JP7764587B2 - Equipment control device, equipment control method, program, and equipment control system - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to an equipment control device, an equipment control method, a program, and an equipment control system.

Technology related to the automatic operation of in-home appliances is known, which detects whether people are present or absent in the home and causes the appliance to execute specific processes when no one is present. For example, Patent Document 1 describes an air conditioner that performs unattended cleaning by activating an air purifying unit and increasing the speed of the indoor fan installed in the indoor unit above the speed during air conditioning operation when a human body detection sensor detects that no one is present.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-002602

The invention described in Patent Document 1 detects the current presence or absence of people in the home and controls the appliance accordingly, without taking into account how long the detected state will continue. As a result, the invention described in Patent Document 1 may perform unattended cleaning even when people return home immediately after leaving the home. In this case, unattended cleaning will be performed when the user is at home, which may cause discomfort to the user.

This disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned situation, and aims to provide an appliance control device, appliance control method, program, and appliance control system that can appropriately control appliances in the home without compromising user comfort.

In order to achieve the above object, the device control device according to the present disclosure includes:
environmental information acquisition means for acquiring environmental information in the home;
a state estimation means for estimating whether the user is in an absent state, an at-home and sleeping state, or an at-home and awake state, and the duration of the state, based on the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition means;
an appliance control unit that controls the appliances in the home based on the estimation result by the state estimation unit ;
The device control means
When the state estimation means estimates that the user is absent, it is possible to control appliances that have a louder operating noise level than when the state estimation means estimates that the user is at home and asleep or at home and awake,
When the state estimation means estimates that the user is at home and asleep, it is possible to control appliances that have a louder operating noise level than when the state estimation means estimates that the user is at home and awake.

This disclosure makes it possible to appropriately control in-home devices without compromising user comfort.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a device control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a device control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A diagram showing examples of learned lifestyle patterns FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a maintenance function table according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Flowchart of learning process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure Flowchart of device control processing according to an embodiment of the present disclosure FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a device control system according to a first modified example of the present disclosure. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a device control device according to a first modification of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen according to a first modified example of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a maintenance function table according to another modification of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a maintenance function table according to another modification of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control condition table according to another modification of the present disclosure; 10 is a flowchart of a device control process according to another modification of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a device control system according to another modification of the present disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Note that identical or equivalent parts in the drawings are designated by the same reference numerals.

An appliance control system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the appliance control system 1 comprises appliances 10, such as an air conditioner 10A, a washer/dryer 10B, a dishwasher 10C, a water heater 10D, and a microwave oven 10E, installed in a residence 100, a group of environmental acquisition sensors 20, and an appliance control device 30 communicatively connected to each of these components via a network N1. The network N1 may be, for example, a home network conforming to ECHONET (registered trademark), the Internet, or the like. The network N1 may be wired or wireless.

The air conditioner 10A, washer-dryer 10B, dishwasher 10C, water heater 10D, and microwave oven 10E are home appliances that have the ability to connect to network N1, and their operation is controlled by the appliance control device 30 via network N1. In the following description, when there is no need to distinguish between the air conditioner 10A, washer-dryer 10B, dishwasher 10C, water heater 10D, and microwave oven 10E, they will also be referred to as appliances 10.

In this embodiment, each device 10 has a main function, which is the original function of the home appliance, and a maintenance function for maintaining and servicing the main function. For example, if the device 10 is an air conditioner 10A, the main function is cooling, heating, dehumidification, etc., and the maintenance function is an automatic filter cleaning function. In order for the device 10 to properly perform its main function, it is necessary to perform the maintenance function at an appropriate frequency. Note that, depending on the device 10, noise may be generated while the maintenance function is being performed, which may cause discomfort to the user.

The environmental acquisition sensor group 20 is a variety of sensors for detecting the environment within the home. Specifically, the environmental acquisition sensor group 20 is composed of a human presence sensor, a thermal image sensor, a camera, a microphone, a millimeter wave sensor, etc. The environmental acquisition sensor group 20 detects environmental information within the home at predetermined time intervals as needed and transmits this information to the appliance control device 30. Environmental information includes, for example, information indicating the presence or absence of people within the home, thermal image information, audio information, image information, and information indicating people's posture and movements.

The device control device 30 is a device for monitoring and controlling each device 10 via the network N1. As shown in Figure 2, the device control device 30 includes a communication unit 31, a control unit 32, and a memory unit 33.

The communication unit 31 is a communication interface that enables the equipment control device 30 to communicate with the equipment 10 and the environmental acquisition sensor group 20 via the network N1.

The control unit 32 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores programs such as the operating system, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that serves as a work area. The control unit 32 controls the entire device control device 30. The control unit 32 also includes, as functional components, an environment acquisition unit 321, a learning unit 322, a state estimation unit 323, and a device control unit 324.

The environment acquisition unit 321 acquires environmental information within the house 100 from the environment acquisition sensor group 20. Furthermore, the environment acquisition unit 321 associates the acquired environmental information with the acquisition date and time as needed and stores the information in the environment storage DB 331 described below. The environment acquisition unit 321 is an example of an environmental information acquisition means of the present disclosure.

The learning unit 322 learns the user's daily lifestyle patterns within the home based on the history of environmental information stored in the environmental memory DB 331. Specifically, the learning unit 322 learns the user's lifestyle patterns, such as the times when the user is out, in the room, and sleeping. Figure 3 shows an example of a user's lifestyle pattern learned by the learning unit 322. It is desirable for the learning unit 322 to perform such learning on a day-of-the-week, month-by-month, season-by-season basis, etc. For example, when learning the user's lifestyle patterns on Wednesdays, the learning unit 322 may learn the lifestyle patterns using only the environmental information stored in the environmental memory DB 331 that was acquired on Wednesdays. The learning unit 322 is an example of a learning means of the present disclosure.

The state estimation unit 323 estimates the current state of the user from the latest environmental information acquired by the environment acquisition unit 321. Specifically, the state estimation unit 323 estimates the user's state by determining whether the user is present or absent, and, if present at home, whether the user is asleep or not. Therefore, the state estimation unit 323 estimates whether the user's state is "absent," "at home and awake," or "at home and asleep."

The state estimation unit 323 also estimates the duration of the estimated user state based on the lifestyle pattern learned by the learning unit 322. For example, consider a case where the lifestyle pattern shown in FIG. 3 has been learned and the user's state is estimated to be "away" at 2 p.m. In this case, the lifestyle pattern shown in FIG. 3 indicates that the user is likely to return home at 7 p.m., so the state estimation unit 323 can estimate that the duration of the "away" state is five hours, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. On the other hand, if the user's state is estimated to be "at home and awake" at 2 p.m., the lifestyle pattern shown in FIG. 3 indicates that the user is usually away at this time, so the state estimation unit 323 can determine that this state will not continue for long and estimate the duration to be one hour. The state estimation unit 323 is an example of a state estimation means of the present disclosure.

Returning to FIG. 2, the device control unit 324 controls each device 10 based on the estimation results by the state estimation unit 323. Specifically, the device control unit 324 refers to the maintenance function table 333 described below based on the user's state estimated by the state estimation unit 323 and its duration, and causes specific devices 10 to perform maintenance functions that do not impair the user's comfort. The device control unit 324 is an example of a device control means of the present disclosure.

The memory unit 33 serves as a so-called secondary storage device (auxiliary storage device) and is, for example, a readable/writable non-volatile flash memory, a hard disk drive, etc. The memory unit 33 stores programs executed by the control unit 32 and various data. The memory unit 33 also has an environment storage DB 331, a learning result storage DB 332, and a maintenance function table 333.

The environmental memory DB 331 stores the indoor environmental information acquired by the environmental acquisition sensor group 20 in chronological order along with the acquisition date and time information.

The learning result memory DB332 stores information indicating the user's lifestyle patterns learned by the learning unit 322.

The maintenance function table 333 is a table in which information regarding the maintenance functions of each device 10 is registered. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the maintenance function table 333 registers, for each device 10, the execution time of the maintenance function, the operating noise level while the maintenance function is being executed, and information indicating the content of the maintenance function. The execution time registered in the maintenance function table 333 is set to an appropriate time that allows sufficient maintenance and inspection of the main functions of the device 10 using the maintenance function.

The operating noise levels registered in the maintenance function table 333 represent the volume of the operating noise of the device 10 while a maintenance function is being executed, either "loud," "medium," or "low." Maintenance functions with a "loud" operating noise level produce very loud noises during execution, so it is desirable to execute them when the user is not present. Maintenance functions with a "medium" operating noise level produce quieter noises than "loud," but still produce noises that can be unpleasant to a user who is awake, so it is desirable to execute them when the user is not present or while the user is asleep. Maintenance functions with a "low" operating noise level do not produce noises that can be unpleasant to a user during execution, so they can be executed at any time regardless of the user's state.

Next, the processing performed by the equipment control device 30 will be described. First, the learning processing performed by the equipment control device 30 will be described. After several months have passed since the equipment control system 1 began operating, sufficient environmental information to perform the learning processing has accumulated in the environment memory DB 331. The user then issues an instruction to start the learning processing by voice, button operation, etc. In response to this instruction, the equipment control device 30 starts the learning processing shown in the flowchart of Figure 5.

When the learning process begins, the learning unit 322 of the device control device 30 first learns the user's lifestyle patterns from the environmental information stored in chronological order in the environmental memory DB 331 (step S101). For example, the learning unit 322 may learn the user's lifestyle patterns from the environmental information using a machine learning technique based on a neural network model.

Next, the learning unit 322 stores information indicating the learned user's lifestyle patterns in the learning result storage DB 332 (step S102). This completes the learning process.

Next, we will explain the equipment control process executed by the equipment control device 30. Note that the above-mentioned learning process has already been executed before the equipment control process is executed. For example, every hour, the equipment control device 30 executes the equipment control process shown in the flowchart of Figure 6.

When the device control process starts, the environment acquisition unit 321 of the device control device 30 first acquires the latest environmental information within the house 100 from the environment acquisition sensor group 20 (step S201). Step S201 is an example of an environmental information acquisition step of the present disclosure.

The state estimation unit 323 then estimates whether the user's current state is "away," "at home and awake," or "asleep" from the acquired environmental information (step S202). The state estimation unit 323 then estimates the duration of the estimated state based on the user's lifestyle patterns stored in the learning result storage DB 332 (step S203). Steps S202 and S203 are examples of state estimation steps of the present disclosure.

If the user's status is estimated to be "Away" in step S202 (step S204; Yes), the user's comfort will not be impaired if the maintenance function is executed while the "Away" status continues. Therefore, the device control unit 324 refers to the maintenance function table 333 and identifies devices 10 that have maintenance functions whose execution time is less than the estimated duration (step S205). Then, processing proceeds to step S209.

For example, consider a case where the information shown in Figure 4 is registered in the maintenance function table 333, the user status is "Away," and the duration is estimated to be six hours. In this case, in step S205, the device control unit 324 identifies the washer-dryer 10B and dishwasher 10C, which have maintenance function execution times of six hours or less, as the devices for which the maintenance function should be executed.

On the other hand, if the user's status is not "Absent" in step S202 (step S204; No) but is estimated to be "Sleeping at home" (step S206; Yes), executing a maintenance function with a "high" operating noise level would impair the comfort of the sleeping user. Therefore, the device control unit 324 refers to the maintenance function table 333 to identify devices 10 that have maintenance functions with an operating noise level of "medium" or "low" and whose execution time is less than the estimated duration (step S207). Then, processing proceeds to step S209.

For example, consider a case where the information shown in Figure 4 is registered in the maintenance function table 333, the user's status is "sleeping at home," and the duration is estimated to be six hours. In this case, in step S207, the appliance control unit 324 identifies the dishwasher 10C, which has a maintenance function operating noise level of "medium" or "low" and an execution time of six hours or less, as the appliance 10 to execute the maintenance function.

On the other hand, if the user's status is not "asleep at home" in step S206 (step S206; No), the user's status becomes "awake at home," and executing a maintenance function with an operating noise level of "high" or "medium" would impair the user's comfort while awake. Therefore, the device control unit 324 refers to the maintenance function table 333 to identify devices 10 that have a maintenance function with an operating noise level of "low" (step S208). Then, processing proceeds to step S209.

For example, consider a case where the information shown in Figure 4 is registered in the maintenance function table 333 and the user's state is estimated to be "at home and awake." In this case, in step S208, the appliance control unit 324 identifies the microwave oven 10E, whose operating noise level for the maintenance function is "low," as the appliance 10 for which the maintenance function should be executed.

In step S209, the device control unit 324 controls the device 10 identified in step S205, S207, or S208 to execute the maintenance function for the execution time specified in the maintenance function table 333 (step S209). For example, the device control unit 324 may send a control signal to the identified device 10 via network N1 to execute the maintenance function for the execution time. Note that devices 10 currently executing a maintenance function or devices 10 for which a predetermined time has not yet elapsed since the last execution of a maintenance function may be excluded from the control of step S209. This completes the device control process. Steps S204 to S209 are an example of device control steps of the present disclosure.

According to the present disclosure, not only is the state of the user in the home estimated based on environmental information, but the duration of that state is also estimated, and the device 10 is controlled based on the estimation result. This makes it possible to, for example, control the device 10 so that, even if it is estimated that the user is absent, if the duration is short, the execution of maintenance functions that generate loud operating noises is refrained from, thereby enabling appropriate control of the device 10 in the home without compromising the user's comfort.

(Variation 1)
Next, a first modification of the above-described embodiment will be described. The same components as those in the above-described embodiment will be assigned the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be simplified or omitted as appropriate. It is empirically known that even for the same maintenance function, the degree to which users find the operating noise during execution unpleasant varies depending on the individual user. The first modification is characterized by allowing the user to set the operating noise level of the maintenance function, thereby enabling more optimal control of the device 10 for each individual user.

Figure 7 is a diagram showing a device control system 1 according to variant example 1. Figure 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of a device control device 30 according to variant example 1. In the device control system 1 according to variant example 1, the device control device 30 is communicatively connected to a terminal 40 via the Internet N2. The terminal 40 is a tablet terminal, smartphone, etc. operated by a user, and transmits and receives various information to and from the device control device 30 via the Internet N2. The terminal 40 also has a function for connecting to the network N1, and when located within the home 100, it is also able to communicate with the device control device 30 via the network N1.

The equipment control device 30 of variant 1 also includes a new equipment setting unit 325 as a functional component of the control unit 32. The equipment setting unit 325 sets the operation sound level of the maintenance function of each equipment 10 based on input from the user. Specifically, in response to a request from the terminal 40, the equipment setting unit 325 causes the terminal 40 to display a setting screen for setting the operation sound level of the maintenance function of each equipment 10, as shown in FIG. 9. The user of the terminal 40 operates the terminal 40 to enter input for setting the operation sound from the displayed setting screen, and the equipment setting unit 325 of the equipment control device 30 updates the operation sound level of the maintenance function registered in the maintenance function table 333 based on the input. The equipment setting unit 325 is an example of an equipment information setting means of the present disclosure.

With this configuration, the user can, for example, set the operating noise level of a maintenance operation that the user finds unpleasant to "high," thereby preventing that maintenance operation from being performed unless the user is absent. Alternatively, the user can set the operating noise level of a maintenance operation that the user does not find unpleasant to "low," thereby allowing that maintenance operation to be performed regardless of whether the user is present or absent. In other words, this variant 1 makes it possible to control the device 10 in a way that does not cause discomfort to the individual user.

(Other Modifications)
The present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment and modified example 1, and various modifications are of course possible within the scope of the gist of the present disclosure.

For example, the maintenance function table 333 referenced in the device control process may be different depending on the user's learned lifestyle pattern. For example, if the learning process learns that a user has a lifestyle pattern in which people are mostly present at home due to telecommuting, home caregiving, etc., and the duration of their absence is very short, the device control process may be performed using the maintenance function table 333 shown in FIG. 10 instead of FIG. 4. The maintenance function table 333 shown in FIG. 10 has a shorter execution time for the maintenance function for the "high" operating sound level than that shown in FIG. 4, making it easier to execute the maintenance function for the "high" operating sound level even during short periods of absence. Furthermore, for a user with a lifestyle pattern in which they often go out and spend little time at home, performing the device control process using the maintenance function table 333 shown in FIG. 11 instead of FIG. 4 makes it easier to execute the maintenance function during short periods of absence at home.

Furthermore, the device control process shown in Figure 6 is merely an example, and the process can be further simplified. For example, by storing a control condition table such as that shown in Figure 12 in the memory unit 33, the device control process can be simplified as shown in the flowchart in Figure 13.

In this device control process, environmental information is similarly acquired (step S201), and the user's state and its duration are estimated (steps S202 and S203). The device control unit 324 then references the control condition table shown in FIG. 12 and controls devices 10 that meet the conditions to execute the maintenance function (step S210). This allows for a shorter processing time than the device control process shown in FIG. 6.

In addition, in the above embodiment, an example of performing maintenance operation of the device 10 using the device control process was described, but the present disclosure is not limited to controlling the maintenance operation of the device 10. For example, the present disclosure can also be applied to controlling the main function of the device 10.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the device control system 1 is described in which the device control device 30 is installed within the home 100, but the device control device 30 may also be installed outside the home 100. For example, in the device control system 1 shown in FIG. 14, the device control device 30 is installed externally and is connected to each device 10 and the environmental acquisition sensor group 20 via a router 50 within the home 100.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the program executed by the control unit 32 of the equipment control device 30 can be applied to an existing computer, causing the computer to function as the control unit 32 of the present disclosure.

Such programs may be distributed in any manner, for example, by storing them on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read-Only Memory), DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), MO (Magneto Optical Disk), or memory card, or by distributing them via a communications network such as the Internet.

The present disclosure allows for various embodiments and modifications without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments are intended to illustrate the present disclosure and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims, not the embodiments. Various modifications made within the scope of the claims and within the meaning of equivalent disclosures are deemed to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

1 Device control system, 10 Device, 10A Air conditioner, 10B Washer/dryer, 10C Dishwasher, 10D Water heater, 10E Microwave oven, 20 Environmental acquisition sensor group, 30 Device control device, 40 Terminal, 100 House, N1 Network, N2 Internet, 31 Communication unit, 32 Control unit, 321 Environmental acquisition unit, 322 Learning unit, 323 State estimation unit, 324 Device control unit, 325 Device information setting unit, 33 Memory unit, 331 Environmental memory DB, 332 Learning result memory DB, 333 Maintenance function table

Claims (9)

environmental information acquisition means for acquiring environmental information in the home;
a state estimation means for estimating whether the user is in an absent state, an at-home and sleeping state, or an at-home and awake state, and the duration of the state, based on the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition means;
an appliance control unit that controls the appliances in the home based on the estimation result by the state estimation unit ;
The device control means
When the state estimation means estimates that the user is absent, it is possible to control appliances that have a louder operating noise level than when the state estimation means estimates that the user is at home and asleep or at home and awake,
When the state estimation means estimates that the user's state is at home and asleep, it is possible to control an appliance that has a louder operating noise level than when the state estimation means estimates that the user is at home and awake.
Equipment control device. environmental information acquisition means for acquiring environmental information in the home;
a state estimation means for estimating a state of the user and a duration of the state based on the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition means;
a maintenance function table in which execution times and operation sound levels of the maintenance functions of the home appliances are registered;
and a device control means, when the state of the user estimated by the state estimation means is a state of being absent from the home, causing the device to execute a maintenance function whose execution time registered in the maintenance function table is equal to or less than the estimated duration of the absence state,
The shorter the time the user is absent from the home, the shorter the execution time of the maintenance function with an operation sound level equal to or greater than the threshold registered in the maintenance function table.
Equipment control device. further comprising learning means for learning a lifestyle pattern of the user based on the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition means;
the state estimation means estimates the duration based on the user's lifestyle pattern learned by the learning means;
The device control device according to claim 1 or 2 . The device control means controls the in-home devices to perform a maintenance function.
The equipment control device according to claim 1 . The equipment control means controls the equipment in the home based on the operation sound level and execution time of the maintenance function.
The equipment control device according to claim 4 . The system further includes a device information setting unit that sets an operation sound level of the maintenance function based on an input from the user.
The device control device according to claim 2 or 5. an environmental information acquisition step of acquiring environmental information in the home;
a state estimating step of estimating whether the user is in an absent state, an at-home and sleeping state, or an at-home and awake state, and a duration of the state, based on the environmental information acquired in the environmental information acquiring step;
an appliance control step of controlling the appliances in the home based on the estimation result in the state estimation step ;
In the device control step,
When the state estimation step estimates that the user's state is absent, it is possible to execute control of appliances having a louder operating noise level than when the state estimation step estimates that the user is at home and asleep or at home and awake,
When the state estimation step estimates that the user's state is at home and asleep, it is possible to control an appliance that has a louder operating noise level than when the state estimation step estimates that the user is at home and awake.
Equipment control methods. Computer,
environmental information acquisition means for acquiring environmental information within the home;
a state estimation means for estimating whether the user is in an absent state, an at-home and sleeping state, or an at-home and awake state, and the duration of the state, based on the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition means;
an appliance control means for controlling the appliances in the home based on the estimation result by the state estimation means;
It functions as
The device control means
When the state estimation means estimates that the user is absent, it is possible to control appliances that have a louder operating noise level than when the state estimation means estimates that the user is at home and asleep or at home and awake,
When the state estimation means estimates that the user's state is at home and asleep, it is possible to control an appliance that has a louder operating noise level than when the state estimation means estimates that the user is at home and awake.
program. An appliance control system including a sensor for detecting environmental information in a home and an appliance control device,
The device control device
environmental information acquisition means for acquiring environmental information about the home from the sensor;
a state estimation means for estimating whether the user is in an absent state, an at-home and sleeping state, or an at-home and awake state, and the duration of the state, based on the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition means;
an appliance control unit that controls the appliances in the home based on the estimation result by the state estimation unit ;
The device control means
When the state estimation means estimates that the user is absent, it is possible to control appliances that have a louder operating noise level than when the state estimation means estimates that the user is at home and asleep or at home and awake,
When the state estimation means estimates that the user's state is at home and asleep, it is possible to control an appliance that has a louder operating noise level than when the state estimation means estimates that the user is at home and awake.
Equipment control system.