JP7595453B2 - Control system, screen generation method and program - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a control system, a screen generation method, and a program.

A wide area management system has been proposed that includes a building management device that is installed in each of multiple buildings and manages data acquired by sensors installed in each of the multiple buildings, a wide area management device that receives, via the Internet, data managed by the building management devices and transmitted from the multiple building management devices, and a terminal device that receives, via the Internet, data that the wide area management device has received from the building management devices (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Here, when the terminal device requests data managed by each of the multiple building management devices from the wide area management device, the wide area management device responds by acquiring data from each of the multiple building management devices and transmitting it to the terminal device. The terminal device then displays the data managed by each of the multiple building management devices acquired from the wide area management device on a display.

JP 2015-050766 A

In the wide-area management system described in Patent Document 1, suppose that a user performs an operation on a terminal device to newly display all of the data from multiple building management devices on the display of the terminal device. In this case, the waiting time from when the user performs the aforementioned operation on the terminal device until the data is displayed depends on the data acquisition time from when the terminal device requests data from the multiple building management devices from the wide-area management device until the acquisition of all of that data is completed. Therefore, if this data acquisition time is long, the aforementioned waiting time will also be long, which may cause stress to the user.

This disclosure has been made in consideration of the above reasons, and aims to provide a control system, screen generation method, and program that can reduce stress for users.

In order to achieve the above object, the control system according to the present disclosure comprises:
A terminal device;
A plurality of devices that generate device status information indicating a status of each of the plurality of devices;
a server that communicates with the terminal device and the plurality of devices via a network,
At least one of the plurality of devices and the server manages cooperation capability information indicating whether the plurality of devices are capable of operating in cooperation with other devices;
The terminal device
A display unit;
a device status storage unit that stores the device status information;
a device status acquisition unit that identifies at least two devices that cooperate with each other from among the plurality of devices based on the cooperation capability information, and then acquires the device status information from the server by transmitting device status request information requesting transmission of the device status information for each of the at least two identified devices, and then executes an update process, which is a series of processes for updating the device status information stored in the device status storage unit using the acquired device status information, in parallel for the at least two devices ;
a screen generating unit that generates a screen image to be displayed on the display unit based on the updated device status information,
The server,
The device includes a device status notification unit that, when receiving the device status request information from the terminal device, transmits the device status information of the device corresponding to the device status request information to the terminal device.

According to the present disclosure, the device status acquisition unit of the terminal device acquires device status information from the server by transmitting device status request information to the server for at least two of the multiple devices that are linked to each other based on the link availability information of each of the multiple devices, and then executes an update process, which is a series of processes for updating the device status information stored in the device status storage unit using the acquired device status information, in parallel for at least two devices . This makes it possible to reduce the processing time from transmitting the device status request information to the server to acquiring the device status information from the server and updating the device status information stored in the device status storage unit using the acquired device status information for each of the multiple devices that are linked to each other. Therefore, the waiting time until the screen generation unit generates a screen image to be displayed on the display unit based on the device status information acquired from the server by the device status acquisition unit after the device status acquisition unit transmits the above-mentioned device status request information can be reduced, thereby reducing the stress of the user.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a control system according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a control system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a control system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a device state storage unit of a cloud server according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1B is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a link setting storage unit according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a device state storage unit of a terminal device according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the control system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the control system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen image displayed on a display unit of a terminal device according to the first embodiment; 1 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a screen generation process executed by a terminal device according to a first embodiment; A flowchart showing an example of the flow of device status information and link setting information update processing executed by the terminal device according to the first embodiment. A flowchart showing an example of the flow of device status information and link setting information update processing executed by a terminal device according to a comparative example. 1A is a timing chart of an update process executed by a terminal device according to a comparative example, and FIG. 1B is a timing chart of an update process executed by a terminal device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a control system according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a screen generation process executed by a terminal device according to a second embodiment. A flowchart showing an example of the flow of device status information and link setting information update processing executed by a terminal device according to a second embodiment. 1A is a timing chart of an update process executed by a terminal device according to a second embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a timing chart of an update process executed by a terminal device according to a second embodiment. A flowchart showing an example of the flow of device status information and link setting information update processing executed by a terminal device according to a modified example.

(Embodiment 1)
A control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. The control system according to the embodiment includes a terminal device, a plurality of devices that generate device status information indicating the state of each of the plurality of devices, including cooperation availability information indicating whether or not the devices can operate in cooperation with other devices, and a server that communicates with the terminal device and the plurality of devices via a network. The terminal device has a display unit, a device status storage unit that stores the device status information, a device status acquisition unit that executes in parallel an update process to acquire device status information from the server by transmitting device status request information requesting transmission of device status information to the server for at least two of the plurality of devices that cooperate with each other based on the cooperation availability information, and a screen generation unit that generates a screen image to be displayed on the display unit based on the device status information acquired by the device status acquisition unit. The server also has a device status acquisition unit that acquires device status information from the plurality of devices, and a device status notification unit that transmits device status information of the device corresponding to the device status request information acquired by the device status acquisition unit to the terminal device when the device status request information is acquired from the terminal device.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of devices 3, a terminal device 5, and a cloud server 1. The plurality of devices 3 include, for example, a water heater 3A, a bathroom dryer 3B, and a changing room heater 3C. The plurality of devices 3 are each connected to a local network NW2 constructed in a building H via a communication adapter 41. The local network NW2 is connected to a wide area network NW1 via a broadband router (hereinafter referred to as "BBR") 42. The cloud server 1 and the terminal device 5 can communicate with each other via the wide area network NW1, and the cloud server 1 can communicate with each of the communication adapters 41 via the wide area network NW1 and the local network NW2. The local network NW2 is, for example, a wired LAN (Local Area Network) or a wireless LAN, and the wide area network NW1 is, for example, the Internet.

The water heater 3A is, for example, a storage-type water heater, and includes a heat pump for heating hot water, a drive unit for driving the heat pump and a supply mechanism for mixing the hot water stored in the hot water storage tank with tap water at room temperature and supplying the water to the bathtub, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the drive unit. When the control unit acquires control information transmitted from the cloud server 1, it controls the operation of the drive unit based on the acquired control information. When the control unit acquires device status request information from the cloud server 1, it generates device status information indicating the state of the water heater 3A and transmits the generated device status information to the cloud server 1. Here, the control unit manages cooperation availability information indicating whether the water heater 3A can operate in cooperation with other devices 3, and generates device status information including the cooperation availability information described above, together with information indicating the set temperature of the hot water supplied from the water heater 3A and the set amount of hot water supplied from the water heater 3A.

The bathroom dryer 3B and the changing room heater 3C each include a heater, a blower fan, and a control unit. When the control unit receives control information from the cloud server 1, it drives the heater and the blower fan based on the received control information to heat the bathroom and the changing room. When the control unit obtains equipment status request information from the cloud server 1, it generates equipment status information indicating the status of the bathroom dryer 3B and the changing room heater 3C and sends the generated equipment status information to the cloud server 1. Here, the control unit manages linkage availability information indicating whether the bathroom dryer 3B and the changing room heater 3C can operate in linkage with other equipment 3, and generates equipment status information that includes the linkage availability information mentioned above along with information indicating the set temperature and air volume of the bathroom dryer 3B and the changing room heater 3C.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cloud server 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a main memory unit 102, an auxiliary memory unit 103, a wide area communication unit 106, and a bus 109 that interconnects these components. The CPU 101 is, for example, a multi-core processor. The main memory unit 102 has a volatile memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and is used as a working area for the CPU 101. The auxiliary memory unit 103 is composed of a large-capacity non-volatile memory and stores programs for implementing various functions of the cloud server 1. The wide area communication unit 106 is connected to a wide area network NW1.

The CPU 101 reads out the program stored in the auxiliary storage unit 103 into the main storage unit 102 and executes it, thereby functioning as a device status acquisition unit 111, a device status notification unit 112, a controlled device notification unit 113, a link setting unit 114, a device control unit 115, and a link setting notification unit 116, as shown in FIG. 3. The auxiliary storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 2 also has a device status storage unit 131 and a link setting storage unit 132, as shown in FIG. 3. The device status storage unit 131 stores device status information including parameter information indicating the setting parameters of each of the multiple devices 3, operation status information indicating the operation status of the device 3, and link availability information indicating whether or not linkage with other devices 3 is possible, in association with device identification information identifying the device 3 and terminal device identification information identifying the terminal device 5, as shown in FIG. 4 (A), for example. Here, the device identification information of the device 3 is associated with the terminal identification information of the terminal device 5 for operating the device 3. In the example shown in FIG. 4(A), the device 3 identified by device identification information ID[0] and ID[1] is in operation, and the device 3 identified by device identification information ID[2] and ID[3] is stopped. It also shows that the device 3 identified by device identification information ID[0], ID[1], and ID[2] can operate in cooperation with other devices 3, and the device 3 identified by device identification information ID[3] cannot operate in cooperation with other devices 3.

The link setting storage unit 132 stores link setting information indicating the settings of the link operation of the devices 3. For example, as shown in FIG. 4(B), the link setting storage unit 132 stores, for each of the multiple devices 3, link setting information including device identification information of the other devices 3 with which the device 3 is linked and link mode information indicating the mode of linkage with the other devices 3, in association with the device identification information of each of the multiple devices 3. The example shown in FIG. 4(B) indicates that the device 3 identified by device identification information ID[0] and the devices 3 identified by device identification information ID[1] and ID[2] operate in linkage with each other.

Returning to FIG. 3, when the device status acquisition unit 111 is notified by the device status notification unit 112 of device status request information requesting the cloud server 1 to transmit device status information, the device status acquisition unit 111 transmits the device status request information to the device 3 corresponding to the device status request information, thereby acquiring device status information transmitted from the device 3 to which the device status request information was transmitted. The device status acquisition unit 111 stores the acquired device status information in the device status storage unit 131.

When the device status notification unit 112 acquires device status request information from the terminal device 5, it notifies the device status acquisition unit 111 of the acquired device status request information. Then, the device status notification unit 112 transmits to the terminal device 5 the device status information of the device 3 that corresponds to the acquired device status request information and is stored in the device status storage unit 131.

The controlled device notification unit 113 transmits device identification information of at least one device 3 that is a control target whose operation is controlled by the cloud server 1 to the terminal device 5. Here, when the controlled device notification unit 113 acquires controlled device request information from the terminal device 5 requesting the transmission of device identification information of the device 3 that is a control target of the cloud server 1, it transmits the device identification information of the controlled device 3 to the terminal device 5.

When the cooperation setting unit 114 acquires operation information indicating the setting contents when multiple devices 3 are operated in cooperation from the terminal device 5, the cooperation setting unit 114 identifies the device identification information of each of the cooperation destination devices 3 of the devices 3 operating in cooperation with each other based on the setting contents indicated by the operation information, and generates cooperation mode information. Then, the cooperation setting unit 114 stores the cooperation setting information including the identified device identification information of the cooperation destination device 3 and the generated cooperation mode information in the cooperation setting storage unit 132 in association with the device identification information.

The device control unit 115 generates control information for controlling the operation of the device 3 based on the parameter information stored in the device status storage unit 131 and the device identification information and collaboration mode information of the collaboration destination stored in the collaboration setting storage unit 132. The device control unit 115 then controls the operation of the device 3 by transmitting the generated control information to the corresponding device 3.

The collaboration setting notification unit 116 transmits the collaboration setting information stored in the collaboration setting storage unit 132 to the terminal device 5. When the collaboration setting notification unit 116 acquires, from the terminal device 5, collaboration setting request information requesting the transmission of collaboration setting information for devices 3 to be operated in collaboration with one another among the multiple devices 3 controlled by the cloud server 1, the collaboration setting notification unit 116 identifies the collaboration setting information corresponding to the collaboration setting request information from the collaboration setting information stored in the collaboration setting storage unit 132. Then, the collaboration setting notification unit 116 transmits the identified collaboration setting information to the terminal device 5.

Returning to FIG. 2, the terminal device 5 is, for example, a smartphone, and includes a CPU 501, a main memory unit 502, an auxiliary memory unit 503, a display unit 504, an input unit 505, a communication unit 506, a clock unit 508, and a bus 509 that connects them to each other. The main memory unit 502 has a volatile memory such as a RAM, and is used as a working area for the CPU 501. The main memory unit 502 also has an image-only memory (not shown) that temporarily stores image information to be displayed on the display unit 504. The auxiliary memory unit 503 is a non-volatile memory such as a semiconductor flash memory, and stores programs for the CPU 501 to execute various processes. The display unit 504 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display. The input unit 505 is, for example, a transparent touch pad that is placed on top of the display unit 504. The communication unit 506 is connected to the wide area network NW1, and transmits information transferred from the CPU 501 to the cloud server 1 via the wide area network NW1, and transfers information received from the cloud server 1 via the wide area network NW1 to the CPU 501. The timekeeping unit 508 has an internal clock, and notifies the CPU 501 of information indicating the arrival of a preset time each time the time arrives.

The CPU 501 reads out and executes the program stored in the auxiliary storage unit 503 into the main storage unit 502, thereby functioning as a controlled device acquisition unit 511, a device status acquisition unit 512, a screen generation unit 513, a display control unit 514, a reception unit 515, an operation information generation unit 516, an operation information transmission unit 517, and a linkage setting acquisition unit 518, as shown in FIG. 3. The auxiliary storage unit 503 shown in FIG. 2 also has a device status storage unit 531, a linkage setting storage unit 532, and an image storage unit 533, as shown in FIG. 3. The image-only memory of the main storage unit 502 shown in FIG. 2 also has a display screen storage unit 521 that temporarily stores a screen image to be displayed on the display unit 504. The device status storage unit 531 stores device status information for each of a plurality of devices 3 that can be controlled by a user by operating the input unit 505 of the device, in association with device identification information that identifies the device 3, as shown in FIG. 5. Here, as described above, the device status information includes parameter information indicating the setting parameters of the device 3, operation status information indicating the operation status of the device 3, and linkage availability information indicating whether linkage with other devices 3 is possible.

The linkage setting storage unit 532, like the linkage setting storage unit 132 described above, stores, for each of the multiple devices 3, linkage setting information including device identification information of the other devices 3 with which the device 3 is linked and linkage mode information indicating the mode of linkage with the other devices 3, in association with the device identification information of each of the multiple devices 3. The image storage unit 533 stores various types of image information including image information indicating basic icon images for constructing screen images.

The controlled device acquisition unit 511 transmits controlled device request information to the cloud server 1 each time a preset controlled device request time arrives. As a result, the controlled device acquisition unit 511 acquires device identification information for each of the multiple devices 3 that are to be controlled by the cloud server 1 from the cloud server 1.

The device status acquisition unit 512 identifies at least two devices 3 that cooperate with each other from among the multiple devices 3 based on the cooperation availability information stored in the device status storage unit 531. Then, the device status acquisition unit 512 executes an update process in parallel for each of the at least two identified devices 3, by transmitting device status request information requesting the transmission of device status information to the cloud server 1.

The screen generation unit 513 generates an operation screen image based on various image information stored in the image storage unit 533, the device status information stored in the device status storage unit 531, and the linkage setting information stored in the linkage setting storage unit 532. The screen generation unit 513 stores information indicating the generated operation screen image in the display screen storage unit 521. The display control unit 514 displays an operation screen image corresponding to the information stored in the display screen storage unit 521 on the display unit 304.

The reception unit 515 receives the operation content performed by the user on the input unit 505. The operation information generation unit 516 generates operation information according to the operation content received by the reception unit 515. The operation information transmission unit 517 transmits the operation information generated by the operation information generation unit 516 to the cloud server 1.

When the collaboration setting acquisition unit 518 acquires the collaboration setting information transmitted from the cloud server 1, it stores the acquired collaboration setting information in the collaboration setting storage unit 532.

Next, the operation of the control system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6 to FIG. 8. First, as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that a user performs a startup operation on the terminal device 5 to start a program for displaying an operation screen image for operating the device 3 on the display unit 504. Here, it is assumed that when this application is started, an operation screen image of the water heater 3A is first displayed on the display unit 504 of the terminal device 5. In this case, the terminal device 5 accepts the startup operation (step S1). Next, the terminal device 5 transmits to the cloud server 1 control target device information request information requesting the cloud server 1 to transmit control target device information indicating the control target device of the cloud server 1 (step S2). On the other hand, when the cloud server 1 acquires the control target device information request information, it identifies the control target device information corresponding to the acquired control target device information request information (step S3). Next, the identified control target device information is transmitted from the cloud server 1 to the terminal device 5 (step S4).

Next, device status request information requesting the cloud server 1 to send device status information of the water heater 3A is sent from the terminal device 5 to the cloud server 1 (step S5), and then sent from the cloud server 1 to the water heater 3A (step S6). On the other hand, when the water heater 3A acquires the device status request information, it generates device status information including its own parameter information, operating status information, and linkage availability information in response to the request (step S7). After that, the generated device status information is transmitted from the water heater 3A to the cloud server 1 (step S8), and then transmitted from the cloud server 1 to the terminal device 5 (step S9). On the other hand, when the terminal device 5 acquires the device status information, it extracts linkage availability information from the acquired device status information (step S10), and updates the linkage availability information stored in the device status storage unit 531 using the extracted linkage availability information (step S11).

When the preset time for updating the linkage availability information arrives, the series of processes from steps S2 to S9 described above are executed. Next, the terminal device 5 extracts linkage availability information from the device status information acquired from the cloud server 1 (step S10), and updates the linkage availability information stored in the device status storage unit 531 using the extracted linkage availability information (step S11). Next, the terminal device 5 determines that the water heater 5A can link with other devices 3 based on the linkage availability information of the water heater 5A (step S12). In this case, the terminal device 5 identifies devices 3 that operate in linkage with the water heater 3A, such as the bathroom dryer 3B and the changing room heater 3C, as shown in FIG. 7 (step S13).

Then, for each of the water heater 3A and the devices 3 (bathroom dryer 3B, changing room heater 3C) that operate in conjunction with the water heater 3A, device status request information requesting the transmission of device status information is sent from the terminal device 5 to the cloud server 1 (step S14). Next, the device status request information acquired by the cloud server 1 is sent to the water heater 3A, bathroom dryer 3B, and changing room heater 3C (steps S15, S16, S17). Meanwhile, when the water heater 3A acquires the device status request information, it generates device status information including parameter information, operating status information, and linkage availability information in response to the request (step S18). Next, the generated device status information is sent from the water heater 3A to the cloud server 1 (step S19), and then sent from the cloud server 1 to the terminal device 5 (step S20). In parallel with the series of processes from steps S18 to S20, when the bathroom dryer 3B receives the appliance status request information, it generates appliance status information in response (step S21), and the generated appliance status information is sent from the bathroom dryer 3B to the cloud server 1 (step S22), and then sent from the cloud server 1 to the terminal device 5 (step S23). Also, when the changing room heater 3C receives the appliance status request information, it generates appliance status information in response (step S24), and then the generated appliance status information is sent from the changing room heater 3C to the cloud server 1 (step S25), and then sent from the cloud server 1 to the terminal device 5 (step S26).

Then, the terminal device 5 updates the device status information stored in the device status storage unit 531 using the device status information acquired from the cloud server 1 (step S27). Next, the terminal device 5 determines that the bathroom dryer 3B and the changing room heater 3C are operating in cooperation with each other based on the operation status information included in the updated device status information (step S28). In this case, the terminal device 5 transmits to the cloud server 1 cooperation setting request information requesting the cloud server 1 to transmit cooperation setting information related to the cooperation operation between the hot water heater 3A and the bathroom dryer 3B and the changing room heater 3C (step S29). On the other hand, when the cloud server 1 acquires the cooperation setting request information, the cloud server 1 identifies the cooperation setting information corresponding to the cooperation setting request information (step S30). Next, the identified cooperation setting information is transmitted from the cloud server 1 to the terminal device 5 (step S31). On the other hand, when the terminal device 5 acquires the cooperation setting information, the terminal device 5 updates the cooperation setting information stored in the cooperation setting storage unit 532 using the acquired cooperation setting information (step S32). Thereafter, the terminal device 5 uses the device status information stored in the device status storage unit 531 and the linkage setting information stored in the linkage setting storage unit 532 to generate an operation screen image and displays it on the display unit 504 (step S33).

At this time, the terminal device 5 displays an operation screen image GA1 on the display unit 504, for example, as shown in FIG. 8. Here, the operation screen image GA1 includes a message image M1 indicating the device 3 to be operated, a message image M2 indicating the operating state of the device 3, message images M31 and M32 indicating that a linked operation is in progress, and message images M41 and M42 indicating the settings for the linked operation. In addition, the operation screen image GA1 includes message images M51 and M52 indicating parameter information such as the set hot water volume and set temperature.

Next, the screen generation process executed by the terminal device 5 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. The screen generation process is started when the terminal device 5 is powered on. First, as shown in FIG. 9, the reception unit 515 determines whether or not a start-up operation by a user has been received (step S101). As long as the reception unit 515 determines that a start-up operation has not been received (step S101: No), the reception unit 515 repeatedly executes the process of step S101. On the other hand, when the reception unit 515 determines that a start-up operation has been received (step S101: Yes), the control target device acquisition unit 511 transmits the above-mentioned control target device information request information to the cloud server 1 (step S102) to acquire the control target device information transmitted from the cloud server 1 (step S103). Here, the control target device acquisition unit 511 updates the device identification information stored in the device status storage unit 531 based on the acquired control target device information. At this time, if there is device identification information stored in the device status storage unit 531 that does not match the device identification information included in the controlled device information, the controlled device acquisition unit 511 deletes that device identification information and the corresponding device status information from the device status storage unit 531.

Next, the appliance status acquisition unit 512 transmits appliance status request information for the appliance 3 to be operated by the operation screen image displayed on the display unit 504 to the cloud server 1 (step S104). For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the terminal device 5 causes the display unit 504 to display the operation screen image GA1 for the water heater 3A, the terminal device 5 transmits appliance status request information requesting appliance status information for the water heater 3A to the cloud server 1. Then, the appliance status acquisition unit 512 acquires appliance status information corresponding to the transmitted appliance status request information from the cloud server 1 (step S105). Next, the appliance status acquisition unit 512 extracts collaboration availability information from the acquired appliance status information (step S106), and updates the collaboration availability information stored in the appliance status storage unit 531 using the extracted collaboration availability information (step S107).

Then, the reception unit 515 determines whether or not the user has performed a screen update operation on the input unit 505 of the terminal device 5 to update the operation screen image or a screen transition operation to transition from another screen image to an operation screen image for operating the device 3 (step S108). If the reception unit 515 determines that there has been neither a screen update operation nor a screen transition operation (step S108: No), the processing of step S114 described below is executed. On the other hand, if the reception unit 515 determines that there has been a screen update operation or a screen transition operation (step S108: Yes), the device status acquisition unit 512 identifies devices 3 that operate in conjunction with each other based on the collaboration setting information stored in the collaboration setting storage unit 532 (step S109). Next, a device status information/collaboration setting information update process is executed to update the device status information and collaboration setting information for the identified device 3 (step S110).

Here, the above-mentioned device status information and linkage setting information update process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 10. FIG. 10 shows the case where the terminal device 5 displays the operation screen image of the water heater 3A on the display unit 504 of the terminal device 5 first after the user starts the operation, the case where the user performs an update operation with the operation screen image of the water heater 3A displayed on the display unit 504, or the case where the user performs an operation to transition the operation screen image displayed on the display unit 504 from another operation screen image to the operation screen image of the water heater 3A. It also shows the case where the water heater 3A, the bathroom dryer 3B, and the changing room heater 3C operate in linkage with each other. In this case, the update process SEQ1 for updating the device status information for the water heater 3A and the update processes SEQ2 and SEQ3 for updating the device status information and linkage setting information for the bathroom dryer 3B and the changing room heater 3C are executed in parallel. In the update process SEQ1, first, the appliance status acquisition unit 512 transmits appliance status request information for the water heater 3A to the cloud server 1 (step S201), thereby acquiring the appliance status information of the water heater 3A transmitted from the cloud server 1 (step S202). Next, the appliance status acquisition unit 512 judges whether or not the acquisition of the appliance status information has failed (step S203). Here, for example, if the water heater 3A is excluded from the controlled appliances of the cloud server 1, the appliance status acquisition unit 512 fails to acquire the appliance status information of the water heater 3A. When the appliance status acquisition unit 512 judges that the acquisition of the appliance status information has failed (step S203: Yes), it notifies the controlled appliance acquisition unit 511 of error occurrence information notifying the fact (step S204), and the process of step S110 described later is executed as it is. On the other hand, when the appliance status acquisition unit 512 judges that the acquisition of the appliance status information has succeeded (step S203: No), it judges whether or not there is a change in the acquired appliance status information (step S205). If the device status acquisition unit 512 determines that there is no change in the acquired device status information (step S205: No), the process proceeds to step S110, which will be described later. On the other hand, if the device status acquisition unit 512 determines that there is a change in the acquired device status information (step S205: Yes), the device status acquisition unit 512 uses the acquired device status information to update the device status information stored in the device status storage unit 531 (step S206). Here, if the linkage availability information included in the device status information has changed from information indicating "linkage available" to information indicating "linkage not available," the device status acquisition unit 512 updates the linkage availability information. Then, the process proceeds to step S110, which will be described later.

In addition, in the update process SEQ2, the equipment status acquisition unit 512 first transmits equipment status request information for the bathroom dryer 3B to the cloud server 1 (step S207), thereby acquiring equipment status information of the bathroom dryer 3B transmitted from the cloud server 1 (step S208). Next, the equipment status acquisition unit 512 determines whether acquisition of the equipment status information has failed (step S209). If the equipment status acquisition unit 512 determines that acquisition of the equipment status information has failed (step S209: Yes), it notifies the controlled equipment acquisition unit 511 of error occurrence information notifying that fact (step S210), and the process of step S110 described below is executed without any further processing. On the other hand, when device status acquisition unit 512 determines that acquisition of device status information has been successful (step S209: No), linkage setting acquisition unit 518 determines whether bathroom dryer 3B is operating in linkage with water heater 3A based on the operation status information stored in device status storage unit 531 and the linkage setting information stored in linkage setting storage unit 532 (step S211). When linkage setting acquisition unit 518 determines that bathroom dryer 3B is not operating in linkage with water heater 3A (step S211: No), the process of step S110 described below is executed. On the other hand, when linkage setting acquisition unit 518 determines that bathroom dryer 3B is operating in linkage with water heater 3A (step S211: Yes), it transmits linkage setting request information for bathroom dryer 3B and water heater 3A to cloud server 1 (step S212), thereby acquiring linkage setting information from cloud server 1 and storing it in linkage setting storage unit 532 (step S213). Next, the process of step S110, which will be described later, is executed. Note that update process SEQ3 is similar to update process SEQ2 described above, and the equipment status acquisition unit 512 transmits equipment status request information for the changing room heater 3C to the cloud server 1 (step S214), thereby acquiring equipment status information of the changing room heater 3C transmitted from the cloud server 1 (step S215). Next, a series of processes from steps S216 to S220 is executed. Here, the processes from steps S216 to S220 are respectively similar to the series of processes from steps S209 to S213 described above. After that, the process of step S111, which will be described later, is executed.

This shows the case where, after a start-up operation by the user, the terminal device 5 first displays an operation screen image of a device 3 other than the water heater 3A on the display unit 504 of the terminal device 5, the case where the user performs an update operation while the operation screen image of a device 3 other than the water heater 3A is displayed on the display unit 504, or the case where the user performs an operation to transition the operation screen image displayed on the display unit 504 from another operation screen image to the operation screen image of a device 3 other than the water heater 3A. An update process similar to the update process SEQ1 described above is executed for the device 3 other than the water heater 3A, and update processes similar to the update processes SEQ2 and SEQ3 described above are executed for the other devices 3, respectively.

Returning to FIG. 9, the controlled device acquisition unit 511 determines whether or not error notification information has been notified from the device status acquisition unit 512 as a result of the above-mentioned device status information/linkage setting information update process being executed (step S111). When the controlled device acquisition unit 511 determines that error notification information has been notified from the device status acquisition unit 512 (step S111: Yes), the process of step S102 is executed again. On the other hand, when the controlled device acquisition unit 511 determines that error notification information has not been notified from the device status acquisition unit 512 (step S111: No), the screen generation unit 513 generates an operation screen image based on the operation status information stored in the device status storage unit 531 and the linkage setting information stored in the linkage setting storage unit 532 (step S112). Here, the screen generation unit 513 stores the generated operation screen image in the display screen storage unit 521. Next, the display control unit 514 causes the display unit 504 to display the operation screen image stored in the display screen storage unit 521 (step S113). Next, the reception unit 515 determines whether or not an end operation by the user has been received (step S114). If the reception unit 515 determines that an end operation has not yet been received (step S114: No), the controlled device acquisition unit 511 determines whether or not a preset linkage availability information update time has arrived (step S115). If the controlled device acquisition unit 511 determines that the linkage availability information update time has not yet arrived (step S115: No), the process of step S108 is executed again.

On the other hand, if the controlled device acquisition unit 511 determines that it is time to update the link availability information (step S115: Yes), the process of step S102 is executed again. Also, if the reception unit 515 determines that an end operation has been received in step S113 (step S114: Yes), the process of step S101 is executed again.

Here, the screen generation process according to this embodiment will be described in comparison with the screen generation process according to the comparative example. The screen generation process according to the comparative example differs from this embodiment in the contents of the device status information and linkage setting information update process. In the device status information and linkage setting information update process according to the comparative example, as shown in FIG. 11, update process SEQ1 for the water heater 3A is executed, then update process SEQ2 for the bathroom dryer 3B is executed, and then update process SEQ3 for the changing room heater 3C is executed. In this case, the processing time required for the device status information and linkage setting information update process is time dT0, which corresponds to the sum of the processing times of each update process SEQ1, SEQ2, and SEQ3, as shown in FIG. 12 (A). In contrast, in the device status information and link setting information update process according to this embodiment, the update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, and SEQ3 are executed in parallel with each other, so the processing time required for the device status information and link setting information update process is the processing time dT1 of the update process (e.g., SEQ1) that has the longest processing time among the update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, and SEQ3. Therefore, the processing time required for the device status information and link setting information update process according to this embodiment is shorter than that according to the comparative example, and thus the time required for the screen generation process is shortened.

As described above, according to the control system of the present embodiment, the device status acquisition unit 512 of the terminal device 5 acquires device status information from the cloud server 1 by transmitting device status request information to the cloud server 1 for the three devices 3 that are linked to each other based on the link availability information of each of the multiple devices 3, and executes an update process in parallel to update the device status information stored in the device status storage unit 531 using the acquired device status information. This makes it possible to reduce the processing time from transmitting device status request information to the cloud server 1 to acquiring device status information from the cloud server 1 for each of the three devices 3 that are linked to each other. Therefore, after the device status acquisition unit 512 transmits the above-mentioned device status request information, the waiting time until the screen generation unit 513 generates a screen image to be displayed on the display unit 504 based on the device status information acquired from the cloud server 1 by the device status acquisition unit 512 can be reduced, thereby reducing the stress of the user.

In addition, in the cloud server 1 according to this embodiment, when the controlled device notification unit 113 acquires the above-mentioned controlled device request information from the terminal device 5, it transmits device identification information of the controlled device 3 to the terminal device 5. Meanwhile, in the terminal device 5, the controlled device acquisition unit 511 acquires device identification information of each controlled device 3 from the cloud server 1 by transmitting the controlled device request information to the cloud server 1 each time a preset controlled device request time arrives. As a result, the device identification information of the controlled device 3 stored in the device status storage unit 531 is periodically updated, thereby reducing the frequency with which the device status acquisition unit 512 fails to acquire device status information from the cloud server 1.

Furthermore, when the device status acquisition unit 512 fails to acquire device status information, the controlled device acquisition unit 511 according to this embodiment acquires device identification information of each of the controlled devices 3 from the cloud server 1 by again transmitting controlled device request information to the cloud server 1. This prevents the device status acquisition unit 512 from repeatedly failing to acquire device status information, and accordingly reduces the waiting time until the screen generation unit 513 generates a screen image to be displayed on the display unit 504 after the device status acquisition unit 512 transmits the above-mentioned device status request information.

In addition, in the cloud server 1 according to this embodiment, when the collaboration setting notification unit 116 acquires the above-mentioned collaboration setting request information from the terminal device 5, it transmits the collaboration setting information to the terminal device 5. Meanwhile, in the terminal device 5, the collaboration setting acquisition unit 518 acquires the collaboration setting information from the cloud server 1 by transmitting the collaboration setting request information to the cloud server 1. This allows the collaboration setting information stored in the terminal device 5 to be consistent with the collaboration setting information stored in the cloud server 1, so that an operation screen image including the collaboration setting information that reflects the actual collaboration control in the cloud server 1 can be displayed on the display unit 504.

(Embodiment 2)
In the control system of this embodiment, the terminal device differs from embodiment 1 in that it has a processing time calculation unit that calculates the processing time of the update process for each of multiple devices that work together, and a processing order setting unit that selects at least two devices to execute in parallel from the update processes based on the processing time for each of the multiple devices, and sets the processing order of the update processes for the selected at least two devices so that the update processes are executed in parallel.

As shown in FIG. 13, the control system according to this embodiment includes a device 3, a terminal device 5, and a cloud server 1. In FIG. 13, the same components as those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 3. The terminal device 2005 has the same hardware configuration as the terminal device 5 described in the first embodiment. Below, the same hardware configuration as that in the first embodiment will be described using the reference numerals shown in FIG. 2 as appropriate.

The CPU 501 reads out the programs stored in the auxiliary memory unit 503 into the main memory unit 502 and executes them, thereby functioning as a controlled device acquisition unit 511, a device status acquisition unit 512, a screen generation unit 513, a display control unit 514, a reception unit 515, an operation information generation unit 516, an operation information transmission unit 517, a linkage setting acquisition unit 518, a processing time calculation unit 2519, and a processing order setting unit 2520.

The processing time calculation unit 2519 calculates the processing time corresponding to the time from the start to the end of the update process for each of the multiple devices 3 that are linked to each other. The processing time calculation unit 2519 then notifies the processing order setting unit 2520 of processing time information indicating the calculated processing time for each of the multiple devices 3.

The processing order setting unit 2520 selects at least two devices 3 to be executed in parallel from among the update processes for each of the multiple devices 3 based on the processing time indicated by the processing time information notified by the processing time calculation unit 2519. The processing order setting unit 2520 then sets the processing order of the update processes for each of the multiple devices 3 so that the update processes for the at least two selected devices 3 are executed in parallel. Here, when the processing order setting unit 2520 executes the update processes for all of the hot water heater 3A, bathroom dryer 3B, and changing room heater 3C in parallel, for example, it notifies the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 of the flag information "Fsq0". On the other hand, when the processing order setting unit 2520 executes the update processes for the bathroom dryer 3B and the changing room heater 3C of the three devices 3 in sequence, for example, it notifies the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 of the flag information "Fsq1".

Then, when the processing order setting unit 2520 notifies the appliance status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 of the flag information "Fsq0", they execute update processes in parallel for all of the water heater 3A, bathroom dryer 3B, and changing room heater 3C. On the other hand, when the processing order setting unit 2520 notifies the appliance status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 of the flag information "Fsq1", they execute update processes in sequence for the bathroom dryer 3B and changing room heater 3C, and execute update processes for the water heater 3A in parallel with these update processes.

Next, the screen generation process executed by the terminal device 5 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 14 and 15. Note that in Figs. 14 and 15, the same processes as those in embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in Figs. 9 and 10. Also, assume that the controlled devices of the cloud server 1 corresponding to the terminal device 5 are the water heater 3A, the bathroom dryer 3B, and the changing room heater 3C. First, as shown in Fig. 14, when it is determined that the reception unit 515 has received an operation by the user to start a program for causing the terminal device 5 to execute the screen generation process (step S101: Yes), a series of processes from steps S101 to S107 are executed.

Next, the reception unit 515 determines whether or not the user has performed a screen update operation or a screen transition operation on the input unit 505 of the terminal device 5 (step S108). If the reception unit 515 determines that a screen update operation or a screen transition operation has been performed (step S108: Yes), the device status acquisition unit 512 identifies devices 3 that operate in conjunction with each other based on the collaboration setting information stored in the collaboration setting storage unit 532 (step S109). Next, a device status information/collaboration setting information update process is executed to update the device status information and collaboration setting information for the identified device 3 (step S2101).

Here, the above-mentioned device status information and linkage setting information update process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 15. FIG. 15 shows a case where the terminal device 5 first displays the operation screen image of the water heater 3A on the display unit 504 after the above-mentioned start-up operation by the user, a case where the user performs an update operation while the operation screen image of the water heater 3A is displayed on the display unit 504, or a case where the user transitions the operation screen image displayed on the display unit 504 from another operation screen image to the operation screen of the water heater 3A. It also shows a case where the water heater 3A, the bathroom dryer 3B, and the undressing room heater 3C operate in linkage with each other. First, the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 determine whether the flag information notified from the processing order setting unit 2520 indicates "Fsq1" (step S2201). Here, when the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 determine that the flag information indicates "Fsq0" (step S2201: No), the update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, and SEQ3 are executed in parallel. Then, after each of the update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, and SEQ3 is executed, the processing time calculation unit 2519 calculates the processing time from the start to the end of the update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, and SEQ3 (steps S2202, S2203, and S2204). Here, the processing time calculation unit 2519 notifies the processing order setting unit 2520 of processing time information indicating the calculated processing time. Then, the processing of step S2102 shown in FIG. 14 is executed, which will be described later.

Returning to FIG. 15, on the other hand, when the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 determine that the flag information indicates "Fsq1" (step S2201: Yes), the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 execute only the update processes SEQ1 and SEQ2 in parallel, and execute the update process SEQ3 after executing the update process SEQ2. Then, after the update process SEQ1 is executed, the processing time calculation unit 2519 calculates the processing time from the start to the end of the update process SEQ1 (step S2205). In parallel with this, the processing time calculation unit 2519 calculates the processing time from the start of the update process SEQ2 to the end of the update process SEQ3 executed after the update process SEQ2 (step S2206). Here, the processing time calculation unit 2519 notifies the processing order setting unit 2520 of processing time information indicating the calculated processing time.

14, the processing order setting unit 2520 then sets the processing order based on the processing time information notified from the processing time calculation unit 2519 (step S2102). Here, after notifying the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 of the flag information "Fsq0", if the processing order setting unit 2520 determines that the processing time of the update process SEQ1 is longer than the time equivalent to the sum of the processing time of the update process SEQ2 and the processing time of the update process SEQ3, it notifies the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 of the flag information "Fsq1". On the other hand, when the processing order setting unit 2520 determines that the processing time of the update process SEQ1 is shorter than the time corresponding to the sum of the processing times of the update processes SEQ2 and SEQ3 after notifying the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 of the flag information "Fsq1", it notifies the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 of the flag information "Fsq0". As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 16A, when the processing time of the update process SEQ1 is equal to or shorter than the time corresponding to the sum of the processing time of the update process SEQ2 and the processing time of the update process SEQ3, the update processes SEQ2 and SEQ3 are executed sequentially, and the update process SEQ1 is executed in parallel with these. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 16B, when the processing time of the update process SEQ1 is longer than the time corresponding to the sum of the processing time of the update process SEQ2 and the processing time of the update process SEQ3, the update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, and SEQ3 are executed in parallel. Returning to FIG. 14, in step S2101, this device status information/linkage setting information update process is executed, and then the processes from step S111 onwards are executed.

This shows the case where, after a start-up operation by the user, the terminal device 5 first displays an operation screen image of a device 3 other than the water heater 3A on the display unit 504 of the terminal device 5, the case where the user performs an update operation while the operation screen image of a device 3 other than the water heater 3A is displayed on the display unit 504, or the case where the user performs an operation to transition the operation screen image displayed on the display unit 504 from another operation screen image to the operation screen image of a device 3 other than the water heater 3A. An update process similar to the update process SEQ1 described above is executed for the device 3 other than the water heater 3A, and update processes similar to the update processes SEQ2 and SEQ3 described above are executed for the other devices 3, respectively.

As described above, in the control system according to the present embodiment, the processing time calculation unit 2519 of the terminal device 5 calculates the processing time of the update process for each of the multiple devices 3 that work together. Then, the processing order setting unit 2520 selects two devices to be executed in parallel from the update processes, for example the water heater 3A and the bathroom dryer 3B, based on the processing time for each of the multiple devices 3, and sets the processing order of the update processes so that the update processes are executed in parallel for the selected water heater 3A and bathroom dryer 3B. This makes it possible to reduce the number of update processes that are executed in parallel based on the processing time, thereby reducing the processing load on the terminal device 5 accordingly.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, in each embodiment, the number of the multiple devices 3 is not limited to three, and may be two, or may be four or more. For example, in embodiment 2, when the number of devices 3 is J (J is an integer equal to or greater than four), if the processing sequence setting unit 2520 determines that the time corresponding to the sum of the processing times of j (a positive integer less than J) update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, ..., SEQj is longer than the time corresponding to the sum of the processing times of the update processes SEQj+1, j+2, ..., SEQJ and the processing time of the update process SEQ3 after notifying the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 of the flag information "Fsq0", the flag information "Fsq1" may be notified to the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518. Furthermore, if the processing order setting unit 2520 determines, after notifying the device status acquisition unit 512 and the collaboration setting acquisition unit 518 of the flag information "Fsq1", that the time corresponding to the sum of the processing times of j (a positive integer less than J) update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, ..., SEQj is shorter than the time corresponding to the sum of the processing times of update processes SEQj+1, j+2, ..., SEQJ and the processing time of update process SEQ3, it may notify the device status acquisition unit 512 and the collaboration setting acquisition unit 518 of the flag information "Fsq0".

In the device status information/linkage setting information update process according to this modified example, as shown in FIG. 17, the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 first determine whether the flag information notified from the processing order setting unit 2520 indicates "Fsq1" (step S3201). If the device status acquisition unit 512 and the linkage setting acquisition unit 518 determine that the flag information indicates "Fsq0" (step S3201: No), the update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, ..., SEQJ are executed in parallel. Then, the processing time calculation unit 2519 calculates the processing time from the start to the end of the update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, ..., SEQJ after each of the update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, ..., SEQJ is executed (steps S3202, S3203, S3204). Then, the process of step S2102 shown in FIG. 14 described above is executed.

On the other hand, when the device status acquisition unit 512 and the link setting acquisition unit 518 determine that the flag information indicates "Fsq1" (step S3201: Yes), the update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, ..., SEQj are executed in sequence, and in parallel with these processes, the update processes SEQj+1, SEQj+2, ..., SEQJ are executed in sequence. Then, after the update process SEQ1 is executed, the processing time calculation unit 2519 calculates the processing time from the start of the update process SEQ1 to the end of the update process SEQj (step S3205). In parallel with this, the processing time calculation unit 2519 calculates the processing time from the start of the update process SEQj+1 to the end of the update process SEQJ (step S3206). Next, the processing of step S2102 shown in FIG. 14 described above is executed.

In the second embodiment, an example has been described in which the processing order of the update processes SEQ1, SEQ2, and SEQ3 is dynamically changed, but this is not limiting. For example, the update processes SEQ2 and SEQ3 may always be executed in order, and only the update process SEQ1 may be executed in parallel with them.

In each embodiment, an example has been described in which the terminal device 5 executes in parallel an update process for acquiring device status information from the cloud server 1 and updating the device status information stored in the device status storage unit 531. However, this is not limited to this, and in addition to the update process, the terminal device 5 may also execute in parallel a notification information update process for acquiring notification information for the user of the device 3 to be displayed on the display unit 504 from the cloud server 1 and updating the notification information stored in the terminal device 5.

In the embodiment, the water heater 3A, bathroom dryer 3B, and changing room heater 3C each manage linkage capability information indicating whether or not they are capable of operating in linkage with other devices 3, and an example has been described in which device status information including linkage capability information is generated. However, this is not limited to the above, and for example, the cloud server 1 may manage the linkage capability information for each of the water heater 3A, bathroom dryer 3B, and changing room heater 3C. Then, when the cloud server 1 sends device status information to the terminal device 5, it may identify linkage capability information for the device 3 corresponding to the device status information from the linkage capability information it manages and send it to the terminal device 5.

Furthermore, the various functions of the cloud server 1 and terminal devices 5 and 2005 according to the present disclosure can be realized using a normal computer system, not a dedicated system. For example, a program for executing the above operations may be stored on a non-transitory recording medium (such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory)) that can be read by a computer system and distributed to a computer connected to a network, and the program may be installed in the computer system to configure the cloud server 1 and terminal devices 5 and 2005 that execute the above-mentioned processes.

The method of providing the program to the computer is arbitrary. For example, the program may be uploaded to a bulletin board (BBS (Bulletin Board System)) on a communication line and distributed to the computer via the communication line. The computer then starts up the program and executes it under the control of the OS (Operating System) in the same way as other applications. In this way, the computer functions as a cloud server 1 or a terminal device 5, 2005 that executes the above-mentioned processing.

Although the above describes each embodiment and modification of the present disclosure, the present disclosure is not limited to these. The present disclosure includes appropriate combinations of the embodiments and modifications, and those to which appropriate modifications have been made.

This disclosure is suitable as a control system for operating equipment using a terminal device.

1 Cloud server, 3 Equipment, 3A Water heater, 3B Bathroom dryer, 3C Changing room heater, 5, 2005 Terminal device, 41 Communication adapter, 42 BBR, 101, 501 CPU, 102, 502 Main memory unit, 103, 503 Auxiliary memory unit, 106 Wide area communication unit, 109, 509 Bus, 111, 512 Equipment status acquisition unit, 112 Equipment status notification unit, 113 Control target equipment notification unit, 114 Linkage setting unit, 115 Equipment control unit, 116 Linkage setting notification unit, 131, 531 Equipment status memory unit, 132, 532 Linkage setting memory unit, 504 Display unit, 505 Input unit, 506 Communication unit, 508 Timer unit, 511 Control target equipment acquisition unit, 513 Screen generation unit, 514 Display control unit, 515 reception unit, 516 operation information generation unit, 517 operation information transmission unit, 518 cooperation setting acquisition unit, 521 display screen storage unit, 533 image storage unit, 2510 processing time calculation unit, 2520 processing order setting unit, BU1 button image, H building, M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, M7, M31, M32, M41, M42, M51, M52 message image, NW1 wide area network, NW2 local network, SEQ1, SEQ2, SEQ3, SEQj, SEQj+1, SEQj+2, SEQJ update processing

Claims (7)

A terminal device;
A plurality of devices that generate device status information indicating a status of each of the plurality of devices;
a server that communicates with the terminal device and the plurality of devices via a network;
At least one of the plurality of devices and the server manages cooperation capability information indicating whether the plurality of devices are capable of operating in cooperation with other devices;
The terminal device
A display unit;
a device status storage unit that stores the device status information;
a device status acquisition unit that identifies at least two devices that cooperate with each other from among the plurality of devices based on the cooperation capability information, and then acquires the device status information from the server by transmitting device status request information requesting transmission of the device status information for each of the at least two identified devices, and then executes an update process, which is a series of processes for updating the device status information stored in the device status storage unit using the acquired device status information, in parallel for the at least two devices ;
a screen generating unit that generates a screen image to be displayed on the display unit based on the updated device status information,
The server,
a device status notifying unit that, when receiving the device status request information from the terminal device, transmits the device status information of the device corresponding to the device status request information to the terminal device;
Control system. The server,
a control target device notification unit that, when receiving from the terminal device, request information for requesting transmission of device identification information of at least one device that is a control target controlled by the server, transmits device identification information of the at least one device that is a control target of the server to the terminal device;
The terminal device
a control target device acquisition unit that acquires device identification information of each of the plurality of devices to be controlled by the server from the server by transmitting the control target device request information to the server every time a preset control target device request time arrives;
The control system of claim 1 . when the device status acquisition unit fails to acquire the device status information, the control target device acquisition unit again transmits the control target device request information to the server, thereby acquiring device identification information of each of the plurality of devices that are to be controlled by the server from the server.
The control system of claim 2. The server,
a linkage setting notification unit that, when linkage setting request information is received from the terminal device, the linkage setting request information indicates settings for linkage operation of a plurality of devices that are to be operated in linkage with each other among the plurality of devices to be controlled, transmits the linkage setting information to the terminal device;
The terminal device
a link setting acquisition unit that acquires the link setting information from the server by transmitting the link setting request information to the server,
A control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The terminal device
a processing time calculation unit that calculates a processing time of the update process for each of a plurality of devices that cooperate with each other;
and a processing order setting unit that selects at least two devices that execute the update process in parallel based on the processing time, and sets a processing order of the update process for the at least two selected devices so that the update process is executed in parallel.
A control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. a terminal device identifying at least two mutually interoperable devices from among the plurality of devices based on interoperability information indicating whether each of the plurality of devices is capable of operating in conjunction with other devices, and then transmitting , for each of the at least two identified devices, device status request information requesting transmission of device status information of each of the plurality of devices to a server, thereby acquiring the device status information corresponding to the device status request information from the server, and then performing, in parallel, an update process for the at least two devices, which is a series of processes for updating device status information stored in a device status storage unit that stores the device status information using the acquired device status information ;
generating, by the terminal device, a screen image to be displayed on a display unit of the terminal device based on the updated device status information;
Screen generation method. Computer,
a device status acquisition unit which identifies at least two devices which cooperate with each other from among the plurality of devices based on cooperation capability information indicating whether each of the plurality of devices is capable of operating in cooperation with other devices, and then transmits, for each of the at least two identified devices, device status request information requesting transmission of device status information of each of the plurality of devices to a server, thereby acquiring the device status information corresponding to the device status request information from the server, and then executes, in parallel for the at least two devices, an update process which is a series of processes for updating device status information stored in a device status storage unit which stores the device status information using the acquired device status information;
a screen generating unit that generates a screen image to be displayed on a display unit based on the updated device status information;
A program to function as a

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