Image Forming Log Summaries for Accurate Remote Fault Diagnosis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Customer service centers face difficulties in providing effective guidance for resolving issues with image forming apparatuses when necessary information cannot be acquired from users, leading to increased burden on technical representatives.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus equipped with a reception unit to receive abnormality information, a related log extraction unit to extract relevant log information, a feature extraction unit for pattern matching, and an output unit to generate and output a log summary, enabling guidance even when user information is scarce.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If customer service center acquires information from user, then guidance can be provided, but user communication burden increases and information may be incomplete
Solution Approach 1:
The image forming apparatus automatically extracts and transmits relevant log information and abnormality details to the customer service center without requiring the user to manually provide information. The system self-generates the abnormality information including log data, abnormality occurrence timing, and frequency, eliminating the burden of user communication while ensuring complete and accurate information transmission for reliable diagnosis.
2Loss of information
If all log information is transmitted, then complete diagnostic data is provided, but data transmission volume and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the relevant log information associated with the abnormality from the entire log database. It identifies and transmits specifically the logs containing the abnormality occurrence timing, frequency, and related error messages, rather than transmitting all log data. This selective extraction provides complete diagnostic information for the specific issue while minimizing data transmission volume and processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The log information is segmented into relevant and irrelevant portions based on the abnormality type. The system divides the comprehensive log data into specific segments related to the abnormality occurrence, transmitting only those segmented portions that are necessary for diagnosis. This segmentation approach maintains information completeness for the specific issue while reducing overall data volume.
3Measurement precision
If technical representative is contacted, then accurate diagnosis is achieved, but maintenance cost and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides automated feedback to the customer service center by transmitting structured abnormality information including log data, error codes, occurrence timing, and frequency. This feedback mechanism enables the customer service center to perform accurate remote diagnosis without immediately involving technical representatives, improving maintenance efficiency while maintaining diagnostic accuracy through automated information provision.
4Ease of operation
If voice-based reception is implemented, then user-friendly interface is provided, but risk of erroneous input increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses predetermined signals as intermediaries between voice input and log extraction. When a user inputs voice together with a predetermined signal, the signal acts as a mediator that triggers the specific log extraction function. This intermediary mechanism reduces erroneous inputs by providing clear activation conditions while maintaining the user-friendly voice-based interface, as the predetermined signal confirms the user's intent before initiating the information transmission.
Data Source
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AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes a reception unit that receives abnormality information indicating that an operation of the image forming apparatus is abnormal, a related log extraction unit that extracts related log information, which is predetermined to have a high relevance to the abnormality information received by the reception unit, from log information of the image forming apparatus, a feature extraction unit that extracts a feature by performing pattern matching on the related log information extracted by the related log extraction unit, and an output unit that outputs a log summary generated from the feature extracted by the feature extraction unit.