Server Device Maintenance Notification Mediator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of home appliances are often not motivated to perform maintenance, leading to unexpected breakdowns and inconvenience, as existing systems do not effectively encourage timely maintenance actions.
Innovation Solution
A server and terminal apparatus system that receives operation data, determines the remaining life of appliance parts, and transmits maintenance information to individuals with a predetermined relationship to the user, such as friends or family, to prompt maintenance actions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If maintenance information is only transmitted to the device user, then the user receives direct notification, but the user is not motivated to take maintenance action leading to device breakdown
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mediator (another user with a different device) who receives maintenance information indirectly. This mediator acts as an intermediary to convey maintenance needs, creating social pressure or responsibility that motivates the original user to perform maintenance, thereby resolving the contradiction between notification delivery and user motivation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by transmitting maintenance information to multiple users who can provide indirect feedback through their device usage patterns. The networked feedback loop creates awareness and social accountability, motivating users to maintain their devices to avoid inconveniencing others in the network.
2Measurement precision
If the system monitors operation data continuously to determine remaining life, then accurate maintenance timing is achieved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by using a general-purpose server device that can handle multiple functions: storing operation data, analyzing remaining life, transmitting maintenance information, and managing network communications. This multi-functional approach achieves precise monitoring without requiring separate specialized systems for each function, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining measurement precision.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a server device capable of increasing the availability of a device by urging a user who uses the device to perform actions related to maintenance service. In this server device, an information transceiver receives operation information about a device. A remaining life determination unit determines the remaining life of the device or a component of the device based on the operation information. When the determined remaining life reaches a predetermined remaining life or becomes shorter than the predetermined remaining life, a transmission destination setting unit sets a device that is possessed by a person having a predetermined relationship with the user of the device as a transmission destination for the transmission of maintenance service information based on relationship information indicating the relationship between the user of the device and another person who is not the user. The information transceiver transmits the maintenance service information to the transmission destination.