SENSOR INFORMATION COMPLEMENTING SYSTEM AND SENSOR INFORMATION COMPLEMENTING METHOD

• US 20140107812A1
• Filed: 05/30/2012
• Published: 04/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Oguma, Hisashi
• Granted Patent: US 10,175,664 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/19
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 1/16 giving a value which is a function of two or more values, e.g. product or ratio
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 3/10 with provision for switching-in of additional or auxiliary indicators or recorders
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric

Abstract

Sensor information is regularly acquired from a plurality of sensors and stored. For each of the sensors, other sensors whose information is correlated are selected. When sensor information of a sensor is requested from an application program or the like, while if the requested sensor is available the sensor information is acquired directly from the sensor, if the requested sensor is unavailable the sensor information of sensors relevant to the sensor is acquired and the sensor information of the requested sensor is estimated. As a result, in a system comprising a plurality of sensors, sensor information of an unavailable sensor will be estimated in a short period of time.

Claims

1. A sensor information complementing system, comprising:

a plurality of sensors;

sensor control means for acquiring sensor information from the plurality of sensors;

storage means for storing sensor information regularly acquired from the plurality of sensors;

relevant sensor selecting means for selecting, for each of the sensors, another sensor whose sensor information is correlated to sensor information of the sensor, by using stored sensor information;

sensor information estimating means for estimating information of a target sensor by acquiring sensor information of another sensor correlated to the target sensor; and

sensor information acquiring means for, when acquisition of sensor information of a sensor is requested, acquiring sensor information from the requested sensor if the sensor is available, and acquiring sensor information of the requested sensor estimated by the sensor information estimating means if the sensor is unavailable.

2. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 1, wherein the system is configured by a plurality of nodes each including at least one sensor, the sensor control means, the storage means, the relevant sensor selecting means, the sensor information estimating means, the sensor information acquiring means, and coordination means for exchanging information with other nodes,

the coordination means is capable of acquiring sensor information of a sensor belonging to another node from the another node and of providing sensor information of a sensor belonging to its own node to another node, and provides, to the another node, sensor information of a sensor belonging to its own node regularly acquired by the sensor control means,

the storage means stores sensor information regularly acquired from a sensor belonging to its own node and from a sensor belonging to another node, and

if another sensor correlated to the target sensor belongs to another node, the sensor information estimating means acquires sensor information of the another sensor via the coordination means to estimate sensor information of the target sensor.

3. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 2, wherein the relevant sensor selecting means selects other sensors correlated to the sensors belonging to its own node.

4. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 1, wherein the system is configured by:

a plurality of general nodes each including at least one sensor, the sensor control means, the sensor information acquiring means, and coordination means for exchanging information with other nodes; and

a management node including the storage means, the relevant sensor selecting means, the sensor information estimating means, and coordination means for exchanging information with other nodes,

the coordination means of each of the general nodes is capable of acquiring sensor information of sensors belonging to other general nodes from the other general nodes or the management node and of providing sensor information of sensors belonging to their own nodes to the other general nodes or the management node,

the plurality of general nodes regularly acquire sensor information from the sensors belonging to their own nodes and provide the sensor information to the management node via the coordination means, and

the sensor information acquiring means of the management node acquires sensor information of other sensors correlated to the target sensor from the nodes to which the other sensors belong to estimate sensor information of the target sensor.

5. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 1, wherein the relevant sensor selecting means:

determines a first starting time and a first ending time based on the stored sensor information of the target sensor such that sensor values of the target sensor monotonically increase or decrease between the first starting time and the first ending time;

determines candidates of a second starting time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the target sensor equals to the sensor value at the first starting time;

determines candidates of a second ending time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the target sensor equals to the sensor value at the first ending time;

determines a second starting time and a second ending time from the second starting time candidates and the second ending time candidates such that difference over time between the second starting time and the second ending time is the same as that between the first starting time and the first ending time; and

determines that a sensor other than the target sensor is correlated to the target sensor if the sensor information at the first starting time is equal to the sensor information at the second starting time and if the sensor information at the first ending time is equal to the sensor information at the second ending time.

8. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 2, wherein the relevant sensor selecting means:

determines a first starting time and a first ending time based on the stored sensor information of the target sensor such that sensor values of the target sensor monotonically increase or decrease between the first starting time and the first ending time;

determines candidates of a second starting time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the target sensor equals to the sensor value at the first starting time;

determines candidates of a second ending time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the target sensor equals to the sensor value at the first ending time;

determines a second starting time and a second ending time from the second starting time candidates and the second ending time candidates such that difference over time between the second starting time and the second ending time is the same as that between the first starting time and the first ending time; and

determines that a sensor other than the target sensor is correlated to the target sensor if the sensor information at the first starting time is equal to the sensor information at the second starting time and if the sensor information at the first ending time is equal to the sensor information at the second ending time.

9. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 3, wherein the relevant sensor selecting means:

determines a first starting time and a first ending time based on the stored sensor information of the target sensor such that sensor values of the target sensor monotonically increase or decrease between the first starting time and the first ending time;

determines candidates of a second starting time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the target sensor equals to the sensor value at the first starting time;

determines candidates of a second ending time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the target sensor equals to the sensor value at the first ending time;

determines a second starting time and a second ending time from the second starting time candidates and the second ending time candidates such that difference over time between the second starting time and the second ending time is the same as that between the first starting time and the first ending time; and

determines that a sensor other than the target sensor is correlated to the target sensor if the sensor information at the first starting time is equal to the sensor information at the second starting time and if the sensor information at the first ending time is equal to the sensor information at the second ending time.

10. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 4, wherein the relevant sensor selecting means:

determines a first starting time and a first ending time based on the stored sensor information of the target sensor such that sensor values of the target sensor monotonically increase or decrease between the first starting time and the first ending time;

determines candidates of a second starting time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the target sensor equals to the sensor value at the first starting time;

determines candidates of a second ending time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the target sensor equals to the sensor value at the first ending time;

determines a second starting time and a second ending time from the second starting time candidates and the second ending time candidates such that difference over time between the second starting time and the second ending time is the same as that between the first starting time and the first ending time; and

determines that a sensor other than the target sensor is correlated to the target sensor if the sensor information at the first starting time is equal to the sensor information at the second starting time and if the sensor information at the first ending time is equal to the sensor information at the second ending time.

6. A sensor information complementing method for estimating, in a system having a plurality of sensors, sensor information of a specific sensor on the basis of sensor information of other sensors when the sensor information is unavailable from the specific sensor, the method comprising the steps of:

regularly acquiring sensor information from the plurality of sensors and storing the sensor information;

selecting, for each of the sensors, another sensor whose sensor information is correlated to sensor information of the sensor, by using stored sensor information; and

estimating, when acquisition of sensor information of a sensor is requested, sensor information of that sensor by acquiring sensor information of another sensor correlated to that sensor.

7. The sensor information complementing method according to claim 6, wherein in the selecting step,

a first starting time and a first ending time are determined based on the stored sensor information of the target sensor such that sensor values of a target sensor monotonically increase or decrease between the first starting time and the first ending time,

candidates of a second starting time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the target sensor equals to the sensor value at the first starting time are determined,

candidates of a second ending time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the target sensor equals to the sensor value at the first ending time are determined,

a second starting time and a second ending time are determined from the second starting time candidates and the second ending time candidates such that difference over time between the second starting time and the second ending time is the same as that between the first starting time and the first ending time, and

it is determined that a sensor other than the target sensor is correlated to the target sensor if the sensor information at the first starting time is equal to the sensor information at the second starting time and if the sensor information at the first ending time is equal to the sensor information at the second ending time.