JP2004096596A - Camera controller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To a camera controller which can accurately details of an object to be monitored, even if the object moves at a high speed by connecting the plurality of cameras through a network in a monitor system using a plurality of cameras. <P>SOLUTION: The camera controller includes an imaging means, a means for measuring a distance from an object to be measured, at least three cameras having an imaging time recording means, and a communication means. The controller determines the focal point adjustment and an imaging mode for cameras subsequent to the third camera. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a control device for a surveillance camera, which is composed of a plurality of cameras and a device for controlling the cameras, and which is installed in a street such as a shopping street and indoors for the purpose of checking the flow of people and preventing crime.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, crime has increased and graffiti caused by spraying has become more frequent, and surveillance cameras have become more important.These surveillance cameras can keep records and guards etc. do not guard Also, since these actions can be suppressed, there is an advantage that security can be inexpensively protected, and the number of installations is increasing (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0003]
Next, a system using a conventional surveillance camera will be described with reference to FIG.
[0004]
FIG. 4 shows a conventional surveillance camera system using a plurality of surveillance cameras. Reference numeral 10 denotes a plurality of surveillance cameras, the video output of which is connected to a video switching device 11. The video switcher 11 is a device that integrates the outputs of the plurality of monitoring cameras 10 and outputs one of the outputs to the monitor 6 or the recording device 7 according to an instruction from the control panel 12.
[0005]
Reference numeral 9 denotes an object to be monitored, which is constantly moving.
[0006]
A method of using the surveillance camera system configured as described above will be described below.
[0007]
First, the monitoring target 9 enters the angle of view of the end camera of the plurality of monitoring cameras 10. The monitoring target 9 is displayed on the monitor 6, and an operator (not shown) switches the video using the control panel 12 to see the details. By issuing a command to the device 11 and switching to the camera where the monitoring target is photographed, the video of the monitoring target 9 is recorded on the recording device 7, and details can be confirmed on the monitor 6.
[0008]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-245280 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in this configuration, when the operator attempts to track the monitoring object 9 having a high moving speed, the operator issues a command to the video switching device 11 with a command from the control panel 12 so that the monitoring object is selected from the selected monitoring camera. If you lose track of it, you may not know which surveillance camera to select, and you may lose sight of the monitored object.
[0010]
In addition, even if such a high-speed monitoring target can be accurately measured by the automatic focusing device of the monitoring camera, the monitoring target may pass by before moving the lens and focusing. In such a case, the details of the monitoring target object cannot be known no matter how much recording is recorded in the recording device 7.
[0011]
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and in a surveillance system using a plurality of cameras, even if the speed of the surveillance target is high by connecting the individual surveillance cameras via a network, It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera control device capable of accurately capturing details of an object.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a camera control device including at least three cameras having an imaging unit, a subject distance measuring unit, an imaging time recording unit, and a communication unit, Based on the distance information measured by the subject distance measurement means from two or more of the three cameras and the time information recorded by the imaging time recording means, the focus adjustment and the imaging mode of the third and subsequent cameras are performed. The decision is made.
[0013]
Also, a camera control device including at least three cameras including an imaging unit, a subject distance measuring unit, and an imaging time recording unit, and a communication unit, wherein two or more cameras among the at least three cameras The focus adjustment of three or more cameras and the determination of the imaging mode may be performed on the basis of the distance information measured by the subject distance measuring means and the time information recorded by the imaging time recording means.
[0014]
In other words, even for a high-speed monitoring target, by connecting individual monitoring cameras via a network, the status data (information such as focal length) of each camera is used, and the speed of the monitoring target and the moving direction are used based on the data. By adding a control device that can predict the situation, even if the first and second surveillance cameras cannot capture details, it is possible to predict the movement of the monitoring target with the status data of the cameras. The surveillance camera after that can accurately capture details of the monitored object.
[0015]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
In this configuration, at least three cameras capable of communicating information such as the focal length, a camera control device capable of processing information transmitted from the cameras and controlling an arbitrary camera based on the result, and inputting video outputs of all cameras. A control panel for issuing commands to the camera controller, a video switcher for selecting and outputting an image from the camera specified by the control panel and the camera controller, a monitor for displaying the video of the video switcher, and an output for the video switcher. Is a device having a device for recording the
[0016]
The operation of this device is as follows.If the operator or the camera controller determines that the details of the monitored object cannot be confirmed for some reason with the first camera, it tries to capture with the second camera. Based on the elapsed time between the second camera and the second camera and the focus information of both cameras, the arrival time and the focal length to the third camera are calculated by trigonometric functions or the like. Instruct the third camera to output the image of the third camera, and for the third camera, specify the focal length where the details can be taken, perform the focusing operation, and wait for the monitoring target to come Take detailed photos.
[0017]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0018]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.
[0019]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a surveillance camera system using a plurality of surveillance cameras. In FIG. 1, a surveillance camera system according to the present invention includes a surveillance camera A, a surveillance camera B, and a surveillance camera C. A plurality of surveillance cameras can send camera status data such as focal length information to the camera control device 4, and the camera control device 4 can control the focal length and the like.
[0020]
The video output of each camera is connected to a video switching device 5. The video switching device 5 selects which surveillance camera outputs the video captured by the camera control device 4, and selects the monitor 6 or the recording device 7. Output video.
The camera control device 4 can be controlled by a control panel 8.
Reference numeral 9 denotes a monitoring target monitored by the monitoring camera.
The operation of the surveillance camera system configured as described above will be described below.
[0021]
First, the autofocus device of each of the cameras A, B, and C of the surveillance camera system in the normal state focuses on the moving object within the imaging range if the object is a monitoring target such as a normal walking person.
[0022]
In this case, the video output from any camera selected by the control panel is clear, and the details of the monitoring target can be confirmed from the monitor 6 or the recording device 7.
However, it is assumed that the monitoring target 9 that moves at a high speed, for example, the monitoring target 9 having a movement such as a person running at full speed or a person moving diagonally rapidly moves from the monitoring camera A to the monitoring camera B.
[0023]
Since the autofocus device of the monitoring camera A cannot focus within the shooting range before focusing, as shown in FIG. 2 in order to prevent the details of the monitoring target from being unable to be confirmed from the recording of the monitor 6 or the recording device 7. The camera control device 4 performs various controls.
[0024]
The operation of the surveillance camera system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the follow chart of FIG.
[0025]
First, in S101, is the operation of the automatic focus of the monitoring camera A too late? Is determined, and if it is in time, the process returns to S101, and continues to monitor whether or not the automatic focus is in time. If not, the process proceeds to S102.
[0026]
In S102, when the in-focus target value is acquired from the surveillance camera A, the process proceeds to S103, and is the auto-focusing operation of the surveillance camera B in time for a certain period? If the focus is in-focus during that period, it is determined that the surveillance object which could not be photographed in detail by the surveillance camera A can be photographed. If there is an object, the process proceeds to S104, the focus target value of the monitoring camera B is obtained, and the process proceeds to S105.
[0027]
In S105, the distance between the monitoring camera A and the monitoring camera B, which has been measured and input in advance, and the observed monitoring are set in order to predict the movement trajectory of the monitoring target 9 moving at high speed within the imaging range of the monitoring camera C3. A prediction operation is performed from the moving time of the object 9 from the monitoring camera A to the monitoring camera B and the focusing target values acquired from the monitoring cameras A and B. This prediction calculation uses a simple similarity of a triangle as shown in FIG. Required.
[0028]
In S106, the video switcher 5 is instructed to output the surveillance camera C. In S107, the focus data predicted to the surveillance camera C is transferred to the surveillance camera C in accordance with the predicted arrival time.
[0029]
By doing so, the focus operation on the monitoring object 9 moving at a high speed, which was difficult for the monitoring camera A and the monitoring camera B to capture in detail, can be performed by feedforward control, so that the monitoring object 9 moves at a high speed without defocusing. The details of the monitoring target 9 can be confirmed by the monitor 6 and the recording device 7.
[0030]
Next, a prediction calculation method will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the focus target value of the surveillance camera A is set to a, the focus target value of the surveillance camera B is set to b, and the target value of the focus of the surveillance camera C is set to c. Let x be the distance between the monitoring camera B and the monitoring camera C.
Then c = B + (By / X)-(Ay / X)
Can be expressed as
[0031]
Similarly, the time from passing the expected focusing point of the monitoring camera A to the predicted focusing point of the monitoring camera C is T, where T is the elapsed time from the monitoring camera A to the monitoring camera B. t + (yt / X)
And can be expected.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, by arranging and using a plurality of cameras effectively, it is possible to record details of a surveillance subject who has run and escaped so far and a surveillance subject who is trying to escape from the surveillance camera. Provided is a camera control device that can record details of a monitoring target that cannot be followed by an automatic focusing device of a monitoring camera, such as a person who suddenly approaches a wall to perform graffiti or the like. be able to. That is, it is possible to prevent the monitoring target from being lost.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a monitoring camera device using a plurality of cameras according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process performed by the camera control device when an unfocused object appears in the device.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a prediction operation.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional monitoring camera device using a plurality of cameras.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 surveillance camera device A
2 Surveillance camera device B
3 Surveillance camera device C
Reference Signs List 4 camera control device 5 video switching device 6 monitor 7 video recording device 8 control panel 9 monitoring object moving at high speed 10 conventional plurality of monitoring cameras group 11 conventional video switching device 12 control panel

Claims (2)

A camera control device comprising: at least three cameras including an imaging unit, a subject distance measurement unit, an imaging time recording unit, and a communication unit,
Focus adjustment of the third and subsequent cameras based on distance information measured by the subject distance measuring means from two or more of the at least three cameras and time information recorded by the imaging time recording means. And a camera control device for determining an imaging mode. A camera control device comprising: at least three cameras including an imaging unit, a subject distance measurement unit, an imaging time recording unit, and a communication unit,
Focus adjustment of three or more cameras based on distance information measured by the subject distance measuring means from two or more of the at least three cameras and time information recorded by the imaging time recording means. And a camera control device for determining an imaging mode.

Images