Information processing device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To provide a device which outputs information that enable appropriate analysis of an immobile layer.SOLUTION: An information processing device provided herein is configured to acquire information indicative of whether particles contained in powder are in an immobile state or not and information indicative of a degree to which the particles were in the immobile state, and output the acquired information into a file.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The disclosure of this specification relates to an information processing device, an information processing system, a data structure, an information processing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] In processes for transporting or mixing powder, a state in which some powder hardly moves, known as a dead layer or dead particles, may occur. Because the occurrence of dead layers can affect the performance and uniformity of quality of products manufactured using the powder, attempts have been made in recent years to analyze dead layers using particle simulation.

[0003] Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a method of displaying particles in a particle simulation by using a color according to their speed. Non-Patent Document 2 discloses a method of evaluating the moving distance and residence time of particles in a particle simulation. An observer of a particle simulation can identify areas of low speed in, for example, a powder by identifying particles with a specific speed by coloring or particles with a moving distance less than a certain value. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] Chemical Engineering Science125(2015)58-74 [Non-patent document 2] Chemical Engineering in the Pharmaceutical Industry Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The particles that make up the immobile layer do not necessarily remain in place forever, and it may not be sufficient to simply evaluate whether or not they make up an immobile layer. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The information processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention stores, for particles contained in powder, information indicating whether the particles are in an immobile state and information indicating whether the particles are in an immobile state. The amount of influence the particle has received within a certain time Degree information 、 and an output means for outputting the information acquired by the acquisition means to a file. In addition, an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention is characterized by having a data generation means for generating display data that associates information indicating whether particles contained in a powder are in an immobile state and information indicating the degree of influence that the particles received during the time that the particles were in an immobile state, and an output means for outputting the display data to a file. In addition, an information processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that it generates display data that associates information indicating whether a particle is in an immobile state with information indicating the degree of influence that the particle received during the time that the particle was in an immobile state, and outputs the display data to a file. In addition, an information processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention is an information processing method for displaying the behavior of a powder on a display unit, which is characterized by reading information indicating whether a particle is in an immobile state or not and information indicating the degree of influence the particle received during the time the particle was in an immobile state, and displaying information indicating whether the particle is in an immobile state or not and information indicating the degree of influence the particle received during the time the particle was in an immobile state for particles contained in the powder on the display unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] By outputting a file containing information indicating whether the particles are in an immobile state and information indicating the degree to which they were in an immobile state, it becomes possible to more appropriately evaluate the particles that make up the immobile layer in particle simulations. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] [First embodiment] The manufacturing process for products made using powder, such as pharmaceuticals, food, and toner, often includes a process of transporting, mixing, and stirring the powder. Because powders do not self-diffuse, they are transported and mixed using stirring and transporting devices such as screw augers, gravity, or air. However, depending on the shape of the container or device that holds the powder, or the shape of the components used for mixing and stirring, some of the powder may barely move and may remain in the same area, forming an immobile layer.

[0011] If a dead layer occurs during the manufacturing process of a product made using powder, the powder may adhere to the container in that area, causing clogging. Furthermore, the particles that make up the dead layer may experience deterioration or other changes in their properties due to shearing forces from particles in the moving layer. If powder in such a dead layer is discharged together with powder in the moving layer, it may affect the quality of the product. In recent years, particle simulation has been utilized to address the issues that arise from the occurrence of such dead layers.

[0012] Previously proposed methods for evaluating immobile layers using particle simulations have several issues. For example, in a method that displays particles by coloring them according to their velocity, if a cluster of particles of the same color is observed, it is possible that the particles of the particle size indicated by that color constitute the floating layer. However, particles moving at low velocity do not necessarily remain in the immobile layer forever. If a particle subsequently increases its velocity, it is not considered to be in the immobile layer, making accurate evaluation of the immobile layer difficult. Furthermore, methods that evaluate the movement distance of each particle can identify particles that remained immobile from the start to the end of the evaluation. However, they cannot identify particles that moved and became trapped in the immobile layer and then began to form the immobile layer during the evaluation, or particles that were in the immobile layer but began to move.

[0013] The powder constituting the passive layer may deteriorate over a certain period of time due to compression and frictional heat caused by shear at the boundary between the passive layer and the moving layer. Furthermore, the powder constituting the passive layer may detach from the passive layer and move, which can cause problems in actual manufacturing processes. Therefore, when analyzing the passive layer, it is preferable to identify particles that have constituted the passive layer at least once and evaluate the time they constituted the passive layer and the effects of pressure, heat, etc. that they received during that time. It is also preferable to be able to track the subsequent movement of particles that have constituted the passive layer at least once. In consideration of these issues, the inventors of the present invention have discovered a method for evaluating the passive layer by associating information indicating whether particles are in an immobile state with information indicating the degree to which the particles were in an immobile state.

[0014] (Function configuration for analyzing immobile layers) 1 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of an information processing device for analyzing an immobile layer. A control unit 100 acquires information indicating whether a particle is immobile or not and information indicating the degree to which the particle was immobile, and controls the overall process of outputting a file containing this information. The control unit 100 includes an immobile particle analysis condition setting unit 111, an immobile particle display condition setting unit 112, a particle calculation result reading unit 113, an immobile particle calculation unit 114, an immobile particle display unit 115, and a result output unit 116.

[0015] The immobile particle analysis condition setting unit 111 sets information indicating conditions for analyzing the immobile layer as immobile particle analysis condition data 201b in memory. The conditions for analyzing the immobile layer include, for example, data regarding threshold values ​​that serve as a reference for determining whether particles are immobile. The immobile particle analysis condition data 201b may be set by user input, or may be set based on information predetermined depending on the powder material, etc., or data from previous particle simulations. The immobile particle analysis condition setting unit 111 is an example of a setting means for setting conditions for acquiring information indicating whether particles are immobile and information indicating the degree to which the particles were immobile.

[0016] The immobile particle display condition setting unit 112 sets conditions for displaying the results of the particle simulation and the results of the analysis of the immobile layer as immobile particle display condition data 201c in memory. The immobile particle display condition data 201c includes data related to the content to be displayed on the display unit, such as the particle display method and whether or not to display a graph. The immobile particle display condition data 201c may be set by user input, or may be set based on information determined according to the powder material, etc., or data from particle simulations performed in the past. The immobile particle display condition setting unit 112 is an example of a setting means for setting conditions for acquiring information indicating whether particles are in an immobile state and information indicating the degree to which the particles were in an immobile state.

[0017] The particle calculation result reading unit 113 sets information indicating the coordinates of particles contained in the powder calculated by particle simulation as particle coordinate data 201d in memory. The particle coordinate data 201d includes data on the coordinates of particles at each step where it is determined whether the particle is immobile. Previous step particle coordinate data 201e is generated based on the particle coordinate data 201d. The previous step particle coordinate data 201e is data on the coordinates of particles before it is determined whether the particle is immobile.

[0018] The immobile particle calculation unit 114 acquires information indicating whether a particle is in an immobile state and an immobile particle index value, which is information indicating the degree to which the particle was in an immobile state, based on the immobile particle analysis condition data 201b set by the immobile particle analysis condition setting unit 111 and the previous step particle coordinate data 201e set by the particle calculation result reading unit 113. The information indicating whether a particle is in an immobile state is stored in memory as immobile particle flag data 201f, and the information indicating the degree to which the particle was in an immobile state is stored in memory as immobile particle index value data 201g. The immobile particle index value data 201g indicates the influence that the particle receives while forming an immobile layer. The immobile particle calculation unit 114 is an example of an acquisition unit that acquires information indicating whether a particle is in an immobile state and information indicating the degree to which the particle was in an immobile state for particles contained in a powder. In addition, the immobile particle calculation unit 114 is an example of a data generation means that generates display data that associates information indicating whether the particles contained in the powder are in an immobile state with information indicating the degree to which the particles were in an immobile state.

[0019] The immobile particle display unit 115 displays information indicating whether each particle contained in the powder is immobile or not and information indicating the degree to which the particle was in an immobile state on the display device 202, based on the immobile particle flag data 201f and the immobile particle index value data 201g set by the immobile particle calculation unit 114. At this time, a video showing the behavior of the particles may be displayed on the display device based on the particle coordinate data 201d set by the particle calculation result reading unit 113. Also, a graph showing the transition of the immobile particle index value may be displayed on the display device 202. The immobile particle display unit 115 is an example of a display control means for displaying information indicating whether a particle is in an immobile state or not and information indicating the degree to which the particle was in an immobile state on the display device.

[0020] The result output unit 116 outputs a file including at least the immobile particle flag data 201f and the immobile particle index value data 201g set by the immobile particle calculation unit 114. The result output unit 116 may output the file to a storage device or to an external device via communication. The file has a data structure in which information indicating whether a particle is in an immobile state and information indicating the degree to which the particle was in the immobile state are associated with each other. The result output unit 116 is an example of an output means that outputs, for particles contained in a powder, information indicating whether the particle is in an immobile state and information indicating the degree to which the particle was in the immobile state to a file. The result output unit 116 is also an example of an output means that outputs display data to a file. Considering that the display data of the file is read and the information indicating whether the particle is in an immobile state and the information indicating the degree to which the particle was in the immobile state are displayed on the display unit of an external device, the result output unit 116 can also be considered an example of a display control means.

[0021] (Hardware configuration of information processing device for analyzing immobile layers) 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an information processing device for acquiring the degree of immobile particles. The information processing device includes at least a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 200 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 201, and is connected to a display device 202, an input unit 203, and an external storage device 204 via a bus 205. The information processing device may also include a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a LAN (Local Area Network) interface, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), etc. (not shown).

[0022] The RAM 201 stores, for example, a program 201a for acquiring information indicating whether a particle is in an immobile state or not and information indicating the degree to which the particle was in an immobile state, immobile particle analysis condition data 201b, immobile particle display condition data 201c, particle coordinate data 201d, previous step particle coordinate data 201e, immobile particle flag data 201f, and immobile particle index value data 201g.

[0023] The CPU 200 and the GPU are examples of processors. The RAM 201, ROM, HDD, and SSD are examples of memory. The information processing device may have multiple processors. In the information processing device, various processes are performed by the processor executing a program stored in the memory. The information processing device may also have a CPU, GPU, or ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) dedicated to a specific process. The information processing device may also have an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) in which a specific process or all processes are programmed. The information processing device may have multiple components as memory. The information processing device may also have multiple components for communication, such as the bus 205 and a LAN interface.

[0024] The display device 202 is a component, such as a liquid crystal display, that displays an interface for inputting the above-mentioned various pieces of information for particle simulation and displays the results of the particle simulation. The input unit 203 is a component, such as a keyboard or mouse, that allows the user to input information to the information processing device. The display device 202 and the input unit 203 may be integrated as a touch panel display. The display device 202 is an example of a display unit. Another example of a display unit is an external display device (not shown) that displays information indicating whether particles are immobile and information indicating the degree to which the particles were in an immobile state based on a file output from the information processing device via the bus 205 or a LAN interface.

[0025] In the first embodiment, the CPU 200 performs particle simulation (processing for calculating the behavior of particles contained in powder) based on various conditions stored in the RAM 201. The particle simulation may be performed by a GPU (not shown), or by a workstation (not shown) connected via a bus 205 or a LAN interface, or may be performed by these configurations in cooperation with the CPU 200.

[0026] (Process to acquire and display information indicating the degree of immobile particles) Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for acquiring information indicating the degree of immobile particles and displaying it on the display unit. Fig. 4 is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit, which is an example of a screen for a user to set various conditions for particle simulation. Fig. 5 is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit, and is a diagram for explaining the contents of the process. Below, the process for acquiring information indicating the degree of immobile particles and displaying it on the display unit will be explained using Figs. 3 to 5.

[0027] In step S301, the immobile particle analysis condition setting unit 111 sets immobile particle analysis condition data 201b in the RAM 201. In the first embodiment, an example will be described in which the user inputs immobile particle analysis conditions via a setting screen 404 displayed on the display device 202. When the user selects a tab 402 indicating the analysis conditions on the display screen 401, setting screens 404 and 405 are displayed on the display unit 202. The setting screen 404 includes, for example, an item for determining whether or not to perform immobile particle analysis, an item for inputting analysis conditions (movement distance), an item for determining whether or not to track immobile particles, and an item for selecting information to be used as an immobile particle index. In this example, particles with a movement distance of 50 μm or less are the subject of immobile particle analysis. The information set here is saved as immobile particle analysis condition data 201b.

[0028] In step S302, the immobile particle display condition setting unit 112 sets the immobile particle display condition data 201c in the RAM 201. In the first embodiment, an example will be described in which the user inputs immobile particle analysis conditions via a setting screen 405 displayed on the display device 202. The setting screen 405 includes an item for determining whether or not to display immobile particles, and items for inputting the display method (items related to the threshold for displaying immobile particles, items related to the contour display of immobile particle indicators, items related to the display of particles other than immobile particle evaluation particles, and items related to the display of immobile particle indicator graphs). Here, an example will be described in which the threshold for displaying immobile particles is set to 5.0 (5.0 is entered in the threshold field). The information set here is saved as immobile particle display condition data 201c.

[0029] The threshold value serves as a criterion for determining whether a particle is immobile or not, and is a value related to the evaluation of the degree to which the particle was immobile. In the first embodiment, the moving distance of a particle within a predetermined time is used as the threshold value for the evaluation of the degree to which the particle is immobile. If a strict evaluation of the immobile particle phenomenon is desired, the moving distance threshold can be reduced, and if a lenient evaluation is desired, the moving distance threshold can be increased. The user can set the threshold value appropriately depending on the content and purpose of what they consider to be the issue. This allows the evaluation of the immobile particle phenomenon to be performed according to the issue and purpose.

[0030] In step S303, the particle calculation result reading unit 113 reads the results of the particle simulation and sets particle coordinate data 201d in the RAM 201.

[0031] In step S304, the immobile particle calculation unit 114 determines whether or not it is necessary to determine whether or not a particle is immobile and whether or not it is necessary to calculate an immobile particle index value, based on the conditions set in steps S301 and S302. If re-determination and re-calculation are not necessary, such as when the immobile particle analysis conditions retain the results of previous calculations or when only the immobile particle display conditions have been changed, the process proceeds to step S306. If it is necessary to newly determine whether or not a particle is immobile and newly calculate an immobile particle index value, the process proceeds to step S305.

[0032] In step S305, the immobile particle calculation unit 114 determines whether the particles are immobile based on the immobile particle analysis condition data 201b (threshold value), particle coordinate data 201d, and previous-step particle coordinate data 201e, and calculates a segregation particle index value, which is information indicating the degree to which the particles were in an immobile state. The information indicating whether the particles are immobile is set as immobile particle flag data 201f, and the segregation particle index value is set as immobile particle index value data 201g in the RAM 201. Details of the processing in step S305 will be described later.

[0033] In step S306, the immobile particle display unit 115 displays information indicating the behavior of the immobile particles and the degree to which they were in an immobile state on the display device 202, based on the immobile particle index value of each particle calculated by the immobile particle calculation unit 114. Here, the information indicating the behavior of the immobile particles and the degree to which they were in an immobile state is, for example, the immobile particle index value, or a moving image or graph showing a particle simulation that reflects the immobile particle index value. Display screen 401 is an example of the screen displayed at this time.

[0034] In step S307, the result output unit 116 outputs a file showing the analysis results of the immobile layer. The file includes at least immobile particle flag data 201f and immobile particle index value data 201g. The result output unit 116 may output the file to the external storage device 204 for storage, or may output the file to an external device connected via the bus 205 or a LAN interface (not shown) so that information showing the degree of immobile particles can be displayed on the display unit of the device.

[0035] Here, the details of the processing of step S305 will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the arrangement of particles to be evaluated as immobile particles and the wall of the apparatus in the first embodiment. Here, an example will be described in which particles with a short moving distance are evaluated as immobile particles. FIG. 5(a) shows a particle 501 and a wall 502 at a certain time, and FIG. 5(b) shows a particle 503 to be analyzed among the particles 501. FIG. 5(c) shows a particle 504 of the particles 501 that has been determined to be an immobile particle. Furthermore, in FIG. 5(d), particle 505 is a particle at time t0 (previous step), and particle 506 is a particle at the time of analysis. In this specification, the particle to be analyzed may be referred to as a particle of interest.

[0036] In the first embodiment, whether or not a particle to be analyzed is immobile is determined based on the distance traveled, which indicates how far the particle has traveled within a predetermined time. Here, the predetermined time is the time between the previous step and the step in which the analysis is performed. The predetermined time may be set appropriately in other units, such as seconds. If the particle is determined to be immobile, the immobile particle flag for that particle is set to 1. Furthermore, the immobile particle index value is calculated based on the time during which the particle is determined to be immobile. Here, the immobile particle index value is calculated as the integrated value of the time during which the particle is determined to be immobile. Furthermore, as set on the setting screen 405, only particles with an immobile particle index of 5.0 or more (particles that have been immobile for 5.0 seconds or more) and an immobile particle flag of 1 are displayed.

[0037] In step S311, the immobile particle calculation unit 114 calculates the moving distance ΔL of the particle of interest for Δt seconds based on the position at time t0 and the position at time t1, as shown in Fig. 5(d). The position at time t0 is obtained from the previous step particle coordinate data 201e, and the position at time t1 is obtained from the particle coordinate data 201d.

[0038] In step S312, if the moving distance ΔL calculated in step S311 is equal to or less than the threshold set in the immobile particle analysis conditions, the immobile particle calculation unit 114 determines that the particle of interest is immobile and sets the immobile particle flag of the particle to 1. If the moving distance ΔL is equal to or greater than the threshold, the immobile particle calculation unit 114 determines that the particle of interest is not immobile and sets the immobile particle flag of the particle to 0. The threshold is acquired from the immobile particle analysis condition data 201b. The immobile particle flag set here is saved as immobile particle flag data 201f.

[0039] In step S313, the immobile particle calculation unit 114 calculates an immobile particle index value and sets it as immobile particle index value data. In the first embodiment, the immobile particle index value of a particle determined to be immobile is updated by adding Δt calculated in step S311 to the immobile particle index value. As a result, the immobile particle index value indicates the extent to which the particle of interest was in an immobile state, and the user can objectively evaluate the degree to which the particle was in an immobile state based on the immobile particle index value.

[0040] In step S314, the immobile particle calculation unit 114 updates the value of the previous step particle coordinate data 201e to the coordinate value of the particle at t1, and stores it in memory.

[0041] The loop process from step S311 to step S314 is executed for the particles to be analyzed in the immobile layer. The analysis of the immobile layer may be performed for all particles in the device. Alternatively, a specific area in the device may be set in advance as the space to be analyzed for the immobile layer, and only particles contained in the specific area may be analyzed. FIG. 5(c) is an example of a case where only particles determined to be immobile particles are displayed. This makes it possible to identify and display the location of immobile particles. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5(e), particles determined to have a small ΔL and be immobile are displayed. Even if the particle shown in FIG. 5(e) has not been determined to be immobile and has not been displayed, the particle will be displayed from the time it is determined to be immobile. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5(f), particles determined to have a large ΔL and not be immobile are not displayed. Even if the particle shown in FIG. 5(f) has been determined to be immobile and has been displayed, it will no longer be displayed from the time it is determined to be not immobile. This makes it possible to display the location of immobile particles.

[0042] (Modification of the first embodiment) The method for calculating the immobile particle index value is not limited to the above example. Information indicating the degree to which a particle was in an immobile state is also information indicating the influence the particle received during the time the particle was in an immobile state. The immobile particle index value can be calculated using a method based on the time the particle was determined to be immobile, or it can be calculated based on the maximum or integrated value of the influences applied to the particle, such as pressure, force, compressive energy, and heat, received by the particle during the period in which the particle was in an immobile state. One of the purposes of analyzing the immobile layer is to evaluate whether the state of the particle changes due to the influences applied to the particle, and any value related to such a phenomenon can be applied to this method. In other words, information indicating the influence applied to the particle while it was in an immobile state can be used as information indicating the degree to which the particle was in an immobile state.

[0043] In the above example, the particle position in the previous step was used to identify immobile particles, but this is not limited to this. For example, even if the movement distance in one step is small, the accumulated movement amount may be large. If the coordinates of the previous step are used as the reference, such a particle would be determined to be an immobile particle, but it is possible that the particle may not necessarily be considered an immobile particle from the perspective of the accumulated movement amount. The particle position used as the reference for the movement distance is not necessarily limited to the coordinates of the previous step, but may also be the particle coordinates at the time when it is first determined to be immobile. The reference for the movement distance may be determined appropriately by the user depending on the purpose of the analysis.

[0044] In the above example, the immobility display condition is set to the length of time that the particle has been immobile, but this is not limiting. The display may be performed based only on the immobile particle flag data 201f without inputting a threshold (leaving the threshold field blank on the setting screen 405).

[0045] In the above example, a file including at least the immobile particle flag data 201f and the immobile particle index value data 201g is output as a file showing the results of the analysis of the immobile particle phenomenon. However, this is not limited to this. The file may include a plurality of the various data stored in RAM 201 in FIG. 2. In the analysis of the immobile layer, it is preferable to be able to output a file with a data structure that allows tracking of the history of the immobile particles. By having information indicating whether a particle is immobile at a certain point in time (e.g., the immobile particle flag data 201f) as well as information indicating the degree to which the particle was immobile (e.g., the immobile particle index value data 201g), particles that are not determined to be immobile at a certain point in time but have a history of being immobile in the past can be included in the evaluation, allowing the user to appropriately analyze the immobile layer.

[0046] [Second embodiment] The first embodiment described a method for displaying only particles determined to be immobile. In the second embodiment, a method for simultaneously displaying the overall powder flow and immobile particles, and displaying the progression of the immobile layer within the overall flow and the flow of surrounding particles that form the immobile layer, will be described. The method for determining whether a particle is immobile and acquiring information indicating the degree to which the particle was immobile is the same as in the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described here.

[0047] Particles 601 in FIG. 6(a) are all particles for which the immobile particle phenomenon is evaluated, and particles 602 in FIG. 6(b) are particles that are determined to be immobile by the method described in the first embodiment.

[0048] FIG. 6(c) shows an example of a method for displaying particles determined to be immobile. Particles other than particle 602, which has been determined to be an immobile particle, are displayed semi-transparently. Particle 603 is a non-immobile particle determined not to be immobile, and is displayed semi-transparently. In other words, non-immobile particles are displayed on the display device 202 with a higher transparency than immobile particles. The transparency may be varied based on the immobile particle index value. This method makes it possible to visually display the overall powder behavior while also displaying information for objectively evaluating the amount of immobile particles and areas where immobile layers have occurred.

[0049] [Third embodiment] In the first and second embodiments, a method for determining and displaying immobile particles based on preset conditions has been described. As described above, in order to solve problems in actual product design, the amount of action a particle is subjected to while immobile may be important information.

[0050] In the third embodiment, a method for displaying in detail the degree to which a particle was immobile is shown. The method for determining whether a particle is immobile and acquiring information indicating the degree to which the particle was immobile is the same as in the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0051] Particles 601 in FIG. 6(a) are all particles for which the immobile particle phenomenon is evaluated, and particles 602 in FIG. 6(b) are particles that are determined to be immobile by the method described in the first embodiment.

[0052] FIG. 6(d) shows an example of a method for displaying information indicating the degree to which particles were immobile. Each particle determined to be immobile is displayed using a contour plot with a different density or color based on the immobile particle index value. For example, a darkly colored particle 604 has a high immobile particle index value, and a lightly colored particle 605 has a low immobile particle index value. This method allows for displaying information for evaluating the degree to which particles were immobile in more detail. In combination with the second embodiment, particles not determined to be immobile may be displayed semi-transparently to allow the behavior of the powder to be visually observed.

[0053] [Fourth embodiment] In the first to third embodiments, a method for displaying particles determined to be immobile at each time has been described. As described above, in order to solve problems in actual product design, there are cases where it is desired to track where particles that have been subjected to pressure, shear, or other forces in the immobile layer move afterwards.

[0054] The fourth embodiment describes a method for tracking and displaying the behavior of particles that have been determined to be immobile at least once. That is, the information processing device according to the fourth embodiment displays particles that have been determined not to be immobile and information indicating the degree to which the particles have been immobile in the past on the display device 202. The method for determining whether a particle is immobile and obtaining information indicating the degree to which the particle has been immobile is the same as in the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0055] Particles 601 in FIG. 6(a) are all particles for which the immobile particle phenomenon is evaluated, and particles 602 in FIG. 6(b) are particles that are determined to be immobile by the method described in the first embodiment.

[0056] FIG. 6(e) shows an example in which information indicating the degree to which a particle was determined to be immobile is displayed, even for particles determined not to be immobile. Particle 606 is a particle determined to be immobile. Particle 607 is a particle determined not to be immobile, but which was previously immobile and is now moving through the powder layer. In the example of FIG. 6(e), particle 607 is distinguished by an arrow. The arrow may reflect the direction and amount of movement. This makes it possible to display the positions and movement patterns of particles affected by the immobile layer throughout the powder. Furthermore, the fourth embodiment may be combined with the second and third embodiments. This makes it possible to simultaneously visually display detailed information indicating the behavior of powder, including particles not determined to be immobile, and the degree to which the particle was immobile.

[0057] [Fifth embodiment] When evaluating the immobile layer, it may be necessary to observe the immobile particles from various perspectives. Figure 7(a) is an example of a display condition setting screen, and Figure 7(b) is an example of a screen that displays information indicating whether a particle is immobile or not, and information indicating the degree to which the particle was immobile.

[0058] In Figure 7(a), the display of the immobile particle transition graph has been selected. On the screen in Figure 7(b), a video of "all particles displayed," a video of "transparent display of particles other than immobile particles," a video of "immobile particles only displayed," and a graph showing the time transition of the immobile particle index value are displayed side by side. Line 701 on the graph indicates the time of the video showing the powder behavior on the graph. The three videos can be displayed in sync, or they can be played and displayed individually at the user's command. This method makes it possible to display immobile particle phenomena in a way that allows them to be evaluated from various perspectives.

[0059] Although the example described above uses three types of videos and graphs displayed side by side, the number and types of videos are not limited to this. At least one of a graph or a table may be displayed to indicate the immobile particle index value. Alternatively, one type of video, graph, or table may be displayed on the screen, and different types of videos, graphs, or tables may be displayed switchably after a certain time has elapsed or in response to a user instruction, such as pressing a button. In this case, even if the display size is small, a display that allows the evaluation of immobile particle phenomena from various perspectives can be provided without reducing visibility.

[0060] [Other embodiments] The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and having one or more processors in the computer of the system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

[0061] The information processing device in each of the above-described embodiments may be realized as a single device, or may be realized as a combination of multiple devices that can communicate with each other to execute the above-described processing, and both are included in the embodiments of the present invention. The above-described processing may be executed by a common server device or server group. The multiple devices that make up the information processing device and the information processing system only need to be able to communicate at a predetermined communication rate, and do not need to be located in the same facility or the same country.

[0062] Embodiments of the present invention include a form in which a software program that realizes the functions of the above-mentioned embodiments is supplied to a system or device, and the computer of the system or device reads and executes the code of the supplied program.

[0063] Therefore, the program code itself installed on a computer to implement the processes according to the embodiments is also an embodiment of the present invention. Also, the OS running on the computer may perform some or all of the actual processing based on instructions contained in the program read by the computer, and the functions of the above-described embodiments may also be implemented by this processing.

[0064] Appropriate combinations of the above-described embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. an acquisition means for acquiring information about particles contained in a powder, the information indicating whether the particles are in an immobile state or not, and the information indicating the degree of influence the particles have received during the time the particles are in an immobile state; an output means for outputting the information acquired by the acquisition means to a file; An information processing device comprising:

2. 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the file has a data structure in which information indicating whether the particle is in an immobile state and information indicating the degree of influence the particle received during the time the particle was in an immobile state are associated with each other.

3. The information processing device described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the acquisition means acquires information indicating the influence of the action on the deterioration of the particle during the time the particle is in an immobile state by calculating it as information indicating the degree of influence the particle received during the time the particle is in an immobile state.

4. The information processing device described in claim 3, characterized in that the information indicating the influence of the action on the deterioration of the particle during the time the particle was in the immobile state is information calculated based on at least one of the maximum value and the integrated value of at least one of the values ​​of the pressure the particle received during the period in which the particle was in the immobile state, the force the particle received during the period in which the particle was in the immobile state, the compressive energy the particle received during the period in which the particle was in the immobile state, and the amount of heat the particle received during the period in which the particle was in the immobile state.

5. 5. The information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising a display control means for causing a display unit to display information indicating whether the particle is in an immobile state or not and information indicating the degree of influence the particle received during the time the particle was in an immobile state.

6. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the display control means causes the display unit to display the immobile particles determined to be in an immobile state.

7. 7. The information processing device according to claim 6, wherein the display control means causes the display unit to display non-immobile particles that are not determined to be in the immobile state with a transparency higher than that of the immobile particles.

8. The information processing device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the display control means causes the display unit to display information indicating the degree of influence the particle received during the time the particle was in an immobile state by displaying a contour of the particle using color or density according to the degree of influence the particle received during the time the particle was in an immobile state.

9. The information processing device according to any one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that the display control means causes the display unit to display at least one of a graph or a table as information indicating the degree of influence received by the particle during the time the particle is in an immobile state.

10. The information processing device according to any one of claims 5 to 9, characterized in that the display control means causes the display unit to display the behavior of the powder, information indicating whether the particles are in an immobile state, and information indicating the degree of influence the particles received during the time the particles were in an immobile state.

11. The information processing device according to claim 10 , wherein the display control means displays particles in an immobile state and particles that are not immobile in different display modes on the display unit.

12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the display control means displays the particles that were in an immobile state as an immobile layer on the display unit.

13. The information processing device according to claim 10, characterized in that the display control means causes the display unit to display, in association with each other, information indicating whether the particle is in an immobile state and information indicating the degree of influence the particle received during the time the particle was in an immobile state.

14. The information processing device according to claim 10, characterized in that the display control means causes the display unit to display, in video, the behavior of the powder, information indicating whether the particles are in an immobile state, and information indicating the degree of influence the particles received during the time the particles were in an immobile state.

15. The information processing device according to claim 14, characterized in that the display control means causes the display unit to simultaneously display the video and at least one of a graph or a table showing the degree of influence the particle received during the time the particle was in an immobile state.

16. 16. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the display control means displays information for identifying the time of the video on the graph.

17. 17. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the display control means causes the display unit to display a plurality of different types of moving images as the moving images.

18. 18. The information processing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the display control means causes the display unit to simultaneously display the plurality of types of moving images.

19. 19. The information processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the display control means causes the display unit to switch between the plurality of types of moving images.

20. The information processing device according to any one of claims 5 to 19, characterized in that the display control means causes the display unit to display information indicating the particle that has been determined not to be in the immobile state and the degree of influence that the particle that has been determined not to be in the immobile state received during the time that the particle was in the immobile state in the past.

21. 21. The information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising a setting means for setting conditions for acquiring information indicating whether the particle is in an immobile state or not and information indicating the degree of influence the particle has received during the time the particle is in an immobile state.

22. 22. The information processing apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the condition is a threshold value for determining whether the particle is in an immobile state, and the threshold value is a value related to a distance traveled by the particle within a predetermined time period.

23. The information processing device according to claim 22, characterized in that the acquisition means acquires information indicating whether the particle is in an immobile state by determining that the particle is in an immobile state if the distance moved by the particle within a predetermined time is smaller than the threshold value.

24. a data generating means for generating display data in which information indicating whether particles contained in the powder are in an immobile state and information indicating the degree of influence received by the particles during the time the particles are in an immobile state are associated with each other; an output means for outputting the display data to a file; An information processing device comprising:

25. generating display data in which information indicating whether a particle is in an immobile state and information indicating the degree of influence the particle has received during the time the particle is in an immobile state are associated; An information processing method comprising outputting the display data to a file.

26. An information processing method for displaying behavior of powder on a display unit, comprising: reading information indicating whether the particle is in an immobile state and information indicating the degree of influence the particle has received during the time the particle is in an immobile state; An information processing method characterized by displaying on a display unit information indicating whether or not a particle contained in the powder is in an immobile state, and information indicating the degree of influence the particle received during the time the particle was in an immobile state.

27. A program that causes a computer to execute the information processing method according to claim 25 or 26.

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