JP2001298731A - Remote monitoring equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote monitoring equipment that can easily turn and move a tuning base placed at a monitoring object place and with an image pickup device mounted thereon to a place intended by an operator from a remote monitoring section at a remote place without being affected by a transmission rate of video data. SOLUTION: A television camera 2 is placed on the tuning base 3 and turnable at a monitoring object position, a controller 4 transmits video data to the remote monitoring section, starts turning the turning base when receiving an operation command from the remote monitoring section and stops the turning base when receiving a stop command. The remote monitoring section displays the video data from the television camera 2 on a monitor, calculates a moving time x of the turning base 3 required to realize a moving distance L (step S5) on the basis of the moving distance L of the image pickup object position entered by an operation terminal 9 and transmits the stop command to the controller at a point of time after a laps of the moving time x after the output of the operation command to the controller 4 (steps S6-S10).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a remote monitoring apparatus for monitoring an image capturing apparatus by remotely operating an image capturing apparatus from a monitoring terminal provided at a remote location.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional remote monitoring apparatus, there is known a remote monitoring apparatus in which a site terminal provided at a site where a monitoring target is mounted and a center terminal provided at a remote location are connected via a line. Have been. That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a television camera 2 having a lens 1 at a monitoring target position is placed and arranged on an electric swivel 3, and
Is supplied to the controller 4, and the turning angle of the electric turning table 3 is controlled by the controller 4.

The controller 4 is connected to a transmission device 6 connected to the line 5, outputs video data to the transmission device 6, and receives control data from a monitoring terminal, which will be described later, received by the transmission device 6. To receive. A transmission device 7 is connected to the other end of the line 5, and video data received by the transmission device 7 is displayed on a monitor 8, while turning instruction data and video control data such as zoom input by an operation terminal 9 are input. Are transmitted to the controller 4 via the transmission device 7.

[0004] The television camera 2 is operated by the operation terminal 9.
As shown in FIG. 6, the operator first operates the operation terminal 9 on the center terminal side and inputs the operation (zoom, pan, etc.) of the electric swivel 3 as shown in FIG.
An operation command is output to the controller 4 via the transmission device 7, the line 5, and the transmission device 6. The controller 4 at the site terminal that has received the operation command outputs an operation signal to the electric swivel 3 until receiving the stop command.

The electric swivel 3 that has received the operation signal continues the swing operation at a constant speed only while receiving the operation signal. The video data captured by the television camera 2 is sent to the transmission device 6 via the controller 4, and after encoding this video data, the encoded video data is transmitted to the transmission device 7 via the line 5.

[0006] The transmission device 7 that has received the encoded image data decodes the image data and sends the image data to the monitor 8. Thus, the image data is displayed on the monitor 8. The operator determines the stop position while watching the video data displayed on the monitor 8 and inputs a stop instruction to the operation terminal 9.

The operation terminal 9 sends a stop command to the transmission device 7,
Output to the controller 4 via the line 5 and the transmission device 6. The controller 4 that has received the stop command stops outputting the operation signal to the electric swivel 3. When the operation signal from the controller 4 is stopped, the electric swiveling base 3 stops its turning operation.

Thus, the operator operates the operation terminal 9 to control the controller 4, thereby controlling the turning of the electric swivel base 3 and controlling the zoom and the like of the television camera 2. Has become.

[0009]

However, in the above-described conventional remote monitoring apparatus, the video data output from the television camera 2 at the monitoring target position is not continuously transmitted to the center terminal side. That is, the image transmission time t2 required for image transmission is determined by the time required for the transmission device 6 to encode the image received from the television camera 2, the transmission time on the line 6, and the transmission time received by the transmission device 7. It is represented by the sum of the time from when the video data is decoded to when it is displayed on the monitor 8.

The image transmission time t2 is determined by the screen resolution,
It varies greatly depending on the encoding method and line type.
64Kb of image data of about 40 dots x 480 dots
Since transmission takes about 5 to 10 seconds when transmitted using a ps line, as shown in FIG. 6, the video data displayed on the monitor after instructing the operation is the same as the video data at the time before the time when the operation is instructed. At the same time, the video data displayed on the monitor after the stop instruction is displayed on the screen of the turning table 3 turning, and the video data after the stop is displayed on the monitor after the monitor display cycle t1. There is a problem that it is not possible to visually recognize desired video data by moving the electric swivel base 3 to the position.

In order to solve this problem, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-275433 filed by the present applicant, the operation terminal 9 specifies the movement angle θ of the electric swivel 3 and The moving time x required to rotate the electric swivel 3 by the moving angle θ is calculated, and the operation terminal 9 is operated.
After transmitting the operation command to the controller 4, the stop command is transmitted when the moving time x has elapsed to stop the electric swivel 3 so that the electric swivel 3 is moved by the moving angle θ intended by the operator. Is rotated to display desired video data on the monitor 8.

However, in the method in which the relative movement angle θ from the current position is input,
In order to obtain the target video data, it is necessary to determine the moving angle θ of the electric swivel 3 from the relative relationship between the current imaging direction of the electric swivel 3 and the position of the target imaging target. For this reason, for example, 50 cm on the screen of the monitor 8
In the case where the user wants to view an image on the right side, the difference between the current turning angle position of the electric swivel 3 and the turning angle position of the electric swivel 3 when the imaging center of the television camera 2 comes to the right by 50 cm. , It is necessary to detect the turning angle θ required to bring the imaging center of the television camera 2 to the right side of 50 cm, which is inconvenient.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional unsolved problem, and provides a remote monitoring apparatus capable of easily and reliably displaying video data desired by an operator. It is intended to be.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, a remote monitoring apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises an imaging device for imaging a monitoring target and a swivel for rotating the imaging device at a constant speed. A controller for turning the turntable, an image transmission device for transmitting video and control data of the imaging device to a remote monitoring unit via a transmission path, and A display device that displays video data received via an image transmission device, and an operation terminal that is provided in the monitoring unit and that inputs an operation instruction to the controller,
The operation terminal, a moving distance input unit that inputs a moving distance of an imaging position by the imaging device, a moving time calculating unit that calculates a moving time of the turntable from the moving distance input by the moving distance input unit, Turning control means for outputting an instruction to start moving the swivel table to the controller and outputting an instruction to stop the swivel table when the moving time calculated by the moving time calculating means has elapsed. .

According to the first aspect of the invention, when the operator inputs the moving distance of the imaging position by the imaging device to the operation terminal, that is, the distance from the current imaging position to the desired imaging position, for example, the moving distance By calculating the moving angle of the swivel base from, and calculating the moving time of the swivel base corresponding to the moving angle from the moving angle, the moving time according to the moving distance is calculated. Then, an instruction to move the turntable is output to the controller, and an instruction to stop the turntable is output when the calculated movement time has elapsed thereafter.

Therefore, it is possible to turn the turntable so that the imaging position moves by an arbitrary distance intended by the operator. Further, in the remote monitoring device according to claim 2 of the present invention, the moving distance input unit is configured to input a desired imaging center position on a display screen of the display device, and the moving center input unit is used to input the desired imaging center position. Moving distance calculating means for calculating the moving distance based on the obtained imaging center position and the current imaging center position.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the distance between the desired imaging center position and the current imaging center position input by the imaging center input means is calculated based on, for example, the coordinates of the center position. The movement time is calculated based on the distance between the imaging center positions. Therefore, the moving distance can be set by operating on the screen of the display device without inputting the moving distance.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a remote monitoring apparatus, comprising: an imaging device for imaging an object to be monitored; a turntable for turning the imaging device at a constant speed; a controller for turning control of the turntable; An image transmission device for transmitting video and control data of the imaging device to a remote monitoring unit via a transmission path; and displaying video data provided in the monitoring unit and received via the image transmission device. A remote monitoring device, comprising: a display device to be operated; and an operation terminal disposed on the monitoring unit and inputting an operation instruction to the controller, wherein the operation terminal has an absolute angle from a reference position of the turntable. Target angle input means for inputting a target angle represented by: an integration means for adding and subtracting the moving time of the swivel table from the reference position according to the moving direction; Current angle calculating means for calculating an angle of the turntable from the current reference position, and moving based on the target angle input by the target angle input means and the current angle calculated by the current angle calculating means. Moving angle calculating means for calculating an angle; moving time calculating means for calculating a moving time of the swivel table from the moving angle calculated by the moving angle calculating means; and outputting a moving start instruction of the swivel table to the controller. And turning control means for outputting an instruction to stop the turning table when the moving time calculated by the moving time calculating means has elapsed.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the turntable is positioned at the reference position at the time of start-up, and every time the turntable is turned from this state, the moving time is set in the moving direction, that is, clockwise or counterclockwise. Is added or subtracted in accordance with the equation (1) to calculate the integrated value. This represents the angle of the swivel from the current reference position. Then, when the operator inputs a target angle to the operation terminal as an absolute angle from the reference position of the turntable, a movement angle is calculated from a difference between the target angle and the current angle of the turntable obtained from the integrated value. , The travel time of the turntable corresponding to this is calculated. Then, an instruction to move the swivel base is output to the controller, and an instruction to stop the swivel base is output when the calculated movement time elapses thereafter.

Therefore, when the operator specifies the target angle based on the absolute angle from the reference position of the swivel base, the operator can move to the position at which the target angle is intended by the operator.
The swivel can be swiveled. Furthermore, the remote monitoring device according to claim 4 of the present invention is an imaging device that images a monitoring target, a controller that controls a magnification by moving a zoom lens of the imaging device, and a video and control data of the imaging device. An image transmission device for transmitting to a remote monitoring unit via a transmission path, a display device arranged in the monitoring unit for displaying video data received via the image transmission device, and An operation terminal arranged and inputting an operation instruction to the controller, wherein the operation terminal includes a target magnification input means for inputting a target magnification of the imaging device; Integrating means for adding or subtracting the moving time of the zoom lens when the magnification changes from the reference magnification in accordance with the moving direction; and a current value of the imaging device based on the integrated value of the integrating means. Current magnification calculation means for calculating the magnification of the zoom lens, and movement time calculation for calculating the movement time of the zoom lens based on the target magnification inputted by the target magnification input means and the current magnification calculated by the current magnification calculation means. Means for outputting a zoom lens movement start instruction to the controller, and a magnification control means for outputting a zoom lens movement stop instruction when the movement time calculated by the movement time calculation means has elapsed. It is characterized by.

In the invention according to claim 4, the zoom lens is located at the reference position which is the reference magnification at the time of starting, and every time the magnification is changed from this state, that is, every time the zoom lens is moved, the moving time is required. Is added or subtracted depending on whether the moving direction is the direction of enlargement or the direction of contraction, and the integrated value is calculated. This represents the current magnification of the zoom lens. When the operator inputs a target magnification to the operation terminal, a magnification difference is calculated from a difference between the target magnification and a current magnification obtained from the integrated value, and a movement time of the zoom lens corresponding to the magnification difference is calculated. . Then, an instruction to move the zoom lens is output to the controller, and an instruction to stop the movement of the zoom lens is output when the calculated movement time has elapsed.

Accordingly, the zoom lens is moved so as to achieve the target magnification intended by the operator.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. First, a first embodiment will be described. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of an embodiment of the present invention, in which a site terminal is arranged at a site where a monitoring target is arranged and a center is located at a remote monitoring unit at a remote location, similarly to the above-described conventional example. Terminals are arranged, and these are connected via a line. Then, an industrial television camera (ITV) 2 having a lens 1 as an imaging device is mounted on an electric swivel base 3 capable of rotating at a constant speed at a monitoring target position, and video data output from the television camera 2 is displayed. Controller 4
And the electric swivel 3 is connected to the controller 4
While the operation signal including the turning direction from is supplied, the vehicle is turned at a constant speed in the designated turning direction.

The controller 4 performs a video data transmission process for transmitting video data input from the television camera 2 to a remote monitoring unit at a remote location described later. Further, when receiving imaging control data such as a zoom operation command transmitted from the remote monitoring unit, it outputs this to the television camera 2 and, when an operation command for the electric swivel 3 is received, sends an operation signal to the electric swivel. 3 and when the stop command is received, the output of the operation signal is stopped.

A transmission device 6 connected to a line 5 as a transmission path is connected to the controller 4, and the transmission device 6 encodes video data output from the controller 4 by a predetermined encoding process. Thereafter, while transmitting the operation command and the stop command transmitted from the remote monitoring unit via the line 5 to the remote monitoring unit, the control unit 4 decodes the command and outputs it to the controller 4.

On the other hand, in the remote monitoring section, a transmission device 7 is connected to the other end of the line 5, the transmission device 7 decodes the video data, and outputs the decoded video data to the monitor 8 for display. At the same time, the operation command and the stop command input from the operation terminal 9 are encoded and transmitted to the transmission device 6 via the line 5. When the operator inputs video control data such as the zoom of the television camera 2, the operation terminal 9 transmits the video control data to the television camera 2 via the transmission device 7, the line 5, the transmission device 6, and the controller 4.
When the electric swivel 3 is swung, a specific function key representing a swivel command of a keyboard connected to the operation terminal 9 is pressed to execute the swivel control process shown in FIG. Based on the moving distance L, an operation command and a stop command for moving the electric swivel 3 are generated, and these are transmitted to the transmission device 7, the line 5, and the transmission device 6.
Is transmitted to the controller 4 via the.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this turntable control process, as shown in FIG. 2, first, in step S1, it is determined whether or not a turning operation instruction is input by pressing a specific function key of a keyboard, and the turning operation instruction is input. If not, the process waits until this is input, and when a turning operation instruction is input, the process proceeds to step S2.

In this step S2, a moving distance L representing how much the imaging target position of the television camera 2 is shifted is described.
It is determined whether or not (cm) has been input. If the moving distance L has not been input, the process proceeds to step S3, and guidance information prompting the user to input the moving distance L is displayed on the display connected to the operation terminal 9. , The process returns to step S2, and when the moving distance L is input, the process proceeds to step S4.

Here, the moving distance L is set to a positive value when the object to be imaged by the television camera is moved rightward, and is set to a negative value when it is moved leftward. In step S4, based on the predetermined distance R between the television camera 2 and the monitoring target and the input moving distance L, the following formula (1) is operated to calculate the electric turning table 3 The movement angle θ is calculated.

Θ = tan ⁻¹ (L / R) (1) Next, the process proceeds to step S5, in which the moving angle θ calculated in step S4 and the constant turning speed n (degrees /
), The movement time x is calculated by performing the calculation of the following equation (2). x = θ / n (2) Next, the process proceeds to step S6, in which, for example, a movement time integration timer as a software timer formed in the memory is initialized, and the count value t is set to “0”.
The process shifts to step S7, transmits an operation command including the moving direction of the electric swivel 3 to the transmission device 7, and then shifts to step S8.

In step S8, it is determined whether or not the count value t of the movement time integration timer has become equal to or longer than the movement time x. If t <x, it is determined that the movement time x has not elapsed. The process proceeds to step S9, in which the count value t of the movement time integration timer is updated by incrementing, for example, “1”, and then returns to step S8. On the other hand, t ≧
If it is x, it is determined that the movement time x has elapsed, and the process shifts to step S10.

In step S10, a stop command indicating a stop request is output to the transmission device 7, and the process returns to step S1. Here, the processing of step S2 in FIG. 2 corresponds to the movement distance input means, the processing of steps S4 and S5 corresponds to the movement time calculation means, and the processing of steps S6 to S10 corresponds to the turning control means. .

Therefore, when the operator turns the television camera 2 at a remote place in order to see the situation on the right or left side a little while the operator monitors the monitor 8 with reference to the remote monitor, first, , Operation terminal 9
After pressing the specified function key of the keyboard, the distance from the current imaging target position to the desired imaging target position is input as the moving distance L. At this time, the clockwise rotation of the electric swivel 3 is performed in the right direction. Is set to a positive value when it is necessary to move the electric swivel 3 to the left, that is, a negative value when it is necessary to move the electric swivel 3 counterclockwise.

Thus, the moving angle θ of the electric swivel 3 required to move the position to be imaged by the moving distance L is calculated based on the above equation (1) (step S4). The moving time x required to move the electric swivel 3 only is calculated based on the above equation (2) (step S5). Further, an operation command indicating the turning direction according to the sign of the moving distance L is output to the transmission device 7 (step S7).

For this reason, the operation command is transmitted to the transmission device 7,
The electric swivel 3 is transmitted to the controller 4 at the position to be monitored via the line 5 and the transmission device 6, and an operation signal in the set swiveling direction is output from the controller 4 to the electric swivel 3. Start turning at a constant speed. Thereafter, in the turntable control process of the operation terminal 9, when the moving time x corresponding to the moving distance L has elapsed, the process proceeds from step S8 to step S10, and the stop command is transmitted via the transmission device 7, the line 5, and the transmission device 6. When the controller 4 receives the stop command, the output of the operation signal is stopped, and the turning operation of the electric swivel base 3 is stopped in response to this. It stops in a state where it has turned accurately by the moving distance L intended by the operator of the section.

Thereafter, the video data at the stopped position is transmitted from the television camera 2 to the controller 4, the transmission device 6, the line 5
In addition, the desired video data can be displayed by being displayed on the monitor 8 via the transmission device 7. As described above, according to the first embodiment, when the operator inputs the desired moving distance L of the photographing target position at the remote monitoring unit, the moving time x is calculated from the moving angle θ of the electric swivel 3. In response to this, the electric swivel 3 at the monitoring target position at the remote place can be caused to start the swivel operation by the operation command, and after the moving time x has elapsed, the swivel operation can be stopped by the stop command. 3 can be accurately turned to the turning position intended by the operator, and desired video data can be displayed on the monitor 8.

Therefore, even when high-resolution image data is transmitted from a monitoring target position to a remote monitoring unit at a remote place using a transmission line with a low transmission speed, an object can be easily captured and accurate remote control can be performed. Operations can be performed. Also,
At this time, since the operator inputs the moving distance L of the imaging target position, by inputting the distance between the current imaging target position and the desired imaging target position,
It can be easily moved. Therefore, for example, even when the imaging target position is shifted, a desired image can be easily obtained by inputting the amount to be shifted as the moving distance L, and the moving angle is set as in the related art. Usability can be further improved as compared with the case.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that the procedure of the turntable control process in the operation terminal 9 is different, and therefore, detailed description of the same part is omitted. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a swivel control process performed by the operation terminal 9 according to the second embodiment. Note that the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as those of the turntable control processing procedure in the first embodiment, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, the turning table control process first determines whether or not a turning operation instruction has been input in step S1. The process waits, and when the turning operation instruction is input, the process proceeds to step S2a. In this step S2a, it is determined whether or not the center coordinate O of the desired image to be displayed by moving the electric swivel base 3 has been input. If the center coordinate O of the image has not been input, the process proceeds to step S3a. Then, after the guidance information for prompting the input of the center coordinates O is displayed on the display connected to the operation terminal 9, the process returns to step S2a. When the center coordinates O are input, the process proceeds to step S4a.

Here, the input of the center coordinates O is performed by, for example, pointing a position on the screen of the monitor 8 by using a mouse or the like connected to the operation terminal 9 or by moving a cursor to a desired center with the keyboard. After moving to a position to be set as coordinates, this is performed by operating a specific function key for instructing reading of center coordinates. Step S4a
Then, the predetermined horizontal viewing angle φ of the TV camera 2
(Degrees) and the screen size P, and the distance M between the coordinates of the input center coordinates O and the current center coordinates O _NOW , the following equation (3) is calculated to calculate the moving angle θ of the electric swivel 3. Is calculated.

The distance M between coordinates is, for example, at the time of startup.
The center coordinate O of the previous input is determined based on the center coordinate of
Is stored in the storage area of the current center coordinate O.
_NOWAnd the center position input in step S2a
It is calculated based on the target O. At this time, step S
The center coordinate O input in 2a is the current center coordinate O _NOWYo
The electric swivel 3 to the right.
When it is necessary to move
Is set, and conversely, the center coordinate O input in step S2a
Is the current center coordinate O_NOWOn the left side, the electric swivel
When it is necessary to move 3 to the left, the distance between coordinates
A negative value is set as M.

Θ = φ × (M / P) (3) Next, the process proceeds to step S5, in which the moving angle θ calculated in step S4 and the constant turning speed n (degrees /
), The movement time x is calculated by performing the calculation of the expression (2). Next, the process proceeds to step S6, in which the movement time integration timer is initialized and the count value t is set to "0". Then, in step S7, an operation command including the moving direction of the electric swivel 3 is transmitted to the transmission device 7. After the transmission, the process proceeds to step S8.

In this step S8, it is determined whether or not the count value t of the movement time integration timer has become equal to or longer than the movement time x, and if t <x, the flow shifts to step S9 where the count value t of the movement time integration timer is determined. Is updated by incrementing, for example, “1”, and the process returns to step S8, where t
If ≧ x, the process proceeds to step S10. In step S10, a stop command indicating a stop request is output to the transmission device 7, and the process returns to step S1.

Here, the processing in step S2a in FIG. 3 corresponds to the imaging center input means, and in the processing in step S4a, the coordinate distance M between the input center coordinate O and the current center coordinate O _NOW is calculated. The processing corresponds to the moving distance calculation means. Therefore, when turning the television camera 2 at a remote place in order to see the situation on the right or left side a little while the operator monitors the monitor 8 with reference to the monitor 8, first, the operation terminal 9
After pressing the specified function key of the keyboard, the user designates the center coordinate O of the desired image on the screen of the monitor 8 by moving the mouse or the cursor.

As a result, an inter-coordinate distance M, which is the distance between the current center coordinate O _NOW and the designated center coordinate O, is calculated. This inter-coordinate distance M and the horizontal viewing angle φ of the television camera 2 are calculated. And the size P of the monitor 8, the movement angle θ is calculated from the above equation (3) (step S 4).
a). Further, a movement time (x) for realizing this is calculated from the movement angle θ (step S5), and an operation command indicating a turning direction according to the sign of the distance M between the coordinates is output to the transmission device 7. (Step S7).

Thereafter, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the controller 4 operates in response to the operation command, and operates the electric swivel base 3 so that the electric swivel base 3 moves at a constant speed in the designated turning direction. Move with. Then, in the turntable control process of the operation terminal 9, a stop command is transmitted when the movement time x calculated in step S5 has elapsed (step S10), and the controller 4 stops the electric turntable 3 in response thereto. As a result, the electric swivel 3 stops. At this time, the electric swivel base 3 is turned on the screen of the monitor 8 such that the input center coordinate O becomes the center coordinate of the actual image. An image whose center coordinates are the center coordinates O designated by the operator, and video data desired by the operator is displayed.

Therefore, also in this case, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.
In the case of the second embodiment, it is not necessary to input a numerical value as in the first embodiment, but by moving the mouse or the cursor to give an instruction, the electric swivel 3
Can be determined. Next, the third aspect of the present invention
An embodiment will be described.

The third embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that the turntable control process executed by the operation terminal 9 is different. Description is omitted. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a turntable control processing procedure according to the third embodiment.

In the swivel control process according to the third embodiment, first, in step S21, the electric swivel 3 is moved to a preset reference position and is formed in, for example, a memory for accumulating the total moving time. The timer for integrating the total travel time as a software timer is initialized, and the count value T is initialized to "0". Next, the process proceeds to step S22, where it is determined whether or not a turning operation instruction has been input by pressing a specific function key of the keyboard. If no turning operation instruction has been input, the process waits until this is input. When the turning operation instruction is input, the process proceeds to step S23.

In this step S23, it is determined whether or not the target angle of the electric swivel 3 from the reference position after the movement, that is, the target angle θ ^* (degree) has been input.
^{If *} has not been input, the flow shifts to step S24 to display guidance information for prompting input of the target angle θ ^* on a display connected to the operation terminal 9, and then returns to step S23 to return to the target angle θ. ^{When *} is input, the process proceeds to step S25.

Here, the target angle θ ^* is set to a positive value when the target angle of the electric swivel 3 with respect to the reference position is clockwise when the electric swivel 3 is viewed from a plane, and conversely. If it is counterclockwise, set it to a negative value. In step S25, the total movement time T accumulated by the total movement time accumulation timer and the constant turning speed n (degrees / degree
Second), the following equation (4) is calculated, and the current angle of the electric swivel 3 from the reference position, that is, the current angle θ
Calculate _NOW .

Θ _NOW = T / n (4) Next, the process proceeds to step S 26, where the input target angle θ ^* and the current angle θ _NOW calculated in step S 25 are
Is calculated based on the following formula (5) to calculate the angle at which the electric swivel 3 should be moved, that is, the movement angle Δθ. Δθ = θ ^* −θ _NOW (5) Next, the process proceeds to step S27, in which the moving angle Δθ calculated in step S26 and the constant turning speed n of the electric turning table 3 are set.
(Degrees / second), the moving time x is calculated by performing the calculation of the following equation (6).

X = Δθ / n (6) Next, the process proceeds to step S 28, in which a movement time integration timer, for example, as a software timer formed in the memory is initialized, and the count value t is set to “0”. Then, the process proceeds to step S29, in which an operation command including the moving direction of the electric swivel 3 is transmitted to the transmission device 7, and then the process proceeds to step S30.

Here, in step S26, if the moving angle Δθ is a positive value, an operation command to move the electric swivel 3 in the clockwise direction is generated, and if the moving angle Δθ is a negative value, An operation command for moving the turntable 3 in the counterclockwise direction is generated. In step S30, it is determined whether or not the count value t of the movement time integration timer has become equal to or longer than the movement time x. If t <x, the movement time x
Is determined not to have elapsed, the flow proceeds to step S31, and the count value t of the movement time integration timer is set to, for example, "1".
Then, the process returns to step S30. If t ≧ x, it is determined that the moving time x has elapsed, and the process proceeds to step S32.

In step S32, a stop command indicating a stop request is output to the transmission device 7, and then the process proceeds to step S33. In this step S33, it is determined whether the electric swivel 3 is rotated clockwise, that is, clockwise or counterclockwise. When the electric swivel 3 is rotated clockwise, the process proceeds to step S34. Then, after adding the current travel time, that is, the travel time x calculated in step S27 to the current total travel time T, the process returns to step S22.

On the other hand, when the electric swivel base 3 is rotated counterclockwise, that is, counterclockwise in step S33, the process proceeds to step S35, where the current travel time x is subtracted from the current total travel time T. The process returns to step S22. Here, the processing of step S23 in FIG. 4 corresponds to the target angle input means, the processing of step S25 corresponds to the current angle calculating means, the processing of step S26 corresponds to the moving angle calculating means, and the processing of step S27 corresponds to The processing from step S28 to step S32 corresponds to turning control means, and the processing from step S33 to step S35 corresponds to integration means.

Therefore, when the operator turns the television camera 2 at a remote place using the remote monitoring unit, first, the turntable control processing by the operation terminal 9 is started. As a result, the electric swivel 3 is controlled to the reference position.
The count value T of the total time integration timer is reset to zero. Then, in a state where the video data at this position is monitored by the monitor 8, for example, the television camera 2
Is turned, first, the specified function key on the keyboard of the operation terminal 9 is pressed, and then the target angle θ ^* of the electric swivel 3 is input. This target angle θ ^*
For example, the positional relationship between the installation position of the electric swivel 3, the respective swivel angles from the reference position of the electric swivel 3, and the monitoring target at the image center at that time is detected in advance, and the desired monitoring target Input the target angle θ ^* according to the object. That is, in this case, the target angle θ ^* corresponding to the target location is input.

Thus, based on the total movement time T accumulated by the total movement time accumulation timer and the constant turning speed n (degrees / second) of the electric swivel 3, the above equation (4) is used. , The current angle θ _NOW of the electric swivel 3 is calculated (step S2).
5), the current angle θ _NOW and the input target angle θ ^*
Is calculated from the above equation (5) (step S26).

Then, the movement angle Δθ and the electric swivel 3
The travel time x is calculated from the above equation (6) from the turning speed n (degrees / second) (step S27), and the travel angle Δ
An operation command indicating the turning direction according to the positive or negative sign of θ is output to the transmission device 7 (step S29). Therefore, an operation command is transmitted to the controller 4, and an operation signal in the set turning direction is output to the electric swivel 3 from the controller 4, so that the electric swivel 3 turns at a constant speed. Start.

Thereafter, in the turntable control process of the operation terminal 9, when the movement time x corresponding to the target angle θ ^* has elapsed, the process proceeds from step S30 to step S32, where a stop command is transmitted to the controller 4, and When the stop command is received in step 4, the output of the operation signal is stopped, and the turning operation of the electric swivel base 3 is stopped accordingly. Stop in the state of turning.

When the electric swivel base 3 is turned clockwise, that is, clockwise, the moving time x is added to the count value T of the total time integrating counter (step S34).
Conversely, when the electric turntable 3 is turned counterclockwise, that is, when the electric turntable 3 is turned counterclockwise, the movement time x is subtracted from the count value of the total time integration counter (step S35). Therefore, in this case, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. In the case of the third embodiment, by setting the target angle θ ^* with respect to the reference position, Since the electric swivel base 3 is swung to a position corresponding to this, it is possible to easily display an image in a desired angular direction from the reference position.

Therefore, for example, if the target angle θ ^* is changed by a predetermined angle, it is possible to monitor all the objects to be monitored. Also, for example, if the correspondence between each turning angle of the electric turning table 3 and the image center at each turning angle position is detected in advance, by inputting the turning position coordinates corresponding to the target image center, The target video data can be easily displayed on the monitor 8.

Further, since the target angle θ ^* may be set, for example, even in an area that is not displayed on the monitor 8, it is possible to easily display video data centered on the area. Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In each of the above embodiments, the case where the electric swivel base 3 is swiveled has been described. In the fourth embodiment, a zoom lens control process for controlling the magnification of the television camera 2 instead of the electric swivel base 3 is performed. Like that.

That is, in the fourth embodiment, while the television camera 2 is supplied with the zoom operation signal including the magnification direction indicating the enlargement direction or the reduction direction from the controller 4, for example, the lens 1 is moved to change the magnification in the designated magnification direction. The controller 4 controls the electric swivel 3 in the same manner as in each of the above embodiments, and performs video data transmission processing for transmitting video data input from the television camera 2 to a remote monitoring unit at a remote location, which will be described later. . When a zoom operation command transmitted from the remote monitoring unit is received, a zoom operation signal is output to the television camera 2, and when a zoom stop command is received, the output of the operation signal is stopped.

The operation terminal 9 generates a control command for controlling the electric control console 3 in the same manner as in the above-described embodiments, outputs the control command to the controller 4 via the transmission device 6, and controls the television camera 2. When changing the magnification,
When a specific function key indicating a command to change the magnification of the keyboard connected to the operation terminal 9 is pressed, the zoom control process shown in FIG.
, A zoom operation command and a zoom stop command for changing the magnification of the television camera 2 are generated, and these are transmitted to the controller 4 via the transmission device 7, the line 5, and the transmission device 6.

Next, the operation of the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the zoom control process, as shown in FIG. 5, first, in step S41, the lens 1 is moved to a reference position that is a reference magnification, and
For example, a total movement time integration timer as a software timer formed in a memory for integrating the total movement time is initialized to initialize the count value T to “0”.

Then, the flow shifts to step S42, where it is determined whether or not a zoom operation instruction has been input by pressing a specific function key of the keyboard. If the zoom operation instruction has not been input, this is input. Until the zoom operation instruction is input, the process proceeds to step S43. In this step S43, it is determined whether or not a desired target magnification p ^* has been input. If the target magnification p ^* has not been input, the flow shifts to step S44 to urge the user to input the target magnification p ^*. After displaying the guidance information on the display connected to the operation terminal 9, the process returns to step S43, and when the target magnification p ^* is input, the process proceeds to step S45.

In step S45, based on the total movement time T integrated by the total movement time integration timer and the constant magnification change speed v (magnification / second) of the lens 1, the following equation (7) is obtained. To calculate the current magnification p _NOW . p _NOW = T / v (7) Then, the process proceeds to step S46, where the input target magnification p ^* and the current magnification p _NOW calculated in step S45 are obtained.
Is calculated based on the following equation (8) to calculate a magnification difference Δp.

Δp = p ^* −p _NOW (8) Next, the process proceeds to step S47, and the magnification difference Δp calculated in step S46 and a constant magnification change speed v (magnification / second).
Based on the above, the calculation of the following expression (9) is performed to calculate the moving time x. x = Δp / v (9) Then, the process proceeds to step S48, in which, for example, a movement time integration timer as a software timer formed in the memory is initialized and the count value t is set to “0”. Next, the process proceeds to step S49, in which the moving direction of the lens 1 is determined.
That is, after transmitting the operation command including the magnification change direction to the transmission device 7, the process proceeds to step S50.

Here, in the step S46, the magnification difference Δ
If p is a positive value, a zoom operation command for moving the lens 1 in the direction of increasing the magnification is generated, and the magnification difference Δp
Is a negative value, a zoom operation command for moving the lens 1 in a direction to decrease the magnification is generated. In the step S50, it is determined whether or not the count value t of the travel time integration timer is equal to or longer than the travel time x. If t <x, it is determined that the travel time x has not elapsed, and the process proceeds to step S51. Then, the process returns to step S50 after incrementing and updating the count value t of the movement time integration timer by, for example, “1”. If t ≧ x, it is determined that the movement time x has elapsed, and the process proceeds to step S52. I do.

In step S52, a stop command indicating a stop request is output to the transmission device 7, and then the process proceeds to step S53. In this step S53, it is determined whether the moving direction of the lens 1 is the enlarging direction or the reducing direction.
Is added to the current travel time, that is, the travel time x calculated in step S47, and the process returns to step S42.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S53 that the moving direction of the lens 1 is the contracting direction, the process proceeds to step S55, in which the current moving time x is subtracted from the current total moving time T, and then the process returns to step S42. Here, step S4 in FIG.
Step 3 corresponds to the target magnification input means, and step S45
Corresponds to the current magnification calculating means, and the processing of steps S46 and S47 corresponds to the moving time calculating means.
The processing from step S48 to step S52 corresponds to the magnification control means, and the processing from step S53 to step S55 corresponds to the accumulation means.

Therefore, when the operator changes the magnification of the television camera 2 at a remote place in the remote monitoring section, first, the operation terminal 9 starts the zoom control processing. As a result, the lens 1 is moved to the reference position to become the reference magnification, and the count value T of the total time integration timer is calculated.
Is reset to zero. Then, in a state where the video data at this position is monitored by the monitor 8, for example, when the magnification is slightly increased or decreased, first, the specified function key on the keyboard of the operation terminal 9 is pressed, and then the target magnification is set. Enter p ^* .

As a result, the total movement time T accumulated by the total movement time accumulation timer and the magnification change speed v of the lens 1 are calculated.
(Magnification / second), the current magnification p _NOW of the lens 1 is calculated from the equation (7) (step S45), and the current angle θ _NOW and the input target magnification p ^* are calculated. The magnification difference Δp is calculated from the equation (8) (step S46).

Then, based on the magnification difference Δp and the magnification change speed v (magnification / second) of the lens 1, the movement time x is calculated from the above equation (8) (step S47), and the magnification difference Δp An operation command including the magnification change direction according to the sign of the sign is output to the transmission device 7 (step S49).
Therefore, the operation command is transmitted to the controller 4,
When an operation signal in the set direction is output from the controller 4 to the television camera 2, the lens 1 moves and its magnification changes at a constant speed.

Thereafter, in the zoom control processing of the operation terminal 9, when the moving time x corresponding to the target magnification p ^* has elapsed, the process proceeds from step S50 to step S52, where the zoom stop command is transmitted to the controller 4, and By receiving the stop command in step 4, the output of the operation signal is stopped, the movement of the lens 1 is stopped accordingly, and the lens 1 stops at the position where the magnification of the operator of the remote monitoring unit is intended.

In the zoom control process of the operation terminal 9, when the lens 1 is moved in the enlargement direction, the movement time x is added to the count value T of the total time integration counter (step S54). When 1 is moved in the reduction direction, the movement time x is subtracted from the count value of the total time integration counter (step S55). Therefore, in this case, the same operation and effect as those of the third embodiment can be obtained.

In the first to third embodiments, the case where the moving speed of the electric swivel base 3 is constant will be described. In the fourth embodiment, the movement of the lens 1 will be described. Although the case where the speeds are the same has been described, if the acceleration / deceleration at the time of starting and stopping the movement cannot be ignored, the moving time x may be corrected based on the time corresponding to the acceleration / deceleration.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the case where an industrial television camera is applied as the imaging device has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other television cameras and digital cameras that capture still images are used. Other imaging devices can also be applied.

[0080]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
According to the remote monitoring device according to the above, when the operator inputs the moving distance of the imaging position to the operation terminal, the moving time corresponding to the moving distance is calculated from the moving distance, and the moving instruction of the swivel table is output to the controller. After the calculated travel time elapses, an instruction to stop the movement of the swivel table is output, so that even when using a low transmission speed line, the image in which the imaging position has moved by the travel distance intended by the operator is displayed. Can be done.

According to the remote monitoring device of the second aspect, when a desired imaging center position is input, the distance between the imaging center position and the current imaging center position is calculated, and the moving time is calculated based on the distance. Is calculated and the swivel table is moved, so that the moving distance can be set by operating on the screen of the display device without inputting the moving distance.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the moving time from the reference position is integrated according to the moving direction, so that the integrated value of the moving time is used to calculate the current angle of the turntable from the reference position. , And calculates the travel time according to the angle difference between the target angle and the designated target angle, and outputs the instruction to move the turntable to the controller, and stops the turntable when the calculated move time elapses. By outputting the instruction, even if a low transmission rate line is used,
The swivel base can be moved by a target angle intended by the operator, and the setting of the target angle can be designated by an absolute angle from the reference position.

Further, according to the remote monitoring device of the fourth aspect, the current magnification is detected from the integrated value of the moving time by integrating the moving time of the zoom lens from the reference magnification according to the moving direction. A movement time according to a magnification difference between this and a designated target magnification is calculated, and after outputting the zoom lens movement instruction to the controller, a zoom lens movement stop instruction is output when the calculated movement time elapses. Thus, even when a line with a low transmission rate is used, the target magnification intended by the operator can be set.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a remote monitoring device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a turntable control process in an operation terminal according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a turntable control process in an operation terminal according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a turntable control process in an operation terminal according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of zoom control processing in an operation terminal according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a transmission procedure of a conventional remote monitoring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lens 2 Television camera 3 Electric swivel base 4 Controller 5 Line 6 and 7 Transmission device 8 Monitor 9 Operation terminal

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Haruhiko Ikegami 1 Fuji-cho, Hino-shi, Tokyo FFC Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5C022 AA01 AB62 AB65 AB66 AC27 5C054 AA01 AA05 CA04 CC03 CF06 CG05 CH01 DA01 DA08 EA01 EA03 EG01 FC15 HA01 5K048 AA04 BA10 BA35 DC07 EB02 EB15 HA01 HA02 HA21

Claims (4)

[Claims] An imaging device for imaging a monitoring target, a swivel for turning the imaging device at a constant speed, a controller for controlling the swiveling of the swivel, and an image and control data of the imaging device via a transmission path. An image transmission device for transmitting to a monitoring unit at a remote location, a display device disposed on the monitoring unit for displaying video data received via the image transmission device, and a display device disposed on the monitoring unit. An operation terminal for inputting an operation instruction to the controller, the operation terminal comprising: a moving distance input unit for inputting a moving distance of an imaging position by the imaging device; and a moving distance input unit. A travel time calculating means for calculating a travel time of the swivel base from the travel distance input in the step (c), and outputting a travel start instruction of the swivel base to the controller; A turning control means for outputting an instruction to stop the turntable when the moving time calculated by the moving time calculating means has elapsed. 2. The image pickup center input means for inputting a desired image pickup center position on a display screen of the display device, the image pickup center position input by the image pickup center input means and the current image pickup center position. 2. The remote monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a moving distance calculating unit that calculates the moving distance based on the following. 3. An image pickup apparatus for picking up an image of an object to be monitored, a turntable for turning the image pickup apparatus at a constant speed, a controller for turning the turntable, and an image and control data of the image pickup apparatus via a transmission path. An image transmission device for transmitting to a monitoring unit at a remote location, a display device disposed on the monitoring unit for displaying video data received via the image transmission device, and a display device disposed on the monitoring unit. An operation terminal for inputting an operation instruction to the controller, wherein the operation terminal is configured to input a target angle represented by an absolute angle from a reference position of the turntable. Integrating means for adding and subtracting the moving time of the swivel from the reference position according to the moving direction; and an angle of the swivel from the current reference position based on the integrated value of the integrating means. Current angle calculating means for calculating a moving angle based on the target angle input by the target angle input means and the current angle calculated by the current angle calculating means; Moving time calculating means for calculating the moving time of the swivel base from the moving angle calculated by the calculating means; outputting a moving start instruction of the swivel base to the controller; and moving time calculated by the moving time calculating means. A turning control means for outputting an instruction to stop the turning table when a lapse has elapsed. 4. An imaging device for imaging a monitoring target, a controller for controlling a magnification by moving a zoom lens of the imaging device, and a monitoring unit at a remote location for transmitting video and control data of the imaging device via a transmission path. An image transmission device for transmitting to the monitor, a display device disposed in the monitoring unit for displaying video data received via the image transmission device, and an operation unit for the controller disposed in the monitoring unit and operating the controller. An operation terminal for inputting an instruction, wherein the operation terminal is a target magnification input means for inputting a target magnification of the imaging device; and Integrating means for adding and subtracting the moving time of the zoom lens according to the moving direction; and current magnification calculating means for calculating the current magnification of the imaging device based on the integrated value of the integrating means. Moving time calculating means for calculating a moving time of the zoom lens based on the target magnification inputted by the target magnification inputting means and the current magnification calculated by the current magnification calculating means; A remote control device comprising: a magnification control unit that outputs a lens movement start instruction and outputs a zoom lens movement stop instruction when the movement time calculated by the movement time calculation unit has elapsed.