Floor sensor system and method for detecting wheeled structures

Abstract

To provide a floor sensor system capable of detecting a wheeled structure.SOLUTION: A floor sensor system 1 according to one aspect of the present invention capable of detecting a wheeled structure comprises a floor sensor 10 capable of detecting a load, and a processing unit 20 for processing a detection signal output from the floor sensor 10. The processing unit 20 detects a wheeled structure on the basis of temporal information of positional data on the load detected by the floor sensor 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a floor sensor system and a method for detecting wheeled structures. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, technology has been developed that uses floor sensors capable of detecting loads to grasp the number of people passing over the floor sensors, their movement directions, and the like.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses technology related to a measurement system that can measure the actual number of people present in each section of a building at any time and is less prone to errors. The measurement system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is equipped with a pressure sensor that is installed on the floor of the entrance / exit of the section of the building and has multiple pressure-sensitive elements arranged in a plane so as to be able to detect the direction and number of pedestrians passing on the floor, an infrared sensor that is installed so as to be able to detect the presence or absence of people within the section, and control means that calculates the number of people within the section using information from the pressure sensor and the infrared sensor. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-79140 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Recently, due to factors such as barrier-free buildings and advances in robotics technology, opportunities for wheeled structures such as robots to move within buildings are increasing. For this reason, there is a need for a technology to detect wheeled structures using floor sensors. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for counting the number of people present in each section of a building. However, Patent Document 1 does not disclose a technology for detecting wheeled structures such as robots.

[0006] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a floor sensor system capable of detecting a wheeled structure and a method for detecting a wheeled structure. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A floor sensor system according to one aspect of the present invention is a floor sensor system capable of detecting a wheeled structure, and includes a floor sensor capable of detecting a load, and a processing unit that processes a detection signal output from the floor sensor. The processing unit detects the wheeled structure based on time-series information on position data of the load detected by the floor sensor.

[0008] A method for detecting a wheeled structure according to one aspect of the present invention detects a load using a floor sensor, and detects the wheeled structure based on time-series information on position data of the load detected by the floor sensor. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, a floor sensor system capable of detecting a wheeled structure and a method for detecting a wheeled structure can be provided. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram for explaining a floor sensor system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a top view showing an example of a floor sensor provided in a floor sensor system according to an embodiment. FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a detection cell provided in the floor sensor. [Figure 4] 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which pressure is applied to a detection cell provided in the floor sensor. FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a top view showing a state in which the floor sensor system according to the embodiment detects a wheel. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining details of the floor sensor system according to the embodiment. [Figure 7]FIG. 10 is a top view showing a state in which the floor sensor system according to the embodiment detects a wheel. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table included in a processing unit. [Figure 9] 1 is a top view showing a state in which the floor sensor system according to the embodiment detects a person's foot; FIG. [Figure 10] 1 is a top view showing a state in which the floor sensor system according to the embodiment detects a person's foot; FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a top view showing a state in which the floor sensor system according to the embodiment detects a wheel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a floor sensor system according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the floor sensor system 1 according to this embodiment includes a floor sensor 10 and a processing unit 20. The floor sensor system 1 according to this embodiment is a system capable of detecting a wheeled structure. Here, a wheeled structure is a structure that can move using wheels, such as a mobile robot, a wheelchair, or a cart.

[0012] The floor sensor 10 is installed on the floor of a building or the like and is configured to be able to detect load. Fig. 2 is a top view showing an example of the floor sensor 10. As shown in Fig. 2, the floor sensor 10 has a plurality of detection cells 18 that detect pressure arranged in a matrix in the row and column directions. Fig. 2 shows an example configuration including 10 rows and 18 columns of detection cells 18, but in this embodiment, the number of detection cells 18 arranged in the row and column directions can be determined arbitrarily.

[0013] Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a detection cell provided in a floor sensor. As shown in Fig. 3, detection cell 18 is formed on substrate 11. Substrate 11 can be configured using a rigid substrate such as a printed wiring board. Lower electrodes 12 and 13 are arranged close to each other on the upper surface of substrate 11.

[0014] A film 15 is disposed on the upper surface of the substrate 11. Spacers 17 are provided between the substrate 11 and the film 15. The spacers 17 are respectively disposed on both sides of the detection cells 18 in the row direction (in other words, on both sides of the lower electrodes 12, 13). By providing the spacers 17, the substrate 11 and the film 15 can be disposed at a distance from each other. In addition, an upper electrode 14 is formed on the lower surface of the film 15. The upper electrode 14 is disposed so as to face the lower electrodes 12, 13.

[0015] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which pressure is applied to the detection cell 18 shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, floor sensor 10 is configured to detect pressure when stress F1 is applied to the upper surface of each detection cell 18, as a result of upper electrode 14 coming into contact with lower electrodes 12 and 13. That is, a drive voltage is supplied to lower electrode 12 of each detection cell 18, and pressure is detected by detecting that film 15 is displaced in a direction approaching substrate 11, causing upper electrode 14 to come into contact with lower electrodes 12 and 13, resulting in lower electrodes 12 and 13 becoming conductive. Such a floor sensor 10 (sensor panel) is disclosed in JP 2019-060622 A.

[0016] Note that the configuration of each detection cell 18 shown in Figures 3 and 4 is an example, and in this embodiment, the floor sensor 10 may be configured using, for example, a pressure-sensitive sheet using a piezoelectric element or a capacitance sensor using a capacitance detection element.

[0017] Fig. 5 is a top view showing a state in which the floor sensor system according to the embodiment is detecting wheels. As shown in Fig. 5, when a wheeled structure 30 passes over the floor sensor 10, a load is applied from the wheels 31 of the wheeled structure 30 to the floor sensor 10. The floor sensor 10 outputs the detection result of this load to the processing unit 20 (see Fig. 1).

[0018] The processing unit 20 shown in Fig. 1 processes the detection signal output from the floor sensor 10. Specifically, the processing unit 20 detects the wheeled structure 30 based on time-varying information of position data of the load detected by the floor sensor 10. For example, as shown in Fig. 5, the processing unit 20 may detect the wheeled structure 30 based on the shape of a trajectory 32 of the position data.

[0019] For example, the processing unit 20 may determine that the object is a wheeled structure 30 when the shape of the trajectory 32 of the position data is linear. That is, when the wheeled structure 30 passes over the floor sensor 10, a load is applied from the wheels 31 of the wheeled structure 30 to the floor sensor 10. At this time, the shape of the trajectory 32 of the position data detected by the floor sensor 10 is linear. Therefore, the processing unit 20 can determine that the object is a wheeled structure 30 when the shape of the trajectory 32 of the position data is linear.

[0020] In addition, in the floor sensor system 1 of this embodiment, the processing unit 20 may identify the position of the wheel 31 based on position data detected at a predetermined timing, and identify the type of wheeled structure 30 based on the identified position of the wheel 31.

[0021] 6 is a block diagram for explaining details of the floor sensor system according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the processing unit 20 includes a wheel position identifying unit 21, a wheeled structure identifying unit 22, and a table 23.

[0022] The wheel position identifying unit 21 identifies the position of the wheel 31 based on the position data of the load detected by the floor sensor 10 at a predetermined timing. For example, the wheel position identifying unit 21 may identify the position of the wheel 31 of the wheeled structure 30 using the position data at a specific timing when the wheeled structure 30 passes over the floor sensor 10.

[0023] Furthermore, the wheel position identifying unit 21 may latch position data of the load detected by the floor sensor 10 for a predetermined period of time to identify the position of the wheel 31. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, when the wheeled structure 30 passes over the floor sensor 10, a load is applied from the wheels 31 of the wheeled structure 30 to the floor sensor 10. The wheel position identifying unit 21 can obtain a chronological trajectory 33 of the position data by latching the position data of the load detected at this time for a predetermined period of time. The wheel position identifying unit 21 may identify the position of the wheel 31 of the wheeled structure 30 using the chronological trajectory 33 of the position data obtained in this manner.

[0024] For example, when using a floor sensor 10 such as that shown in Figures 2 to 4, there may be a moment when no pressure is detected when the wheeled structure 30 passes between the detection cells 18. In such a case, the position data of the load detected by the floor sensor 10 is latched for a predetermined period of time to obtain a trajectory 33 of the position data over time. Then, by using this trajectory 33 of the position data over time, the position of the wheels 31 of the wheeled structure 30 can be accurately identified.

[0025] The wheeled structure identifying unit 22 identifies the type of wheeled structure 30 based on the thus identified positions of the wheels 31. For example, the processing unit 20 may be provided with a table 23 that associates wheel positions with wheeled structure types, and the wheeled structure identifying unit 22 may identify the type of wheeled structure 30 corresponding to the position of the wheel 31 identified by the wheel position identifying unit 21 by referring to the table 23.

[0026] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a table provided in the processing unit. As shown in Fig. 8, table 23 stores data in which the positions of wheels 31a to 31d of wheeled structures 30a to 30d are associated with the types of wheeled structures.

[0027] The wheeled structure identifying unit 22 compares the position of the wheel 31 identified by the wheel position identifying unit 21 with the positions of the wheels 31a to 31d stored in the table 23. Then, from the positions of the wheels 31a to 31d stored in the table 23, the wheel that matches the position of the wheel 31 identified by the wheel position identifying unit 21 is identified, and the wheeled structure is identified based on the identified wheel position.

[0028] The data of the table 23 shown in FIG. 8 may be stored in the memory of the processing unit 20, or may be acquired by the processing unit 20 via a network.

[0029] As described above, the floor sensor system according to this embodiment detects a load using the floor sensor 10, and detects a wheeled structure based on time-varying information on the position data of the load detected by the floor sensor 10. Therefore, it is possible to provide a floor sensor system capable of detecting a wheeled structure and a method for detecting a wheeled structure.

[0030] For example, if the floor sensor 10 is installed in a building's corridor, it can detect a wheeled structure 30 that has passed through or entered the building's corridor. Also, if the floor sensor 10 is installed in an elevator hall, it can detect a wheeled structure 30 that has used the elevator. Furthermore, if the floor sensor 10 is installed at the entrance to a changing room or toilet in a nursing facility, it can detect a wheeled structure 30 that has used the changing room or toilet. Note that these installation locations are just examples, and in this embodiment, the passage of a wheeled structure 30 can be detected by installing the floor sensor 10 in a location where it is desired to detect the wheeled structure 30.

[0031] Furthermore, the floor sensor system according to this embodiment may be configured to be able to distinguish between a human foot and a wheeled structure. That is, as shown in Fig. 9, the processing unit 20 may determine that the floor sensor 10 has detected a human foot when the shape of the trajectory 41 of the position data corresponds to a human foot. Furthermore, for example, the processing unit 20 may determine that the floor sensor 10 has detected a human foot when the shape of the trajectory 41 of the position data is a discontinuous shape that is interrupted at a predetermined length.

[0032] FIG. 10 is a top view showing a state in which the floor sensor system according to the embodiment is detecting a person's foot. When a person passes over the floor sensor 10, a load is applied from the person's foot to the floor sensor 10. At this time, the change in the load detected by the floor sensor 10 over time is shown as a trajectory 44 in FIG. 10. That is, first, the heel of the foot touches the ground, then the entire foot touches the ground, and then the toes leave the floor sensor 10. The shape of the trajectory 45 detected by the floor sensor 10 at this time is the shape of the person's foot. In other words, the shape of the trajectory 45 of the person's foot is a discontinuous shape that is interrupted at a predetermined length. Furthermore, the shape of the trajectory 45 of the person's foot is a shape in which the length and width are approximately fixed.

[0033] Fig. 11 is a top view showing a state in which the floor sensor system according to the embodiment is detecting wheels. When a wheeled structure 30 passes over the floor sensor 10, a load is applied to the floor sensor 10 from the wheels 31 of the wheeled structure 30. At this time, the trajectory of the load detected by the floor sensor 10 is a trajectory 34 of the wheels 31 moving continuously, as shown in Fig. 11. Therefore, in the case of the wheels 31 of the wheeled structure 30, the shape of the trajectory is a long, thin, continuous linear trajectory 35.

[0034] In this way, the load trajectories detected by the floor sensor 10 are different between the wheels 31 of the wheeled structure 30 and the feet of a person. Therefore, the processing unit 20 can distinguish between the wheels 31 of the wheeled structure 30 and the feet of a person based on the load trajectories detected by the floor sensor 10.

[0035] The present invention has been described above in accordance with the above-mentioned embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-mentioned embodiment, and naturally includes various modifications, alterations, and combinations that a person skilled in the art can make within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims of this application. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1. Floor Sensor System 10 Floor Sensor 11 Circuit Board 12, 13 Lower electrode 14 Upper electrode 15 Film 17 Spacer 18 detection cells 20 Processing section 21 Wheel position identification part 22 Wheeled structure specific section 23 Tables 30 Wheeled Structure 31 wheels 32, 33, 34, 35 Wheel trajectories 41, 44, 45 Foot trajectory

Claims

1. 1. A floor sensor system capable of detecting a wheeled structure, comprising: a floor sensor capable of detecting a load; a processing unit that processes a detection signal output from the floor sensor, the processing unit includes a table that associates mapping information of the positions of three or four wheels with the type of wheeled structure; the processing unit latches the position data of the load detected by the floor sensor for a predetermined period of time to identify the positions of the wheels, compares the mapping information of the identified three or four wheels with the mapping information of the wheel positions stored in the table, and identifies the type of wheeled structure corresponding to the mapping information of the identified wheel positions by referring to the table. Floor sensor system.

2. The floor sensor system according to claim 1 , wherein the processing unit detects the wheeled structure based on a shape of a trajectory of the position data.

3. The floor sensor system according to claim 2 , wherein the processing unit determines that the object is a wheeled structure when the shape of the locus of the position data is linear.

4. A floor sensor system as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the processing unit determines that the floor sensor has detected a human foot if the shape of the trajectory of the position data corresponds to a human foot.

5. A floor sensor system as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the processing unit determines that the floor sensor has detected a human foot when the shape of the trajectory of the position data is a discontinuous shape that ends at a predetermined length.

6. 6. The floor sensor system according to claim 1, wherein the floor sensor is configured by arranging a plurality of detection cells for detecting a load in a matrix in row and column directions.

7. 1. A method for detecting a wheeled structure, comprising: The floor sensor detects the load, Latching the position data of the load detected by the floor sensor for a predetermined period of time to identify the position of the wheels of the wheeled structure; comparing the wheel position mapping information stored in a table associating the wheel position mapping information with the type of wheeled structure with the identified wheel position mapping information for the three or four wheels, and identifying the type of wheeled structure corresponding to the identified wheel position mapping information by referring to the table; A method for detecting wheeled structures.

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