Patent Application
20160364396
The disclosure relates to an information search system and an information search method.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-117990, tiled Jun. 11, 2015, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In a plant and a factory (hereinafter called simply “plant” as a generic name of them), maintenance is performed by a worker periodically or non-periodically, for example, in order to prevent an abnormal operation, or in order to cope with a sudden trouble. For example, in a plant where a DCS (Distributed Control System) is established, field devices a measurement device, a manipulation device) are checked and maintained. Since various types of field devices are installed in a field of the plant, the worker often refers to documents such as a manual and a specification sheet at a time of maintenance.
The document is a paper medium, and the document is stored in a place (for example, a control room of the plant) which is apart from the field of the plant where maintenance work is conducted. For this reason, in order to refer to the document, it is necessary for the worker to stop working and go to the storage place of the document. Although the worker may be allowed to bring the document in some fields of the plant, even if the worker can bring the document to the field, it is difficult to search a document in a case that the document is a paper medium.
In recent years, digitalization of documents has been advanced, and an environment where a worker can refer to the digitalized document in the field of the plant is being developed. However, since the document is individually provided by a vendor of the field device, an access method for the document and a file format of the document are different in each vendor. For this reason, in a plant where field devices provided by two or more vendors are installed, it is necessary for the worker to perform complicated works in order to refer to a target document.
Because of these reasons, a document search system by which the worker can easily search the target document is desired. It is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H5-216935, that although a worker in a field of a plant is not provided with a document, in a case that an abnormality occurs in a large-scale plant, a document search system an quickly provide contents of an exact document required for taking measures.
By the way, even if the document search system is introduced, problems described below are considered.
(1) It is difficult to input a search keyword efficiently.
A word which can be a search keyword in a field of a plant is often enumeration of characters, such as an identifier of a pipeline and a tag name of a device which are set to a field device beforehand. Since such a word has many characters, it is difficult to input it efficiently. A worker who works in a field of the plant may wear gloves in some places. For this reason, it is difficult for the worker to input a search keyword efficiently while the worker wears the gloves.
(2) Optimal search results according to a situation of the worker cannot be obtained.
A general search engine used in the Internet ranks a search result in accordance with a general-purpose determination reference, such as data freshness of contents, and a number of keywords contained in the contents. Thus, a situation of the worker, such as who searches, where it is searched, and what is searched, is not taken into consideration at all in the general search engine. For this reason, there is a case that a search result in which a document unrelated to contents of a work conducted by the worker is ranked to a high order is obtained, and an optimal search result according to the situation of the worker is not obtained.
An information search system includes a terminal device and a communicator. The terminal device includes an obtainer, a processor, and a communicator. The obtainer obtains device specification information which is necessary for specifying a device installed in a plant. The processor obtains first information and second information. The first information is identification information of the device specified by using the device specification information obtained by the obtainer. The second information represents a storage place of information which is necessary for maintaining the device. The communicator tranmits, to a network, the first information and the second information which has been obtained by the processor. The search server specifies a search place based on the second information transmitted from the terminal device through the network. The search server searches the search place by using the first information as a key. The search server transmits a search result to the terminal device.
Further features and aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
The embodiments of the present invention will be now described herein with reference to illustrative preferred embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many alternative preformed embodiments can be accomplished using the teaching of the present invention and that the present invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments illustrated herein for explanatory purposes.
An aspect of the present invention is to provide an information search system and an information search method which can obtain an optimal search result according to a situation of a worker, even if the worker does not input any search keyword.
Hereinafter, with reference to drawings, an information search system and an information search method of embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.
As shown in
Here, the plant includes an industrial plant such as a chemical industrial plant, a plant managing and controlling a wellhead (for example, a gas field and an oil field), a plant managing and controlling a generation of electric power (for example, water power, fire power, and nuclear power), a plant managing and controlling a power harvesting (for example, solar power and wind power plant managing and controlling water supply and sewerage systems, a dam, and so on.
The field device ED is such as a sensor device (for example, a flowmeter and a temperature sensor), a valve device (for example, a flow control valve and an on-off valve), an actuator device (for example, a fan and a motor), and other devices which are installed in the field of the plant and controlled by a controller (not illustrated) which is a main part of a distributed control system (DCS). A vibration sensor which monitors vibration of a pipeline and vibration of a valve device, and a noise sensor which monitors sound emitted from an actuator device are included in the field device FD. An identifier ID is provided to the field device FD. For example, the identifier ID is a matrix-type two dimensional code such as QR Code (registered trademark).
Information which is necessary for searching a document DC is included in the identifier ID. For example, the following information is included in the identifier ID.
The document DC is a manual or a specification sheet of the field device FD. The document DC is an electronic document referred when maintenance of the field device FD is conducted. The document DC may be stored in a server prepared in the plant, and may be stored in a server which is managed by a vendor of the field device FD. That is, the document DC can be stored in arbitrary places wherever the search server 30 can search. For example, as shown in
The terminal device 10 is a terminal device used for searching the document DC. The terminal device 10 is used by the worker W who conducts field works of the plant. For example, the terminal device 10 is a smart phone or a tablet type computer. However, in a case of a terminal device is equipped with functions (for example, a camera function, and a wireless communication function) which is necessary to search the document DC, arbitrary terminal devices (for example, a spectacle-type terminal device or a watch-type terminal device) can be used.
The touch panel 12 is an operation display which includes a display (for example, a liquid crystal display; and an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display) and a position input device (for example, a touchpad). The wireless communicator 13 can communicate wirelessly in conformity with a wireless communication standard, such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), WiMAX (registered trademark), and 3G/LTE registered trademark). The wireless communicator 13 communicates through the wireless network N1. The storage 14 stores various types of information used by the data processor 115. For example, the storage 14 is realized by a memory device such as a semiconductor memory or a recording device such as a hard disk.
The data processor 15 processes various types of information used by the terminal device 10. For example, the data processor 15 processes data which is to be displayed on the touch panel 12, data which is input from the touch panel 12, data which is transmitted and received through the wireless communicator 13, data which is input from the storage 14 and output to the storage 14, and other data.
The data processor 15 is equipped with an identifier reader 15a. The identifier reader 15a performs image processing with respect to an image taken by the camera 11, and reads information (for example, “Device tag name”, “Position code”, “Model name”, and “Storage place” which were described above) included in an identifier ID. If the image taken by the camera 11 is an image (device specification information) including an image of the identifier ID, the identifier reader 15a performs reading processing. However, if the image taken by the camera 11 does not include the image of an identifier ID the identifier reader 15a does not perform the reading processing.
The wireless access point 20 establishes s the wireless network N1 described above. The wireless access point 20 relays data which is transmitted and received through the wireless network N1 and data which is transmitted and received through the intranet N2. By the wireless access point 20 being installed, the terminal device 10 and the search server 30 can communicate with each other. In the present embodiment, in order to explain simply, the wireless access point 20 which connects the wireless network N1 to the intranet N2 directly is described as an example, but e wireless access point 20 may be a relay device for connecting with the intranet N2 via public lines, such as 3G (third generation mobile communication system) or 4G (fourth generation mobile communication system).
The search server 30 searches the document DC based on data transmitted from the terminal device 10 through the wireless network N1, and the search server 30 transmits the search result to the terminal device 10 through the wireless network N1. Specifically, the search server 30 specifies a search place based on “Storage place” (information which represents a storage place of the document DC) included in the data transmitted from the terminal device 10. Thereafter, the search server 30 searches the specified search place by using “Device tag name”, “Position code”, and “Model name” as search keywords. In the present embodiment, although an example in which the search keywords are “Device tag name”, “Position code”, and “Model name” is described, at least one of “Device tag name”, “Position code”, and “Model name” can also be used as the search keywords.
The index storage 32 stores an index created by the index creator 31. A structure and a form of the index which is stored in the index storage 32 may be arbitrary. The searcher 33 performs search processing with respect to the index storage 32 based on a query which has been input. Specifically, the searcher 33 specifies the search place based on “Storage place” transmitted from the terminal device 10. Thereafter, the searcher 33 searches by using “Device tag name”, “Position code”, “Model name” as the query.
In the search server 30, the index creator 31 obtains contents (including the document DC) of the search target, analyzes the contents, creates an index associated with a keyword which is supposed to be searched, and manages it. If the data from the terminal device 10 has been received, the searcher 33 specifying a search place and searches the index stored in the index storage 32 based on the search keyword. Thereafter, the searcher 33 transmits the search result to the terminal device 10.
Next, operation of the information search system 1 is described.
Then, an image including an image of the identifier ID is taken by the camera 11, and the taken image is transmitted to the data processor 15 (Step S11). Here, after the search start has been instructed, the worker W operates the terminal device 10 so that the identifier ID prepared along with the field device FD can be arranged in of the camera 11. By the operation, the image including the image of the identifier ID can be taken.
If the image including the picture of the identifier ID has been captured into the data processor 15, the identifier reader 15a reads the information included in the identifier ID (Step S12). Specifically, the identifier reader 15a reads “Device tag name”, “Position code”, “Model name”, and “Storage place” which are included in the identifier ID. The information read by the identifier reader 15a is output from the data processor 15 to the wireless communicator 13, passes through the wireless network N1, the wireless access point 20, and the intranet N2 in order, and is transmitted to the search server 30 (Step S13).
If the search server 30 has received the data transmitted from the terminal device 10, the search server 30 specifies the search place based on “Storage place” included in the received data. Thereafter, the search server 30 searches the specified search place by using “Device tag name”, “Position code”, and “Model name”, which are included in the received data, as search keywords (Step S14).
If a search result has been obtained by the above processing, the obtained search result is ranked and transmitted from the search server 30 through the intranet N2, the wireless access point 20, and the wireless network N1 in order, and transmitted to the terminal device 10 (Step S15). If the data processing unit 15 has received the search the search server 30, the data processing unit 15 displays a list of the search result on the touch panel 12 in a ranked order.
Here, for example, the search server 30 ranks the search result by using a maintenance history about the field device FD specified by “Device tag name” included in the data from the terminal device 10. The search server 30 specifies the search place based on “Storage place” included in the data from the terminal device 10 in order to search the maintenance history.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the identifier ID prepared along with the field device FD is taken by the camera 11 of the terminal device 10, the information (“Device tag name”, “Position code”, “Model name”, and “Storage place”) included in the identifier ID is read, and the read information is transmitted from the terminal device 10 to the search server 30. Thereafter, the search server 30 specifies the search place based on “Storage place” included in the data from the terminal device 10, and searches by using “Device tag name”, “Position code”, and “Model name” as search keywords. For this reason, in the present embodiment, even if the worker does not input any search keyword, an optimal search result according to a situation situation of a worker can be obtained.
In the information search system 1 of the first embodiment described above, the terminal device 10 reads the information included in the identifier ID prepared along with the field device FD, and the document DC is searched. On the other hand, the information search system 2 of the present embodiment searches the document DC by using the information obtained by the terminal device 40 performing NFC (Near Field Communication) with the NFC tag TG prepared along with field device FD. Here, the NFC means communication (non-contact communication) which becomes possible, for example, if a distance between devices which communicate with each other is several tens of centimeters or less. The NFC also includes communication performed in a state that cases of devices which communicate with each other are contacted.
The NFC reader/writer 41 supplies electric power by non-contact to the NFC tag TG, and the NFC reader/writer 41 performs NFC with the NFC tag TG in order to read ID information (storage information) stored in the NFC tag TG. The NFC reader/writer 41 can also write data into the NFC tag TG. The search information obtainer 15b obtains by using a table TB1 stored in the storage 14, search information according to the ID information read by the NFC reader/writer 41. Here, the search information, which is obtained by the search information obtainer 15b using the table TB1, includes “Device tag name”, “Position code”, “Model name”, “Storage place”, and so on, like the first embodiment.
Next, operation of the information search system 2 is described. Fundamental operation of the information search system 2 is the same as the operation of the information search system I shown in
The ID information read from the NFC tag TG is output from the NFC reader/writer 41 to the data processor 15. The search information obtainer 15b obtains the search information according to the read ID information by using the table TB1 stored in the storage 14 (Step corresponding to Step S12 of
The information obtained by the search information obtainer 15b is output from the data processor 15 to the wireless communicator 13, passes through the wireless network N1, the wireless access point 20, and the intranet N2, in order,and is transmitted to the search server 30 (Step corresponding to Step S13 of
As described above, in the present embodiment, the ID information stored in the NFC tag TG prepared along with the field device FD is read by the NFC reader/writer 41 of the terminal device 40, the search information (“Device tag name”, “Model name”, “Storage place”, and so on) according to the read ID information is obtained by using the table TB1 stored in the storage 14, and the obtained search information is transmitted from the terminal device 40 to the search server 30. Thereafter, the search server 30 specifies the search place based on the “Storage place” included in the search information which is from the terminal device 40, and the search server 30 searches by using “Device tag name”, “Model name”, and so on, as search keywords. For this reason, also in the present embodiment, even if a worker does not input any search keyword, an optimal search result according to a situation of a worker can be obtained.
In the present embodiment, an example at the NFC tag TG is prepared along with the field device FD, and NFC is performed between the NFC tag TG and the terminal device 40, has been described. However, the field device FD may be equipped with a communication function for communicating in conformity with Bluetooth (registered trademark) (or a communication device which has such a communication function may be prepared along with the field device FD), and the terminal device 40 may be also equipped with the same communication function. Furthermore, communications may be performed between the field device FD (or a communication device prepared along with the field device FD) and the terminal device 40 in conformity with Bluetooth (registered trademark).
In the information search system 3, the terminal device 50 obtains position information of the field device ED, and the document DC is searched by using the position information. The terminal device 50 obtains the position information by using a positioning function, such as GPS (Global Positioning System). In
The position measurer 51 measures a position of the terminal device 50. Specifically, the position measurer 51 receives electric wave from the GPS Satellite ST shown in
The search information obtainer obtains the search formation according to the position information obtained by the position measurer 51 by using the table TB2 stored in the storage 14. Here, the search information, which is obtained by the search information obtainer 15c using the table TB2, includes “Device tag name”, “Position code”, “Model name”, “Storage place”, and so on, like the first embodiment. The table TB2 is a table of the same form as the table TB1 shown in
Next, operation of the information search system 3 is described. Fundamental operation of the information search system 3 is the same as the operation of the information search system 1 shown in
If the data processor 15 has obtained the position information which represents the installation position of the field device FD, the search information obtainer 15c obtains the search information according to the obtained position information by using the table TB2 stored in the storage 14 (Step corresponding to Step S12 of
The information obtained by the search information obtainer 15c is output from the data processor 15 to the wireless communicator 13, passes through the wireless network N1, the wireless access point 20, and the intranet N2, in order, and is transmitted to the search server 30 (Step corresponding to Step S13 of
As described above, in the present embodiment, the position information which represents the installation position of the field device FD is measured by the position measurer 51 of the terminal device 50, the search information (“Device tag name”, “Model name”, “Storage place” and so on) according to the measured position information is obtained by using the table TB2 stored in the storage 14, and the obtained search information is transmitted from the terminal device 50 to the search server 30. Thereafter, the search server 30 specifies the search place based on the “Storage place” included in the search information which is from the terminal device 50, and the search server 30 searches by using “Device tag name” “Model name”, and so on, as search keywords. For this reason, also in the present embodiment, even if a worker does not input any search keyword, an optimal search result according situation of a worker can be obtained.
In the present embodiment, an example that the position information of terminal device 50 is obtained by using GPS, has been described. However, the method of obtaining the position information of the terminal device 50 is not limited to the method of using GPS, and arbitrary methods can be used. For example, existing positioning methods used by Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark) can be used.
The terminal device 60 can superimpose, to an image taken by a camera, additional information according to the taken image by using AR (Augmented Reality) technology, and the terminal device 60 can display it. As shown in
The information search system 4 of the present embodiment searches the document DC by using additional information selected by instructions of the worker W among the additional information (images G21 to G24 shown in
The position measurer 61 is the same as the position measurer 51 shown in
The additional information generator 15d generates the additional information (images G21 to G24) shown in
The additional information obtainer 15e obtains additional information (device specification information) selected, by the instructions performed by the worker W operating the touch panel 12, among the additional information displayed on the touch panel 12. The search information obtainer 15f obtains the search information according to the additional information obtained by the additional information obtainer 15e by using the table TB3 stored in the storage 14. Here, the search information, which is obtained by the search information obtainer 15f using the table TB3, includes “Device tag name”, “Position code”, “Model name”, “Storage place”, and so on, like the first embodiment. The table TB3 is a table of the same form as the table TB1 shown in
Next, operation of the information search system 4 is described. Fundamental operation of the information search system 4 is the same as the operation of the information search system 1 shown in
If the worker W operates the touch panel 12 and one of the additional information displayed on the touch panel 12 is selected, the additional information obtainer 15e obtains one of the additional information in accordance with the selection (Step corresponding to Step S11 of
The information obtained by the search information obtainer 15f is output from the data processor 15 to the wireless communicator 13, passes through the wireless network N1, the wireless access point 20, and the intranet N2, in order, and is transmitted to the search server 30 (Step corresponding to Step S13 of
As described above, in the present embodiment, an image where the additional information according to the image taken by the camera 11 has been superimposed on the taken image is displayed on the touch panel 12 of the terminal device 60, additional information is selected in accordance with instructions of the worker W, the search information (“Device tag name”, “Model name”, “Storage place”, and so on) according to the selected additional information is obtained by using table TB3 stored in the storage 14, and the obtained search information is transmitted from the terminal device 60 to the search server 30. Thereafter, the search server 30 specifics the search place based on the “Storage place” included in the search information which is from the terminal device 60, and the search server 30 searches by using “Device tag name”, “Model name”, and so on, as search keywords. For this reason, also in the present embodiment, even if a worker does not input any search keyword, an optimal search result according to a situation of a worker can be obtained.
As described above, although the embodiments of the present invention have been described, the present invention is not restricted to the above-described embodiments, and can be freely modified within the scope thereof. For example, the functions of the terminal devices 10, 40, 50, and 60 described in the first embodiment to the fourth embodiment may be integrated in one terminal device. By using the terminal device, in any cases that the identifier ID is prepared along with the field device FD, that the NFC tag TG is prepared along with the field device FD, and that both the identifier ID and the NFC tag TG are not prepared along with the field device FD, the document DC can be searched.
In the above-described embodiments, although an example of searching the document DC (manual, specification sheet, and so on) of the field device FD has been described, information other than the document DC of the field device FD can be also searched. For example, if stock information which represents a stock number of field devices FD, a stock place, delivery date of stock, and so on, exists in the cloud CL, the search server 30 can search the stock information by using “Model name” as a search keyword. Moreover, the search server 30 can order a field device FD based on the searched stock information.
As used herein, the following directional terms “front, back, above, downward, right, left, vertical, horizontal, below, transverse, row and column” as well as any other similar directional terms refer to those instructions of a device equipped with the present invention. According these terms, as utilized to describe the present invention should be interpreted relative to a device equipped with the present invention.
The term “configured” is used to describe a component, unit or part of a device includes hardware and/or software that is constructed and/or programmed to carry out the desired function.
Moreover, terms that are expressed as “means-plus function” in the claims should include any structure that can be utilized to carry out the function of that part of the present invention.
The term “unit” is used to describe a component, unit or part of a hardware and/or software that is constructed and/or programmed to carry out the desired function. Typical examples of the hardware may include, but are not limited to, a device and a circuit.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated above., it should be understood that these are examples of the present invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Additions, omissions, substitutions, and other modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not to be considered as being limited by the foregoing description, and is only limited by the scope of the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-117990 | Jun 2015 | JP | national |
