JP2007221194A - Equipment control system for housing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve convenience when operating each piece of equipment in a house, and to suppress erroneous operation in an operation terminal. <P>SOLUTION: Pieces of electric equipment A1, A2, B1, B2 are connected to a communication network 10 in respective rooms A, B in the house. These pieces of equipment are operated remotely when a user performs the input operation of the operation terminal 12. Transmitters SE1, SE2 are installed at a ceiling T in respective rooms A, B. The operation terminal 12 comprises: a function for recognizing the position of the terminal itself according to position information transmitted from the transmitter SE1, or the like; a function for changing the display mode of a display unit 12a based on the result of the position recognition; and a function for executing an answerback according to input operation by a user corresponding to a change in the display mode. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a home appliance control system that enables each appliance installed in a home to be operated by an operation terminal.

  In a house, a number of equipment and home appliances are used in each room. In recent years, techniques for operating each equipment and the like with a common operation terminal have been studied. For example, in the operation terminal of Patent Document 1, when it is detected that the operation terminal exists in a predetermined area, the identification information of the device existing in the area is received from the management server and displayed on the display screen. To do. More specifically, when the operation terminal acquires information about the device, the operation terminal first acquires room number information indicating which room the operation terminal is in by wireless communication with the sensor, and then performs wireless communication with the management server. To obtain the device information of the room. The screen information of the display unit is arranged from the device information of the room. Thus, an operation terminal capable of centrally managing control of devices existing around the user is provided.

  In the configuration in which the display screen of the operation terminal is changed according to the device information of the room as described above, it is considered that the operability of the operation terminal in each room is improved when the user moves between rooms in the house. The following problems remain.

First, even if the display screen of the operation terminal is changed in various ways, it is not useful if the change of the display screen is surely recognized and operated by the user. Does not operate as intended by the user. In particular, when a user with low visual acuity performs an input operation on the operation terminal, when the display screen is changed, it is difficult to visually recognize it, and there is a high possibility that an erroneous operation will be performed. For example, in places where there is a high possibility of removing glasses, such as in a bedroom or bathroom, the display screen is difficult to visually recognize, and the possibility of erroneous operation is high. Second, if the user cannot know the change of the display screen of the operation terminal at an appropriate timing, an unreasonable operation may be performed, or an erroneous operation may occur or the system may malfunction. There was a risk.
JP 2003-87275 A

  The main object of the present invention is to provide a home appliance control system that improves the convenience when operating each device in a home and can suppress erroneous operation of an operation terminal.

  Hereinafter, means and the like effective for solving the above-described problems will be described while showing functions and effects as necessary. In the following, in order to facilitate understanding, a corresponding configuration example in the embodiment of the invention is appropriately shown in parentheses, etc., but is not limited to the specific configuration shown in parentheses.

In the residential equipment control system of the present invention, equipment (electric equipment A1, A2, etc.) in each room is controlled according to the input operation of the operation terminal (operation terminal 12) by the user. In particular, in the operation terminal, the position of the terminal itself is recognized based on the position information transmitted from the transmission means (transmitter SE1, etc.), and in the specific area where the transmission means is provided based on the result of the position recognition. The user is notified that the operation terminal can be operated.

  According to the above configuration, when position recognition is performed on the operation terminal, notification that the terminal operation is possible in the position recognition state is performed, and the user can know the result of position recognition. Therefore, the user can reliably perform the terminal operation corresponding to each position recognition. Therefore, it is possible to improve convenience when operating each device in the house and to suppress erroneous operation of the operation terminal.

  In a system in which a transmitter (transmitter SE1, etc.) is provided for each room in the house and identification information unique to each room is transmitted by the transmitter, the operation terminal uses the identification information specific to the room transmitted from the transmitter. It is good that room recognition is performed. Thereby, whenever it moves the room in a house, the position recognition in which room can be performed can be performed reliably.

  Here, it is preferable to notify the user that the operation terminal has recognized the position through display on the terminal display unit, voice, or the like. That is, the operation terminal changes the display mode of the terminal display unit (the display unit 12a provided in the operation terminal) based on the result of the position recognition. Moreover, the answer back process by a voice | voice etc. is performed corresponding to the change of a display mode. At this time, the answer-back process includes not only what is performed as position recognition notification means but also what is performed in response to an input operation of the operation terminal by the user.

  According to the above configuration, since the display mode of the terminal display unit is changed on the operation terminal based on the result of position recognition, the operation menu is changed according to the position where the operation terminal (user who handles the operation terminal) actually exists. Can be displayed in an enlarged or reduced manner, and convenience when using the operation terminal can be improved. Further, since the answer back process such as voice is executed according to the result of position recognition, the user can easily know the result of position recognition.

  The answer back is performed according to the input operation of the user, so that the user can confirm that the input operation has been performed as intended. The answerback may output the result of the input operation as it is by voice or the like, or outputs the result received from the device in a system having a configuration for receiving the operation result by the input operation of the operation terminal from the device. Things can be used.

  The operation terminal changes the display mode by enlarging the display of the terminal display unit based on the result of the position recognition, and responds to each input operation with the display of the terminal display unit enlarged. It is good to execute answer back. In this case, the visibility of the terminal display unit is improved by enlarging the display, and the operability of the operation terminal can be improved. Further, when the enlarged display on the terminal display unit is performed, it becomes an assist in performing an input operation for a low vision user, and further, an erroneous operation can be confirmed by answer back by voice or the like. If the answer back is configured only when the enlarged display is not performed, the answer back is not performed when the input assist for the low vision user or the like is unnecessary, so that the answer back is not excessively performed. Become.

  The operation terminal may execute enlarged display and answer back on the terminal display unit when the position of the operation terminal is recognized as being in a room where it is assumed that there is a high possibility of removing glasses in the house. For example, it is assumed that there is a high possibility of removing glasses in a bedroom or bathroom. In this case, even if the user actually removes the glasses in a room (such as a bedroom or a bathroom) where the possibility of removing the glasses is high, it is possible to suppress a decrease in operability of the operation terminal. Moreover, even if the enlarged display is performed for a low vision user, the difficulty of the input operation still remains and there is a possibility that an erroneous operation is performed. In this regard, the answerback is performed in accordance with the input operation, so that an erroneous operation can be prevented.

  The operation terminal may display the position recognition result based on the position information on the terminal display unit when the position information is received from the transmission means. In this case, it can be seen that the position of the operation terminal is recognized by looking at the display unit of the operation terminal. If it is known that position recognition has been performed, the user can determine which device can be operated by the operation terminal. Further, by performing an unreasonable operation, it is possible to prevent an erroneous operation or a malfunction of the system from occurring.

  The operation terminal may display the floor plan in the house on the terminal display unit and identify and display a position area corresponding to the position information on the floor plan display screen when receiving the position information from the transmitting means. In this case, the actual position of the operation terminal (user who handles the operation terminal) can be confirmed on the display screen of the operation terminal. As a result, the user can determine which device can be operated by the operation terminal.

  You may make it notify a user that the operation terminal recognized the position using the lighting fixture provided in each room of a house. Specifically, in a residential equipment control system in which a plurality of lighting fixtures communicable with the operation terminal are deployed in the house, when the operation terminal performs position recognition based on position information from the transmission means, the position recognition at that time A command to change the light emission mode is output to the luminaire included in the region. In this case, by changing the light emission mode of the luminaire, the user can recognize that the position has been recognized, and as a result, can determine which device is operable by the operation terminal. Thereby, the erroneous operation of the operation terminal can be suppressed.

  In a configuration using a lighting device that can emit different colors of light different from normal illumination light, the operation terminal shifts from the different color light emission state to the normal lighting state for the lighting device included in the position recognition region. It is better to output a command to the effect. In this case, since the user can visually catch the emission color, it can be confirmed with a sense whether or not the position has been recognized. Therefore, the confirmation can be easily performed.

  Here, it is good to make the luminescent color in the different color light emission state of a lighting fixture differ for every room where a lighting fixture is installed.

  Moreover, in the operation terminal which displays the layout in a house on a terminal display part, it is good to color-display the luminescent color for every room in the different color light emission state of a lighting fixture on the display screen of a floor plan. In this case, the location of the user himself / herself in the house can be visually confirmed by displaying the light emission state of the luminaire in each room on the operation terminal.

  By the way, it is desirable that the terminal display unit has a touch panel function capable of touch input. In this case, it is possible to enlarge the buttons and icons when performing the enlarged display of the display unit as described above, and it is possible to improve the operability when the buttons are touched by the enlargement. In addition, the operation terminal may have a voice recognition function that allows voice input.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, it is assumed that a home network system that controls equipment and home appliances in a home via a communication network is constructed, and an outline thereof is shown in FIG. A house equipped with such a network system is also called an intelligent house.

In FIG. 1, a plurality of rooms (rooms A, B, etc.) are provided in the house, and a communication network 10 using a LAN cable is laid through each room. On the communication network 10, wireless access points 11 that are relay points for radio waves are provided at a plurality of locations. The wireless access point 11 receives radio waves transmitted from the operation terminal 12 which is a portable terminal device as needed.

  In room A, electric devices A1 and A2 including air conditioners (air conditioners) and lighting fixtures are connected to communication network 10, and in room B, electric devices B1 and B2 including air conditioners and lighting fixtures are also connected to communication network 10. Is connected. In the electric devices A1, A2, B1, and B2 in the rooms A and B, various controls are performed based on information sent via the communication network 10. For example, regarding the air conditioner, control such as ON / OFF (operation and operation stop), set temperature adjustment, air volume adjustment, and wind direction adjustment is performed. With respect to the lighting fixture, control such as ON / OFF (lighting and extinguishing) and illuminance adjustment is performed. In this case, each device connected on the communication network 10 is controlled and operated in various modes by an input operation of one operation terminal 12.

  The operation terminal 12 includes a display unit 12a formed from a color liquid crystal display and an antenna unit 12b serving as a radio wave transmission / reception unit. On the display unit 12a, an operation menu for operating each electric device A1, A2, etc. is displayed in the GUI environment. At this time, the display unit 12a is a touch panel having a touch input function, and an input operation is performed when the user touches an operation menu on the screen and performs touch input. Each device is remotely operated by the input operation of the operation terminal 12.

  Transmitters SE1 and SE2 that transmit radio waves are installed in the ceiling portions T of the rooms A and B, respectively. The transmitters SE1 and SE2 are composed of infrared beacons, and always transmit an infrared signal modulated by a room ID (a room-specific identification code) corresponding to each room. The operation terminal 12 has an infrared signal reception function, and receives infrared signals transmitted from the transmitters SE1 and SE2 in each room. The operation terminal 12 is provided with a control unit including a CPU and a memory, and the control unit identifies a room based on the received infrared signal.

  The operation terminal 12 has a function of changing the display mode of the display unit 12a according to the room identification result. In particular, in the present embodiment, as the display screen of the display unit 12a, a normal screen pattern and an enlarged screen pattern in which display of characters and the like is enlarged than the normal screen are prepared, and the screen for each room is enlarged. Depending on the needs, an operation menu display according to one of the two screen patterns is executed. For example, when assuming a user who wears spectacles, in a room where the user is supposed to perform an input operation of the operation terminal 12 while wearing spectacles, an operation menu display including a normal screen pattern is performed, and the user In a room where the input operation of the operation terminal 12 is assumed to be performed with the screen removed, an operation menu including an enlarged screen pattern is displayed. For example, in a bedroom or bathroom, it is considered that the input operation of the operation terminal 12 is performed with the user removing the glasses.

  A specific display example of the screen pattern will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows an operation menu screen for an air conditioner as an operation target. (A) shows an example of a normal operation screen pattern, and (b) shows an example of an enlarged screen pattern in which the operation menu display is enlarged. FIG. 2A corresponds to a screen pattern for a room wearing glasses, and FIG. 2B corresponds to a screen pattern for a room where glasses are removed.

In FIG. 2A, in the liquid crystal screen of the display unit 12a, an area R1 for displaying environmental information in the house, and an area for displaying buttons and icons (hereinafter referred to as buttons) for performing temperature operation. There are provided R2, an area R3 for displaying buttons for switching the operation mode, and an area R4 for displaying information such as a comprehensive operation menu list. In this case, regarding the operation of the air conditioner, the set temperature is changed or the operation mode is changed by touch input of buttons displayed in the areas R2 and R3.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 2B, in the liquid crystal screen of the display unit 12a, an area R11 for displaying buttons for performing temperature operation, an area R12 for displaying buttons for switching the operation mode, An area R13 for displaying information such as a comprehensive operation menu list is provided. That is, as compared with FIG. 2A, an area (area corresponding to area R1) for displaying environmental information in the house is deleted. In accordance with the area deletion, the individual buttons of the areas R11 and R12 are enlarged. Here, as an example, the buttons displayed in the areas R2 and R3 in FIG. 2A are the same as the buttons displayed in the areas R12 and R13 in FIG. 2B, but they are different. It may be what you do. In this case, regarding the operation of the air conditioner, the set temperature is changed or the operation mode is changed by touch input of the buttons displayed in the areas R11 and R12. At that time, since each of the buttons is displayed in an enlarged manner, the visibility is improved, and the operability is good even when a user with low visual acuity performs a touch operation with the glasses removed.

  If the screen pattern of the display unit 12a is changed to the enlarged screen pattern as described above, it is an assist for the input operation of the operation terminal 12 for the low vision user, but the low vision user still makes an input error. there is a possibility. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the operation terminal 12 is provided with an answer back function for outputting the result of the input operation by the user by voice, and when the operation screen is enlarged on the display unit 12a, the voice answer back function is provided at the same time. Let's start. For example, when a sound generator (speaker) is provided in the operation terminal 12 and touch input is performed by touching a temperature increase button (the “warm” button in FIG. 2) for increasing the set temperature, the “set temperature is increased by xx ° C.” Make an announcement. In this case, when the input operation of the operation terminal 12 is performed, a voice answer back is performed following the input operation. Therefore, when a low vision user performs the input operation of the operation terminal 12, the input operation is correctly performed as intended. Can be easily confirmed. If the result of the input operation by the user is different from the answerback by voice, the input operation of the operation terminal 12 is performed again by the user. Therefore, the inconvenience that an erroneous operation is performed due to the difficulty in viewing the display screen of the operation terminal 12 and the devices are controlled and operated against the will of the user is solved.

  Note that the voice answerback has a configuration in which an operation result by an input operation of the operation terminal 12 can be received from a device (such as an air conditioner) in addition to a sound output of the input operation result on the operation terminal 12 as it is. The reception result may be output as audio. In this case, for example, based on the reception result from the air conditioner, an announcement such as “the air conditioner set temperature is increased by xx ° C.” is made.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure executed by the control unit of the operation terminal 12. In this process, confirmation of position information of the operation terminal 12 (room identification confirmation), display switching in the display unit 12a according to the confirmation result, and the like are appropriately performed.

  In FIG. 3, in step S11, infrared signals transmitted from the transmitters SE1 and SE2 in each room are received, and the room ID (that is, which room) of the room where the operation terminal 12 currently exists is recognized. Next, in step S12, it is determined whether or not the operation menu screen should be enlarged on the display unit 12a. At this time, the room ID of the room where the operation menu screen should be enlarged is determined in advance, and it is determined whether or not the room ID recognized this time corresponds to the ID of the room where the operation menu screen should be enlarged. To do. Specifically, it is determined that the operation menu screen is to be enlarged when the room ID recognized this time matches a room ID for which the user can easily remove glasses, for example, a room ID of a bedroom or bathroom.

  If step S12 is NO, it will progress to step S13 and will display the operation menu of a normal pattern on the display part 12a. At this time, for example, the operation screen shown in FIG. Thereafter, in step S14, it is determined whether or not an input operation of the operation terminal 12 has been performed. When the input operation has been performed, an operation signal corresponding to the input operation is output as a radio signal in step S15.

  If step S12 is YES, the process proceeds to step S16, and an enlargement pattern operation menu is displayed on the display unit 12a. At this time, for example, an operation screen shown in FIG. 2B is displayed. Thereafter, in step S17, it is determined whether or not the input operation of the operation terminal 12 has been performed. If the input operation has been performed, an operation signal corresponding to the input operation is output as a radio signal in step S18. In step S19, a voice answerback corresponding to the current input operation is executed.

  According to the embodiment described above in detail, the following excellent effects can be obtained.

  Since the display on the display unit 12a is enlarged on the operation terminal 12 based on the result of position recognition, the visibility of the display unit 12a is improved, and the operability of the operation terminal 12 can be improved. Further, since the voice answerback is performed according to the user's input operation, the user can confirm that the input operation has been performed as intended. As described above, it is possible to improve convenience when operating each device in the house and to suppress erroneous operation of the operation terminal 12. By suppressing erroneous operation of the operation terminal 12, each device can be controlled and operated as intended by the user.

  In particular, for users with low visual acuity, the operability at the time of input operation is improved by enlarging the display, and it is also possible to confirm an erroneous operation by voice answer back. That is, it is possible to realize an interface that is gentle to a user with low vision.

  Since a room such as a bedroom or a bathroom that has a high possibility of removing glasses is designated and the enlarged display of the display unit 12a and the voice answerback are executed, the difficulty of the input operation remains even if the enlarged display is performed. In this case (that is, in a state where the buttons are blurred), it is possible to prevent erroneous operation of the operation terminal 12.

  Since the display unit 12a of the operation terminal 12 has a touch panel function, it is possible to enlarge buttons and icons when performing an enlarged display of the display unit 12a as described above, and the buttons and the like are touch-operated by the enlargement. Operability can be improved.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the operation terminal 12 receives the infrared signal transmitted from the transmitter SE1 or the like of each room, and recognizes the room by the room ID corresponding to the infrared signal for each room. Actually, it may be unclear to the user whether the operation terminal 12 has normally received the infrared signal and the room recognition has been performed. In other words, the display mode of the display unit 12a is changed along with the recognition of the room, but it is unclear to the user whether or not it is aligned with the actual room. For example, the user may have different reception sensitivities of infrared signals in the same room, or it may take time for the display mode change of the display unit 12a associated with room recognition to be performed by infrared reception or other recognition. Causes inconvenience that it is not known whether the operation terminal 12 has responded correctly to the infrared signal. If the input operation is performed even though the operation terminal 12 is not responding correctly, there is a concern that an unexpected inconvenience may occur.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the operation terminal 12 receives an infrared signal from the transmitter SE1 or the like and recognizes a room, the result of the room recognition is used as a lighting fixture or operation terminal 12 provided in each room. The display unit 12a is used to notify the user.

  In the present embodiment, since the system configuration of FIG. 1 described above can be generally used, description of the system configuration is omitted. That is, the communication network 10 is laid in each room in the house, the room recognition is performed by the infrared signal from the transmitter SE1 or the like in the operation terminal 12, and each operation on the network in accordance with the input operation of the operation terminal 12 The device is remotely operated in the same manner as described above, and details thereof are omitted here.

  In this embodiment, application to a two-story house is assumed, and the floor plan of the two-story house is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, rooms A to D are provided on the first floor, and rooms E to H are provided on the second floor.

  In this case, the floor plan of the first floor and the second floor of the home is displayed on the display unit 12a of the operation terminal 12 as an initial screen (normal screen) as shown in FIG. This is the room selection screen in the house. In this state, when the operation terminal 12 receives an infrared signal from the transmitter SE1 and performs room recognition, the screen is switched to the device selection screen shown in FIG. At this time, switching from the initial screen of FIG. 5A to the device selection screen of FIG. 5B is not performed by a user input operation, but is automatically performed according to the result of position recognition.

  In the device selection screen of FIG. 5B, the floor plan (the first floor or the second floor) including the room whose position has been recognized is displayed in the upper half of the display unit 12a, and the position-recognized room is colored. Is displayed. In addition, on the lower half of the display unit 12a, devices to be operated at the present time are displayed as buttons. In the example shown in the drawing, the floor plan of the first floor is displayed, and the room A among the rooms on the first floor is displayed in color, and “illumination”, which is an installation device in the room A, is further displayed below the floor plan. “Air conditioning”, “window”, and “TV” buttons (icons) are displayed.

  Then, when any one of the buttons of each device shown in FIG. 5B is touched by the user, the screen shifts to a device operation screen shown in FIG. In the figure, an operation screen of the air conditioner is illustrated. On the device operation screen, an operation menu of the air conditioner is displayed, and buttons for performing temperature operation and buttons for switching the operation mode are displayed.

  As described above, the display content of the display unit 12a is changed according to the result of the room recognition, so that the user can recognize the position of the operation terminal 12 by looking at the display unit 12a of the operation terminal 12, You can know if you are in a room. If it is known that position recognition has been performed, the user can determine which device can be operated by the operation terminal 12. At this time, in particular, since the room recognized this time on the floor plan screen is displayed in color on the display unit 12a, the actual position of the operation terminal 12 (the user who handles the operation terminal 12) is confirmed on the display screen of the operation terminal 12. can do. Further, by performing an unreasonable operation, it is possible to prevent an erroneous operation or a malfunction of the system from occurring.

In addition, each room of the home is provided with a lighting device that can communicate with the operation terminal 12. When position recognition is performed at the operation terminal 12, illumination of each room is performed according to the result of the position recognition. The light emission mode of the instrument is changed. Specifically, the lighting fixtures in each room are configured to switch between a state in which light is emitted with normal illumination light (for example, white light) and a state in which light is emitted in a different color with the normal illumination light. In the position-recognized room (the room where the operation terminal 12 actually exists), the luminaire is operated to emit light with normal illumination light according to the communication information from the operation terminal 12, whereas the position recognition The lighting fixture is operated so that different color light emission is performed in a room that is not provided (a room in which the operation terminal 12 does not actually exist). In addition, you may make it make the different color light emission performed in the room where the position is not recognized to be performed by the bean ball built in the lighting fixture.

  A light emission color in the case of performing different color light emission may be assigned to each lighting device in each room, and each light lighting device may perform different color light emission with the light emission color (room-specific light) assigned thereto. For example, the room A is “red”, the room B is “blue”, the room C is “yellow”, the room D is “green”, and so on. Make it emit different color light. Further, the floor plan of each room on the display unit 12a may be displayed in correspondence with the assigned color. For example, when the position recognition in the room A is not performed, the illumination light of the room A is reddish, and at the same time, the display of the room A on the display unit 12a is colored red.

  By changing the light emission mode of the luminaire according to the result of position recognition at the operation terminal 12, the user knows that the position has been recognized, and thus which device can be operated by the operation terminal 12. Can be determined. Thereby, the erroneous operation of the operation terminal 12 can also be suppressed.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure executed by the control unit of the operation terminal 12. In this process, switching of the light emission mode of the luminaire is performed as appropriate based on the recognition result of the room.

  In FIG. 6, in step S21, an infrared signal transmitted from the transmitter SE1 or the like is received, and the room ID (that is, which room) of the room where the operation terminal 12 currently exists is recognized. Next, in step S22, information indicating that room recognition has been performed is transmitted wirelessly. Thereby, the room recognition information is notified to the luminaire via the communication network, and the light emission form is changed from the different color light emission to the normal color light emission in the luminaire in the room recognized this time. By changing the illumination light of the luminaire, the user can be made aware that room recognition has been performed on the operation terminal 12.

  Thereafter, in step S23, the display screen of the display unit 12a is changed based on the information on the room recognized this time. At this time, the screen is changed to the room-specific screen recognized this time (see FIGS. 5B and 5C).

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the user is notified of the result of position recognition at the operation terminal 12 by using the lighting fixtures provided in each room or the display unit 12a of the operation terminal 12. As a result, it is possible to determine which device can be operated by the operation terminal 12. Therefore, it is possible to improve convenience when operating each device in the house, and to suppress erroneous operation of the operation terminal 12.

  Moreover, since the light emission mode of the lighting fixture in the room is changed depending on whether or not the operation terminal 12 is a real room, even if the operation terminal 12 is misplaced in some room, the operation terminal depends on the lighting mode of the lighting fixture. You will be able to understand 12 misplacements.

  In addition, since the display unit 12a of the operation terminal 12 performs the floor plan display corresponding to the light emission color of each room of the lighting equipment (light emission color at the time of different color light emission), the location of the user himself / herself in the house is visually Can be confirmed.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the content of description of the said embodiment, For example, you may implement as follows.

In the first embodiment, the answer back by voice is performed when the user performs an input operation on the operation terminal 12, but this is changed. For example, answer back by sound effect or blinking of a lamp may be performed. Moreover, you may make it perform an answerback display on the display part 12a of the operating terminal 12. FIG. For example, the display screen of the display unit 12a is temporarily switched to display a message such as “I will increase the set temperature by xx ° C.” on the display unit 12a.

  Switching means for starting or stopping the answer back function by voice or the like may be provided, and the answer back function may be constantly started or stopped by switching the switching means. In the answer back activation state, even when the enlarged display on the display unit 12a is not performed, the voice answer back corresponding to the input operation is executed every time the user input operation is performed.

  In the second embodiment, the lighting device in each room is switched between a normal light emission state and a different color light emission state according to the result of position recognition by the operation terminal 12, but this is changed. A configuration may be adopted in which the illuminance of the luminaire in each room is variably adjusted according to the result of position recognition by the operation terminal 12. For example, the illuminance of the luminaire is set to the normal setting illuminance in a room whose position is recognized (the room where the operation terminal 12 is actually present), and the luminaire is used in a room where the position is not recognized (a room where the operation terminal 12 is not present). The illuminance of Also with this configuration, the user can recognize that position recognition has been performed, and thus can determine which device can be operated by the operation terminal 12.

  In the second embodiment, the result of position recognition by the operation terminal 12 is notified to the user using the lighting fixtures (room lighting fixtures) provided in each room, but this is changed. A lighting device such as a light bulb is incorporated in the transmitter so that two-way communication using infrared rays or the like can be performed between the operation terminal and the transmitter with a lighting function. In this case, the operation terminal can output a command to change the light emission mode to the lighting fixture without going through a communication network such as a LAN.

  When the operation terminal 12 receives an infrared signal, the reception confirmation may be displayed on the display unit 12a of the operation terminal 12. For example, a message such as “reception of room ID” or “completion of room recognition” is displayed on the display unit 12a. In addition to text messages, it can also be displayed by voice or icon.

  The display unit 12a of the operation terminal 12 does not necessarily have a touch panel function, and may have a configuration in which the display unit and the button operation unit are provided separately. A mobile phone can also be used as an operation terminal.

  In the above embodiment, the display unit 12a of the operation terminal 12 is a color liquid crystal display, but may be a monochrome liquid crystal display. In this case, it is impossible to display with different color schemes for each room, but the result of room recognition can be notified to the user by performing a shaded display or the like.

  Further, the operation terminal 12 may have a voice recognition function capable of voice input.

The figure which shows the outline | summary of a housing network system. The figure which shows the example of an operation screen of the display part in an operation terminal. The flowchart which shows the process sequence performed with an operating terminal. The figure which shows the floor plan in a house. The figure which shows the example of an operation screen of the display part in an operation terminal. The flowchart which shows the process sequence performed with an operating terminal.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Communication network, 12 ... Operation terminal, 12a ... Display part, A, B ... Room, A1, A2 etc .... Electric equipment, SE1, SE2 ... Transmitter.

Claims (13)

In a home appliance control system that can control various devices provided in each room in a home by operation information from an operation terminal input and operated by a user,
A transmission means for transmitting the location information in the house;
The operation terminal can operate the operation terminal in a specific area where the transmission means is provided based on the function of recognizing the position of the terminal itself based on the position information transmitted from the transmission means and the result of the position recognition A home appliance control system having a function of notifying a user of the fact that   The transmission means is a transmitter that is provided for each room in the house and transmits identification information unique to each room, and the operation terminal performs room recognition based on identification information specific to the room transmitted from the transmitter. The residential equipment control system according to claim 1.   The said operation terminal has the function to change the display mode of a terminal display part based on the result of the said position recognition, and the function to perform an answerback process corresponding to the change of a display mode. Residential equipment control system.   The operation terminal changes the display mode by enlarging the display of the terminal display unit based on the result of the position recognition, and responds to each input operation with the display of the terminal display unit enlarged. The residential equipment control system according to claim 3, wherein the answer back is executed.   The said operation terminal performs the enlarged display of the said terminal display part, and the said answer back, when performing the position recognition of being in the room where it is assumed that there is a high possibility that glasses will be removed in the house. 5. The residential equipment control system according to 4.   6. The residential device control according to claim 1, wherein the operation terminal further has a function of displaying a position recognition result based on the position information on the terminal display unit when the position information is received from the transmission unit. system.   The operation terminal displays a floor plan in a house on the terminal display unit, and identifies and displays a position area corresponding to each position information on the floor plan display screen when receiving the position information from the transmission means The residential equipment control system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: In a residential equipment control system in which a plurality of lighting fixtures communicable with the operation terminal are deployed in the house,
The said operation terminal outputs the instruction | command which changes the light emission mode with respect to the said lighting fixture contained in the position recognition area | region at that time, when position recognition is performed with the positional information from the said transmission means. A residential equipment control system according to any one of the above. As the lighting fixture, using a lighting fixture capable of emitting different colors of light different from normal illumination light,
The residential operation control system according to claim 8, wherein the operation terminal outputs a command to shift the lighting device included in the position recognition area from a different color light emission state to a normal lighting state.   The residential equipment control system according to claim 9, wherein a light emission color in a different color light emission state of the lighting equipment is made different for each room where the lighting equipment is installed.   The said operation terminal displays the floor plan in a house on a terminal display part, and displays the luminescent color for every room in the different color light emission state of the said lighting fixture on the display screen of the said floor plan. Equipment control system.   The residential device control system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal display unit has a touch panel function capable of touch input.   The residential device control system according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the operation terminal has a voice recognition function capable of voice input.

Images