Information processing methods, programs and machine systems

Abstract

The objective of this invention is to enable the easy application of a second machine (e.g., a camera unit) to various first machines (e.g., storage units). The information processing method of this invention is executed by a machine system 1A, which includes: a first machine 100A; a second machine 3 installed on the first machine 100A, generating status information indicating the usage status of the first machine 100A; and an information processing unit 40, including a computer 980, executing prescribed information processing 406 and 408 based on the generated status information. The information processing method causes the information processing unit 40 to execute: a classification acquisition process 402, which acquires classification information DC of the first machine 100A; and a processing status setting process 404, which sets the processing status of the prescribed information processing 406, 408, and 508 based on the classification information DC.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to an information processing method, program, and machine system. Prior Technology

[0002] As background technology in this field, the invention abstract of Patent Document 1 below states that "the object of the present invention is to easily obtain address information or device-related information for obtaining control programs of devices such as printers. The device system 10 of the present invention determines the access target for obtaining device control means of control device 40 based on the attribute information of the mobile communication terminal 20, according to a request from a mobile communication terminal 20 connected to the network 35."

[0003] The invention abstract of Patent Document 2 below states that "the object of the present invention is to appropriately obtain images of items stored in a storage room. The present invention includes in the storage room: a rotating door that includes a cabinet door storage compartment; a drawer door that allows the container to move back and forth; and a camera unit that captures images of the aforementioned cabinet door storage compartment and / or the aforementioned container; and the aforementioned camera unit includes: an image sensor 314; a first lens 318 used when capturing images of the area including the aforementioned cabinet door storage compartment; a second lens 362 used when capturing images of the area including the aforementioned container; and a lens removal / removal unit 350 that disengages the aforementioned first lens 318 and / or the aforementioned second lens 362 from the optical axis LA incident on the aforementioned image sensor 314."

[0004] [Previous Technical Documents] [Patent Literature] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-135040 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2024-040654 Summary of the Invention

[0005] [The problem the invention aims to solve] However, Patent Document 2 does not specifically mention the point that the second machine (e.g., a camera unit) can be easily applied to various first machines (e.g., storage units).

[0006] [Technical means to solve the problem] To solve the above problems, the information processing method of the present invention is characterized by being executed by a machine system, the machine system comprising: a first machine; a second machine installed on the first machine, generating status information indicating the usage status of the first machine; and an information processing unit comprising a computer, performing prescribed information processing based on the generation of the aforementioned status information; the information processing method causes the aforementioned information processing unit to perform: a classification acquisition process, which acquires the classification information of the first machine; and a processing status setting process, which sets the processing status of the prescribed information processing based on the aforementioned classification information. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0007] Figure 1 is a front view of the refrigerator system in the first embodiment. Figure 2 is a side view of the refrigerator system. Figure 3 is a front view of the refrigerator system with the left and right refrigerator compartment doors open. Figure 4 is a top view of the refrigerator system with the left and right refrigerator compartment doors open. Figure 5 is a perspective view of the camera unit from a slightly downward angle. Figure 6 is a system configuration diagram of the refrigerator system. Figure 7 shows an example of photographic image data and processed image data. Figure 8 is a front view of another refrigerator system. Figure 9 shows another example of photographic image data. Figure 10 shows a block diagram of a computer. Figure 11 is a system configuration diagram of the refrigerator system in the second embodiment. Implementation

[0008] [First Implementation Form] <The Composition of the First Implementation Form> Figure 1 is a front view of the refrigerator system 1A of the first embodiment. The refrigerator system 1A (machine system) includes a refrigerator 100A (first machine) and a camera unit 3 (second machine). Refrigerator 100A is a machine for refrigerating food, etc. In addition to the cabinet 101, it is equipped with various doors such as refrigerator doors 211 and 212. The cabinet 101 has a plurality of storage compartments inside. In the example of Figure 1, the storage compartments of refrigerator 100A are arranged sequentially from top to bottom as refrigerator compartment 121, ice maker 122 arranged from left to right, upper freezer compartment 123, vegetable compartment 124, and lower freezer compartment 125.

[0009] The cabinet 101 is constructed by filling the space between a steel outer casing 111 and a resin inner casing (not shown) with an insulating material (not shown) such as foamed urethane. A plurality of openings 110 corresponding to each compartment are provided on the front side (front side) of the cabinet 101 (see Figures 2 and 4). For example, when food or other items are placed into the refrigerator compartment 121 through the opening 110, the refrigerator compartment doors 211 and 212 are opened. When the refrigerator compartment doors 211 and 212 are closed, the openings 110 of the refrigerator compartment 121 are sealed. Thus, the refrigerator compartment doors 211 and 212 function to cover the openings 110 of the cabinet 101. The same applies to the drawer doors, which will be described later.

[0010] Refrigerator 100A has left and right refrigerator doors 211 and 212, which together with the cabinet 101 form the refrigerator compartment 121 as double doors. The left refrigerator door 211 (left door) can rotate about the axis of the hinge 211a at the left end (see Figure 4). The same applies to the right refrigerator door 212 (right door). In addition, refrigerator 100A has an ice maker drawer door 221, an upper freezer drawer door 231, a vegetable compartment drawer door 241, and a lower freezer drawer door 251 to cover the openings 110 of the ice maker compartment 122, the upper freezer compartment 123, the vegetable compartment 124, and the lower freezer compartment 125. Hereinafter, these will sometimes be referred to as "drawer doors 221, 231, 241, and 251".

[0011] The refrigerator compartment 121 is provided with a plurality of shelves 213 that divide the refrigerator compartment 121 according to a certain specification (see Figure 3). On the inside of the refrigerator compartment door 211 on the left side, a plurality of cabinet door storage compartments 211c for storing food and the like are provided (see Figure 3) (the same applies to the refrigerator compartment door 212 on the right side). The ice maker compartment 122 is provided with an ice maker container 223 that is pulled out integrally with the ice maker compartment drawer door 221. Similarly, an upper freezer container 233 is provided in the upper freezer compartment 123, a vegetable compartment container 243 is provided in the vegetable compartment 124, and a lower freezer container 253 is provided in the lower freezer compartment 125.

[0012] Furthermore, although not shown in the figure, the refrigerator 100A includes a compressor, a radiator (condenser), a capillary tube (throttling mechanism), and an evaporator. The refrigerant circulates sequentially through the compressor, radiator, capillary tube, and evaporator, exchanging heat with the refrigerant flowing in the evaporator to cool the air in the storage compartment. The camera unit 3 shown in Figure 1, which is installed on the upper surface of the refrigerator body 101, is used to photograph the storage compartment of the refrigerator 100A.

[0013] Figure 2 is a side view of refrigerator system 1A. As shown in Figure 2, the camera unit 3 includes a main body 31 and a support 32. The main body 31 has functions such as a shooting and storage compartment. The support 32 supports the main body 31 and is provided on the upper surface of the housing 101.

[0014] An optical unit 300 is provided near the front end of the main body 31. The optical unit 300 includes optical elements such as lenses that refract and focus light. Such an optical unit 300 includes, for example, a fisheye lens. Moreover, when the refrigerator doors 211 and 212 (see Figure 1) are opened, the optical unit 300 is in a downward-facing state so that the camera unit 3 can photograph the refrigerator 121 (see Figure 1).

[0015] As shown in Figure 2, the optical unit 300 is located forward of the front end of the housing 101 (the opening 110 of the housing 101). More preferably, the optical unit 300 is located further forward of the front of the refrigerator doors 211 and 212 (see Figure 1) when they are closed. This allows the refrigerator compartment 121 to easily fall into the field of view of the optical unit 300, for example, when the refrigerator doors 211 and 212 are opened. Furthermore, the camera unit 3 can also photograph the vegetable compartment 124 (see Figure 1) when the drawer doors, such as the vegetable compartment drawer door 241, are open. Thus, the optical unit 300 is positioned at a location that allows a top-down view of each storage compartment.

[0016] Figure 3 is a front view of the refrigerator system 1A with the left and right refrigerator compartment doors 211 and 212 of the refrigerator 100A open. As described above, multiple cabinet storage compartments 211c and 212c for storing food are provided on the inner panels 211b and 212b of the left and right refrigerator doors 211 and 212. Moreover, when the left and right refrigerator doors 211 and 212 are opened, the food in the refrigerator 121 and the cabinet storage compartments 211c and 212c falls into the field of view of the optical unit 300 of the camera unit 3 from above.

[0017] The rotating partition 211d shown in Figure 3 is a partition used to suppress cold air leakage from the gap between the refrigerator doors 211 and 212. In the example of Figure 3, the rotating partition 211d is provided at the end opposite to the axis of the hinge 211a (see Figure 4) in the left refrigerator door 211, and rotates as required with the opening and closing of the refrigerator door 211.

[0018] Furthermore, when manually photographing the refrigerator compartment 121 using camera unit 3, one camera button 7 is provided on each of the left and right refrigerator compartment doors 211 and 212, pressed by the user. In the example of Figure 3, the camera button 7 is provided on the lower part of the side of the refrigerator compartment door 211 (door) opposite to the hinge 211a (see Figure 4) (the same applies to the right refrigerator compartment door 212). From another perspective, the camera button 7 is provided on the side of the refrigerator compartment doors 211 and 212 facing each other when they are closed (see Figure 1), near the rotating divider 211d in Figure 3. Additionally, the camera button 7 is also provided near the upper end of drawer doors 221, 231, 241, and 251.

[0019] Taking a photograph when at least one of the plurality of photographing buttons 7 is pressed by the user is called "manual photographing". Taking a photograph by the control unit 80 (see Figure 6) based on the opening and closing states of the refrigerator doors 211, 212 and drawer doors 221, 231, 241, 251 is called "automatic photographing". "Automatic photographing" is preferably performed after a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous photographing (automatic or manual photographing) was completed.

[0020] Figure 4 is a top view of the refrigerator system 1A with the left and right refrigerator compartment doors 211 and 212 of the refrigerator 100A open. In the example of Figure 4, the main body 31 of the camera unit 3 is arranged at several points on the left side of the body 101 of the refrigerator 100A, closer to the center. To explain in more detail, the main body 31 of the camera unit 3 is arranged directly above the seam of the refrigerator doors 211 and 212 when they are closed (see also Figure 1). By arranging the main body 31 in this way, when the refrigerator doors 211 and 212 are open, for example, the food in the cabinet door storage compartments 211c and 212c can easily fall into the field of view of the camera unit 3.

[0021] Furthermore, when using the refrigerator 100A, most users will be aware of the seam (boundary) between the refrigerator doors 211 and 212. Therefore, by placing the main body 31 directly above the seam between the refrigerator doors 211 and 212, and considering that the position of the main body 31 is offset from the seam in the left and right directions, the user's discomfort can be suppressed.

[0022] Figure 5 is a perspective view of camera unit 3 viewed from a slightly downward angle. The camera unit 3 shown in Figure 5, in addition to the aforementioned optical unit 300 (also refer to Figure 2), includes a lens switching unit 350, a housing 31b, and a camera LED 304 (Light Emitting Diode). In the example of Figure 5, the housing 31b of the body unit 31 is generally a long and narrow cuboid. A circular hole (not shown) is provided on the lower surface near the front end of the housing 31b, through which the optical unit 300 is exposed. Furthermore, the lens switching unit 350 is provided on the rear side (deep side) of the optical unit 300, and the camera LED 304 is further provided on its rear side (deep side). In addition, the lens switching unit 350 is used to switch the magnification of the optical unit 300, etc.

[0023] The camera LED 304 is a light source that illuminates the refrigerator compartment 121, etc., so that the camera unit 3 can photograph the refrigerator compartment 121 (see Figure 3) and the cabinet door storage compartments 211c and 212c (see Figure 3) under appropriate brightness. Furthermore, the camera LED 304 (illumination unit) is located on the outside of the refrigerator body 101 (see Figure 2). In this embodiment, when the camera LED 304 is illuminated, the camera unit 3 photographs the refrigerator compartment 121, etc. (see Figure 3).

[0024] As shown in Figure 5, by placing the optical unit 300 in front of the camera LED 304, reflected light from the refrigerator compartment 121 (see Figure 3) can easily enter the optical unit 300 when the refrigerator compartment doors 211, 212, etc., are open. Therefore, food stored in the refrigerator compartment 121, etc., can be photographed appropriately. Furthermore, it is preferable that the camera LED 304 is located further forward than the front end of the refrigerator body 101 (see Figure 2) (the opening 110 of the body 101). This allows light from the camera LED 304 to easily enter the refrigerator compartment 121, etc., and even makes it easier to obtain clear photographic results.

[0025] Figure 6 is a system configuration diagram of refrigerator system 1A. As shown in Figure 6, the refrigerator system 1A includes: a refrigerator 100A, a camera unit 3, and a server 50 (information processing unit). Furthermore, the refrigerator 100A includes a camera button 7, a control unit 80, and a communication circuit unit 90. The camera button 7 (also refer to Figure 3) is a button pressed by the user when manually taking photos using the camera unit 3, as described above. In addition to performing the aforementioned "automatic photography," the control unit 80 also performs "manual photography" when the camera button 7 is pressed.

[0026] As described above, camera unit 3 includes an optical unit 300, a camera LED 304, and a lens switching unit 350. Furthermore, camera unit 3 includes a camera control unit 40 (information processing unit), a communication circuit unit 340, a photography unit 302, and a wireless LAN unit 306. The photography unit 302 captures images of the refrigerator 100A incident through the optical unit 300 and outputs the photographic results as photographic image data GS (status information). The communication circuit unit 340 receives operation information from the photography button 7 and classification information DC (details described later) from the control unit 80 of the refrigerator 100A via the communication circuit unit 90. Additionally, camera control unit 40 includes: a classification acquisition unit 402 (classification acquisition mechanism, classification acquisition process), a processing status setting unit 404 (processing status setting mechanism, processing status setting process), a door opening angle detection unit 406 (prescribed information processing, status detection processing), a processing unit 408 (prescribed information processing, processing processing), and an exposure adjustment unit 410 (exposure adjustment process).

[0027] The wireless LAN unit 306 sends the processed image data GM (details described later) output from the camera control unit 40 to the router 51. The router 51, acting as a communication relay, sends the processed image data GM received from the wireless LAN unit 306 to the server 53 via the network 52. The server 53 establishes a correspondence between the processed image data GM and the identification information of the refrigerator 100A and saves it. Furthermore, when the server 53 receives a request signal from the user's mobile terminal 54 for an image of the refrigerator 100A, it sends the processed image data GM to the mobile terminal 54. Such a mobile terminal 54 can be a mobile phone or smartphone, or a tablet or wearable device.

[0028] The classification acquisition unit 402 obtains classification information DC by communicating with the refrigerator 100A. Here, classification information DC indicates the dimensions of the cabinet 101 (see Figure 1), the dimensions of the refrigerator doors 211 and 212, and the dimensions of various parts of the refrigerator 100A. However, classification information DC may only indicate the model of the refrigerator 100A, and the classification acquisition unit 402 can specify the dimensions of various parts of the refrigerator 100A based on the model.

[0029] The processing unit 408 obtains processed image data GM by processing the photographic image data GS (see Figure 7) output from the photography unit 302. The door opening angle detection unit 406 detects the door opening angles of the refrigerator compartment doors 211 and 212 based on the photographic image data GS. Furthermore, when the detected door opening angle is above a predetermined value (e.g., above 80°), the processing unit 408 outputs a command to obtain the processed image data GM.

[0030] The processing status setting unit 404 determines various operating parameters based on the classification information DC obtained by the classification acquisition unit 402. These operating parameters determine the processing status of the door opening angle detection unit 406 and the processing unit 408.

[0031] The exposure adjustment unit 410 adjusts the exposure of the photography unit 302 to make the photographic image data GS sufficiently sharp in the effective area of ​​the photographic image data GS, that is, in the area related to the processed image data GM.

[0032] Figure 7 shows an example of photographic image data GS and processed image data GM (GS1, GM1). Furthermore, in the photographic image data GS1 of Figure 7, the left and right sides are reversed compared to Figure 3, with the top of the paper as the front and the bottom of the paper as the back. The photographic image data GS1 was taken with all drawer doors 221, 231, 241, and 251 (refer to Figure 1) in the closed state, and the left and right refrigerator doors 211 and 212 in the open state.

[0033] Therefore, in the photographic image data GS1 shown in the figure, in addition to the refrigerator compartment 21, the cabinet storage compartment 211c of the refrigerator door 211 on the left and the cabinet storage compartment 212c of the refrigerator door 212 on the right are also photographed.

[0034] By using a fisheye lens as the base lens 318 of the optical unit 300 (see Figure 7), the refrigerator 100A can be photographed within a wide field of view. However, in the photographic image data GS1 without image processing, as shown in Figure 7, in addition to the bending of the actually straight edges, even edges of the same length appear to move further away from the camera unit 3, resulting in a decrease in the number of pixels in the photographic image.

[0035] Furthermore, the processed image data GM1 is one example of the image processing result of the photographic image data GS1 performed by the processing unit 408. The processed image data GM1 is an image that resembles a frontal view of the refrigerator compartment 21 and the left and right refrigerator doors 211 and 212. By displaying such processed image data GM1 on the mobile terminal 54 (see Figure 6), the user can immediately grasp what kind of food is stored in the refrigerator compartment 21, etc.

[0036] Figure 8 is a front view of another refrigerator system 1B. The refrigerator system 1B (machine system) includes a refrigerator 100B (first machine) and a camera unit 3. Compared with the refrigerator 100A shown in Figure 1, the refrigerator 100B is wider in the left-right direction. Apart from this, the refrigerator 100B is constructed in the same way as the refrigerator 100A.

[0037] Figure 9 shows another example of photographic image data GS. Figure 9 shows photographic image data GS10A and GS10B, which are examples of photographic image data GS obtained in refrigerator systems 1A and 1B with the refrigerator compartment doors 211 and 212 opened to 90°. The refrigerator compartment corresponding areas 22A and 22B in photographic image data GS10A and GS10B are the areas corresponding to the refrigerator compartment 21 in the processed image data GM (refer to Figure 7).

[0038] Furthermore, the rotation center corresponding areas 24A and 24B correspond to the rotation centers of the refrigerator doors 211 and 212 (see Figure 1). Also, the reference door widths 26A and 26B correspond to the sum of the widths of the refrigerator doors 211 and 212 in the left and right directions. These refrigerator door corresponding areas 22A and 22B, rotation center corresponding areas 24A and 24B, and reference door widths 26A and 26B are included in the operation parameters determined by the processing state setting unit 404 (see Figure 6).

[0039] Furthermore, the photographic image data GS10A and GS10B shown in Figure 9 were obtained under the condition that the camera unit 3 was installed in an ideal position (reference position) for the refrigerators 100A and 100B. However, when the user installs the camera unit 3 in the refrigerators 100A and 100B, the installation position sometimes deviates from the reference position. When the camera unit 3 deviates from the reference position, the rotation center corresponding areas 24A and 24B also deviate from the position shown in the figure. In this case, the processing state setting unit 404 corrects the position and shape of the refrigerator compartment corresponding areas 22A and 22B, etc., based on the difference between the reference position (the position shown in Figure 9) of the rotation center corresponding areas 24A and 24B and the rotation center corresponding areas 24A and 24B that actually appear in the photographic image data GS.

[0040] Figure 10 is a block diagram of computer 980. The control unit 80, camera control unit 40, server 50 and mobile terminal 54 shown in Figure 6 each have one or more computers 980 as shown in Figure 10. In Figure 10, the computer 980 includes a CPU 981, a memory unit 982, a communication port 983, an input / output port 984, and a media port 985. Here, the memory unit 982 includes RAM 982a, ROM 982b, and an SSD (Solid State Drive) 982c. The communication port 983 is connected to the communication circuit 986. The input / output port 984 is connected to the input / output device 987. The media port 985 reads and writes data from the recording media 988.

[0041] The ROM 982b stores the IPL (Initial Program Loader) executed by the CPU. The SSD 982c stores the control program and various data. The CPU 981 implements various functions by executing the control program read from the SSD 982c into the RAM 982a. The internal structure of the camera control unit 40 shown in Figure 6 above mainly displays the functions implemented by the control program using blocks.

[0042] [Second Implementation] Figure 11 is a system configuration diagram of the refrigerator system 2A according to the second embodiment. In addition, in the description of the second embodiment, sometimes the parts corresponding to the parts of the first embodiment described above are marked with the same symbols, and their descriptions are omitted. The refrigerator system 2A (machine system) is similar to the refrigerator system 1A in the first embodiment (see Figure 6), including a refrigerator 100A, a camera unit 3, and a server 50. Furthermore, the camera control unit 40 includes a door opening angle detection unit 406 and an exposure adjustment unit 410.

[0043] Furthermore, the server 50 of this embodiment includes a classification acquisition unit 502, a processing status setting unit 504, and a processing unit 508. The functions of these elements of the server 50 are the same as those of the classification acquisition unit 402, the processing status setting unit 404, and the processing unit 408 of the refrigerator system 1A of the first embodiment (see Figure 6).

[0044] That is, in this embodiment, a portion of the functions of the camera control unit 40 in the refrigerator system 1A can be moved to the server 50. In this embodiment, the camera control unit 40 of the camera unit 3 transmits the acquired classification information DC and photographic image data GS to the server 50 via the wireless LAN unit 306. Furthermore, in the server 50, the processing unit 508 generates processed image data GM and sends it to the mobile terminal 54.

[0045] The configuration and operation of the second embodiment, other than those described above, are the same as those of the first embodiment. Thus, by moving a portion of the functions of the camera control unit 40 in the first embodiment to the server 50, the processing power required for the camera unit 3 can be reduced, and the camera unit 3 can be configured at a lower cost.

[0046] [Example of variation] This invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various variations are possible. The embodiments described above are illustrative for ease of understanding and are not necessarily limited to having all the described components. Furthermore, a portion of the components of one embodiment can be replaced with the components of another embodiment, and components of another embodiment can be added to the components of one embodiment. Also, a portion of the components of each embodiment can be removed, added to, or replaced with other components. Furthermore, the control lines and information lines shown in the figures represent those deemed necessary for the description, and are not limited to representing all control lines and information lines required in the product. It can be considered that almost all components are interconnected. Variations possible with respect to the above embodiments include, for example, the following.

[0047] (1) In each of the above embodiments, the communication circuit section 90 of refrigerators 100A and 100B (see Figure 6) and the communication circuit section 340 of camera unit 3 can be wired or wireless.

[0048] (2) In each of the above embodiments, the communication circuit unit 90 (see Figure 6) of refrigerators 100A and 100B transmits classification information DC to camera unit 3. However, it is possible to obtain classification information DC from refrigerators 100A and 100B without communicating with the communication circuit unit 90. For example, the nameplate or instruction manual of refrigerators 100A and 100B can be photographed by camera unit 3, and the model number of refrigerators 100A and 100B can be obtained by performing text recognition on the photographed image.

[0049] (3) In the above embodiments, refrigerators 100A and 100B are used as examples of the first machine. However, the first machine is not limited to refrigerators. It can be any kind of storage room or a machine other than a storage room. In addition to insulated storage rooms or constant temperature and humidity storage rooms, storage rooms also include those without temperature or humidity control functions.

[0050] (4) Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the example of using camera unit 3 as the second machine is described, but the first machine and the second machine can be various other machines.

[0051] (5) Since the hardware of the camera control unit 40, server 50 and other components in the above embodiments can be implemented by a general computer, the programs that execute the above processing can be stored in a memory medium (a recording medium that can be read by a computer with the program) or distributed via a transmission path.

[0052] (6) The various processes described above are described as software processes of the application program in the above embodiments, but they can be partially or completely replaced by hardware processes such as ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0053] [Effects of Implementation] According to the embodiments described above, the information processing unit (40, 50) performs: a classification acquisition process (402), which acquires the classification information DC of the first machine (100A, 100B); and a processing mode setting process (404), which sets the processing mode (action parameters) of the specified information processing (406, 408, 508) based on the classification information DC. In this way, the photographic device (3) can be easily applied to various first machines (100A, 100B).

[0054] Furthermore, the information processing (406, 408) is preferably specified to include status detection processing (406) that includes status detection of the first machines (100A, 100B). In this way, status detection can be performed on various first machines (100A, 100B).

[0055] Furthermore, the information processing (406, 408, 508) is preferably processing that includes processing status information (GS) (408, 508). In this way, processing (408, 508) can be performed in conjunction with various first machines (100A, 100B).

[0056] Furthermore, since the status information (GS) includes image information captured by the first camera (100A, 100B), the information processing unit (40) preferably performs an exposure adjustment process (410) based on the classification information D to adjust the exposure of the image information. In this way, appropriate exposure adjustments can be made corresponding to various first cameras (100A, 100B).

[0057] 1A, 1B, 2A: Refrigeration system (machine system) 3: Camera Unit (Second Machine / Photographic Device) 7: Photographic Device 21: Refrigerator 22A, 22B: Corresponding areas for the refrigerator compartment 24A, 24B: Areas corresponding to the center of rotation 26A, 26B: Base door width 31: Ontology part 31b: Outer shell 32: Support Department 40: Camera Control Department (Information Processing Department) 50: Server (Information Processing Department) 51: Router 52: Internet 54: Mobile Terminal 80: Control Department 90: Communication Circuits Department 100A, 100B: Refrigerator (Machine 1) 101: Box 110: Opening 111:Outer box 121: Refrigerator 122: Ice Making Room 123: Upper freezer compartment 124: Vegetable Room 125: Lower freezer compartment 211, 212: Refrigerator door 211a: Hinges 211b, 212b: Inner panel 211c, 212c: Cabinet door storage compartments 211d: Rotating separator 213: Shelf 221: Ice maker drawer door / drawer door 223: Ice maker container 231: Upper freezer compartment drawer door / drawer door 233: Upper freezer compartment container 241: Vegetable compartment drawer door / drawer door 243: Vegetable storage container 251: Lower freezer compartment drawer door / drawer door 253: Lower section freezer container 300: Optical Unit 302: Photography Department 304: Camera LED 306: Wireless LAN Unit 340: Communication Circuits Department 350: Lens switching section 402, 502: Classification Acquisition Department (Classification Acquisition Organization, Classification Acquisition Process) 404, 504: Processing status setting unit (processing status setting mechanism, processing status setting process) 406: Door Opening Angle Detection Department (Specified Information Processing, Status Detection Processing) 408, 508: Processing Department (Specified Information Processing, Processing) 410: Exposure Adjustment Department (Exposure Adjustment Process) 980: Computer 981: CPU 982: Memory Department 982a:RAM 982b:ROM 982c:SSD 983: Communication Port 984: Output Port 985: Media Port 986: Communication Circuit 987: Input / Output Device 988: Recording Media DC: Classifieds GM, GM1: Processing image data GS: Photographic Image Data (Status Information) GS1, GS10A, GS10B: Photographic Image Data

Claims

1. An information processing method, characterized in that it is executed by a machine system comprising: a first machine; a camera unit, which serves as a second machine and is installed on the first machine, generating status information indicating the usage status of the first machine; and an information processing unit comprising a computer, performing predetermined information processing based on the generation of the aforementioned status information; the information processing method causing the information processing unit to perform: a classification acquisition process, which acquires classification information of the first machine; and a processing mode setting process, which sets a processing mode of the predetermined information processing based on the aforementioned classification information; and the aforementioned status information includes image information captured by the first machine; the predetermined information processing includes: status detection processing or processing based on the aforementioned processing mode setting process and the aforementioned image information, wherein the status detection processing performs door opening angle detection processing as a status detection of the first machine, and the processing processing performs processing of the aforementioned image information.

2. The information processing method as described in Request 1, wherein the aforementioned classification information includes information about the size or model of the aforementioned first machine.

3. The information processing method of claim 1, wherein the aforementioned information processing unit further performs an exposure adjustment process for adjusting the exposure of the aforementioned image information based on the aforementioned classification information.

4. A program applied to a machine system comprising: a first machine; a camera unit, which serves as a second machine and is mounted on the first machine, generating status information indicating the usage status of the first machine; and an information processing unit comprising a computer, performing prescribed information processing based on the generation of the aforementioned status information; wherein the aforementioned status information includes image information captured by the first machine; the aforementioned prescribed information processing includes: status detection processing or processing based on the aforementioned processing mode setting process and the aforementioned image information, wherein the status detection processing performs door opening angle detection processing as a status detection of the first machine, and the processing processing performs processing of the aforementioned image information; the program is used to enable the aforementioned computer to function as: a classification acquisition mechanism that acquires classification information of the first machine; and a processing mode setting mechanism that sets the processing mode of the aforementioned prescribed information processing based on the aforementioned classification information.

5. A machine system, characterized in that it comprises: a first machine; a camera unit, which serves as a second machine and is installed on the first machine to generate status information indicating the usage status of the first machine; and an information processing unit comprising a computer that performs predetermined information processing based on the generation of the aforementioned status information; wherein the aforementioned information processing unit comprises: a classification acquisition unit that acquires classification information of the first machine; and a processing mode setting unit that sets a processing mode for the predetermined information processing based on the aforementioned classification information; wherein the aforementioned status information includes image information captured by the first machine; and the aforementioned predetermined information processing comprises: status detection processing or processing based on the aforementioned processing mode setting process and the aforementioned image information, wherein the status detection processing performs door opening angle detection processing as a status detection of the first machine, and the processing performs processing of the aforementioned image information.

Images