JP2006222713A - Home server and mobile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize automatic execution of an electronic device by a home server that centrally and automatically controls electronic devices in a home guesses the automatic execution of the electronic device, transmits the estimated value to the user by e-mail, and returns the response.
In a remote management system for an electronic device, a home server 11 and a home electronic device are connected via a home network 17, the electronic device accumulates operation records for a short period, and the home server 11 communicates with the electronic device. Then, an operation record for a short period is acquired, an automatic operation is estimated from the accumulated operation record, and the estimated automatic operation of the electronic device is transmitted to the user by e-mail. The reply e-mail from the user to the mail is analyzed, and automatic execution is notified to the electronic device. The electronic device automatically executes the received operation.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a home server and a mobile terminal that automatically control an electronic device connected to a home network.

  In recent years, remote management systems have been developed that automatically control electronic devices in the home from the outside.

  For example, an electronic mail address is assigned to each electronic device to be controlled, and the mail addressed to the home server having command definition information for controlling the electronic device and the mail addressed to the electronic device mail address are sent to the home server. There is a system that realizes selective automatic control of electronic devices by receiving (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In addition, there is a system that realizes automatic control of an electronic device by accumulating usage history of the electronic device by a user and predicting an operation pattern (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2004-153530 A JP 2004-185612 A

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary for the user to set automatic execution by himself or to start an operation.

  Therefore, even if a system using a home server that centrally controls many electronic devices such as home appliances and AV devices in the home is introduced, the user manually sets automatic execution reservation for each electronic device. There was a need.

  In addition, the items to be set for each device are different, and it is considered that it is very troublesome to understand the items and set them one by one. In addition, the scheduled operation is not repeated forever, and it is necessary to stop when it is unnecessary, but it is highly likely to forget.

  On the other hand, there is a system that performs automatic control by estimating setting items, as in the technique described in Patent Document 2, but these are based on the assumption that the user is at home. If an electronic device in the home is automatically operated with only the estimated value when the user is absent, there is a high risk of an unexpected accident.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is software that estimates the automatic execution of electronic devices such as home appliances and AV devices connected via a home network to a home server that performs centralized automatic control of electronic devices such as home appliances and AV devices in the home. Is provided in the home server, the estimated value is transmitted to the user by e-mail, and automatic execution of the electronic device is realized by the reply.

  A home server according to the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires operation information of an electronic device, a storage unit that stores operation information acquired by the acquisition unit in a database, and an electronic device based on the operation information stored in the database. When the automatic control is estimated and the estimated automatic control information is not set in the electronic device, the user is replied to the estimation means for notifying the user of the estimated automatic control information and the notification by the estimation means. The analysis notification means for detecting the automatic control of the electronic device designated by the user based on the analysis result, and the electronic device based on the information on the automatic control of the electronic device detected by the analysis notification means. Electronic device control means for transmitting automatic control information.

  The portable terminal according to the present invention receives automatic control information of an electronic device from a home server that performs remote management of the electronic device, and instructs the electronic device based on the received automatic control information. Is specified and sent back to the home server to instruct automatic control of the electronic device.

  In the electronic device remote management system according to the present invention, an electronic device and a home server for remotely managing the electronic device are connected via a network, and the electronic device transmits an operation history to the home server. An operation record transmitting unit; and an operation executing unit configured to execute automatic control based on information of the automatic control received from the home server. The home server acquires the operation information of the electronic device, and the acquiring unit. The storage means for storing the operation information acquired in step 1 in the database, and the automatic control of the electronic device is estimated based on the operation information stored in the database, and the estimated automatic control information is not set in the electronic device. In addition, the estimation means for notifying the user of the estimated automatic control information and the information returned from the user in response to the notification by the estimation means are solved. Then, based on the analysis result, the analysis notification means for detecting the automatic control of the electronic device designated by the user, and the automatic control information for the electronic device based on the information on the automatic control of the electronic device detected by the analysis notification means. And electronic device control means for transmitting.

  According to the present invention, a home network connected to a home server and an electronic device such as a rice cooker, an electric pot, a washing machine, or a recording device is used to estimate the automatic operation of each electronic device and carry it by the user. By sending a notification mail to a portable terminal and using the reply mail, remote control of the electronic device using the home server can be realized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same function are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings for describing the embodiment, and the repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

<Configuration of remote management system for electronic devices>
The configuration of the electronic device remote management system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of a remote management system for electronic devices according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a home server of the remote management system for electronic devices according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a software configuration of the electronic device of the remote management system for the electronic device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a remote management system for an electronic device includes a home server 11 in a home, a database 12 configured in the home server 11, a home network 17 configured by a wireless network or a wired network, and a home network 17 by a home network 17. The rice cooker 13, the electric pot 14, the washing machine 15, and the recording device 16 connected to the Internet, the Internet 18 connected to the home server 11, and the mobile terminal 19 such as the mobile phone 19 that can be connected to the Internet 18. ing.

  The home server 11 is connected to an electronic device via the home network 17, communicates with the electronic device, acquires an operation record of the electronic device, and controls the electronic device. In addition, the home server 11 is connected to a mobile terminal via the Internet 18 and communicates with the mobile terminal using e-mail or the like. Information to be transmitted, and reservation control of the electronic device is performed by a reply from the user.

  The database 12 stores setting information by a user, operation history recording information from an electronic device, and the like.

  Electronic devices such as the rice cooker 13, the electric pot 14, the washing machine 15, and the recording device 16 have a function of recording an operation history, and transmit operation record data in response to a request from the home server 11.

  A mobile terminal such as a mobile phone 19 has a function of connecting to the Internet 18, and transmits / receives mail to / from the home server 11 via the Internet 18 to perform reservation control of the electronic device.

  In FIG. 2, the home server 11 of the electronic device remote management system includes a CPU 1, a memory 2, an input unit 3, a display unit 4, a network interface 5, and a storage unit 6. In order to realize a management system, acquisition software 21 which is an acquisition means for acquiring operation record data of electronic devices such as rice cooker 13, electric pot 14, washing machine 15 and recording device 16, operation record data acquired from the electronic device Storage software 22 that is a storage means for storing information, the database 12, the estimation software 23 that is an estimation means for estimating the automatic operation of the electronic device using the operation record data stored in the database 12, and the registered automatic operation Mail sending software, which is a mail sending means for sending e-mails to mail addresses 24, mail receiving software 25 which is a mail receiving means for receiving an e-mail from a user, analyzes the received e-mail, determines an automatic operation of the electronic apparatus described in the e-mail, and notifies the electronic apparatus control software 27 An analysis notification software 26 as analysis notification means and an electronic device control software 27 as electronic device control means for transmitting and executing the notified automatic operation information to the electronic device are installed.

  In FIG. 3, electronic devices such as the rice cooker 13, the electric pot 14, the washing machine 15, and the recording device 16 operate the electronic device for about one day in a storage unit in the electronic device for remote management of the electronic device. Automatic operation information from the operation recording software 31, recording area 35, the operation recording transmission software 32 for transmitting the operation data recorded in the recording area 35 to the home server 11, and the electronic device control software 27 of the home server 11. The automatic operation reception software 34 for receiving the operation and the operation execution software 33 for executing the operation are installed.

  The remote management system for electronic devices according to the present embodiment is managed by the home server 11 in the home shown in FIG. 2, and each software installed in the storage unit 6 in the home server 11 is executed by the CPU 1. The remote management of the device is controlled, and the operation history of the electronic device is acquired by the processing of the electronic device side software shown in FIG.

<Each process of the remote management system>
Next, each process of the electronic apparatus remote management system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9 are diagrams showing examples of data used in the remote management system for electronic devices according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of operation record data recorded in the electronic devices. 5 is a diagram showing an example of setting values set in the home server, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of operation record data for four weeks accumulated in the home server, and FIG. 7 is an operation accumulated in the home server. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of point and judgment value data for recorded data, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of notification target operation data held by the home server, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of notification operation list held by the home server. 10 and 11 are diagrams showing an example of mail used in the remote management system for electronic devices according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of mail sent from the home server. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a mail returned from the portable terminal. 12 to 18 are flowcharts showing processes of the electronic device remote management system according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process of accumulating operation record data of the electronic equipment in the home server. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process for determining a notification target operation, FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a process until a rice cooking reservation notification process is called at a set time, FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a rice cooking reservation notification process, and FIG. The flowchart which shows a process, FIG. 17 is a flowchart which shows an incoming mail analysis process, FIG. 18 is a flowchart which shows the automatic operation | movement execution process of a rice cooker.

  First, in the rice cooker 13 which is an electronic device, information when the rice cooker 13 is operated and operated is acquired by the operation recording software 31, and the recording area 35 in the rice cooker 13 has a recording area 35 as shown in FIG. The operation record data is recorded. The example shown in FIG. 4 is an example of operation record data when a rice cooking reservation at 18:30 on one day is made at 18:30, the reserved rice cooking is started at 17:40, and the reserved rice cooking is finished at 18:30. .

  Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the home server 11 is set to perform remote management of electronic devices by a user. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 5, device operation history acquisition frequency, notification One threshold, a point calculation frequency, and a notification address are set.

  With the setting shown in FIG. 5, the home server 11 and the rice cooker 13 communicate with each other and the operation recording data recorded in the rice cooker 13 is stored in the home server 11 as shown in FIG. The acquisition software 21 of the home server 11 and the operation record transmission software 32 of the rice cooker 13 establish communication once a day according to the device operation history acquisition frequency set by the set value shown in (S61).

  Then, an operation record acquisition request is issued from the acquisition software 21 to the operation record transmission software 32 (S62), and the operation record transmission software 32 extracts the operation record data from the recording area 35 of the rice cooker 13 and transmits it to the home server 11 (S63). ).

  Then, the acquisition software 21 adds the date, day of the week, and device information to the received operation record data, and passes it to the storage software 22 (S64). The storage software 22 sets the operation record data with the date, day of the week, and device information added to the home. It stores in the database 12 of the server 11 (S65).

  By this processing, the operation record data of the rice cooker 13 is stored in the database 12 of the home server 11 and becomes, for example, data as shown in FIG. 6 as operation record data for four weeks. The example shown in FIG. 6 is data obtained by adding date, day of the week, and device information to the operation record data shown in FIG.

  Further, the estimation software 23 of the home server 11 estimates an automatic operation from the operation record data accumulated by the processing shown in FIG. 12, and transmits it to the user when there is no reservation for the estimated automatic operation time. Creating a notification email.

  Examples of rules to guess are as follows. When executed once for a combination of day of the week, time, and operation, 1 point is added. In this embodiment, the time is divided in units of one hour from 00 to 59 minutes per hour.

  The points obtained by adding four weeks to the operation record data shown in FIG. 6 by such point addition processing are the point terms shown in FIG. Further, the value of the judgment value term in FIG. 7 is obtained by dividing the value of the point term by the number of weeks from the day when the operation recording is started. In the example shown in FIG. 7, since the calculation is performed from the operation record data for 4 weeks shown in FIG. 6, the value obtained by dividing the point value by 4 is the value of the judgment value term.

  As processing for determining the notification target action using the points and judgment values shown in FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 13, first, the points are set once a week from the set values of the home server 11 shown in FIG. And a judgment value is calculated (S91).

  Then, it is determined whether or not there is a motion candidate based on a combination of the device, day of the week, time, and motion whose judgment value calculated in S91 is equal to or greater than the threshold set in the home server 11 shown in FIG. 5 (S92). If it is determined in S92 that there is no motion candidate greater than or equal to the threshold value, the process ends. If it is determined in S92 that there is a motion candidate greater than or equal to the threshold value, the motion candidate motion is, for example, as shown in FIG. It is determined whether it is included in the notification operation list of the device (S93).

  If it is determined in S93 that the motion candidate is not included in the notification motion list, the motion candidate for which the determination value is determined to be greater than or equal to the threshold value in S92 is not set as the notification target motion (S96), and the process ends.

  If it is determined in S93 that the motion candidate is included in the notification motion list, the motion candidate for which the determination value is determined to be greater than or equal to the threshold value in S92 is set as the notification target motion (S94), and the day of the week and time of the notification target motion are ended. The timer is set (S95).

  As a specific example of this process, in the example shown in FIG. 7, the combination of item numbers 4, 5, and 6 exceeds the threshold value “0.8” set in the home server 11 with the determination value “1”. . Among these, since the operation of “reserving rice cooking” is included in the notification operation list shown in FIG. 9, “rice cooker”, “water”, “7: 00-7: 59”, “reserving rice cooking 18” : 0: 18: 59 "is the notification target operation. Then, in S95 of FIG. 13, a notification of “rice cooking reservation 18: 00-18: 59” is set as a timer at 8:00 on the next Wednesday.

  This timer set may be set not only at the end time of the reservation time but also immediately before the start or after a predetermined time after the time for setting the reservation.

  As for the process until the notification target action calls the notification process at the set time, as shown in FIG. 14, first, it is determined whether or not it is a timer set time (S121), and the timer is set in S121. S121 is repeated until the predetermined time.

  When the time set in the timer in S121 is reached (for example, Wednesday 8:00), the operation “rice cooking reservation” is extracted from the notification target operation data (S122), and the “rice cooking reservation” notification process is called (S123).

  As the “rice cooking reservation” notification process called in S123, as shown in FIG. 15, first, the current state is inquired from the home server 11 to the notification target device “rice cooker 13” (S131), and “rice cooker 13”. Answers about the current state “weight of contents” and “presence / absence of rice cooking reservation” (S132).

  Then, in order to determine whether or not the rice cooker 13 is in a state where rice cooking is possible, it is determined whether or not the “weight of the content” is 0 g (S133). And when it is judged that the "weight of the content" is 0g in S133, since the rice cooker 13 is not in the state in which rice cooking operation | movement is possible, a process is complete | finished.

  If it is determined in S133 that the “weight of contents” is not 0 g, it is determined that the rice cooker 13 is in a state where rice cooking is possible, and it is determined whether or not “rice cooking reservation” has been made in the rice cooker 13. If it is determined that “Rice Cooking Reservation” has been made in S134, the rice cooking reservation has already been made by the user, and the process is terminated.

  If it is determined in S134 that “rice cooking reservation” has not been made, the mail transmission software 24 of the home server 11 creates a “rice cooking reservation” notification email (S135) and sends a “rice cooking reservation” notification email. (S136).

  As shown in FIG. 16, as the mail creation process of the “rice cooking reservation” notification, first, the operation “rice cooking reservation 18: 00-18: 59” in the notification operation list is extracted (S141), and the notification operation shown in FIG. From the information of the mail text template of the list, the rice cooking reservation notification text of “rice cooking reservation” of the rice cooker 13 is acquired (S142).

  And the candidate time of 30 minutes unit is determined from "18: 00-18: 59" from the unit time of the rice cooking reservation notification text and the notification action list (S143), the candidate time is added to the rice cooking reservation notification text, and it is unique. A transmission notification mail data is completed by adding an identification ID as a unique identifier (S144).

  The completed mail text is, for example, as shown in FIG.

  In the example of FIG. 10, From: indicating the transmission source is an email address assigned to the home server 11, and To: indicating the transmission destination is an email address of the user, and is assigned to the mobile phone 19 in the present embodiment. E-mail address.

  The text is shown in the form of a question to the user, and the user can execute the operation by adding a reply option to the question (subject) in the reply mail to the notification e-mail.

  As this reply e-mail, for example, the text is as shown in FIG. 11, and in the example shown in FIG. 11, “2” is added after Subject (subject) and “18:30 Cooking Rice” is selected. Show.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 17, the mail receiving software 25 installed in the home server 11 is used as the received mail analysis process in the home server 11 by the reply mail as shown in FIG. Such a reply mail is received, and the analysis notification software 26 searches for a unique identification ID in the received mail data (S171).

  Then, based on the search result of the identification ID in S171, it is determined whether or not a “rice cooking reservation” notification mail is returned (S172), and if it is determined in S172 that the “rice cooking reservation” notification mail is not returned, the processing ends. If it is determined in S172 that the reply is a “cooking rice reservation” notification mail, the subject content “Re: rice cooking reservation 2” of the reply mail is analyzed, and an answer option “2” of the notification mail is extracted (S173).

  Then, the analysis notification software 26 notifies the electronic device control software 27 of the content of “Rice Cooking Reservation 18:30” of Option 2, and the electronic device control software 27 is the automatic operation reception software of the rice cooker 13 shown in FIG. The automatic operation data of “Rice cooking reservation 18:30” is transmitted to 34 (S174).

  Moreover, as an automatic operation execution process of the rice cooker 13 which received automatic operation data, as shown in FIG. 18, first, the automatic operation reception software 34 receives automatic operation data “rice cooking reservation 18:30” (S181). The operation execution software 33 executes the automatic operation data “rice cooking reservation 18:30” (S182).

  By this, even when the rice cooker reservation 18:30 is set in the rice cooker 13 and the user forgets the reservation and the rice cooker 13 is not reserved for the rice cooker 13, by guessing the user's habit of executing the operation, By estimating the reservation time and the like, and transmitting the estimated value to the user by e-mail, it becomes possible for the user to confirm appropriate rice cooking reservation settings and to perform the instruction by the user.

  As mentioned above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

  For example, in the present embodiment, the rice cooker 13 has been described as an example, but the electric pot 14, the washing machine 15, the recording device 16, and other electronic devices can be similarly set for reservation.

  In the case of the electric pot 14, the operation record data of the electric pot 14 is acquired, and when the electric pot 14 is reserved or estimated to start, the electric pot 14 is not reserved or is not operating. After confirming the capacity of the water in 14 and the like, an e-mail for confirming execution of the electric pot 14 and confirming the start of operation is transmitted.

  In the case of the washing machine 15, the operation record data of the washing machine 15 is acquired, and when the washing machine 15 is reserved or is not operating at a time estimated to start operation, After confirming the capacity of the laundry in the washing machine 15 and whether or not it has been washed, an e-mail for confirmation of execution of reservation of the washing machine 15 and confirmation of operation start is transmitted.

  In the case of the recording device 16, the operation recording data of the recording device 16 is acquired, and when the recording device 16 is reserved or is not operating at the time estimated to start the operation, After confirming the presence / absence of recording media in the recording device 16 and the recordable capacity thereof, an e-mail for confirming the reservation execution of the recording device 16 and confirming the start of recording is transmitted.

  In the present embodiment, one person is set as the destination of the e-mail to the user. However, a plurality of family members may be registered and selected from the plurality of persons. . In this case, for example, in the case of the recording device 16 or the like, when the recording device is reserved or started, for example, an ID or the like for specifying an individual is input, and the person who made the reservation or started recording is recorded in the operation record data. The personal information may be recorded, and an e-mail may be transmitted by selecting an individual to make a reservation.

  Further, in this embodiment, the question answer option is added to the subject of the reply mail. However, it may be added to other body text so that the answer option can be recognized. Also, the answer options are not limited to numbers, and any character or symbol may be used as long as it is understood that the answer option has been selected.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the home server of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the software structure of the electronic device of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation record data recorded on the electronic device of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting value set to the home server of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation record data for 4 weeks accumulate | stored in the home server of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data of the point and judgment value about the operation record data accumulate | stored in the home server of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the notification object operation | movement data which the home server of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention has. It is a figure which shows an example of the notification operation | movement list | wrist which the home server of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention has. It is a figure which shows an example of the mail transmitted from the home server used with the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the mail returned from the portable terminal used with the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process which accumulate | stores the operation record data of the electronic device of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention in a home server. It is a flowchart which shows the process which determines the notification object operation | movement of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows a process until it calls a rice cooking reservation notification process at the setting time of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the rice cooking reservation notification process of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the notification mail preparation process of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the received mail analysis process of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the automatic operation | movement execution process of the rice cooker of the remote management system of the electronic device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Home server, 12 ... Database, 13 ... Rice cooker, 14 ... Electric kettle, 15 ... Washing machine, 16 ... Recording equipment, 17 ... Home network, 18 ... Internet, 19 ... Mobile phone, 21 ... Acquisition software (acquisition means) ), 22 ... Accumulation software (accumulation means), 23 ... Estimation software (estimation means), 24 ... Mail transmission software (mail transmission means), 25 ... Mail reception software (mail reception means), 26 ... Analysis notification software (analysis notification) Means), 27 ... electronic device control software (electronic device control means), 31 ... operation recording software, 32 ... operation recording transmission software, 33 ... operation execution software, 34 ... automatic operation reception software, 35 ... recording area.

Claims (3)

An acquisition means for acquiring operation information of the electronic device;
Storage means for storing the operation information acquired by the acquisition means in a database;
Estimate automatic control of the electronic device based on the operation information stored in the database, and notify the user of the estimated automatic control information when the estimated automatic control information is not set in the electronic device Guessing means to
Analyzing information returned from the user for the notification by the estimating means, and based on the analysis result, analyzing notification means for detecting automatic control of the electronic device designated by the user;
A home server comprising: electronic device control means for transmitting the automatic control information to the electronic device based on the automatic control information of the electronic device detected by the analysis notification means. The home server according to claim 1,
The estimation means transmits the estimated automatic control information to the user via an email transmission means as an email with a specific identifier added,
The home server characterized in that the analysis notification means detects information on automatic control designated by the user from the contents of an e-mail returned from the user and received via a mail receiving means.   Receiving information on automatic control of the electronic device from a home server that performs remote management of the electronic device, and specifying the automatic control to instruct the electronic device based on the received information on the automatic control, A mobile terminal that instructs the automatic control to the electronic device by returning to the home server.

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