WO2019225312A1

WO2019225312A1 - Monitoring device and program

Info

Publication number: WO2019225312A1
Application number: PCT/JP2019/018398
Authority: WO
Inventors: 直季亀山; 後　友恵; 陽平大野; 雄一朗瀬川
Original assignee: 株式会社Ｎｔｔドコモ
Priority date: 2018-05-23
Filing date: 2019-05-08
Publication date: 2019-11-28
Also published as: JPWO2019225312A1; JP7341991B2

Abstract

This invention uses an aircraft to monitor animals presenting any abnormalities from among pasturing animals. In this invention, an acquisition unit acquires positional information indicating the position of a pasturing animal, and a calculation unit calculates an abnormality degree for the animal. If the calculated abnormality degree is equal to a threshold value or greater, an instruction unit instructs an aircraft (10) to start flying toward a monitoring position, which corresponds to the position indicated by the acquired positional information, and to perform processing whereby the animal is monitored at the monitoring position. If a predetermined condition regarding the situation of the animal surroundings is fulfilled, a modification unit modifies the threshold value.

Description

Monitoring device and program

The present invention relates to a technique for monitoring an animal using a flying object.

) A technique for monitoring using a flying object such as a drone is known. For example, Patent Document 1 describes that when an abnormality is detected in a monitoring area, the flying robot moves to the vicinity of the abnormality detection position and starts transmitting live video to the monitoring center.

JP 2016-189114 A

In the technique described in Patent Document 1, a suspicious vehicle or a suspicious person is monitored, but it is convenient to use a flying object to monitor, for example, a grazing animal. In addition, when an animal is monitored using a flying object, the flying object may start flying and monitor the animal when the degree of abnormality of the animal becomes high, but depending on the circumstances surrounding the animal, In some cases, it is better to start the flight and monitor the animal at an earlier timing than usual.
An object of this invention is to monitor the animal which has abnormality in the animal currently grazed using a flying body.

The present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires position information indicating a position of an animal being grazed, a calculation unit that calculates an abnormality degree of the animal, and when the calculated abnormality degree is a threshold value or more, An instruction unit for instructing the flying body to start a flight toward a monitoring position corresponding to the position indicated by the acquired position information and to monitor the animal at the monitoring position; and a situation around the animal When the predetermined condition is satisfied, a monitoring device is provided that includes a changing unit that changes the threshold value.

Further, the present invention provides the computer with the step of obtaining position information indicating the position of the grazing animal, the step of calculating the degree of abnormality of the animal, and the case where the calculated degree of abnormality is greater than or equal to a threshold value. Instructing the flying body to start a flight toward a monitoring position corresponding to the position indicated by the acquired position information and to monitor the animal at the monitoring position; A program for executing the step of changing the threshold value is provided.

According to the present invention, an animal having an abnormality in a grazing animal can be monitored using a flying object.

It is a figure showing an example of composition of monitoring system 1 concerning an embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the appearance of a flying object 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the flying object 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a server device 40. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a server device 40. FIG. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the terminal device. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a database 431 stored in a storage 43. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the monitoring process which the server apparatus 40 performs. It is a figure which shows an example of the abnormal degree of each animal. It is a sequence chart which shows an example of the monitoring process which the flying body and the terminal device 50 perform. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image 561 displayed on a display device 56. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a function structure of the server apparatus 40 which concerns on a modification. It is a figure which shows an example of the division | segmentation of the place where the animal which concerns on a modification was grazed. It is a figure which shows an example of the sum total of the abnormality degree of each area | region which concerns on a modification.

1. Configuration FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment. In this example, a plurality of animals are grazed at a place such as a ranch. This “grazing” means freezing while being under control. The animals that are grazed may be any animals such as cows, sheep, horses, sheep, and goats. Further, only one type of animal may be grazed, or multiple types of animals may be grazed. These animals are managed by an administrator. The monitoring system 1 is a system that monitors grazed animals. The monitoring system 1 includes a flying object 10, a plurality of sensor devices 20, a positioning device 30, a server device 40, and a terminal device 50. In addition, the number of apparatuses shown in FIG. 1 is an illustration, and is not limited to this.

The flying object 10, the sensor device 20, the positioning device 30, the server device 40, and the terminal device 50 are connected via a communication line 60. The communication line 60 includes, for example, a wireless network and the Internet, and transmits communication between these devices.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of the flying object 10. The flying object 10 is an unmanned aerial vehicle that can fly autonomously without human operation. The flying object 10 may be a drone, for example. The flying object 10 includes a propeller 101, a driving device 102, and a battery 103. The propeller 101 rotates about an axis. As the propeller 101 rotates, the flying object 10 flies. The driving device 102 rotates the propeller 101 with power. The driving device 102 is, for example, a motor. The drive device 102 may be directly connected to the propeller 101, or may be connected to the propeller 101 via a transmission mechanism that transmits the power of the drive device 102 to the propeller 101. The battery 103 supplies power to each part of the aircraft 10 including the driving device 102.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the flying object 10. The flying object 10 may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 11, a memory 12, a storage 13, a communication device 14, a positioning device 15, an imaging device 16, a bus 17, and the like. In the following description, the term “apparatus” can be read as a circuit, a device, a unit, or the like.

The processor 11 controls the entire computer by operating an operating system, for example. The processor 11 may include a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripheral devices, a control device, an arithmetic device, a register, and the like. The processor 11 reads a program (program code), software module, and data from the storage 13 and / or the communication device 14 to the memory 12, and executes various processes according to these. As the program, a program that causes a computer to execute at least a part of the operation of the flying object 10 is used. Various processes executed in the flying object 10 may be executed by one processor 11 or may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 11. The processor 11 may be implemented by one or more chips. Note that the program may be transmitted from a network via a telecommunication line.

The memory 12 is a computer-readable recording medium, and includes, for example, at least one of ROM (Read Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. May be. The memory 12 may be called a register, a cache, a main memory (main storage device), or the like. The memory 12 can store a program (program code), a software module, and the like that can be executed to implement the monitoring method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The storage 13 is a computer-readable recording medium, for example, an optical disc such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc) ROM, a hard disk drive, a flexible disc, a magneto-optical disc (eg, a compact disc, a digital versatile disc, a Blu-ray). (Registered trademark) disk, smart card, flash memory (for example, card, stick, key drive), floppy (registered trademark) disk, magnetic strip, and the like. The storage 13 may be called an auxiliary storage device.

The communication device 14 is hardware (transmission / reception device) for performing communication between computers via a wired and / or wireless network, and is also referred to as a network device, a network controller, a network card, a communication module, or the like.

The positioning device 15 measures the position of the flying object 10 at predetermined time intervals. The positioning device 15 is a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, for example, and measures the current position of the flying object 10 based on GPS signals received from a plurality of satellites. This location may be indicated using, for example, latitude, longitude, and altitude.

The imaging device 16 is provided toward the ground at a position where the flying object 10 can capture an image of an animal on the ground during flight, for example, a position facing the ground during flight. The imaging device 16 is, for example, a camera, and captures an image by connecting an image of a subject on an imaging device using an optical system. This image may be a still image or a moving image. Note that the imaging device 16 is not limited to a visible light camera that captures a visible light image. For example, the imaging device 16 may include an infrared camera that captures a heat distribution image called thermography.

Further, each device such as the processor 11 and the memory 12 is connected by a bus 17 for communicating information. The bus 17 may be composed of a single bus or may be composed of different buses between devices.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the sensor device 20 is a small device having a wireless communication function, and is attached to each animal that is grazing. For example, when the animal has a collar, the sensor device 20 may be attached to the collar. The sensor device 20 includes a positioning device 21 and a biological information sensor 22. The positioning device 21 is the same device as the positioning device 15 described above, and measures the position of the animal at a predetermined time interval. The biological information sensor 22 detects biological information of animals. This “biological information” refers to information emitted by a living body. This biological information may include, for example, body temperature, heart rate, pulse rate, or respiratory rate.

The positioning device 30 is a small device having a wireless communication function and is carried by an administrator. The positioning device 30 may be included in a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, for example. The positioning device 30 is the same device as the positioning device 15 described above, and measures the position of the manager at predetermined time intervals.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the server device 40. The server device 40 may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 41, a memory 42, a storage 43, a communication device 44, a bus 45, and the like. Since the processor 41, the memory 42, the storage 43, the communication device 44, and the bus 45 are the same as the processor 11, the memory 12, the storage 13, the communication device 14, and the bus 17 described above, description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the server device 40. The server device 40 functions as an acquisition unit 411, a calculation unit 412, a setting unit 413, a change unit 414, and an instruction unit 415. These functions are performed by reading predetermined software (program) on hardware such as the processor 41 and the memory 42, so that the processor 41 performs an operation and performs communication by the communication device 44 and data in the memory 42 or the storage 43. This is realized by controlling reading and / or writing.

The acquisition unit 411 acquires position information indicating the position of a grazing animal and state information indicating the state of the animal. This position information is information indicating the position measured by the positioning device 21, for example. The state information is biological information detected by the biological information sensor 22, for example. The position information and the state information may be transmitted from the sensor device 20, for example. Further, the acquisition unit 411 acquires position information indicating the position of the administrator. This position information is information indicating the position measured by the positioning device 30, for example. This position information may be transmitted from the positioning device 30, for example. Further, the acquisition unit 411 acquires position information indicating the position of the flying object 10. This position information is information indicating the position measured by the positioning device 15, for example. This position information may be transmitted from the flying object 10, for example.

The calculation unit 412 calculates the degree of abnormality of the animal. This “abnormality” refers to a value indicating the possibility that an animal has an abnormality. The higher the degree of abnormality, the higher the possibility that the animal has an abnormality. The degree of abnormality may be calculated based on the position information or biological information acquired by the acquisition unit 411. For example, the calculation unit 412 determines that the animal has performed a predetermined action based on the position information acquired by the acquisition unit 411, or determines that the state of the predetermined action has continued for a predetermined time. In some cases, the degree of abnormality may be increased. This predetermined action is an abnormal action different from a normal action, such as being out of the group or staying in the same place. The predetermined time is not a temporary action, for example, but a time at which it can be considered that an abnormal action is continuously performed. The calculation unit 412 determines that the animal is in a predetermined state based on the state information acquired by the acquisition unit 411, or determines that the predetermined state has continued for a predetermined time. The degree of abnormality may be increased. This predetermined state is an abnormal state different from the normal state, for example, the body temperature is higher than the normal temperature. The predetermined time is not a temporary state, for example, but a time at which it can be considered that an abnormal state continues continuously. In addition, individual differences among animals may be reflected in the determination of whether or not the state is a predetermined state. For example, it may be determined whether the body temperature of each animal is high based on the normal heat of each animal.

The setting unit 413 sets a threshold value used for comparison with the degree of abnormality. For example, when a predetermined condition regarding the situation around the animal is not satisfied, a predetermined standard threshold value is set. This predetermined condition is a condition indicating that it is better to start monitoring at a timing earlier than usual due to, for example, the situation around the animal. For example, when the flying object 10 cannot quickly reach the place where the animal to be monitored is located, the administrator cannot quickly reach the place where the animal to be monitored is present, or the place where the animal is likely to cause an abnormality or a place that is likely to lead to danger It is considered better to start monitoring at a timing earlier than usual. Therefore, for example, the predetermined condition is that the distance between the position of the flying object 10 and the position of the animal indicated by the position information acquired by the acquisition unit 411 is equal to or more than the predetermined distance, and the position of the flying object 10 and the manager It may be at least one of a condition that the distance to the position of the animal is greater than or equal to a predetermined distance, and a condition that the animal is in a predetermined place that is likely to cause an abnormality or easily cause a danger. On the other hand, when a predetermined condition regarding the situation around the animal is satisfied, a threshold value different from the standard threshold value is set.

The changing unit 414 changes the threshold value when the predetermined condition is satisfied. For example, the change unit 414 increases the distance between the position of the flying object 10 and the position of the animal indicated by the position information acquired by the acquisition unit 411 or the distance between the position of the flying object 10 and the position of the manager. The threshold may be lowered. Moreover, the change part 414 may reduce a threshold value, when it determines with an animal being in a predetermined place based on the positional information which the acquisition part 411 acquired. When the threshold value is changed in this way, the changed threshold value is set.

When the degree of abnormality calculated by the calculation unit 412 is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the instruction unit 415 starts flying toward the monitoring position corresponding to the position indicated by the position information acquired by the acquisition unit 411. The aircraft 10 is instructed to perform the process of monitoring the animal. This monitoring position is a position where the animal to be monitored can be photographed. For example, the monitoring position may be a position above the position indicated by the position information acquired by the acquisition unit 411. The process of monitoring the animal is a process of taking an image of the animal, for example. The instruction to the flying object 10 may be performed by transmitting instruction information to the flying object 10, for example.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the terminal device 50. The terminal device 50 may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 51, a memory 52, a storage 53, a communication device 54, an input device 55, a display device 56, a bus 57, and the like. Since the processor 51, the memory 52, the storage 53, the communication device 54, and the bus 57 are the same as the processor 11, the memory 12, the storage 13, the communication device 14, and the bus 17, respectively, the description thereof is omitted. The input device 55 is used for inputting various types of information. For example, the input device 55 is an input device (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, or the like) that accepts an external input. The display device 56 is an output device (for example, a display) that performs output to the outside. For example, the display device 56 may include a liquid crystal display. The input device 55 and the display device 56 may have an integrated configuration (for example, a touch panel).

2. Operation 2-1. Data Collection Processing Here, it is assumed that a plurality of animals include animals A to D as shown in FIG. The sensor device 20 is a server device that includes position information indicating the current position of the animal measured by the positioning device 21 and biological information of the animal detected by the biological information sensor 22 together with the identification information of the animal at predetermined time intervals. 40. In addition, the positioning device 30 transmits position information indicating the current position of the manager to the server apparatus 40 together with the identification information of the manager at predetermined time intervals. Further, the flying object 10 transmits position information indicating the current position of the flying object 10 measured by the positioning device 15 to the server device 40 together with the identification information of the flying object 10 at predetermined time intervals. Note that the time interval at which these devices transmit information may be the same or different. The server device 40 receives the information transmitted from these devices by the acquisition unit 411 and stores the information in the storage 43.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the database 431 stored in the storage 43. The database 431 includes identification information, position information, and biological information received from the sensor device 20. Further, the database 431 includes identification information and position information received from the positioning device 30 or the flying object 10. These pieces of information are stored in association with each other. For example, when the identification information, the position information “P1”, and the biological information “M1” of the animal A are received from the sensor device 20, these pieces of information are associated and stored as shown in FIG. Further, when the administrator identification information and the position information “P10” are received from the positioning device 30, these pieces of information are stored in association with each other as shown in FIG. Further, when the identification information of the flying object 10 and the position information “P20” are received from the flying object 10, these pieces of information are stored in association with each other as shown in FIG. In addition, since the biological information is not included in the information received from the positioning device 30 or the flying body 10, the biological information is not stored. Thus, the information transmitted from each sensor device 20, the positioning device 30, or the flying object 10 is accumulated in the database 431.

2-2. Monitoring Process FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the monitoring process performed by the server device 40. This process may be started at a predetermined time interval, or may be started when new information is stored in the database 431, for example.

The calculation unit 412 calculates the degree of abnormality of each animal based on the database 431 (step S21). In this example, the degree of abnormality is indicated using a number from 1 to 10. The larger this number, the higher the degree of abnormality.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the degree of abnormality of each animal. First, the calculation unit 412 determines whether each animal has performed a predetermined action or is in a predetermined state based on the contents stored in the database 431. For example, based on the position information “P1” to “P4” of the animals A to D stored in the database 431, it is determined that the animals A to C form a group and that the animal D is further away from the group. Assuming that For example, when the state where the animal D is away from the herd continues for a predetermined time, the degree of abnormality of the animal D may be increased from the current degree of abnormality to “6”. Further, for example, a case is assumed in which it is determined that the body temperature of the animal A is higher than the normal temperature based on the biological information “M1” of the animal A stored in the database 431. For example, in this case, the degree of abnormality of the animal A may be increased from the current degree of abnormality to “6”.

The setting unit 413 sets a threshold value for each animal (step S22). Specifically, when a predetermined condition is not satisfied, a standard threshold is set. For example, based on the position information “P1” of the animal A and the position information “P20” of the flying object 10 stored in the database 431, the distance between the position of the animal A and the position of the flying object 10 is less than a predetermined distance. Assume that it is determined that there is. In this case, since the predetermined condition is not satisfied, the standard threshold value “7” may be set for the animal A. Further, based on the position information “P1” of the animal A and the position information “P10” of the manager stored in the database 431, the distance between the position of the animal A and the position of the manager is less than a predetermined distance. Suppose that it is determined. In this case, since the predetermined condition is not satisfied, the standard threshold value “7” may be set for the animal A. Furthermore, it is assumed that the animal A is determined not to be at a predetermined location within a predetermined range from the cliff based on the position information “P1” of the animal A stored in the database 431. In this case, since the predetermined condition is not satisfied, the standard threshold value “7” may be set for the animal A.

On the other hand, when the predetermined condition is satisfied, the changing unit 414 changes the threshold value of the corresponding animal. For example, based on the position information “P4” of the animal D and the position information “P20” of the flying object 10 stored in the database 431, the distance between the position of the animal D and the position of the flying object 10 is a predetermined distance or more. Assume that it is determined that there is. In this case, since the predetermined condition is satisfied, the threshold value of the animal D is changed from the standard threshold value. At this time, the threshold value of the animal D may be lowered as the distance increases. Further, based on the position information “P4” of the animal D and the position information “P10” of the administrator stored in the database 431, the distance between the position of the animal D and the position of the administrator is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance. Suppose that it is determined. In this case, since the predetermined condition is satisfied, the threshold value of the animal D is changed from the standard threshold value. At this time, the threshold value of the animal D may be lowered as the distance increases. Furthermore, it is assumed that the animal D is determined to be at a predetermined location within a predetermined range from the cliff based on the position information “P4” of the animal D stored in the database 431. In this case, since the predetermined condition is satisfied, the threshold value of the animal D is changed from the standard threshold value. At this time, the threshold value of the animal D may be lowered by a predetermined value from the standard threshold value. When the threshold value is changed in this way, the changed threshold value is set.

The instruction unit 415 determines, for each animal, whether the degree of abnormality calculated in step S21 is equal to or greater than the threshold set in step S22 (step S23). For example, when all the abnormalities are smaller than the corresponding threshold values (NO in step S23), this process ends. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9, when the degree of abnormality of the animal D is “6” and the threshold value of the animal D is “5”, it is determined that the degree of abnormality is equal to or greater than the threshold value (in step S23). The determination is YES). In this case, the instruction unit 415 sets an animal whose degree of abnormality is a threshold or more as a monitoring target, starts flight toward the position of the monitoring target animal, and instructs to perform processing for monitoring the animal. Is transmitted to the flying object 10 (step S24). This instruction information includes at least position information indicating the position of the animal to be monitored. The instruction information may include route information indicating a route from the current position of the flying object 10 to the monitoring position. For example, when the animal D is the monitoring target, the flight is started toward the monitoring position corresponding to the position of the animal D based on the position information “P4” of the animal D included in the database 431. Instruction information for instructing to perform processing for capturing an image of the animal D is transmitted.

In the example shown in FIG. 9, the abnormality degree of the animal A is “6”, which is the same as the abnormality degree of the animal D. However, since the threshold value of the animal A is “7”, the abnormality degree is less than the threshold value. Animal A is not set as a monitoring target.

FIG. 10 is a sequence chart showing an example of the monitoring process performed by the flying object 10 and the terminal device 50. This process is started in response to the flying object 10 receiving instruction information from the server device 40.

The flying object 10 starts flying toward the monitoring position according to the instruction information received from the server device 40 (step S31). At this time, the flying object 10 automatically navigates without being operated by the manager. When arriving at the monitoring position, the flying object 10 captures an image of the animal to be monitored using the imaging device 16 (step S32). For example, when the animal D is a monitoring target, an image of the animal D is taken from the monitoring position. The flying object 10 transmits image information indicating the captured image to the terminal device 50 (step S33). The transmission of the image information may be performed in real time, for example. Note that “real time” does not necessarily have to be simultaneous, and there may be some delay. When receiving the image information from the flying object 10, the terminal device 50 causes the display device 56 to display the image 561 indicated by the received image information (step S34).

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image 561 displayed on the display device 56. This image 561 includes an image of the animal D to be monitored. The administrator can grasp the state of the animal D to be monitored by viewing the image 561 using the terminal device 50. For example, when it is determined that there is an abnormality in the animal D, the manager moves to the place of the animal D and takes measures.

In the above-described embodiment, “server device 40”, “imaging device 16”, “position information” indicating the position of the animal, “position information” indicating the position of the flying object 10, and “position” indicating the position of the administrator. “Information” is used as “monitoring device”, “imaging unit”, “first position information”, “second position information”, and “third position information” according to the present invention, respectively.

According to the embodiment described above, an animal having an abnormality in the grazing animal, for example, an animal that performs abnormal behavior or an animal in an abnormal state can be monitored using the flying object 10. In general, when an animal has an abnormality, the degree of abnormality of the animal gradually increases with time. In this case, the smaller the threshold value, the shorter the time required for the degree of abnormality to reach the threshold value. In the above-described embodiment, when the distance between the animal and the flying object 10 is equal to or larger than the predetermined distance, the threshold value is lowered. Therefore, when the flying object 10 cannot quickly reach the place where the target animal is present, the flight is performed. The timing at which the body 10 starts to fly can be advanced. In addition, when the distance between the animal and the administrator is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance, the threshold value is lowered. Therefore, when the administrator cannot quickly reach the place where the target animal is present, the flying object 10 starts flying. The timing to do can be advanced. Furthermore, since the threshold value is lowered when the animal is in a predetermined place where it is likely to cause an abnormality or to be dangerous, the timing at which the flying object 10 starts flying can be advanced. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, an image of an animal having an abnormality among grazed animals is displayed on the terminal device 50, so that the administrator can view such an animal image.

3. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The embodiment described above may be modified as follows. Moreover, you may implement combining the following two or more modifications.

In the embodiment described above, the threshold value may be changed depending on the weather. In this case, the acquisition unit 411 acquires weather information indicating the weather of the place where the animal is grazed from an external server device that provides weather information. The change unit 414 may lower the threshold when the weather information indicates a predetermined weather. This predetermined weather is such as rain, strong wind, etc. that is considered to take longer than usual for the flying object 10 to fly to the monitoring position. As described in the above-described embodiment, generally, when an animal has an abnormality, the degree of abnormality of the animal gradually increases with time. In this case, the smaller the threshold value, the shorter the time required for the degree of abnormality to reach the threshold value. According to this modification, for example, when the flying object 10 cannot quickly reach the place where the target animal is present due to bad weather, the threshold value is lowered, so that the timing at which the flying object 10 starts flying can be advanced.

In the embodiment described above, the threshold value may be changed according to the change in the degree of abnormality. In this case, the changing unit 414 may lower the threshold when the increase rate of the degree of abnormality is equal to or higher than a predetermined increase rate. The predetermined increase rate is, for example, a value indicating a state that requires immediate action. As described in the above-described embodiment, generally, when an animal has an abnormality, the degree of abnormality of the animal gradually increases with time. In this case, the smaller the threshold value, the shorter the time required for the degree of abnormality to reach the threshold value. According to this modification, for example, when the rate of increase in the degree of abnormality is high, the threshold value is lowered, so that the timing at which the flying object 10 starts flying can be advanced.

In the above-described embodiment, along with the process of monitoring the animal to be monitored, the process of monitoring other animals around the animal may be performed. For example, when there is another animal whose degree of abnormality is less than a threshold value but greater than or equal to a predetermined value within a predetermined range from the monitored animal, this animal is set as a preliminary monitoring target and the process of monitoring this animal is also combined. You may go. This predetermined value is a value that is considered to be abnormal. For example, the predetermined value may be a value higher than 0 and lower than a threshold value. For example, when the threshold is 7, the predetermined value may be 3. In this case, the instruction unit 415 starts to fly toward the monitoring position corresponding to the position of the animal to be monitored, and sends instruction information for instructing to pass through the preliminary monitoring position corresponding to the position of the animal to be monitored. Send to body 10. The instruction information may include, for example, position information indicating the position of the monitoring target animal and position information indicating the position of the preliminary monitoring target animal. The instruction information includes route information indicating a route from the current position of the flying object 10 to the monitoring position through the preliminary monitoring position, or a route returning from the monitoring position through the preliminary monitoring position. May be. The flying object 10 flies according to this instruction information. In this case, the flying object 10 passes through the preliminary monitoring position on the way to the monitoring position corresponding to the position of the monitoring target animal or on the way back from the monitoring position, and displays the image of the preliminary monitoring target animal at the preliminary monitoring position. Take a picture. At this time, the method for capturing an image of the animal to be monitored may be different from the method for capturing an image of the animal to be preliminarily monitored. For example, the time for capturing an image of the animal to be monitored in advance may be shorter than the time for capturing the image of the animal to be monitored. According to this modification, when an animal having an abnormality in a grazing animal is monitored using the flying object 10, an animal that is likely to be abnormal can also be monitored. In this modification, “monitoring position” and “preliminary monitoring position” corresponding to the position of the animal to be monitored are used as “first monitoring position” and “second monitoring position” according to the present invention, respectively. ing.

In the embodiment described above, a monitoring process may be performed for each region where animals are present. In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 12, the server device 40 includes a dividing unit 416 in addition to the functional configuration illustrated in FIG. 5. The dividing unit 416 divides the place where the animal is grazed into a plurality of regions R1 to R4 as shown in FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 14, the calculation unit 412 calculates, for each divided area, the total abnormality level of at least one animal in the area. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, when the animals A to C exist in the region R1, the abnormality degree “6” of the animal A, the abnormality degree “4” of the animal B, and the abnormality degree “4” of the animal C shown in FIG. “14”, which is the sum of the above, is calculated as the degree of abnormality in the region R1. A threshold is set for each of the regions R1 to R4. For example, a standard threshold value “10” may be set in the region R1. This standard threshold value may be larger than the standard threshold value described in the above embodiment. Moreover, this threshold value may be changed similarly to the above-described embodiment. When the sum of the abnormalities is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the instruction unit 415 instructs the flight to start toward the monitoring position corresponding to the area. For example, when the abnormality level of the region R1 is “14” and the threshold value of the region R1 is “10”, the region R1 is set as a monitoring target. In this case, the instruction information for instructing to start flying toward the monitoring position corresponding to the region R1 and to capture the image of the region R1 may be transmitted to the flying object 10. This instruction information may include position information indicating the position of the region R1. In this case, the flying object 10 may perform a process of taking an image while circling the region R1. With this configuration, the administrator can see images of the animals A to C in the region R1. In the above-described embodiment, since the abnormalities of the animals A to C are all less than the threshold, the animals A to C are not monitored. However, there are cases where it is better to perform a monitoring process in an area where there are many animals that are likely to be abnormal. According to this modification, an area where there are many animals that are likely to be abnormal can be monitored using the flying object 10.

In the above-described embodiment, when it is determined that the animal is in a predetermined place based on the position information acquired by the acquisition unit 411, instead of lowering the threshold or lowering the threshold, the degree of abnormality is increased. Also good. Also in this case, when the animal is in a predetermined place where it is likely to cause an abnormality or to be dangerous, the timing at which the flying object 10 starts to fly can be advanced.

In the embodiment described above, the threshold value may be changed according to the importance of the animal. For example, if an animal is a child, is in estrus, or is pregnant, the importance of the animal may increase. The changing unit 414 may lower the threshold for animals with high importance. According to this modified example, the timing at which the flying object 10 starts to fly can be advanced for highly important animals.

In the embodiment described above, the imaging method may be varied depending on the type of abnormality of the animal. For example, when the animal is out of the group, the image may be taken from a position higher than usual so that both the group and the animal are photographed. Further, when the animal stays in a certain place, there is a possibility that there is an abnormality in the foot. According to this modification, the administrator can determine the abnormality of the animal more accurately by looking at the image of the animal.

In the above-described embodiment, the sensor device 20 is not limited to the positioning device 21 and the biological information sensor 22. The sensor device 20 may include any sensor as long as it detects a physical quantity from an animal. For example, the sensor device 20 may include a microphone. In this case, the degree of abnormality of the animal may be calculated based on voice information indicating the voice of the animal acquired by the microphone.

In the above-described embodiment, the process for monitoring an animal is not limited to the process for capturing an image of the animal. For example, the process of monitoring the animal may be a process of acquiring information such as voice from the animal, a process of supplying an object that deals with the abnormality to the animal, or a process of tracking the animal.

In the above-described embodiment, the method of measuring the position of the flying object 10, the animal, or the manager is not limited to the method using GPS. The position of the flying object 10, the animal, or the manager may be measured by a method that does not use GPS.

In the above-described embodiment or modification, at least a part of the functions of the server device 40 may be implemented in another device. For example, at least one of the acquisition unit 411, the calculation unit 412, the setting unit 413, the change unit 414, the instruction unit 415, and the division unit 416 may be implemented in the terminal device 50.

The present invention may be provided as a method including steps of processing performed in the monitoring system 1, the flying object 10, the sensor device 20, the positioning device 30, the server device 40, or the terminal device 50. Further, the present invention may be provided as a program executed in the flying object 10, the server device 40, or the terminal device 50.

The block diagram in FIG. 5 or 12 shows functional unit blocks. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of hardware and / or software. Further, the means for realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized by one device physically and / or logically coupled, and two or more devices physically and / or logically separated may be directly and / or indirectly. (For example, wired and / or wireless) and may be realized by these plural devices.

The hardware configuration of the flying object 10, the server device 40, or the terminal device 50 may be configured to include one or a plurality of devices illustrated in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, or FIG. You may comprise without an apparatus. The flying object 10, the server device 40, or the terminal device 50 includes a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), a field programmable gate array (FPGA). ) Or the like, and a part or all of the functional blocks of the flying object 10, the server device 40, or the terminal device 50 may be realized by the hardware. For example, the

processor

11, 41, or 51 may be implemented with at least one of these hardware.

Each aspect / embodiment described in this specification includes LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4G, 5G, FRA (Future Radio Access), W-CDMA. (Registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, UWB (Ultra-WideBand), The present invention may be applied to a Bluetooth (registered trademark), a system using another appropriate system, and / or a next generation system extended based on the system.

The processing procedures, sequences, flowcharts and the like of each aspect / embodiment described in this specification may be switched in order as long as there is no contradiction. For example, the methods described herein present the elements of the various steps in an exemplary order and are not limited to the specific order presented.

The input / output information or the like may be stored in a specific place (for example, a memory) or may be managed by a management table. Input / output information and the like can be overwritten, updated, or additionally written. The output information or the like may be deleted. The input information or the like may be transmitted to another device.

The determination may be performed by a value represented by 1 bit (0 or 1), may be performed by a true / false value (Boolean: true or false), or may be performed by comparing numerical values (for example, a predetermined value) Comparison with the value).

Each aspect / embodiment described in this specification may be used alone, in combination, or may be switched according to execution. In addition, notification of predetermined information (for example, notification of being “X”) is not limited to explicitly performed, but is performed implicitly (for example, notification of the predetermined information is not performed). Also good.

Software, whether it is called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other names, instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program codes, programs, subprograms, software modules , Applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, procedures, functions, etc. should be interpreted broadly.

Further, software, instructions, etc. may be transmitted / received via a transmission medium. For example, software may use websites, servers, or other devices using wired technology such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair and digital subscriber line (DSL) and / or wireless technology such as infrared, wireless and microwave. When transmitted from a remote source, these wired and / or wireless technologies are included within the definition of transmission media.

The information, signals, etc. described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, data, commands, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description are voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or photons, or any of these May be represented by a combination of

The terms “system” and “network” used in this specification are used interchangeably.

In addition, information, parameters, and the like described in this specification may be represented by absolute values, may be represented by relative values from a predetermined value, or may be represented by other corresponding information. . For example, the radio resource may be indicated by an index.

As used herein, the terms “determining” and “determining” may encompass a wide variety of actions. “Judgment” and “determination” are, for example, judgment, calculation, calculation, processing, derivation, investigating, searching (looking up) (for example, table , Searching in a database or another data structure), considering ascertaining what is “certain”, “determining”, and the like. In addition, “determination” and “determination” are reception (for example, receiving information), transmission (for example, transmitting information), input (input), output (output), and access. (Accessing) (for example, accessing data in a memory) may be considered as “determining” or “determining”. In addition, “determination” and “determination” means that “resolving”, “selecting”, “choosing”, “establishing”, and “comparing” are regarded as “determining” and “determining”. May be included. In other words, “determination” and “determination” may include considering some operation as “determination” and “determination”.

As used herein, “based on” does not mean “based only on,” unless expressly specified otherwise. In other words, the phrase “based on” means both “based only on” and “based at least on.”

Any reference to elements using designations such as “first”, “second”, etc. as used herein does not generally limit the amount or order of those elements. These designations can be used herein as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements. Thus, a reference to the first and second elements does not mean that only two elements can be employed there, or that in some way the first element must precede the second element.

As long as the terms “including”, “comprising”, and variations thereof are used herein or in the claims, these terms are inclusive of the term “comprising”. Intended to be Further, the term “or” as used herein or in the claims is not intended to be an exclusive OR.

Throughout this disclosure, if articles are added by translation, for example, a, an, and the in English, these articles are clearly not otherwise indicated by context, Includes multiple items.

Although the present invention has been described in detail above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present invention can be implemented as modified and changed modes without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention defined by the description of the scope of claims. Therefore, the description of the present specification is for illustrative purposes and does not have any limiting meaning to the present invention.

1: monitoring system, 10: flying object, 11: processor, 12: memory, 13: storage, 14: communication device, 15: positioning device, 16: imaging device, 20: sensor device, 21: positioning device, 22: living body Information sensor, 30: positioning device, 40: server device, 50: terminal device, 411: acquisition unit, 412: calculation unit, 413: setting unit, 414: change unit, 415: instruction unit, 416: division unit

Claims

An acquisition unit for acquiring position information indicating the position of the animal being grazed;
A calculation unit for calculating the degree of abnormality of the animal;
When the calculated degree of abnormality is equal to or greater than a threshold value, the flight is started toward the monitoring position corresponding to the position indicated by the acquired position information, and the animal is monitored at the monitoring position. An instruction unit for instructing the aircraft to
A monitoring device comprising: a changing unit that changes the threshold value when a predetermined condition related to a situation around the animal is satisfied.
When the calculation unit determines that the animal has performed a predetermined action based on the acquired position information, or determines that the state of the predetermined action has continued for a predetermined time The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the degree of abnormality is increased.
The acquisition unit acquires state information indicating a state of the animal,
When the calculation unit determines that the animal is in a predetermined state based on the acquired state information, or determines that the predetermined state has continued for a predetermined time, the abnormality degree The monitoring device according to claim 1 or 2.
The position information is first position information,
The acquisition unit acquires second position information indicating a position of the flying object, or weather information indicating weather corresponding to the position of the animal,
The change unit decreases the threshold value or acquires the larger the distance between the position of the animal indicated by the first position information and the position of the flying object indicated by the second position information. The monitoring apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the weather information indicates predetermined weather, the threshold value is lowered.
The position information is first position information,
The acquisition unit further acquires third position information indicating a position of an administrator of the animal,
The said change part reduces the said threshold value, so that the distance between the said position of the said animal which the said 1st position information shows, and the said position of the said manager which the said 3rd position information shows is large. The monitoring apparatus of any one of Claims.
The determination unit increases the degree of abnormality or the change unit decreases the threshold when it is determined that the animal is in a predetermined location based on the acquired position information. The monitoring apparatus of any one of Claims.
Several animals are grazed,
The instruction unit, based on the acquired position information, has a degree of abnormality within a predetermined range from an animal to be monitored whose degree of abnormality is equal to or more than the threshold, and the degree of abnormality is less than the threshold and the threshold When it is determined that there is another animal having a lower predetermined value or more, the flight starts toward the first monitoring position corresponding to the position of the animal to be monitored and corresponds to the position of the other animal. The monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein an instruction is given to pass through a second monitoring position.
Several animals are grazed,
Further comprising a dividing unit that divides the place where the plurality of animals were grazed into a plurality of regions;
The calculation unit calculates, for each region included in the plurality of regions, the sum of the abnormalities of at least one animal in the region among the plurality of animals,
The instruction unit, when the calculated total is equal to or greater than the threshold value, instructs to start flying toward a monitoring position corresponding to the area where the total is calculated among the plurality of areas. The monitoring apparatus according to any one of 1 to 7.
The flying object has an imaging unit for taking an image,
The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the process is a process in which the imaging unit captures an image of the animal.
On the computer,
Obtaining position information indicating the position of the animal being grazed;
Calculating the degree of abnormality of the animal;
When the calculated degree of abnormality is equal to or greater than a threshold value, the flight is started toward the monitoring position corresponding to the position indicated by the acquired position information, and the animal is monitored at the monitoring position. Instructing the aircraft to
A program for executing the step of changing the threshold value when a predetermined condition relating to a situation around the animal is satisfied.