JPH08163422A - Control system for camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To allow many user to control a camera connected on a network as required without stopping the system. CONSTITUTION: In this system a camera 10 connecting onto a network 30 is controlled by plural controllers 20, and the system is made up of a registration means 45 registering/cancelling each of the controllers 20 to/from the system, setting means 43, 45 to set the connection of the controllers 20 to the camera 10 and a management means 45 managing the connection state of the controller 20 registered in the system to the camera 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera device control device capable of controlling pan, tilt and other operations, and more particularly to a camera device control device suitable for use in a video conference system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a video conference system having a plurality of cameras whose operations such as pan, tilt and zoom can be controlled by a computer. The proposed system is installed in a conference room or the like. The dedicated system that has been established is the mainstream, and the connection between the terminal devices used in that system is fixed when the conference starts, and it is not possible to newly connect the terminal device or disconnect the terminal device on the way. Was not done.

[0003]

However, in addition to a dedicated video conferencing system installed in a conference room or the like, when personal video conferencing systems using devices such as personal computers have come to be used, many video conferencing systems have been used. The user may run or stop video conferencing or camera control software as needed. In such a case, the user joins or leaves the conference (connecting or disconnecting the terminal device to the system), setting the access permission for the mutual terminal devices of the users participating in the conference, and the system. It is necessary to perform system management such as notification of the access status of the terminal device of the user connected to the.

The present invention solves the above problems and provides a camera device control system that allows a large number of users to control camera devices connected to a network as needed without stopping the system. The purpose is to provide.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a camera device control system that facilitates participation in and departure from a video conference.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a system capable of controlling a camera device connected on a network by a plurality of control devices. Registration means for registering and deleting, setting means for enabling setting of connection of the control means to the camera device, and management of connection state of the control device registered in the system to the camera device. And a management means for performing the operation.

Further, in the above structure, there is provided display means for displaying a connection state of the control device to the camera device. Further, the setting means enables setting of connection to the camera device on the display means.

Further, in the above configuration, there is provided connection permission setting means for enabling the permission of connection of the control means to the camera device. Further, the connection permission setting means enables setting of non-permission of connection of the control means to the camera device.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a camera control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The camera device 10 is capable of capturing an image of a subject and executing a zoom operation, and a posture (rotational direction) of the camera unit 12 in a pan direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 1) and a tilt direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1). It has a pan head portion 14 whose moving position is controllable. The display device 16 can display an image captured by the camera unit 12 on the screen 16a. The workstation 20 issues an instruction for controlling the state of the camera device 10 (for example, the position in the pan direction and the tilt direction, and further the position in the zoom direction), and displays the image information captured by the camera device 10. To display on the display device 16 as a means, C
Storage unit 2 having PU 21, ROM and RAM (not shown)
2. I / O ports 24 and 29 as input / output units and a video board 25 are provided, and a mouse 26 as a pointing device for inputting data and a keyboard 27 are connected. Each of these elements is connected via a bus 28. Here, the CPU 21 as a system control unit controls the system. On the other hand, the ROM of the storage unit 22 stores a program for executing the system, and the RAM stores each data. The I / O port 24 outputs a camera state control signal issued by the CPU 21 to the camera device 10, and outputs a value indicating each state of the camera device 10 to the camera device 10.
Enter from. The I / O port 24 is connected to the camera device 10 via the RS232C in this embodiment. The video board 25 transmits the image information obtained from the camera device 10 to the display device 16. In this embodiment, a signal in the NTSC system is converted into RGB format and output.

A plurality of camera control devices 2 as described above can be connected via a network 30, and I / O ports 29 send and receive signals. These configurations enable so-called video conferencing. In this embodiment, the workstation is used as the control device in consideration of versatility and processing capacity, but a personal computer may be used or a dedicated control device may be used. Further, in such a video conference system, since it is possible to participate in the conference in the form of audition, as shown in the middle part of FIG. 1, the camera control device 2 ′ to which the camera device 10 is not connected is connected to the network 30.
It is also possible to connect to.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of software for executing the present embodiment. The software configuration is as follows. To the workstation 20 (strictly speaking, the storage unit 22) connected to the camera device 10, a video conference software 40 as software for transmitting image information obtained by the camera device 10 to another point such as a remote place, and a camera. A camera control server 41 as software for controlling is stored. Also, the camera control server 41 causes the camera management server 45, which will be described later, to register that the camera device 10 is connected to the video conference system (network) when the camera device 10 is activated. Therefore, in this embodiment, the camera management server 45 can be regarded as a registration means.

On the other hand, in the workstation 20 (strictly speaking, the storage unit 22) connected to the display device 16, the video conference software 42 as software for displaying the transmitted image information, and the remote control of the camera are performed. A camera control panel 43 as software is stored. In addition, the camera control panel 43 can also perform reference, description, correction, etc. on a list (details will be described later) managed by the camera management server 45. Therefore, in this embodiment, the camera control panel 43 can be regarded as a part of the setting means. Further, when the camera management server 45 permits the connection with the camera device 10, the camera control panel 43 transmits a camera control signal to the camera control server 41 without going through the camera management server 45.

The above software 41 and 43 will be collectively referred to as "camera control client" in the following description.

Further, a camera management server 45 is prepared as software for managing access to all the camera devices 10. The camera management server 45 may be stored in any one workstation 20 connected to the system. It should be noted that the camera management server 45 may be stored in any of the workstations 20 and any one of the workstations 20 may function as a server when the video conference system is activated on the network. In the above description, the workstation 2
0 has been described as being connected to the camera device 10 and the display device 16, respectively, but since each user normally uses the camera device 10 and the display device 16, respectively, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. Workstation 2 for camera device 10 and display device 16.
0 is one. Therefore, the video conferencing software 40,
42 is configured as one piece of software.

Next, in the configuration of this embodiment, the camera device 10 by the camera control server 41, which is the main operation,
The remote control, the user management by the camera management server 45, and the access management by the camera management server 45 will be described below.

First, a realization means for enabling remote control of the camera device 10 connected to any other work station 20 from the work station 20 connected to the network 30 will be described.

The camera device 10 includes a camera control server 41.
Since control can be performed by transmitting a control signal to the camera device 10 from the workstation 20 in which there is an RS232C, the camera control functions such as pan, tilt, and zoom that are present on the camera control server 41 can be displayed. , RPC (Remote Procedure Call) may be remotely activated to output a command sequence corresponding to this operation to the RS232C port (not shown) of the camera platform 14. As for the control signal (command sequence), signals related to the operation of the pan head 14 such as pan and tilt are transmitted to a control unit (not shown) of the pan head 14, and those related to the operation of the camera unit 12 such as zoom are transferred to the camera unit 12. Is transmitted to the control unit (not shown).

Therefore, for the purpose of camera control, a function as shown in FIG. 3A is prepared as a function for calling the camera control server 41 at a remote place from the camera control client using RPC. In describing this function, commands such as shown in the figure are enclosed in [,].
The following description is based on the description in C language adopted in this embodiment, but may be described in another language. In the function shown in FIG. 3A, [struct camera_i
n {to} camera_in] is a declaration of data for setting a set of parameters to be passed from the camera control panel 43 to the camera control server 41 for the operation of the camera device 10. Here, tilt, pan, and zoom are set. are doing. Also,
[struct func_out {~} func_out] is a data declaration for setting the output value. For example, if there is no problem in the processing result of the function, set ret = 0, and if there is a problem, set ret = -1. You can Furthermore, [camera_open] is a client handler [CLIENT that is necessary for communication with the camera control server 41.
* cl] is a function that creates it, and [camera_close] is a function that deletes it. The camera control client first connects to the communication with the camera control server 41 by calling [camera_open], and then [camera_pan_pos_1].
Etc. are executed and finally [camera_close] is called to end the control of the camera.

Next, user management by the camera management server 45 will be described.

The camera management server 45 uses a camera status list 50 as shown in FIG. 4 for managing users. In this camera status list 50, the host name registered in the camera control server 41, that is, the network 30
The name indicating the camera device 10 connected above and the usage status of the camera device 10 (vacant, being accessed by another user) are stored.
0 position (x, y, z) and posture (panning angle,
Data of tilting angle) is also stored. As described in this embodiment, the host name can be matched with the user name when only one camera device 10 is connected to the camera control device 2, but when a plurality of camera devices 10 are connected, Should not match. In the example shown in this list 50, host1, host2, host3, ho
The camera device 10 indicated by st4 is connected, and host
The user of host3 installs the second camera device 10 again and host4
The user of host1 is in a controllable state of the camera device 10 and the host1 and host3 show a state in which neither user is operating.

Here, for user registration / deletion, when the camera control server 41 is started, the process of notifying the started user name to the camera management server 45 and registering it in the camera status list 50, and stopping the camera control server 41. Sometimes
To delete the user name from the camera status list 50,
It is realized by using the function shown in FIG. 3B using RPC. In the function shown in FIG. 3B, [struct ho
st_name {~} host_name] is a data type declaration that sets the parameters passed from the camera control panel 43 to the camera control server 41 to set the host name, and the number of characters of the name set by [MAXNAME] is Stipulated. [append_camera_list_1] is the camera control server 4
This is a function that is activated by 1 and executed in the camera management server 45. When this function is executed, that is, as shown in FIG. 5A, when the camera control server 41 is activated (step P1), the camera management server 45 registers the host name in the camera status list 50 ( Step P
2). This host name is, as can be seen from FIG. 3 (b),
Consists of the host_name type, indicated by [host_name-> name]. After that, the camera device 10 is controlled by the camera control server 41
Remember that you can control through. When the camera control server 41 is stopped, as shown in FIG. 5B, another program calls a function in the camera control server 41 that activates [delete_host_list_1] (step PP1), and then the camera control server 41 causes It suffices to delete the host name and end the execution of the process (step PP2). Therefore, in the present embodiment, the camera management server 45 can be regarded as the setting means.

Access management by the camera management server 45 will be described.

As an access management method by the camera management server 45, functions [access_begin_1] and [access_end_1] which are started by the camera control client and executed in the camera management server 45 as shown in FIG. 6 are added. This function can be used to start and end access. Note that [struct access_in {~} acces
[s_in] is a parameter declaration passed from the camera control panel 43 to the camera management server 45 in order to set the access target. The target to be accessed is set by [target_name] and the user (self) is set by [user_name]. .

The procedure of the access request process will be described below. Prior to the description, the access permission list will be described first with reference to FIG. The access permission lists 60 and 61 are held by the camera management server 45, and each camera device 10 registered in the list 60 has a list 61 of users who can access the camera device 10. In the example shown in FIG. 7, a list 61 for the camera device 10 indicated by host2 is shown.
The user indicated by host4 is in a state where access is permitted, and access is not permitted for the user of host3. In addition, the user of host2 is
Since the camera device 10 indicated by host2 can be controlled without going through the camera management server 45, it is not involved in this list 61.

The access request processing is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

From the camera control client to the camera device 1
When an access request for 0 is issued, first, the camera control client specifies the name of the camera device for which access is requested.
Decrypt from [target_name] (step S1).

Next, referring to the camera status list 50,
It is confirmed whether or not the camera device 10 is activated.
If it has not started, the process proceeds to step S7 (step S2).

If it has been started in step S2, [u
[ser_name] is deciphered and it is confirmed by referring to the access permission list 61 whether or not the user indicated by this name has the right to access the camera device 10 that requests access. If there is no access permission, the process proceeds to step S7 (step S3).

If there is access permission in step S3, whether or not the camera device 10 is used by another user is checked with reference to the camera status list 50. If it is used, the process proceeds to step S7 (step S4).

If it is not used in step S4, the user name (host name) is registered in the camera status list 50 (step S5), and the process returns as an access request success (step S6).

In step S7, it is determined that the access has failed, and the process returns.

On the camera control client side, [access_begin_1] and [access_end_] are always required before and after performing an access operation.
1] to be executed.

Further, in order to realize a means for the user to set the permission of the access right for each user, the user has an access permission list 6 in the camera management server 45.
An instruction [change_access_mode_1] for changing 0, 61 is provided. This will be described with reference to FIG.

The camera control client uses [struct chan
Use ge_in {} change_in] to set the host name whose access permission is changed to [target_name] and the access state to be changed.
Set to [access_mode] and call [change_access_mode_1]. The camera management server 45 first executes a [gethost] command, which is a UNIX library function, to check which user called the command. Next, in the access permission lists 60 and 61, the item of the camera indicated by [target_name] of the item of the user who called the command is [access_
mode]. Where [access_mo
Set the mode to allow and deny the access as the contents of [de]. Here, when the permitted mode is set, “OK” is displayed in the list 61 shown in FIG. 7, and when the prohibited mode is set, “NO” is displayed. Therefore, in this embodiment, the camera management server 45 can be regarded as a connection permission setting means.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, in order to realize means for accurately transmitting the access state to the user and for easily performing processing such as access request and change of access permission state. GUI (Graphical Us)
interface) is displayed on the screen 16a. This G
The UI allows the user to obtain information on the current registration status of the camera device 10, the usage status, and the usage permission status. Further, the camera device 10 can be switched, and the access permission state can be changed. Hereinafter, an example of the operation using the GUI shown in FIG. 10 will be described.

The user presses the camera status list update button 73 to press the RPC described above.
By the same method as the method using
The current access information of each camera can be obtained from 5. To press the button, operate the mouse 26 to move the cursor 1
This is done by moving 8 to position it on the desired button and clicking the first button 26a. The obtained information is displayed in the list window 72. Further, the user can set the camera device 10 to be controlled by operating the mouse 26 or the keyboard 27 on the camera status list 50 displayed on the list window 72.

The access request process and the access end process described above are executed by pressing the access start button 74 and the access end button 75, respectively.
Further, in the access permission changing process described above, by pressing the access permission setting button 76, the mouse 26 or the keyboard 27 is operated on the list displayed in the list window 72 corresponding to the access permission list 60. Can be changed with. The application end button 77 is pressed when ending all operations. Therefore, in this embodiment, the mouse 26 or the keyboard 27 can be regarded as a part of the setting means or the connection permission setting means.

An image window 71 is provided on the screen 16a, and an image captured by the camera device 10 is displayed. The user operates the pan operation buttons 78a and 78b, the tilt operation buttons 78c and 78d, the home position return button 78e, and the zoom operation buttons 78f (enlarge) and 78 of the camera control unit 78 on the screen 16a.
The camera device 10 can be controlled by operating g (reduction), and the image window 7 can be controlled by this control.
The image displayed on 1 changes. This control is mouse 2
This is done by moving the cursor 18 by 6 to position it on a predetermined button and clicking the first button 26a. The operation buttons 78a, 78b, 78c,
78d is provided for each of the moving directions of pan and tilt for easy identification, and by providing the home position return button 78e, the camera device 10 is set at the home position (reference position: pan and tilt in this embodiment). (The center of the turning angle of the direction) can be easily returned, and this button 78e is operated by the operation buttons 78a, 7a.
Since it is arranged in the empty space in the center where 8b, 78c and 78d are arranged, returning to the home position is easy to understand visually and is easy for the user to operate. In addition, with one zoom operation button, the first enlargement and reduction
The button 26a and the second button 26b may be operated separately.

An example of operating a GUI to hold a video conference will be described.

First, prior to the start of the video conference, the video conference software 40, 42, the camera management server 45, the camera control server 41, and the camera control panel 43 are activated.
Considering the functions of the respective software, this order is preferable, but the software may be started at the same time by turning on the power of the camera device 10. Further, when participating in a video conference that has already been held, it is not necessary to start the camera management server 45.

When participating in a video conference under such a state, the camera state list update button 73 is pressed to display the camera state list 50 in the list window 72, and the camera state list 50 is displayed. The camera device 10 to be operated is selected from the selected camera devices 10, and the access start button 74 is subsequently pressed. At this time, the above-mentioned [access_begin_1] is executed. This enables the above-described access processing and control of the camera device 10.

When exiting the video conference, the access end button 75 is pressed. At this time [access_end_1]
Is executed. In this state, the camera device 10
Since it is connected to the network 30, it can be controlled by the other party, and the transmitted image information can be viewed on the display device 16. Then, when finishing all the operations, the application end button 77 is pressed.

In the present embodiment, what is described as a user can be regarded as the camera control device 2.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a camera device control system that enables a large number of users to control a camera device connected to a network as needed without stopping the system.

Further, it is possible to provide a control system of a camera device that facilitates participation in and departure from a video conference.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of software for executing the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an example of a program, (a) is a function for calling a camera control server 41, and (b) is a function for registering and deleting a user.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a camera status list.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation, (a) shows a registration process accompanying camera activation,
(B) shows the erasing process accompanying the stop of the camera.

FIG. 6 is an example of a program, which is a function for performing access processing.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an access permission list.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process for a camera access request.

FIG. 9 is an example of a program, which is a function for setting access permission.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a GUI.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 camera control device 10 camera device 16 display device 20 workstation 26 mouse 27 keyboard 30 network 40 video conference software 41 camera control server 42 video conference software 43 camera control panel 45 camera management server

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A system for enabling a camera device connected to a network to be controlled by a plurality of control devices, wherein a registration unit is provided for registering and deleting the control device in the system, and to the camera device. And a managing unit for managing a connection state of the control unit registered in the system to the camera unit. Control system. 2. The control system for a camera device according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying a connection state of the control device to the camera device. 3. The control system for a camera device according to claim 2, wherein the setting means enables setting of connection to the camera device on the display means. 4. The control system for a camera device according to claim 1, further comprising connection permission setting means for enabling permission of connection of the control means to the camera device. 5. The control system for a camera device according to claim 4, wherein the connection permission setting means enables setting of non-permission of connection of the control means to the camera device.