Management device, management system, management method and program

Abstract

To provide a technology for enhancing the possibility of collecting packages in a timely manner.SOLUTION: A management device comprises: a control unit for executing an estimation process that estimates a time series of temperatures regarding a package on the basis of environmental temperature time series information indicating a time series of temperatures in an environment under which the package is placed, and an initial package temperature which is a temperature of the package at a temporal starting point; and a communication interface for executing a notification to a prescribed notification destination. The control unit further executes: a management time acquisition process for acquiring, on the basis of a result of the estimation process, a management time, which is an elapsed time required until the temperature of the package reaches a prescribed temperature from the temporal starting point; and a notification process for sending a notification to the notification destination prompting collection of the package by controlling the communication interface at a prescribed timing based on the management time and earlier than the management time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a management device, a management system, a management method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, drop-off delivery services have become popular. For example, a delivery person picks up parcels from a freezer or refrigerator at a store or base, places them in an insulated box (such as a styrofoam box), and delivers them to a shared storage facility. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-078967 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the case of parcels that are not suitable for storage at room temperature, such as frozen or refrigerated goods, if left at the door, the quality may deteriorate before the recipient receives the parcel. As a result, the parcel may be discarded, increasing food waste. In this way, if goods are not collected in a timely manner, wasteful situations may occur.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a technology that increases the likelihood of timely collection of luggage. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is a management device that includes a control unit that performs an estimation process to estimate a time series of the temperature of a package based on environmental temperature time series information that indicates the time series of the temperature of the environment in which the package is placed and an initial package temperature that is the temperature of the package at the time origin, and a communication interface that performs a notification to a specified notification destination, wherein the control unit further performs a management time acquisition process to acquire a management time, which is the elapsed time from the time origin required for the temperature of the package to reach a predetermined temperature, based on the result of the estimation process, and a notification process to send a notification to the notification destination urging the package to be collected by controlling the communication interface at a timing based on the management time and a specified timing before the management time.

[0007] One aspect of the present invention is a management system including the above-described management device and a delivery box.

[0008] One aspect of the present invention is a management method executed by a management device, which includes a control unit that executes an estimation process to estimate a time series of the temperature of the luggage based on environmental temperature time series information that indicates the time series of the temperature of the environment in which the luggage is placed and an initial luggage temperature that is the temperature of the luggage at the time origin, and a communication interface that executes a notification to a predetermined notification destination, wherein the control unit further executes a management time acquisition process to acquire a management time, which is the elapsed time from the time origin required for the temperature of the luggage to reach a predetermined temperature, based on the result of the estimation process, and a notification process to send a notification to the notification destination urging the luggage to be collected by controlling the communication interface at a timing based on the management time and a predetermined timing before the management time, and the management method includes an estimation step in which the control unit executes the estimation process, a management time acquisition step in which the control unit executes the management time acquisition process, and a notification step in which the control unit executes the notification process.

[0009] One aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as the above-described management device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] The present invention can increase the likelihood of timely collection of the package. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a management system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of processing executed by a management device according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a management system 100 according to a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] (Embodiment) FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a management system 100 according to an embodiment. The management system 100 is a system for managing home delivery of parcels, and is used, for example, by a delivery company. The quality of parcels, such as frozen foods, changes depending on the temperature of the environment. The parcel is placed at a location designated by the delivery addressee, such as the front door, but there are cases where it takes time for the recipient to receive the parcel due to their circumstances. In such cases, the quality of the frozen food changes depending on the temperature, and for example, the frozen food may thaw.

[0013] Therefore, management system 100 estimates the temperature change of the package from a predetermined time point before the recipient receives the package, such as when the frozen food is removed from the delivery company's refrigerated storage or when it is delivered to the delivery destination. If the temperature of frozen food reaches a predetermined temperature, it will thaw and must be discarded, but since the thawing temperature is known in advance, management system 100 sends a notification to a predetermined recipient requesting the collection of the package when the package reaches a predetermined temperature before the thawing temperature.

[0014] The specified notification destination may be, for example, a communication device such as a mobile terminal owned by the consignee, or a communication device such as a mobile terminal owned by the delivery company. The mobile terminal may be, for example, a smartphone. This increases the likelihood that the package will be collected in a timely manner. As a result, for example, the person who received the notification collects the package, thereby reducing food waste. Although it is often difficult for the consignee to collect the package even after receiving the notification, it is rare for the delivery company to be unable to collect the package, thereby reducing food waste.

[0015] 1, the terminal 9 is an example of the predetermined notification destination. The management system 100 will now be described in more detail.

[0016] The management system 100 includes a management device 1. The management device 1 includes a control unit 11 including a processor 91, such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or an NPU (Neural Network Processing Unit), and a memory 92, which are connected via a bus, and executes a program. By executing the program, the management device 1 functions as a device including the control unit 11, an interface unit 12 including a communication interface 121, and a storage unit 13.

[0017] More specifically, the processor 91 reads out a program stored in the storage unit 13 and stores the read out program in the memory 92. The processor 91 executes the program stored in the memory 92, whereby the management device 1 functions as a device including the control unit 11, the interface unit 12, and the storage unit 13.

[0018] The control unit 11 controls the operation of each functional unit included in the management device 1. The control unit 11 acquires, for example, information stored in the storage unit 13. Specifically, the process of acquiring the information stored in the storage unit 13 is reading.

[0019] The control unit 11 executes, for example, an estimation process. The estimation process is a process for estimating the time series of the temperature of the luggage based on the environmental temperature time series information and the initial luggage temperature. The environmental temperature time series information is information indicating the time series of the temperature of the environment where the luggage is placed (for example, a shared storage room or a front door). The environmental temperature time series information is, for example, weather data indicating the time series of temperatures published by the Japan Meteorological Agency. The initial luggage temperature is the temperature of the luggage at the time origin.

[0020] The estimation process is a process of executing a program described in, for example, the following reference 1. The program described in the following reference 1 is a program that estimates the time series of the temperature of a package based on environmental temperature time series information and the initial temperature of the package.

[0021] Reference 1: JP 2017-182506 A

[0022] The control unit 11 executes, for example, a control time acquisition process. The control time acquisition process is a process for acquiring a control time, which is the elapsed time from the time origin required for the temperature of the luggage to reach a predetermined temperature (hereinafter referred to as "predetermined luggage temperature"), based on the result of the estimation process. The predetermined luggage temperature is a temperature that can be set by the user via, for example, the input interface 122 described below.

[0023] The control unit 11 executes, for example, a notification process. The notification process controls the communication interface 121 provided in the interface unit 12 at a predetermined timing based on the management time and before the management time, to send a notification urging the collection of the package (hereinafter referred to as a "collection reminder notification") to a predetermined notification destination (hereinafter referred to as a "reminder notification destination") that is preset as the destination of the collection reminder notification. The terminal 9 in Fig. 1 is an example of a reminder notification destination.

[0024] The predetermined timing based on the management time and prior to the management time is, for example, the timing at which the management time is reached (hereinafter referred to as "first timing").

[0025] The interface unit 12 includes a communication interface 121 , an input interface 122 , and an output interface 123 .

[0026] The communication interface 121 is an interface for connecting the management device 1 to an external device. The communication interface 121 communicates with the external device via a wired or wireless connection. The external device is, for example, a reminder notification destination. In such a case, the communication interface 121 is controlled by the control unit 11 as a result of the control unit 11 executing a notification process, and transmits a collection reminder notification to the reminder notification destination.

[0027] The external device is, for example, the sender of the environmental temperature time-series information. Therefore, for example, if the environmental temperature time-series information is meteorological data indicating a time series of air temperature, the sender of the environmental temperature time-series information is a server of the Japan Meteorological Agency. In such a case, the communication interface 121 obtains the environmental temperature time-series information by communicating with the sender of the environmental temperature time-series information.

[0028] The external device is, for example, the source of the initial luggage temperature. For example, if the initial luggage temperature is measured by a predetermined temperature sensor, the source of the initial luggage temperature is that temperature sensor. In such a case, the communication interface 121 obtains the initial luggage temperature by communicating with the source of the initial luggage temperature.

[0029] The input interface 122 includes input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, and touch panel. The input interface 122 may be configured as an interface that connects these input devices to the management device 1. In this way, the input devices of the input interface 122 accept input of various information to the management device 1 via wired or wireless connections. Note that the various information acquired by the communication interface 121 described above does not necessarily have to be acquired by the communication interface 121, and may be input to the input devices of the input interface 122.

[0030] The output interface 123 is configured to include a display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a liquid crystal display, or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display. The output interface 123 may be configured as an interface that connects these display devices to the management device 1. The output interface 123 may be configured to include a sound wave output device that outputs sound, such as a speaker. The output interface 123 may also be configured as an interface that connects the sound wave output device to the management device 1. The output interface 123 outputs information input to the communication interface 121 or the input interface 122, for example.

[0031] The storage unit 13 is configured using a computer-readable storage medium device (non-transitory computer-readable recording medium) such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor storage device. The storage unit 13 stores various information related to the management device 1. The storage unit 13 stores various information generated by the operation of the control unit 11, for example. The storage unit 13 stores information acquired by the interface unit 12, for example.

[0032] 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the management device 1 in an embodiment. The control unit 11 executes estimation processing (step S101). Next, the control unit 11 executes management time acquisition processing (step S102). Next, the control unit 11 executes notification processing (step S103).

[0033] The management device 1 of the embodiment configured as described above transmits a collection urging notice to the notification destination, thereby increasing the possibility that the package will be collected in a timely manner.

[0034] Furthermore, the management system 100 of the embodiment configured as described above includes the management device 1. This can increase the possibility that packages will be collected in a timely manner.

[0035] (Variation) In addition, the luggage may be placed in a container with a predetermined cooling performance (for example, an insulated box such as a polystyrene foam box). In such a case, in the estimation process, the time series of the temperature of the luggage in the container may be estimated based on the environmental temperature time series information and the initial luggage temperature, as well as the insulating performance of the container, a value indicating the luggage volume relative to the volume of the container, and the luggage cooling or cooling performance of the container. In such a case, the environmental temperature time series information indicates the time series of the outside air temperature.

[0036] It should be noted that the delivery destination of the package placed in the container may not be the front door, but may be, for example, a box in a delivery box, a shared storage room, etc. In such cases, the estimation process may use information indicating the time series of the temperature inside the box in the delivery box, the shared storage room, etc., which has been obtained in advance, as the environmental temperature time series information.

[0037] Incidentally, a door open / close sensor may be attached to a box such as a delivery box or a shared storage room (hereinafter referred to as a "destination box"). In such a case, the management system 100 may also include a delivery box equipped with a door open / close sensor. Such a management system 100 will be described as management system 100a with reference to FIG. 3. For ease of understanding, the description will be given using a delivery box as an example of a delivery destination box.

[0038] 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a modified management system 100a. Management system 100a differs from management system 100 in that it further includes a delivery box 2 in addition to management device 1. Delivery box 2 is a delivery box that includes an openable door 21, a door open / close sensor 22 that detects whether door 21 is open or closed, and a communication device 23 that notifies management device 1 of the detection result of door open / close sensor 22.

[0039] When a package is to be removed from delivery box 2, door 21 opens. Door open / close sensor 22 then detects that door 21 has opened. Communication device 23 notifies management device 1 of information indicating that door 21 has opened (hereinafter referred to as "door information"). In this case, communication device 23 is an example of an external device that communicates with communication interface 121. The door information notified to management device 1 is acquired by control unit 11 via communication interface 121. Therefore, notifying management device 1 of the door information is notifying control unit 11 of the door information.

[0040] The door information is information indicating that the door 21 is open, and the fact that the door 21 is open means that a package has been removed. The control unit 11 then stops management after acquiring the door information. At this time, the control unit 11 may notify a predetermined notification destination, such as a delivery company, of information indicating that the package has been collected. Such a notification reduces the need for those involved with the package to wait anxiously wondering whether the package will be collected before it deteriorates.

[0041] The delivery box is an example of a predetermined box, and therefore the delivery box is an example of a predetermined box.

[0042] The predetermined timing based on the management time and prior to the management time may be, for example, a timing (hereinafter referred to as "second timing") that is earlier than the timing at which the management time is reached by a predetermined time. Since the timing at which the management time is reached is the first timing, the second timing can also be said to be a timing that is earlier than the first timing by a predetermined time.

[0043] <Effects of notification at the second timing> The effect of providing a notification at the second timing will be explained using an example in which the package is, for example, a frozen food that will thaw when it reaches a predetermined temperature. If the above-mentioned first timing is the timing at which the package is to thaw, for example, even if the notification process is executed at the first timing, the package will already have started thawing. Therefore, if the notification process is executed at the second timing, which is a predetermined time earlier than the first timing, instead of the first timing, the person who received the notification is more likely to be able to collect the package before it thaws.

[0044] Of course, if the first timing is set as a predetermined timing before the thawing of the package starts, the person who received the notification is more likely to be able to collect the package before it thaws. To set the first timing as a predetermined timing before the thawing of the package starts, the user simply sets the above-mentioned predetermined package temperature to a predetermined temperature that is lower than the temperature at which the thawing of the package starts.

[0045] However, while the temperature at which a package begins to thaw is generally easy for users to grasp, the elapsed time required for the package to reach the thawing start temperature from a temperature lower than the thawing start temperature is not easily grasped by users. Therefore, there is a high probability that the package temperature set by the user will be inappropriate and the user will not be able to collect the package between the time the notification is sent to the user and the start of thawing. Of course, if the package temperature is set to a very low temperature, the likelihood of the package being collected before thawing begins increases. However, in such cases, the user will have less time to spare, reducing the benefits of drop-off delivery.

[0046] In view of these, it is desirable to execute the notification process at the second timing rather than the first timing. The time difference between the first timing and the second timing may be set in advance to a time when there is a high probability that the luggage will be collected between the time of notification and the start of thawing. When the notification process is executed at the second timing, the user simply sets the luggage predetermined temperature to the temperature at which thawing starts.

[0047] In this way, when notification is made at the second timing instead of the first timing, the burden on the user is reduced and food waste is reduced.

[0048] The above description has been given using an example of a package that thaws when it reaches a predetermined higher temperature from a low temperature. However, this is not limited to thawing, and the package may be any package that undergoes a change in quality of a predetermined degree or more when it reaches a predetermined temperature. Therefore, the predetermined package temperature may be, for example, the temperature at which the package begins to change in quality.

[0049] For example, the cargo may be something that is stored in a refrigerator. The thing that is stored in a refrigerator may be, for example, fresh produce. Fresh produce is easily spoiled if the rate of respiration increases. Therefore, the temperature is often lowered below a predetermined temperature to reduce respiration. The cargo may also be fresh fish that is stored covered in ice rather than frozen. Fresh fish stored covered in ice undergoes polymer decomposition over time. Furthermore, the higher the temperature, the faster the polymer decomposition occurs.

[0050] In this case, the management time may be, for example, the elapsed time from a time origin at which a change in quality of the package begins to occur to a predetermined degree or greater. If the management time is the time at which a change in quality of the package begins to occur, the first time may be, for example, the time at which a change in quality of the package begins to occur to a predetermined degree or greater. In this case, the second time may be a predetermined time earlier than the time at which a change in quality of the package begins to occur to a predetermined degree or greater.

[0051] The expression "reaching a predetermined higher temperature from a low temperature" obviously means "reaching a high temperature from a low temperature." However, the expression "reaching a predetermined temperature" does not necessarily mean "reaching a high temperature from a low temperature," but rather "reaching a low temperature from a high temperature" depending on the load.

[0052] The second timing may be set in advance, for example, taking into consideration the time when the worker finishes work and the time interval from the first timing, thereby improving usability for the user.

[0053] The management device 1 may be implemented using a plurality of information processing devices connected to each other via a network so that they can communicate with each other. In this case, the processes executed by the control unit 11 may be distributed among the plurality of information processing devices.

[0054] Note that all or part of the functions of the control unit 11, the interface unit 12, and the storage unit 13 may be realized using hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Examples of computer-readable recording media include portable media such as flexible disks, magneto-optical disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, and storage devices such as hard disks built into a computer system. The program may be transmitted via a telecommunications line.

[0055] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes designs within the scope of the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 100, 100a... management system, 1... management device, 11... control unit, 12... interface unit, 121... communication interface, 122... input interface, 123... output interface, 13... storage unit, 2... delivery box, 21... door, 22... door opening / closing sensor, 23... communication device, 91... processor, 92... memory

Claims

1. a control unit that executes an estimation process to estimate a time series of the temperature of the luggage based on environmental temperature time series information indicating a time series of the temperature of the environment in which the luggage is placed and an initial luggage temperature that is the temperature of the luggage at the time origin; a communication interface for executing a notification to a predetermined notification destination; Equipped with The control unit further executes a control time acquisition process for acquiring a control time, which is the elapsed time from the time origin required for the temperature of the package to reach a predetermined temperature, based on the result of the estimation process, and a notification process for transmitting a notification to the notification destination, urging the collection of the package, by controlling the communication interface at a predetermined timing based on the control time and before the control time. Management device.

2. the predetermined timing based on the management time and prior to the management time is the timing when the management time is reached; The management device according to claim 1 .

3. The cargo is one that will undergo a change in quality to a predetermined degree or more when it reaches a predetermined temperature, The timing at which the management time is reached is the timing at which a change in quality of the package that exceeds a predetermined level begins to occur. The management device according to claim 2 .

4. the predetermined timing based on the management time and before the management time is a timing that is earlier than the timing at which the management time is reached by a predetermined time. The management device according to claim 1 .

5. The cargo is one that will undergo a change in quality to a predetermined degree or more when it reaches a predetermined temperature, The timing at which the management time is reached is the timing at which a change in quality of the package that exceeds a predetermined level begins to occur. The management device according to claim 4 .

6. The temperature of the environment is the outside air temperature. The management device according to claim 1 .

7. The luggage is placed in a container with a predetermined cooling capacity, The environmental temperature time series information indicates a time series of outside air temperature, In the estimation process, a time series of the temperature of the luggage in the container is estimated based on the environmental temperature time series information and the luggage initial temperature, as well as the heat insulating performance of the container, a value indicating the volume of the luggage relative to the volume of the container, and the cold insulation or cooling performance of the container for the luggage. The management device according to claim 1 .

8. The luggage is placed in the container, and the container is placed in a predetermined box, In the estimation process, information indicating a time series of the temperature inside the box obtained in advance is used as the environmental temperature time series information. The management device according to claim 7 .

9. The box is a delivery box. The management device according to claim 8 .

10. The delivery box includes an openable / closable door, a door open / close sensor that detects whether the door is open or closed, and a communication device that notifies the control unit of the detection result of the door open / close sensor, When information indicating that the door has been opened is not obtained from the communication device before the management time has elapsed, the control unit controls the communication interface to send a notification to the notification destination urging the collection of the package. The management device according to claim 9 .

11. The management device according to claim 1 ; a delivery box comprising an opening / closing door, a door opening / closing sensor that detects whether the door is open or closed, and a communication device that notifies the control unit of the detection result of the door opening / closing sensor, wherein the control unit controls the communication interface to send a notification to the notification destination urging the collection of the package if information indicating that the door has been opened is not obtained from the communication device before the management time has elapsed; A management system comprising:

12. a control unit that executes an estimation process to estimate a time series of the temperature of a package based on environmental temperature time series information indicating a time series of the temperature of the environment in which the package is placed and an initial package temperature that is the temperature of the package at a time origin, and a communication interface that executes a notification to a predetermined notification destination, wherein the control unit further executes a management time acquisition process to acquire a management time that is the elapsed time from the time origin required for the temperature of the package to reach a predetermined temperature based on a result of the estimation process, and a notification process to send a notification to the notification destination urging the collection of the package by controlling the communication interface at a predetermined timing that is based on the management time and is before the management time, an estimation step in which the control unit executes the estimation process; a management time acquisition step in which the control unit executes the management time acquisition process; a notification step in which the control unit executes the notification process; A management method having the following.

13. A program for causing a computer to function as the management device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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