JP7729008B2 - Material identification management system and material identification management method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a material identification management system and a material identification management method.

Because a huge variety and quantity of materials are delivered to construction sites, a great deal of time and effort is generally spent managing the delivery of materials. To give one example, the segments that make up a shield tunnel are made up of multiple types of segments, such as A segments, B segments, and K segments, which have slightly different shapes and dimensions. These multiple types of segments are delivered to the site stacked randomly on the back of a truck. Each segment's joints (segment joints and ring joints) are spray-painted with a number symbol corresponding to each type at the shipping factory, etc. At the delivery site, a materials manager visually checks and counts the quantity of each type of segment to manage delivery.

Another example is rebars that are delivered to a construction site in batches of different steel types and designations (diameters). Rebars are sometimes delivered with different colors applied to the cross section for each steel type and designation, but in any case, material managers visually inspect and count the number of each steel type and designation to manage rebar delivery.

As is clear from the typical example of material delivery management described above, materials delivered to construction sites are managed by type through visual inspection by material managers and others, which makes counting errors inevitable. Therefore, if visual inspections are performed multiple times or by multiple people in an attempt to improve management accuracy, this is undesirable as it requires time and effort and multiple personnel. Therefore, there is a need for a material identification management system and material identification management method that can efficiently and accurately identify materials delivered to construction sites.

Patent Document 1 proposes a construction site management system that manages construction materials manufactured in a factory until they are used at the construction site. This construction site management system uses RFID tags that send and receive information via wireless communication with a reading device. The RFID tags include a long-distance communication RFID tag with an IC chip and a long loop-shaped antenna, and a short-distance communication RFID tag formed in multiple locations inside the loop-shaped antenna, with an IC chip and a short antenna and a different read frequency from the long-distance communication RFID tag. The RFID tag has a break line formed to separate the short-distance communication RFID tag from the entire tag; upon separation, the loop-shaped antenna of the long-distance communication RFID tag is also separated. The RFID tag also has a main body management identification code that identifies the entire tag before separation, and a partial management identification code that identifies the partial tag after separation.

The construction site management system comprises the RFID tags, a first reading means for reading the long-distance RFID of the RFID tags, a second reading means for reading the short-distance RFID of the RFID tags, a management server capable of communicating between the first and second reading means and equipped with a database for managing all management information, a communications network for communicating information between the first and second reading means and the management server, and multiple access points for accessing the communications network.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-158569

The construction site management system described in Patent Document 1 claims to enable efficient construction site management by reading RFID tags attached to materials. However, there are many materials for which there is no space to install RFID tags, such as the rebar mentioned above. Furthermore, when attempting to identify materials when numerous materials with RFID tags attached are stacked on the bed of a truck, it is often impossible to adequately read the RFID tags on the jumbled materials. In material delivery management, in addition to the importance of management accuracy, it is also important to quickly unload materials from the truck, have the truck depart the construction site as quickly as possible, and have it head off to other transportation tasks. Therefore, since delivery management is often carried out quickly when materials are stacked on the bed of a truck, the inability to adequately read RFID tags poses a major challenge to delivery management.

As an alternative to RFID tags, one approach to managing materials is to use a camera or other imaging device to capture images of the text written on the materials and input them into a computer. However, even in this case, when trying to identify a material when it is stacked in a truck bed with a large number of materials, it is still not possible to capture a sufficient image of the text written on the jumble of multiple materials.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a material identification management system and material identification management method that can efficiently and accurately identify and manage materials delivered to construction sites.

In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the material specification management system according to the present invention is:
Black light, which emits invisible ultraviolet light,
an imaging device that captures an image of the luminescent color emitted by the material coated with the luminescent paint that emits light when irradiated with ultraviolet light;
and an identification management device that receives image data from the imaging device and identifies and manages materials according to the emitted light color.

In this embodiment, materials coated with luminous paint that glows under invisible ultraviolet light are irradiated with ultraviolet light from a black light, the luminous color emitted by the UV light is captured with an image capture device, and the material is identified and managed using the luminous color contained in the image capture data. This makes it possible to apply luminous paint to even small materials, and even when multiple materials are mixed together, each material can be individually identified by the luminous color emitted by the UV light irradiated onto the material. By assigning luminous colors to each type of material and automatically identifying the type of material in the luminous color captured in the image capture data in the luminous management device, the number of each type of material can also be automatically counted in the luminous management device, making it possible to efficiently and accurately identify and manage delivered materials.

When ultraviolet light is irradiated onto the luminous paint, the emitted light is converted into visible light. Therefore, by assigning the various luminous colors resulting from the luminous paint to the type of material (by applying such luminous paint to the material), it becomes possible to quickly identify the type of material. Here, "type of material" refers to the steel grade and name, etc., if the material is rebar; in the case of segments, it refers to segments such as A segment, B segment, K segment, etc., whose shapes and dimensions vary depending on their installation location and installation order in the segment ring.

In another aspect of the material identification management system according to the present invention,
the specified management device includes at least a storage unit and a specifying unit;
The storage unit stores material-emission color data relating to emission colors associated with materials,
The identifying unit identifies the material by comparing the luminous color of the imaging data with the material-luminous color data.

According to this aspect, the storage unit of the identification management device stores material-emission color data relating to the emission color associated with the material, and the identification unit of the identification management device identifies the material by comparing the emission color contained in the imaging data with the material-emission color data, thereby enabling efficient and highly accurate identification of materials by type.

In another aspect of the material identification management system according to the present invention,
The luminescent paint is characterized by being a paint containing a fluorescent agent that is colorless or white under visible light and that is red, green, blue, or a composite color of these under invisible light.

In this embodiment, the luminescent paint appears colorless or white under visible light and appears red, green, blue, or other colors under invisible light. This prevents the applied luminescent paint from damaging the appearance of the material, while emitting a vibrant, set color while irradiated with ultraviolet light from a black light, contributing to highly accurate identification of the material. Therefore, when the irradiation of ultraviolet light on the luminescent paint is stopped, the luminescent paint ceases to emit light, and becomes colorless or white under visible light, making it less noticeable.

Furthermore, one aspect of the material identification management method according to the present invention is to
an irradiation and imaging process for irradiating a material coated with a luminescent paint that emits light in ultraviolet light, which is invisible light, with the ultraviolet light to cause the material to emit light, and imaging the luminescent color;
and an identification and management step of identifying and managing materials according to the luminescent color of the captured image data.

According to this aspect, in the irradiation and imaging process, ultraviolet light is irradiated onto materials coated with luminescent paint that glows in ultraviolet light (invisible light), and the luminescent color emitted by the ultraviolet light is imaged. In the identification and management process, the materials are identified and managed according to the luminescent color contained in the image data. This makes it possible to apply luminescent paint to even small materials, and even when a large number of materials are mixed together, each material can be individually identified by the luminescent color emitted by the ultraviolet light irradiated onto the material.

In another aspect of the material identification management method according to the present invention,
The luminescent paint is characterized by being a paint containing a fluorescent agent that is colorless or white under visible light and that is red, green, blue, or a composite color of these under invisible light.

In this embodiment, the luminescent paint is colorless or white under visible light and appears red, green, blue, or other colors under invisible light. This prevents the applied luminescent paint from damaging the appearance of the material, while emitting a vibrant, set color while exposed to ultraviolet light, contributing to highly accurate identification of the material.

As can be understood from the above explanation, the material identification management system and material identification management method of the present invention enable materials delivered to a construction site to be identified and managed efficiently and with high accuracy.

1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of a material specification management system according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a material identification management device that constitutes a material identification management system. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a functional configuration of a specific management apparatus. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing examples of material-emission color data stored in a storage unit. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a list of material identification data in the identification section.

An example of a material identification management system and a material identification management method according to an embodiment will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that in this specification and drawings, substantially identical components may be designated by the same reference numerals to avoid redundant description.

[Material specification management system and material specification management method according to the embodiment]
An example of a material specification management system and a material specification management method according to an embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 5. Here, Figure 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of a material specification management system according to an embodiment.

The material identification management system 50 is a system that assists the material manager M at a construction site in identifying the various materials (construction materials) being delivered and managing the quantities by material type. Here, the material identification management system 50 is not limited to use at construction sites; it may also be used at factories and other locations from which construction materials are shipped.

The material identification management system 50 comprises a black light 10 held by the material manager M and irradiating ultraviolet light U, an imaging device 20 that captures the emitted color when irradiated with ultraviolet light U, and an identification management device 30 that captures the emitted color contained in the image data and identifies and manages materials according to the emitted color. Here, instead of being held and applied by the material manager M, the black light 10 may be placed on a platform (not shown) that can rotate horizontally and vertically and applied in a manner that automatically and continuously irradiates ultraviolet light on all materials loaded on the bed of a truck.

The illustrated example shows a method for managing multiple segments S (an example of materials) loaded onto the bed of a truck T and delivered to a construction site, by identifying each type of segment S while it is still loaded onto the bed of the truck T, and counting the delivery quantity of each type. Here, materials delivered to a construction site include not only segments S but also various other construction materials such as rebar and formwork. In addition to construction materials, various pieces of construction equipment (e.g., small equipment) used in construction work are also delivered to the construction site, and such construction equipment may also be subject to delivery management by the material identification management system 50. Therefore, when construction equipment is also included as a subject of delivery management, this specification also considers it to be included in construction materials (materials).

The segments S delivered include A segment S1, B segment S2, and K segment S3. A segment S1 is installed in the general portion of a segment ring formed by assembling multiple segments circumferentially. Meanwhile, B segment S2 is installed on both sides of K segment, which is installed last. Furthermore, K segment S3 is installed last, and thereby forms the segment ring while absorbing accumulated segment assembly errors. All three types of segments S differ from each other in shape (joint angle) and dimensions.

As shown in Figure 1, when multiple types of segments S are stacked on a loading platform, it is not easy to distinguish between them, even though each segment S has different shapes and dimensions. Conventionally, each segment is spray-painted with a number symbol corresponding to the segment type, and material managers and others visually check the delivery of each segment by type. However, when attempting to identify each type of segment S stacked on a loading platform, as in the illustrated example, it is difficult to identify the multiple, jumbled segments S by type and count and manage their quantities.

Therefore, first, at the source of shipment of the segments S, a luminous paint specific to each type of segment S (luminous paint that glows when exposed to ultraviolet light U) is applied to the appropriate locations of the segments S, and the segments S with the luminous paint applied are then delivered to the construction site.

In the illustrated example, markings P1, P2, and P3 made with luminous paint are applied to the segment joints S1a, S2a, and S3a and ring joints S1b, S2b, and S3b of the A segment S1, B segment S2, and K segment S3, respectively. By applying markings P to at least two-way joints in this way, it is possible to irradiate ultraviolet light U onto the markings P on any of the joints, causing them to glow, even when the segment S is loaded on a loading platform.

Here, luminous paint is a paint containing a fluorescent agent that is colorless or white under visible light and exhibits red, green, blue, or a combination of these colors under invisible light.

By applying this type of fluorescent-containing paint, the appearance of the segment S is prevented from being marred by the applied luminescent paint, and the segment S emits a vivid light of a set color while being irradiated with ultraviolet light from the black light 10, making it possible to identify each type of segment S with high accuracy.

The black light 10 that emits ultraviolet light U is a portable light that can be held and operated by the materials manager M, and is operated to irradiate ultraviolet light sequentially from the segment S at one end to the segment S at the other end that are loaded on the bed of the truck T.

Ultraviolet rays, a type of invisible light, have a wavelength range of approximately 10 nm to 400 nm, and black lights 10 that emit ultraviolet rays with various peak wavelengths within this wavelength range can be used. For example, black lights with peak wavelengths of 365 nm or 375 nm can be used.

The camera 20, mounted on a platform 25, is installed in a position where it can capture images of all of the segments S loaded on the bed of the truck T. The platform on the platform 25 for the camera 20 can rotate freely in the horizontal and vertical directions, allowing the camera 20's imaging direction and imaging angle to be adjusted as desired.

Here, the imaging device 20 can be a CCD camera, digital camera, digital video camera, etc.

The ultraviolet light U emitted from the black light 10 causes the markings P on each segment S to glow, and the emitted light color is captured by the imaging device 20 and stored as imaging data.

The imaging device 20 in the illustrated example is equipped with a communication device (not shown), and imaging data including the captured light color is transmitted to the specific management device 30 via the communication device. Here, instead of transmitting the imaging data from the imaging device 20 to the specific management device 30 via wireless communication, the materials manager M may remove the USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory containing the imaging data from the imaging device 20 and insert it into the specific management device 30 to input the imaging data.

The specific management device 30 identifies the type of segment S according to the luminous color based on the captured image data including the luminous color, counts the quantity of each type of segment S, and performs delivery management. The specific management device 30 in the illustrated example is temporarily placed near the materials manager M, allowing the materials manager M to immediately check the delivery management results for all delivered segments S. In addition to the device temporarily placed near the materials manager M, a separate specific management device 30 may also be installed in the construction work management building, allowing delivery management results to be checked using multiple specific management devices.

The material identification management method according to the embodiment is a method for identifying and managing segments S (an example of a material) using the material identification management system 50. Specifically, segments S are coated with luminescent paint P that emits light when exposed to ultraviolet light U, which is invisible light, and are irradiated with ultraviolet light U to cause them to emit light, and an image of the emitted light color is captured (irradiation and image capture process).

Next, the type of segment S is identified based on the luminescent color of the captured image data, and the quantity of each type is counted and managed (identification management process).

Next, with reference to Figures 2 and 3, an example of the hardware configuration and functional configuration of the identification management device 30 that constitutes the material identification management system 50 will be described.

The specific management device 30 is composed of an information processing device such as a personal computer (PC) or a workstation (WS), and is configured as a computer. Here, the specific management device 30 may also be a tablet or smartphone carried by the materials manager M.

As shown in FIG. 2, the specific management device 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 31, a main memory device 32, an auxiliary memory device 33, a communication IF (interface) 34, and an input/output IF 35, all of which are interconnected by a connection bus 36. The main memory device 32 and the auxiliary memory device 33 are computer-readable recording media. Note that the above components may be provided separately, or some of the components may not be provided.

CPU 31 is also called an MPU (Microprocessor) or processor, and may be a single processor or a multiprocessor. CPU 31 is a central processing unit that performs overall control of specific management device 30, which is made up of a computer. CPU 31, for example, deploys programs stored in auxiliary storage device 33 in an executable form in the working area of main storage device 32, and controls peripheral devices through program execution, thereby providing functions that meet specific purposes.

The main memory device 32 stores computer programs executed by the CPU 31 and data processed by the CPU 31. Examples of the main memory device 32 include flash memory, RAM (Random Access Memory), and ROM (Read Only Memory). The auxiliary memory device 33 stores various programs and data on a readable and writable recording medium and is also referred to as an external memory device. The auxiliary memory device 33 stores, for example, an OS (Operating System), various programs, and various tables. The OS includes, for example, a communication interface program that exchanges data with external devices connected via the communication IF 34. Examples of external devices include a communication device included in the imaging device 20. Networks include public networks such as the Internet, wireless networks such as mobile phone networks, dedicated networks such as VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), LANs (Local Area Networks), and LPWAs (Low Power Wide Area Networks).

The auxiliary storage device 33 is used, for example, as a storage area that supports the main storage device 32, and stores computer programs executed by the CPU 31, data processed by the CPU 31, etc. The auxiliary storage device 33 may be a silicon disk including non-volatile semiconductor memory (flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM)), a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive, etc. Examples of the auxiliary storage device 33 include drives for removable recording media such as CD drives, DVD drives, and BD drives, and examples of removable recording media include CDs, DVDs, BDs, USB memory, and SD (Secure Digital) memory cards.

The communication IF 34 is an interface with the network to which the specific management device 30 is connected. The communication IF 34 receives imaging data from the communication device provided in the imaging device 20 via the network.

The input/output IF 35 is an interface that inputs and outputs data between devices connected to the specific management device 30. Input devices such as a keyboard, a touch panel, a mouse, or other pointing device, and a microphone are connected to the input/output IF 35. The specific management device 30 receives operational instructions from an operator who operates the input device via the input/output IF 35.

In addition, the input/output IF 35 is connected to display devices such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and organic electroluminescence (EL) panels, as well as output devices such as printers and speakers. For example, a list of specific data for the delivered segments S is displayed on the display device of the specific management device 30.

As shown in FIG. 3, the specific management device 30 provides various functions, including at least a communication unit 302, a specific unit 304, a display unit 306, and a storage unit 308, through the execution of a program by a CPU 31. At least some of the processing functions may be provided by a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or the like. Similarly, at least some of the processing functions may be provided by a dedicated LSI (Large Scale Integration) such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), a numerical calculation processor, an image processing processor, or other digital circuitry.

The communication unit 302 receives the imaging data, including the emitted light color, transmitted from the imaging device 20 and stores it in the storage unit 308.

Storage unit 308 stores material-emission color data related to the emission color associated with the material.

Here, an example of material-emission color data will be explained with reference to Figures 4(a) and (b).

The example shown in Figure 4(a) is an example of material-emission color data when the materials are segments. There are three types of segments: Emission color 1 is assigned to segment A, emission color 2 to segment B, and emission color 3 to segment K.

On the other hand, the example shown in Figure 4(b) is an example of material-illumination color data when the material is rebar. Rebar comes in multiple steel grades and names. For example, as shown in the example, the steel grades that may be used at the target construction site include SD295, SD345, and SD390, and the names that may be used include D13, D16, D19, D22, D25, D29, D32, and D35. Illumination colors 1 through 24 are assigned to each steel grade and name.

The storage unit 308 preferably stores material-emission color data for all materials scheduled to be delivered to the construction site.

When the markings P on both the segment joint and the ring joint of each segment S are imaged, the identification unit 304 first counts the number of segments S as one, assuming that they are markings on a common segment S, thereby preventing duplicate counting. In this way, the determination that both markings P are markings on a common segment S is made based on the distance between the markings, their relative positions, etc.

Next, the luminous color of the image data stored in storage unit 308 is compared with the material-luminous color data also stored in storage unit 308 to identify the material and its type.

The identification unit 304 compares the imaging data (emission color) for all segments S delivered by one truck T, as shown in Figure 1, with the material-emission color data to identify the materials and their types, and counts the quantity of each type of material.

The display unit 306 displays a list of specific data regarding the materials and the quantities of each type identified by the identification unit 304.

Figure 5 shows an example of a list of material specification data in the specification department. The example shown in Figure 5 shows delivery results of 24 A segments (6 per ring, equivalent to 4 rings), 8 B segments (2 per ring, equivalent to 4 rings), and 4 K segments (1 per ring, equivalent to 4 rings).

With the material identification management system 50, the material manager M irradiates each segment S with ultraviolet light from the black light 10 for a short period of time, causing the luminous paint P applied to each segment to glow, then captures the emitted color as image data using the imaging device 20. The identification management device 30 then compares the captured image data with the material-luminous color data to count the quantity of each type of segment S, creating and displaying a data list. This makes it possible to efficiently and accurately identify and manage the segments S (materials) being delivered at the construction site. In particular, even when multiple types of segments S (materials) are stacked on the bed of a truck T and it is difficult to distinguish them by type, this system enables accurate identification of each type of segment S.

Other embodiments may be possible in which other components are combined with the configurations described in the above embodiments, and the present invention is in no way limited to the configurations shown here. In this regard, changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and can be determined appropriately depending on the application form.

10: Black light 20: Camera 25: Stand 30: Specific management device 50: Material specific management system T: Truck M: Material manager S: Segment (material)
S1: A segment (segment)
S2: B segment (segment)
S3: K segment (segment)
S1a, S2a, S3a: Segment joints S1b, S2b, S3b: Ring joints P, P1, P2, P3: Luminous paint (marking)
U: Ultraviolet light

Claims (6)

A material identification management system that identifies and manages the delivery quantity of each type of multiple materials loaded on a vehicle and delivered to a construction site,
Black light, which emits invisible ultraviolet light,
an imaging device that captures an image of the luminescent color emitted by the material coated with the luminescent paint that emits light when irradiated with ultraviolet light;
and an identification management device that captures image data from the imaging device and identifies and manages the delivery quantities of each type of material according to the light emission color. The material identification management system described in claim 1, characterized in that the black light is placed on a platform that can rotate horizontally and vertically, and automatically and continuously irradiates ultraviolet light onto all of the materials loaded on the vehicle's loading platform. the specified management device includes at least a storage unit and a specifying unit;
the storage unit stores material-emission color data relating to emission colors associated with the material;
3. The material identification management system according to claim 1, wherein the identifying unit identifies the material by comparing the luminous color of the imaging data with the material-luminous color data. The material identification management system described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the luminous paint is a fluorescent-containing paint that is colorless or white under visible light and that is red, green, blue, or a combination of these colors under invisible light. A material identification management method in which an identification management device comprising a computer identifies and manages the delivery quantities of each type of material loaded onto a vehicle and delivered to a construction site,
an irradiation and imaging process in which a black light irradiates the material coated with a luminescent paint that emits light in ultraviolet light, which is invisible light, to cause the material to emit light, and an imaging device captures the luminescent color;
and a specific management step in which the specific management device identifies and manages the delivery quantity of each type of material according to the light emission color of the captured image data. The material identification management method described in claim 5, wherein the luminous paint is a paint containing a fluorescent agent that is colorless or white under visible light and that is red, green, blue, or a combination of these colors under invisible light.