JP5847011B2 - Lighting control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lighting control device.

  As an illumination control method, there is dimming control by an inverter in addition to switch on / off control. Conventionally, a technique has been proposed in which illuminance (luminance) is measured from an image of a camera and illumination dimming control is performed according to the measured value (for example, Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3).

JP-A-2005-190961 JP 2010-176842 A JP 2011-181274 A

  However, in order to measure illuminance and the like using a camera, conventionally, a dedicated camera has to be installed.

  An object of the present invention is to realize dimming control of illumination by effectively using a monitoring camera installed for monitoring.

An illumination control apparatus according to the present invention is configured to obtain an acquisition unit that acquires a control voltage value for adjusting a lens diaphragm in a monitoring camera installed for monitoring, and an illumination that illuminates the imaging range of the monitoring camera. A holding means for holding the control voltage value acquired by the acquisition means as a reference voltage value when the light intensity is adjusted, and a current position acquired by the acquisition means so that the optimum illuminance is within the shooting range. Illumination control means for performing illumination control of the illumination according to a difference between a control voltage value and the reference voltage value.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, dimming control of illumination can be performed using the surveillance camera installed for monitoring effectively.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a system using an embodiment of a lighting control apparatus according to the present invention. It is a hardware block diagram of the computer contained in the illumination controller in this Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the illumination control process in this Embodiment. In this Embodiment, it is the graph which showed the relationship between the control voltage value output from a surveillance camera, and the illumination intensity in a room.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a system using a lighting controller 10 which is an embodiment of a lighting control apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a room 1 to be monitored, a surveillance camera 2 installed in the room 1, an illumination 3 and a dimming switch 4, and an illumination controller that connects the surveillance camera 2 and the illumination 3 via a network 5. 10 are shown. The illumination 3 in the present embodiment is a dimmable illumination means. The dimming switch 4 is an operation switch such as a dial type or a slide type, and the illumination 3 is dimmed when operated by a user. The surveillance camera 2 is a surveillance camera that is used to monitor the interior of the room 1 by photographing the range illuminated by the illumination 3 (in the present embodiment, the entire room 1). is there.

  The “surveillance camera” used in the present embodiment is not a camera prepared for illumination control but a surveillance camera installed in advance in the room 1 for monitoring, and is bright even when the shooting range is dark In other words, a lens aperture mechanism that adjusts the aperture of the lens so that it can shoot regardless of the brightness of the shooting range is provided. Specifically, the lens aperture adjustment operates as follows.

  That is, the control unit of the surveillance camera captures an image input to the image sensor (CCD) through the lens. When it is determined that the captured image is too dark, that is, when the room 1 is dark, the control unit of the surveillance camera outputs a relatively high control voltage value (for example, a maximum of about 3.3 V) to the aperture mechanism. In this way, the aperture is widened, and control is performed so that more light can be taken from the lens. On the other hand, when it is determined that the captured image is too bright, that is, when the room 1 is brighter than necessary, the control unit of the surveillance camera sets a relatively low control voltage value (for example, a minimum of about 0.7 V). The diaphragm is narrowed by outputting to the diaphragm mechanism, and control is performed so that less light is taken in from the lens. As described above, the diaphragm mechanism of the surveillance camera adjusts the opening / closing of the diaphragm according to the input control voltage value, and adjusts the light input to the CCD.

  The present embodiment is characterized in that the control voltage value sent to the aperture mechanism is effectively used for illumination control. Therefore, the monitoring camera 2 has a configuration for outputting control voltage value data indicating a control voltage value sent to the aperture mechanism to the outside. When the control voltage value data is an analog signal, it is output after being converted to a digital signal.

  In FIG. 1, the illumination controller 10 is illustrated as being connected to a set of surveillance cameras 2 and illumination 3 installed in one room 1 for convenience, but a combination of a plurality of surveillance cameras 2 and illumination 3 is illustrated. You may connect with. In this case, it is necessary to manage information indicating the correspondence relationship between the monitoring camera 2 and the illumination 3.

  FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a computer included in the lighting controller 10 according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the computer included in the lighting controller 10 can be realized by a general-purpose hardware configuration that has existed in the past. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the computer connects the CPU 21, ROM 22, RAM 23, HDD controller 25 connected to the hard disk drive (HDD) 24, network controller 26 provided as communication means, and user interface (UI) 27. The input / output controller 28 is connected to an internal bus 29.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the block configuration of the illumination controller 10 in the present embodiment will be described. The illumination controller 10 in the present embodiment includes a control voltage value acquisition unit 11, a reference voltage value setting unit 12, an illumination control unit 13, and a reference voltage value holding unit 14. The control voltage value acquisition unit 11 is provided as acquisition means, and receives control voltage value data (hereinafter simply referred to as “control voltage value”) indicating a control voltage value for adjusting the lens aperture in the monitoring camera via the network 5. get. The reference voltage value setting unit 12 uses the control voltage value acquired by the control voltage value acquisition unit 11 as a reference voltage value when the illumination 3 that illuminates the imaging range of the surveillance camera 2 is adjusted to an optimal illuminance, and is a reference voltage value. Set in the holding unit 14. The illumination control unit 13 is provided as illumination control means, and according to the difference between the current control voltage value acquired by the control voltage value acquisition unit 11 and the reference voltage value held by the reference voltage value holding unit 14. The illumination control of the illumination 3 is performed. The reference voltage value holding unit 14 is provided as holding means and holds a reference voltage value.

  Each component 11-13 in the illumination controller 10 is implement | achieved by cooperation operation | movement of the computer which forms the illumination controller 10, and the program which operate | moves by CPU11 mounted in the computer. The reference voltage value holding unit 14 is realized by the RAM 23 or the HDD 24.

  Further, the program used in this embodiment can be provided not only by communication means but also by storing it in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. The program provided from the communication means or the recording medium is installed in the computer, and various processes are realized by the CPU of the computer sequentially executing the program.

  Next, the operation in this embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, since it is necessary to set a reference voltage value in advance before performing the characteristic illumination control process described later, this reference voltage value setting process will be described.

  First, the lighting manager operates the dimming switch 4 to dimm the interior of the room 1 to an optimum illuminance. Then, the user interface 27 is operated to instruct the illuminance controller 10 to set the reference voltage value. For this instruction, for example, an application for setting a reference voltage value may be activated, and a button displayed on the display that is the user interface 27 may be selected and operated using a mouse or the like that is the user interface 27. As a user interface 27, a button switch for setting a reference voltage value provided in the illuminance controller 10 may be operated.

  In response to this instruction, the control voltage value acquisition unit 11 in the illuminance controller 10 transmits a control voltage value transmission instruction request to the monitoring camera 2. The monitoring camera 2 transmits the current control voltage value in response to this request. The monitoring camera 2 constantly transmits the current control voltage value, and the illuminance controller 10 captures the transmitted control voltage value when necessary, here, when a reference voltage value setting instruction is given. You may do it. When the control voltage value acquisition unit 11 acquires the control voltage value transmitted from the monitoring camera 2, the reference voltage value setting unit 12 accepts the control voltage value, and is set and registered in the reference voltage value holding unit 14 as the reference voltage value. And hold it.

  Next, the illumination control process implemented in the illumination controller 10 in this Embodiment is demonstrated using the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When activated, the application that executes the illumination control process in the present embodiment repeatedly performs each step to perform illumination control so that the optimum illuminance is always obtained. In addition, you may make it repeat with a fixed period (for example, several seconds-several minutes).

  The control voltage value acquisition unit 11 in the illuminance controller 10 transmits a control voltage value transmission instruction request to the monitoring camera 2 at a predetermined timing for performing illumination control. The monitoring camera 2 transmits the current control voltage value in response to this request. The surveillance camera 2 constantly transmits the current control voltage value, and the illuminance controller 10 captures the transmitted control voltage value when necessary, here, when the illumination control is performed. Good. When the control voltage value acquisition unit 11 acquires the control voltage value transmitted from the monitoring camera 2 (step 101), the illumination control unit 13 receives the control voltage value and is held in the reference voltage value holding unit 14. A comparison is made with the reference voltage value (step 102). Here, the relationship between the control voltage value and the illuminance will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 shows a graph in which the horizontal axis represents illuminance and the vertical axis represents the control voltage value. When the room 1 is dark, the surveillance camera 2 outputs a higher control voltage value so as to widen the aperture and capture more light from the lens. In this graph, the relationship between the control voltage value and the illuminance is shown. FIG. 4 shows a reference voltage value Vp, and a dead zone Db in which dimming is not performed is set in advance on both sides around the reference voltage value Vp. In setting the reference voltage value Vp, the interior of the room 1 was dimmed to the optimum illuminance. This optimum illuminance corresponds to the illuminance Ip in FIG. That is, the illuminance in the room 1 can be estimated from the control voltage value by referring to the graph shown in FIG.

  Returning to FIG. 3, if the control voltage value is in the dead zone Db, in other words, if the absolute value of the difference between the control voltage value and the reference voltage value is not more than Db / 2 (Y in step 103), the illumination control is performed. The unit 13 returns to Step 101 for the next illumination control without dimming. On the other hand, if the control voltage value is outside the dead zone Db, in other words, if the absolute value of the difference between the control voltage value and the reference voltage value is greater than Db / 2 (N in step 103), the illumination control unit 13 Subsequently, the magnitude of the control voltage value and the reference voltage value is determined. Here, if the control voltage value is larger than the reference voltage value as in the control voltage value V1 in FIG. 4 (Y in step 104), the room 1 is in a dark state, so the illumination control unit 13 sets the illuminance of the illumination 3 to The dimming control is performed to increase the brightness of the room 1 (step 105). On the other hand, if the control voltage value is equal to or lower than the reference voltage value (N in Step 104) as in the control voltage value V2 in FIG. 4, the room 1 is in a brighter state than necessary, so that the lighting control unit 13 The dimming control is performed so as to darken the room 1 by lowering the illuminance (step 106). The degree of dimming control may be a predetermined fixed value (for example, 2 lux) or a variable value corresponding to the difference between the control voltage value and the reference voltage value.

  After dimming control in this way, the process returns to step 101 for the next illumination control, and the control voltage value acquiring unit 11 acquires the control voltage value after dimming again. If the newly acquired control voltage value is within the dead zone Db, dimming is not necessary. However, if the acquired control voltage value is still outside the dead zone Db, the lighting control unit 13 continues to brighten the room 1. Or dimming control to darken.

  According to the present embodiment, it is possible to perform illumination control by effectively using the control voltage value output from the monitoring camera 2 as described above. That is, since it is not necessary to use a camera dedicated to measurement or a device such as an illuminance sensor in order to measure the illuminance in the room 1, the equipment cost for lighting control can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the dead zone Db that is not subject to light control is provided, but this is not necessarily provided. Further, the width of the dead zone Db may be set as appropriate depending on the use of the room 1 and the like.

  Further, the optimum illuminance Ip set when setting the reference voltage value may be set to a different value for each shooting range depending on the use of the room 1 (shooting range), the position, the relationship with outside light, and the like. Also, different values may be set depending on the time of day (zone), season, etc. even in the same shooting range. When changing according to the time zone or the like, information management is performed by associating the reference voltage value with the time zone in which the reference voltage value is used, and as a reference voltage value to be compared with the control voltage value in step 102, The reference voltage value corresponding to the time point may be read and used.

1 room, 2 surveillance camera, 3 illumination, 4 dimming switch, 5 network, 10 illumination controller, 11 control voltage value acquisition unit, 12 reference voltage value setting unit, 13 illumination control unit, 14 reference voltage value holding unit, 21 CPU 22 ROM, 23 RAM, 24 Hard disk drive (HDD), 25 HDD controller, 26 Network controller, 27 User interface (UI), 28 Input / output controller, 29 Internal bus.

Claims (1)

An acquisition means for acquiring a control voltage value for adjusting a lens aperture in a monitoring camera installed for monitoring;
Holding means for holding the control voltage value acquired by the acquisition means as a reference voltage value when the illumination illuminating the imaging range in the monitoring camera is adjusted to an optimal illuminance;
Illumination control means for performing illumination control of the illumination according to the difference between the current control voltage value acquired by the acquisition means and the reference voltage value so that the optimum illumination intensity is within the imaging range ;
A lighting control device comprising:

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