JP7016917B2 - Automatic detection Autonomous mobile device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic detection autonomous mobile device in an information terminal position estimation system using a beacon signal.

In recent years, the use of the "Bluetooth" (registered trademark) beacon signal, which is installed in information terminals as one of its communication functions, has begun. The source information terminal emits a beacon signal including ID information, and the receiving side information terminal knows the rough position of the source information terminal from the strength of radio waves at the time of reception. A general Bluetooth beacon signal is a transmission standard called BLE (Bluetooth low energy), and in the case of a general BLE Class2, the radio wave reach is about 1 m to 10 m, so position estimation at a relatively short distance can be performed. can.
The features of the BLE beacon signal are that the device is small and that it can be operated on a yearly basis even with a button battery. An in-store customer service system has been proposed as an example of a system using a position estimation means utilizing a beacon signal (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

The system configuration of the prior art shown in Patent Document 1 is a fixed terminal that generates a beacon signal, an information terminal carried by a customer, and an Internet server. A plurality of fixed terminals are arranged at a predetermined position in the store, and an information terminal carried by a customer in the store receives a beacon signal from the plurality of fixed terminals. Then, the information terminal carried by the customer transmits the received beacon signal to the Internet server. That is, the beacon signal emitted by the fixed terminal is relayed by the information terminal carried by the customer and reaches the Internet server. The server is a system that analyzes the reception strength of the beacon signal, estimates the position of the information terminal carried by the customer, and delivers a product description in the vicinity of the customer.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-39601 (Page 1, FIG. 1)

However, in the system described in Patent Document 1, the information terminal carried by the customer must be within the reach of the beacon signal transmitted by the fixed terminal, and if the information terminal is out of the reach, the information terminal carried by the customer is carried. There is a problem that it is impossible to estimate the position of.
In addition, it is necessary to install a large number of fixed terminals that transmit beacon signals, and large-scale equipment such as an Internet network and an Internet server is required, which has the disadvantage that the equipment cost is high. In addition, since the Internet network is used, if the mobile phone network or the base station of the Internet network is damaged in the event of a disaster, the information from the information terminal carried by the customer does not reach the Internet server, and the above system does not function. In addition, because information is entrusted to the Internet and servers, there is a risk of privacy invasion and misuse.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information terminal position estimation system that solves the above problems. That is, information terminal position estimation that can easily estimate the position of a specific information terminal without the need for installation of a large number of fixed terminals that transmit beacon signals or large-scale equipment such as an Internet network or an Internet server. To provide a system.

In order to solve the above problems, the automatic detection autonomous mobile device of the present invention
A beacon signal transmitted from a search target information terminal and relayed by a plurality of relay information terminals capable of acquiring position information, and to which the position information is given when the relay device acquires the position information . A position estimation unit that receives and estimates the position of the searched side information terminal,
An autonomous control unit that determines the moving direction based on the position information of the searched side information terminal and the position information of the automatic detection autonomous mobile device estimated by the position estimation unit.
A movement mechanism unit that operates according to the movement instruction of the autonomous control unit,
Position estimation that selects the position estimation means used by the position estimation unit from a plurality of position estimation means based on whether or not the received beacon signal includes the position information of the relay device each time the vehicle travels a predetermined distance. Means selection section and
It is characterized by having.

According to the present invention, it is possible to estimate the position of the information terminal to be searched, which is located away from the reach of the beacon signal, without requiring a large-scale facility such as an Internet network or an Internet server. ..

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the information terminal position estimation system in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the position estimation means of the information terminal to be searched in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the position estimation means of the information terminal to be searched in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the position estimation means of the information terminal to be searched in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the reception level and the direction of a beacon signal in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the position estimation means of the information terminal to be searched in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the position estimation means of the information terminal to be searched in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the information terminal position estimation system in 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the information terminal position estimation system of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In the explanation, the drawings used in the embodiments are schematic drawings, and the dimensions, shapes, and arrangement positions do not accurately reflect the actual shapes and situations, and some of the drawings are easy to see and understand. Exaggerated.

[Structure explanation of the information terminal position estimation system in the first embodiment: FIG. 1]
The configuration of the information terminal position estimation system 100 in the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the information terminal position estimation system 100 in the first embodiment.

The equipment constituting the information terminal position estimation system 100 is a search target, and the searched side information terminal 10 that transmits the beacon signal B, the relay information terminals 1, 2 and 3 that relay the beacon signal B, and the searched side information. It is a search side information terminal 20 that searches for the position of the terminal 10.

The relay information terminals 1, 2, and 3 are relay information terminals that relay the beacon signal B, and have at least the following configurations. The configuration of the relay information terminals 1, 2 and 3 is such that the beacon signal unit 4 that receives and transmits the beacon signal, the processing unit 5 that analyzes and processes the beacon signal, and the position information of the relay information terminals 1, 2 and 3 are positioned by satellite. This is the position information acquisition unit 6 acquired by using the system. The elements constituting the search side information terminal 20 operated by the searcher are the beacon signal unit 4, the position information acquisition unit 6, the position information acquisition state analysis unit 21, the position estimation method selection unit 22, the position estimation unit 23, and the display unit. 24.

The searched side information terminal 10 is, for example, a device to be carried by a wandering elderly person or the like who is a search target. Since the information terminal 10 on the searched side is small and can be operated on a yearly basis even with a button battery, the wandering elderly can carry it without burden. For example, it may be in the form of a wristwatch type, a wallet type, a key chain type, a shoe type, etc., which can be easily worn by the search target person at all times.

As the relay information terminals 1, 2, and 3, for example, those in which software is installed on a smartphone, a tablet-type personal computer, or the like, which is expected to be widely used by many users, can be used as the relay information terminal.

[Explanation of operation of the information terminal position estimation system in the first embodiment: FIG. 1]
First, an outline of the operation of the information terminal position estimation system 100 will be described. The beacon signal B transmitted by the searched side information terminal 10 is relayed by the relay information terminals 1, 2, and 3, and is received by the search side information terminal 20 operated by the searcher, so that the relay path R of the beacon signal becomes. It is formed. The starting point of the relay path R is the searched side information terminal 10, and the ending point is the searched side information terminal 20. Here, a large number of relay paths R are formed by the number of relay information terminals existing. This is because there are many combinations of relay information terminals that relay both the searched side information terminal 10 at the start point and the search side information terminal 20 at the end point of the relay route R in common. The relay route R shown in FIG. 1 is one of the many relay routes.

While the beacon signal B is being relayed, information to be described in detail below is added, and the beacon signal B is received by the search side information terminal 20 as the beacon signal B3. The beacon signal B3 is a beacon signal transmitted by the relay information terminal 3 that last relays the beacon signal B in the relay path R, and the beacon signal B3 has all the relay information in the relay path R. Therefore, the search side information terminal 20 can analyze the received beacon signal B3 and estimate the position of the search side information terminal 10.

In the information terminals forming the relay path R, the two information terminals whose relay orders are adjacent to each other are within the range of the radio wave reach of the beacon signal. This radio wave reach is about 1 m to 10 m. The origin of this number is that the Bluetooth beacon signal in the present invention is a transmission standard signal called BLE (Bluetooth low energy) Class2, which is generally mounted on smartphones and the like, and has a radio wave reach of about 1 m to 10 m. Due to something. Therefore, the distance traveled by the beacon signal B in one relay is at most 10 m. However, since the beacon signal B is relayed many times between the plurality of relay information terminals, the beacon signal B transmitted by the searched side information terminal 10 reaches the distant search side information terminal 20.

In the relay path R, the number of relay information terminals is three, but the number is not limited to this. The number of relay information terminals forming a relay route varies depending on the distance between the search-side information terminal 10 and the search-side information terminal 20. If the distance between the searched side information terminal 10 and the searched side information terminal 20 is large, the number of relay information terminals forming the relay route becomes large.

The details of the operation of the information terminal position estimation system 100 will be described below. The searched side information terminal 10 is an information terminal having unique ID information, and is a device that transmits a beacon signal B including unique ID information. For example, when the information terminal 10 on the searched side is carried by an elderly person, a unique ID is used.
Since the information terminal 10 on the searched side can be specified using the information and the elderly person can be specified using the correspondence table between the information terminal 10 on the searched side and the elderly person carrying it, the position of the information terminal 10 on the searched side is estimated. If possible, the location of a particular elderly person can be known.

First, the relay of the beacon signal in the relay information terminal 1 will be described. The relay information terminal 1 is a relay information terminal that directly receives the beacon signal B transmitted by the searched side information terminal 10 and relays it for the first time, and is within the range of the radio wave reach of the beacon signal B. Therefore, the relay information terminal 1 is a relay information terminal in the vicinity of the searched side information terminal 10. The beacon signal unit 4 of the relay information terminal 1 receives the beacon signal B and transmits the beacon signal B1. The information possessed by the beacon signal B1 is the unique ID information, the distance information, the position information, and the relay count information of the search side information terminal 10. The contents of each information will be described below.

The unique ID information is information for identifying the searched side information terminal 10, and is stored in each of the searched side information terminals 10. In the relay information terminal 1, the processing unit 5 reads out the beacon signal B transmitted from the searched side information terminal 10 and transmits it to the relay information terminal 2 in addition to the next beacon signal B1 without changing it. That is, the unique ID information is transmitted as an invariant signal to each relay information terminal on the relay path R, is received by the search side information terminal 20, and is used for searching for the searched person. The same applies to the relay between the relay information terminals following the relay information terminal 1, and this description will be omitted in the subsequent relay description.

As for the distance information, the relay information terminal 1 that has received the beacon signal B from the searched side information terminal 10 has the processing unit 5 from the searched side information terminal 10 to the relay information terminal 1 based on the received radio wave strength of the beacon signal B. It is the information which calculated the distance of. That is, it is calculated that the distance is short when the received radio wave strength of the beacon signal B is strong, and the distance is long when the received radio wave strength is weak, but the range is about 10 m at the maximum due to the characteristics of the beacon signal.

The position information is information obtained by the position information acquisition unit 6 provided in each relay information terminal by using the satellite positioning system, and is composed of the position information indicating the acquired numerical values of latitude and longitude. The information using the satellite positioning system may be position information corrected with high accuracy by adding information from the mobile network or WiFi to the information from the satellite positioning system.
That is, although each relay information terminal is provided with a position information acquisition unit 6, in the satellite positioning system, the relay information terminal in which the radio wave from the satellite is blocked by an obstacle cannot acquire the position information. , There is a difference in the presence or absence of acquisition in each relay information terminal. Therefore, the pillar of the position information is the acquisition state information indicating the presence or absence of acquisition, and when the acquisition state information is present, the position information resulting from the acquisition can be used. In the present invention, the position of the relay information terminal is confirmed by the latitude and longitude information of the relay information terminal for which the position information has been acquired. Therefore, the position information of the beacon signal B transmitted to the relay information terminal whose relay order is next is the latitude / longitude information of the relay information terminal from which the position information has been acquired.

The relay number information is the number of times that the beacon signal B is relayed, and indicates how many times the current relay information terminal has relayed. Since the beacon signal B is relayed only once by the relay information terminal 1, the relay number information of the beacon signal B1 is once.

Next, the relay of the beacon signal in the relay information terminal 2 will be described. The relay information terminal 2 receives the beacon signal B1 and transmits the beacon signal B2. The information possessed by the beacon signal B2 is the unique ID, the distance information, the position information, and the relay count information of the searched side information terminal 10, and the contents of each information will be described below.

The number of information contained in the distance information is increased by one item to two items as compared with one of the beacon signals B1. One item of the distance information possessed by the beacon signal B2 is the distance information between the searched side information terminal 10 and the relay information terminal 1 read from the beacon signal B1 and inherited. One additional item is the cumulative value of distance information. This cumulative value is a cumulative value obtained by accumulating the distance information between the relay information terminal 1 and the relay information terminal 2 on the distance information between the searched side information terminal 10 and the relay information terminal 1. The distance information between the relay information terminal 1 and the relay information terminal 2 is the distance information calculated by the relay information terminal 2 based on the received radio wave intensity of the received beacon signal B2.

The number of position information is increased by one compared to one of the beacon signal B1 to two. One is the position information of the relay information terminal 1 read from the beacon signal B1 and inherited, and the increased one is the position information of the relay information terminal 2.

As for the relay count information, since the relay information terminal 2 has performed the second relay, the relay count information possessed by the beacon signal B2 is two times.

Finally, the relay of the beacon signal in the relay information terminal 3 will be described. The relay information terminal 3 is an information terminal that performs the last relay in the relay path R. The beacon signal received by the relay information terminal 3 is the beacon signal B2 transmitted by the relay information terminal 2 immediately before the relay information terminal 3 in the relay order. Then, the relay information terminal 3 transmits the beacon signal B3. This beacon signal B3 is received by the search side information terminal 20. The information contained in the beacon signal B3 transmitted by the relay information terminal 3 is the unique ID information, the distance information, the position information, and the relay count information of the searched side information terminal 10, and the contents of each information will be described below.

The number of distance information is two as in the beacon signal B2, but the content of one of them has changed. First, the two are the distance information and the cumulative value between the searched side information terminal 10 and the relay information terminal 1 read from the beacon signal B2 and inherited. And it is the cumulative value that the content is changing. This is because the cumulative value of the beacon signal B3 is the cumulative value obtained by accumulating the distance information between the relay information terminal 2 and the relay information terminal 3 on the cumulative value of the beacon signal B2. The distance information between the relay information terminal 2 and the relay information terminal 3 is the distance information calculated by the relay information terminal 3 based on the received radio wave intensity of the received beacon signal B2.

The number of information contained in the position information is one more than the number of position information of the beacon signal B2. This is because the position information of the relay information terminal 3 is added to the information of the beacon signal B2. Since the relay count information is the third relay, it is three times.

As described above, the information contained in the beacon signal transmitted by the relay information terminal includes information whose contents change when relayed and information which does not change. There are two pieces of information whose contents do not change, and one is the unique ID of the searched side information terminal 10. The other is the distance information between the searched side information terminal 10 and the relay information terminal 1, which is one of the two components of the distance information.

There are three types of information whose contents change. They are the cumulative value of the distance information, the position information, and the relay count information. The cumulative value of the distance information is accumulated every time the value is relayed. The accumulated value is the distance information between the current relay information terminal and the relay information terminal in the relay order immediately before the current relay information terminal. The number of location information increases by one each time it is relayed. The content of the increasing information is either whether or not the position information is included in the current relay information terminal, or the latitude and longitude information acquired by using the satellite positioning system. The relay count information is incremented once each time it is relayed.

[Explanation of signal processing of the search side information terminal 20: FIG. 1]
The beacon signal unit 4 of the search side information terminal 20 receives the beacon signal B3 transmitted by the relay information terminal 3.

The position information acquisition state analysis unit 21 reads distance information, position information, relay count information, and unique ID information of the searched side information terminal 10 from the received beacon signal B3, and analyzes each information. The position information acquisition state analysis unit 21 first confirms that the beacon signal B from the searched side information terminal 10 is captured by using the read unique ID information. Next, it is analyzed whether or not the position information is included, the presence or absence of acquisition of the position information is cut out for each relay information terminal of the relay route R, and the data is transmitted to the position estimation means selection unit 22.

The position estimation means selection unit 22 selects the position estimation means according to the presence or absence of acquisition of the position information in the relay information terminal of the relay route R, and conveys the result to the position estimation unit 23. The position estimation unit 23 has a plurality of position estimation means, and in this embodiment, an example having three position estimation means M1, M2, and M3 is shown. The position estimation means selected by the position estimation means selection unit 22 from the plurality of position estimation means is executed to estimate the position of the searched side information terminal 10.

The position estimation means M1 is selected when there is an information terminal that has acquired the position information by the satellite positioning system among the information terminals having one relay count information, that is, when the beacon signal contains the position information. It is a position estimation means.

In the position estimation means M2, among the information terminals having one relay count information, there is no information terminal that has acquired the position information by the satellite positioning system, that is, the beacon signal does not include the position information and the relay count information is 2. It is a position estimation means selected when there is an information terminal that has acquired position information among the information terminals more than once, that is, when the beacon signal contains the position information.

The position estimation means M3 is a position estimation means selected when all the information terminals that relay the beacon signal do not have an information terminal that has acquired the position information by the satellite positioning system.

The display unit 24 displays the estimated position of the searched side information terminal 10 on the display screen. The searcher who operates the search side information terminal 20 can see the display screen of the display unit 24 and know the estimated position of the search side information terminal 10.

Hereinafter, the position estimation means of the searched side information terminal 10 in the position estimation means M1, the position estimation means M2, and the position estimation means M3 will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Explanation of position estimation means by position estimation means M1: FIG. 2]
The position estimation of the searched side information terminal 10 by the position estimation means M1 will be described with reference to FIG. The position estimation means M1 is selected when there is an information terminal that has acquired the position information among the information terminals for which the relay count information is once. The feature of the position estimation means M1 is to utilize the position information of the information terminal that has acquired the position information.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the position estimation of the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched by the position estimation means M1. In FIG. 2, the information terminal targeted for position estimation is the searched side information terminal 10, and the information terminal for which the position information is acquired is the information terminals 1a and 1b existing near the searched side information terminal 10. 1c. All of these information terminals 1a, 1b, and 1c are information terminals having one relay count information, and are specified as "G" in FIG.

First, a state in which the beacon signal is relayed will be described. The beacon signal B transmitted by the search-side information terminal 10 is relayed by a plurality of relay information terminals constituting the three relay paths Ra, Rb, and Rc, and is received by the search-side information terminal 20.

The information terminals constituting the relay path Ra are the searched side information terminal 10, the relay information terminals 1a, 2a, 3a, and the search side information terminal 20. The relay information terminals forming the relay path Rb are the searched side information terminal 10, the relay information terminals 1b, 2b, 3b, and the search side information terminal 20. The relay information terminals forming the relay path Rc are the searched side information terminal 10, the relay information terminals 1c, 2c, 3c, and the search side information terminal 20. The information terminals that directly receive the beacon signal B transmitted by the searched side information terminal 10 are the relay information terminals 1a, 1b, and 1c. The relay information terminal to be relayed last in each relay route is the relay information terminals 3a, 3b, and 3c.

The search-side information terminal 20 receives the beacon signal transmitted by the information terminal that is last relayed on the relay path. Therefore, the beacon signal received by the search side information terminal 20 is the beacon signal B3a transmitted by the relay information terminal 3a in the relay path Ra, and the beacon signal B3b transmitted by the relay information terminal 3b in the relay path Rb. Yes, in the relay path Rc, it is a beacon signal B3c transmitted by the relay information terminal 3c.

Next, the procedure of position estimation by the position estimation means M1 will be described. The position estimation means M1 estimates the position by utilizing the position information of the relay information terminal whose relay count information is once.
First, position estimation circles Ca, Cb, and Cc are drawn with the respective positions of the relay information terminals 1a, 1b, and 1c as the center and a predetermined distance H as the radius. Then, the region estimated to be the position of the information terminal 10 on the searched side is the region Z (indicated by a satin finish) where the estimated position circles overlap. The searcher can easily find the searched person who carries the searched side information terminal 10 by searching the area Z displayed on the display unit 24.

Here, as the predetermined distance H as the radius of the position estimation circle, two types of distances can be adopted, and one is the receivable distance of the beacon signal. The other is the distance between the relay information terminal that performs the first relay and the information terminal 10 on the searched side. Then, it is a value calculated based on the received radio wave intensity of the beacon signal B received by the relay information terminal performing the first relay. That is, the predetermined distance H is the distance of the first type or the distance of the second type. That is, the predetermined distance H is the distance of the first type or the distance of the second type.

The distance between the information terminal performing the first relay and the information terminal 10 on the searched side can be read from the beacon signals B3a, B3b, and B3c. The receivable distance of the beacon signal is a radius of 10 m, which is almost the maximum value of the radio wave reachable distance of the beacon signal B. Then, this value, 10 m, may be changed according to the transmission standard of BLE Class1, Class2, and Class3.

Since the distance between the information terminal performing the first relay and the information terminal 10 on the searched side is shorter than the receivable distance of the beacon signal, there is an advantage that the position estimation circle is small and the position estimation accuracy is high. However, since the distance of the second type is a value calculated based on the received radio wave strength, there is a problem that it is easily affected by radio wave reflecting objects and radio wave obstacles. In the following description, the receivable distance of the beacon signal is used as the predetermined distance H.

In the above description, the case where there are three relay information terminals for which the position information is acquired among the relay information terminals for which the relay count information is once has been described, but the number is not limited to this. As the number of relay information terminals acquiring position information increases, the estimated area Z becomes narrower and the position estimation accuracy becomes higher. On the contrary, if the number of relay information terminals that acquire the position information is small, the estimated area Z becomes wide and the position estimation accuracy becomes slightly low.

Further, in the above description, the relay information terminals that have acquired the position information are only the relay information terminals 1a, 1b, and 1c whose relay count information is once, but in addition to these, the relay count information is twice. Among the above relay information terminals, there may be a relay information terminal that has acquired location information. However, the position estimation means M1 does not use the position information of the relay information terminal whose relay count information is two or more times. The reason is that the relay information terminal having one relay count information is the relay information terminal closest to the searched side information terminal 10 in the relay route, so that the maximum position estimation accuracy can be obtained. Is.

[Explanation of position estimation means by position estimation means M2: FIG. 3]
The position estimation of the searched side information terminal 10 by the position estimation means M2 will be described with reference to FIG. The position estimation means M2 is selected because, among the information terminals having one relay count information, there is no information terminal that has acquired the position information by the satellite positioning system, and the relay count information is two or more times. This is when there is an information terminal that acquires position information from the satellite positioning system. The feature of the position estimation means M2 is to estimate the position based on the cumulative distance information and the search direction.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the position estimation of the searched side information terminal 10 by the position estimation means M2. The information terminal to be the target of the position estimation is the searched side information terminal 10, and the relay information terminal for acquiring the position information is the information terminals 2d and 2e. In both cases, there is an information terminal in which the relay count information is twice.

Next, the method of relaying the beacon signal in FIG. 3 will be described. The beacon signal B transmitted by the searched side information terminal 10 is relayed by a plurality of relay information terminals constituting the two relay paths Rd and Re, and is received by the search side information terminal 20. The relay information terminals constituting the relay path Rd are the searched side information terminal 10, the relay information terminals 1d, 2d, 3d, and the search side information terminal 20 to be searched. The relay information terminals forming the relay route Re are the searched side information terminal 10, the relay information terminals 1e, 2e, 3e, and the search side information terminal 20 to be searched. The beacon signal received by the search side information terminal 20 is the beacon signal B3d transmitted by the relay information terminal 3d in the relay path Rd, and the beacon signal B3e transmitted by the relay information terminal 3e in the relay path Re. Since the method of relaying the beacon signal is the same as that of the position estimation means M2 shown in FIG. 2, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the procedure of position estimation in the position estimation means M2 will be described. The position estimation means M2 is a method of estimating a position based on cumulative distance information and a search direction. First, the cumulative distance information is obtained. The cumulative distance information is a cumulative value of the distance information of the beacon signal whose value is the minimum by comparing the cumulative values of the distance information of each beacon signal. Therefore, the cumulative values of the distance information of the beacon signals B3d and B3e are obtained, the two are compared, and the one with the smaller cumulative value is adopted as the cumulative distance information.

The cumulative value of the distance information in the beacon signal B3d is the cumulative value of the following four distance information. In the order in which the beacon signals are relayed, the first is the distance information between the searched side information terminal 10 and the relay information terminal 1d. The second is the distance information between the relay information terminal 1d and the relay information terminal 2d, and the third is the distance information between the relay information terminal 2d and the relay information terminal 3d. The fourth is the distance information between the relay information terminal 3d and the search side information terminal 20. All of these four distance information are distance information calculated based on the received radio wave intensity of each beacon signal. Similarly, the cumulative value of the beacon signal B3e is obtained. Then, both cumulative values are compared, and the cumulative value of the beacon signal B3e having the smaller cumulative value is adopted as the cumulative distance information L1.

Next, the search direction is obtained. First, the average value of the position information of the relay information terminal that has acquired the position information is obtained. Here, the average value of the position information is a value obtained by simply averaging the latitude and longitude information of the relay information terminal that has acquired the position information. The relay information terminals for which the position information is acquired in FIG. 3 are the relay information terminals 2d and 2e. Therefore, the latitude information of the relay information terminal 2d and the latitude information of the relay information terminal 2e are added and divided by 2, and the average value of the latitude information is obtained. Next, the longitude information of the relay information terminal 2d and the latitude information of the relay information terminal 2e are added and divided by 2, to obtain the average value of the longitude information. Then, the average value of the latitude information and the average value of the longitude information are used as the average position PH of the position information. Finally, the direction Dd connecting the average position PH of the position information and the position information of the search side information terminal 20 with a straight line is adopted as the search direction.

Next, the procedure for estimating the position based on the obtained cumulative distance information and the search direction will be described. With the search side information terminal 20 as a base point, a center point Pd is provided at a position separated from the cumulative distance information L1 in the direction Dd adopted in the search direction, and a position estimation with a predetermined distance H as the center with the center point Pd as the center. By drawing the circle Cd, it can be estimated that the region where the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched exists is the region surrounded by the position estimation circle Cd.

If the number of relay information terminals that have acquired position information by the satellite positioning system is 3 or more among the relay information terminals that have 2 or more relay count information, the position information is used as the average position of the position information. The average value obtained by averaging the latitude and longitude information of all the relay information terminals that have acquired the above may be adopted. Then, as the cumulative distance information, the one having the minimum cumulative value among the beacon signals may be adopted.

There is another method of finding the search direction by utilizing the position information acquired by the relay information terminal, which will be described below. First, among the relay routes with the relay information terminal that has acquired the position information, the relay route Re that minimizes the cumulative value of the distance information is adopted. Then, in the relay path Re, the direction De connecting the position information of the information terminal 2e for which the position information is acquired and the position information of the search side information terminal 20 with a straight line is adopted in the search direction.

In this way, a procedure for estimating the position of the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched when the direction De is adopted as the search direction will be described. First, the center point of the position estimation circle is the center point Pe at a position separated from the direction De adopted in the search direction by the cumulative distance information L1 with the search side information terminal 20 as the base point. By drawing a position estimation circle Ce having a predetermined distance H as a radius, it can be estimated that the region where the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched exists is a region surrounded by the position estimation circle Ce.

[Explanation of position estimation means by position estimation means M3: FIG. 4]
The position estimation of the searched side information terminal 10 by the position estimation means M3 will be described with reference to FIG. The position estimation means M3 is selected when all the relay information terminals that relay the beacon signal do not have an information terminal that has acquired the position information by the satellite positioning system. The feature of the position estimation means M3 is the method of finding the search direction.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the position estimation of the searched side information terminal 10 by the position estimation means M3. The information terminal targeted for position estimation is the searched side information terminal 10. The search-side information terminal 20 received a large number of beacon signals, and selected the relay path Rf from among them, assuming that the cumulative value of the distance information of the beacon signals was the smallest. In this relay path, among all the relay information terminals that relay the beacon signal, there is no information terminal that acquires the position information by the satellite positioning system. In FIG. 4, only the relay path Rf for estimating the position of the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched is shown, and the other relay paths are omitted.

First, a method of relaying a beacon signal will be described. The beacon signal B transmitted by the searched side information terminal 10 is relayed by the relay path Rf and received by the searched side information terminal 20. The information terminals constituting the relay path Rf are the searched side information terminal 10, the relay information terminals 1f, 2f, 3f, and the search side information terminal 20 to be searched. The search side information terminal 20 receives the beacon signal B3f transmitted by the relay information terminal 3f.

Next, a procedure for estimating the position of the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched in the position estimating means M3 will be described. Similar to the position estimation means in the position estimation means M2, the position estimation means M3 estimates the position of the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched based on the cumulative distance information and the search direction. First, the procedure for obtaining the cumulative distance information and the search direction will be described.

The cumulative distance information is a cumulative value of the distance information of the beacon signal whose cumulative value is the minimum by comparing the cumulative values of the distance information calculated based on the received radio wave intensity of the beacon signal. As described above, the beacon signal having the minimum cumulative value of the distance information is the beacon signal B3f of the relay path Rf. Therefore, the cumulative value of the distance information possessed by the beacon signal B3f is the cumulative distance information L2.

The position estimation means by the position estimation means M3 is characterized by a method of obtaining a search direction. The procedure for determining the search direction will be described. First, the reception sensitivity of the search-side information terminal 20 is lowered so that the directivity of the reception sensitivity is likely to appear. Next, the search side information terminal 20 is held in the abdomen and the body is rotated to search for the direction in which the reception level of the beacon signal B3f is maximized. This corresponds to searching in which direction the position of the relay information terminal 3f to be relayed last in the relay path Rf is from the search side information terminal 20.

FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the reception level and the orientation obtained in this way. The horizontal axis of FIG. 5 is the orientation, and the vertical axis is the reception level. The higher the number, the higher the reception level. The relationship between the reception level of the beacon signal B3f and the direction is shown by the graph line 50. In the graph line 50, the direction 51 at which the reception level is maximized is shown by a dotted line. The orientation indicated by the dotted line can be specified by collating the orientation information grasped by the compass with the orientation at which the reception level is maximized. Direction of FIG. 4 The west direction shown in FIG. 44 was specified as the search direction, and this direction was defined as the search direction Df.
As a method of specifying the direction, instead of using the direction information of the compass, the direction information of the direction sensor built in the search side information terminal 20 may be used.

Next, a procedure for estimating the position of the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched will be described based on the obtained cumulative distance information L2 and the search direction Df. A center point Pf is provided at a distance of the cumulative distance information L2 of the direction Df adopted in the search direction with the search side information terminal 20 as a base point, and a position estimation circle having a predetermined distance H as a center around the center point Pf. By drawing Cf, it can be estimated that the area where the position of the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched exists is the area surrounded by the position estimation circle Cf.

Next, a method of lowering the reception sensitivity of the search side information terminal 20 will be described. When the search side information terminal 20 has a sensitivity adjusting function, the sensitivity may be changed to the lowest stage. When the search-side information terminal 20 does not have the sensitivity adjustment function, the search-side information terminal 20 may be moved in a direction in which the reception level of the beacon signal B3f from the relay information terminal 3f becomes low to reduce the reception sensitivity in a pseudo manner. The moving distance may be about 10 m, which is the radio wave reachable distance of the beacon signal.

[Explanation of usage example of information terminal position estimation system: FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B]
An example of estimating the position of the searched side information terminal 10 by using the information terminal position estimation system 100 of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram illustrating position estimation by the position estimation means M2. Here, the relay information terminal for which the position information is acquired is only the relay information terminal 3g, and the relay information terminal for which the relay count information is three times. "G" is written on the relay information terminal 3g.

First, a method of relaying a beacon signal will be described. The beacon signal B transmitted by the searched side information terminal 10 is relayed by the relay path Rg and received by the searched side information terminal 20. The information terminals constituting the relay path Rg are the searched side information terminal 10, the relay information terminal 1g, 2g, 3g, and the search side information terminal 20. The search side information terminal 20 receives the beacon signal B3g transmitted by the relay information terminal 3g.

Next, the procedure of position estimation by the position estimation means M2 will be briefly described. In FIG. 6A, the relay information terminal for which the position information is acquired is only the relay information terminal 3g, and the relay information terminal for which the relay count information is three times. "G" is written on the relay information terminal 3g. In the position estimation means M2 selected here, among the relay information terminals having one relay count information of the beacon signal, there is no relay information terminal that has acquired the position information by the satellite positioning system, and the relay count information is 2. It is a position estimation means selected when there is a relay information terminal that has acquired position information among information terminals more than once.

The position estimation means M2 estimates the position based on the cumulative distance information and the search direction, as described with reference to FIG. First, as the search direction, the search direction Dg connecting the position information of the relay information terminal 3g, which is the only relay information terminal that acquires the position information in the relay path Rg, and the position information of the search side information terminal 20 with a straight line. Is adopted. The cumulative distance information is a cumulative value obtained by accumulating the distance information possessed by the beacon signal B3g of the relay path Rg, and is the cumulative distance information L3.

The position of the searched side information terminal 10 is estimated based on the search direction Dg and the cumulative distance information L3. First, a center point Pg is provided at a position separated from the cumulative distance information L3 in the direction Dg adopted in the search direction with the search side information terminal 20 as a base point, and a predetermined distance H is set as the center with the center point Pg as the center. By drawing the position estimation circle Cg, it can be estimated that the area where the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched exists is the area surrounded by the position estimation circle Cg.

However, in the situation shown in FIG. 6A, the position of the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched is a position far away from the region surrounded by the position estimation circle Cg.

Next, when the searcher moves by the distance of the cumulative distance information L3 toward the search direction Dg estimated by the position estimation means M2 and acquires the beacon signal from the searched side information terminal 10 again, the cumulative distance information becomes the minimum. The relay path of the beacon signal is the relay path Rh shown in FIG. 6B, and since the relay information terminals 1g and 2g constituting the relay path Rh do not acquire the position information by the satellite positioning system, the position estimation means M3 Be selected.

The position estimation means M3 described above provides a center point Ph at a position separated from the cumulative distance information L4 in the direction Dh adopted in the search direction with the search side information terminal 20 as a base point, and a predetermined center point Ph is set as the center. By drawing the position estimation circle Ch having the distance H as the radius, it can be estimated that the area where the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched exists is the area surrounded by the position estimation circle Ch.

In this way, by selecting one of the plurality of position estimation means or combining them to repeatedly estimate the position of the searched side information terminal 10 and move the searcher, the searched side information can be obtained. It is possible to accurately estimate the position of the terminal 10.

[Structure explanation of the information terminal position estimation system in the second embodiment: FIG. 7]
The configuration of the information terminal position estimation system 110 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the information terminal position estimation system 110 in the second embodiment. The information terminal position estimation system 110 according to the second embodiment is an advanced example of the information terminal position estimation system 100 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG.

The search-side automatic detection autonomous mobile robot 70 is an automatic detection autonomous mobile robot (traveling type or drone type). Then, the position of the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched is detected, and the information terminal 10 is automatically moved to the position of the searched side information terminal 10.
In FIG. 7, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same as those in FIG.

First, the configuration of the information terminal position estimation system 110 will be described.
The devices constituting the system are the searched side information terminal 10 to be searched, the relay information terminals 1, 2 and 3 that relay the beacon signal, and the search side automatic detection autonomous mobile robot 70. Here, since the searched side information terminal 10 and the relay information terminals 1, 2 and 3 are common to the information terminal position estimation system 100, the description thereof will be omitted.

In the configuration of the search-side automatic detection autonomous mobile robot 70, the same components as the search-side information terminal 20 are the beacon signal unit 4, the satellite positioning system 6, the position information acquisition state analysis unit 21, and the position estimation means selection unit 22. , Position estimation unit 23, position estimation means M1, position estimation means M2, position estimation means M3, and display unit 24. The newly added components are the autonomous control unit 71 and the movement mechanism unit 72.

[Explanation of operation of the information terminal position estimation system in the second embodiment: FIG. 7]
Next, the operation in the information terminal position estimation system 110 will be described. The beacon signal B transmitted by the searched side information terminal 10 is relayed by the relay information terminals 1, 2, and 3, and information is added in the relay to become the beacon signal B3, which is the search side automatic information terminal. Received by the detection autonomous mobile robot 70. Since the relay method of the beacon signal B is the same as that of the information terminal position estimation system 100, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Although it is an operation of the search side automatic detection autonomous mobile robot 70, the operation up to the point where the search side automatic detection autonomous mobile robot 70 receives the beacon signal B3 and analyzes it to estimate the position of the searched side information terminal 10. , Since it is the same as the operation of the search side information terminal 20, detailed description will be omitted. Here, how the obtained information on the estimated position of the searched side information terminal 10 is used will be described.

The autonomous control unit 71 determines the moving direction based on the position information of the searched side information terminal 10 estimated by the position estimation unit 12 and the position information of the search side automatic detection autonomous mobile robot 70 satellite-positioned by the satellite positioning system 6. The decision is made, and a movement instruction is given to the movement mechanism unit 72.
The moving mechanism unit 72 operates the moving mechanism according to the moving instruction.

The search-side automatic detection autonomous mobile robot 70 estimates the position of the search-side information terminal 10 every few meters.
Each time it moves, the relay information terminal forming the relay path R changes. Therefore, the presence or absence of acquisition of position information in the relay information terminal also changes. However, as described in the first embodiment, the position of the searched side information terminal 10 can be accurately estimated by switching the position estimation means depending on whether or not the position information of the relay information terminal is included. can.
Each time the autonomous control unit 71 moves, the autonomous control unit 71 determines a new movement direction based on the newly estimated position information of the searched side information terminal 10 and the new position information of the search side automatic detection autonomous mobile robot 70. do. Then, a movement instruction is given to the movement mechanism unit 72.
By repeating this, the information terminal 10 on the searched side is reached.

As an example of utilization of the information terminal position estimation system 110 in the second embodiment, for example, in a factory, a user has an information terminal 10 on the searched side, and an automatic detection autonomous mobile robot 70 on the search side holds a load addressed to the user. It is possible to have the luggage delivered to the user's hand automatically.

As described above, according to the present invention, the position of the information terminal to be searched is estimated at a place far from the reach of the beacon signal without requiring a large-scale facility such as an internet network or an internet server. An information terminal position estimation system can be obtained.
In addition, the position estimation means of the information terminal to be searched is selected according to whether or not the beacon signal includes the position information of the relay information terminal by the satellite positioning system, and the position of the information terminal to be searched is accurately estimated. be able to.

Since the information terminal position estimation system of the present invention does not use a mobile phone network, the Internet, or a server, it can also be applied to a system that estimates the position of a victim buried in rubble when the network is damaged and does not function in the event of a disaster. ..

1, 2, 3 Relay information terminal 4 Beacon signal unit 5 Processing unit 6 Satellite positioning system 10 Search side information terminal 20 Search side information terminal 21 Position information acquisition status analysis unit 22 Position estimation means selection unit 23 Position estimation unit 24 Display unit 44 Orientation map 50 Graph line 51 Orientation with maximum reception level 64 Movement direction 70 Search side automatic detection Automatic movement robot 71 Autonomous control unit 72 Movement mechanism unit 100, 110 Information terminal position estimation system

Claims (3)

A beacon signal transmitted from a search target information terminal and relayed by a plurality of relay information terminals capable of acquiring position information, and to which the position information is given when the relay device acquires the position information . A position estimation unit that receives and estimates the position of the searched side information terminal,
An autonomous control unit that determines the moving direction based on the position information of the searched side information terminal and the position information of the automatic detection autonomous mobile device estimated by the position estimation unit.
A movement mechanism unit that operates according to the movement instruction of the autonomous control unit,
Position estimation that selects the position estimation means used by the position estimation unit from a plurality of position estimation means based on whether or not the received beacon signal includes the position information of the relay device each time the vehicle travels a predetermined distance. Means selection section and
An automatic detection autonomous mobile device characterized by having. The automatic according to claim 1, wherein the received beacon signal has distance information between the searched side information terminal and the searched side information terminal based on the received radio wave intensity of the beacon signal. Detective autonomous mobile device. It also has a satellite positioning unit,
The automatic detection autonomous mobile device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the position information of the automatic detection autonomous mobile device is acquired by the satellite positioning unit.

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