Work support device, work support system, analysis program

Abstract

To provide a technology capable of identifying a conduction path by collating coordinates of handwritten data overlaid on a diagram with coordinates of a circuit component even in the case of converting the circuit diagram into a data format suitable to be displayed by a work terminal.SOLUTION: According to the present invention, a work support device detects a circuit symbol and a conducting wire, respectively, from circuit diagram data without having information unique to a circuit component, and identifies the circuit component and the conducting wire through which the conduction path passes by matching their detection results with a result obtained by tracing the conduction path with handwriting by an operator.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for assisting an operator's on-site work.

Background Art

[0002] The shortage of labor due to population decline and the aging of the population with low birthrates is becoming serious. Especially in the manufacturing field, there is a shortage of highly skilled workers, and a situation where work can only be done by specific individuals, so-called personalization, has become a problem. When inheriting advanced technologies, a certain level of skill is required on the receiving side, but there is a shortage of mid-career technicians in such positions, so at present, technology inheritance has not advanced in many companies. In order to promote the transfer of technology to young skilled workers, it is necessary to create a mechanism that can promote business regardless of skill level by manualizing formal knowledge such as work procedures and know-how.

[0003] In response to such a situation, attention has been focused on work support systems that utilize wearable terminals such as electronic paper. For example, in the work of inspecting the conduction state of a circuit and painting the corresponding part on a drawing (so-called red painting work), the operator displays the circuit drawing on the terminal screen and traces the circuit components that have been confirmed to be conductive on the circuit drawing to record the conduction path. As a result, the conduction path on the circuit drawing is visually shown by the red-written path, so the conduction path can be visualized. By utilizing the wearable terminal in this way, formal knowledge that could not be extracted in conventional paper work can be obtained.

[0004] The handwritten conduction path recorded by red painting records the operator's handwritten data. Since this handwritten data is only point cloud data, it is not directly connected to the circuit components and conductive wires on the circuit drawing. In order to achieve the visualization of the conduction path, which is the original purpose of the red painting work, it is necessary to clarify which circuit components are conductive by collating the coordinates of the handwritten data with the coordinates of the circuit components on the circuit drawing.

[0005] Data describing a circuit diagram may be described by information specific to circuit components within the data (e.g., type of circuit symbol, identifier, coordinates of the graphics constituting the circuit symbol, etc.), such as CAD drawing data. When recording a conduction path by handwriting for data created in such a data format, it is relatively easy to identify the circuit components on the handwritten path. This is because it is sufficient to identify the coordinates of the handwritten path and compare them with the coordinates of the graphics representing the circuit components.

[0006] On the other hand, wearable terminals used by workers at the work site may not have the processing ability to display circuit diagrams created in such a data format. In this case, the circuit diagram data will be converted into a data format that can be displayed by the terminal and then provided to the terminal. A data format that represents graphics by pixels, such as raster format data, corresponds to this. When recording a conduction path by handwriting on a circuit diagram in such a data format, it is not easy to identify the circuit components on the handwritten path. This is because the coordinate information of the circuit components is lost when converting the data format and only pixel information remains.

[0007] Patent Document 1 below describes a technique for structuring components on a raster format drawing (identifying the connection relationships between components). The document addresses the problem of 'being able to automatically structure a raster format drawing' and describes a technique of 'a raster format drawing structuring system 10 that converts a raster format drawing 1 into a vector format drawing and structures it, having a vector conversion function unit 12 for vector-converting the raster format drawing into a vector format drawing, a structuring rule definition DB 15 that defines the rules for structuring the structural elements in the vector format drawing, and a structuring function unit 18 that refers to the structuring rule definition DB and assigns attribute information and connection information to the structural elements in the vector format drawing to structure the structural elements' (see the abstract).

[0008] Patent Document 2 below aims to "easily and accurately create a map that clearly shows the route to the destination when creating a route map to the destination." It describes the following technology: "Using map reading means 1, input a map including the route to be shown from a scanner, and store the map information in map image storage means 2. Use coordinate input means 3 to input coordinates and a trajectory from a pen and tablet, and use trajectory extraction means 4 to extract the input trajectory. Use coincidence detection means 5 to compare the coordinates of the road information and the input trajectory information and detect those that match or are within the error range. Use route extraction means 6 to extract the map information around the detected points, and store the extracted route information in output image storage means 7. Use character input means 8 to add character information such as place names to the extracted route information, and output it to a file or printer using output means 10." (See the abstract).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0009]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0010] In Patent Document 1, after converting a raster format drawing into a vector format drawing, the structural elements on the vector format drawing are structured. However, in this document, there is no awareness of the problem of specifying the correspondence between the conduction path handwritten by the operator on the work terminal and the circuit components on the drawing. The same is true for Patent Document 2. Also, in Patent Document 2, there is no process for converting to a data format suitable for display on the work terminal. Therefore, a technology is required that can accurately specify the correspondence between the conduction path handwritten in a data format suitable for display on the work terminal and the circuit components on the circuit drawing.

[0011] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and even when a circuit diagram is converted into a data format suitable for display on a work terminal, it is possible to identify a conduction path by collating the coordinates of handwritten data overlaid on the drawing with the coordinates of circuit components. The purpose is to provide a technology that can achieve this.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0012] The work support device according to the present invention detects circuit symbols and conducting wires respectively from circuit diagram data that does not have information specific to circuit components, and identifies the circuit components and conducting wires through which the conduction path passes by matching the detection results with the result of the operator tracing the conduction path by handwritten means.

Effects of the Invention

[0013] According to the work support device according to the present invention, even when a circuit diagram is converted into a data format suitable for a work terminal, it is possible to identify a conduction path by collating the coordinates of handwritten data overlaid on the drawing with the coordinates of circuit components. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the description of the following embodiments.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

Figure 1A

Figure 1B

Figure 2

Figure 3A

Figure 3B

Figure 3C

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6A

Figure 6B

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14

Figure 15

Figure 16

Figure 17

Figure 18

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] <Embodiment 1> Figure 1A is an example of a circuit diagram described by circuit diagram data. The circuit diagram data is configured to describe circuit components such as circuit parts and conducting wires using geometric information of figures. For example, CAD drawing data in vector format (first data format) corresponds to this. The circuit diagram shown in Figure 1A describes, as circuit components, a conducting wire 101, a twisted wire 102, a power supply 103, a capacitor 104, a connection point 105, a resistor 106, and an IC 107. The attribute information 100 is information representing the attributes of circuit parts by character strings.

[0016] Figure 1B shows the result of an operator's handwritten input of a conduction path with respect to the circuit diagram data. The operator displays the circuit diagram data on the screen of a work terminal (for example, a wearable terminal), and on that circuit diagram, handwrites the path of the circuit parts that are confirmed to be conducting. The handwritten data 108 tracks the coordinates of the handwritten input and represents the conduction path input by the operator. Since the time of entry is given to the handwritten data 108, the time-series data of the work means the work procedure.

[0017] The purpose of handwritten input of the conduction path is to visualize the connection relationship between conducting circuit parts on the circuit diagram. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the circuit parts traced by the handwritten data 108. However, when converting the circuit diagram data into a data format suitable for display on the work terminal (for example, image data or PDF data), the coordinate information of the circuit parts may be lost. Then, it is not easy to collate the coordinates of the handwritten data 108 with the coordinates of the circuit parts on the converted circuit diagram data. The work support device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention aims to automatically identify the circuit parts on the conduction path traced by the handwritten data 108 by providing this collation process.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a work support device 200 according to Embodiment 1. The work support device 200 is a device that converts circuit drawing data 205 created in a first data format (e.g., vector format) into circuit drawing data 206 in a second data format (e.g., raster format) and provides it to a work terminal 204. The work support device 200 and the work terminal 204 form a system for assisting an operator.

[0019] The work support device 200 includes a drawing analysis unit 201, a handwritten data analysis unit 202, a communication unit 203, and a database (DB) 211. The drawing analysis unit 201 further includes a conversion unit 207, a line detection unit 208, a circuit symbol detection unit 209, and a conducting wire detection unit 210.

[0020] The conversion unit 207 converts the circuit drawing data 205 (first data format) into circuit drawing data 206 (second data format). The line detection unit 208 detects lines from at least one of the circuit drawing data 205 or the circuit drawing data 206. The circuit symbol detection unit 209 detects circuit symbols described in the circuit drawing data 206. The conducting wire detection unit 210 detects conducting wires described in the circuit drawing data 206. These detection procedures will be described later.

[0021] The communication unit 203 transmits the circuit drawing data 206 to the work terminal 204. The work terminal 204 transmits handwritten data (e.g., handwritten data 108) describing a conduction path handwritten by an operator with respect to the circuit drawing data 206 to the work support device 200. The communication unit 203 receives the handwritten data. The handwritten data analysis unit 202 identifies circuit components and conducting wires on the conduction path by collating the coordinates of the handwritten data with the coordinates of the circuit components and conducting wires detected by the drawing analysis unit 201. The DB 211 stores the processing results by the work support device 200. The DB 211 can be configured by a storage device that stores data.

[0022] FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating the result of the line detection unit 208 detecting a line 300 on the circuit drawing data. The detected line can be represented by a starting point (x0, y0) and an ending point (x1, y1). The line detection unit 208 detects the line 300 from the circuit drawing data 205 or 206. When the starting point and the ending point of the line 300 are defined in the data, the line 300 may be detected according to the definition. Alternatively, the line 300 may be detected by applying an appropriate line detection algorithm such as a line detection filter to the pixel data.

[0023] FIG. 3B is a diagram showing the result of the circuit symbol detection unit 209 detecting circuit symbols on the circuit drawing data. The circuit symbol detection unit 209 detects a region constituting a circuit symbol from the lines detected by the line detection unit 208. For example, as will be described later, a region matching the shape of the circuit symbol can be detected using template matching or deep learning. The circuit symbols detected by the circuit symbol detection unit 209 exclude conducting wires. The coordinates of the detected circuit symbols can be represented, for example, by the lower left (starting point) and the upper right (ending point) of the region. In FIG. 3B, examples of detecting a power supply region 301, a capacitor region 302, and a resistor region 303 are shown. Depending on the detection method, a part of the conducting wire connected to the circuit symbol may also be recognized as part of the circuit symbol. In this case, the conducting wire can also be treated as part of the circuit symbol.

[0024] FIG. 3C is a diagram showing the result of the conducting wire detection unit 210 detecting conducting wires on the circuit drawing data. The conducting wire detection unit 210 detects, as conducting wires, the parts of the lines detected by the line detection unit 208 excluding the circuit symbols detected by the circuit symbol detection unit 209. Therefore, a part of the line 300 detected by the line detection unit 208 will be redefined as a conducting wire 304 having new starting and ending points.

[0025] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method by which the circuit symbol detection unit 209 detects circuit symbols. The circuit symbol detection unit 209 receives a circuit drawing (input image 400) and obtains a circuit symbol detection result 406 by applying one or more of the following thereto.

[0026] Figure 4: Template Matching 401: The circuit symbol detection unit 209 detects circuit symbols by matching the template image 402 with the input image 400. The template image 402 is an image of a circuit symbol that may be included in the circuit drawing data 205 or 206. While template matching is easy to implement, the detection accuracy may decrease if there is image scaling or rotation.

[0027] Figure 4: Object Detection Model 403: The circuit symbol detection unit 209 is a detector trained by deep learning using an object detection model such as R-CNN (Region with CNN features), YOLO, or SSD (Single Shot MultiBox Detector) to detect circuit symbols. Since this method uses a single detection model, detection errors may occur if the model is not well-trained.

[0028] Figure 4: Object Detection Model 403 + Object Identification Model 405: The circuit symbol detection unit 209 is a detector trained by deep learning using an object detection model 403 and an object identification model 405 such as ResNet, DenseNet, AmoebaNet, or EfficientNet to detect circuit symbols. Specifically, the circuit symbol image 404 detected using the object detection model 403 is input to the object identification model 405. The object identification model 405 identifies the type of circuit symbol detected by the object detection model 403. By using the object identification model 405 in combination, detection errors can be excluded, improving the detection accuracy.

[0029] FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the work support device 200. After the conversion unit 207 converts the circuit diagram data 205 into the circuit diagram data 206, the work support device 200 starts this flowchart. The line detection unit 208 detects lines from the circuit diagram data (S01). The circuit symbol detection unit 209 detects circuit symbols other than conducting wires from the circuit diagram data (S02). The conducting wire detection unit 210 detects conducting wires (S03). The communication unit 203 transmits the circuit diagram data 206 to the work terminal 204 (S04). The operator inputs a conduction path on the work terminal 204, and the work terminal 204 transmits handwritten data (S05). The communication unit 203 receives the handwritten data (S07). The handwritten data analysis unit 202 analyzes the handwritten data to identify the circuit components on the conduction path (S07), and stores the result in the database 211 (S08). The handwritten data analysis unit 202 notifies the operator of the analysis result (S09).

[0030] FIG. 6A is an example of circuit diagram data including information other than the circuit diagram. Actual circuit diagram data may describe various information in addition to the circuit diagram. In this example, in addition to the circuit diagram, a grid 600, a grid reference 601, an outline 602, and a title block 603 are described. If these pieces of information are also detected by the line detection unit 208, there is a possibility that parts that are not conducting wires will be detected as conducting wires.

[0031] FIG. 6B shows an example in which a detection area 604 and a non-detection area 605 are set with respect to FIG. 6A. Before the drawing analysis unit 201 detects circuit components and conductive lines from the circuit drawing data, by excluding information other than the circuit drawing from the detection target, it is possible to avoid erroneously detecting such unnecessary information as part of the circuit drawing. Therefore, the user designates at least one of the area for detecting the circuit drawing (detection area 604) and the area not to be detected (non-detection area 605) via an appropriate interface. For example, each area can be designated by the lower left corner coordinates and the upper right corner coordinates, etc. FIG. 6B shows an example in which the title bar 603 is designated as the non-detection area 605 and the circuit drawing portion is designated as the detection area 604. The drawing analysis unit 201 detects circuit components, etc. only from the detection area 604, or detects circuit components, etc. only from areas other than the non-detection area 605.

[0032] For example, when extra information (e.g., a table describing the characteristics of the circuit symbol) is described inside the circuit symbol, such extra information should be excluded from the detection target by the line detection unit 208. In this case, the non-detection area 605 is useful. Further, when there are extra grid lines, etc. around the circuit drawing, it is useful to use the detection area 604 in combination.

[0033] FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing an example in which attribute information is assigned to a circuit symbol. The circuit diagram may describe the attribute information together with the circuit components, for example, like the part number 700, etc. When the circuit symbol detection unit 209 detects the circuit symbol, such attribute information may be detected together and the attribute information may be assigned to the detected circuit symbol. The handwritten data analysis unit 202 may output the attribute information together with the analysis result. Thereby, the attribute information can be identified together with the conduction path.

[0034] When the distance between the center coordinates of the detected circuit symbol and the center coordinates of the character area is within the threshold, for example, the circuit symbol detection unit 209 treats the character as an attribute of the circuit symbol. As a method for extracting the character area, for example, if it is circuit drawing data describing character information, the character information may be extracted, or the character may be extracted by applying the same method as that for the circuit symbol to the pixels.

[0035] FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing a procedure for classifying the lines detected by the line detection unit 208 according to types. When the length of the detected line is less than the threshold, the line detection unit 208 reclassifies the line as a point, and when the length is greater than or equal to the threshold, the line detection unit 208 reclassifies the line as a line again. As an example of the threshold for distinguishing a point from a line, for example, it may be set to such an extent that a dotted line created by drawing software can be recognized as a point. The line detection unit 208 further reclassifies two adjacent lines on the same straight line as a dashed line when the interval between them is less than the threshold, and reclassifies them as a solid line when the interval is greater than or equal to the threshold. The line detection unit 208 further reclassifies the line type according to the number of points existing between two lines among the lines classified as dashed lines. If the number of points is 0, it is a dashed line; if it is 1, it is a single-dashed line; if it is 2, it is a double-dashed line. The line detection unit 208 further reclassifies two points on the same straight line as a dotted line when the interval between them is less than the threshold, and reclassifies them as points again when the interval is greater than or equal to the threshold. As each threshold value in the above, an appropriate value may be determined for each step, and it is not necessary to use the same threshold value.

[0036] FIG. 9 shows an example in which a circuit symbol is surrounded by a dashed line. The circuit drawing may surround reference information with a dotted line or a dashed line so that it is easy for the reader to understand. In FIG. 9, a conducting wire 900 and an ammeter 901 are connected, the ammeter 901 is surrounded by a single-dashed line 902, and a model number 903 and a location number 904 are arranged inside the single-dashed line 902. The characters surrounded by a specific type of line like this can be used as attribute information of the circuit symbol.

[0037] When there are circuit symbols and characters inside the area surrounded by a dotted line or a dashed line in the circuit symbol detection unit 209, and the character is arranged within a predetermined distance from the circuit symbol, the character is treated as an attribute of the circuit symbol. The predetermined distance between the circuit symbol and the character at this time does not necessarily have to be the same as the distance threshold in the case described in FIG. 7. This is because when the circuit symbol and the character are surrounded, it is tentatively inferred that the character is an attribute of the circuit symbol.

[0038] <Embodiment 2> FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of the work support device 200 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The work support device 200 according to Embodiment 2 includes a structuring unit 213 in addition to the configuration described in Embodiment 1. Other configurations are the same as those in Embodiment 1. The structuring unit 213 creates data describing the connection relationship between the circuit symbols and conductors described in the circuit drawing data 206. This process is called structuring. The specific procedure of structuring will be described later.

[0039] FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the work support device 200 in the present Embodiment 2. Between S03 and S04, the structuring unit 213 performs structuring according to the procedure described later (S10). Other steps are the same as those in FIG. 5. However, in S07, the handwritten data analysis unit 202 may identify the conduction path of the handwritten data using the structuring result by the structuring unit 213. For example, by comparing the connection relationship between the circuit components and conductors described in the structuring result with the connection relationship indicated by the matching result, a list of the circuit components and conductors through which the conduction path passes can be output.

[0040] FIG. 12 is an example of a circuit diagram in which one conductor is composed of a plurality of lines. In FIG. 12(1), the conductor 1200 connecting between the power supply 1201 and the IC 1203 is composed of four lines, and at least two of these lines are oriented in different directions from each other and form one conduction path by contacting at the ends. Further, between the connection point 1202 and the IC 1203, a conductor 1204 is arranged in proximity to the fourth line of the conductor 1200.

[0041] If a conduction path where there are other adjacent conductors as shown in Fig. 12(2) is marked by handwritten means, the handwritten path may overlap with another conductor. In the example of Fig. 12(2), the handwritten path follows both the fourth partial conductor of conductor 1200 and conductor 1204. Therefore, there is a possibility that the conduction path cannot be correctly determined.

[0042] Therefore, the conductor detection unit 210 integrates the four partial conductors that make up conductor 1200 and treats them as one conductor 1205 (Fig. 12(3)). As a result, even if a part of conductor 1205 and conductor 1204 overlap on the handwritten path (Fig. 12(4)), since the handwritten path only follows a part of conductor 1205, the handwritten data analysis unit 202 can determine that this handwritten path does not follow conductor 1205. The conductor detection unit 210 may perform such conductor integration in advance, for example, in S03 of Fig. 11.

[0043] Fig. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of structuring by the structuring unit 213. In the circuit diagram on the left in Fig. 13, the path between the power supply 1201 and the IC 1203 can be described as shown on the right in Fig. 13. That is, this path can be described as a path in which the circuit symbol 1300 and the conductor 1301 are alternately connected. The structuring unit 213 represents the connection relationship described in the circuit drawing data by a data structure in which the circuit symbol and the conductor are alternately connected according to this principle.

[0044] Fig. 14 is an example for explaining the structuring procedure performed by the structuring unit 213. Here, as shown in Fig. 14(1), in the case where the power supply 1400 => conductor 1403 => capacitor 1401 => conductor 1404 => resistor 1402 => conductor 1405 are connected in series in this order, a procedure for creating data representing this connection relationship (that is, structuring Fig. 14(1)) will be explained.

[0045] The structuring unit 213 enumerates circuit elements composed of circuit symbols in the circuit drawing data and the conductors connected to the circuit symbols. For example, since the conductor 1403 is connected to the power supply 1400, these pairs are enumerated as one circuit element. Similarly, since the conductors 1403 and 1404 are connected to the capacitor 1401, these pairs are enumerated as one circuit element. By this procedure, the circuit element list shown in FIG. 14(2) is created.

[0046] The structuring unit 213 enumerates those among the circuit elements in the circuit element list that can be the starting points of the connection paths. Specifically, the connection relationships in which the circuit symbol and the conductor are connected one-to-one are extracted from the circuit element list and enumerated. As shown in FIG. 14(3), at the time of starting the structuring, the only pair in which the circuit symbol and the conductor are connected one-to-one is the pair of the power supply 1400 and the conductor 1403. Therefore, at this time, these become the starting point elements of the connection relationship.

[0047] The structuring unit 213 compares the starting point elements with each circuit element in the circuit element list. The structuring unit 213 identifies from the circuit element list those that have the same conductor as the starting point element and do not have the same circuit symbol as the starting point element. At this time, the set of the capacitor 1401 / conductor 1403 / conductor 1404 corresponds to this.

[0048] The structuring unit 213 connects the identified circuit element list and the starting point elements by the conductor common between them. At this time, since the conductor 1403 is common, the starting point element and the capacitor 1401 are connected by the conductor 1403. The result of the connection is updated as a new starting point element. As a result, the starting point element becomes as shown in FIG. 14(4). The structuring unit 213 repeats the same process using the new starting point element. The structuring unit 213 stores the content of the starting point element at the time when the starting point element can no longer be updated in the DB211 as the result of the structuring.

[0049] FIG. 15 shows an example in which the wires connected to one circuit symbol form a plurality of input / output relationships. In this case, when creating the circuit element list described with reference to FIG. 14, the structuring unit 213 enumerates the circuit elements for each input / output relationship. Thereby, even when a plurality of input / output relationships are formed for one circuit symbol, all the connection paths based on those input / output relationships can be covered. The input / output relationships for each circuit symbol may be held in advance by the circuit symbol detection unit 209 in conjunction with, for example, the type of the circuit symbol.

[0050] In FIG. 15(1), the twisted wire 1500 has the following input / output relationships: (a) receives an input from the wire 1501 and outputs from the wire 1503; (b) receives an input from the wire 1502 and outputs from the wire 1504. The structuring unit 213 enumerates these two input / output relationships as individual circuit elements, respectively. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 15(2), the twisted wire 1500 is enumerated as two circuit elements.

[0051] In FIG. 15(3), the IC 1505 has two input wires 1506 and 1507 and one output wire 1508. When there is no input / output relationship between them, the structuring unit 213 enumerates the IC 1505 as individual circuit elements for each wire. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 15(4), the IC 1505 is enumerated as three circuit elements. Alternatively, for example, when the wire 1506 is an input and the wire 1508 is its output, but the wire 1507 has no corresponding output, as shown in FIG. 15(5), the IC 1505 is enumerated as two circuit elements.

[0052] FIG. 16 shows an example in which a loop path is formed as a result of structuring by the structuring unit 213. In the example shown in FIG. 16, the path starting from the starting point 1600 circulates in the loop path 1601. When such a loop path is formed, the same circuit symbol appears multiple times in the connection relationship obtained by structuring. The structuring unit 213 deletes the connection path including such a loop path from the structuring result. This is because such a path cannot be treated as a conduction path.

[0053] <Embodiment 3> In Embodiment 3 of the present invention, specific examples of the data stored in the DB211 and the user interface provided by the work support device 200 will be described. Other configurations are the same as those in Embodiments 1 and 2.

[0054] FIG. 17 shows an example of the data stored in the DB211 in the work support device 200 according to the present Embodiment 3. In addition to the analysis results by the handwritten data analysis unit 202 and other functional units, the DB211 can store, for example, (a) an operator table describing information about the operator, (b) a task table describing information about the work performed by the operator, and the like.

[0055] The operator table can store, for example, the operator's personal ID, name, affiliation, ID of the work terminal used, information for identifying the work performed (task information), and the like. The task information refers to the task table. The task table can store, for example, the task No., project name, delivery date, manager, person in charge, progress rate, and the like. The progress rate represents the progress rate of the handwritten input work. The handwritten data analysis unit 202 can calculate the progress rate, for example, based on (a) the ratio of the conduction paths for which the handwritten input has been completed to all the conduction paths described in the circuit drawing data, (b) the ratio of the circuit components for which the handwritten input has been completed to all the circuit components described in the circuit drawing data, and the like.

[0056] FIG. 18 is an example of a control screen provided by the work support device 200. The control screen can be used, for example, by an administrator who manages workers to manage the work progress of each worker. The control screen can be provided, for example, by the handwritten data analysis unit 202. The control screen includes an analysis file specifying unit 1800, an analysis area specifying unit 1801, a terminal operation unit 1805, and a progress display unit 1810.

[0057] In the analysis file specifying unit 1800, when a user (for example, an administrator) presses a ▲ button, a file selection screen is displayed. The user selects circuit diagram data created with drawing software or a PDF file of the circuit diagram. The conversion unit 207 converts the selected data into a data format (circuit diagram data 206) suitable for display on the work terminal 204.

[0058] The user designates the page number of the circuit diagram data using the page specifying unit 1802. The analysis area specifying unit 1801 displays the circuit diagram described on the page selected by the user. The user designates a detection area 1803 and a non-detection area 1804, for example, by a drag operation of the mouse. The storage device (for example, DB221) stores the detection area data describing the result.

[0059] In the terminal operation unit 1805, the file selection area 1806 displays a list of the circuit diagram data 206. The user designates one of them. The terminal selection area 1807 displays a list of the work terminals 204. The user designates the destination terminal to which the circuit diagram data 206 is to be transmitted or the source terminal from which the handwritten data is to be received, and presses the transmit button 1808 or the receive button 1809. The communication unit 203 transmits the circuit diagram data 205 or the circuit diagram data 206 to the designated destination, or receives the handwritten data from the designated source.

[0060] In the progress display unit 1810, according to the content of the handwritten data, a numerical value 1811 of the work progress rate or a circle chart 1812 is displayed. The display content changing unit 1813 can switch the display content, for example, for each project / for each worker, etc.

[0061] In addition to the above, the control screen may display the processing results by the drawing analysis unit 201 or the handwritten data analysis unit 202. For example, the structuring result, the matching result between the structuring result and the handwritten data, the attribute information of circuit symbols, etc. may be displayed. Further, instead of or in combination with these information and the screen display of the control screen, the same content may be presented to the user in an appropriate data format.

[0062] <Regarding the modification example of the present invention> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modification examples. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Also, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Also, for a part of the configuration of each embodiment, addition, deletion, or replacement with other configurations is possible.

[0063] In the above embodiments, it is assumed that the line detection unit 208 detects a straight line described in the circuit drawing data, but curves may be detected using an appropriate technique for detecting curves. Since the circuit symbol detection unit 209 does not rely only on line detection such as pattern matching, even when the line detection unit 208 detects only straight lines, curves may be included in the circuit symbols.

[0064] In the above embodiments, what the work support device 200 transmits to the work terminal 204 is a data format suitable for display by the work terminal 204. If it is suitable for display by the work terminal 204, either the circuit drawing data 205 or the circuit drawing data 206 may be transmitted. In any case, it is assumed that the circuit drawing data received by the work terminal 204 describes circuit components as mere graphics (geometric information or pixels of lines), and the information specific to the circuit components is lost.

[0065] Depending on the method of describing circuit diagrams, conductors may sometimes be treated as a type of circuit symbol. However, in the above embodiments, it should be noted that circuit symbols and conductors are distinguished, and circuit symbols are defined as the remaining part of the lines excluding conductors.

[0066] In the above embodiments, the drawing analysis unit 201 (and each functional unit included in the drawing analysis unit 201), and the handwritten data analysis unit 202 can be configured by hardware such as a circuit device that implements these functions, or can also be configured by the execution of software that implements these functions by an arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit).

[0067] In the above embodiments, it has been described that the drawing analysis unit 201 includes a conversion unit 207, a line detection unit 208, a circuit symbol detection unit 209, and a conductor detection unit 210. However, these functional units may also be implemented as individual components.

[0068] In the above embodiments, the drawing analysis unit 201, the handwritten data analysis unit 202, and each functional unit included in the drawing analysis unit 201 may all be provided on the same device, or any part of them may be implemented on another device. For example, the drawing analysis unit 201 (analysis program) may be arranged on another device to perform the process of detecting circuit components and conductors from circuit diagram data (which may further include the process of structuring) separately from the handwritten data analysis unit 202.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0069] 200: Work support device 201: Drawing analysis unit 202: Handwritten data analysis unit 203: Communication unit 204: Work terminal 205: Circuit diagram data 206: Circuit diagram data

Claims

1. A work support device that provides circuit diagram data showing the connection relationship of circuit components to a work terminal used by an operator, The work support device includes a conversion unit that converts first circuit diagram data created in a first data format into second circuit diagram data created in a second data format, The first data format is configured to represent lines constituting a figure describing the circuit components by geometric information, The second data format is configured to represent a figure describing the circuit components by pixels, The work support device further includes A line detection unit that detects a straight line described in the first circuit diagram data or detects a straight line from an image area of the second circuit diagram data, A circuit symbol detection unit that detects circuit symbols other than conducting wires from an image area of the second circuit diagram data, A conducting wire detection unit that detects, as conducting wires, the remainder obtained by removing the circuit symbols detected by the circuit symbol detection unit from the straight lines detected by the line detection unit, A communication unit that transmits the first or second circuit diagram data to the work terminal, An analysis unit that analyzes conduction path data describing a result of the operator tracing a conduction path on the first or second circuit diagram data with a manually drawn line on the work terminal, Comprising, The analysis unit identifies the circuit components and the conducting wires through which the conduction path passes by matching the conduction path described in the conduction path data with the circuit symbols detected by the circuit symbol detection unit and the conducting wires detected by the conducting wire detection unit, The analysis unit notifies the operator of the result of identifying the circuit components and the conducting wires through which the conduction path passes A work support device characterized by the above.

2. The line detection unit detects the straight line from the geometric information described in the first circuit diagram data or detects the straight line by applying a straight line detection filter to the second circuit diagram data, The circuit symbol detection unit detects the circuit symbol by using at least any one of template matching, deep learning using an object detection model, or deep learning using both an object detection model and an object recognition model for the second circuit diagram data The work support device according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

3. The operation support device further includes a storage unit that stores detection area data for designating at least one of a detection area that is a target of a process for detecting the straight line and a non-detection area that is other than the detection area in the second circuit drawing data. The line detection unit detects the straight line from the detection area designated by the detection area data, or does not detect the straight line from the non-detection area designated by the detection area data. The operation support device according to claim 1, characterized in that.

4. The circuit symbol detection unit detects characters arranged within a predetermined distance from the circuit symbol on the second circuit drawing data, and associates the characters with the circuit symbol as attribute information of the circuit symbol. The analysis unit presents the attribute information associated with each circuit symbol together with the circuit components through which the conduction path passes. The operation support device according to claim 1, characterized in that.

5. The line detection unit reclassifies, as points, those of the detected straight lines having a length less than a first threshold value, and reclassifies those having a length greater than or equal to the first threshold value as straight lines. The line detection unit reclassifies, as solid lines, those of the reclassified straight lines having an interval between two straight lines greater than or equal to a second threshold value, and reclassifies those having an interval less than the second threshold value as broken lines. The line detection unit reclassifies the reclassified broken lines into one of a broken line, a dashed line, and a double dashed line according to the number of points existing within the interval. When the reclassified points are arranged on the same straight line at an interval within a third threshold value, the line detection unit reclassifies the points arranged on the straight line as a dotted line. The operation support device according to claim 1, characterized in that.

6. The circuit symbol detection unit detects characters arranged within a predetermined distance from the circuit symbol on the second circuit drawing data and surrounded by the broken line, and associates the characters with the circuit symbol as attribute information of the circuit symbol. The analysis unit presents the attribute information associated with each circuit symbol together with the circuit components through which the conduction path passes. The operation support device according to claim 5, characterized in that.

7. The operation support device further includes a structuring unit that structures the circuit symbols on the second circuit drawing data and the conductors on the second circuit drawing data according to a connection relationship. The analysis unit identifies the circuit components and the conductors through which the conduction path passes using the result of structuring by the structuring unit. The work support device according to claim 1, characterized in that...

8. When the wire detection unit detects two or more of the wires whose ends are in contact to form one path, the two or more wires are treated as one wire. The work support device according to claim 1, characterized in that...

9. The structuring unit performs the structuring so that the circuit symbols excluding the wires and the wires are alternately connected. The work support device according to claim 7, characterized in that...

10. The structuring unit creates a circuit element list enumerating circuit elements composed of the circuit symbols and the wires connected to the circuit symbols, The structuring unit creates a start point list enumerating one or more of the circuit elements in which the circuit symbols and the wires are connected one-to-one among the circuit elements enumerated in the circuit element list, The structuring unit identifies, among the circuit elements enumerated in the circuit element list, those that have the same wire as the circuit elements enumerated in the start point list and do not have the same circuit symbol, The structuring unit updates the circuit elements enumerated in the start point list by connecting the circuit elements enumerated in the start point list and the identified circuit elements by the same wire, The structuring unit performs the structuring using the updated start point list. The work support device according to claim 7, characterized in that...

11. When there are a plurality of input-output relationships formed by at least one of the wires for inputting signals to the circuit component and the wires for outputting signals from the circuit component in one circuit component, the structuring unit enumerates the circuit elements for each input-output relationship in the circuit element list. The work support device according to claim 10, characterized in that...

12. In the connection path of the circuit component and the wire formed by the structuring, when the same circuit component exists, the structuring unit deletes the connection path from the result of the structuring. The work support device according to claim 7, characterized in that...

13. The work support device further provides a control screen for inputting an instruction from a user to the work support device, The control screen is, A data specifying unit for inputting an instruction to select the first circuit diagram data, A detection area specifying unit for inputting an instruction to specify the detection area and the non-detection area, A terminal specifying unit for inputting the instruction for specifying the work terminal A transmission instruction unit for inputting the instruction for transmitting the first or the second circuit drawing data to the work terminal A reception instruction unit for inputting the instruction for receiving the conduction path data from the work terminal A progress display unit for displaying the work progress status of the worker based on the analysis result by the analysis unit having The progress display unit The ratio of the conduction paths that have been handwritten and input with respect to all the conduction paths described in the first circuit drawing data or the second circuit drawing data or The ratio of the circuit components that have been handwritten and input with respect to all the circuit components described in the first circuit drawing data or the second circuit drawing data uses at least one of them to display the work progress status The work support device according to claim 3, characterized in that

14. The work support device according to claim 1 The work terminal that receives the first or the second circuit drawing data from the work support device having A work support system, characterized in that

15. An analysis program for causing a computer to execute a process of analyzing circuit drawing data showing the connection relationship of circuit components, the circuit drawing data is configured to represent the figure describing the circuit components by pixels, the analysis program causes the computer to detect a straight line from the image area of the circuit drawing data, detect circuit symbols other than conducting wires from the image area of the circuit drawing data, detect the remaining part excluding the circuit symbols detected in the step of detecting the circuit symbols from the straight lines detected in the step of detecting the straight lines as conducting wires, structure the circuit symbols on the circuit drawing data and the conducting wires on the circuit drawing data according to the connection relationship, using the result of the structuring, analyze the conduction path data describing the result of tracing the conduction paths on the circuit drawing data on the work terminal for displaying the circuit drawing data with hand-drawn lines, thereby specifying the circuit components and the conducting wires through which the conduction paths pass, notify the worker using the work terminal of the result of specifying the circuit components and the conducting wires through which the conduction paths pass, to execute In the step of structuring, the computer is caused to perform the structuring such that the circuit symbols excluding the conducting wires and the conducting wires are alternately connected An analysis program characterized by the following.

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