JP7565706B2 - Monitoring system, monitoring device, and monitoring method - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to monitoring technology, and in particular to a monitoring system for monitoring a monitoring target, a monitoring device that can be used in the monitoring system, and a monitoring method.

Since ancient times, people have domesticated and raised animals such as dogs and cats. Even today, many people keep dogs, cats, and other animals as pets, living with them as if they were family. Domestic animals respond to their caretakers with unconditional love, enriching their lives.

However, there have been cases where pet animals have disappeared or been kidnapped while the owner was not watching. One technique for preventing such incidents is described in, for example, Patent Document 1. In the theft monitoring system described in Patent Document 1, a wireless transmitter is attached to property such as a bicycle, and if the received strength of the wireless signal emitted by the wireless transmitter falls below a specified threshold, a warning is issued that the property has been thefted.

JP 2017-204075 A

The disappearance or abduction of pet animals brings unbearable grief to pet owners who care for them with deep affection. The same is true for infants, elderly people, and others who require supervision. The inventors hoped to reduce such tragic incidents by providing technology that makes it possible to more accurately and quickly detect abnormalities in subjects of surveillance, such as pet animals, infants, and elderly people, as well as property such as bicycles.

This disclosure was made based on the inventor's recognition of the above problem, and one of its objectives is to improve technology for detecting abnormalities in monitored objects.

In order to solve the above problems, a monitoring system according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a monitor terminal held by a monitor who monitors a monitored object, a monitored object terminal attached to the monitored object, and a monitoring device that monitors the monitored object and detects an abnormality in the monitored object. The monitoring device includes a distance calculation unit that acquires information indicating the position of the monitor terminal and information indicating the position of the monitored object terminal, and calculates the distance between the monitor terminal and the monitored object terminal, a relative position acquisition unit that acquires information indicating the relative position between the monitor terminal and the monitored object terminal acquired by wireless communication between the monitor terminal and the monitored object terminal, and an abnormality detection unit that detects an abnormality in the monitored object based on the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit and the relative position acquired by the relative position acquisition unit.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is a monitoring device. This device includes a distance calculation unit that acquires information indicating the position of a monitor terminal held by a monitor monitoring a target and information indicating the position of a target terminal attached to the target, and calculates the distance between the monitor terminal and the target terminal, a relative position acquisition unit that acquires information indicating the relative position between the monitor terminal and the target terminal acquired through wireless communication between the monitor terminal and the target terminal, and an abnormality detection unit that detects an abnormality in the target based on the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit and the relative position acquired by the relative position acquisition unit.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is a monitoring method. This method causes a computer to execute the steps of acquiring information indicating the position of an observer terminal held by an observer monitoring a monitored object and information indicating the position of a monitored object terminal attached to the monitored object, and calculating the distance between the observer terminal and the monitored object terminal, acquiring information indicating the relative position between the observer terminal and the monitored object terminal acquired through wireless communication between the observer terminal and the monitored object terminal, and detecting an abnormality in the monitored object based on the distance calculated in the step of calculating the distance and the relative position acquired in the step of acquiring information indicating the relative position.

In addition, any combination of the above components, or any conversion between the expressions of this disclosure as a method, a computer program, or a recording medium on which a computer program is readably recorded, is also valid as an aspect of this disclosure.

This disclosure makes it possible to improve technology for detecting abnormalities in monitored objects.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure of a monitoring method according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure of a monitoring method according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure of a monitoring method according to an embodiment. 5 is a flowchart showing details of the abnormality detection process (S34) of the monitoring target of FIG. 4; 11 is a diagram showing an example of a change over time in the relative position between a monitor terminal and a monitored terminal; FIG. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating an example of changes over time in the relative distance and relative angle between a monitor terminal and a monitored terminal. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the change over time in the inter-terminal distance calculated from the position of the monitor terminal and the position of the monitored terminal, and the change over time in the relative distance calculated from the relative positions between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring device. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a supervisor terminal according to the embodiment. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitored terminal according to an embodiment; FIG. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitored terminal according to a third embodiment. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating an example of a relative distance between a monitor terminal and a monitored terminal and a change over time in the temperature of the monitored terminal. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a monitoring method according to a third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitored terminal according to a fourth embodiment. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating an example of a relative distance between a monitor terminal and a monitored terminal, and a change over time in the distance calculated from the number of steps of the monitored terminal. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a monitoring method according to a fourth embodiment.

As an embodiment of the present disclosure, a technology for monitoring subjects such as domestic animals, infants, and elderly people, and detecting and reporting abnormalities in the subjects is described. In this embodiment, an example of monitoring domestic animals is mainly described, but the same applies to monitoring subjects in need of protection such as infants and elderly people.

(First embodiment)
1 shows a configuration of a monitoring system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The monitoring system 1 includes monitor terminals 200a, 200b, 200c, 200d, and 200e (collectively referred to as "monitor terminals 200") held by monitors 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, and 2e (collectively referred to as "monitors 2") who monitor domestic animals 3 as monitoring targets, a monitored terminal 300 attached to a collar or the like of the domestic animal 3, a monitoring device 100 that monitors the domestic animal 3, and a base station 4 and a core network 7 for communication between the monitor terminals 200 and the monitored terminals 300 and the monitoring device 100.

The monitoring device 100 may be implemented in any operational form, such as on-premise or on cloud, but this figure shows an implementation example using MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing) standardized by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). That is, the monitoring device 100 is composed of an IoT server 6 arranged at the edge and an MEC platform 5 arranged near the base station 4. The functions of the monitoring device 100 are distributed across the MEC platform 5 and IoT server 6 depending on the number and processing capacity of the MEC platform 5 and IoT server 6, the number of monitor terminals 200 and monitored terminals 300, the communication speed and processing capacity of the communication network including the base station 4 and core network 7, the type of monitored object, and the purpose of monitoring.

When the monitoring device 100 is placed on the cloud, the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 are connected to the cloud via the Internet through the base station 4, the core network 7, and a gateway (not shown). In contrast, in the monitoring system 1 shown in this figure, the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 communicate with the IoT server 6 via the MEC platform 5, not via the core network 7. This makes it possible to reduce communication delays caused by congestion, etc. In addition, since some of the functions of the monitoring device 100 can be placed in positions close to the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300, abnormalities in the monitored objects can be detected more quickly. Furthermore, since the functions of the monitoring device 100 are distributed to the MEC platform 5 and the IoT server 6 and the processing load is appropriately distributed, even if the number of monitors and monitored objects increases, information for monitoring the monitored objects can be collected and processed at appropriate time intervals, and abnormalities in the monitored objects can be detected quickly. In the following, in order to simplify the explanation, the functions of the monitoring device 100 will be explained regardless of the implementation form and operation form of the monitoring device 100.

A domestic animal 3 can be monitored by multiple monitors 2. For example, when a monitor 2a is walking the domestic animal 3, the monitoring device 100 monitors the change over time in the relative position of the monitored terminal 300 based on the monitor terminal 200a held by the monitor 2a. When the monitor of the domestic animal 3 is switched to monitor 2b, the monitoring device 100 monitors the change over time in the relative position of the monitored terminal 300 based on the monitor terminal 200b.

Figure 2 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of the monitoring method according to the embodiment. This diagram shows the procedure for updating the monitor terminal 200. When the monitor terminal 200 starts monitoring the domestic animal 3, it pairs with the monitored terminal 300 attached to the domestic animal 3 and establishes a wireless communication connection with the monitored terminal 300 (S10). Wireless communication between the terminals may be performed using a communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). The monitor terminal 200 attaches to the base station 4 (S11). After that, the monitor terminal 200 can communicate with the monitoring device 100 via the base station 4. The monitor terminal 200 transmits information about its own terminal and the monitored terminal 300 to the monitoring device 100 and requests an update of the monitor terminal paired with the monitored terminal 300 (S12). The monitoring device 100 registers the information received from the monitor terminal 200 and updates the monitor terminal paired with the monitored terminal 300.

Figure 3 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of the monitoring method according to the embodiment. This diagram shows the procedure for calculating the distance between the monitoring terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300. The monitoring terminal 200 acquires position information detected by a position sensor mounted on the terminal (S20) and transmits the acquired position information to the monitoring device 100 (S21). The monitored terminal 300 acquires position information detected by a position sensor mounted on the terminal (S22) and transmits the acquired position information to the monitoring device 100 (S23). The monitoring device 100 calculates the distance between the terminals based on the position information received from the monitoring terminal 200 and the position information received from the monitored terminal 300 (S24). The monitoring device 100 notifies the monitored terminal 300 and the monitoring terminal 200 of the calculated inter-terminal distance (S25, S26). The monitoring terminal 200 or the monitored terminal 300 may issue an alarm or the like to notify an abnormality when the notified inter-terminal distance exceeds a predetermined threshold. This allows the monitor 2 and people nearby to be quickly notified that the pet animal 3 has moved beyond a certain distance from the monitor 2, and urges them to take appropriate action. This threshold value may be set in advance, or may be set by the monitor.

Figure 4 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of the monitoring method according to the embodiment. This diagram shows the procedure of acquiring information indicating the relative position between the monitoring terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 and detecting an abnormality in the monitored object. The monitoring terminal 200 performs near field wireless communication with the monitored terminal 300 by a communication method such as Bluetooth (S31), and acquires the relative position and relative angle between the monitored terminal 300 and the monitored terminal 300 using the position detection function and direction detection function of Bluetooth (S32). The monitoring terminal 200 transmits information indicating the acquired relative position and relative angle to the monitoring device 100 (S33). The monitoring device 100 executes a process for detecting an abnormality in the monitored object (S34), and when an abnormality is detected, notifies the monitored terminal 300 and the monitoring terminal 200 of the abnormality in the monitored object (S35, S36). When the monitoring terminal 200 or the monitored terminal 300 is notified of the abnormality in the monitored object, it may issue an alarm or the like to notify the abnormality. This allows the monitor 2 and people nearby to be quickly notified that an abnormality has occurred in the pet animal 3, and to prompt appropriate action. Note that the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 may obtain the relative positions between the two terminals by communicating with beacons or the like installed in the vicinity.

Figure 5 is a flow chart showing details of the abnormality detection process (S34) of the monitored object in Figure 4. The monitoring device 100 calculates the rate of change of the relative distance and relative angle in the most recent N samples (S40). If the rate of change of the calculated relative distance or relative angle is equal to or less than a threshold value (Y in S41), the status of the monitored captive animal 3 is updated to "normal" (S46), and the abnormality detection process is terminated. If the rate of change of the calculated relative distance or relative angle exceeds the threshold value (N in S41), the status of the monitored captive animal 3 is updated to "abnormal" (S42).

The monitoring device 100 then calculates the value of the cross-correlation function between the relative distance and the inter-terminal distance for the most recent N samples (S43). If the calculated cross-correlation function value is within a predetermined normal range (Y in S44), the status of the monitored captive animal 3 is updated to "normal" (S46) and the abnormality detection process is terminated. If the calculated cross-correlation function value is outside the normal range (N in S44), the status of the monitored captive animal 3 is updated to "emergency" (S45). In S35 and S36 of FIG. 4, the monitoring device 100 transmits the status of the monitored captive animal 3 to the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300.

Figure 6 shows an example of the change over time in the relative position between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300. When the domestic animal 3 is indoors or in an outdoor facility such as a dog run, the relative position between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 changes within the range in which the domestic animal 3 can move freely. When the monitor 2 is walking the domestic animal 3, the relative position between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 changes within the length of the lead to which the domestic animal 3 is tied.

Figure 7 shows an example of the change over time in the relative distance and relative angle between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300. In S40 of Figure 5, the monitoring device 100 calculates the rate of change of the relative distance and relative angle between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 in the most recent N samples. The relative distance and relative angle do not usually change at a speed faster than the sum of the normal movement speed of the monitor 2 and the normal movement speed of the domestic animal 3. Therefore, the monitoring device 100 pre-sets a first threshold value representing the normal movement speed of the monitor 2 and the domestic animal 3, and in S41 of Figure 5, when the rate of change of the relative distance or relative angle exceeds the first threshold value, it determines that there is a possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the domestic animal 3, and updates the status of the monitored domestic animal 3 to "abnormal". As described above, in S41 of FIG. 5, if the rate of change of the relative distance and the relative angle is equal to or less than the first threshold, the monitoring device 100 updates the status of the monitored captive animal 3 to "normal" and does not execute the abnormality detection process of S43 and S44 using the cross-correlation function. This makes it possible to reduce the processing load of the monitoring device 100 while maintaining a high level of accuracy in abnormality detection.

The first threshold may be set by the monitor or automatically by the monitoring device 100. The first threshold may be set based on the history of the relative positions between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 recorded when the monitored domestic animal 3 is in a normal state. The first threshold may be the maximum value, average value, third quartile, 80th percentile, 90th percentile, 95th percentile, etc. of the relative distance and relative angle in a normal state. The first threshold may be updated according to the history of abnormality detection and the actual state of the domestic animal 3 at that time. For example, when an abnormality is detected based on the first threshold, if a predetermined number of cases occur in which the domestic animal 3 is actually in a normal state, the monitoring device 100 may update the first threshold to a larger value. Conversely, if a case occurs in which the domestic animal 3 was in an abnormal state but no abnormality was detected based on the first threshold, the monitoring device 100 may update the first threshold to a smaller value.

As shown in FIG. 6, even if the rate of change of the relative distance is small, if the relative angle changes significantly when the relative distance is large, there is a possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the domestic animal 3. However, when the relative distance is small, even if the relative angle changes significantly, the relative positional relationship between the monitor 2 and the domestic animal 3 does not change significantly. Therefore, the monitoring device 100 detects an abnormality when the rate of change of the relative angle exceeds a threshold only when the relative distance is large, and does not need to detect an abnormality even if the rate of change of the relative angle is large when the relative distance is small. Specifically, the monitoring device 100 detects an abnormality of the monitored domestic animal 3 when the change in the calculated relative distance exceeds the second threshold, and when the calculated relative distance exceeds the third threshold, the change in the calculated relative angle exceeds the fourth threshold, and does not need to detect an abnormality of the monitored domestic animal 3 even if the change in the calculated relative angle exceeds the fourth threshold when the calculated relative distance is equal to or less than the third threshold. This can further improve the accuracy of abnormality detection. The second anomaly detection unit may change the second threshold or the fourth threshold based on the magnitude of the calculated relative distance. Even if the monitored object moves the same distance, the greater the relative distance from the monitor, the smaller the amount of change in the relative angle, so the fourth threshold may be made smaller as the relative distance increases. In this way, when the relative distance is large, it is possible to grasp the change in the relative position of the monitored object by capturing a minute change in the relative angle, thereby further improving the accuracy of anomaly detection.

The number of samples N or the sample period for calculating the rate of change of the relative distance and the relative angle may be set by the monitor, may be preset in the monitoring device 100, or may be automatically updated by the monitoring device 100. The number of samples N may be preset according to the type, number, normal movement speed, and purpose of monitoring of the monitored objects. The number of samples N may be dynamically updated according to the current state, location, movement status, relative position and relative angle history of the monitored objects, etc.

Figure 8 shows an example of the time change in the inter-terminal distance calculated from the positions of the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300, and the time change in the relative distance calculated from the relative positions between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300. Normally, the time change in the inter-terminal distance and the time change in the relative distance should be almost the same, but if some abnormality occurs, the time change in the inter-terminal distance and the time change in the relative distance may behave differently. Therefore, in this embodiment, the similarity between the time change in the inter-terminal distance and the time change in the relative distance is evaluated, and an abnormality is detected when the similarity falls outside a predetermined normal range. This makes it possible to quickly detect and report an abnormality when the pet animal 3 behaves as if it is rapidly moving away from the monitor 2, the pet animal 3 is kidnapped by someone, or an abnormality occurs in the monitor terminal 200 or the monitored terminal 300 making it impossible to continue monitoring the pet animal 3.

In this embodiment, in order to evaluate the similarity between the time change of the inter-terminal distance and the time change of the relative distance, the monitoring device 100 calculates the value of the cross-correlation function thereof. The cross-correlation function r _xy (T) is expressed by, for example, the following equation.
Here, σ _xy (T) is expressed by the following equation.

In S43 of FIG. 5, the monitoring device 100 calculates the value of the cross-correlation function between the time change in the distance between the terminals and the time change in the relative distance in the most recent N samples. The stronger the positive correlation, the larger the positive value of the cross-correlation function; the stronger the negative correlation, the larger the negative value; and the weaker the correlation, the closer to zero the value. Therefore, the monitoring device 100 pre-sets a range of possible values of the cross-correlation function when the correlation between the time change in the distance between the terminals and the time change in the relative distance is strong enough to determine that the status of the monitored object is normal, and in S44 of FIG. 5, when the value of the cross-correlation function is outside the predetermined normal range, it determines that an abnormality may have occurred in the domestic animal 3, and updates the status of the monitored domestic animal 3 to "emergency".

The normal range of the cross-correlation function value may be set by the monitor, or may be automatically set by the monitoring device 100. The normal range may be set based on the history of the terminal distance and the relative distance between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 recorded when the monitored domestic animal 3 is in a normal state. The lower limit of the normal range may be the minimum value, the first quartile, the 5th percentile, the 10th percentile, the 20th percentile, the 30th percentile, etc. of the cross-correlation function value calculated from the time change of the terminal distance and the time change of the relative distance in a normal state. The normal range may be updated according to the history of abnormality detection and the actual state of the domestic animal 3 at that time. For example, when an abnormality is detected based on the normal range, if a predetermined number of cases occur in which the domestic animal 3 was actually in a normal state, the monitoring device 100 may update the lower limit of the normal range to a larger value. Conversely, if a case occurs in which the domestic animal 3 is in an abnormal state but the abnormality is not detected based on the normal range, the monitoring device 100 may update the lower limit of the normal range to a smaller value.

The number of samples N or the sample period for calculating the value of the cross-correlation function may be set by the monitor, may be preset in the monitoring device 100, or may be automatically updated by the monitoring device 100. The number of samples N may be preset according to the type, number, normal movement speed, and purpose of monitoring of the monitored objects. The number of samples N may be dynamically updated according to the current state, location, movement status, relative position and relative angle history of the monitored objects, etc.

The monitoring device 100 may evaluate the similarity between the time change of the inter-terminal distance and the time change of the relative distance using any technique for evaluating the similarity of two time series data, such as STL decomposition (Seasonal-Trend Decomposition Procedure Based on Loess). The monitoring device 100 may evaluate the similarity between the time change of the inter-terminal distance and the time change of the relative distance using artificial intelligence such as a neural network that inputs the time series data of the inter-terminal distance and the time series data of the relative distance and outputs an index indicating the similarity between them. The monitoring device 100 may also detect an abnormality in the monitored object using artificial intelligence such as a neural network that inputs the time series data of the inter-terminal distance or the time series data of the relative distance and outputs the probability that an abnormality has occurred in the monitored object. These artificial intelligences may learn the time series data of the inter-terminal distance or the relative distance recorded in the past, the similarity between the time change of the inter-terminal distance and the time change of the relative distance (such as the value of the cross-correlation function), the presence or absence of an abnormality in the monitored object, and the like as learning data.

As described above, when an abnormality occurs in the rate of change of the relative distance and the relative angle, and when an abnormality occurs in the value of the cross-correlation function between the time change in the distance between the terminals and the time change in the relative distance, the monitoring device 100 notifies the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 that an emergency may have occurred in the monitored object. This allows an abnormality in the monitored object to be detected quickly and accurately. In another example, when an abnormality occurs in either one of them, the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 may be notified that an abnormality may have occurred in the monitored object.

Figure 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the monitoring device 100. The monitoring device 100 includes a communication device 111, a processing device 120, and a storage device 140. The multiple functional blocks shown in the block diagrams in this specification can be configured in hardware with circuit blocks, memory, and other LSIs, and are realized in software by the CPU executing a program loaded into memory. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms using only hardware, only software, or a combination of both, and are not limited to any one of them.

The communication device 111 communicates with the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 via the base station 4, the core network 7, etc. The communication device 111 may communicate with the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 using any communication method.

The storage device 140 stores programs, data, etc. used by the processing device 120. The storage device 140 may be a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, etc. The storage device 140 includes a monitored database 141, a history information storage unit 142, and a parameter storage unit 143.

The monitored subject database 141 holds information about the monitored captive animal 3, the monitored subject terminal 300 attached to the captive animal 3, the monitor terminal 200 held by the monitor monitoring the captive animal 3, etc. The monitored subject database 141 holds, for example, the type, age, sex, weight, normal movement speed of the captive animal 3, identification information of the monitor 2 monitoring the captive animal 3, age, sex, movement method, normal movement speed, identification information of the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored subject terminal 300, information related to communication, etc.

The history information storage unit 142 stores information acquired by the monitoring device 100 from the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300, information calculated by the monitoring device 100, etc. The history information storage unit 142 stores history such as, for example, position information of the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300, the distance between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300, the relative position between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300, the relative distance and relative angle between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 and the rate of change thereof, the value of the cross-correlation function between the time change in the distance between the terminals and the time change in the relative distance, and anomaly detection results.

The parameter storage unit 143 stores parameters used by the monitoring device 100 in processing to detect an abnormality in the monitored object. The parameter storage unit 143 stores, for example, a first threshold, a second threshold, a third threshold, and a fourth threshold for detecting an abnormality in the rate of change of the relative distance or relative angle between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300, the number of samples N for calculating the rate of change of the relative distance and the relative angle, the coefficient of the cross-correlation function between the time change in the distance between the terminals and the time change in the relative distance, the normal range of the value of the cross-correlation function, the number of samples N for calculating the cross-correlation function, and the like.

The processing device 120 includes a terminal information registration unit 121, a terminal position acquisition unit 122, a distance calculation unit 123, a relative position acquisition unit 124, a change rate calculation unit 125, a cross-correlation function calculation unit 126, a first anomaly detection unit 127, a second anomaly detection unit 128, and a detection result transmission unit 129.

The terminal information registration unit 121 acquires information about the monitor terminal 200 held by the monitor who monitors the monitored object from the monitor terminal 200 and registers it in the monitored object database 141.

The terminal position acquisition unit 122 acquires position information indicating the current positions of the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 from each other, and stores the information in the history information storage unit 142.

The distance calculation unit 123 calculates the inter-terminal distance between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 based on the position information of the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 stored in the monitored terminal database 141, and stores the calculated distance in the history information storage unit 142.

The relative position acquisition unit 124 acquires information indicating the relative position between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 from the monitor terminal 200, and stores the information in the history information storage unit 142.

The change rate calculation unit 125 calculates the relative distance and relative angle between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 and the rate of change thereof from information indicating the relative positions between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 stored in the history information storage unit 142, and stores them in the history information storage unit 142.

The second anomaly detection unit 128 detects an anomaly in the monitored object by comparing the rate of change of the relative distance and the relative angle calculated by the rate of change calculation unit 125 with the threshold value stored in the parameter storage unit 143.

The cross-correlation function calculation unit 126 refers to the history of the inter-terminal distance and the history of the relative distance stored in the history information storage unit 142, and calculates the value of the cross-correlation function between the time change in the inter-terminal distance and the time change in the relative distance.

The first anomaly detection unit 127 detects an anomaly in the monitored object by comparing the value of the cross-correlation function calculated by the cross-correlation function calculation unit 126 with the normal range stored in the parameter storage unit 143.

The detection result transmission unit 129 transmits the results detected by the first anomaly detection unit 127 or the second anomaly detection unit 128 to the monitor terminal 200 or the monitored terminal 300.

Figure 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a supervisor terminal 200 according to an embodiment. The supervisor terminal 200 includes a communication device 211, a display device 212, an input device 213, a speaker 214, a storage device 215, a position sensor 216, and a processing device 220. These functional blocks can also be realized in various forms using only hardware, only software, or a combination of these. The supervisor terminal 200 may be a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone terminal, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal.

The communication device 211 communicates with the monitoring device 100 via the base station 4, the core network 7, etc. The communication device 211 also communicates with the monitored terminal 300 using a communication method such as Bluetooth.

The display device 212 displays a screen generated by the processing device 220. The display device 212 may be a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL display device, or the like. The input device 213 transmits instructions input by the monitor 2 to the processing device 220. The input device 213 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch pad, or the like. The display device 212 and the input device 213 may be implemented as a touch panel. The speaker 214 outputs sound generated by the processing device 220.

The storage device 215 stores programs, data, etc. used by the processing device 220. The storage device 215 may be a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, etc.

The position sensor 216 detects the current position of the monitor terminal 200 using known technology such as the Global Positioning System (GPS).

The processing device 220 includes a terminal information transmission unit 221, a position information transmission unit 222, a relative position acquisition unit 223, a relative position transmission unit 224, a detection result acquisition unit 225, and an alarm unit 226.

The terminal information transmission unit 221 transmits information about the monitor terminal 200 to the monitoring device 100 when the monitor 2 carrying the monitor terminal 200 starts monitoring the captive animal 3 to be monitored.

The location information transmission unit 222 acquires location information from the location sensor 216 at a predetermined timing and transmits it to the monitoring device 100.

The relative position acquisition unit 223 communicates with the monitored terminal 300 at a predetermined timing and acquires the relative distance and relative angle between the monitored terminal 300.

The relative position transmission unit 224 transmits the relative distance and relative angle between the monitored terminal 300 acquired by the relative position acquisition unit 223 to the monitoring device 100.

The detection result acquisition unit 225 acquires the detection results of abnormalities in the monitored object by the monitoring device 100 from the monitoring device 100.

The notification unit 226 notifies the detection result acquired by the detection result acquisition unit 225 from the display device 212 or the speaker 214. The notification unit 226 may determine the manner of notification depending on the content of the detection result. For example, if a detection result is acquired indicating that an emergency may have occurred in the monitored object, the notification unit 226 may display the detection result on the display device 212 and output a warning sound from the speaker 214. If a detection result is acquired indicating that the monitored object is normal, the notification unit 226 may display that fact on the display device 212 and not output a sound from the speaker 214.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a monitored terminal 300 according to an embodiment. The monitored terminal 300 includes a communication device 311, a display device 312, an input device 313, a speaker 314, a storage device 315, a position sensor 316, and a processing device 320. These functional blocks can also be realized in various forms, such as hardware alone, software alone, or a combination of these. The monitored terminal 300 may be a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone terminal, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal. The monitored terminal 300 may be attached to or affixed to clothing, shoes, accessories, portable items, collars, etc. worn by the monitored subject, or may be incorporated therein.

The communication device 311 communicates with the monitoring device 100 via the base station 4, the core network 7, etc. The communication device 311 also communicates with the monitor terminal 200 using a communication method such as Bluetooth.

The display device 312 displays a screen generated by the processing device 320. The display device 312 may be a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL display device, or the like. The input device 313 transmits instruction input by the monitor 2 or the like to the processing device 320. The input device 313 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch pad, or the like. The display device 312 and the input device 313 may be implemented as a touch panel. The speaker 314 outputs sound generated by the processing device 320.

The storage device 315 stores programs, data, etc. used by the processing device 320. The storage device 315 may be a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, etc.

The location sensor 316 detects the current location of the monitored terminal 300 using known technology such as GPS (Global Positioning System).

The processing device 320 includes a sensor information transmission unit 321, a detection result acquisition unit 322, and an alarm unit 323.

The sensor information transmission unit 321 acquires location information from the location sensor 316 at a predetermined timing and transmits it to the monitoring device 100.

The detection result acquisition unit 322 acquires the detection results of abnormalities in the monitored object by the monitoring device 100 from the monitoring device 100.

The notification unit 323 notifies the detection result acquired by the detection result acquisition unit 322 from the display device 312 or the speaker 314. The notification unit 323 may determine the manner of notification depending on the content of the detection result. For example, when a detection result indicating that an emergency may have occurred in the monitored subject is acquired, the notification unit 323 may display the detection result on the display device 312 and output a warning sound from the speaker 314. The notification unit 323 may display information such as the telephone number and email address of the monitor terminal 200, and the name and address of the monitor 2 on the display device 312 so that the person who has taken custody of the monitored captive animal 3 can contact the monitor 2. The notification unit 323 may display a warning message to the person who has taken the monitored captive animal 3 on the display device 312.

Second Embodiment
4, the process in which the monitor terminal 200 acquires information indicating the relative position between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 and transmits it to the monitoring device 100 is executed regardless of whether or not there is a request from the monitoring device 100, but in the second embodiment, when the monitoring device 100 requests the monitor terminal 200 to transmit information indicating the relative position, the monitor terminal 200 acquires information indicating the relative position between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 and transmits it to the monitoring device 100. The other configurations and operations are similar to those of the first embodiment.

Figure 11 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the monitoring method according to the second embodiment. The monitoring device 100 checks whether the inter-terminal distance calculated in step S24 shown in Figure 3 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold (S27). If the inter-terminal distance exceeds the threshold (N in S27), the monitoring device 100 requests the monitor terminal 200 to transmit information indicating the relative position between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 (S28). If the inter-terminal distance is equal to or less than the threshold (Y in S27), the monitoring device 100 does not request the monitor terminal 200 to transmit information indicating the relative position between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300.

According to the technology of this embodiment, processing to detect anomalies in the monitored object is executed only when the inter-terminal distance exceeds a threshold value, so it is possible to reduce the processing load while maintaining high accuracy in anomaly detection.

Third Embodiment
Fig. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the monitored terminal 300 according to the third embodiment. The monitored terminal 300 according to the third embodiment includes a temperature sensor 317 for detecting the surrounding temperature in addition to the configuration of the monitored terminal 300 according to the first embodiment shown in Fig. 10. The sensor information transmission unit 321 transmits to the monitoring device 100 temperature information detected by the temperature sensor 317 in addition to the position information detected by the position sensor 316. The other configurations and operations are the same as those of the first or second embodiment.

Figure 13 shows an example of the change over time in the relative distance between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 and the temperature of the monitored terminal 300. At times t0 and t1, the monitored terminal 300 is attached to the monitored animal 3, so the temperature sensor 317 detects the body temperature of the monitored animal 3. If the monitored terminal 300 is removed from the monitored animal 3 or is removed from it, the temperature sensor 317 detects the surrounding air temperature, so at time t2, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 317 drops sharply. In this way, even if the relative distance between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 does not indicate an abnormality, if the temperature drops sharply, it can be detected that the monitored terminal 300 has been removed from the monitored animal 3. Instead of the temperature sensor 317, a sensor for detecting biological information of the monitored object, such as pulse and blood pressure, may be mounted on the monitored terminal 300.

Figure 14 is a flowchart showing the steps of the monitoring method according to the third embodiment. This figure shows details of the abnormality detection process (S34) of the monitored object in Figure 4. In the third embodiment, step S50 is executed instead of step S43 in the flowchart shown in Figure 5. The other steps are the same as those in the flowchart shown in Figure 5.

In step S50, the cross-correlation function calculation unit 126 of the monitoring device 100 calculates the value of the cross-correlation function between the time change in relative distance and the time change in temperature of the monitored terminal 300 in the most recent N samples (S50). If the calculated cross-correlation function value is within a predetermined normal range (Y in S44), the status of the monitored captive animal 3 is updated to "normal" (S46), and the abnormality detection process is terminated. If the calculated cross-correlation function value is outside the normal range (N in S44), the status of the monitored captive animal 3 is updated to "emergency" (S45).

According to the technology of the third embodiment, even if the monitored terminal 300 is no longer monitored, the abnormality can be detected and notified.

(Fourth embodiment)
FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the monitored terminal 300 according to the fourth embodiment. The monitored terminal 300 according to the fourth embodiment includes a step sensor 318 for detecting the number of steps of the monitored domestic animal 3 in addition to the configuration of the monitored terminal 300 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 10. The step sensor 318 may be, for example, an accelerometer. The sensor information transmission unit 321 transmits step information detected by the step sensor 318 to the monitoring device 100 in addition to the position information detected by the position sensor 316. The monitoring device 100 calculates the moving distance of the domestic animal 3 from the step information by any known technology. The other configurations and operations are the same as those of any of the first to third embodiments.

16 shows an example of the change over time in the relative distance between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 and the distance calculated from the number of steps of the monitored subject. When the monitored subject's domestic animal 3 is walking, the change over time in the moving distance calculated from the number of steps detected by the step sensor 318 and the normal stride length of the domestic animal 3 shows a similar tendency to the change over time in the relative distance between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300. However, when the domestic animal 3 is carried away by someone, put in a cage, or put on a moving object such as a car, the domestic animal 3 moves away from the monitor 2 even though it is not walking, so the change over time in the relative distance between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 and the change over time in the moving distance of the monitored subject calculated from the number of steps detected by the step sensor 318 show different behaviors. In this way, even if the relative distance between the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 does not indicate an abnormality, it is possible to detect that the pet animal 3 has been taken away by someone by monitoring the movement distance calculated from the number of steps taken by the monitored subject.

Figure 17 is a flowchart showing the steps of a monitoring method according to the fourth embodiment. This figure shows details of the abnormality detection process (S34) of the monitored object in Figure 4. In the fourth embodiment, step S51 is executed instead of step S43 in the flowchart shown in Figure 5. The other steps are the same as those in the flowchart shown in Figure 5.

In step S51, the cross-correlation function calculation unit 126 of the monitoring device 100 calculates the value of the cross-correlation function between the time change in relative distance in the most recent N samples and the time change in the movement distance calculated from the number of steps of the monitored subject (S51). If the calculated cross-correlation function value is within a predetermined normal range (Y in S44), the status of the monitored subject's captive animal 3 is updated to "normal" (S46), and the abnormality detection process is terminated. If the calculated cross-correlation function value is outside the normal range (N in S44), the status of the monitored subject's captive animal 3 is updated to "emergency" (S45).

The technology of the fourth embodiment makes it possible to detect and notify an abnormality even if the monitored subject is abducted by someone.

The present invention has been described above based on examples. These examples are merely illustrative, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications are possible in the combination of each component or each treatment process, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. Modifications are shown below.

(First Modification)
All functionality of the monitoring device 100 may be implemented in a MEC platform 5 close to the base station 4 .

(Second Modification)
All the functions of the monitoring device 100 may be implemented on the cloud of the core network 7. In this case, even if the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 are attached to different base stations 4, the monitoring device 100 can obtain information from both the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 to monitor the monitored terminal.

(Third Modification)
In the third embodiment, when the temperature acquired from the temperature sensor 317 indicates an abnormality, the sensor information transmission unit 321 of the monitored terminal 300 may first notify the monitor terminal 200 of the abnormality instead of the monitoring device 100. This allows the monitor 2 to quickly know that the monitored terminal 300 has been removed from the domestic animal 3, and therefore to take appropriate measures. In addition, when no abnormality has occurred in the domestic animal 3, such as when the monitored terminal 300 has simply been removed from the domestic animal 3 rather than being removed from the domestic animal 3 by someone, the monitoring device 100 does not need to execute the abnormality detection process, and therefore the processing load and communication load of the monitoring device 100 can be reduced.

(Fourth Modification)
When the functions of the monitoring device 100 are implemented in the MEC platform 5, when the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 are near the boundary of the communication area of the base station 4, they may connect to different base stations 4 for a short time. The monitoring device 100 detects that the monitor terminal 200 and the monitored terminal 300 are connected to different base stations 4, and communicates with each other via the base stations 4 to which they are connected.

Any combination of the above-mentioned examples and modifications is also useful as an embodiment of the present disclosure. A new embodiment resulting from the combination will have the combined effects of each of the examples and modifications. It will also be understood by those skilled in the art that the functions to be performed by each of the constituent elements recited in the claims can be realized by each of the components shown in the examples and modifications alone or in combination with each other.

1 Monitoring system, 2 Monitor, 3 Captive animals, 4 Base station, 5 MEC platform, 6 IoT server, 7 Core network, 100 Monitoring device, 111 Communication device, 120 Processing device, 121 Terminal information registration unit, 122 Terminal position acquisition unit, 123 Distance calculation unit, 124 Relative position acquisition unit, 125 Change speed calculation unit, 126 Cross-correlation function calculation unit, 127 First abnormality detection unit, 128 Second abnormality detection unit, 129 Detection result transmission unit, 140 Storage device, 141 Monitoring target database, 142 History information storage unit, 143 Parameter storage unit, 200 Monitor terminal, 211 Communication device, 212 Display device, 213 Input device, 214 Speaker, 215 Storage device, 216 Position sensor, 220 Processing device, 221 Terminal information transmission unit, 222 Position information transmission unit, 223 Relative position acquisition unit, 224 Relative position transmission unit, 225 Detection result acquisition unit, 226 Notification unit, 300 Monitored terminal, 311 Communication device, 312 Display device, 313 Input device, 314 Speaker, 315 Storage device, 316 Position sensor, 317 Temperature sensor, 318 Step count sensor, 320 Processing device, 321 Sensor information transmission unit, 322 Detection result acquisition unit, 323 Notification unit.

Claims (13)

A monitor terminal held by a monitor who monitors a monitoring target;
A monitoring target terminal attached to the monitoring target;
A monitoring device that monitors the target to detect an abnormality in the target;
Equipped with
The monitoring device includes:
a distance calculation unit that acquires information indicating a position of the monitoring terminal and information indicating a position of the monitored terminal, and calculates a distance between the monitoring terminal and the monitored terminal;
a relative position acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a relative position between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal acquired through wireless communication between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal;
an anomaly detection unit that detects an anomaly of the monitoring target based on the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit and the relative position acquired by the relative position acquisition unit;
Equipped with
The anomaly detection unit includes a first anomaly detection unit that evaluates a similarity between a change in distance calculated by the distance calculation unit and a change in relative distance between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal calculated from the relative position acquired by the relative position acquisition unit, and detects an anomaly in the monitored terminal when the evaluated similarity falls outside a predetermined range.
Surveillance system. a distance calculation unit that acquires information indicating a position of a monitor terminal held by a monitor monitoring a target and information indicating a position of a target terminal attached to the target, and calculates a distance between the monitor terminal and the target terminal;
a relative position acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a relative position between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal acquired through wireless communication between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal;
an anomaly detection unit that detects an anomaly of the monitoring target based on the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit and the relative position acquired by the relative position acquisition unit;
Equipped with
The anomaly detection unit includes a first anomaly detection unit that evaluates a similarity between a change in distance calculated by the distance calculation unit and a change in relative distance between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal calculated from the relative position acquired by the relative position acquisition unit, and detects an anomaly in the monitored terminal when the evaluated similarity falls outside a predetermined range.
Surveillance equipment. The monitoring device according to claim 2, wherein the abnormality detection unit includes a second abnormality detection unit that calculates changes in the relative distance and relative angle between the monitoring terminal and the monitored terminal, and detects an abnormality in the monitored terminal based on the calculated changes in the relative distance and relative angle. The monitoring device according to claim 3 , wherein the second abnormality detection unit detects an abnormality in the monitored object when one or both of the change in the calculated relative distance and the change in the relative angle exceed a first threshold value representing a normal movement speed of the monitored object. 5. The monitoring device according to claim 4, wherein the second abnormality detection unit detects an abnormality in the monitored object when a change in the calculated relative distance exceeds a second threshold, and when a change in the calculated relative angle exceeds a fourth threshold when the calculated relative distance exceeds a third threshold. The monitoring device according to claim 5 , wherein the second abnormality detection unit changes the second threshold or the fourth threshold based on the magnitude of the calculated relative distance. The monitoring device according to claim 3 , wherein , when an abnormality is detected by the second abnormality detection unit, detection of an abnormality is executed by the first abnormality detection unit. 8. The monitoring device according to claim 3 , further comprising: a detection unit configured to detect an abnormality in the monitored object when an abnormality is detected by both the first abnormality detection unit and the second abnormality detection unit. The monitoring target terminal further includes a detection information acquisition unit that acquires detection information detected by a sensor mounted on the monitoring target terminal,
The monitoring device according to claim 2 , wherein the abnormality detection unit detects an abnormality in the monitored object further based on the detection information acquired by the detection information acquisition unit. The detection information acquisition unit acquires temperature information detected by a temperature sensor mounted on the monitoring target terminal,
The monitoring device according to claim 9 , wherein the abnormality detection unit detects that the terminal to be monitored has been removed from the monitoring targets based on the temperature information acquired by the detection information acquisition unit. The detection information acquisition unit acquires acceleration information detected by an acceleration sensor mounted on the monitored terminal,
The monitoring device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the abnormality detection unit calculates the amount of movement of the monitored object based on the acceleration information acquired by the detection information acquisition unit, and detects an abnormality in the monitored object based on the calculated amount of movement and the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit or the distance calculated from the relative position acquired by the relative position acquisition unit. Computer,
a distance calculation unit that acquires information indicating a position of a monitor terminal held by a monitor monitoring a target and information indicating a position of a target terminal attached to the target, and calculates a distance between the monitor terminal and the target terminal;
a relative position acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a relative position between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal acquired through inter-terminal communication between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal;
an anomaly detection unit that detects an anomaly of the monitoring target based on the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit and the relative position acquired by the relative position acquisition unit;
Function as a
The anomaly detection unit includes a first anomaly detection unit that evaluates a similarity between a change in distance calculated by the distance calculation unit and a change in relative distance between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal calculated from the relative position acquired by the relative position acquisition unit, and detects an anomaly in the monitored terminal when the evaluated similarity falls outside a predetermined range.
Computer program. On the computer,
acquiring information indicating a position of a monitor terminal held by a monitor monitoring a target and information indicating a position of a target terminal attached to the target, and calculating a distance between the monitor terminal and the target terminal;
acquiring information indicating a relative position between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal acquired through inter-terminal communication between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal;
detecting an abnormality in the monitoring target based on the distance calculated in the step of calculating the distance and the relative position acquired in the step of acquiring information indicating the relative position;
Run the command ,
The step of detecting the abnormality includes a step of evaluating a similarity between a change in the distance calculated in the step of calculating the distance and a change in the relative distance between the monitor terminal and the monitored terminal calculated from the relative position acquired in the step of acquiring information indicating the relative position, and detecting an abnormality in the monitored terminal when the evaluated similarity falls outside a predetermined range.
Monitoring methods.

Images