JPH11224046A - Control system for planetarium hall - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the control system for a planetarium hall which is simplified in system constitution and easily programmed. SOLUTION: This system has various devices 6...8 connected under its control and also has a client processing unit 5 on a network 3 which converts control information from a host computer 1 into control signals characteristic of the devices and outputs them. The control information from the host computer consists of a combination of general instructions specifying operations common to the different devices with high-order concepts, address information on client processing units as the opposite destinations of the general instructions, and address information on the devices to which the client processing units should output the control signals based upon the instructions.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a planetarium theater mainly including a planetarium, and more particularly, to a control system for various devices used for projection and production in the planetarium theater.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, a planetarium essentially consists of reproducing a starry sky by projecting an image of a star from a star projecting device on a dome surface. On the other hand, the planetarium, apart from the stars, has a planetary projection device that projects the planet, along with the evolution of production techniques, a skyline projection device that projects landscapes such as the ground, constellation pictures, coordinate lines, nebulae, star clusters, pointers, etc. In recent years, and more recently, video projectors and slide projectors for projecting natural phenomena that occur in the sky, such as lightning and aurora, and for example, artificial objects such as spaceships. . Further, in order to further enhance the effect, an acoustic device or an externally installed astronomical telescope for incorporating a real starry sky image into the dome has been used. In other words, modern planetariums escape pure optical equipment,
In the dome, various types of projection equipment and directing equipment have been used, so-called “multimedia” equipment has been changed. The equipment used there is not limited to conventional optical equipment, but video equipment (video decks and lasers). A wide variety of devices such as discs, audio equipment (CD players, audio mixers, etc.) and lighting equipment (spotlights, special effects lighting, etc.) have been used. In this specification, a facility that performs the above-described various projections and effects mainly with the screening of a planetarium is called a “planetarium theater”, and is distinguished from a narrowly-defined planetarium that projects stars and planets.

By the way, as described above, the planetarium dome originally has a stellar projection device, a planetary projection device, a skyline projection device, an auxiliary projection device for constellation pictures and coordinate lines, and some auxiliary devices such as a slide projector. Since the planetarium equipped with a projection device (planetarium in a narrow sense) was delivered by itself, it was sufficient for the control system to be able to control only this planetarium. However, as described above, in modern planetariums, not only a simple planetarium is projected, but also various devices for staging are used.Therefore, it is necessary to control these devices in the previous planetarium control system. And it was necessary to extend the system to control them. However, since the system was originally designed to control the planetarium, which is an optical device,
There was a limit to its expansion, and eventually a separate control system was needed to control these new devices, and different control systems were available for different device types and control signals.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a control system of the above-mentioned conventional planetarium theater. In this example, various auxiliary projection devices 24 such as a stellar projection device 23 and a planetary projection device, and illumination 25 in the dome are provided. Planetarium Control Computer 20A and Planetarium Controller 22
A is connected to the control system A, and is operated by an instruction from the operation console 21. On the other hand, an auxiliary projection device 26 such as a slide projector is connected to a control system B including a control computer 20B and a control device 20B, and a video / audio device 27 such as a CD deck or a laser disk is connected to a control computer 20C.
And a control system C including a control device 20C.

[0005] In this case, in the production of a program at the planetarium theater, various projection devices of the planetarium and other new equipment are used in a combined manner, so that even if each is controlled by a different control system, the projection is not performed when the dome is projected. Synchronization must be maintained at the timing according to the scenario. Therefore, when automatically controlling all devices, taking the case of FIG. 3 as an example, each of the control computers 20A, 20B,
In order to synchronize the execution of each control computer, a time signal-time code-synchronized with an audio signal transmitted from the audio device (see FIG. (Indicated conceptually by a dotted line).

[0006] In other words, each control system controls the device in charge in a form following the time signal (time code), thereby producing one program effect. For example, in order to realize the following production program in the conventional system of FIG. 3, a procedure as shown in FIG. 5 is necessary (dotted lines in the figure indicate time codes). Start of production program. ↓ After 5 seconds, return to the home position of each planetarium axis. ↓ After 30 seconds, play the CD player and turn on the red light inside the dome. ↓ After 30 seconds, project the image of the slide projector and the image of the laser disk. ↓ After 10 seconds, rotate the planetaryium's daily rotation axis. ↓ One minute later, the image of the slide projector fades out and the star lights up at the same time. ↓ After 30 seconds, stop the image on the laser disc and turn off the light and turn on the Milky Way. ↓ After one minute, stop the planetaryium's daily rotation axis and stop the CD at the same time. ↓ End of the production program.

Therefore, in the conventional control system of a planetarium theater, a programmer who creates a production program assembles the progress of the time code and the operation of each device according to a scenario, disassembles it for each control system,
In each control system, a plurality of automatic execution programs had to be incorporated so that the scenario would not be inconsistent with time. For this reason, when creating an effect, the operator had to separately create and program the sequences of the plurality of control systems while always drawing the effect as a whole. Therefore, there are problems in that there are many procedures for programming the effect, and it is difficult to correct the timing of the entire effect.

Further, the operation of a certain type of equipment can be described in a planetarium effect program as an object to be controlled by the planetarium control system, but depending on the processing capability of the planetarium control system,
The types of devices that can be controlled and the number of control methods that can be used have been quite limited. In addition, since this connection uses a relatively low-speed control line, the amount of control signal information (transmission speed) that can be transmitted per unit time is also limited. For this reason, as for the equipment exceeding the limit or the latest equipment having a completely new control method, as described above, there is no other way but to control using other control systems 20B and 20C, and which equipment is controlled by which control system. There is a problem that the control is complicated and the system configuration is complicated.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and provides a control system for a planetarium theater in which a system configuration is simplified and a program is easy. With the goal. That is, according to the control system of the present invention, a host computer that simultaneously transmits control information of various devices used for projection and production in a planetarium theater to a network according to an operator's instruction or a production program, and a single computer or a plurality of computers. And a client processing unit on the network that converts control information from the host computer into a unique control signal of each device under the network and outputs the control signal.The control information from the host computer is shared by different devices. General-purpose instructions whose operation is specified by a higher-level concept,
The general-purpose command is characterized by a combination of address information of a client processing unit that is a destination of the general-purpose command and address information of a device that outputs a control signal according to the command.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In a control system according to the present invention,
Abandoning the prior art concept of "the planetarium control system is the main and all other control systems operate in synchronization with it", the network (client-server system) that has already penetrated the general computer industry And the host / terminal system) were adopted in the control system of the planetarium theater. In other words, there is no host control system and network that can recognize and integrate these as all clients existing on the network without paying attention to the differences between devices such as planetariums, auxiliary projectors, and video devices. The configuration of the entire system is such that the connection of each device is controlled in a hanging image.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a typical example of the control system of the present invention in a form corresponding to the control system of the prior art shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 3 denotes a network, and here, a high-speed network (for example, Eth
ernet100Base-TXIEEE802.2
u) is assumed. Next, in the drawing, reference numeral 6 denotes a stellar projection device, 7 denotes various auxiliary projection devices such as a planetary projection device, 8 denotes an auxiliary projection device such as a slide projector, lighting in a dome, and video / video such as a CD deck and a laser disk. Refers to various devices such as audio devices. Each of the above devices 6 ... 8
Are connected under the control of a client processing unit 5 on the network 3, and the client processing unit 5 converts control information from the host computer 1 to each device under the control and converts the control information into a unique control signal and outputs it. In this case, one client processing unit 5 may be connected to one device, or one client processing unit may be connected to a plurality of devices. Further, the client processing unit 5 may be built in the device in advance (for example, various attached projection devices such as a planetary projection device 7 in the drawing). The host computer 1 that controls the entire system has an environment in which an effect program (automatic effect sequence) can be created and executed. The host computer 1 has its effect program or operation console 2
The collected manual information is handed over to an arithmetic processing routine to perform calculations including astronomical calculations. As a result, the control information for each device is transmitted to all the client processing units 5 via the network 3 all at once.

According to the control information from the host computer 1, the client processing unit 5 converts the output into a control signal unique to each subordinate device and outputs the control signal. , The address information of the client processing unit that is the destination of the general purpose instruction, and the address information of the device to which the client processing unit should output a control signal according to this instruction. Is in a format in which the maximum number of connectable clients is connected. Each client processing unit 5 that has received this control information determines from the destination address information in the control information whether it is a control command for a specific device under its control, and determines that it is a device-specific command. The device is controlled by converting it into a control code.

Since the above control information is an important part for characterizing the present invention, this point will be described in more detail with specific examples.

(General-purpose instruction set) The inventors of the present invention sought various measures for integrally controlling various devices in the planetarium theater, and as a result, even if the devices were various, There is always a common operation between specific devices, and I came up with the idea that this operation can be specified by a general concept and shared as general-purpose instructions. Table 1 below shows specific examples of such common operations.

[0015]

[Table 1]

If these common operations are specified by a higher-level concept, they can be shared by the following general-purpose instructions.・ Commonize origin return and reset → General-purpose reset instruction ・ Commonize dimming level specification and brightness / contrast level specification → General-purpose level instruction ・ Lamp fade-in / out, image fade-in / out, sound (sound) fade-in / Common out, common video fade-in / out → general-purpose fade instruction ・ common use of lamp blink and image blink → general-purpose blink instruction ・ common use of frame position designation, video frame search, audio frame search → general-purpose search instruction ・Frame forward / backward, video fast forward / rewind, audio fast forward /
Common rewind → general-purpose send / return instruction In this way, by focusing on its function regardless of the type of device, it is possible to standardize the basic instruction group. Based on this idea, a set of general-purpose instructions as shown in Table 2 below is a list of minimum necessary general-purpose instructions. Note that there are actually commands (diagnosis commands, network connection commands, etc.) used by the server system instead of the device,
Because they are special purposes and have a different purpose than general-purpose instructions, these instructions are omitted from this table.

[0017]

[Table 2]

(Matrix-type device ID number) On the other hand, a unique device ID number is assigned as address information to all devices regardless of their types. This is a matrix type of upper 2 digits (1 byte) and lower 2 digits (1 byte). The upper portion indicates the address of the client processing unit, and the lower portion indicates the address of the device controlled by the client processing unit. By referring to this ID number, the host computer can transmit the device in combination with the general-purpose command without knowing what kind of device is.

(Example of Control Information) By combining the above-described general-purpose command and the device ID number, an arbitrary command such as the following can be created. Example 1: When dimming the planetarium stellar projection lamp from 0% to 80% in 5 seconds, the device ID of the planetarium stellar projection lamp is 201.
1. Since the fade dimming instruction code is 1C, the instruction message is
2011 1C 80,0,5 Example 2: Video brightness of video projector 1 is 0 in 5 seconds
When the dimming is performed from% to 80%, the device ID number of the video projector 1 is 2611,
Since the fade dimming instruction code is 1C, the instruction message is 26
11 1C 80,0,5 Example 3: Returning the Planetaryium Latitude Rotation Axis to the Origin Position The device ID number of the planetarium latitude rotation axis is 2012,
Since the origin return instruction code is 10, the instruction message is 2012
10 Example 4: Returning the slide projector No. 2 frame position to the origin position (first frame) The device ID number of the slide projector No. 2 is 271
2. Since the origin return instruction code is 10, the instruction message is 27
12 10 Example 5: When Reproducing Laser Disc (LD Player) No. 3 at Double Speed Since the device ID number of laser disc No. 3 is 2813 and the start command code is 17 and it is double speed, the command message is 2813
17, 2 Example 6: Normal reproduction of CD deck 4 Since the device ID number of CD deck 4 is 2824 and the start instruction code is 17 and the speed is 1 ×, the instruction message is 28241 1
7,1

As described above, the host computer 1 can use this general-purpose instruction set and the packet of the matrix-type device ID number to control any client processing unit 5 without depending on the type of the device 6. Any command can be transmitted to any device to which it belongs. On the other hand, the client processing unit 5 fetches only packets relevant to itself from a plurality of message packets simultaneously transmitted from the host computer 1 onto the network 3 (collates with the upper two digits of the device ID number), A general-purpose command is converted for a device represented by two digits, a control code (signal) for the device is output, and control is performed. In order to perform this control, the client processing unit 5 stores a general-purpose instruction that can be received by a device under its control and a correspondence table of a device control code for the general-purpose command. And, by having a plurality of table files for this conversion, the client processing unit 5 can cope with a change in the connected device only by changing the conversion table to be used.

[0021]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a specific embodiment of a control system for a planetarium theater according to the present invention. Symbol 3 in the figure
Is a high-speed network (Ethernet100Base)
-TXIEEE802.2u), 4 is a network hub, which actually relays a network cable and performs long-distance transmission. This network 3 and hub 4
Can be installed at any place in the planetarium theater, so that each client processing unit 5 can freely select the closest connection port. Next, in the drawing, reference numeral 6 denotes a stellar projection device, 7 denotes various auxiliary projection devices such as a planetary projection device, 8 denotes an auxiliary projection device such as a slide projector, lighting in a dome, and video / video such as a CD deck and a laser disk. Refers to various devices such as audio devices, and these are installed in a planetarium dome D (conceptually shown by phantom lines in the figure).
In the drawing, reference numeral 9 denotes an astronomical telescope, and 10 denotes a moving astronomical telescope vehicle, which are located outdoors. Each of the above devices 6
.. 10 are connected under the control of a client processing unit 5 on the network 3, and this client processing unit 5 converts control information from the host computer 1 to each subordinate device and outputs it to a control signal unique to the device. .

The host computer 1 which controls the entire system has an environment in which an effect program (automatic effect sequence) can be created and executed. In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes an operation console of an operator installed in the dome, 2B denotes an operation console for remote operation from outside the dome, and 2A denotes a wireless operation console operated by an operator from an arbitrary place. The host computer 1 has a function of monitoring the simultaneous use of these consoles, and performs manual processing information from a plurality of consoles or information of an effect program in this computer in real time, and outputs a control information message for each device as 3 Sent to the network.

The client processing unit 5 has means for recording and holding information on the operation status of each connected device and transmitting this information to the host computer via the network 3. Since it is necessary to know that the execution has been completed for the device that sends the return command, etc., transmission / reception is performed using a communication protocol that requests a return message of the command execution completion message, and the host surely transmits the command. Home return operation can be monitored. Furthermore, even if the entire system goes down, each client processing unit 5
Since the information of the operating status of each connected device up to immediately before is updated and held in real time, the operation reports (errors) of all the devices recorded and held by each client processing unit 5 after the system restarts. When the host computer 1 receives the log file) through the network 3, the host computer 1 determines how far the effect has progressed when the system is down, and determines whether each device 6 ...
The player can grasp what kind of operation condition the player has been in, and can resume the subsequent effect.

On the other hand, the host computer 1 has a function of communicating with the outside using a public telephone line or the like.
Alternatively, it can be connected to another network. FIG.
3 shows a hot line 11 with a remote operation console 2C and a maker service as a connection example. In the latter, remote access and remote maintenance such as transfer of fault information of the control system and download of the latest version of system software are assumed. When the control system is operating in the maintenance mode, the host computer 1 receives an operation report (error log file) of all the devices 6... 10 recorded and held by each client processing unit 5 by an operator operation. The information is sequentially received through the network 3 and the information is put together and the hotline 11
It can be sent to the manufacturer service department via the Internet.

The images captured by the astronomical telescope 9 and the moving astronomical telescope vehicle 10 may be transferred to a video device connected to the control system and projected on the dome, or may be transmitted to the outside via the host computer 1 via a network. May be forwarded to In the former case, as a part of the production of the planetarium, it is assumed that the operator in the planetarium theater operates the astronomical telescope or the moving astronomical telescope vehicle together with other devices to capture the image in the dome. or,
In the latter case, a remote person can operate the astronomical telescope or moving astronomical telescope vehicle using the planetarium theater facility,
A scene in which an image is taken into its own computer is assumed.

[0026]

The control system for a planetarium theater according to the present invention having the above configuration has the following specific effects. There is no separate control system for each device as in the conventional control system, and it does not pay attention to the differences between devices such as planetariums, auxiliary projectors, and video devices, and recognizes them as all clients existing on the network In addition, since the integrated control is performed, the operator can control all devices in a comprehensive manner from the manual operation or the production program execution environment of the host computer, and synchronize the production execution using multiple control systems. A time signal (time code) required for maintaining the time is not required, thereby simplifying the system configuration, effect creation by the operator, and simplifying the synchronization control procedure. As a simplified example, FIG. 4 shows a procedure when the effect program exemplified in the section of the problem to be solved by the invention is executed by the control system of the present invention (FIG. 5 is a procedure according to the prior art. This is a comparative example).

[0027] The difference between devices such as a planetarium, an auxiliary projector, and a video device is not noticed. These devices can be recognized as all the clients existing on the network and can be controlled in a unified manner. By using the remote control function, it is possible to control the astronomical telescope and other planetarium equipment and video equipment inside and outside the dome as desired, while staying at home or other facilities. .

As described in detail in the embodiment, by using a high-speed network laid between the host computer and each device at the time of maintenance and maintenance, an operation report held by each device is transmitted to the host computer via the network. To an operator, and the operator can check the information on a computer screen.Furthermore, by transferring it to the manufacturer service department via an external general public line, it can be used as information for early detection and repair of defective parts. It can also be useful.

As described in detail in the embodiment, even if the entire system goes down, the host computer can receive the operation information up to the time immediately before the system restarts via the network after the system is restarted. By resending the down state, such as the rotation information of the lamps or the dimming level information of each lamp, as a control command to all the devices, it is possible to have a function of automatically returning to the effect state immediately before the down state.

Unlike the control system of the prior art, there is no separate control system for each device, and no attention is paid to the difference between devices such as a planetarium, an auxiliary projector, and a video device. It is recognized as a client and integratedly controlled, and the device control information is composed of the general-purpose command and the device ID number described in detail in the section of the embodiment of the present invention. New devices can be connected and controlled. Therefore, it is possible to cope with the control of a new planetarium device or a video device that is expected to appear in the future without any problem, and a planetarium theater with excellent expandability is realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of a control system for a planetarium theater according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a typical example of a control system for a planetarium theater according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a typical example of a control system for a planetarium theater according to the related art.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an execution procedure of a production program for a planetarium theater according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an execution procedure of an effect program of a conventional planetarium theater.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Host computer 2 Operation console 3 Network 5 Client processing unit 6 ... 10 Various devices

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A host computer for simultaneously transmitting control information of various devices used for projection and production in a planetarium theater on a network in accordance with an instruction or a production program of an operator, and a single or a plurality of devices are connected under the host computer. And a client processing unit on a network that converts control information from the host computer into a unique control signal for each device under the control and outputs the converted signal. The control information from the host computer ranks common operations between different devices at a higher level. It is characterized by comprising a combination of a general-purpose instruction specified by the concept, address information of a client processing unit that is a destination of the general-purpose instruction, and address information of a device to which the client processing unit outputs a control signal according to the instruction. Planetarium theater control system. 2. The planetarium theater control system according to claim 1, wherein the client processing unit has means for recording and holding information on the operation status of each connected device and transmitting the information to a host computer via a network. 3. The control system for a planetarium theater according to claim 1, wherein the host computer has communication means with a terminal or a computer outside the network or with another network.