Repellent device

Abstract

To keep repellent effects against pests.SOLUTION: A repellent device 100 for repelling pests, includes a storage part 30 for storing a plurality of sound sources, a control part 40 for controlling reproduction of the plurality of sound sources, and a sound production part 50 for outputting a sound source being reproduced. The control part 40 changes reproduction order of the plurality of sound sources, each time the reproduction of the plurality of sound source is started.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a repellent device.

Background Art

[0002] To prevent crop damage and personal injury caused by pests such as wild boars and birds, repellent devices using sound and light are known. For example, the pest intimidating device described in Patent Document 1 is a device that repels crows by sound, and includes a voice storage means for storing voices and a voice playback means for playing back the voices.

[0003] The voices stored in the voice storage means are a plurality of types of voices emitted when crows take evasive actions, including an artificial voice that attracts the attention of crows, a warning voice emitted when crows are alert, a threatening voice emitted when crows intimidate other animals, an escape voice emitted when crows escape from a dangerous place, and a fighting voice emitted when crows fight.

[0004] The voice playback means is a means for playing back a plurality of voices stored in the voice storage means in accordance with the evasive actions of crows. For example, when crows perform an evasive action of escaping from hawks or the like, they emit a warning cry to let their companions know that they have discovered a hawk, and then, when intimidating a hawk, they emit a threatening cry. Also, when fighting with a hawk, they emit a fighting cry. And finally, when escaping, they emit an escape voice. The voice playback means plays back the artificial voice first, and then sequentially plays back the warning voice, the threatening voice or the fighting voice, and the escape voice in accordance with such evasive actions of crows.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] The repellent device described in Patent Document 1 above can generate realistic intimidating sounds that are in line with the repellent behavior of crows. However, since this repellent device generates artificial sounds each time it detects a crow, there is a risk that the repellent effect of the sounds output following the artificial sounds will decrease as the crows learn to recognize them.

[0007] In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a repellent device that can maintain a repellent effect against harmful animals. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a repellent device for deterring harmful animals, comprising: a storage unit for storing a plurality of sound sources; a control unit for controlling the playback of the plurality of sound sources; and a sound-emitting unit for outputting the sound sources being played, wherein the control unit changes the playback order of the plurality of sound sources each time playback of the plurality of sound sources is started.

[0009] Furthermore, the plurality of sound sources are characterized in that they have different peak frequency components when output by the sound-generating unit.

[0010] Furthermore, the present invention is characterized by comprising a light-emitting unit that emits light, and the control unit reproducing the plurality of sound sources after emitting the light.

[0011] Furthermore, the control unit is characterized by controlling the emission of light with different emission patterns.

[0012] The control unit is characterized by starting playback of the plurality of sound sources at a predetermined time.

[0013] Furthermore, the sound-producing unit is characterized by being mounted on a drone. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the repellent device of the present invention, the repellent effect against harmful animals can be maintained.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015] [Figure 1] (a) Front view of the repellent device according to an embodiment of the present invention, (b) Side view of the repellent device [Figure 2] (a) Hardware configuration diagram of the repellent device, (b) Functional block diagram of the repellent device [Figure 3] Operation flowchart of the repellent device [Figure 4] (a) Graph showing the frequency characteristics of sound a, (b) Graph showing the frequency characteristics of sound b, (c) Graph showing the frequency characteristics of sound c [Figure 5] (a) Graph showing the frequency characteristics of sound d, (b) Graph showing the frequency characteristics of sound source e [Figure 6] (a) Diagram showing the playback order of sound sources, (b) Diagram showing the playback cycle of sound sources

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, the repellent device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

[0017] [First Embodiment]

[0018] The repellent device 100 of the first embodiment is a device that repels birds and beasts (pest animals) such as birds represented by crows and beasts represented by deer and wild boars. The repellent device 100 is installed, for example, on a pest animal fence provided in an agricultural garden, but is not limited to this location and can be installed at a location where pest animal intrusion should be prevented. As shown in FIG. 1, the repellent device 100 includes a main body unit 110, a light source unit 120, and a solar panel (not shown) that supplies power to a secondary battery in the main body unit 110.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 2, the main body unit 110 includes an illuminance sensor 111, a pyroelectric sensor 112, a microcomputer 113, a speaker 114 that functions as a sound output unit 50, and a secondary battery (not shown). These electronic components are housed in a waterproof housing 115 (FIG. 1), and the housing 115 is installed at a predetermined location via a mounting fitting (not shown) provided on its back surface.

[0020] The illuminance sensor 111 functions as a brightness detection unit 10 that detects the brightness around the repellent device 100, and its output signal is electrically connected to an input terminal of the microcomputer 113. The illuminance sensor 111 is provided in a manner such that its light receiving surface is exposed on the lower surface side of the housing 115.

[0021] The pyroelectric sensor 112 functions as a pest detection unit 20 that detects the presence or absence of pests in the vicinity of the repellent device 100, and its output signal is electrically connected to an input terminal of the microcomputer 113. In the present embodiment, the pyroelectric sensor 112 is provided so as to be exposed on the front surface of the housing 115, and detects the presence or absence of pests on the front side of the repellent device 100.

[0022] The microcomputer 113 controls the speaker 114 and the LED 121 of the light source unit 120 based on the signals input from the illuminance sensor 111 and the pyroelectric sensor 112, and includes a memory 116 that functions as a storage unit 30 for storing programs and a plurality of sound sources, and a CPU 117 that functions as a control unit 40 by executing the programs in the memory 116.

[0023] Returning to Figure 1, a light source unit 120 is provided above the main unit 110. The light source unit 120 is equipped with a plurality of LEDs 121 (Figure 2) that function as light-emitting parts 60. Each of the LEDs 121 emits blue light and is controlled by a microcontroller 113. These plurality of LEDs 121 are arranged in a single row horizontally and housed in a horizontally elongated housing 122 whose front surface is formed by a transparent plate 123. When the plurality of LEDs 121 emit light, the light that passes through the transparent plate 123 is output toward the front side of the repellent device 100.

[0024] The repellent device 100 of this embodiment repels pests by illuminating the LED 121 of the light source unit 120 and emitting sound from the speaker 114 of the main unit 110 when it detects the presence of pests at night. Specifically, the CPU 117 of the microcontroller 113 executes the programs stored in the memory 116 to perform the processes shown in Figure 3.

[0025] As shown in Figure 3, the microcontroller 113 of the main unit 110 performs a brightness check process (s1). The brightness check process (s1) is a process to check the brightness around the repellent device 100. If the output signal of the illuminance sensor 111 indicates that it is bright (No), the brightness check process (s1) is repeatedly performed. On the other hand, if the output signal of the illuminance sensor 111 indicates that it is dark (Yes), the microcontroller 113 performs the first pest detection process (s2).

[0026] The first pest detection process (s2) is a process to check whether or not a pest is present on the front side of the repellent device 100. If the output signal of the pyroelectric sensor 112 does not indicate the presence of a pest (s2: No), the microcontroller 113 repeatedly executes the first pest detection process (s2). On the other hand, if the output signal of the pyroelectric sensor 112 indicates the presence of a pest in the first pest detection process (s2), the microcontroller 113 executes the light emission process (s3).

[0027] The light emission process (s3) is the process of illuminating a plurality of LEDs 121 provided in the light source unit 120. The light emission mode of the LEDs 121 is not particularly limited, but in this embodiment, a plurality of light emission patterns are defined in advance in the program, and the CPU 117 inputs a light emission signal to the plurality of LEDs 121 according to one of the light emission patterns selected from the plurality of light emission patterns. The plurality of light emission patterns include, for example, a light emission pattern in which all LEDs 121 are kept lit at all times, a light emission pattern in which all LEDs 121 are blinked, a light emission pattern in which the LEDs 121 at the ends are lit sequentially, and a light emission pattern in which they blink randomly. After executing the light emission process (s3), the microcontroller 113 executes the sound generation process (s4).

[0028] The sound generation process (s4) is a process that generates sound from a speaker 114 located inside the main unit 110. The CPU 117 extracts multiple sound sources stored in the memory 116 and outputs a sound generation signal based on the extracted sound sources to the speaker 114. By executing this sound generation process (s4), the speaker 114 outputs a sound corresponding to the sound source.

[0029] When the microcontroller 113 executes the sound-generating process (s4), it executes the second pest detection process (s5). This second pest detection process (s5) is the same as the first pest detection process (s2) described above. If a pest is detected (s5: Yes), it means that the pest continues to be present around the repellent device 100, so the light emission process (s3) and sound-generating process (s4) are continued to be executed. In this process of continuously executing the sound-generating process (s4), the CPU 117 sequentially extracts multiple sound sources stored in the memory 116 and plays the extracted sound sources. On the other hand, if no pests are detected in the second pest detection process (s5) (sl5: No), it means that the pests have left the vicinity of the repellent device 100, so the microcontroller 113 counts a predetermined number of seconds (s6) and then executes a stop process (s7). After that, the microcontroller 113 executes the brightness confirmation process (s1) described above.

[0030] As explained in the operation flow above, the light emission process (s3) and sound emission process (s4) are repeatedly executed while a pest is detected. In the sound emission process (s4), multiple sounds with different characteristics are sequentially played, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, sound sources A to E corresponding to sounds a to e with different frequency characteristics are stored in memory 116 in advance.

[0031] The sound 'a' output from speaker 114 has peak frequencies of 1.2kHz, 4kHz, and 8kHz. The sound b output from speaker 114 has peak frequencies of 1.9 kHz and 4.5 kHz. The sound c output from speaker 114 has peak frequencies of 1.1kHz, 1.9kHz, 3kHz, and 7.5kHz. The sound d output from speaker 114 has peak frequencies of 650 Hz and 2 kHz. The sound e output from speaker 114 has peak frequencies of 1.1 kHz and 3.5 kHz. Thus, the sounds a through e output based on sound sources A through E have multiple peak frequencies that are different from each other.

[0032] During the repeated execution of the sound generation process (s4), sound sources A through E are generated (output) in the order shown in Figure 6(a). Specifically, when a pest is detected for the first time (first playback), sound sources A, B, C, D, D, and E are played in that order. Here, as shown in Figure 6(b), the first to fourth playback sound sources A through D are played at 2-second intervals, and after the playback of sound source D, the fifth playback sound source E is played after a 20-second interval. When a pest is detected at a different time than the above-mentioned pest detection (second playback), the sound sources will be played in the following order: sound source B, sound source C, sound source D, sound source E, and sound source A. Furthermore, when a pest is detected at another time (third playback), the sound sources are played in the following order: sound source C, sound source D, sound source E, sound source A, and sound source B. In this way, each time a pest is detected, the playback order of multiple sound sources (sound source A to sound source E) is advanced.

[0033] According to the repellent device 100 of this embodiment, the playback order of the sound sources is changed each time a pest is detected, making it difficult for the pest to learn the sounds and thus maintaining the repellent effect.

[0034] [Second Embodiment]

[0035] The repellent device according to the second embodiment comprises a drone and a tablet terminal. The drone and the tablet terminal are capable of communication, and the drone flies according to flight commands received from the tablet terminal.

[0036] Specifically, the drone comprises two pairs of propellers, motors to drive each propeller, a camera module, a communication module, and a computer. The computer is electrically connected to the motors, camera module, and communication module, and drives the motors based on flight commands received via the communication module, as well as transmitting images acquired from the camera module to a tablet device via the communication module.

[0037] The tablet terminal of this embodiment has a hardware configuration similar to that of a known tablet terminal. In this embodiment, an application for operating the drone is pre-installed on the tablet terminal. The application generates flight commands based on user input and transmits the generated flight commands to the tablet terminal via the network. It also receives images transmitted from the drone via the network and displays the received images on the display.

[0038] In this embodiment, the drone emits a repellent sound from a speaker mounted on it to deter harmful animals. Specifically, the tablet terminal stores sound sources A to E (multiple sound sources) in its memory (storage unit), similar to those in the first embodiment. When the user performs a sound operation (operation of a sound button, which is a GUI displayed on the tablet terminal), the tablet terminal's CPU extracts a sound source from memory and transmits the extracted sound source to the drone. The drone is equipped with a speaker electrically connected to a computer, and the computer outputs sound from the speaker based on the sound source received from the tablet terminal.

[0039] In this embodiment, when the CPU of the tablet terminal outputs sound based on the first sound output operation, it outputs sound in the order of sound source A, sound source B, sound source C, sound source D, and sound source E, and when it outputs sound based on the second sound output operation, it generates sound in the order of sound source B, sound source C, sound source D, sound source E, and sound source A. In this second embodiment, the CPU of the tablet terminal functions as the control unit, and the memory of the tablet terminal functions as the storage unit. The speaker of the drone functions as the sound output unit.

[0040] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and may also be modified as follows.

[0041] [Example 1] The multiple sound sources are not limited to sound sources A through E described above. For example, other sound sources with different peak frequencies from sound sources A through E may be used. It is preferable that the sound sources have multiple peak frequencies.

[0042] [Differentiation 2] In the above embodiment, there are five sound sources A through E, but the number of sound sources may be five or fewer, or six or more. In this case, a 20-second interval is provided when outputting the sound source that is played last.

[0043] [Difference 3] The playback cycle of the above sound sources is not limited to 2 seconds. Also, the interval set when outputting the last sound source in the playback order is not limited to 20 seconds.

[0044] [Differentiation Example 4] In the first embodiment described above, the CPU 117 advances the playback order of sound source A or sound source B each time it detects a pest and plays the sound source, but it may also advance the playback order of the sound source each time it detects a pest and play the sound source. Alternatively, the CPU 117 may randomly change the playback order of the sound source each time it detects a pest and play the sound source.

[0045] [Difference 5] In the first embodiment described above, a blue LED 121 is used, but the light-emitting color of the LED 121 is not limited to blue and may be any other color.

[0046] [Modification 6] Although the first embodiment described above includes an illuminance sensor 111, the illuminance sensor 111 (brightness detection unit 10) is not an essential component and may be omitted.

[0047] [Difference 7] The first embodiment described above includes a pyroelectric sensor 112 and determines the presence or absence of pests based on the output of the pyroelectric sensor 112, but is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the pest detection unit 20 may consist of an image sensor and a computer that analyzes an image generated based on the output from the image sensor to determine the presence or absence of pests.

[0048] [Differentiation 8] In the first embodiment described above, when a pest is detected based on the output signal of the pyroelectric sensor 112, the light-emitting and sound-emitting processes are performed. However, the invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the microcontroller 113 of the first embodiment may perform the light-emitting and sound-emitting processes at a fixed time. Specifically, the repellent device of the first embodiment is equipped with a real-time clock electrically connected to the microcontroller 113, and the memory 116 of the microcontroller 113 stores the time at which the light-emitting and sound-emitting processes should be performed. The CPU 117 of the microcontroller 113 may perform the light-emitting and sound-emitting processes when the time obtained from the real-time clock has elapsed to the time stored in the memory 116. Furthermore, the time stored in the memory 116 is not limited to one, but may be multiple. In this modified example, the light-emitting and sound-emitting processes are performed by comparing the time obtained from the real-time clock with the time stored in the memory 116, but the invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the repellent device is equipped with a program timer, and the microcontroller is configured to start up based on the time set in the program timer. The microcontroller may perform the light-emitting and sound-emitting processes each time it starts up. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0049] 100 Repellent device 10 Brightness detection unit 20. Pest detection unit 30 Storage section 40 Control Unit 50 Pronunciation Section 60 Light-emitting part

Claims

[Claim 1] A repellent device for repelling harmful animals, Drones and A terminal that transmits flight commands to the drone; Equipped with The terminal includes: A storage unit that stores a plurality of sound sources; A control unit that controls playback of the plurality of sound sources; Equipped with The drone includes a sound output unit that outputs a plurality of sound sources received from the terminal, The control unit changes the playback order of the multiple sound sources and transmits the multiple sound sources with the changed playback order to the drone so that the sound sources are output from the sound generation unit in the changed playback order.

Images