JP2001349707A - Three-dimensional position measuring system of moving body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To measure three-dimensional position coordinates of a moving body such as predatory birds or the like. SOLUTION: A measuring instrument A and a measuring instrument B are arranged on the positions separated, for example, by about 10 m on a place in the mountains, and the moving body 10 is photographed by two video cameras 1, 2. When the moving speed of the moving body 10 is over a prescribed value or the moving body 10 moves to the edge of a screen, personal computers 5, 6 control azimuths and angles of elevation of the video cameras so that the moving body 10 is displayed in the center of the screen. Only when the moving body 10 is acquired, data such as the azimuths and the angles of elevation of each video camera, the coordinates on the image of the moving body 10, the time or the like are preserved. Equations of two straight lines joining the moving body 10 to the video camera 1 and joining the moving body 10 to the video camera 2 are calculated by using the preserved data. When the distance between the two straight lines and middle point coordinates are in a prescribed range, the middle point coordinates are preserved as the three-dimensional coordinates of the moving body 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional position measuring system for a moving object which calculates the three-dimensional position coordinates of a moving object such as a bird of prey such as a hawk or an eagle or other birds.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the investigation of the home range of birds of prey, such as hawks and eagle, and other birds, there has been no mechanization technology for monitoring the movement trajectory of birds of prey. The survey was conducted visually for a long time using binoculars and the like.

[0003]

For this reason, a great deal of time and labor is required for the investigation, and enormous cost is required. Also, the trajectory of a bird of prey in flight is visually judged and entered into the drawing. There are problems that the measurement accuracy is low and that it is difficult to secure a minimum number of people to survey because it requires specialized knowledge on ecology such as birds of prey.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a three-dimensional position measuring system for a moving object capable of grasping the home range of a bird of prey or the like.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 provides a three-dimensional position of a moving body by using images photographed by at least two image photographing means arranged at different positions. A three-dimensional position measuring system for a moving body for calculating coordinates, the system comprising: an azimuth angle, an elevation angle, a position coordinate of the image photographing means, and coordinates of the moving object on a screen obtained by the image photographing means; Straight-line calculating means for calculating an equation of a straight line connecting the video shooting means and the moving body for at least two video shooting means, a shortest distance between the straight lines calculated by the straight-line calculating means, and a midpoint coordinate at the shortest distance Calculating the distance / midpoint coordinates calculating means, and calculating the distance / midpoint coordinates calculated by the distance / midpoint coordinates calculating means when the distance and the midpoint coordinates are within predetermined ranges, respectively. Storage means for storing point coordinates,
The gist is to have.

In the present invention, the equation of a straight line connecting the moving object and the image photographing means is calculated for each of at least two image photographing means arranged at different positions, and the shortest distance between the straight lines and the shortest distance between the straight lines are calculated. By calculating the midpoint coordinates at the shortest distance and storing the midpoint coordinates when the shortest distance and the midpoint coordinates are within predetermined ranges, for example, the shortest distance between straight lines is If the distance is too large compared to the size, the measurement error is large, so the coordinates of the midpoint are not saved, and even if the coordinates of the midpoint are not within the range of the measurement area, accurate measurement was not performed. Therefore, the midpoint coordinates are not stored, and only the midpoint coordinates with high measurement accuracy are stored. In addition, by obtaining the coordinates of the midpoint between the straight lines as the coordinates of the moving body, accurate three-dimensional position coordinates of the moving body can be obtained.

[0007] Further, by storing the three-dimensional position coordinates of the moving body, the three-dimensional position coordinates are stored in, for example, G
When the information is read out by IS (Geographical Information System), CAD, or the like, the movement locus of the moving object can be displayed on the map information, so that the home range of birds of prey and the like can be easily grasped.

Here, when the three-dimensional position coordinates of the moving object are stored, the photographing time may be stored.

[0009] The term "moving object" as used herein refers to a concept that includes not only birds of prey and other birds, but also all living things and objects that can move in space.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a moving object three-dimensional position measuring system for calculating three-dimensional position coordinates of a moving object using images captured by at least two image capturing means arranged at different positions. When the moving speed of the moving body is higher than a predetermined value and / or when the moving body moves toward the edge of the screen of the image capturing means, the moving body is displayed at the center of the screen. The gist of the present invention is to have direction control means for controlling at least one of the azimuth and elevation of the video photographing means.

According to the present invention, when the moving speed of the moving body is high or when the moving body moves toward the edge of the screen, the orientation of the image capturing means is displayed so that the moving body is displayed at the center of the screen. By controlling at least one of the angle and the elevation angle, the range in which the image photographing means can track the moving object is expanded, and the photographing of the moving object can be continued for a longer time.

The present invention according to claim 3 provides the present invention according to claim 1 or 2
In the three-dimensional moving object position measuring system described above, when the image capturing means continuously captures the moving object for a predetermined time or more, the azimuth and elevation angles of the image capturing means and the coordinates of the moving object on the screen are determined. The gist of the present invention is to have storage means for storing at predetermined time intervals.

According to the present invention, when the image capturing means continuously captures the moving object for a predetermined time or more, the azimuth and elevation of the image capturing means and the coordinates of the moving object on the image are stored. By doing so, it is possible to eliminate unnecessary storage of data when the mobile unit is not being captured. Also, by storing these data at predetermined time intervals, the storage capacity of the storage means can be used efficiently. Here, the predetermined time interval may be set so that only necessary minimum data is stored.

The image data may be stored in addition to the azimuth and elevation of the image photographing means and the coordinates of the moving object on the image. In this case, there is an advantage that the moving object can be confirmed with an image.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a three-dimensional position measuring system for a moving object according to the present embodiment. Video camera 1 that tracks and shoots moving objects 10 such as birds of prey
And a personal computer 5 for processing video data from the video camera 1 and controlling the azimuth and elevation of the camera platform 3, and the azimuth and elevation of the video camera 1 with respect to the moving object 10.
Head 3, which is adjusted in accordance with instructions from the user, measuring device A having a video image recording device (not shown) for recording image data, video camera 2, head 4 and personal computer having the same configuration as measuring device A. 6 and a measuring device B having a video image recording device are appropriately separated from each other by about several tens to several hundreds of meters in the mountainous area in accordance with the measurement conditions, and a shooting area defined based on the expected behavior range of the moving object 10 is set for each video. Camera 1,
Arrange so that it can be photographed in 2.

The operation of the present system is as follows. The predetermined data is measured and stored by the measuring devices A and B until the predetermined photographing time ends, and the data of the mobile unit 10 is stored using the stored data after the photographing is completed. Dimensional position coordinates are calculated.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of each control signal, video data, and the like in the measuring device A.

The video data captured by the video camera 1 is sent to the personal computer 5, where it is processed by an internal image processing board or the like. The personal computer 5 recognizes the size of the moving object 10 on the image, transmits a zoom (angle of view) control signal to the video camera 1 so as to obtain an appropriate magnification, and also displays the two-dimensional position of the moving object 10 on the image. An azimuth / elevation angle control signal created based on the coordinates is transmitted to the camera platform 3. The camera platform 3 changes the azimuth and elevation of the video camera 1 according to the azimuth / elevation control signal, and returns a control completion notification to the personal computer 5 when the change is completed. Further, the personal computer 5 transmits a recording start / end control signal to the video image storage device 7. Specifically, when the moving object 10 is captured on the image based on the video data from the video camera 1, recording start is instructed. At this time, the video data from the video camera 1 is delayed by the delay circuit 8 by the time required for the image processing in the
And the video data from the place where the personal computer 5 captures the mobile object 10 is recorded. On the other hand, moving object 1
When 0 is lost, the personal computer 5 instructs the end of the recording of the video data. Note that the flow of each control signal, video data, and the like in the measuring device B is the same as that in the measuring device A, and a description thereof will not be repeated.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing image processing and tracking processing in the personal computer 5 of the measuring device A. It is assumed that the coordinates of the azimuth angle, elevation angle, and installation position of the video camera 1 have been input to the personal computer 5 before starting this processing.

When photographing is started in step 1, the personal computer 5 enters a moving object detection mode. In step 2, the personal computer 5 obtains a difference between the video data sent from the video camera 1 for each frame, thereby completely moving the personal computer. Measure the part without the background as the background.

In step 3, when a portion moving with respect to the background is captured as a moving object, the process proceeds to step 4,
If the moving object is not captured, the process returns to step 2 to continue the background measurement.

In step 4, the mode shifts to the simple tracking mode, and the process proceeds to step 5 while calculating the coordinates of the moving object on the image by calculating the difference from the previous screen.

In step 5, when the capturing of the moving object has continued for a certain period of time or more, the mode shifts to the tracking mode and proceeds to step 6. If the moving object has been lost before the elapse of the predetermined time, the process returns to step 2 to continue the background measurement.

In the tracking mode, after the tracking measurement in step 6 and the calculation of the coordinates of the moving object on the screen in step 7, it is determined in step 8 whether the moving object has been lost. The judgment conditions are as follows: when the moving object moves out of the measurement range, or when the moving object obtained by continuously obtaining the coordinates of the moving object does not change over a certain period of time, the moving object is lost. to decide. When it is determined that the moving object has not been lost, the process proceeds to step 9, and when it is determined that the moving object has been lost, the process proceeds to step 13.

In step 9, the azimuth of the video camera 1 is set so that the moving object is not lost from the screen as described later.
Step 10 is performed while controlling the pan head 3 for adjusting the elevation angle.
Proceed to.

In step 10, in addition to the azimuth and elevation of the video camera 1 changed in step 9, the time and the coordinate data of the moving object calculated in step 7 are stored in a data file at predetermined time intervals, The data is recorded in the video image recording device 7, and the process proceeds to step 11. This predetermined time interval is determined based on the remaining data storage capacity of the personal computer 5.

In step 11, it is determined whether or not the operator has issued an instruction to end shooting, and if there is no instruction to end shooting, the process proceeds to step 6 to repeat the above-described processing. Goes to step 12 to end the shooting.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 8 that the moving object has been lost and the process proceeds to step 13, the video camera 1
Reset the azimuth and elevation of the camera to the initial state,
The process proceeds to step 4 to store the start time and the end time of photographing from the time when the moving object is captured to the time when the moving object is lost in the header of the data file, and returns to step 2.

As described above, the data amount such as the azimuth angle, the elevation angle, the coordinate data of the moving object on the image, and the video data is saved only when the moving object is captured. Can be minimized.

It is to be noted that the video data is stored so that the moving body can be confirmed with the naked eye after the measurement. When such confirmation is not required, the video data is not stored. Is also good.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process in which the personal computer 5 controls the camera platform 3 to adjust the direction of the video camera 1 in step 9 in FIG.

In step 21, when the moving speed of the moving object exceeds a predetermined threshold value or when the moving object moves toward the edge of the screen, the process proceeds to step 22. If these conditions are not met, the process proceeds to step 10 in FIG.

In step 22, the azimuth and elevation of the video camera 1 for displaying the moving object at the center of the screen are calculated based on the coordinates of the moving object on the screen, and the process proceeds to step 23.

In step 23, an azimuth / elevation angle control signal is generated, and the flow advances to step 24.

At step 24, an azimuth / elevation control signal is transmitted to the camera platform 3, and after the camera platform 3 has changed the azimuth and elevation of the video camera 1, it receives a control completion notification to be transmitted to the personal computer 5, and then proceeds to step 24. Proceed to 10.

As described above, by controlling the direction of the video camera 1 with respect to the moving body, the range in which the moving body can be tracked can be expanded.

Note that the image processing and tracking processing in the personal computer 6 of the measuring device B are the same as those of the personal computer 5 of the measuring device A, and thus the description is omitted here.

Next, the operation for calculating the three-dimensional position coordinates of the moving object will be described.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the flow of each data when calculating the three-dimensional position coordinates of the moving object. Data 31 of the video camera 1 including time, azimuth, elevation, angle of view, coordinates of the moving object on the image, position data of the video camera, and the like.
And the data 32 of the video camera 2 composed of the same data.
Are sent to the data analysis program 33, and the data analysis program 33 calculates the three-dimensional coordinates of the moving object at each time. Practically, the data analysis program 33 is installed in one of the personal computers 5 and 6, and the personal computer without the data analysis program 33 sends data to the personal computer with the data analysis program 33 installed. What should I do? Of course, the data analysis program 33 may be mounted on a personal computer different from the personal computers 5 and 6, and the data may be sent from the personal computers 5 and 6 to the personal computer.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the process of calculating the three-dimensional position coordinates of a moving object by a personal computer having the data analysis program 33 installed.

When the process is started in step 31, the header is read from the data file of the video camera 1 in step 32, and the process proceeds to step 33.

In step 33, the header is read from the data file of the video camera 2, and the flow advances to step 34.

In step 34, based on the photographing start time at the time of capturing the moving object stored in the header, the data from which the photographing was started first is skipped to the photographing start time of the other data, and both data are skipped. The time of the data is adjusted, and the routine proceeds to step 35.

In step 35, the data of the video camera 1 is read out, and in step 36, a straight line connecting the video camera 1 and the moving object based on the azimuth, elevation and position data of the video camera 1 and the coordinates of the moving object on the image. Is calculated.

In step 37, the data of the video camera 2 is read out, and in step 38, a straight line connecting the video camera 2 and the moving body based on the azimuth, elevation and position data of the video camera 2 and the coordinates of the moving body on the image. Is calculated.

In step 39, the shortest distance between the two straight lines and the midpoint coordinates indicating the center at the shortest distance are calculated.

In step 40, it is determined whether the distance calculated in step 39 and the coordinates of the midpoint are within a specified range. If it is determined that it is within the specified range, the process proceeds to step 41;
Proceed to. The reason for this determination is that if the shortest distance between the two straight lines is too large compared to the size of the moving object, it is conceivable that the measurement error is large, and an appropriate measurement result is obtained. This is because there is a high possibility that it cannot be obtained.

In step 41, the time when the data was recorded and the coordinates of the midpoint are stored, and the flow advances to step 42.

In step 42, it is determined whether or not the reading of all the shot data has been completed. If the reading has not been completed, that is, if the data files of the video camera 1 and the video camera 2 have been shot a plurality of times, If the data has been saved and not all of the data has been read, the process returns to step 35 to repeat the above-described processing. If all the data has been read, the process proceeds to step 43 to end this processing.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the measuring device A and the measuring device B are arranged at different positions, and the equation of a straight line connecting the moving body and the television camera 1 and the moving body and the television camera 2 are defined. Calculate the equation of the connecting straight line,
The shortest distance between the two straight lines and the midpoint coordinates are calculated, and when the shortest distance and the midpoint coordinates are within predetermined ranges, the midpoint coordinates are stored as the three-dimensional coordinates of the moving object. If the shortest distance between the two straight lines is too large compared to the size of the moving object, the measurement error is large and the storage of the coordinates of the midpoint can be excluded. And accurate three-dimensional coordinates of the moving object in consideration of the size of the moving object and the like.

When the moving speed of the moving object is high or when the moving object moves toward the edge of the screen, the azimuth and elevation of the television camera with respect to the moving object are adjusted to display the moving object at the center of the screen. As a result, the range in which the moving object can be tracked is expanded, so that the imaging of the moving object can be continued for a longer time.

Further, when the video camera continuously captures the moving object for a predetermined time or more, the azimuth and elevation angle of the video camera and the coordinate data of the moving object on the image are stored at predetermined time intervals. As a result, unnecessary data when the mobile object is not captured can be eliminated, and the storage capacity of the personal computer can be used efficiently.

In this embodiment, the three-dimensional position coordinates of the moving object are calculated after the end of the photographing using the data stored during the photographing. The position coordinates may be calculated.

Further, in the present embodiment, the three-dimensional position coordinates of the moving object are obtained by using two equations of a straight line connecting the television camera and the moving object. However, the number of linear equations is two. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of linear equations may be used. In such cases,
The three-dimensional coordinates of the moving object can be obtained more accurately.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, the equation of a straight line connecting the moving object and the image photographing means is calculated for each of at least two image photographing means arranged at different positions, and the straight line is calculated. When the shortest distance between them and the midpoint coordinates are within a predetermined range, the midpoint coordinates are stored, so that the storage of the midpoint coordinates having a large measurement error can be eliminated, so that the moving object Can obtain accurate three-dimensional position coordinates.

Further, when the moving speed of the moving object is high or when the moving object moves toward the edge of the screen, at least the azimuth and the elevation of the image capturing means are displayed so that the moving object is displayed at the center of the screen. By controlling one of them, the range in which the video photographing means can track the moving body is expanded, so that the photographing of the moving body can be continued for a longer time.

Further, when the video photographing means continuously captures the moving body for a predetermined time or more, the azimuth and elevation angle of the video photographing means and the coordinates of the moving body on the image are stored at predetermined time intervals. This eliminates unnecessary storage of data when the mobile unit is not captured, so that the storage capacity of the storage unit can be used efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a three-dimensional position measuring system for a moving object according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of each control signal, video data, and the like in the measuring device A.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing image processing and tracking processing in the personal computer 5 of the measuring device A;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of controlling the direction of the video camera 1 of the measuring device A.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of each data when calculating three-dimensional position coordinates of a moving object.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of calculating three-dimensional position coordinates of a moving object.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2, video camera 3, 4, pan head 5, 6, personal computer 7, video video recording device 8, delay circuit 10, moving object

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yoichi Numata 4-2-18 Shinjuku Kofu Building, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Asia Air Survey Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masanori Takigawa 4-2-18 Shinjuku Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Kofu Building Shinjuku (72) Kazuya Saito, Inventor Kazuya Saito 4-2-18 Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Shinjuku Kofu Building (72) Inventor, Akio Matsumoto 3-chome Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka No. 22 Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. (72) Kiki Hanamoto 3-22 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture 3-22 In Kansai Electric Power Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Kato Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture 1-5-3 Kansai Comprehensive Environment Center Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Moriya Toshifumi 1-3-5 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka F-term in Kansai Comprehensive Environment Center Co., Ltd. CC16 FF09 FF26 FF65 FF66 HH02 HH13 JJ03 JJ05 JJ26 MM23 PP04 QQ17 QQ24 QQ38 2F112 AD06 CA12 FA21 FA38 GA01

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A moving object 3 using images captured by at least two image capturing means arranged at different positions.
A three-dimensional position measuring system for a moving object for calculating three-dimensional position coordinates, comprising: an azimuth angle, an elevation angle, a position coordinate of the image photographing means, and a coordinate of the moving object on a screen obtained by the image photographing means. Straight-line calculating means for calculating the equation of a straight line connecting the video shooting means and the moving body for at least two video shooting means, and the shortest distance between the straight lines calculated by the straight-line calculating means, and Distance to calculate point coordinates
Midpoint coordinate calculating means, and a storage means for storing the midpoint coordinates when the distance and the midpoint coordinates calculated by the distance / midpoint coordinate calculating means are within a predetermined range, respectively. 3D position measurement system for moving objects. 2. A method for moving a mobile object using images captured by at least two image capturing means arranged at different positions.
A system for measuring a three-dimensional position of a moving body for calculating three-dimensional position coordinates, wherein a moving speed of the moving body is faster than a predetermined value and / or a moving body moves toward an edge of a screen of the video photographing means. A direction control means for controlling at least one of an azimuth angle and an elevation angle of the image photographing means so that the moving object is displayed at the center of the screen. 3. The three-dimensional position measuring system for a moving object according to claim 1, wherein the azimuth angle and the elevation angle of the image photographing means when the image photographing means continuously captures the moving body for a predetermined time or more. A three-dimensional position measuring system for a moving object, comprising a storage unit for storing the coordinates of the moving object on a screen at predetermined time intervals.