Alarm device

Abstract

To provide an alarm device capable of appropriately outputting audio. [Solution] The alarm device 1 comprises a transmitting unit 10 that emits microwaves into the surroundings, a receiving unit 12 that receives reflected microwaves from the transmitted microwaves, a frequency information acquisition unit 14 that acquires frequency information indicating the frequency of the reflected waves, an amplitude information acquisition unit 16 that acquires amplitude information indicating the amplitude of the reflected waves, a determination unit 18 that determines whether or not an object to which microwaves have been reflected is within the detection range of the microwaves based on at least one of the frequency information and the amplitude information, and an output unit 20 that outputs sound to the object according to the determination result of the determination unit 18.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an alarm device that performs voice output.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, an alarm device that performs voice output when detecting an alarm target has been used. As a technology applicable to such an alarm device, for example, there is one described in Patent Document 1 whose citation is shown below.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a voice output system. This voice output system includes a human presence sensor capable of detecting whether a person exists in a predetermined detection area, and a voice output unit capable of outputting voice to a person existing in the detection area. When the human presence sensor detects a person in the detection area, it transmits the detection result to a server device, and is configured to output voice data received from the server device from the voice output unit.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the voice output system described in Patent Document 1, the system is configured to output sound from the voice output unit when a human presence sensor detects a person in the detection area. However, in the voice output system described in Patent Document 1, an infrared sensor is used as the human presence sensor, and it is determined that a person is present if there is a change in the amount of infrared radiation within the detection range, and that there is no person if there is no change. Therefore, if a person enters the detection range from outside the detection range, stays within it, and then leaves the detection range, there is no change in the amount of infrared radiation within the detection range while the person is within the detection range, and it is determined that there is no person, so the voice output stops. Also, if a person stays within the detection range and then leaves the detection range, even though they are actually moving away from the alarm, there is a change in the amount of infrared radiation within the detection range, so it is determined that a person is present, and the voice output resumes. Therefore, in the voice output system described in Patent Document 1, it is possible that information may not be obtained even if the person is actually near the detection range, or that the voice output may resume even if the person is moving away, making it impossible to hear.

[0006] Therefore, there is a need for an alarm device that can output sound appropriately. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The characteristic configuration of the alarm device according to the present invention is that it comprises a transmitting unit that emits microwaves into the surroundings, a receiving unit that receives reflected waves of the transmitted microwaves, a frequency information acquisition unit that acquires frequency information indicating the frequency of the reflected waves, an amplitude information acquisition unit that acquires amplitude information indicating the amplitude of the reflected waves, a determination unit that determines whether or not an object to which the microwaves have been reflected is within the detection range of the microwaves based on at least one of the frequency information and the amplitude information, and an output unit that outputs sound to the object according to the determination result of the determination unit.

[0008] The frequency and amplitude of the reflected wave differ depending on whether a person is present within the detection range or not. Therefore, with this feature configuration, it becomes possible to appropriately output audio to people within the detection range when audio output is required.

[0009] Furthermore, it is preferable for the determination unit to determine that the object is present within the detection range while the frequency based on the frequency information is changing.

[0010] If an object is moving within the detection range, the frequency of the reflected wave constantly changes. Therefore, the detection unit can appropriately determine whether or not an object is present within the detection range based on the frequency information.

[0011] Furthermore, it is preferable for the determination unit to determine that the object is present within the detection range while the amplitude based on the amplitude information is detected.

[0012] If an object is present within the detection range, the amplitude value will exceed a predetermined value. Therefore, the determination unit can appropriately determine whether or not an object is present within the detection range based on the presence or absence of amplitude (whether or not the amplitude value is greater than a predetermined value).

[0013] Furthermore, it is preferable that the output unit outputs the sound when the object is within the detection range.

[0014] With this configuration, in situations where audio output is necessary, it is possible to appropriately output audio to people within the detection range.

[0015] Furthermore, it is preferable that the output unit outputs the sound when the object enters the detection range.

[0016] With this configuration, in situations where audio output is necessary, it is possible to appropriately output audio to people who enter the detection range.

[0017] Also, even when the determination unit cannot detect a change in the frequency after detecting the entry of the object into the detection range, it is preferable that the determination unit determines that the object exists within the detection range when the amplitude is detected.

[0018] After detecting the entry into the detection range, if the change in the frequency cannot be detected, it is highly likely that a person is staying within the detection range. Therefore, with such a configuration, it is possible to appropriately determine whether a person exists within the detection range.

[0019] Also, when the frequency is included between a preset first threshold value and a second threshold value greater than the first threshold value, the determination unit determines that the object exists within the detection range. When the state where the frequency is below the first threshold value continues for a preset first time, the determination unit determines that the object has exited the detection range. When the state where the frequency is above the second threshold value continues for a preset second time, the determination unit determines that the object has entered the detection range, which is preferable.

[0020] With such a configuration, it is possible to appropriately determine the movement outside the detection range and the entry into the detection range according to the time when the frequency is detected. Therefore, it is possible to improve the determination accuracy.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0021] [Figure 1] It is a block diagram showing the configuration of the alarm device. [Figure 2] It is a diagram showing a determination pattern by the determination unit. [Figure 3] It is a diagram showing a determination pattern by the determination unit. [Figure 4] It is a diagram showing a determination pattern by the determination unit. [Figure 5] It is a diagram showing a determination pattern by the determination unit.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0022] The warning device according to the present invention is configured to be able to appropriately output voice to an object existing within the detection range. Hereinafter, the warning device 1 of the present embodiment will be described. However, the warning device 1 is not limited to the following embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist thereof.

[0023] The detection range of the warning device 1 can be set in advance, and when the presence of a warning target, which is an object for voice output within this detection range, is confirmed, voice output is performed. Further, this voice output may be performed, for example, when gas is detected by a separately provided gas detection sensor or when a fire is detected by a fire detection sensor. Also, the voice output may be information such as meteorological information, weather information, rain cloud rapid report, dryness caution information, etc., or information such as disaster prevention information or landslide disaster information, etc.

[0024] FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the warning device 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the warning device 1 includes a transmission unit 10, a reception unit 12, a frequency information acquisition unit 14, an amplitude information acquisition unit 16, a determination unit 18, and an output unit 20. Each functional unit is constructed by hardware or software or both with a CPU as a core member in order to perform processing related to voice output.

[0025] The transmission unit 10 emits microwaves to the surroundings. The surroundings correspond to the detection range described above. Emitting microwaves means transmitting microwaves. Therefore, the transmission unit 10 transmits microwaves toward the detection range. For example, the transmission of microwaves may be performed at preset time intervals.

[0026] The receiving unit 12 receives the reflected waves of the transmitted microwaves. The microwaves transmitted from the transmitting unit 10 are reflected if there is a reflective object. The receiving unit 12 receives the reflected waves in this manner. As will be described later, the distance to the object that reflected the microwaves is calculated based on the transmitted microwaves and the received reflected waves, so it is preferable to install the receiving unit 12 adjacent to the transmitting unit 10. In this embodiment, the receiving unit 12 is configured to output a signal with an amplitude value of less than or equal to a predetermined value in conjunction with the transmission of microwaves by the transmitting unit 10.

[0027] The frequency information acquisition unit 14 acquires frequency information indicating the frequency of the reflected wave. Here, the reflected microwave wave transmitted from the transmission unit 10 changes according to the velocity of the object in the detection range. That is, if the object is moving in the detection range, the frequency of the reflected wave will constantly change, as shown in Figure 2. Therefore, the frequency information acquisition unit 14 acquires frequency information indicating the frequency of the reflected wave received by the reception unit 12. In this case, the amplitude value A of the signal will be greater than the threshold T.

[0028] The amplitude information acquisition unit 16 acquires amplitude information indicating the amplitude of the reflected wave. Here, if an object is present within the detection range, the microwave transmitted from the transmitter 10 is reflected by the object and received by the receiver 12 as a reflected wave. Therefore, the signal obtained by the receiver 12 has a predetermined amplitude value. On the other hand, if no object is present within the detection range, the receiver 12 does not receive the reflected microwave transmitted from the transmitter 10, and as described above, the receiver 12 outputs a signal with an amplitude value of less than or equal to the predetermined value. Therefore, if an object is present within the detection range, as shown in Figure 3, the amplitude value A of the output of the receiver 12 becomes greater than the threshold T, and if no object is present within the detection range, as shown in Figure 4, the amplitude value A of the output of the receiver 12 becomes smaller than the threshold T. In other words, it is possible to determine whether or not an object is present within the detection range based on the presence or absence of amplitude. Therefore, the amplitude information acquisition unit 16 acquires amplitude information indicating the amplitude of the output from the receiver 12.

[0029] The determination unit 18 determines whether or not an object that has reflected microwaves is within the detection range of the microwaves, based on at least one of the frequency information and the amplitude information. The frequency information is transmitted from the frequency information acquisition unit 14. The amplitude information is transmitted from the amplitude information acquisition unit 16. As described above, if an object is moving within the detection range, the frequency changes (see Figure 2). On the other hand, if an object is present within the detection range, the amplitude value A becomes greater than the threshold T (see Figure 3). Therefore, the determination unit 18 determines that an object is present within the detection range if the frequency indicated by the frequency information has changed, and determines that an object is present within the detection range if the amplitude value indicated by the amplitude information is greater than a predetermined value.

[0030] The determination unit 18 determines that an object is present within the detection range if the frequency based on the frequency information is changing. This is because, as mentioned above, the frequency changes if an object is present within the detection range.

[0031] Furthermore, the determination unit 18 determines that an object is present within the detection range as long as an amplitude based on amplitude information is detected. This is because, as described above, if an object is present within the detection range, the amplitude will be greater than a predetermined value.

[0032] The output unit 20 outputs audio to an object according to the determination result of the determination unit 18. The determination result of the determination unit 18 is the determination result of whether or not an object is present within the detection range, which is determined based on at least one of the frequency information and the amplitude information. If the determination result indicates that an object is present, the output unit 20 outputs audio within the detection range. The output unit 20 may be configured to output audio when an object (person) is detected within the detection range, for example, when gas or fire is detected. The output unit 20 may also be configured to output audio related to weather information, weather information, rain cloud forecasts, dry weather warnings, disaster prevention information, landslide information, etc., when an object (person) is detected within the detection range.

[0033] Furthermore, for example, when an object enters the detection range, the amplitude value A changes from being less than threshold T to being greater than threshold T. Therefore, the determination unit 18 determines that an object has entered the detection range when the amplitude value A changes from being less than threshold T to being greater than threshold T. This determination result is transmitted to the output unit 20. Consequently, the output unit 20 outputs audio when an object enters the detection range.

[0034] After detecting the entry of an object into the detection range as described above, the determination unit 18 preferably determines that an object is present within the detection range if it detects the object entering and exiting the detection range multiple times. The entry of an object into the detection range can be detected when the amplitude value A changes from a state where it is less than threshold T to a state where it is greater than threshold T. "Detecting the entry and exit from the detection range multiple times" can be determined by the alternating states of the amplitude value A being greater than threshold T and less than threshold T. In such cases, it is assumed that the object is moving near the boundary of the detection range. Therefore, in this case, the determination unit 18 should consider that an object is present within the detection range and determine that an object is present within the detection range. As a result, the output unit 20 outputs audio within the detection range.

[0035] Furthermore, in the situation described above where an object is present near the boundary of the detection range, if the determination unit 18 determines that an object is present within the detection range, and does not detect the entry of an object within a predetermined time after detecting the object's exit, it is appropriate to determine that no object is present within the detection range. If no entry of an object is detected within a predetermined time after detecting the object's exit, it corresponds to a state where the amplitude value A remains smaller than the threshold T. In this case, the determination unit 18 should determine that no object continues to be present within the detection range. As a result, the output unit 20 terminates audio output to the detection range. Even if, as described above, a person is present near the boundary of the detection range, if no entry of an object is detected within a predetermined time afterward, it is highly likely that the person has moved (left) the detection range. Therefore, it is possible to determine that the person has moved (left) the detection range in this manner.

[0036] Furthermore, even if the determination unit 18 cannot detect a change in frequency after detecting the entry of an object into the detection range, it is preferable to determine that an object is present within the detection range if an amplitude is detected. As described above, if an object is moving within the detection range, the frequency will change. On the other hand, if an object is present within the detection range but is not moving, the frequency will not change, but the amplitude value A will become greater than the threshold T. In this case, it is preferable for the determination unit 18 to determine whether or not an object is present within the detection range based on the amplitude value A, regardless of the frequency. As a result, the output unit 20 outputs audio within the detection range.

[0037] By configuring the system as described above, it becomes possible to output audio when an object is within the detection range, and to not output audio when no object is present within the detection range.

[0038] [Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, the determination unit 18 was described as determining whether or not an object that has reflected microwaves is within the detection range of the microwaves based on at least one of the frequency information and the amplitude information. However, the determination unit 18 may be configured to determine whether or not an object that has reflected microwaves is within the detection range of the microwaves based on both the frequency information and the amplitude information. This would make it possible to improve the accuracy of the determination.

[0039] In the above embodiment, the determination unit 18 was described as determining that an object is present within the detection range while the frequency based on the frequency information is changing. However, when the determination unit 18 makes a determination based on both the frequency information and the amplitude information, it does not need to determine that an object is present within the detection range even while the frequency based on the frequency information is changing if the amplitude based on the amplitude information is not detected.

[0040] In the above embodiment, the determination unit 18 was described as determining that an object exists within the detection range as long as an amplitude based on amplitude information is detected. However, when the determination unit 18 makes a determination based on both frequency information and amplitude information, it does not need to determine that an object exists within the detection range if the frequency based on frequency information is not detected, even if the amplitude based on amplitude information is changing.

[0041] In the above embodiment, the output unit 20 was described as outputting sound when an object is within the detection range. However, the output unit 20 can also be configured to output sound only when an object begins to be within the detection range.

[0042] In the above embodiment, the output unit 20 was described as outputting sound when an object enters the detection range. However, the output unit 20 can also be configured to output sound after a predetermined time has elapsed since the object entered the detection range.

[0043] In the above embodiment, it was described that when the determination unit 18 detected the entry into the detection range of the object, even if it could not detect the change in frequency, when the amplitude was detected, it determined that an object was present within the detection range. However, when the determination unit 18 cannot detect the change in frequency, it may not determine that an object is present within the detection range.

[0044] In the above embodiment, it was described that the determination unit 18 determines whether an object is present within the detection range based on the amplitude value A and the frequency. However, the determination unit 18 can also be configured to make a determination based on the frequency and time. In this case, for example, let the frequency be f, and two threshold values X and Y are set for this frequency. Here, X < Y. The threshold value X is a threshold value for determining whether the object has exited the detection range, and the threshold value Y is a threshold value for determining whether the object has entered the detection range. In this case, when the frequency f is smaller than the threshold value X, it is considered that the object has exited the detection range. When the frequency f is between the threshold value X and the threshold value Y, it is considered that the object is moving within the detection range. When the frequency f is larger than the threshold value Y, it is considered that the object has entered the detection range. However, when the object moves at a high speed temporarily while moving within the detection range, for example, if only the frequency is used for determination, there may be an incorrect determination assuming that there has been an entry and an exit. Therefore, when determining entry and exit, it is advisable to consider the respective duration t. A threshold value Z for the duration t is set, and entry and exit are determined based on whether the duration t is larger than the threshold value Z.

[0045] Such a determination pattern using the duration t is shown in FIG. 5. When the frequency f is included between the threshold value X (corresponding to the "predetermined first threshold value") and the threshold value Y (corresponding to the "second threshold value") larger than the threshold value X (X < f < Y), the determination unit 18 determines that the object is present within the detection range because the moving speed of the object is small. This corresponds to the regions #2 and #5 in FIG. 5, and such a determination may be made regardless of the duration t.

[0046] Further, when the frequency f is smaller than the threshold value X and the duration t is smaller than the threshold value Z (i.e., when f < X and t < Z), the determination unit 18 determines that an object exists within the detection range because the short duration t can be presumed to be temporary. This corresponds to the area #1 in FIG. 5.

[0047] Further, when the frequency f is larger than the threshold value Y and the duration t is smaller than the threshold value Z (i.e., when Y < f and t < Z), the determination unit 18 determines that an object exists within the detection range because the short duration t can be presumed to be temporary. This corresponds to the area #3 in FIG. 5.

[0048] Also, when the state where the frequency f is below the threshold value X continues for a preset first time, that is, when the duration t is larger than the threshold value Z (f < X and Z < t), the determination unit 18 determines that the object has exited the detection range because the frequency f is sufficiently small and that time has continued for a certain period. This corresponds to the area #4 in FIG. 5.

[0049] Also, when the state where the frequency f is above the threshold value Y continues for a preset second time, that is, when the duration t is larger than the threshold value Z (Y < f and Z < t), the determination unit 18 determines that the object has entered the detection range because the frequency f is sufficiently large and that time has continued for a certain period. This corresponds to the area #6 in FIG. 5. Even in such a case of determination, the output unit 20 can appropriately perform voice output.

[0050] Note that the configurations disclosed in the above-described embodiments can be applied in combination with the configurations disclosed in other embodiments as long as no contradiction occurs. Regarding other configurations, all the embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely examples in all respects. Therefore, various modifications can be made as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

Industrial Applicability

[0051] This invention can be used in alarm devices that provide audio output. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0052] 1:Alarm device 10: Transmitter 12: Receiver 14: Frequency Information Acquisition Unit 16: Amplitude information acquisition section 18: Judgment section 20: Output section

Claims

1. A transmitting unit that emits microwaves into the surroundings, A receiving unit that receives the reflected waves of the transmitted microwave, A frequency information acquisition unit that acquires frequency information indicating the frequency of the reflected wave, An amplitude information acquisition unit that acquires amplitude information indicating the amplitude of the reflected wave, A determination unit that determines whether or not an object reflected by the microwave is within the detection range of the microwave, based on at least one of the frequency information and the amplitude information, An output unit that outputs sound to the object according to the determination result of the determination unit, An alarm device equipped with the following features.

2. The alarm device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines that the object is present within the detection range while the frequency based on the frequency information is changing.

3. The alarm device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines that the object is present within the detection range while the amplitude based on the amplitude information is detected.

4. The alarm device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the output unit outputs the sound when the object is within the detection range.

5. The alarm device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the output unit outputs the sound when the object enters the detection range.

6. The alarm device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the determination unit determines that the object is present within the detection range if the amplitude is detected, even if it fails to detect a change in frequency after detecting the object's entry into the detection range.

7. The alarm device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the determination unit determines that the object is within the detection range if the frequency is between a preset first threshold and a second threshold greater than the first threshold, determines that the object has left the detection range if the state in which the frequency is less than or equal to the first threshold continues for a preset first time, and determines that the object has entered the detection range if the state in which the frequency is greater than or equal to the second threshold continues for a preset second time.

Images