Device, device control method, and program

Abstract

The invention relates to a device, a device control method, and a program. [Problem] When device identifiers are transmitted from a plurality of devices of the same type, communication connection with a desired device becomes easy. [Solution] A device including a display unit that transmits an identifier including any one of a plurality of predetermined images, which is an identifier of the device, causes the display unit to output information indicated by the predetermined image included in the identifier, receives a request for a communication connection based on the identifier from another device, and transmits the received request to the display unit. A communication connection is established for data communication with the other device, and when the communication connection with the other device is established, the display of the information is terminated.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a device, a device control method and a program. Background Art

[0002] For example, there is a technology such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) that communicates between a first machine that sends a device identifier and a second machine that receives the device identifier. In this case, the second machine outputs the received device identifier to a screen and establishes a communication connection with the first machine that sent the device identifier selected by the user. After the communication connection, data is sent and received between the first machine and the second machine. The device identifier is used to select a machine to be connected from a plurality of first machines. Summary of the invention

[0003] Problems to be solved by the invention

[0004] For example, when conducting a course or training, consider a situation where a plurality of first devices of the same type that output device identifiers are arranged in a narrow area and connected one-to-one with a plurality of second devices operated by a user. In such a case, it is difficult to distinguish the device identifiers output from the same first devices, which becomes a burden for the user who selects the device identifiers. For example, it is difficult for a person with low literacy, such as a child, to recognize the device identifier and connect it.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technology for facilitating communication connection with a desired device when device identifiers are transmitted from a plurality of devices of the same type.

[0006] Means for solving problems

[0007] (1) A device comprising: a display unit; an identifier sending unit that sends its own identifier, i.e., an identifier containing any one of a plurality of specified images; a display control unit that causes the display unit to output information shown in the specified image contained in the identifier; and a connection control unit that receives a request for a communication connection based on the identifier from another machine, establishes a communication connection for data communication with the other machine, and when the communication connection with the other machine is established, the display control unit ends the display of the information.

[0008] (2) An apparatus as described in (1), wherein the plurality of prescribed images correspond one-to-one to a plurality of colors, respectively, each of the plurality of prescribed images represents a corresponding color, and the display control unit displays the color indicated by the prescribed image contained in the identifier.

[0009] (3) The device described in (2), wherein the display unit is composed of a light emitting element capable of selectively displaying one color among the plurality of colors.

[0010] (4) An apparatus as described in (2) or (3), wherein the identifier includes one or more specified images corresponding to one or more colors among the plurality of colors, and when the identifier includes two or more of the specified images, the display unit displays the colors shown in the plurality of specified images in sequence.

[0011] (5) The device as described in any one of (2) to (4), further comprising a color selection unit, which selects one or more colors from the multiple colors based on information that uniquely identifies itself, and the identifier sending unit sends an identifier containing one or more specified images corresponding to the selected one or more colors.

[0012] (6) The device as described in any one of (2) to (5), wherein each of the plurality of prescribed images is an emoji having a corresponding color.

[0013] (7) The device according to (1), wherein the plurality of predetermined images are pictograms, and the display control unit displays the pictograms included in the identifier.

[0014] (8) The device described in any one of (1) to (7), further including a button, wherein when a predetermined operation is performed on the button, the display control unit causes the display unit to output information indicated by the predetermined image included in the identifier.

[0015] (9) A device control method, which is a control method for a device including a display unit, sends its own identifier, i.e., an identifier including any one of a plurality of specified images, so that the display unit outputs information shown by the specified image contained in the identifier, receives a request for a communication connection based on the identifier from another machine, establishes a communication connection for data communication with the other machine, and ends the display of the information when the communication connection with the other machine is established.

[0016] (10) A program that causes a computer including a display unit to function as the following units: an identifier sending unit that sends its own identifier, i.e., an identifier including any one of a plurality of specified images; a display control unit that causes the display unit to output information shown in the specified image included in the identifier; and a connection control unit that receives a request for a communication connection based on the identifier from another machine, establishes a communication connection for data communication with the other machine, and when the communication connection with the other machine is established, the display control unit ends the display of the information.

[0017] Effects of the Invention

[0018] According to the present invention, when device identifiers are transmitted from a plurality of devices of the same type, communication connection with a desired device is facilitated. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 This is a diagram showing an example of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 2 This is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing system.

[0021] Figure 3 This is a diagram showing an example of a device viewed from below.

[0022] Figure 4 It is a block diagram showing the functions implemented by the information processing system.

[0023] Figure 5 It is a timing diagram involved in the communication connection between the terminal and the device.

[0024] Figure 6 This is a diagram showing an example of a device list displayed on a terminal.

[0025] Figure 7 This is a flowchart showing an example of processing by a device.

[0026] Figure 8 This is a flowchart showing an example of display processing.

[0027] Fig. 9 This figure explains the color display based on the device.

[0028] Fig.10 This is a flowchart showing an example of a device identifier transmission process and a connection control process.

[0029] Fig.11 This is a diagram showing an example of a device including a display panel.

[0030] Description of Reference Numerals

[0031] 10 terminal; 20 device; 11, 21 processor; 12, 22 storage; 13, 23 communication unit; 14, 27 display panel; 24 camera; 25 motor; 26 light-emitting unit; 222 button; 223 power switch; 254 wheel; 51 identifier generation unit; 52 device information sending unit; 53 display control unit; 54 connection control unit; 55 data processing unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. Among the structural elements that appear, elements having the same functions are given the same reference numerals, and their descriptions are omitted.

[0033] Figure 1 1 is a diagram showing an example of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information processing system according to the present invention includes at least a terminal 10 and a device 20. Figure 1 The figure shows a terminal 10 and a device 20, but in fact there may be multiple terminals 10 and multiple devices 20. The device 20 is a self-propelled mobile body, having a cubic shape, and its corners are chamfered. In addition, multiple protrusions for mounting other toys are provided on the upper surface. The device 20 is smaller than a general smart phone.

[0034] As terminal 10, Figure 1 Although a tablet terminal is shown in the figure, it may be another mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a personal computer.

[0035] Figure 2 The device 20 includes a processor 21 , a storage 22 , a communication unit 23 , a camera 24 , two motors 25 , and a light emitting unit 26 . The terminal 10 also includes a processor 11 , a storage 12 , a communication unit 13 , and a display panel 14 .

[0036] The processor 11 operates according to the program stored in the memory 12, and controls the communication unit 13, the display panel 14, etc. The processor 21 operates according to the program stored in the memory 22, and controls the communication unit 23, the camera 24, the motor 25, the light emitting unit 26, etc. The above program can be provided from other computers through communication via the communication unit 23 or 13, or can be provided to other computers by being stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as a flash memory or an optical disk.

[0037] The memory 12, 22 is composed of a DRAM and a nonvolatile memory, etc. The memory 12, 22 stores the above-mentioned program. In addition, the memory 12, 22 stores information input from the processor 11, 21, the communication unit 13, 23, etc., and calculation results.

[0038] The communication unit 13, 23 is composed of an integrated circuit, an antenna, etc. for communicating with other devices. The communication unit 13, 23 has a function of communicating with other devices (such as a computer) according to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) low energy protocol or the wireless LAN protocol. Based on the control of the processor 11, 21, the communication unit 13, 23 inputs the information received from other devices to the processor 11, 21 and the storage 12, 22, and sends the information to the other device. In addition, the communication unit 13, 23 can also communicate with other devices via a wired network.

[0039] The camera 24 is configured to capture the bottom of the device 20 and capture a pattern printed on a sheet on which the device 20 is placed.

[0040] The motor 25 is a so-called servo motor, and its rotation direction, rotation amount, and rotation speed are controlled by the control of the processors 11 and 21 based on the imaged pattern.

[0041] The light emitting unit 26 can selectively emit one color among a plurality of colors based on control by the processor 21 or the like. The light emitting unit 26 is a light emitting element including a light emitting diode, for example. The light emitting unit 26 is a type of display device that displays colors to the user.

[0042] The display panel 14 displays an image based on the control of the processor 11 and the like.

[0043] Figure 3 2 is a diagram showing an example of the device 20 as viewed from below. The device 20 further includes a button 222, a power switch 223, and two wheels 254. A light emitting unit 26 is embedded in the button 222. The button 222 can be pressed, and the button 222 can emit light. A motor 25 is assigned to each of the two wheels 254, and the motor 25 drives the assigned wheel 254.

[0044] Figure 4 2 is a block diagram showing the functions implemented by the information processing system. The information processing system functionally includes: an identifier generation unit 51, a device information transmission unit 52, a display control unit 53, a connection control unit 54, and a data processing unit 55. These functions are mainly implemented on the device 20. These functions are mainly implemented by the processor 21 included in the device 20 executing the program stored in the storage 22 and controlling the communication unit 23 and the light emitting unit 26.

[0045] The identifier generating unit 51 selects one or more colors from a plurality of predetermined colors based on information that uniquely identifies the device 20. Here, the plurality of predetermined colors correspond one to one with a plurality of pictograms (specified images), respectively. In addition, each pictogram includes a corresponding color. The pictogram may be a character defined by the so-called Unicode. The identifier generating unit 51 determines a device identifier including one or more pictograms corresponding to the selected one or more colors.

[0046] The device information sending unit 52 sends its own device identifier, i.e., the device identifier including one or more pictographs among the multiple pictographs. The device information sending unit 52 sends the information of its own device 20 including the device identifier. The device information sending unit 52 can, for example, send Bluetooth Low Energy standard advertisement data or scan response data as the information of the device 20, or send a beacon in the WiFi standard as the information of the device 20.

[0047] The display control unit 53 causes a display unit such as the light emitting unit 26 to display information indicated by the pictogram included in the device identifier (specifically, the color corresponding to the pictogram included in the device identifier). Here, when the device identifier includes two or more pictograms, the display control unit 53 causes the display unit to sequentially display the colors indicated by the two or more pictograms. Furthermore, the display control unit 53 repeatedly causes the display to be displayed in this order. Furthermore, when a communication connection with another device is established, the display control unit 53 ends the display of the information indicated by the pictogram.

[0048] The connection control unit 54 receives a request for a communication connection based on the transmitted device identifier from other devices including the terminal 10 , and establishes a communication connection for data communication with the other devices.

[0049] When the communication connection for data communication is established, the data processing unit 55 transmits and receives data to and from other devices, and based on the transmitted and received data, executes processing to operate the device 20. For example, the data processing unit 55 can control the driving of the device 20 based on the data received from other devices.

[0050] Next, an overview of the operations of the terminal 10 and the device 20 during communication connection will be described. Figure 5 This is a sequence diagram involving the communication connection between the terminal 10 and the device 20. Figure 5The device 10 and the device 20 correspond to the central device and the peripheral device of Bluetooth Low Energy, respectively. In addition, the device identifier including the pictogram representing one or more colors is set in Figure 5 The actions shown are determined before starting, and processing for establishing a communication connection with the device 20 is started in the terminal 10 .

[0051] First, the device information transmitting unit 52 of the device 20 repeatedly transmits notification data to the notification channel. The notification data may include a device identifier. The transmission interval of the notification data may be determined by the device 20.

[0052] The terminal 10 that has started scanning receives the notification data and transmits scan request data that sets the device 20 that has transmitted the notification data as a destination. The scan request data is information that requests detailed information of the device 20.

[0053] The device information transmitting unit 52 of the device 20 that has received the scan request data transmits scan response data with the terminal 10 as the destination. The scan response data includes a device identifier.

[0054] When the terminal 10 receives the scan response data, the device 20 is added to the list of connectable devices 20. The transmission and reception from the transmission of the announcement data to the reception of the scan response are also performed between the other device 20 and the terminal 10.

[0055] If one or more devices 20 are registered in the device list, the processor 11 of the terminal 10 causes the device list to be displayed on the display panel 14 .

[0056] Figure 6 FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a device list displayed on a terminal. Figure 6 In the list shown, one row corresponds to one device 20, and a button for starting a communication connection is displayed on the right side. Figure 6 In the example, the device identifier includes a character string of "Cube-XXX" and 1 to 2 pictograms indicating colors. XXX may also be generated based on information that can uniquely identify the device 20. Figure 6 In the text, the colors in the pictographic characters are represented by patterns, and the correspondence between the patterns and colors is recorded as a legend at the bottom.

[0057] like Figure 6As shown, the device identifier may be a fixed string, a string that can uniquely identify the device 20, and a combination of pictograms. In addition, the device identifier may be a combination of a fixed string and one or more pictograms, or may not include a fixed string.

[0058] On the other hand, if the user presses the button 222, the display control unit 53 of the device 20 causes the light emitting unit 26 to display information (color) indicated by the pictogram included in the device identifier. Then, the user who visually confirms the information (color) identifies the device identifier representing the device 20 from the device identifiers displayed in the device list based on the information. Then, the user inputs an instruction for communication connection to the device 20 of the device identifier by, for example, pressing a connection button in the row of the device identifier.

[0059] If the processor 11 of the terminal 10 obtains the instruction of the communication connection, the communication unit 13 sends a connection request to the instructed device 20, and establishes a communication connection for data communication between the terminal 10 and the device 20. If the communication connection is established, the transmission and reception of data between the terminal 10 and the device 20 begins, and the device 20 operates based on the transmitted and received data.

[0060] Here, the processing of the device 20 is further described in detail. Figure 7 This is a flowchart showing an example of processing by the device 20. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing the generation and Figure 5 A diagram of the processing of device 20 in the sequence shown.

[0061] First, the identifier generating unit 51 determines the display color based on the serial number (S101). The serial number is information that uniquely identifies the device 20 itself, and is stored in, for example, a flash memory in the device 20. Here, there are 7 colors that can be displayed (red, blue, white, orange, yellow, green, and purple), and the identifier generating unit 51 determines 1 or 2 colors from the 7 colors as display colors. The number of combinations of display colors is 28, which is the sum of 7 in the case of 1 color and 7C2=21 in the case of 2 colors. The identifier generating unit 51 can assign numbers from 0 to 27 to the combinations of display colors, and can determine a combination of display colors with the same number as the remainder obtained by dividing the value obtained by digitizing the serial number by 28 as one or more display colors.

[0062] The identifier generation unit 51 generates a device identifier based on the determined display color (S102). More specifically, the identifier generation unit 51 may add a character string of a predetermined number of digits based on a serial number to a fixed character string such as "Cube-", and further generate a character string to which pictograms corresponding to each of the determined one or more display colors are added as a device identifier. The identifier generation unit 51 may also generate a device identifier that does not include at least one of a fixed character string and a character string based on a serial number, but includes pictograms corresponding to each of the determined one or more display colors.

[0063] When the device identifier is generated, the device information transmission unit 52 and the connection control unit 54 start the device identifier transmission process and the connection control process (S103). The device identifier transmission process and the connection control process can be executed in parallel with the processes after S104. The details of these processes will be described later.

[0064] When the device identifier transmission process and the connection control process are started, the display control unit 53 determines whether a predetermined button operation for instructing the start of the output of the display color is performed. The predetermined button operation may be, for example, pressing the button 222 once. The predetermined button operation may also be another operation on the button 222 (for example, long pressing).

[0065] When the prescribed button operation is not performed (No (N) of S104), the determination is repeated. When the prescribed button operation is performed (Yes (Y) of S104), the display control unit 53 starts outputting the display color (S105). The details of the processing of S105 will be described later. The processing of S105 can be performed in parallel with the processing of S106, the transmission processing of the device identifier, and the connection control processing.

[0066] When the output of the display color starts, the display control unit 53 detects whether the communication connection with the terminal 10 has been established (S106). If the communication connection with the terminal 10 has been established (S106 "Yes" (Y)), the display control unit 53 ends the output of the display color (S107). On the other hand, when the communication connection with the terminal 10 has not been established (S106 "No" (N)), this detection is repeated.

[0067] The process of S105 will be described in further detail. Figure 8 201 is a flowchart showing an example of the display process. First, the display control unit 53 acquires one or more display colors determined by the process of the identifier generation unit 51 (S201).

[0068] The display control unit 53 determines whether the number of determined display colors is 2 or more (S202). If the number is 1 (No (N) in S202), the light emitting unit 26 is caused to display the one display color (S203), and the state is maintained. On the other hand, if the number is 2 or more (Yes (Y) in S202), the display control unit 53 executes the processing after S204, which is used to repeatedly display 2 or more display colors in sequence.

[0069] In S204, the display control unit 53 initializes the timer and substitutes 1 into the variable i. Then, the display control unit 53 causes the light emitting unit 26 to display the i-th display color for a standby display period (e.g., 0.5s) (S205). If the standby period ends, the display control unit 53 increases the value of i by 1 (S206). When the value of i is less than the number of display colors ("Yes" (Y) of S207), the processing after S205 is repeated. In addition, when the value of i exceeds the number of display colors ("No" (N) of S208), 1 is substituted into i (S209), and the processing after S205 is repeated. Through S206 and S207, the display colors of the next sequence are displayed, and then through the processing of S208, the display colors are repeatedly displayed in sequence. In addition, this processing ends through S107.

[0070] Fig. 9 This is a diagram for explaining the display by the color of the device 20 . Fig. 9 Shows that the Figure 6 An example of light emission in the device 20 of the device identifier displayed at the top of the device list. First, before the button operation shown in S104 is performed, the light emitting unit 26 of the button 222 outputs a blue flash. Then, if the button operation is performed, the device 20 repeatedly displays red and yellow, which are the colors shown by the multiple pictograms included in the device identifier. The display period of each color is 0.5 seconds.

[0071] The user can recognize that the light emission colors are red and yellow, and can easily Figure 6 The device identifier including the color is found in the device list shown as the device identifier of the device to be connected 20. In particular, even a child who cannot read letters such as letters can easily recognize the color.

[0072] In addition, in this embodiment, since the device 20 can be identified only by display, the display of the light emitting unit 26 can also be started after the device identifier is transmitted. Thus, the display of the color used for identification of the device 20 can be started by button operation. In addition, by operating via buttons, it is easy to use with other purposes. In addition, by using the light emitting unit 26 and the button 222 together, the user can more intuitively understand the relationship between the operation and the display. By ending the display after the communication connection is established, the light emitting unit 26 can also be used with other purposes.

[0073] The device identifier transmission process and the connection control process mentioned in S103 are further described. Fig.10 Flowchart showing an example of the sending process of the device identifier and the connection control process. When these processes start, the device information sending unit 52 sends a notification signal including the device identifier (S301). In addition, when an interval period has passed after the device information sending unit 52 sends the notification signal ("Yes" (Y) in S302), the device information sending unit 52 repeats the process after S301. The interval period is set differently according to the device 20. The interval period can also be determined randomly.

[0074] If the interval period has not passed after the notification signal is sent (No (N) in S302), the device information sending unit 52 determines whether a scan request is received from the device (terminal 10) on the center side (S303). If a scan request is received (Yes (Y) in S303), the device information sending unit 52 sends a scan response including a device identifier (S304), and repeats the processing after S302.

[0075] On the other hand, when no scan request is received ("No" (N) of S303), the connection control unit 54 determines whether a connection request is received from the device (terminal 10) on the center side (S305). When no connection request is received ("No" (N) of S305), the processing after S302 is repeated. On the other hand, when a connection request is received ("Yes" (Y) of S305), the connection control unit 54 establishes a communication connection between the device (terminal 10) on the center side and the device 20 based on the data channel (S306). In addition, the data processing unit 55 starts sending and receiving data based on the data channel with the device (terminal 10) on the center side (S307).

[0076] Fig.10An example of processing in BLE is shown, but it can also be applied to other communication standards such as WiFi. For example, in WiFi, the device 20 is an access point and can send a beacon instead of a notification signal. It is also possible not to receive a scan request and send a scan response. In addition, some authentication processing can also be performed in the communication connection.

[0077] Furthermore, the example in which the light emitting section 26 is mainly used as the display means has been described so far, but a small display panel 27 may be used instead of the light emitting section 26 . Fig.11 2 is a diagram showing an example of a device 20 having a display panel 27. The display panel 27 is arranged at Figure 3 The upper surface of the device 20 is displayed on the display panel 27. In this example, the identifier generating unit 51 determines the pictogram itself displayed on the display panel 27 instead of determining the display color, and generates a device identifier including the code of the pictogram. In addition, the display panel 27 displays the determined pictogram instead of the color of the light emitting unit 26. In addition, the display panel 27 can also display a single color at the same time. The processing in this case is almost the same except that the light emitting unit 26 is replaced by the display panel 27.

Claims

1. A device comprising: Display unit; an identifier sending unit, sending its own identifier, namely, an identifier of any one of a plurality of prescribed images; A display control unit configured to cause the display unit to output information indicated by the predetermined image included in the identifier; and a connection control unit that receives a request for a communication connection based on the identifier from another device and establishes a communication connection for data communication with the other device; The display control unit ends display of the information when the communication connection with the other device is established.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The plurality of prescribed images correspond to a plurality of colors one-to-one, respectively, and each of the plurality of prescribed images represents a corresponding color. The display control unit displays the predetermined image included in the identifier in a color indicated by the predetermined image.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein: The display unit is composed of a light emitting element capable of selectively displaying one color among the plurality of colors.

4. The device of claim 2, wherein: The identifier includes one or more predetermined images corresponding to one or more colors among the plurality of colors, respectively. When the identifier includes two or more of the predetermined images, the display unit sequentially displays colors indicated by the plurality of predetermined images.

5. The device of claim 2, further comprising a color selection unit that selects one or more colors from the plurality of colors based on information that uniquely identifies the color selection unit. The identifier transmitting unit transmits an identifier including one or more predetermined images corresponding to the selected one or more colors.

6. The device of claim 2, wherein: Each of the plurality of prescribed images is an emoji having a corresponding color.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein: The plurality of prescribed images are pictographic characters, The display control unit displays the pictogram included in the identifier.

8. The device of any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising a button, When a predetermined operation is performed on the button, the display control unit causes the display unit to output information indicated by the predetermined image included in the identifier.

9. A device control method, which is a method for controlling a device including a display unit, The identifier of the image itself is transmitted, that is, the identifier of any one of the plurality of specified images. causing the display unit to output information indicated by the predetermined image included in the identifier, receiving a communication connection request based on the identifier from another device, and establishing a communication connection for data communication with the other device, When the communication connection with the other device is established, the display of the information is terminated.

10. A program for causing a computer including a display unit to function as: an identifier sending unit, sending its own identifier, namely, an identifier of any one of a plurality of prescribed images; A display control unit configured to cause the display unit to output information indicated by the predetermined image included in the identifier; and a connection control unit that receives a request for a communication connection based on the identifier from another device and establishes a communication connection for data communication with the other device; The display control unit ends display of the information when the communication connection with the other device is established.

Images