Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
  • G06Q10/06—Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
  • G06Q10/063—Operations research, analysis or management
  • G06Q10/0639—Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations

Definitions

• the purpose of this disclosure is to change the stimulus.
• a control device has an acquisition unit that acquires status information indicating the status of a worker to whom a stimulus is being applied and relationship information indicating the correspondence between the status and a comfort value; an identification unit that uses the status information and the relationship information to identify the comfort value of the worker; and a control unit that determines whether to change the stimulus based on the comfort value and a predetermined threshold, and controls a stimulus output device to output a stimulus different from the stimulus if the comfort value is equal to or lower than the threshold.
• the stimulus can be changed.
• FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a stimulus output system according to a first embodiment.
• FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating hardware included in the control device of the first embodiment.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functions of the control device according to the first embodiment.
• FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relationship table according to the first embodiment. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the control device of the first embodiment.
• FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a stimulus management table according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by a control device according to a second embodiment.
• Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a stimulus output system according to Embodiment 1.
• the stimulus output system includes a control device 100 and a stimulus output device 200.
• the control device 100 and the stimulus output device 200 are connected via a network.
• the network may be a wired network or a wireless network.
• 1 shows one stimulus output device 200.
• the number of stimulus output devices 200 may be two or more. That is, the control device 100 may be connected to one or more stimulus output devices 200 via a network.
• 1 shows a worker, for example, a worker working in a factory, receiving a stimulus output from a stimulus output device 200.
• the control device 100 is also referred to as a computer.
• the control device 100 includes a processor 101, a volatile storage device 102, and a nonvolatile storage device 103.
• the processor 101 controls the entire control device 100.
• the processor 101 may be a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).
• the processor 101 may also be a multiprocessor.
• the control device 100 may also have a processing circuit.
• the volatile memory device 102 is the main memory device of the control device 100.
• the volatile memory device 102 is RAM (Random Access Memory).
• the non-volatile memory device 103 is the auxiliary memory device of the control device 100.
• the non-volatile memory device 103 is an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive).
• the control device 100 includes a storage unit 110, an acquisition unit 120, an estimation unit 130, an identification unit 140, and a control unit 150.
• the storage unit 110 may be realized as a storage area secured in the volatile storage device 102 or the non-volatile storage device 103.
• the storage unit 110 may also be called a memory.
• Some or all of the acquiring unit 120, the estimating unit 130, the identifying unit 140, and the control unit 150 may be realized by a processing circuit.
• some or all of the acquiring unit 120, the estimating unit 130, the identifying unit 140, and the control unit 150 may be realized as program modules executed by the processor 101.
• the program executed by the processor 101 is also referred to as a control program or a control program product.
• the control program is recorded on a recording medium.
• the memory unit 110 stores various information.
• the acquisition unit 120 acquires biometric information of the worker to whom a stimulus is being applied.
• the acquisition unit 120 acquires the biometric information from the storage unit 110.
• the acquisition unit 120 acquires the biometric information from an external device or a biometric information acquisition device.
• the external device is a device that exists outside the control device 100.
• the external device is a cloud server, an external memory, etc.
• the external device is not shown in the figure.
• the biometric information acquisition device is a wearable terminal, an electromyograph, etc.
• the biological information includes temperature, electromyography, heart rate, number of steps, and line of sight.
• the estimation unit 130 estimates the worker's condition based on the biometric information. For example, if the biometric information is temperature, the estimation unit 130 estimates that the worker's physical condition is poor if the temperature is above a threshold (e.g., normal body temperature). For example, if the biometric information is electromyography, the estimation unit 130 estimates that the worker's workload is high if the time period during which the electromyography value is above a threshold is longer than a predetermined time. For example, if the biometric information is heart rate, the estimation unit 130 estimates that the worker's physical condition is poor if the heart rate is above a threshold.
• a threshold e.g., normal body temperature
• the estimation unit 130 estimates that the worker's workload is high if the time period during which the electromyography value is above a threshold is longer than a predetermined time. For example, if the biometric information is heart rate, the estimation unit 130 estimates that the worker's physical condition is poor if the heart rate is above a threshold.
• the estimation unit 130 estimates that the worker's workload is high if the number of steps is above a threshold. For example, if the biometric information is line of sight, the estimation unit 130 estimates that the worker's concentration level is low if the line of sight is in a predetermined direction.
• the acquisition unit 120 acquires status information indicating the worker's status from the estimation unit 130.
• the worker's status may be estimated by an external device.
• the acquisition unit 120 acquires the status information from the external device.
• the control device 100 does not need to have the estimation unit 130.
• the acquisition unit 120 may also acquire the status information from a button. For example, a worker presses a button when they are feeling unwell. This allows the acquisition unit 120 to acquire status information indicating that the worker is feeling unwell from the button.
• the acquisition unit 120 acquires the relationship table from the storage unit 110 or an external device.
• An example of the relationship table is shown below. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a relationship table according to the first embodiment.
• the relationship table 111 is stored in the storage unit 110.
• the relationship table 111 is also referred to as relationship information.
• the relationship table 111 shows the correspondence between states and comfort values.
• the control unit 150 determines whether or not to change the stimulus output by the stimulus output device 200 based on the comfort value and a predetermined threshold. If the comfort value is greater than the threshold, the control unit 150 determines not to change the stimulus. If the comfort value is equal to or less than the threshold, the control unit 150 determines to change the stimulus. Then, the control unit 150 controls the stimulus output device 200 so that the stimulus is changed. In other words, the control unit 150 controls the stimulus output device 200 to output a stimulus that is different from the current stimulus.
• FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the control device according to the first embodiment.
• the acquisition unit 120 acquires biometric information of the worker.
• the estimation unit 130 estimates the state of the worker based on the biological information.
• the identification unit 140 identifies a comfort value using the state information indicating the state of the worker and the relationship table 111.
• the control unit 150 determines whether the comfort value is equal to or less than a threshold value. If the comfort value is greater than the threshold value, the process ends. If the comfort value is equal to or less than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S15.
• the control unit 150 controls the stimulus output device 200 so that the stimulus is changed.
• control device 100 can change the stimulus if the worker is not comfortable. Furthermore, changing the stimulus increases the likelihood that the worker's comfort will improve.
• the acquisition unit 120 acquires the stimulus management table from the storage unit 110 or an external device.
• An example of the stimulus management table is shown below.
• FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a stimulus management table in embodiment 2.
• the stimulus management table 112 is stored in the memory unit 110.
• the stimulus management table 112 is also referred to as stimulus management information.
• the stimulus management table 112 indicates the stimulus to be output after the current stimulus.
• the stimulus management table 112 will be described in detail below.
• the stimulus management table 112 has the following fields: worker ID (identifier), stimulus, output frequency, pre-output, post-output, and output timing.
• the worker ID field indicates the worker's identifier.
• the stimulus field registers information indicating a stimulus. For vibrations registered in the stimulus field, the vibration level may be registered.
• the output frequency field indicates the frequency at which a stimulus is output.
• the pre-output field indicates that a stimulus is output when the worker is unsure about a task, or that a stimulus is output before the worker performs a task.
• the post-output field indicates that a stimulus is output to notify the worker that the action is correct while the worker is performing the task, or that a stimulus is output if the worker makes a mistake in the task.
• the output timing field indicates the timing for pre-output or post-output.
• the acquisition unit 120 may acquire information that can identify the worker from the storage unit 110 or an external device.
• the information that can identify the worker is a worker ID.
• the control unit 150 uses the stimulus management table 112 to determine the next stimulus to be output. For example, the control unit 150 determines the next stimulus to be output based on information that can identify the worker and the stimulus management table 112. For example, the worker ID of the worker is "W1.” The current stimulus is "sound.” The control unit 150 references the stimulus item in the stimulus management table 112 and determines that "image,” which has the second highest priority after "sound,” is the stimulus to be output.
• the control unit 150 controls the stimulus output device 200 so that the stimulus is changed. For example, the control unit 150 stops speaker output and controls the display so that information is displayed. In this way, the control unit 150 controls the stimulus output device 200 to output the determined stimulus.
• Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the control device of embodiment 2.
• the processing in Fig. 7 differs from the processing in Fig. 5 in that steps S15a and S15b are executed. Therefore, steps S15a and S15b will be described in Fig. 7. Description of processing other than steps S15a and S15b will be omitted.
• control device 100 can provide the modified stimulus to the worker.
• the acquisition unit 120 may acquire video of the worker from an external device or the like.
• the control unit 150 analyzes the video, and if it determines that the worker is preparing for work, controls the stimulus output device 200 to output a stimulus based on the pre-output item in the stimulus management table 112. For example, the control unit 150 controls the stimulus output device 200 to output information indicating the work procedure. For example, by outputting the information indicating the work procedure, the worker can confirm the work. Note that the control unit 150 may perform this analysis using a trained model.
• the acquisition unit 120 may also acquire video of the worker from an external device or the like.
• the control unit 150 analyzes the video, and if it detects that the worker is unsure about the task or has made a mistake, it controls the stimulus output device 200 to output a stimulus based on the pre-output or post-output items in the stimulus management table 112. For example, if the worker is unsure about the task, the control unit 150 controls the stimulus output device 200 to output information indicating the task procedure. Also, if the worker has made a mistake, the control unit 150 controls the stimulus output device 200 to output information indicating that the task is incorrect. Note that the control unit 150 may perform this analysis using a trained model. As a result, if the worker is unsure about the task, the worker can resolve their confusion. Also, if the worker has made a mistake, the worker can recognize the error.
• the output timing item in the stimulus management table 112 will now be explained.
• the control unit 150 uses the stimulus management table 112 to control the output timing according to the worker.
• the control unit 150 detects that the worker is unsure about a task or has made a mistake in a task, it controls the stimulus output device 200 so that a stimulus is output at a timing according to the worker.
• the control device 100 can provide stimuli to the worker at an output timing according to the worker.
• Control device 101: Processor, 102: Volatile storage device, 103: Non-volatile storage device, 110: Storage unit, 111: Relationship table, 112: Stimulus management table, 120: Acquisition unit, 130: Estimation unit, 140: Identification unit, 150: Control unit, 200: Stimulus output device.

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Citations (4)

• 2024
  • 2024-04-05 JP JP2026512562A patent/JPWO2025210899A1/ja active Pending
  • 2024-04-05 WO PCT/JP2024/014144 patent/WO2025210899A1/ja active Pending

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