Asset location specifying system

Abstract

To make it possible to more accurately specify a location where an asset is placed according to a system 2 for specifying the location where the asset is placed inside a space based on read identification information by reading the identification information about each of a mono-tag and a location-tag; moving an RFID reader to an arbitrary location inside the space; attaching the location-tag Ts1 - as RFID tag where identification information of each location is recorded to each of a plurality of locations in the space; and attaching the mono-tag Tp1 - as RFID tag where the identification information is recorded to the asset located inside the space 1.SOLUTION: A system of specifying a location where an asset in a space is placed specifies the location where the asset in the space is placed, based on a ratio of detection frequency of a plurality of location-tags read at the location where the asset is placed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for identifying the location where an asset (item) is placed, and more specifically, to a system in which an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag is attached to each asset and to each of several locations in a space where the asset may be placed or stored, and the location where each asset is stored is identified by detecting the RFID tag with an RFID reader, enabling the registration or management of that location information. [Background technology]

[0002] A system has been proposed in which an RFID tag is attached to an asset, which is an item, and information such as the presence or absence of the asset and the storage location is managed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system in which an RFID tag (mono tag) on ​​which item information indicating the item is recorded is attached to the item, RFID tags (place tags) on which information on each place is recorded are placed in several appropriately set places in a space where the item can be placed, and when the mono tag and place tag are read sequentially by an RFID reader, a surrounding area (zone) of a place of one place tag read at a time close to the time of reading one mono tag is specified as an area where the item of the one mono tag is placed, thereby managing the presence or absence of the item and the storage location. According to the configuration of such a system, it is convenient to store and manage the item by simply reading the RFID tag attached to the item and the place with an RFID reader. In addition, various technologies related to specifying a place using an RFID tag are also proposed in Patent Documents 2-5 and the like. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2023-9899 [Patent Document 2] Patent Publication No. 2021-46293 [Patent Document 3] Patent Publication 2009-147683 [Patent Document 4] Patent Publication No. 2018-63178 [Patent Document 5] Special table 2010-537347 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] As in the system described in Patent Document 1, an RFID tag (hereinafter referred to as "tag") for identifying an asset whose location is to be managed and several locations in a space where the asset may be located is attached to each of them, and an RFID reader (hereinafter referred to as "reader") sequentially reads the tags of the asset and the locations to identify the area where the asset is located. When identifying the location of an asset, a person carries a reader and moves to the location or vicinity of an asset in the space where the asset is located (a room, a warehouse, etc., or outdoors), brings the reader close to the asset or at that location, reads the tag (mono tag) with the reader, and also reads the location tags around it, thereby identifying the asset as being located in the area where the read location tag is located. In this regard, when the reader reads tags at an arbitrary location, reading of each tag is performed multiple times, and at such an arbitrary location, tags at multiple locations around it are read. In this case, the detection frequency of each of the location tags read increases as the distance to the reader decreases, and the detection frequency ratio pattern of the multiple location tags read changes depending on the position of the reader that reads the tags. Therefore, in the above-mentioned system, when the reader reads the mono tag of an asset, by referring to the detection frequency ratio pattern of the multiple location tags read at that position, the location of the asset in space can be specified in more detail, i.e., more precisely than the range of the zone in which the read location tag is located, and the location of the asset can be grasped with higher accuracy than before. This knowledge is utilized in the present invention.

[0005] Thus, the main objective of the present invention is to enable the location of an asset to be identified with high accuracy in a system in which an RFID tag that identifies each asset and several locations in the space in which the asset is located is attached, and an RFID reader sequentially reads the tags of the asset and the locations to identify the area in which the asset is located. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to the present invention, the above problem is solved by a system for identifying a position where an asset is placed within a space, the system being such that a mono-tag which is an RFID tag having identification information recorded thereon is attached to the asset, and a location tag which is an RFID tag having identification information recorded thereon is attached to each of a plurality of locations in the space, an RFID reader is moved to an arbitrary location within the space to read the respective identification information of the mono-tag and the location tag, and the system is capable of identifying the position where the asset is placed within the space based on the read identification information, This is achieved by a system including an asset location means configured to identify the location of the asset within the space based on the detection frequency ratio of the multiple location tags read at the location where the asset is located.

[0007] In the above configuration, the "asset" may be any item. The RFID tag may be an RFID tag of a normal type, the "mono tag" records the identification information of the asset to which it is attached, and the "location tag" records the identification information of each location to which it is attached (the location to place the location tag is appropriately determined by the user, administrator, etc. of the system). The identification information recorded in these RFID tags is read by an RFID reader. The RFID reader may be of a normal type, and specifically, when reading the identification information of a tag (detecting a tag), the reader transmits radio waves, and when the radio waves are received by the tag, a response radio wave carrying the identification information is transmitted from the tag, and the tag is detected by receiving the response radio wave, and the asset or location to which the tag is attached is identified. Here, the identification information of the mono tag may be any information set to identify each asset. The identification information of the location tag may be any information set to identify each location, and the location in space where each location tag is placed is grasped in the system using coordinates in space or distance and direction from a specific point when placing each location tag (the position of each location tag may be recorded in the system). Furthermore, the reader transmits radio waves multiple times at a certain location, and the response waves from the tag are received multiple times by the reader, and therefore the tag is detected multiple times. The shorter the distance of the tag from the reader, the more times the reader receives the response waves from the tag per unit time, i.e., the detection frequency. Therefore, the reader receives response waves more times from location tags in closer positions, and the number of times the reader receives the response waves from each location tag, i.e., the ratio of the detection frequency of each location tag, changes depending on the position of the reader. The "asset location determination means" that performs analysis using the tag identification information received by the reader may be realized by processing according to a program in any type of computer device.

[0008] In the system of the present invention, when a reader reads tags in a space where multiple location tags are arranged, the detection frequency rate of each location tag varies depending on the position of the reader at that time, as described above. When the reader detects the tag of a certain asset, the location of the asset is identified based on the detection frequency rate of multiple location tags obtained at that position. With this configuration, the location of the identified asset can be identified with higher accuracy than within the range of the area surrounding the location tag as in Patent Document 1, which is advantageous in managing the storage location of assets.

[0009] In one embodiment, at the stage of setting up the system, a reader reads the multiple location tags at various locations in a space where an asset may be located, for example, at each of points (locations) at a predetermined interval that may be set appropriately, and the detection frequency rate of the multiple location tags at each location is checked in advance.When detecting the mono tag of an asset, the detection frequency rate of the multiple location tags obtained at that location is compared with the detection frequency rate of the multiple location tags that was checked in advance, and the location where a substantially matching pattern or the most similar pattern is obtained is identified as the location where the asset with the detected mono tag is located.

[0010] In the above configuration, the detection frequency ratio of the multiple location tags read by the reader may be the detection frequency ratio of the location tags detected within a predetermined time that is appropriately set. In addition, when reading location tags with the reader, it is preferable to rotate the transmission and reception range of the radio waves of the reader so as to detect the surroundings of the reader evenly so that the location tags present around the position of the reader can be read as thoroughly as possible.

[0011] In the above-described asset location system according to the present invention, the space in which the asset may be located may be displayed as a map (two-dimensional image) on any type of display so that the location of the asset in space can be visually grasped, and the location of the asset may be displayed on the map. In this case, the location tagged location may also be displayed on the map. Furthermore, it is preferable that the location on the map representing the location tagged location can be moved as appropriate by the user so that it matches the actual location tag on the map of the display. This is advantageous in that the location of the asset can be displayed more accurately on the map. Effect of the Invention

[0012] Thus, according to the system of the present invention, when an asset is placed in a space, the location of the asset in the space can be specified with higher accuracy using RFID tag reading technology. Typically, location tags are placed at intervals of, for example, about 10 m to suppress mutual interference. Therefore, when a location tag close to the location where a mono tag is detected is specified and an asset is specified to be placed in the surrounding area of ​​the location tag, the accuracy of the location of the asset is about 10 m. However, when the location of an asset is specified based on the detection frequency pattern of multiple location tags at the location where a mono tag is detected as in the system of the present invention, it is expected that the location of the asset in the space can be specified with an accuracy of about 1 m. The system of the present invention may be used as a part of a system (asset location management system) for determining the presence or absence of an arbitrary asset in a space and for storing and managing the arbitrary asset.

[0013] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the general configuration of an asset location management system in which a system for identifying the location of an asset (item) according to this embodiment is used. [Diagram 2]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a two-dimensional map of the space in which assets are located, which is displayed on a display in the asset location management system. [Diagram 3] Fig. 3(A) is a schematic plan view of a space in which assets are placed, showing multiple location tags attached to multiple locations in the space and mono tags attached to the assets. Fig. 3(B) and (C) are schematic diagrams showing the detection frequency of each location tag when a reader reads the location tags at positions Tp2 and Tp1 in Fig. 3(A), respectively. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the space in which the assets are located, showing positions (x) within the space in which the detection frequencies of multiple location tags are checked in advance in an asset location identification system according to this embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0015] 1 ... space, 2 ... asset location management system (computer device), 3 ... display, S1 ... communication means, Ts1 ~ ... location tag (RFID tag), Tp1 ~ ... thing tag (RFID tag), R ... RFID reader BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THEINVENTION

[0016] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to some preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate like parts.

[0017] Asset Location Management System Overview The system (asset location identification system) for identifying the location of an asset, which is an article, according to the present embodiment may be used to detect or identify the location of each asset in an asset location management system that records or manages the location of each asset placed or stored in an arbitrary space using RFID technology. Referring to FIG. 1, in an asset location management system using RFID technology, in short, information on the presence or absence of each asset in a space 1 where the asset may be placed and information on the location where the asset is placed (information on where the asset is placed) are recorded and managed in a system 2 that may be a computer device of any type. In order to record the presence or absence and location information of each asset, specifically, first, RFID tags (location tags) Ts1, Ts2, . . . that record identification information for identifying each location are attached to a plurality of locations that may be arbitrarily selected in the space 1. Note that information on the location of each location tag in the space 1 is recorded in the system 2 at the time the tag is attached (location information of the location tag may be recorded manually by a user or manager). Moreover, RFID tags (mono tags) Tp1, Tp2, etc., on which identification information for identifying each asset is recorded, are attached in advance to each asset placed in the space 1. Then, when recording the location of each asset, the RFID reader R is brought (by the user) to the vicinity of the mono tag of each asset, and the reader R reads the mono tag to obtain the identification information of each asset, and also reads the location tag in the vicinity of the asset to obtain the identification information of the location, and the identification information obtained from these tags is transmitted from the reader R to the system 2 via any wireless or wired communication means S1. Thus, in the system 2, the asset is identified as being placed in the vicinity of the location tag obtained in the vicinity together with the identification information of each asset, and such location information is recorded.

[0018] Displaying asset location in the system In an asset location management system to which this embodiment is applied, the locations of the place tags and the locations of the item tags (locations of assets) in the space 1 may be displayed on the screen of a display 3 of the system 2 within an image 1a of the space 1 depicted as a two-dimensional planar image, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2. This allows the locations of the assets in the space 1 to be visually grasped, making it possible to more quickly search for the locations of the assets and making it easier to manage the locations of the assets.

[0019] In the configuration in which the positions of the location tag Ts1~ and the mono tag Tp1~ are displayed in the two-dimensional spatial image 1a on the screen of the display device 3 as described above, the positions of the recorded location tag Ts1~ and mono tag Tp1~ may be adjusted by selecting the images of the location tag Ts1~ and mono tag Tp1~ on the screen (finger print f) and dragging and displacing the positions of the images as shown by the dotted arrows in the figure. This makes it easy to correct the respective position information so that the location tag Ts1~ and mono tag Tp1~ match the actual positions in space with greater precision, which is convenient.

[0020] Furthermore, in the above configuration, when the image of each mono tag is selected (tapped) on the image, as indicated by arrow Y in the figure, a pop-up P is displayed in which various information such as the asset number, location, manager, confirmation location, confirmation date, actual confirmation date, and a photo are displayed.

[0021] Locating assets As already mentioned, when detecting the location of an asset, the reader R is moved to the location of the asset, where the reader R reads the mono tag of the asset and also reads the location tag. In this process, generally, the reader transmits radio waves, and the tag that receives the radio waves transmits a response wave carrying the tag's identification information, and the reader receives the response wave, thereby identifying and detecting the tag. In this regard, the tag reading operation is performed many times in a short period of time by such a reader, and when there are multiple tags that can be read by a reader at a certain location, the frequency of tag detection increases as the distance to the tag becomes closer. For example, referring to Fig. 3(A), when the reader R is at the position of the mono tag Tp2, the detection frequency of the detected location tags increases in the order of closer to Tp2, i.e., Ts4, Ts3, Ts8, and Ts7, as shown in Fig. 3(B), and when the reader R is at the position of the mono tag Tp1, the detection frequency of the detected location tags increases in the order of closer to Tp1, as shown in Fig. 3(C). That is, since the pattern of the ratio of the detection frequency of the multiple location tags detected by the reader R differs depending on the position of the reader R, the position of the reader R can be determined based on the pattern of the ratio of the detection frequency of the multiple location tags detected, and when the reader R is placed close to or in the vicinity of the position of each asset, the position where the asset is located can be identified from the pattern of the ratio of the detection frequency of the multiple location tags obtained there.

[0022] As described above, the method of identifying the location of an asset in a space from the pattern of the detection frequency ratio of multiple location tags obtained when the reader R is located near or placed at the location of the asset can be implemented in various ways. In one aspect, first, as shown in FIG. 4, in a state where the location tags Ts1~ are appropriately placed in the space 1 where the asset may be placed, the reader R checks in advance the detection frequency ratio of multiple location tags at each point (in the figure, x) at a predetermined interval (for example, 1 m interval) that may be arbitrarily set in the space 1, and stores the detection frequency ratio in the system. Then, when identifying the location of an asset in the space 1, the reader R obtains the detection frequency ratio of multiple location tags near or at the location of the asset, and a pattern that matches or is most similar to the pattern obtained at the location of the asset is searched and determined among the patterns of the detection frequency ratio of location tags stored in the system, and the location of the pattern thus determined is identified as the location where the asset is placed. Alternatively, in another embodiment, the coordinates of a location in space may be determined by calculation from the ratio of detection frequencies of multiple location tags by a reader R in the vicinity of or at the location of an asset.

[0023] When reading surrounding location tags with a reader, it is preferable to rotate the transmission and reception direction of the reader all around the circumference so that all surrounding location tags can be read without missing any. (However, if the transmission and reception direction of the reader when reading location tags is the same as when the pattern of the detection frequency ratio of location tags is checked in advance, the transmission and reception direction of the reader does not need to be rotated so as to be oriented in all directions.)

[0024] The series of processes for identifying the location of an asset according to the present embodiment can be executed by a computer device operating according to a program in the system, using the detection counts of a plurality of location tags detected by a reader.

[0025] In conventional methods for identifying the location of an asset (e.g., Patent Document 1), the location of the asset is identified as being within an area surrounding the nearest location tag, and the accuracy of the location of the asset is determined by the spacing of the location tags in space. In contrast, in the method for identifying the location of an asset according to the present embodiment, the pattern of the ratio of detection frequencies of multiple location tags obtained by a reader changes significantly at intervals shorter than the spacing of the location tags, and therefore the location of the asset can be identified more precisely than the spacing of the location tags in space. For example, when the spacing of location tags is 10 m, according to the present embodiment, it is expected that the location of the asset can be identified with an accuracy of about 1 m in space.

[0026] Thus, according to the system of the above embodiment, the location of an asset placed in a space can be identified with greater accuracy than before, and such a configuration can be advantageously used in a system for determining the presence or absence of an asset in a space and for storing and managing the asset.

[0027] The above description has been given in relation to the embodiment of the present invention, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications and changes can be easily made thereto, and that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment exemplified above, but can be applied to various devices without departing from the concept of the present invention.

Claims

[Claim 1] A system for identifying a location of an asset within a space, the system comprising: a mono-tag which is an RFID tag having identification information recorded thereon, the asset being assigned to the asset; a location tag which is an RFID tag having identification information recorded thereon, the location tag being an RFID tag having identification information recorded thereon, the system moving an RFID reader to an arbitrary location within the space to read the identification information of each of the mono-tags and the location tags, and identifying the location of the asset within the space based on the identification information read, A system including an asset location means configured to identify a location within the space where the asset is located based on a detection frequency ratio of a plurality of the location tags read at the location where the asset is located.

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