Article management system, data generation method, and information processing apparatus

Abstract

To provide an article management system, a data generation method, and an information processing device that leave highly accurate records regarding the use of articles.SOLUTION: An article management system 1 includes: position tags 40a-40n which are respectively installed in a plurality of areas A-N; article tags 50a, 50b which are attached to articles; user tags 60a, 60b which are respectively carried by a plurality of users; at least one tag reader 100a, 100b which can read identification information from the tags; and a management server 200 having a history acquisition unit which acquires position histories of the articles based on reading results of the identification information from the position tags and the article tags and a movement history of each user based on reading results of the identification information from the position tags and the user tags and a generation unit which generates use result data that associates the articles with the users who used the articles on the basis of a comparison between the position histories of the articles and the movement histories of one or more users.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an article management system, a data generation method, and an information processing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] Generally, at factories and construction sites, various devices (for example, vehicles or machines, etc.) are used. In order to formulate an appropriate work plan, manage the progress of work, and ensure work safety, it is important to accurately grasp the usage record, that is, information on who used which device. Conventionally, for the purpose of recording such information, for example, when lending and returning keys required for using a device, operations such as entering information such as the user name and usage time in a ledger have been performed. However, in the method of manually entering information in a ledger, a situation may occur where the record does not match the facts, for example, due to inaccurate description or omission of entry.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of mounting an IC tag on a key for unlocking and locking a storage vault for storing articles, and recording the lending history of the key based on information read from the IC tag when the key is lent and returned.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, the history recorded by the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 indicates when the user possessed the key from when to when, rather than indicating who used the item that became available using the key at what time. Such technology is incomplete from the perspective of leaving an accurate record regarding the use of the item, for example, it cannot recognize the fact that the key once lent has been transferred to another user.

[0006] In view of the above points, the present invention aims to realize a mechanism for leaving an accurate record regarding the use of an item.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0007] According to one aspect, a first wireless device installed in a plurality of areas respectively, a second wireless device attached to an item, a third wireless device carried by a plurality of users respectively, at least one reader capable of reading identification information stored in the wireless device from the wireless device, a history acquisition unit that acquires a history of the position of the item based on a result of reading identification information from the first wireless device and the second wireless device by the at least one reader, and a history of movement of each user based on a result of reading identification information from the first wireless device and the third wireless device by the at least one reader, and a generation unit that generates usage record data for associating the item with the user who used the item based on a comparison between the history of the position of the item and the history of movement of one or more users. An item management system including the above is provided. A corresponding method and information processing apparatus are also provided.

Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to leave an accurate record regarding the use of an item.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although a plurality of features are described in the embodiments, not all of these plurality of features are essential to the invention, and the plurality of features may be arbitrarily combined. Further, in the accompanying drawings, the same or similar configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations are omitted.

[0011] <1. Overview of the System> FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of an article management system 1 according to an embodiment. Here, the article management system 1 is a system for managing the usage status of articles by users. In the article management system 1, any type of article may be used by a user, and the article may be an inanimate object (e.g., a machine, device, instrument, material, consumer product, part, vehicle, or robot) or a living thing (e.g., an animal or a plant).

[0012] In the article management system 1, the space where each user can act is partitioned into a plurality of areas 10a to 10n. In area 10a, there are user 20a and articles 30a and 30b. In area 10b, there is user 20b. Users 20a and 20b can freely move between the plurality of areas 10a to 10n.

[0013] For the purpose of article management, the article management system 1 utilizes a wireless device also called a tag. In this embodiment, the article management system 1 includes three types of tags. The first type of tag (first wireless device) is a position tag installed in each of the areas 10a to 10n. The second type of tag (second wireless device) is an article tag attached to each article managed in the article management system 1. The third type of tag (third wireless device) is a user tag carried by a user.

[0014] In the example of FIG. 1, position tags 40a to 40n are installed in areas 10a to 10n, respectively. The installation position of each of the position tags 40a to 40n may be fixed or changeable. When the area itself moves (for example, the movement of the work site), the position tag may be relocated along with the movement of the area. Article tags 50a and 50b are attached to articles 30a and 30b, respectively. Each article tag moves along with the movement of the corresponding article. User 20a carries user tag 60a. User 20b carries user tag 60b. The user tags 60a and 60b may be IC card-type devices such as employee ID cards or entrance tickets. In this specification, the expression that a user carries a certain object shall broadly include various modes in which the user moves together with the object (for example, moving while holding or wearing the object).

[0015] In the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish between areas 10a to 10n from each other, these are collectively referred to as area 10 by omitting the alphabet at the end of the reference numeral. The same applies to articles 30 (articles 30a, 30b), position tags 40 (40a to 40n), article tags 50 (article tags 50a, 50b), user tags 60 (user tags 60a, 60b), and other elements. The number of users 20 and the number of articles 30 existing in the article management system 1 are not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1 and may be any number.

[0016] In this embodiment, each of the tags such as the position tag 40, the article tag 50, and the user tag 60 is assumed to be a passive RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag (passive tag). The passive tag is composed of a small IC (Integrated Circuit) chip with a built-in memory and an antenna, and stores identification information for identifying the tag and other information in the memory. In this specification, the identification information is simply referred to as ID, and the identification information for identifying the tag is also called the tag ID. Note that the tag ID may be regarded as information for identifying the object to which the tag is attached. The IC chip of the passive tag operates using the energy of the electromagnetic wave radiated from the tag reader, modulates the tag ID and other information stored in the memory into an information signal, and transmits (returns) the information signal from the antenna.

[0017] In the example of FIG. 1, the article tags 50a and 50b each have unique tag IDs 51a and 51b embedded in the tags. The tag ID 51 of each article tag 50 is associated with the article 30 to which the article tag 50 is attached in a database described later. Each user tag 60 also has a unique tag ID embedded in the tag. The tag ID of each user tag 60 is associated with the user 20 who carries the user tag 60. Each position tag 40 also has a unique tag ID embedded in the tag. The tag ID of each position tag 40 is associated with the area 10 where the position tag 40 is installed.

[0018] Note that in other embodiments, each tag may be an active RFID tag. When information is actively (e.g., periodically) transmitted to the surroundings using the power from the battery built into each tag, the tag may be called a beacon tag. In still another embodiment, each tag may be a wireless device that returns information in, for example, the NFC (Near Field Communication) method or the Bluetooth (registered trademark) method in response to a signal from the reader. Each tag may be called by any name such as an IC tag, an IC card, or a responder.

[0019] In addition to the user tag 60a, the user 20a carries the tag reader 100a. In addition to the user tag 60b, the user 20b carries the tag reader 100b. In the present embodiment, each tag reader 100 can be carried by the user 20 and move between a plurality of areas 10a to 10n. The article management system 1 includes at least one such tag reader 100, a management server 200, and a terminal device 300. Note that each tag reader 100 does not have to be associated with a specific user 20. For example, the users 20a and 20b may exchange the tag readers 100a and 100b with each other, or a plurality of users 20 may share a smaller number of tag readers 100.

[0020] The tag reader 100, the management server 200, and the terminal device 300 are connected to the network 5. The network 5 may be a wired network, a wireless network, or any combination thereof. Examples of the network 5 may include the Internet, an intranet, and a cloud network.

[0021] The tag reader 100 is a reading device capable of reading information stored in a wireless device such as an RFID tag from the wireless device. For example, the tag reader 100 can detect the article 30 by reading the tag ID 51 from the article tag 50 attached to the article 30. The tag reader 100 performs reading periodically or in response to some trigger such as a user operation, and transmits the tag reading result to the management server 200. The tag reader 100 may be directly communicable with the management server 200, or may be indirectly communicable with the management server 200 via some relay device (for example, a PC or a smartphone carried by the user 20). A specific configuration example of the tag reader 100 will be further described later.

[0022] The management server 200 is an information processing device that tracks the positions of the user 20 and the article 30 and records in a database the usage status of the article 30 by the user 20. The management server 200 may be implemented as an application server, a database server, or a cloud server, for example, using a high-performance general-purpose computer. A specific configuration example of the management server 200 will be further described later.

[0023] Although FIG. 1 shows a single management server 200, the functions of the management server 200, which will be described in detail later, may be provided by a single device, or may be provided by a plurality of physically separate devices cooperating with each other. Also, in the present embodiment, an example in which the management server 200 holds a database will be described, but a device separate from the management server 200 may hold part or all of the database. For example, some data may be held by a wireless device, the tag reader 100, or the terminal device 300.

[0024] The terminal device 300 is used by the user 20 or the administrator of the article management system 1. The terminal device 300 may be a general-purpose terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer) or a smartphone, for example, or may be a dedicated terminal specialized for the purpose of article management. The terminal device 300 may be portable or stationary. The terminal device 300 typically includes an input device that receives user input, a communication interface that communicates with other devices (for example, the management server 200), and a display device that displays information. As an example, the terminal device 300 is used when the user 20 registers a reservation for using the article 30 with the management server 200. As another example, the terminal device 300 is used when the administrator views usage result data, which will be described later, that can be provided by the management server 200.

[0025] In FIG. 1, the tag reader 100 and the terminal device 300 are depicted as separate devices. However, an integrated device having the functions of both the tag reader 100 and the terminal device 300 may be provided. Further, the terminal device 300 may be carried by the user 20 and relay communication between the tag reader 100 and the management server 200. Also, the functions of the management server 200 described in the present embodiment may be realized in the terminal device 300.

[0026] <2. Configuration Example of Tag Reader> FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the tag reader 100 according to an embodiment. Referring to FIG. 2, the tag reader 100 includes a control unit 111, a storage unit 112, a communication unit 113, a measurement unit 114, a power supply 115, and a reading unit 116.

[0027] The control unit 111 consists of a memory that stores a computer program and one or more processors (e.g., a CPU or a microcontroller) that execute the computer program. The control unit 111 controls all the functions of the tag reader 100 described in this specification. For example, the control unit 111 causes the reading unit 116 to attempt to read an RFID tag within the tag reading range, and temporarily stores the read information and the reading time in the storage unit 112 as reading result data. Also, in parallel with the reading of the RFID tag, the control unit 111 causes the measurement unit 114 to measure the position of the tag reader 100, and stores the measurement result in the storage unit 112. Then, the control unit 111 transmits the reading result data and the measurement result data stored in the storage unit 112, together with reader identification information (also referred to as reader ID) for identifying its own device, to the management server 200 via the communication unit 113.

[0028] The storage unit 112 may include any type of storage medium such as a semiconductor memory (e.g., ROM (Read Only Memory) or RAM (Random Access Memory)), an optical disk, or a magnetic disk. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 112 stores the above-described reading result data, measurement result data, and the reader ID of the tag reader 100.

[0029] The communication unit 113 is a communication interface for the tag reader 100 to communicate with the management server 200. For example, the communication unit 113 may be a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) interface that communicates with a WLAN access point, or a cellular communication interface that communicates with a cellular base station. Further, the communication unit 113 may be a connection interface for connection with a relay device (for example, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) interface or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface).

[0030] The measurement unit 114 is a unit capable of measuring the position of the tag reader 100. In the present embodiment, the measurement unit 114 measures the relative movement amount of the tag reader 100 from a certain reference position using a self-position estimation technique also called PDR (Pedestrian Dead Reckoning), and outputs the measured movement amount to the control unit 111. The reference position for measuring the relative movement amount may be, for example, the position of the tag reader 100 at the time when the tag reader 100 is activated. The relative movement amount of the tag reader 100 can be treated as a relative position. For example, the measurement unit 114 includes a three-axis acceleration sensor 114a, a gyro sensor 114b, and a geomagnetic sensor 114c. The three-axis acceleration sensor 114a measures the acceleration applied to the tag reader 100 in the device coordinate system unique to the tag reader 100 and outputs first sensor data. The gyro sensor 114b measures the angular velocity of the tag reader 100, that is, the change in the posture of the tag reader 100, and outputs second sensor data. The geomagnetic sensor 114c measures the azimuth of the tag reader 100 in real space and outputs third sensor data. The measurement unit 114 can measure the relative movement amount of the tag reader 100 by accumulating the acceleration while converting the direction of the acceleration of the tag reader 100 into the direction in the coordinate system of real space based on the sensor data from these sensors. The relative movement amount output from the measurement unit 114 to the control unit 111 may be a two-dimensional vector in the horizontal plane, or may be a three-dimensional vector including a component in the height direction.

[0031] As will be described later, in the present embodiment, the position coordinates of the installation positions of the respective position tags 40 are known and registered in the database. Therefore, based on the relative movement amount from the time when the tag reader 100 detects a certain position tag 40 to the current time and the known position coordinates of the position tag 40, the current absolute position (position coordinates) of the tag reader 100 can be estimated. In the present embodiment, an example in which the management server 200 estimates the absolute position of the tag reader 100 will be mainly described, but the control unit 111 or the measurement unit 114 of the tag reader 100 may access the database to estimate the absolute position of the tag reader 100. In other embodiments, the measurement unit 114 may measure the current geographical position of the tag reader 100 using GPS (Global Positioning System). In still another embodiment, the measurement unit 114 may perform base station positioning or wireless LAN positioning for estimating the current position using the known position coordinates of the connected base station or wireless LAN access point.

[0032] Note that FIG. 2 shows an example in which the tag reader 100 includes the measurement unit 114, but the measurement unit 114 may be included in an external device that is communicable with the tag reader 100 and is carried by the user together with the tag reader 100. In that case, the tag reader 100 receives movement amount information indicating the relative movement amount measured by the measurement unit 114 from the external device.

[0033] The power supply 115 includes a battery and a DC-DC converter, and supplies power for operating the electronic circuits of the control unit 111, the storage unit 112, the communication unit 113, the measurement unit 114, and the reading unit 116 of the tag reader 100. The battery may be a primary battery or a rechargeable secondary battery. Although not shown, the tag reader 100 may have a connection terminal for connecting the tag reader 100 to an external power supply for charging the power supply 115.

[0034] The reading unit 116 is a unit capable of reading information stored in each of the tags such as the above-described position tag 40, article tag 50, and user tag 60. Referring to FIG. 2, the reading unit 116 includes an RF controller 120, a power amplifier 121, a filter 122, a first coupler 123, a second coupler 124, an antenna 125, a power detection unit 126, and a canceller 127. The RF controller 120 outputs a transmission signal (for example, a signal modulated in the UHF band) from the TX terminal to the power amplifier 121 according to the control by the control unit 111. The power amplifier 121 amplifies the transmission signal input from the RF controller 120 and outputs it to the filter 122. The amplification factor of the transmission signal here may be variably controllable, and the higher the amplification factor, the higher the output intensity of the electromagnetic wave radiated from the tag reader 100. The filter 122 may be, for example, a low-pass filter, and unnecessary FrequencyRemove the components. The first coupler 123 distributes the transmitted signal that has passed through the filter 122 to the coupler 124 and the power detection unit 126. The second coupler 124 outputs the transmitted signal input from the first coupler 123 to the antenna 125, and outputs the received signal input from the antenna 125 to the RF controller 120. The antenna 125 transmits the transmitted signal input from the coupler 124 into the air as electromagnetic waves. Also, the antenna 125 receives a signal returned from an RFID tag existing within the reading range of the tag reader 100 as a response to the transmitted signal, and outputs the received signal to the coupler 124. As an example, the antenna 125 may be an omnidirectional antenna. As another example, the antenna 125 may be a directional antenna whose beam direction can be variably controlled. The power detection unit 126 detects the power level of the signal input from the first coupler 123, and outputs a signal RF_DETECT indicating the detected power level to the control unit 111. The canceller 127 receives a signal CARRIER_CANCEL indicating the power level of the carrier wave from the control unit 111. Then, based on CARRIER_CANCEL, the canceller 127 cancels the carrier component of the transmitted signal, thereby extracting the desired signal component of the received signal to be output to the RX terminal of the RF controller 120. The RF controller 120 demodulates the signal input from the RX terminal, acquires the tag ID and other information returned from the RFID tag, and outputs the acquired information to the control unit 111. Also, the RF controller 120 measures the reception level (also referred to as reception intensity) of the signal input from the RX terminal, and outputs the measurement result to the control unit 111.

[0035] In this embodiment, the trial of tag reading by the reading unit 116 can be performed periodically (e.g., once per second) without requiring an explicit instruction from the user. The transmission of data from the communication unit 113 to the management server 200 can also be performed periodically (e.g., once every few seconds) or each time a tag is read without requiring an explicit instruction from the user. The control unit 111 may exclude records identical to the records already transmitted within a recent predetermined period from the data to be transmitted in order to omit the transmission of redundant data and reduce the communication load. The control unit 111 may determine that the RFID tag is detected when the reception level of the reception signal from the RFID tag exceeds a preset minimum detection level, and transmit the reading result data for the detected RFID tag to the management server 200. Note that in other embodiments, one or both of the trial of tag reading by the reading unit 116 and the transmission of data to the management server 200 may be performed in response to a user operation detected via an input device (e.g., a button) provided in the tag reader 100. When the communication unit 113 communicates with the management server 200 indirectly via a relay device, the transmission of data to the management server 200 may be performed only while the connection between the communication unit 113 and the relay device is valid.

[0036] <3. Configuration Example of Management Server> <3-1. Basic Configuration> FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a management server 200 according to an embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3, the management server 200 includes a communication unit 210, an article database (DB) 220, and a management unit 230.

[0037] The communication unit 210 is a communication interface for the management server 200 to communicate with other devices. The communication unit 210 may be a wired communication interface or a wireless communication interface. In this embodiment, the communication unit 210 communicates with the tag reader 100 and the terminal device 300. The article DB 220 is a database that stores various information for tracking the positions of the user 20 and the article 30 and grasping the usage status of the article 30. In this embodiment, the article DB 220 includes an article table 310, an area table 320, a reader table 330, a user table 340, a reading result table 350, a history table 360, a reservation table 370, and a usage record table 380. The management unit 230 is a set of a plurality of software modules that provides a management function for managing the data in the article DB 220. Each software module can operate by a computer program stored in a memory (not shown) being executed by one or more processors (not shown) of the management server 200. In this embodiment, the management unit 230 includes a position estimation unit 231, a history acquisition unit 232, a reservation management unit 233, and a data generation unit 234.

[0038] <3-2. Configuration of Master Data> FIGS. 4(A) and (B) respectively show examples of the configurations of the article table 310 and the area table 320 of the article DB 220.

[0039] The item table 310 has four data items: tag ID 311, item ID 312, name 313, and type 314. The tag ID 311 is identification information that uniquely identifies the item tag 50 attached to each of the items 30 under the management of the system. The value of the tag ID 311 is the same as the value of the tag ID stored internally in the corresponding item tag 50. The item ID 312 is identification information that uniquely identifies each item 30. The name 313 represents the name of each item 30. In the example of FIG. 4(A), the items identified by the item IDs "IT01", "IT02", and "IT03" are given the names "Item A", "Item B", and "Item C", respectively. Here, "Item A" may correspond to the item 30a shown in FIG. 1, and "Item B" may correspond to the item 30b shown in FIG. 1. The type 314 represents the type into which each item 30 is classified. In the example of FIG. 4(A), the types of "Item A" and "Item C" are "Type1", and the type of "Item B" is "Type2". The values of the name 313 and type 314 of each item 30 may be determined by the user and registered in advance via a user interface (UI) provided by the management unit 230. Alternatively, the values of the name 313 and type 314 may be stored as item-related information in the item tag 50 and read by the tag reader 100. In the latter case, the management server 200 may receive the values of the name 313 and type 314 of the item 30 from the tag reader 100 in response to the first tag reading from the item tag 50 of each item 30 and register them in the item table 310.

[0040] The area table 320 has four data items: a tag ID 321, an area ID 322, a name 323, and coordinates 324. The tag ID 321 is identification information that uniquely identifies the position tag 40 installed in each of the plurality of areas 10. The value of the tag ID 321 is the same as the value of the tag ID internally stored in the corresponding position tag 40. The area ID 322 is identification information that uniquely identifies each area 10. The name 323 represents the name of each area 10. In the example of FIG. 4(B), the areas identified by the area IDs "AR01", "AR02", "AR03", and "AR04" are given the names "Area A", "Area B", "Area C", and "Area D", respectively. These names may actually be, for example, "Construction Section X", "Floor Y", or "Warehouse Z". The coordinates 324 represent the position coordinates of the installation position of the position tag 40 installed in each area 10.

[0041] FIGS. 5(A) and (B) respectively show examples of the configurations of the reader table 330 and the user table 340.

[0042] The reader table 330 has two data items: a reader ID 331 and a name 332. The reader ID 331 is identification information that uniquely identifies each of the tag readers 100 used in the system. The name 332 represents the name of each tag reader. In the example of FIG. 5(A), the tag readers 100 identified by the reader IDs "RD01" and "RD02" are given the names "Reader A" and "Reader B", respectively.

[0043] The user table 340 has three data items: a user ID 341, a name 342, and a tag ID 343. The user ID 341 is identification information that uniquely identifies each user 20 who uses the article 30 in the article management system 1. The name 342 represents the name of each user. In the example of Fig. 5(B), the name of the user 20 identified by the user ID "U001" is "User A", the name of the user 20 identified by the user ID "U002" is "User B", and the name of the user 20 identified by the user ID "U003" is "User C". The tag ID 343 is identification information that uniquely identifies the user tag 60 carried by each user 20. The value of the tag ID 343 is the same as the value of the tag ID stored internally in the corresponding user tag 60. Although not shown in the figure, the user table 340 may have additional data items that hold authentication information (e.g., a password or biometric information) for user authentication performed when logging in to the system.

[0044] <3-3. Location Tracking> The read result table 350 is a table for accumulating records of read result data (hereinafter referred to as read result records) received from the tag reader 100. FIG. 5(C) shows an example of the configuration of the read result table 350. The read result table 350 has four data items: a read time 351, a tag ID 352, a reader ID 353, and coordinates 354. The read time 351 represents the time when the tag ID was read for each read result record. The tag ID 352 represents the tag ID read for each read result record. The reader ID 353 is identification information for identifying the tag reader 100 that performed the tag reading for each read result record. In the example of FIG. 5(C), the first record of the read result table 350 indicates that the tag reader 100a identified by the reader ID "RD01" read the tag ID "TGA" (for example, the tag ID of the position tag 40a) at the time "T01". The second record indicates that the tag reader 100a read the tag ID "TGU1" (for example, the tag ID of the user tag 60a of the user 20a) at the time "T02". The third record indicates that the tag reader 100a read the tag ID "TG01" (for example, the tag ID of the article tag 50a of the article 30a) at the time "T03". The coordinates 354 represent the position coordinates of the location where the tag reader 100 was present at the time when the tag reading was performed.

[0045] When the position estimation unit 231 receives the reading result data for the user tag 60 from the tag reader 100, it estimates the position where the user 20 associated with the read tag ID existed at the reading time indicated by the reading result data. The estimation of the user position is performed using the measurement result data periodically received from the tag reader 100. For example, assume that the tag reader 100a reads the tag ID of the position tag 40a at the reading time T01 (the first time point) and then reads the tag ID of the user tag 60a at the reading time T02 (the second time point). The relative movement amount of the tag reader 100a from the reading time T01 to the reading time T02 corresponds to the difference in the movement amounts measured by the tag reader 100a at the two time points, and the position estimation unit 231 can derive this difference based on the measurement result data. Here, the coordinates of the installation position of the position tag 40a installed in the area 10a are known and defined in the area table 320. Therefore, the position estimation unit 231 can estimate the position where the user 20a existed at the reading time T02 by adding the relative movement amount of the tag reader 100a from the reading time T01 to the reading time T02 to the known position coordinates of the position tag 40a. The position estimation unit 231 adds the position coordinates of each user 20 estimated in this way to the column of the coordinates 354 in the corresponding record of the reading result table 350.

[0046] Similarly, when the position estimation unit 231 receives the reading result data for the article tag 50 from the tag reader 100, it estimates the position where the article 30 associated with the read tag ID existed at the reading time indicated by the reading result data. The estimation of the article position is also performed using the measurement result data periodically received from the tag reader 100. For example, assume that the tag reader 100a reads the tag ID of the position tag 40a at the reading time T01 (the first time point) and then reads the tag ID of the article tag 50a attached to the article 30a at the reading time T03 (the third time point). The relative movement amount of the tag reader 100a from the reading time T01 to the reading time T03 corresponds to the difference in the movement amounts measured by the tag reader 100a at the two time points, and the position estimation unit 231 can derive this difference based on the measurement result data. Then, the position estimation unit 231 can estimate the position where the article 30a existed at the reading time T03 by adding the relative movement amount of the tag reader 100a from the reading time T01 to the reading time T03 to the known position coordinates of the position tag 40a. The position estimation unit 231 adds the position coordinates of each article 30 estimated in this way to the column of the coordinates 354 in the corresponding record of the reading result table 350.

[0047] <3-4. Acquisition of History> The history acquisition unit 232 periodically acquires the history of the positions of the respective articles 30 and the history of the movements of the respective users 20 from the reading result table 350. For example, each time a predefined period elapses, the history acquisition unit 232 executes a process for acquiring the history of the positions of the respective articles 30 and the history of the movements of the respective users 20, and stores the acquired position history and movement history in the history table 360. The predefined period may have any length, such as several hours, half a day, or one day, for example.

[0048] More specifically, the history acquisition unit 232 acquires the position history of the article 30 to which the article tag 50 is attached based on the result of reading the tag ID from the position tag 40 and the article tag 50 by the tag reader 100. Further, the history acquisition unit 232 acquires the movement history of the user 20 carrying the user tag 60 based on the result of reading the tag ID from the position tag 40 and the user tag 60 by the tag reader 100. In the present embodiment, the position history of each article 30 is data indicating in chronological order in which area 10 each article 30 was present. Further, the movement history of each user 20 is data indicating in chronological order in which area each user 20 was present.

[0049] FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the acquisition of the position history and the movement history by the history acquisition unit 232. Only a part of the exemplary content of the reading result table 350 is shown in the upper part of FIG. 6. For example, it is assumed that the tag ID "TGU1" was read from the user tag 60a of the user 20a at 8:01 am on X month Y day, 2021, and at that time, the user 20a was estimated to be located at the position coordinates (U11, V11). Further, it is assumed that the tag ID "TG01" was read from the article tag 50a of the article 30a at 8:02 am on the same day, and at that time, the article 30a was estimated to be located at the position coordinates (U12, V12).

[0050] Examples of the position history of the article 30a (article A), the movement history of the user 20a (user A), and the movement history of the user 20b (user B), which are stored in the history table 360 by the history acquisition unit 232, are shown in the lower part of FIG. 6. As shown in the figure, the history table 360 has three data items: a target 361, a time 362, and an area 363. The target 361 indicates the article ID of the article 30 or the user ID of the user 20 associated with each record of the history (hereinafter referred to as a history record). The time 362 represents the representative time (for example, the start time) of each section obtained by further dividing the above-described period into shorter sections (for example, having a time length of several minutes, several tens of minutes, or one hour). The area 363 represents in which area 10 the article 30 or the user 20 identified by the value of the target 361 was present in the corresponding section, in terms of the area ID or name of the area 10.

[0051] For example, the history acquisition unit 232 extracts a read result record for the article 30a indicating a read time belonging to a certain section from the read result table 350. If there is no corresponding read result record, the history acquisition unit 232 may determine that the position of the article 30a in that section is unknown and generate a history record with the area 363 being blank. If one or more corresponding read result records are extracted, the history acquisition unit 232 may determine, for example, which area 10 each of the position coordinates indicated by those read result records belongs to. Then, the history acquisition unit 232 may determine, for example, that the area 10 corresponding to the most read result records is the area 10 in which the article 30a was present in that section. In the example of FIG. 6, since the coordinates (U12, V12) of the estimated position of the article 30a at 8:02 a.m. belong to area A, it is determined that the article 30a (article A) was present in area A in the section from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m., as shown in the lower left. In addition, since the coordinates (U11, V11) of the estimated location of user 20a at 8:01 a.m. belong to area A, it is determined that user 20a (user A) was present in area A between 8:00 and 8:30, as shown in the bottom center.

[0052] The determination of which area 10 a certain position coordinate belongs to may be made, for example, based on the distance between the position coordinate and the known coordinates of the position tag 40 of each area 10. As an example, when the position tag 40a among the plurality of position tags 40 is closest to the position coordinate (U12, V12), the position coordinate (U12, V12) may be determined to belong to the area 10a associated with the position tag 40a. As another example, in the area table 320, the radius of each area 10 is predefined, and when the position coordinate falls within the circle defined by the position coordinate of the position tag 40 and the radius of the area 10, the position coordinate may be determined to belong to the area 10. As yet another example, in the area table 320, information representing the boundary of each area 10 (for example, the coordinates of the vertices of a polygonal boundary) may be predefined. In this case, when the position coordinate falls within the defined boundary of the area 10, the position coordinate may be determined to belong to the area 10.

[0053] Note that the determination of which area 10 the user 20 or the article 30 is present in may be made without relying on the position coordinates of those objects. For example, it is assumed that the position tag 40 is installed at the gate of each area 10, and the tag reader 100 carried by the user 20 always reads the tag ID of the position tag 40 when entering or leaving each area 10. In this case, the history acquisition unit 232 can determine the area 10 in which the user 20 or the article 30 is present from the detection history of the position tag 40 (for example, the object is present in the area 10 from the time it enters the area 10 until it exits).

[0054] <3-5. Management of Usage Reservations> The reservation management unit 233 manages reservation data indicating reservations for the use of the article 30 in the reservation table 370 of the article DB 220. For example, the reservation management unit 233 may provide a UI (e.g., a reservation registration screen) for receiving reservation registrations to the user 20 or the administrator via the terminal device 300, and register the reservation data input via the provided UI in the reservation table 370. The reservation management unit 233 may provide a UI that enables viewing, modification, or deletion of the registered reservation data to the user 20 or the administrator via the terminal device 300.

[0055] FIG. 7(A) shows an example of the configuration of the reservation table 370 of the article DB 220. The reservation table 370 has four data items: a reservation ID 371, a period 372, a target article 373, and a reserving person 374. The reservation ID 371 is identification information that uniquely identifies each record (hereinafter referred to as a reservation record) in the reservation table 370. The period 372 indicates which period each reservation record targets. The target article 373 represents which article 30 each reservation record targets, using the article ID of the article 30. The reserving person 374 represents, for each reservation record, the user 20 who is scheduled to use the article 30 represented by the target article 373 during the period represented by the period 372, using the user ID of the user 20. Since a UI that enables such registration, viewing, modification, or deletion of reservation data may be configured by any method known to those skilled in the art, the description thereof is omitted here.

[0056] <3-6. Generation of Usage Record Data> The data generation unit 234 generates usage record data that associates the article 30 with the user 20 who used the article 30 based on a comparison between the position history of the article 30 stored in the history table 360 and the movement history of one or more users 20. For example, the data generation unit 234 generates usage record data for each article 30 for the elapsed period each time a predefined period elapses, and stores the generated usage record data in the usage record table 380. FIG. 7(B) shows an example of the configuration of the usage record table 380 of the article DB 220. The usage record table 380 has three data items: the target article 381, the period 382, and the user 383. Each record of the usage record table 380 indicates which user 20 has used each article 30 in each period based on the combination of the values of the target article 381, the period 382, and the user 383.The data generation unit 234 may make the generated usage record data viewable by the user 20 or the administrator via, for example, the terminal device 300. Further, the data generation unit 234 may output the usage record data for a specific period to a data file and transmit it to another device.

[0057] In the present embodiment, the data generation unit 234 can determine that the user 20 having the movement history with the highest correlation with the position history of each article 30 (hereinafter referred to as the target article) in a certain period (hereinafter referred to as the target period) is the user who used the target article in the target period. For example, the data generation unit 234 determines, for each user, the degree of coincidence of the areas by time when the user existed in the target period with respect to the areas by time when the target article existed in the target period. Then, the data generation unit 234 determines the user who used the target article in the target period based on the degree of coincidence determined for each user. At this time, the correlation between the position history and the movement history can be evaluated as higher as the determined degree of coincidence is higher. Therefore, in principle, the user showing the highest degree of coincidence in the history is determined to be the user who used the target article in the target period.

[0058] The data generation unit 234 may further determine, for each user, the degree of non - coincidence of the areas by time when the user existed in the target period with respect to the areas by time when the target article existed in the target period. Then, the data generation unit 234 may determine that a user whose determined degree of non - coincidence exceeds a reference value is not the user who used the target article in the target period regardless of the degree of coincidence of the history. That is, the correlation between the position history and the movement history can be evaluated as lower as the determined degree of non - coincidence is higher. The reference value to be compared with the degree of non - coincidence may be, for example, a fixed value defined in advance, or a product obtained by multiplying the degree of coincidence by a coefficient α (0 < α < 1).

[0059] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the determination of usage results based on the comparison of histories according to the first embodiment. Here, the target article is article A. The target period from 8:00 am to noon on a certain date is divided into a total of eight sections, and the start times of these sections are shown in the second column from the left in FIG. 8 (hereinafter referred to as the time column). To the left of the time column, the position history of article A that can be obtained from the history table 360 is shown, and it is determined that article A was present in area A in the first three sections of the target period, in area C in the fifth section, and in area B in the seventh and eighth sections. To the right of the time column, the movement histories of user A, user B, and user C that can be obtained from the history table 360 are shown.

[0060] As primary filtering of candidate users, the data generation unit 234 identifies one or more users whose movement histories include the areas included in the position history of the target article, and targets these users for history comparison. When the number of areas included in the position history (three areas, A, B, and C in the example of FIG. 8) is large, only a predetermined number of areas with a large number of appearances in the position history may be used for primary filtering of candidate users. In the example of FIG. 8, since the movement history of user C does not include any of the areas described in the position history of article A, user C is excluded from the target of history comparison. By narrowing down candidate users through such primary filtering before history comparison, the processing time required for determining usage results can be shortened, and the computational load can be reduced.

[0061] At the bottom of FIG. 8, several statistical values aggregated by the data generation unit 234 are shown. The number of article detections is the number of times the target article is detected by the tag reader 100 (the number of times per interval). Here, since the target article, article A, is detected in 6 out of a total of 8 intervals, the number of article detections is 6. The number of matches is the number of intervals in which the areas match between the position history of the target article and the movement history of each candidate user. User A is detected in the same area as the target article in 5 intervals indicated by black circles in the figure, so the number of matches for User A is 5. User B is detected in the same area as the target article in 3 intervals indicated by black circles in the figure, so the number of matches for User B is 3. The number of non - matches is the number of intervals in which the areas do not match between the position history of the target article and the movement history of each candidate user. Note that intervals in which at least one of the position history and the movement history has a blank area may be ignored in the aggregation. For User A, since there are no intervals where the areas do not match, the number of non - matches for User A is zero. User B is detected in an area different from the target article in 2 intervals indicated by X marks in the figure, so the number of non - matches for User B is 2. Here, let the number of article detections of the target article be T, the number of matches for candidate user k be r k , and the number of non - matches be s k . Then, the degree of match R k = r k / T, and the degree of non - match S k = s k / T are defined. Then, the degree of match R A and the degree of non - match S A of User A, and the degree of match R B and the degree of non - match S B of User B in the example of FIG. 8 can be calculated as follows: R A = 5 / 6 = 83.3% S A = 0 / 6 = 0% R B = 3 / 6 = 50% S B = 2 / 6 = 33.3% In this case, since the degree of match with User A among the candidate users is the highest for the data generation unit 234 and the degree of non-match with User A is below the reference value (for example, 25% when the coefficient α = 0.3), it can be determined that User A used Article A during the target period.

[0062] The data generation unit 234 may generate usage record data based on the reservation data held in the reservation table 370. By considering the reservation data in the determination of usage records, it is possible to avoid mutual comparison of a large number of histories and reduce the computational load, or to make a highly accurate determination when there are a plurality of users 20 showing equivalent correlations.

[0063] As an example, when the reservation data indicates that a specific user 20 planned to use a certain article 30 during the target period, the data generation unit 234 may first compare the movement history of that specific user 20 with the position history of the article 30. Then, when the correlation between those histories meets a predetermined criterion, it may be determined that the specific user 20 used the article 30 during the target period without considering the movement histories of other users 20. The predetermined criterion here may include that the degree of match between the above-mentioned histories exceeds a certain reference value, and may further include that the degree of non-match between the histories does not exceed another reference value. The user 20 registered as the user of the article 30 has a high probability of actually using the article 30 according to the reservation. Therefore, by such a method, in many cases, it is possible to perform primary filtering of candidate users and avoid calculating and mutually comparing statistical values for a plurality of users 20. When the correlation between the movement history of the user 20 who is the reserving party and the position history of the target article does not meet the criterion, the user 20 who used the target article may be determined through temporary filtering for the remaining users 20 and calculating and mutually comparing statistical values for the candidate users.

[0064] FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the determination of usage results based on the comparison of histories according to the second embodiment. Here, the target article is article C. The target period (YMD_1) from 8:00 am to noon on a certain date is divided into a total of eight sections, and the start times of these sections are shown in a time series. On the left of the time series, the position history of article C is shown, and on the right of the time series, the movement histories of user D, user E, and user A are shown.

[0065] Partially shown at the top of FIG. 9 is the reservation data already registered in the reservation table, and this reservation data indicates that user D was scheduled to use article C during the target period. Therefore, the data generation unit 234 first compares the movement history of user D, who was the reserving person, with the position history of article C. As shown in the lower part of FIG. 9, in this example, the number of article detections T = 6, the number of matches r D = 4, and the number of non - matches s D = 2 are tabulated, and the degree of match R D and the degree of non - match S D can be calculated as follows: R D = 4 / 6 = 66.7% S D = 2 / 6 = 33.3% In this case, since the degree of non - match S D of user D exceeds the reference value (for example, when the coefficient α = 0.3, 20%), the movement history of user D does not meet the standard, and it can be determined that user D did not use article C during the target period.

[0066] When the data generation unit 234 determines in this way that the reserving person was not the user who used the target article during the target period, it performs primary filtering of candidate users as described in the first embodiment for the remaining 20 users. Then, for user E identified as a candidate user, the data generation unit 234 calculates that the degree of match R E = 4 / 6 = 66.7% and the degree of non - match S E = 0 / 6 = 0% meet the standard, and it can be determined that user E used article C during the target period.

[0067] As another example, when the movement histories of two or more candidate users show a similar degree of correlation with the position history of the target item, the data generation unit 234 may preferentially determine that the user indicated by the reservation data as the one who had reserved the target item among those candidate users used the target item. Since the user 20 registered as the user of the item 30 is highly likely to actually use the item 30 according to the reservation, such a method can determine the usage record consistent with the facts with high accuracy.

[0068] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the determination of usage record based on the comparison of histories according to the third embodiment. Here, the target item is item A. The target period (YMD_2) from 13:00 to 17:00 on a certain date is divided into a total of eight sections, and the start times of those sections are shown in a time series. The position history of item A is shown on the left of the time series, and the movement histories of user A, user B, and user C are shown on the right of the time series.

[0069] As a primary filtering of candidate users, the data generation unit 234 identifies one or more users whose movement histories include the area included in the position history of the target item, and sets those users as the targets of history comparison. In the example of FIG. 10, users A to C are identified as candidate users, and the degrees of match and non-match for these candidate users can be calculated as follows: R A =4 / 6=66.7% S A =1 / 6=16.7% R B =4 / 6=66.7% S B =1 / 6=16.7% R C = 1 / 6= 16.7 % S C =4 / 6=66.7% In this case, since both user A and user B meet the criteria, the data generation unit 234 refers to the reservation table 370.

[0070] At the bottom of FIG. 10, reservation data already registered in the reservation table is partially shown, and this reservation data indicates that user B planned to use article A during the target period. Therefore, the data generation unit 234 can determine that user B used article A during the target period based on the correlation between the histories and the usage reservation during the target period.

[0071] <4. Flow of processing> In this section, examples of the flow of several processes that can be executed in the article management system 1 will be described using the flowcharts of FIGS. 11 to 14. In the following description, the processing steps are abbreviated as S (step).

[0072] <4-1. Position estimation processing> FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of position estimation processing mainly executed by the position estimation unit 231 of the management server 200. The position estimation processing in FIG. 11 can be repeatedly executed while at least one tag reader 100 is operating in the article management system 1.

[0073] First, in S111, the position estimation unit 231 receives the measurement result data transmitted from the tag reader 100 via the communication unit 210. In S112, while receiving the measurement result data, the position estimation unit 231 waits for the reception of the reading result data from the tag reader 100. When the reading result data is received from the tag reader 100, the process proceeds to S113. When the reading result data is not received, the process returns to S111.

[0074] In S113, the position estimation unit 231 adds a record corresponding to the reading result data received from the tag reader 100 to the reading result table 350. The subsequent process branches depending on whether the received reading result data indicates that the tag ID of the position tag 40 has been read. If the tag ID of the position tag 40 has been read, the process returns to S111. If the tag ID of the article tag 50 or the user tag 60 other than the position tag 40 has been read, the process proceeds to S115.

[0075] In S115, the position estimation unit 231 derives the position of the tag reader 100 at the reading time (or around that time) indicated by the received reading result data based on the relative movement amount of the tag reader 100 from the time when the same tag reader 100 detected the position tag 40. The position derived here can be represented by the sum of the known position coordinates of the position tag 40 detected at a certain time and the relative movement amount of the tag reader 100 from that time that can be calculated from the measurement result data. Then, the position estimation unit 231 estimates that the detected object (the article 30 with the article tag 50 attached or the user 20 carrying the user tag 60) is located at the derived position. Next, in S116, the position estimation unit 231 adds the position coordinates of the estimated position of the detected object to the column of the coordinates 354 in the reading result record added to the reading result table 350 in S113. Then, the process returns to S111.

[0076] <4-2. History Acquisition Process> FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the history acquisition process mainly executed by the history acquisition unit 232 of the management server 200. The history acquisition process in FIG. 12 can be executed for the elapsed period every time a period such as several hours, half a day, or one day elapses.

[0077] As shown in S121, the history acquisition process is composed of repetitions (loops) of history acquisition for each section included in the target period. The section handled in one repetition is referred to here as the target section. First, in S122, the history acquisition unit 232 extracts the reading result records having the reading times belonging to the target section from the reading result table 350.

[0078] Next, in S123, the history acquisition unit 232 starts an iteration (sub-loop) of history acquisition with each of the plurality of users 20 as the target user. First, in S124, the history acquisition unit 232 further extracts a record indicating the tag ID of the user tag 60 of the target user from the read result record acquired in S122. Next, in S125, the history acquisition unit 232 determines the area 10 where the target user existed in the target section based on the value of the position coordinates of the extracted read result record (the detection position of the user tag 60). For example, the history acquisition unit 232 may determine that the target user existed in the area 10 associated with the position tag 40 installed closest to the detection position of the user tag 60. Alternatively, the history acquisition unit 232 may determine that the target user existed in a certain area 10 when the detection position of the user tag 60 falls within the area defined by a simple area radius definition or a boundary having a more complex shape. When a plurality of read result records are extracted in S124, the history acquisition unit 232 may determine the area 10 where the target user existed by a majority decision method based on the values of the position coordinates of those read result records. Next, in S126, the history acquisition unit 232 adds a history record including the user ID of the target user, the time representing the target section, and the area ID or name of the area 10 determined in S125 to the history table 360. When it is determined that the acquisition of such movement histories has been completed for all target users (S127), the process proceeds to S130.

[0079] In S130, the history acquisition unit 232 starts an iteration (sub-loop) of history acquisition for each of the plurality of articles 30 as the target article. First, in S131, the history acquisition unit 232 further extracts a record indicating the tag ID of the article tag 50 of the target article from the read result records acquired in S122. Next, in S132, the history acquisition unit 232 determines an area 10 where the target article existed in the target section based on the value of the position coordinates of the extracted read result record (detection position of the article tag 50). The method of area determination here may be the same as the method described in relation to S125. Next, in S133, the history acquisition unit 232 adds a history record including the article ID of the target article, the time representing the target section, and the area ID or name of the area 10 determined in S132 to the history table 360. When it is determined that the acquisition of the position history for all target articles has been completed (S134), the process proceeds to S136.

[0080] In S136, the history acquisition unit 232 determines whether there is an unprocessed section within the target period. If there is an unprocessed section remaining, the processing steps of S122 to S134 are executed for the next section. When it is determined that the acquisition of the history for all sections has been completed, the history acquisition process in FIG. 12 ends.

[0081] <4-3. Usage Record Generation Process> FIGS. 13 and 14 are flowcharts showing an example of the flow of the usage record generation process mainly executed by the data generation unit 234 of the management server 200. The usage record generation process can be executed periodically every time the target period elapses, similar to the above-described history acquisition process, for example. Note that the usage record generation process can be repeated for each article 30 under the management of the system. However, in FIGS. 13 and 14, only the flow of the process for a single target article is shown for simplicity of explanation.

[0082] In the first example shown in FIG. 13, primary filtering of candidate users is performed before referring to the reservation data. In the second example shown in FIG. 14, first, the reservation data is referred to, and the correlation between the histories is determined for the reservation holders who were scheduled to use the target article.

[0083] (1) First example In the first example of FIG. 13, first, in S141, the data generation unit 234 performs primary filtering based on the position history of the target article during the target period to identify candidates for users who have used the target article. For example, the data generation unit 234 identifies up to M areas 10 described in the position history of the target article during the target period (for example, M = 5). Then, the data generation unit 234 identifies users 20 whose identified areas 10 are included in the movement history during the target period as candidate users.

[0084] Next, in S142, the data generation unit 234 determines the degree of match and non - match between the position history of the target article and the movement history of each of the candidate users identified in S141. Next, in S143, the data generation unit 234 selects candidate users whose degree of match determined in S142 exceeds the first reference value. Next, in S144, the data generation unit 234 excludes candidate users from the candidate users selected in S143 whose degree of non - match determined in S142 exceeds a second reference value (lower than the first reference value).

[0085] As a result of the processing so far, zero or any number of one or more selected candidate users remain. In S145, the data generation unit 234 determines whether at least one selected candidate user remains. If no selected candidate user remains, the process proceeds to S146. On the other hand, if at least one selected candidate user remains, the process proceeds to S147.

[0086] In S146, the data generation unit 234 determines that no user 20 has used the target article during the target period. Then, the process proceeds to S152.

[0087] In S147, the data generation unit 234 determines whether there are multiple candidate users with the highest degree of match among the remaining candidate users. If there is only one candidate user with the highest degree of match, the process proceeds to S148. On the other hand, if there are multiple candidate users with the highest degree of match, the process proceeds to S149.

[0088] In S148, the data generation unit 234 determines that the candidate user with the highest degree of match has used the target item during the target period. Then, the process proceeds to S152.

[0089] In S149, the data generation unit 234 refers to the reservation data for the target item during the target period and determines whether the remaining candidate users include the person who had planned to use the target item. If the remaining candidate users do not include the person who had planned to use the target item, the process proceeds to S150. On the other hand, if the remaining candidate users include the person who had planned to use the target item, the process proceeds to S151.

[0090] In S150, the data generation unit 234 determines the user 20 who has used the target item among the remaining multiple candidate users according to some other conditions. For example, the data generation unit 234 may determine that it is "possible" that all of the remaining multiple candidate users have used the target item during the target period. Then, the process proceeds to S152.

[0091] In S151, the data generation unit 234 determines that the person who had planned to use the target item has actually used the target item during the target period. Then, the process proceeds to S152.

[0092] In S152, the data generation unit 234 generates a record of the usage history of the target item for the target period according to the determination in S146, S148, S150 or S151, and adds the generated record to the usage history table 380.

[0093] (2) Second example In the second example of FIG. 14, first, in S160, the data generation unit 234 refers to the reservation table 370 and determines whether there is a reservation for using the target item during the target period. If there is no reservation for using the target item, the process proceeds to S165. If there is a reservation for using the target item, the process proceeds to S161.

[0094] In S161, the data generation unit 234 identifies the reserved person indicated by the reservation record in the reservation table 370 as the first candidate user for whom the history comparison should be preferentially performed. Next, in S162, the data generation unit 234 determines the degree of match and non-match between the position history of the target item and the movement history of the first candidate user. Next, in S163, the data generation unit 234 determines whether the correlation between the position history and the movement history, that is, whether the degree of match and non-match determined in S162 meets a certain criterion. The criterion here may be, for example, that the degree of match exceeds the first reference value described above and the degree of non-match does not exceed the second reference value described above. If the correlation between the histories meets the criterion, the process proceeds to S164. On the other hand, if the correlation between the histories does not meet the criterion, the process proceeds to S165.

[0095] In S164, the data generation unit 234 determines that the first candidate user who is the reserved person actually used the target item during the target period. Then, the process proceeds to S167.

[0096] In S165, the data generation unit 234 performs primary filtering based on the position history of the target item on users 20 other than the first candidate user to identify candidates for users who used the target item. The primary filtering here may be performed in the same manner as S141 in FIG. 13. Next, in S166, the data generation unit 234 determines the correlation between the movement history of each of the candidate users identified in S165 and the position history of the target item, and based on the determined correlation, determines the user 20 who used the target item during the target period. The determination here may be performed in the same manner as S142 to S150 in FIG. 13 except that the first candidate user has already been excluded. Then, the process proceeds to S167.

[0097] In S167, the data generation unit 234 generates a record of the usage history of the target item for the target period according to the determination in S164 or S166, and adds the generated record to the usage history table 380.

[0098] <5. Summary> So far, various embodiments, examples, and modifications of the technology according to the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 14. According to the above-described embodiments, in the article management system, respective first wireless devices are installed in a plurality of areas, a second wireless device is attached to an article, and respective third wireless devices are carried by a plurality of users. At least one reader attempts to read identification information from the wireless devices. Then, a position history of the article based on the reading results from the first and second wireless devices, and a movement history of each user based on the reading results from the first and third wireless devices are obtained, and data indicating who actually used the article is generated based on a comparison of these histories. According to such a configuration, it is possible to automatically generate usage record data indicating the user who actually used the article without imposing a burden on the user such as manually entering information into a ledger. In addition, since the tracking of the position of the article and the tracking of the movement of the user are continuously performed while the article is being used, the accuracy of the usage record data according to the above-described embodiments is higher than that of existing methods that indirectly grasp the usage record from the history of lending and returning keys.

[0099] Further, according to the above-described embodiments, reservation data indicating a reservation for using an article is managed in a database, and usage record data indicating the user who actually used the article is generated further based on the reservation data. As an example, a comparison between the movement history of a person who reserved to use an article during a certain period and the position history of the article may be preferentially performed. Thereby, in many cases, it is possible to avoid repeating history comparisons for a large number of users and reduce the computational load required for generating usage record data. As another example, when the movement histories of a plurality of users show a similar correlation with the position history of the article, the user who is the person who reserved as indicated by the reservation data may be preferentially determined as the user who used the article. Thereby, it is possible to eliminate the ambiguity of the usage record and determine the usage record consistent with the facts with high accuracy.

[0100] Further, according to the above-described embodiment, the correlation between the position history of the article serving as the basis for determining the usage record and the movement history of the user can be represented by the degree of coincidence of the areas by time in which the user existed during a certain period with respect to the areas by time in which the article existed during the same period. According to such a configuration, the correlation between the position history of the article and the movement history of the user can be objectively evaluated by a quantitative numerical value, and the usage record of the article can be accurately determined. The above correlation between the position history of the article and the movement history of the user can further be represented by the degree of non-coincidence of the areas by time in which the user existed during a certain period with respect to the areas by time in which the article existed during the same period. According to such a configuration, it is possible to eliminate the possibility of erroneously determining that a user who has moved from the area where the article existed to another area is a user who has used the article.

[0101] Further, according to the above-described embodiment, each of the at least one reading device can be carried by the user and move between a plurality of areas. According to such a configuration, various wireless devices in the system can be sequentially detected along with the normal activities of the user, and the reading results can be collected. Therefore, no additional workload is imposed on the user for acquiring the position history of the article and the movement history of the user.

[0102] Further, according to the above-described embodiment, the at least one reading device can measure the relative movement amount from the reference position. Also, the installation position of each of the first wireless devices is known. Then, based on the relative movement amount measured between the reading time of the identification information from the first wireless device and the reading time of the identification information from the second or third wireless device, and the known installation position of the first wireless device, the position of the article or the user is estimated. Whether the article or the user existed in which area can be determined based on this estimated position. According to such a configuration, even if the reading device does not always communicate with an external system such as a GPS satellite, the positions of the article and the user can be estimated to a certain degree of fineness from the data accumulated over time. Thereby, it becomes easy to achieve both reduction of the cost and power consumption of the device and accurate determination of the usage record.

[0103] Also, according to the above-described embodiment, each wireless device is an RFID tag, and the reader reads information returned from the RFID tag by using the energy of the electromagnetic wave radiated into the reading range. In this case, there is no need to mount a battery and a complex transceiver on the wireless device attached to each article and the wireless device carried by each user. Even in a situation where a large number of articles are managed and a large number of users are active in the system, the above-described mechanism can be incorporated at low cost.

[0104] <6. Other Embodiments> The above embodiment can also be realized in a form of processing in which a program for realizing one or more functions is supplied to a system or a device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or the device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

[0105] The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, claims are attached to disclose the scope of the invention.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0106] 1: Article management system, 5: Network, 10a,..., 10n: Areas, 20a, 20b: Users, 30a, 30b: Articles, 40a,..., 40n: Location tags (first wireless devices), 50a, 50b: Article tags (second wireless devices), 60a, 60b: User tags (third wireless devices), 100a, 100b: Tag readers (readers), 200: Management server (information processing device), 210: Communication unit, 220: Article DB (database), 230: Management unit, 300: Terminal device

Claims

1. A first wireless device installed in a plurality of areas respectively, A second wireless device attached to an article, A third wireless device carried by a plurality of users respectively, At least one reader capable of reading identification information stored in the wireless device from the wireless device, A reservation management unit that manages reservation data indicating a reservation for use of the article in a database, A history acquisition unit that acquires a history of the position of the article based on the result of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the second wireless device by the at least one reader, and a history of the movement of each user based on the result of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the third wireless device by the at least one reader, A generation unit that generates usage performance data for associating the article with the user who used the article based on a comparison between the history of the position of the article and the history of the movement of one or more users and based on the reservation data, including, When the history of the movement of the first user and the history of the movement of the second user show a comparable correlation with the history of the position of the article, the generation unit preferentially determines, as the user who used the article, the user indicated by the reservation data as the user who was scheduled to use the article among the first user and the second user. An article management system.

2. A first wireless device installed in a plurality of areas respectively, A second wireless device attached to an article, A third wireless device carried by a plurality of users respectively, At least one reader capable of reading identification information stored in the wireless device from the wireless device, A history acquisition unit that acquires a history of the position of the article based on the result of reading identification information from the first wireless device and the second wireless device by the at least one reader, and a history of the movement of each user based on the result of reading identification information from the first wireless device and the third wireless device by the at least one reader; A generation unit that generates usage record data for associating the article with the user who used the article based on a comparison between the history of the position of the article and the history of the movement of one or more users; including The history of the position of the article shows in chronological order in which area the article was present; The history of the movement of each user shows in chronological order in which area each user was present; The generation unit For each of the one or more users, determines the degree of coincidence between the area by time when the article was present during a certain period and the area by time when the user was present during the same period, Based on the degree of coincidence determined for each user, determines the user who used the article during the period. An article management system.

3. The generation unit For each of the one or more users, determines the degree of non - coincidence between the area by time when the article was present during a certain period and the area by time when the user was present during the same period, Determines that a user whose determined degree of non - coincidence exceeds a reference value is not a user who used the article during the period. The article management system according to claim 2.

4. A first wireless device installed at known installation positions in a plurality of areas respectively, A second wireless device attached to an article, A third wireless device carried by a plurality of users respectively, At least one reading device that can read identification information stored in the wireless device from the wireless device and can measure the relative movement amount from a reference position, and at least one reading device that is each carried by a user and moves between the plurality of areas. Based on the relative movement amount measured by the at least one reading device from the first time point when the identification information is read from the first wireless device to the second time point when the identification information is read from the second wireless device or each third wireless device, estimating the position of the article or each user at the second time point. A position estimation unit. A history acquisition unit that acquires a history of the position of the article based on the result of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the second wireless device by the at least one reading device, and a history of the movement of each user based on the result of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the third wireless device by the at least one reading device. A generation unit that generates usage result data for associating the article with the user who used the article based on a comparison between the history of the position of the article and the history of the movement of one or more users. Including The history acquisition unit determines in which area the article or each user existed at the second time point based on the position of the article or each user estimated by the position estimation unit at the second time point. Article management system.

5. The wireless device is an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag. The at least one reading device radiates electromagnetic waves into a reading range and reads information returned from the wireless device using the energy of the electromagnetic waves. The article management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. A data generation method executed by an information processing device. Communicating with at least one reader capable of reading identification information stored in a plurality of wireless devices including a first wireless device installed in each of a plurality of areas, a second wireless device attached to an article, and a third wireless device carried by each of a plurality of users, and receiving a result of reading the identification information; Obtaining a history of the position of the article based on a result of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the second wireless device by the at least one reader; Obtaining a history of movement of each user based on a result of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the third wireless device by the at least one reader; Generating usage record data associating the article with the user who used the article based on a comparison between the history of the position of the article and the history of movement of one or more users and reservation data indicating a reservation for using the article, which is managed in a database; including Generating the usage record data includes preferentially determining, as the user who used the article, the user indicated by the reservation data as the user who was scheduled to use the article among the first user and the second user when the history of movement of the first user and the history of movement of the second user show a similar correlation with the history of the position of the article; data generation method.

7. A data generation method executed by an information processing apparatus, Communicating with at least one reader capable of reading identification information stored in a plurality of wireless devices including a first wireless device installed in each of a plurality of areas, a second wireless device attached to an article, and a third wireless device carried by each of a plurality of users, and receiving a result of reading the identification information; Obtaining a history of the position of the article based on a result of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the second wireless device by the at least one reader; Based on the result of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the third wireless device by the at least one reader, obtaining the movement history of each user; Generating usage performance data for associating the article and the user who used the article based on a comparison between the history of the position of the article and the history of the movement of one or more users; including; The history of the position of the article shows, in chronological order, in which area the article was present; The movement history of each user shows, in chronological order, in which area each user was present; Generating the usage performance data includes: For each of the one or more users, determining the degree of coincidence between the area by time when the article was present during a certain period and the area by time when the user was present during the period; Based on the degree of coincidence determined for each user, determining the user who used the article during the period; A data generation method including.

8. A data generation method executed by an information processing device that communicates with at least one reader that can read identification information stored in a plurality of wireless devices including a first wireless device installed at known installation positions in a plurality of areas, a second wireless device attached to an article, and a third wireless device carried by a plurality of users respectively, and can measure the relative movement amount from a reference position, Each of the at least one reader is carried by a user and moves between the plurality of areas; The data generation method includes: Receiving from the at least one reader the result of reading the identification information and the result of measuring the relative movement amount; Based on the relative movement amount measured by the at least one reader from the first time point when the identification information was read from the first wireless device to the second time point when the identification information was read from the second wireless device, estimating the position of the article at the second time point; Obtaining a history of the position of the article based on the results of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the second wireless device by the at least one reader and the results of estimating the position of the article; Based on the relative movement amount measured by the at least one reader from the first time point when the identification information was read from the first wireless device to the third time point when the identification information was read from each third wireless device, estimating the position of each user at the third time point; Obtaining a movement history of each user based on the results of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the third wireless device by the at least one reader and the results of estimating the position of each user; Generating usage performance data for associating the article and the user who used the article based on a comparison between the history of the position of the article and the movement history of one or more users; A data generation method including the above.

9. A communication unit that communicates with at least one reader capable of reading identification information stored in a plurality of wireless devices including a first wireless device installed in each of a plurality of areas, a second wireless device attached to an article, and a third wireless device carried by each of a plurality of users; A reservation management unit that manages reservation data indicating a reservation for using the article in a database; A history acquisition unit that acquires a history of the position of the article based on the results of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the second wireless device by the at least one reader, and a movement history of each user based on the results of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the third wireless device by the at least one reader; A generation unit that generates usage record data for associating the article and the user who used the article based on a comparison between the history of the position of the article and the history of the movement of one or more users and based on the reservation data; comprising: When the history of the movement of the first user and the history of the movement of the second user show substantially the same correlation with respect to the history of the position of the article, the generation unit preferentially determines, as the user who used the article, the user indicated by the reservation data as the one who was scheduled to use the article among the first user and the second user. An information processing apparatus.

10. A communication unit that communicates with at least one reading device capable of reading identification information stored in a plurality of wireless devices including a first wireless device installed in each of a plurality of areas, a second wireless device attached to an article, and a third wireless device carried by each of a plurality of users; A history acquisition unit that acquires the history of the position of the article based on the result of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the second wireless device by the at least one reading device, and the history of the movement of each user based on the result of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the third wireless device by the at least one reading device; A generation unit that generates usage record data for associating the article and the user who used the article based on a comparison between the history of the position of the article and the history of the movement of one or more users; comprising: The history of the position of the article shows, in time series, in which area the article was present; The history of the movement of each user shows, in time series, in which area each user was present; The generation unit: For each of the one or more users, determines the degree of coincidence of the areas by time when the user was present during a period with respect to the areas by time when the article was present during the period; Determining, for each user, a user who used the article during the period based on the degree of match determined for each user. An information processing apparatus.

11. At least one reader capable of reading identification information stored in the wireless device from a plurality of wireless devices including a first wireless device installed at each known installation position of a plurality of areas, a second wireless device attached to an article, and a third wireless device carried by each of a plurality of users, and capable of measuring a relative movement amount from a reference position, and a communication unit that is carried by a user and communicates with the at least one reader that moves between the plurality of areas. A position estimation unit that estimates the position of the article or each user at the second time point based on the relative movement amount measured by the at least one reader from a first time point when identification information is read from the first wireless device to a second time point when identification information is read from the second wireless device or each third wireless device. A history acquisition unit that acquires a history of the position of the article based on the result of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the second wireless device by the at least one reader, and a history of the movement of each user based on the result of reading the identification information from the first wireless device and the third wireless device by the at least one reader. A generation unit that generates usage record data associating the article with the user who used the article based on a comparison between the history of the position of the article and the history of the movement of one or more users. Comprising. The history acquisition unit determines in which area the article or each user was present at the second time point based on the position of the article or each user estimated by the position estimation unit at the second time point. An information processing apparatus.

Images