performs substantially the same processing as the device control apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, a part of the device control schedule change process is different from the device control schedule change process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 27 shows the flow of device control schedule change processing according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, in the device control schedule change process according to the present embodiment, steps S412 and S418 are executed in place of steps S112 and S118 of the device control schedule change process according to the first embodiment. Is done.

In step S412, the calculation unit 411a calculates the distance DP.

More specifically, the calculation unit 411a identifies information acquired together with user information included in the device control schedule data 406 to be updated from the current position information acquired by the current position acquisition unit 410. The calculation unit 411a acquires the reference position data 105 from the storage unit 408a. The calculation unit 411a calculates a distance DP between the reference position indicated by the acquired reference position data 105 and the current position indicated by the specified current position information.

The update unit 112 executes steps S113 to S117 similar to those in the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the calculation unit 411a extracts the device control schedule data 406 to be updated in step S111, and then calculates the distance DP using the specified current position information as described above. Therefore, the update unit 112 updates the device control schedule data 406 associated with the user information acquired together with the current position information by the current position acquisition unit 410 by executing steps S113 to S117 similar to those in the first embodiment. Will do.

In step S418, when the notification unit 413a receives the change notification from the update unit 112, the notification unit 413a notifies the mobile terminal 402a-c carried by the user of the content of the change.

Specifically, the notification unit 413a acquires the user information included in the updated device control schedule data 406 by the notification from the update unit 112. The notification unit 413a extracts terminal data 407 including the acquired user information.

The notification unit 413a holds the mail address of the extracted terminal data 407. If another notification destination is set in the extracted terminal data 407, the mail address corresponding to the other notification destination is also stored.

The notification unit 413a creates an e-mail indicating the content of the change based on the notification from the update unit 112. The notification unit 413a transmits the created electronic mail to the stored mail address.

For example, it is assumed that the device control schedule data 406 related to “child” is updated. In this case, based on the notification from the updating unit 112 and the terminal data 407, the notification unit 413a is an electronic device that indicates the change contents to the mobile terminal 402b carried by the “mother” and the mobile terminal 402c carried by the “child”. send mail.

According to the present embodiment, the device control schedule data 406 related to the user is changed based on the current position information of the specific user. Therefore, even if there are a plurality of users, it is possible to control the device according to the behavior of each user.

According to the present embodiment, the terminal data 407 includes users (other notification destinations) to be notified at the same time in addition to the mail addresses (notification destinations) of the mobile terminals 402a to 402c of each user. Accordingly, when the device control schedule data 406 related to a specific user is updated, the update content can be notified to users other than the user.

For example, if an update is made that is not suitable for the user's actual behavior, there is a possibility that even if the child receives the notification, the child cannot sufficiently respond. By notifying other users as well, there is a high possibility that the updated device control schedule data 406 can be appropriately dealt with, such as correction. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately control the device according to the user's action.

Modification 6
In the fourth embodiment, the device control schedule data 406 includes user information, and thereby the current position information to be referred to at the time of update is specified. However, the method of associating the user with the device control schedule is not limited to this, and the device control schedule data 406 may not include user information. For example, the user and the device to be controlled may be associated with data that associates the user information with the electrical device 101, and thereby the user and the device control schedule may be associated with each other. The data associating the user information with the electric device 101 may be composed of two pieces of data (data associating the user with the room and data associating the room with the electric device 101).

The device control apparatus 400b according to the present modification has a configuration substantially similar to that of the device control apparatus 400a according to the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. The device control apparatus 400b includes a storage unit 408b, a calculation unit 411b, and a notification unit 413b instead of the storage unit 408a, the calculation unit 411a, and the notification unit 413a according to the fourth embodiment.

In addition to the device control schedule data 106 stored in the storage unit 108 according to the first embodiment and the

data

406 and 407 stored in the storage unit 408a according to the fourth embodiment, the storage unit 408b includes user information and electric devices. User-equipment data 423 associated with 101 is stored. The user-equipment data 423 includes partition data 424 that associates a room with a user, and device installation data 425 that associates a room with the electrical device 101.

As shown in FIG. 29, the partition data 424 includes information for specifying a room and user information. The information for specifying the room is, for example, a name set in advance for each room. In the example shown in the figure, for example, “Father, Mother, Child” (that is, the whole family) is associated with “Living”.

The equipment installation data 425 includes information for specifying a room and the electrical equipment 101 as shown in FIG. The equipment installation data 425 indicates the electrical equipment 101 installed in each room, as can be seen with reference to FIGS. 23 and 30.

The calculation unit 411b identifies the control target device of the device control schedule data 406 to be updated. The calculation unit 411b extracts the room in which the identified control target device 101 is installed from the device installation data 425. The calculation unit 411b extracts user information associated with the extracted room from the section data 424. The calculation unit 411b identifies the current position information acquired by the current position acquisition unit 410 and acquired together with the extracted user information. Then, the calculation unit 411b calculates a distance DP from the current position indicated by the specified current position information to the reference position indicated by the reference position data 105.

As in the fourth embodiment, the notification unit 413b identifies a user related to the updated device control schedule data 406 and notifies the mobile terminals 402a to 402c carried by the identified user of the update. The notification unit 413b according to the present modification also notifies the mobile terminals 402a to 402c carried by the user in the room where the control target device 101 included in the updated device control schedule data 406 is installed, that the update has been performed.

According to this modification, the user and device control schedule are associated with each other by the user-device data 423. This also has the same effect as the fourth embodiment.

According to this modification, the user-equipment data 423 is composed of section data 424 and equipment installation data 425. These

data

424 and 425 are often stored for the device control apparatus 400 to control the electric device 101. Therefore, in this modification, it is not necessary to add new data, so that the user's trouble can be saved. In addition, the user in the same room can be notified of the update. Thereby, each user of the same room can amend an apparatus control schedule according to own action. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately control the device according to the user's action.

Embodiment 5 FIG.
In the fifth embodiment, the device control schedule data is updated immediately before the control time (for example, before a predetermined time such as 10 to 60 seconds), depending on whether the user is in each room, or An example in which the device control unit changes the control content will be described.

As shown in FIG. 31, the device control apparatus 500 according to the present embodiment is similar to the device control apparatus 400 according to the fourth embodiment, and includes a reference position setting unit 109, a current position acquisition unit 410, a calculation unit 411a, and a notification. Part 413a. The device control apparatus 500 includes a storage unit 508, an update unit 512, and a device control unit 514 instead of the storage unit 408a, the update unit 112, and the device control unit 114 included in the device control apparatus 400 according to the fourth embodiment. A section existence determination unit 526 and a section position setting unit 527 are provided.

The storage unit 508 stores the reference position data 105 and terminal data 407 similar to those of the fourth embodiment, the device installation data 425 similar to that of the modification 6, the device control schedule data 506, and the partition position data 528.

The device control schedule data 506 includes an intra-section flag in addition to the information included in the device control schedule data 406 according to the fourth embodiment. The intra-compartment flag indicates whether or not the device control schedule associated with the intra-compartment flag is based on the assumption that the user is in the room where the control target device is installed.

The device control schedule data 506 according to the present embodiment includes an intra-compartment flag in which “0” or “1” is set, as shown in FIG. “1” represents that the associated device control schedule is based on the assumption that the user is present at the control time in the room where the control target device is installed. “0” represents that the associated device control schedule is not based on the assumption that the user is present at the control time in the room where the control target device is installed. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 32, the device control schedule associated with the user action “sleeping” has the intra-compartment flag “1”, and therefore “mother” at “March 3, 2014 22:00”. Is in the “bedroom”.

The partition position data 528 is data indicating the position of each room. In the section position data 528 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 33, information for specifying each room is associated with latitude and longitude.

The partition presence / absence determination unit 526 determines whether or not there is a user in each room, and outputs the determined result to the update unit 512.

Specifically, for example, the partition presence / absence determination unit 526 acquires the current position information and user information from each of the mobile terminals 402 a to 402 c from the current position acquisition unit 410. The partition presence / absence determination unit 526 determines whether or not the current position indicated by the acquired current position information is within a predetermined range with respect to the position of each room indicated by the partition position data 528. The partition presence / absence determination unit 526 determines that there is a user carrying the mobile terminal 402 that has transmitted the current position information indicating the current position in a room where the current position is determined to be within a predetermined range.

The update unit 512 updates the device control schedule data 506 based on the determination result by the partition existence determination unit 526 and the intra-compartment flag included in the device control schedule data 506.

Specifically, the update unit 512 identifies the control target device 101 included in the device control schedule data 506 whose in-section flag is “1”. The update unit 512 specifies the room in which the specified control target device 101 is installed based on the device installation data 425. The update unit 512 determines whether there is a user in the specified room based on the determination result by the partition existence determination unit 526. When there is no user in the identified room, the update unit 512 deletes the device control schedule data 506 whose intra-section flag is “1” from the storage unit 508.

The device control unit 514 controls the operation of the electric device 101. As shown in FIG. 34, the device control unit 514 according to the present embodiment includes a device operation determination unit 529 that determines whether or not the electric device 101 is operating, and a room adjacent to the room in which the control target device 101 is installed. And an adjacent room interlocking unit 530 that controls the device to be controlled 101 in conjunction with the operation status of the electrical device 101 in FIG.

Specifically, the device operation determination unit 529 specifies a room in which the control target device 101 of the device control schedule data 506 at which the control time has arrived is installed. The device operation determination unit 529 specifies the same type of electric device 101 as the control target device 101 among the electric devices 101 installed in the adjacent room of the specified room. The device operation determination unit 529 determines whether or not the specified electrical device 101 is operating by communicating with the specified electrical device 101.

When the device operation determination unit 529 determines that the electrical device 101 is operating, the adjacent room interlocking unit 530 suppresses the power consumption more than the control content included in the device control schedule data 506. To work.

The partition position setting unit 527 acquires the current position information acquired by each of the user's mobile terminals 402a to 402c in each room. At this time, the mobile terminals 402a to 402c transmit information for specifying the room together with the current position information. The information for specifying the room is, for example, a name set in advance for each room, and may be set by the user inputting to the mobile terminals 402a to 402c.

So far, the configuration of the device control apparatus 500 according to the present embodiment has been described. From here, the process which the apparatus control apparatus 500 performs is demonstrated.

The device control apparatus 500 according to the present embodiment executes a partition presence / absence interlocking process and an adjacent room interlocking process in addition to the processes executed by the apparatus control device 400a according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 35 shows the flow of the partition presence / absence interlocking process according to the present embodiment. The section presence / absence interlocking process is a process for deleting the device control schedule data 506 when the user is not at the control time in the room where the control target device 101 is installed. For example, when the device control schedule data 506 including the control time within a predetermined range from the current time is stored in the storage unit 508, the partition presence / absence interlocking processing is performed using the device control schedule data 506 as a deletion target. Executed.

The partition presence / absence determination unit 526 acquires the current position information and user information from each of the mobile terminals 402a to 402c from the current position acquisition unit 410 (step S501).

Here, the current position acquisition unit 410 may acquire the current position information by a different method depending on whether the user is outside the house or in the house. For example, when the user is outside the home, the mobile terminals 402a to 402c may acquire the position information calculated by the GPS function of the mobile terminals 402a to 402c carried by the user as the current position information. When the user is in the house, the mobile terminals 402a to 402c may acquire the position information that the mobile terminals 402a to 402c carried by the user acquire using the wireless communication network in the house as the current position information. As a result, in the case of a home network, the reception state is often good, so that the location in the home can be reliably acquired.

The partition existence determination unit 526 determines whether there is a user in each room (step S502).

Specifically, the partition presence / absence determination unit 526 acquires the partition position data 528 from the storage unit 508, and specifies the position of each room. The partition presence / absence determination unit 526 determines whether or not the current position indicated by the acquired current position information is in each room. When there is a room where the current position is inside, the partition presence / absence determination unit 526 determines that the user indicated by the user information acquired from the mobile terminal 402 together with the current position information indicating the current position is in the room. When there is no room where the current position is inside, the partition existence determination unit 526 determines that the user is not in any room.

The update unit 512 determines whether or not the intra-compartment flag included in the device control schedule data 506 to be deleted is “1” (step S503). When it is determined that the intra-compartment flag is not “1” (step S503; No), the update unit 512 ends the inter-partition presence / absence interlocking process.

When it is determined that the intra-compartment flag is “1” (step S503; Yes), the update unit 512 sets the room where the control target device 101 included in the device control schedule data 506 to be deleted is installed as a device. This is specified by referring to the installation data 425. The update unit 512 determines whether or not there is a user in the specified room by referring to the determination result by the partition existence determination unit 526 (step S504).

If it is determined that there is a user in the identified room (step S504; Yes), the update unit 512 deletes the device control schedule data 506 to be deleted, because it is predicted that the user is acting as scheduled. Without completing, the partition presence / absence interlocking process is terminated.

When it is determined that there is no user in the identified room (step S504; No), since it is predicted that the user's schedule has changed, the update unit 512 stores the device control schedule data 506 to be deleted. It deletes from 508 (step S505).

FIG. 36 shows the flow of the adjacent room interlocking process according to the present embodiment. The adjacent room interlocking process is executed, for example, when executing a device control schedule included in the device control schedule data 506 that has reached the control time. Hereinafter, the device control schedule data 506 at which the control time has come is referred to as device control schedule data 506 to be executed.

The device operation determination unit 529 specifies the room in which the control target device 101 included in the target device control schedule data 506 is installed based on the device installation data 425 (step S511).

The device operation determination unit 529 determines whether or not an electric device 101 of the same type as the control target device 101 is installed in a room adjacent to the room specified in step S511 (step S512). When it determines with not having installed (step S512; No), the apparatus operation | movement determination part 529 complete | finishes an adjacent room interlocking | linkage process.

If it is determined that the electrical device 101 is installed (step S512; Yes), the device operation determination unit 529 communicates with the electrical device 101 whether or not the electrical device 101 installed in the adjacent room is in operation. Determination is made (step S513). When it determines with it not operating (step S513; No), the apparatus operation | movement determination part 529 complete | finishes an adjacent room interlocking | linkage process.

If it is determined that the device is in operation (step S513; Yes), the adjacent room interlocking unit 530 controls the control target device 101 included in the device control schedule data 506 to be executed to save power (step S514). ).

Specifically, the adjacent room interlocking unit 530 operates the control target device 101 in a mode with less power consumption than the control content included in the device control schedule data 506 that is the execution target.

For example, it is assumed that the air conditioner 101e in the bedroom is operating in the heating mode and the air conditioner 101h in the child room is the control target device. And according to the control content contained in the apparatus control schedule data 506 which is the object of execution, it is assumed that the control target apparatus 101h is controlled to operate in the 24-degree heating mode.

In this case, the device operation determination unit 529 may operate the control target device 101h in, for example, a 22 degree heating mode. Alternatively, when the bedroom and the child room are connected by a duct including a ventilation fan, the device operation determination unit 529 may circulate warm air using the ventilation fan without operating the control target device 101h. As a result, the temperature difference between the adjacent rooms is reduced, so that it is possible to save power and improve the comfort of life of the air conditioner 101e.

According to the present embodiment, when performing control assuming that the user is present at the control time in the room where the control target device 101 is installed, if the user is not in that room, the corresponding device control schedule Data 506 is deleted. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the control target device 101 from being controlled even though the user's schedule is changed and the user is not in the room. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately control the electric device 101 according to the user's action.

According to this embodiment, when controlling the control target device 101 in a certain room, if the same type of electric device 101 is operating in the adjacent room, the control target device 101 is operated in a mode with low power consumption. For example, when any one of the

air conditioners

101d, 101e, and 101h is the control target device 101, the power consumption of the

control target devices

101d, 101e, and 101h is low if the

air conditioners

101d, 101e, and 101h are operating in the adjacent room. Even if it is operated in this manner, the comfort of the user is not significantly reduced. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately control the electric device 101 according to the user's action.

Embodiment 6 FIG.
In Embodiments 1 to 5, the position of the user is acquired from the mobile terminal 102. However, whether or not the user is in the home may be acquired by a sensor or the like.

As shown in FIG. 37, the device control apparatus 600 according to the sixth embodiment has generally the same configuration as the device control apparatus 400a according to the fourth embodiment. The device control apparatus 600 includes a storage unit 608 and an update unit 612 instead of the storage unit 408a and the update unit 112 included in the device control apparatus 400a according to the fourth embodiment. The device control apparatus 600 further includes an in-home / outside determination unit 631 as an area inside / outside determination unit.

The storage unit 608 stores the same reference position data 105 and terminal data 407 as in the fourth embodiment, and further, a device control schedule that replaces the device control schedule data 406 provided in the storage unit 408 according to the fourth embodiment. Data 606 is stored.

As shown in FIG. 38, the device control schedule data 606 includes an in-region flag instead of the user information included in the device control schedule data 406 according to the fourth embodiment. The in-region flag indicates whether or not the device control schedule associated with the in-region flag is based on the assumption that the user is in the house.

In the device control schedule data 606 according to the present embodiment, “0” or “1” is set as shown in FIG. “1” represents that the associated device control schedule is based on the premise that the user is in the house at the control time. “0” represents that the associated device control schedule is not based on the assumption that the user is in the house at the control time. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 38, the device control schedule associated with the user action “sleeping” has the in-region flag “1”, so “Mother” at “March 3, 2014 22:00”. Is assumed to be in a house.

Home / outside determination unit 631 determines whether there is a user in the house, and outputs the determined result to update unit 612.

Specifically, for example, the inside / outside determination unit 631 acquires a signal from a sensor indicating whether or not there is a user in the house. Although not shown, this sensor detects, for example, the opening / closing of the door of the refrigerator 101f, a human sensor attached to the

air conditioners

101d, 101e, 101h, or an electronic lock such as an entrance to detect the opening / closing of the door, EV For example, a sensor that detects that a charger is connected to (Electric Vehicle), a human sensor provided separately from the electric device 101, and the like.

The inside / outside determination unit 631 determines whether there is a user in the house depending on whether a signal indicating that the user is in the house is received within a predetermined time (for example, 1 hour) from at least one of the sensors. Determine whether or not. When the signal is not received, the inside / outside determination unit 631 determines that there is no user in the house. When at least one signal is received, the inside / outside determination unit 631 determines that there is a user in the house.

In addition to the processing executed by the update unit 112 according to the fourth embodiment, the update unit 612 performs device control based on the determination result by the in-home / outside determination unit 631 and the in-region flag included in the device control schedule data 606. The schedule data 606 is updated.

Specifically, the update unit 612 has the in-region flag of the device control schedule data 606 including the control time that arrives within a predetermined time (for example, 10 to 60 seconds), and the home When the inside / outside determination unit 631 determines that there is no user in the house, the device control schedule data 606 is deleted from the storage unit 608.

So far, the configuration of the device control apparatus 600 according to the present embodiment has been described. From here, the process which the apparatus control apparatus 600 performs is demonstrated.

The device control apparatus 600 according to the present embodiment performs substantially the same processing as the device control apparatus 400a according to the fourth embodiment. The device control apparatus 600 further executes a region presence / absence interlocking process.

FIG. 39 shows the flow of the area presence / absence interlocking process according to the present embodiment. The area presence / absence interlocking process is a process for deleting the device control schedule data 606 when the user is not at the control time in the house. The area presence / absence interlocking process is performed when, for example, device control schedule data 606 including a control time within a predetermined range (eg, 10 to 60 seconds) from the current time is stored in the storage unit 608. The control schedule data 606 is executed as a deletion target.

Home / outside determination unit 631 determines whether there is a user in the house based on the signal from the sensor as described above (step S601), and outputs the determined result to update unit 612.

The updating unit 612 determines whether or not the in-region flag included in the device control schedule data 606 to be deleted is “1” (step S502). If it is determined that the in-region flag is not “1” (step S602; No), the update unit 612 ends the region presence / absence interlocking process.

When it is determined that the in-region flag is “1” (step S602; Yes), the update unit 612 determines whether there is a user in the home based on the determination result in step S601 (step S603). ). If it is determined that there is a user in the house (step S603; Yes), the update unit 612 ends the area presence / absence interlocking process.

When it is determined that there is no user in the home (step S603; No), the update unit 612 deletes the device control schedule data 606 that is the object of deletion from the storage unit 608 (step S604).

According to the present embodiment, when performing control based on the assumption that the user is present at the control time in the house, if the user is not present in the house, the corresponding device control schedule data 606 is deleted. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the control target device 101 from being controlled even though the user's schedule is changed and the user is not in the house. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately control the electric device 101 according to the user's action.

The present invention may be realized as a program executed by a computer, or may be realized as a computer-readable storage medium in which the program is recorded.

As mentioned above, although embodiment and modification of this invention were clarified, this invention is not limited to these. The present invention includes a combination of the embodiments and modifications as appropriate, and a modification appropriately added thereto.

The invention according to the present application can be suitably used for a device control device, a device control system, a terminal device, a device control method, a program, and the like for controlling an electric device.

100, 200, 300, 400a, 400b, 500, 600 equipment control device, 101 electrical equipment, 102, 402a to c, mobile terminal, 105 reference position data, 106, 206, 406, 506, 606 equipment control schedule data, 107, 407 terminal data, 108, 208, 308, 408a, 408b, 508, 608 storage unit, 109 reference position setting unit, 110, 310, 410 current position acquisition unit, 1111, 211, 411a, 411b calculation unit, 112, 212, 312, 512, 612 update unit, 113, 413a, 413b notification unit, 114, 514 device control unit, 216 weather information acquisition unit, 217 travel means data, 318 user action identification unit, 319 location history data, 320 interlocking rule data, 423 You - device data, 424 partition data, 425 equipment installation data, 526 partition existence judgment unit, 527 partition position setting unit, 528 partition position data, 529 equipment operation determination unit, 530 adjacent chamber interlocking unit, 631 home outdoor decision unit.

Claims

A device control device for controlling electrical devices installed in a control area,
Current position acquisition means for acquiring current position information indicating the current position of the user;
Device control schedule storage means for storing device control schedule data including a control schedule for the device to be controlled;
Calculation means for calculating a distance or a movement time from the current position indicated by the current position information acquired by the current position acquisition means to a reference position of the control region;
A device control apparatus comprising: an updating unit that compares the distance or movement time calculated by the calculating unit with a preset threshold value and updates the device control schedule data according to the comparison result.
The current position acquisition means acquires user information for identifying the user together with the current position information,
The device control schedule data includes the user information and the control schedule,
The device control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the update unit updates the device control schedule data associated with user information acquired together with the current position information by the current position acquisition unit.
Further comprising user-device storage means for storing user-device data associating the user information with the electrical device;
The current position acquisition means acquires user information for identifying the user together with the current position information,
The updating unit updates the device control schedule data in which the electric device associated with the user-device data is the device to be controlled with the user information acquired together with the current position information by the current position acquisition unit. Item 2. The device control apparatus according to Item 1.
The user-equipment data is
Partition data associating a partition into which the control area is partitioned and a user;
The device control apparatus according to claim 3, comprising device installation data associating the section with the electric device.
Based on the current position information acquired by the current position acquisition means, further comprising a section presence / absence determination means for determining whether or not a user is present in each of the sections into which the control area has been partitioned,
The device control schedule data includes an in-compartment flag indicating whether or not the device control schedule is based on the premise that a user is in a section where the control target device is installed,
5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the updating unit further updates the device control schedule data based on a determination result by the partition existence determination unit and the intra-compartment flag included in the device control schedule data. The apparatus control apparatus according to item 1.
The device control means includes
Among the sections into which the control area is divided, the section in which the control target device of the device control schedule data is installed is specified, and the control target device among the electric devices installed in the section adjacent to the specified section Identifying the same type of electrical equipment and equipment operation determination means for determining whether the specified electrical equipment is operating;
When the operation determining unit determines that the electric device is operating, the adjacent room interlocking unit that operates the control target device in a mode that suppresses power consumption more than the control content included in the device control schedule data. The device control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
Based on a signal from a sensor provided in the control region, further comprising a region inside / outside determination means for determining whether or not the user is in the control region,
The device control schedule data includes an in-region flag indicating whether the device control schedule is based on the assumption that the user is in the control region,
The update means further updates the device control schedule data based on a result of determination by the area inside / outside determination means and the region existence flag included in the device control schedule data. The apparatus control apparatus according to item 1.
A moving means storing means for storing moving means data including the scheduled contents of the user and moving means according to the scheduled contents;
The device control schedule data further includes the scheduled content,
The said calculation means calculates the said movement time with reference to the said movement means data linked | related with the said apparatus control schedule data by the said schedule content, when calculating the said movement time. Device control apparatus of description.
A weather information acquisition means for acquiring weather information;
The movement means data includes the schedule contents, and movement means according to the schedule contents and the weather,
When calculating the travel time, the calculation means specifies the travel means according to the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition means from the travel means data associated with the device control schedule data according to the scheduled content. The device control apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the moving time is calculated according to the specified moving means.
The device control schedule data indicates a device control schedule associated with a user action,
The updating unit compares the distance or travel time calculated by the calculating unit with a threshold corresponding to a user action associated with the device control schedule among a plurality of thresholds preset for each user action. The device control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein device control schedule data associated with the user operation is updated according to the comparison result.
Interlocking rule storage means for storing interlocking rule data including the user action and a rule for creating the control schedule in conjunction with the user action;
Further comprising user action specifying means for specifying a user action based on current position information sequentially acquired by the current position acquiring means,
The updating means further creates a device schedule according to the interlock control rule data when the interlock control rule data including the user action specified by the action specifying means is stored in the interlock control rule storage means. The device control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein device control schedule data indicating the created device schedule is stored in the device control schedule storage unit.
The device control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the current position acquisition unit periodically acquires the current position information from a mobile terminal carried by the user.
The current position acquisition unit acquires the current position information from the mobile terminal when the mobile terminal carried by the user determines that the relationship between the current position and the reference position satisfies a predetermined condition. The device control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11.
14. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit that notifies the mobile terminal carried by the user that the device control schedule data has been updated when the updating unit has updated the device control schedule data. The apparatus control apparatus according to item 1.
Reference position storage means for storing reference position data including the reference position;
The apparatus control according to any one of claims 1 to 14, further comprising reference position setting means for acquiring current position information as the reference position data from a mobile terminal in the control area and storing the current position information in the reference position storage means. apparatus.
The current position acquisition means includes
A first acquisition means for acquiring, as the current position information, position information acquired by a mobile terminal carried by the user by a GPS function when the user is outside the control area;
A second acquisition unit configured to acquire, as the current position information, position information acquired by a mobile terminal carried by the user using a wireless communication network in the control area when the user is in the control area; Item 15. The device control apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 15.
The equipment control device according to any one of claims 1 to 16, further comprising equipment control means for controlling the electric equipment according to the equipment control schedule updated by the updating means.
The device control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 17,
A device control system comprising: the electrical device that communicates with the device control apparatus via a communication network.
A terminal device for controlling an electric device installed in a control area,
Current position acquisition means for acquiring current position information indicating the current position of the user;
Device control schedule storage means for storing device control schedule data including a control schedule for the device to be controlled;
Calculation means for calculating a distance or a movement time from the current position indicated by the current position information acquired by the current position acquisition means to a reference position of the control region;
A terminal device comprising: an updating unit that compares the distance or travel time calculated by the calculating unit with a preset threshold and updates the device control schedule data according to the comparison result.
A device control method for controlling an electrical device installed in a control area,
Get current location information indicating the current location of the user,
Calculating the distance or moving time from the current position indicated by the acquired current position information to the reference position of the control region;
A device control method for comparing the calculated distance or travel time with a preset threshold value and updating device control schedule data including a control schedule for the device to be controlled according to the comparison result.
A program for causing a computer to control electrical equipment installed in a control area,
In the computer,
Get current location information indicating the current location of the user,
Calculating the distance or moving time from the current position indicated by the acquired current position information to the reference position of the control region;
A program for comparing the calculated distance or travel time with a preset threshold and updating device control schedule data including a control schedule for the control target device according to the comparison result.