The present disclosure relates to an information providing system that provides information related to contamination.

BACKGROUND ART

Patent Document 1 describes a known information providing system that provides information related to contamination. The information providing system of Patent Document 1 (information management center in Patent Document 1) obtains an image of a filter, binarizes every pixel of the image, divides the binarized image into predetermined blocks, and calculates a diagnostic value using data related to the blocks. Further, the information providing system outputs processed data indicating the necessity for filter replacement or the like to a mobile phone terminal.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT

Patent Document

Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-292066

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Problems that the Invention is to Solve

A user who receives a message from an information management center indicating that a part needs to be replaced may not be able to determine the degree of replacement necessity. Further, information indicating why the part needs to be replaced may require expert knowledge to understand. In such a situation, the user may not or may not be able to understand how to respond to a message related to contamination. Accordingly, one objective of the present disclosure is to provide a contamination-related information providing system that provides a user with information related to contamination that is easy to understand.

Means for Solving the Problems

An information providing system that solves the above problems provides information related to contamination of a drain pan of an air conditioner. The information providing system includes a computer connected to a camera and a user terminal. The computer is configured to obtain image data of a subject captured by the camera, find a contaminated region in the image data, generate contamination-related information in which the contaminated region is highlighted in the image data, and output the contamination-related information to the user terminal. With this configuration, the contaminated region is highlighted so that the user can recognize and understand the information related to contamination.

In the information providing system, the computer is configured to obtain first image data of a preceding time and second image data of a subsequent time after the preceding time, find the contaminated region in the second image data, generate the contamination-related information including the first image data and the second image data, and highlight the contaminated region in the second image data in the contamination-related information. With this configuration, the first image data of the preceding time is compared to the second image data so that the user can recognize the degree of contamination advancement.

In the information providing system, the computer is configured to identify and highlight a type of contamination. With this configuration, the types of contamination are identified so that the user can easily recognize how the subject is contaminated.

In the information providing system, the computer is configured to identify the type of contamination by a hue.

The types of contamination can be distinguished in accordance with hue. In the above-described configuration, the types of contamination are accurately identified using this technical feature.

In the information providing system, the computer is configured to highlight the type of contamination to allow for identification by adjusting saturation. With this configuration, the user can visually check contamination and distinguish the type of contamination.

In the information providing system, the computer is configured to form a contamination chart indicating a change in a contaminant amount with respect to elapsed time based on image data of the subject captured at different times, generate the contamination-related information including the contamination chart and a threshold value of the contaminant amount indicating when to perform cleaning, and highlight a time point at which the contaminant amount reaches the threshold value of the contamination in the contamination chart. With this configuration, the user can easily recognize the time point at which the contaminant amount will reach the contaminant amount threshold value.

In the information providing system, the computer is configured to calculate a failure probability in a predetermined future period based on the image data of the subject, generate the contamination-related information including the failure probability, and highlight the failure probability when the failure probability is greater than a predetermined probability. This configuration allows the user to recognize the failure probability.

In the information providing system, the computer is configured to calculate an air pollution level in a predetermined future period based on the image data of the subject, generate the contamination-related information including the air pollution level, and highlight the air pollution level when the air pollution level is greater than an upper limit value. This configuration allows the user to recognize the air pollution level.

In the information providing system, the computer is configured to obtain image data of an additional subject that differs from the subject captured by a camera, form a contamination chart indicating a change in a contaminant amount with respect to elapsed time based on image data of the additional subject captured at different times, generate the contamination-related information including a chart that shows both of the contamination chart for the subject and the contamination chart for the additional subject with a common time axis, and highlight the contamination chart for the subject in the contamination-related information. With this configuration, the tendency of contamination in the subject can be recognized through comparison with contamination in the additional subject.

