Design support method, design support device, and design support program

Abstract

To better support the design of product placement. [Solution] The design support method causes a computer to perform the following steps: display a design screen for designing the arrangement of products; present patterns for connecting multiple products placed on the design screen; accept the selection of one of the presented patterns; and connect the multiple products according to the selected pattern.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a design support method, a design support device, and a design support program.

Background Art

[0002] There is provided a lighting design support system for supporting the design of a lighting system installed outdoors such as in a garden. For example, the lighting design support system described in Patent Document 1 can simultaneously perform the design of a low-voltage lighting system and the calculation of the length of a cord.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The inventors of the present invention recognized the problem of supporting the easier design of the arrangement of products such as lighting fixtures, and arrived at the technology of the present disclosure.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to more appropriately support the design of the arrangement of products.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, a design support method according to an aspect of the present disclosure causes a computer to execute steps of displaying a design screen for designing the arrangement of products, presenting a pattern for connecting a plurality of products arranged on the design screen, receiving a selection of any of the presented plurality of patterns, and connecting a plurality of products according to the selected pattern.

[0007] Another aspect of the present disclosure is a design support device. This device comprises a display control unit that displays a design screen for designing the arrangement of products, and a product connection unit that connects a plurality of products arranged on the design screen. The product connection unit presents patterns for connecting the plurality of products, accepts the selection of one of the presented patterns, and connects the plurality of products according to the selected pattern.

[0008] Furthermore, any combination of the above components, as well as conversions of the expressions of this disclosure between methods, apparatus, systems, recording media, computer programs, etc., are also valid as aspects of this disclosure. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This diagram shows an example of a lighting layout diagram that illustrates the arrangement of electrical equipment such as light fixtures. [Figure 2] This figure shows the configuration of the design support system according to the embodiment of this disclosure. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 7] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 8] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 9] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 10] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 11]This diagram shows how to connect three light fixtures. [Figure 12] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 13] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 14] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 15] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 16] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 17] This figure shows an example of a user interface screen provided by a design support device. [Figure 18] This figure shows the configuration of the design support device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] This disclosure describes a technology that assists in designing the arrangement of electrical equipment, such as lighting fixtures, placed in or around buildings. In particular, this embodiment describes a case where the technology assists in designing a lighting diagram that shows the arrangement of electrical equipment such as light fixtures and transformers in a user's garden. The technology disclosed can be applied not only to outdoor areas such as gardens, but also to semi-indoor areas such as balconies and terraces, and to the arrangement of electrical equipment indoors. Furthermore, it can be applied not only to electrical equipment, but also to the arrangement of building materials, equipment, devices, and other items in or around buildings.

[0011] FIG. 1 shows an example of a wiring diagram representing the arrangement of electrical devices such as lighting fixtures. Around a house 4, electrical devices such as lighting fixtures 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d (collectively referred to as "lighting fixture 5") and a transformer 6 that converts the AC voltage of a commercial power supply into a DC voltage are arranged, and these electrical devices are connected by a cable 7. The design support device according to the embodiment supports the design of such a wiring diagram 8. The design support device further has functions such as outputting a list of electrical devices arranged in the designed wiring diagram 8 and estimating and presenting the costs and power consumption (wattage) required for installing electrical devices according to the designed wiring diagram 8.

[0012] When a user considers installing electrical devices such as lighting fixtures in the garden of their home, etc., it is difficult for a user without specialized knowledge about electrical devices to design a wiring diagram by themselves, and there are also many users who are hesitant to request the design of a wiring diagram from a construction company, etc. at the initial stage of consideration when they have not yet decided on construction. The design support device of the present embodiment supports end-users such as donors without specialized knowledge to be able to design and consider a wiring diagram, etc. by themselves. Thereby, the convenience of end-users such as donors can be improved. Also, since the man-hours and effort required for a professional user such as a construction company to design a wiring diagram proposed to a donor can be reduced, the convenience of professional users such as construction companies can also be improved. Also, since donors, etc. can easily consider the work of arranging electrical devices in the garden of their home, etc., the business opportunities for manufacturers, sellers, constructors, etc. of electrical devices, etc. can be expanded.

[0013] FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a design support system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The design support system 1 includes a design support device 100, a terminal device 3, and a communication network 2 that communicably connects these devices.

[0014] The design support device 100 assists in the design of the layout of electrical equipment and the like. The terminal device 3 is a terminal device used by the user, and it designs the layout of electrical equipment using the functions provided by the design support device 100. The design support device 100 may provide design support functions to the terminal device 3 via a web page. The design support device 100 may also be implemented by a program or application executed on the terminal device 3. In this case, the design support device 100 and the terminal device 3 may be the same device.

[0015] Figure 3 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. The user interface screen 10 includes a design screen 11 for designing the placement and connection of electrical equipment such as lighting fixtures, and a product list screen 12 for displaying a list of products such as electrical equipment that can be placed on the design screen 11. The electrical equipment that can be placed may include lighting fixtures such as downlights, ground lights, wall lights, porch lights, footlights, garden lights, gatepost lights, nameplate lights, gatepost lights, and planting lights, transformers that convert the AC voltage of the commercial power supply to a DC voltage suitable for the lighting fixtures, cables for connecting lighting fixtures and transformers, junction boxes for branching wiring, switches for switching the lighting state of lighting fixtures, and sensors that detect brightness, presence or absence of people, etc., and switch the lighting state of lighting fixtures. The design screen 11 can load a floor plan or sketch of the placement location of the electrical equipment as a background. The user places the products presented on the product list screen 12 on the design screen 11 and designs the lighting diagram 8 by editing their placement positions and connection relationships.

[0016] [1. How to arrange products] This section describes how to place products on the design screen 11 in the user interface screen 10.

[0017] Figure 4 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. When a product displayed on the product list screen 12 is clicked, the design support device 100 temporarily places the clicked product in a predetermined position other than the center of the design screen 11, for example, in the lower left position in this example. When the product is temporarily placed on the design screen 11, the product icon 13 is displayed semi-transparently. In addition, a "Place" button 14 for confirming the placement position of the product is displayed near the product icon 13.

[0018] Figure 5 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. The product icons 13 can be moved by drag-and-drop operation. When the design support device 100 receives a drag operation on a product icon 13, it moves the product icon 13 and places it in the dropped position.

[0019] Figure 6 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. When the "Place" button 14 is clicked while the product icon 13 is temporarily placed on the design screen 11, the design support device 100 displays a specification selection screen 20 for accepting the selection of product specifications. On the specification selection screen 20, the design support device 100 accepts the selection of specifications such as the product number, color, installation method, and options. On the specification selection screen 20, the design support device 100 displays multiple options for each of these multiple specifications, allowing the user to select a specification from among the multiple options. This makes it easier to understand the types of selectable specifications and options compared to listing all products with different specifications on the product list screen 12, thereby improving user convenience.

[0020] Figure 7 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. When the specifications are determined on the specification selection screen 20, the design support device 100 confirms the placement of the products and changes the display state of the product icons 13 from semi-transparent to confirmed placement. The product icons 13 can still be moved by drag-and-drop even after their placement is confirmed. When the design support device 100 receives a drag operation on the product icon 13, it moves the product icon 13 and places it at the dropped location. The product specifications can still be selected by right-clicking, etc., even after the product placement is confirmed. When the design support device 100 receives a right-click operation on the product icon 13, it displays the specification selection screen 20 and accepts the selection of product specifications.

[0021] When a user places a product on the design screen 11, the product specifications may or may not have been determined. In the design support device 100 of this embodiment, the user can select the product specifications when temporarily placing the product on the design screen 11, or they can select the product specifications after confirming the placement position of the product. This allows the user to select the product specifications at any time. This improves user convenience.

[0022] The icon 13 for products whose specifications have not been selected is displayed semi-transparently, making it visually clear that the product specifications need to be selected. The display manner of the product icon 13 may be arbitrary, as long as it differs between the temporary placement state (where product specifications have not been selected) and the confirmed placement state (where product specifications have been selected). For example, the color, brightness, size, shape, blinking state, transparency, etc., of the product icon 13 may differ between the temporary placement state and the confirmed placement state. The presence or absence of the "Place" button 14 may distinguish between the temporary placement state and the confirmed placement state.

[0023] While product icon 13 is in a temporary placement state, functions such as connecting electrical equipment, as described later, may be disabled. This ensures that the design of the lighting diagram 8 cannot proceed without selecting the product specifications, thus guaranteeing that the product specifications are selected. In another example, operations such as connecting electrical equipment may be enabled even while product icon 13 is in a temporary placement state. Even in this case, functions such as outputting a product list or creating an estimate may be disabled until the product specifications are selected.

[0024] Furthermore, operations such as selecting products to be placed on the design screen 11, moving product icons 13, confirming the placement of products, and displaying the specification selection screen 20 may be operations other than those described above, and may be arbitrary operations. For example, as another example of the operation to move product icons 13, clicking on a product icon 13 and then clicking again at a desired position may place the product icon 13 at that position. Also, the method for accepting product specification selection may be other than the specification selection screen 20, and may be arbitrary.

[0025] This section describes variations in the method of arranging products.

[0026] In the first modified example, when a product displayed on the product list screen 12 is clicked, the design support device 100 creates a selected product list screen outside the design screen 11 and places the icon 13 of the clicked product on the selected product list screen. The selected product list screen may be displayed after a product displayed on the product list screen 12 is clicked, or it may be displayed in advance before a product displayed on the product list screen 12 is clicked. When the design support device 100 receives a drag operation on the product icon 13 placed on the selected product list screen, it moves the product icon 13 to the design screen 11 and places it at the dropped position. The design support device 100 may display the product icon 13 in a temporarily placed state. When placing the product icon 13 on the design screen 11, the design support device 100 may present a specification selection screen 20 to accept the selection of product specifications and display the product icon 13 in a confirmed placement state. Other operations are the same as in the method described above.

[0027] In the second modified example, when a product displayed on the product list screen 12 is clicked, the design support device 100 changes the mouse cursor to a different display mode than usual. The mouse cursor's display mode may differ from the normal display mode in terms of color, size, shape, etc., and may also be in the shape of a light fixture mark, for example. This allows the user to visually understand that the device is in a mode for placing a product on the design screen 11. The device may also indicate that a left mouse click near the mouse cursor will place the product, and a right mouse click will cancel the product placement. Upon receiving a left mouse click, the design support device 100 places the product icon 13 at the location where the left click was received. The design support device 100 may display the product icon 13 in a provisional placement state. When placing the product icon 13 on the design screen 11, the design support device 100 may present a specification selection screen 20 to accept the selection of product specifications and display the product icon 13 in a confirmed placement state. Upon receiving a right mouse click, the design support device 100 cancels the product placement and returns the mouse cursor to its normal display mode. Other operations are the same as described above.

[0028] In the third modified example, when a product displayed on the product list screen 12 is clicked, the design support device 100 displays the product icon 13 near the mouse cursor, following the movement of the mouse cursor. This allows the user to visually understand that the device is in a mode for placing the product on the design screen 11. The device may also display near the mouse cursor that a left mouse click will place the product, and a right mouse click will cancel the product placement. Upon receiving a left mouse click, the design support device 100 places the product icon 13 at the location where the left click was received. The design support device 100 may display the product icon 13 in a temporary placement state. When placing the product icon 13 on the design screen 11, the design support device 100 may present a specification selection screen 20 to accept the selection of product specifications and display the product icon 13 in a confirmed placement state. Upon receiving a right mouse click, the design support device 100 cancels the product placement and returns the mouse cursor to its normal display state. Other operations are the same as those described above.

[0029] In the fourth modified example, when the design support device 100 receives a drag operation on a product displayed on the product list screen 12, it moves the product icon 13 to the design screen 11 and places the product icon 13 at the dropped position. At this time, the display mode of the mouse cursor may be changed, or the product icon 13 may be displayed near the mouse cursor. The design support device 100 may display the product icon 13 in a provisional placement state. When placing the product icon 13 on the design screen 11, the design support device 100 may present a specification selection screen 20 to accept the selection of product specifications and display the product icon 13 in a confirmed placement state. Other operations are the same as in the method described above.

[0030] In the fifth modified example, when a product displayed on the product list screen 12 is clicked, the design support device 100 places the product icon 13 in the center of the design screen 11. The design support device 100 may display the product icon 13 in a temporary position. When placing the product icon 13 on the design screen 11, the design support device 100 may present a specification selection screen 20 to accept the selection of product specifications and display the product icon 13 in a confirmed position. When a drag operation is accepted for the product icon 13, the design support device 100 moves the product icon 13 and places it at the dropped position. Other operations are the same as in the method described above.

[0031] [2. How to connect the product] This section describes how to connect multiple electrical devices placed on the design screen 11 using connection means such as cables and cords in the user interface screen 10.

[0032] Figure 8 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. The user interface screen 10 shows lighting fixtures 15a, 15b, and 15c, and a transformer 16. When instructed to connect two electrical devices, for example, lighting fixtures 15a and 15b, the design support device 100 connects the two specified electrical devices with a cable 17. The design support device 100 calculates the distance between the two electrical devices and automatically selects a cable 17 that is longer than the calculated distance to connect the two electrical devices. The design support device 100 displays the length of the cable 17.

[0033] Figure 9 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. When instructed to connect three or more electrical devices, the design support device 100 generates a pattern for connecting the three or more electrical devices. In the example shown, the design support device 100 generates a pattern for connecting luminaires 15a, 15b, and 15c to the transformer 16. If there are multiple connection patterns, the design support device 100 presents several candidate connection patterns. In the example shown, a first connection pattern is presented in which luminaires 15a, 15b, and 15c are connected in parallel to the transformer 16, and a second connection pattern is presented in which luminaires 15a and 15c are connected in parallel to the transformer 16, and luminaire 15b is connected to luminaire 15a. This allows even users without specialized knowledge of electrical equipment to design a lighting diagram 8 with correctly connected electrical equipment.

[0034] Figure 10 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. In the user interface screen shown in Figure 9, when the user selects a first connection pattern, the design support device 100 connects the luminaires 15a, 15b, 15c and the transformer 16, which are located on the design screen 11, using the junction box 18, according to the first connection pattern. The design support device 100 displays the state in which the luminaires 15a, 15b, 15c and the transformer 16, which are located on the design screen 11, are connected by the junction box 18 and cables 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d (collectively referred to as "cable 17"). The design support device 100 calculates and displays the length of each cable 17 based on the placement positions of the luminaires 15a, 15b, 15c, the transformer 16, and the junction box 18.

[0035] If there is only one light fixture, there is only one way to connect it.

[0036] When there are two light fixtures, there are two ways to connect them: connecting the two light fixtures in parallel, and connecting the two light fixtures in series.

[0037] When there are three luminaires, there are six possible connection patterns for the luminaires, as shown in Figure 11. If all three luminaires are of the same type, connection pattern (1) may be selected. In connection pattern (1), all three luminaires are connected in series. If two of the three luminaires are of the same type, connection patterns (2) or (3) may be selected. In connection pattern (2), two different types of luminaires are connected in parallel to the junction box 18, and the third luminaire is connected to the luminaire of the same type as the third luminaire. In connection pattern (3), two different types of luminaires are connected in parallel to the transformer 16 without going through the junction box 18, and the third luminaire is connected to the luminaire of the same type as the third luminaire. If all three luminaires are of different types, connection patterns (4), (5), or (6) may be selected. In connection pattern (4), one luminaire is connected directly to the transformer 16, and the remaining two luminaires are connected in parallel via the junction box 18. In connection pattern (5), the three luminaires are connected in parallel via the junction box 18. In connection pattern (6), the three luminaires are connected in parallel to the transformer 16 without going through the junction box 18.

[0038] The design support device 100 may present multiple options and accept selection when there are multiple connection patterns for electrical equipment. The design support device 100 may also automatically select a connection pattern according to predetermined rules. The rules may relate to the type, number, voltage, current, and price of lighting fixtures, the type, number, capacity, and price of transformers, the type, length, and price of cables, the type, number of branches, and price of junction boxes, the size of the installation location for lighting fixtures, and the budget. When presenting multiple candidate connection patterns for electrical equipment, the design support device 100 may determine the relative merits of each candidate according to predetermined rules and present multiple candidates according to the determined relative merits.

[0039] The design support device 100 may present electrical equipment connection patterns using a trained connection method determiner for automatically determining the connection patterns of electrical equipment. The connection method determiner may take information about the electrical equipment to be connected as input and output the connection patterns of the electrical equipment. The connection method determiner may be implemented using a single-layer or multi-layer neural network. The connection method determiner may have learned the connection patterns of electrical equipment in construction examples, using construction examples in which multiple electrical devices are connected and arranged as training data. The connection method determiner may be trained by supervised learning or by unsupervised learning, using construction examples of electrical equipment connection patterns and evaluations of the construction examples as training data. For example, based on evaluations of the construction examples, correct labels may be assigned to the connection patterns of electrical equipment in the construction examples to create training data for supervised learning, and the connection method determiner may be trained by supervised learning using the created training data. Alternatively, the connection method determiner may be trained by unsupervised learning by analyzing information about a large number of construction examples using methods such as association analysis to discover relationships between the types, numbers, and connection patterns of electrical equipment in the construction examples. A connection method classifier may be trained through self-supervised learning by automatically assigning correct labels to the connection patterns of electrical equipment in construction examples based on the discovered correlations.

[0040] [3. Support functions for connecting electrical equipment] This section explains the support functions for connecting electrical equipment such as junctions, sensors, switches, transformers, and cables placed on design screen 11.

[0041] [3-1. Support functions related to junctions, switches, and sensors] This section describes how to arrange a junction box for branching wiring, a switch for switching the lighting state of a light fixture, and a sensor for detecting brightness, the presence or absence of people, etc., and switching the lighting state of the light fixture (hereinafter, the switch and sensor are collectively referred to as "optional parts") on the design screen 11 in the user interface screen 10.

[0042] Figure 12 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. The junction box 18 and optional parts 19 presented on the product list screen 12 are placed on the design screen 11. The method of placing the junction box 18 and optional parts 19 may be any of the product placement methods and variations described above.

[0043] Figure 13 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. The design support device 100 displays a specification selection screen 21 for accepting the selection of specifications for a junction box 18 or optional component 19 placed on the design screen 11. At this time, the design support device 100 extracts selectable options from multiple options for the specifications of the junction box 18 or optional component 19 based on the location where the junction box 18 or optional component 19 is placed and its connection status with other electrical equipment, and makes only the extracted options selectable. For example, the number of branches of a junction box 18 can be automatically determined from the number of electrical equipment connected to that junction box 18, so the option for the number of branches is grayed out and cannot be selected by the user. This allows even users without specialized knowledge of electrical equipment to select the appropriate specifications.

[0044] Figure 14 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. The icons for the junction box 18 and optional parts 19 are changed from a display mode indicating that no specifications have been selected to an image showing a product that meets the specifications accepted on the specification selection screen 21. The display mode of the icons indicating that no specifications have been selected may be a general graphic that shows that they are the junction box 18 and optional parts 19, as shown in Figure 12, for example.

[0045] [3-2. Cable-related support functions] This section describes a function in the user interface screen 10 that allows users to check the length of the cable 17 connecting electrical equipment such as a light fixture 15.

[0046] Figure 15 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. The design support device 100 calculates and displays the length of a cable 17 placed on the design screen 11 based on the placement positions of electrical equipment connected to both ends. When the electrical equipment connected to both ends is moved, the design support device 100 calculates and displays the length of the cable 17 based on the placement positions of the electrical equipment after the move. If the calculated length of the cable 17 exceeds the specified length of that cable 17, the design support device 100 notifies the user of this fact. If there is a cable 17 that is longer than the distance between the electrical equipment after the move, the design support device 100 may suggest changing to that cable 17. The design support device 100 may also suggest adding a cable 17 and a junction box 18 to ensure that the length of the cable 17 does not exceed the specified length. The design support device 100 may suggest the type of additional cable 17 and junction box 18 based on the distance between the electrical equipment to be connected, the specified length of the available cable 17, and the specifications of the junction box 18. In this case, the design support device 100 may generate and present multiple candidate methods for connecting the electrical equipment to the junction box 18 when the junction box 18 and cable 17 are added, using the functions described above. This allows even users without specialized knowledge of electrical equipment to design a lighting diagram 8 in which the electrical equipment is correctly connected so that the length of the cable 17 does not exceed the specified length.

[0047] Figure 16 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. Because the movement of the luminaire 15 has caused the distance between the transformer 16 and the luminaire 15 to exceed the specified length of cable 17e, which is 20m, the design support device 100 connects the transformer 16 and the luminaire 15 without exceeding the specified length of cable 17 by adding a junction box 18 and cable 17f.

[0048] [3-3. Support functions related to transformations] This section describes a function in the user interface screen 10 that allows users to check the capacity of the transformer 16 to which electrical equipment such as lighting fixtures 15 are connected.

[0049] Figure 17 shows an example of a user interface screen provided by the design support device 100. The design support device 100 calculates the total wattage of the luminaires 15 connected to the transformer 16 located on the design screen 11, and notifies the user if the total wattage of the luminaires 15 exceeds the capacity of the transformer 16. The design support device 100 may also suggest changing to a transformer 16 with a larger capacity than the total wattage of the luminaires 15 if one exists. The design support device 100 may also suggest adding a transformer 16 so that the total capacity of the transformer 16 is greater than the total wattage of the luminaires 15. In this case, the design support device 100 may generate and present multiple candidate connection methods for the transformer 16 and the luminaires 15 when a transformer 16 is added, using the function described above. This allows even users without specialized knowledge of electrical equipment to design a lighting diagram 8 with the electrical equipment correctly connected so as not to exceed the capacity of the transformer 16.

[0050] [Configuration of the design support system] Figure 18 shows the configuration of a design support device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The design support device 100 comprises a communication device 101, a processing device 160, and a storage device 170. There are no particular restrictions on the number of devices that make up the design support device 100; for example, the processing device 160 and the storage device 170 may be realized by the cooperation of multiple devices.

[0051] The communication device 101 controls communication with other devices via the communication network 2. The communication device 101 may communicate using any communication method, whether wired or wireless.

[0052] The storage device 170 stores programs, data, etc., used by the processing device 160. The storage device 170 may be a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, or the like. The storage device 170 includes a product database 171, a connection method determination unit 172, and a connection rule holding unit 173.

[0053] The product database 171 stores information about products such as lighting fixtures 15, transformers 16, cables 17, junction boxes 18, and optional parts 19. The product database 171 stores information such as product type, identification information, name, price, and specifications. Product specifications include the capacity of the transformer 16, the specified length of the cable 17, the number of branches of the junction box 18, and the installation conditions of the optional parts 19.

[0054] The connection method determination unit 172 is a trained artificial intelligence that determines how to connect multiple electrical devices placed on the design screen 11.

[0055] The connection rule holding unit 173 holds rules for connecting multiple electrical devices placed on the design screen 11.

[0056] The processing unit 160 comprises a display control unit 161, an instruction receiving unit 162, a product placement unit 163, a product connection unit 164, a specification receiving unit 165, a cable management unit 166, a transformer management unit 167, an output unit 168, and an estimate calculation unit 169. These configurations can be realized as hardware by arbitrary circuits, a computer CPU, memory, or other LSIs. These configurations can be realized as software by programs loaded into memory. Here, we are illustrating the functional blocks realized by the cooperation of these components. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms, such as hardware only or a combination of hardware and software.

[0057] The display control unit 161 displays a design screen 11 for designing the arrangement of products, and a product list screen 12 that displays a list of products that can be placed on the design screen 11.

[0058] The instruction receiving unit 162 receives instructions from the terminal device 3 via the user interface screen 10.

[0059] The product placement unit 163 performs the functions described in [1] above and places the products on the design screen 11.

[0060] The product connection unit 164 performs the function described in [2] above and connects multiple products placed on the design screen 11.

[0061] The specification reception unit 165 performs the functions described in [3-1] above, and when it receives the selection of product specifications to be placed on the design screen 11, it extracts selectable options from multiple product specification options based on the product placement status and connection status with other products on the design screen 11, and makes the extracted options selectable.

[0062] The cable management unit 166 performs the functions described in [3-2] above, and if the length of the cable 17 connecting the electrical equipment placed on the design screen 11 exceeds the specified length, it notifies the user of this fact and proposes a design change.

[0063] The transformer management unit 167 performs the functions described in [3-3] above, and if the total wattage of the electrical equipment connected to the transformer 16 located on the design screen 11 exceeds the capacity of the transformer 16, it notifies the user of this fact and proposes a design change.

[0064] The output unit 168 outputs a list of products placed on the design screen 11. The output unit 168 may also read information about each product from the product database 171 and output it.

[0065] The estimation unit 169 refers to the product database 171 and calculates and presents estimates for the costs and time required to install the products placed on the design screen 11.

[0066] The present disclosure has been described above based on embodiments, but embodiments merely illustrate the principles and applications of the present invention. Furthermore, many modifications and changes in arrangement are possible in the embodiments, without departing from the spirit of the present invention as defined in the claims.

[0067] The design support device 100 may generate a lighting diagram from a floor plan or sketch of the electrical equipment's location using a trained artificial intelligence that takes a floor plan or sketch of the location as input and outputs a lighting diagram representing the placement of the electrical equipment at that location. This artificial intelligence may be implemented using a single-layer or multi-layer neural network. This artificial intelligence may be trained using supervised or unsupervised learning, with floor plans, sketches of the location and lighting diagrams from electrical equipment installation examples as training data. For example, based on an evaluation of the installation example, correct labels may be assigned to the lighting diagrams of the electrical equipment in the installation example to create training data for supervised learning, and the artificial intelligence may be trained using supervised learning with the created training data. Alternatively, the artificial intelligence may be trained using unsupervised learning by analyzing information on a large number of installation examples using methods such as association analysis to discover the relationships between floor plans, sketches of the location and lighting diagrams in the installation example. The artificial intelligence may also be trained using self-supervised learning by automatically assigning correct labels to the lighting diagrams in the installation example based on the discovered relationships.

[0068] The design support device 100 may generate a lighting diagram from the floor plan or sketch of the electrical equipment placement location and the images of the construction example, using a trained artificial intelligence that takes input such as a floor plan or sketch of the electrical equipment placement location and images of construction examples that match the user's preferences, and outputs a lighting diagram representing the placement of electrical equipment at the placement location. This artificial intelligence may be implemented using a single-layer or multi-layer neural network. This artificial intelligence may be trained using supervised or unsupervised learning, with floor plans or sketches of the electrical equipment placement location in construction examples, images of the construction examples, and lighting diagrams of the construction examples as training data. For example, training data for supervised learning may be created by assigning correct labels to the connection patterns of electrical equipment in construction examples based on evaluations of the construction examples, and the artificial intelligence may be trained using supervised learning with the created training data. Alternatively, a generator that generates a lighting diagram from floor plans or sketches of the placement location and images of the construction examples using information on a large number of construction examples may be trained using a method such as a generative adversarial network (GAN) in which the generator and classifier are sequentially trained adversarially. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0069] 1...Design support system, 2...Communication network, 3...Terminal device, 4...House, 5...Lighting fixture, 6...Transformer, 7...Cable, 10...User interface screen, 11...Design screen, 12...Product list screen, 13...Icon, 14...Button, 15...Lighting fixture, 16...Transformer, 17...Cable, 18...Junction box, 19...Optional parts, 20...Specification selection screen, 21...Specification selection screen, 100...Design support device, 101...Communication device, 160...Processing device, 161...Display control unit, 162...Instruction reception unit, 163...Product placement unit, 164...Product connection unit, 165...Specification reception unit, 166...Cable management unit, 167...Transformer management unit, 168...Output unit, 169...Estimate calculation unit, 170...Storage device, 171...Product database, 172...Connection method determination unit, 173...Connection rule holding unit.

Claims

1. On the computer, Steps include displaying a design screen for designing the placement of products, The steps include presenting patterns for connecting multiple products placed on the aforementioned design screen, A step that accepts the selection of one of several patterns presented, The steps include connecting the multiple products according to the selected pattern, A design support method for executing this process.

2. This includes a step of determining the superiority or inferiority of multiple patterns according to pre-established rules. The design support method according to claim 1.

3. In the step of accepting the aforementioned selection, multiple patterns are presented according to the determined superiority or inferiority. The design support method according to claim 2.

4. The process includes the step of connecting the multiple products according to a pattern automatically selected based on the determined superiority or inferiority. The design support method according to claim 2.

5. The step includes generating a pattern for connecting multiple products placed on the design screen, In the step of presenting the pattern, the pattern generated in the step of generating the pattern is presented. The design support method according to claim 1.

6. In the step of generating the pattern, a trained connection method determination unit is used to generate a pattern for connecting multiple products by inputting information about multiple products and outputting a pattern for connecting the multiple products. The design support method according to claim 5.

7. The steps include: displaying a product list screen that shows a list of products that can be placed on the design screen; When a selection is received for any of the products displayed on the product list screen, the icon of the selected product is temporarily placed in a predetermined position on the design screen. When an operation to move a product that has been placed in a temporary position is received, the product icon is moved, When an operation to confirm the placement position of products that have been placed in a temporary position is received, the process proceeds to the step of receiving the product specifications, Upon receiving the product specifications, the next step is to place the product in a confirmed position, Includes, The display format of the icons for the aforementioned products differs between the provisional placement state and the final placement state. The design support method according to claim 1.

8. A display control unit that displays a design screen for designing the arrangement of products, A product connection unit that connects multiple products arranged on the design screen, Equipped with, The aforementioned product connection part is, A pattern for connecting the aforementioned multiple products is presented, The system accepts selection from one of the multiple patterns presented. Connect the multiple products according to the selected pattern. Design support equipment.

9. On the computer, Steps include displaying a design screen for designing the placement of products, The steps include presenting patterns for connecting multiple products placed on the aforementioned design screen, A step that accepts the selection of one of several patterns presented, The steps include connecting the multiple products according to the selected pattern, A design support program to enable execution.

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