JP2003050130A - Image device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable sure confirmation of external conditions at a desired position, even at other positions. SOLUTION: When a driver sets a desired position as a position predetermined to image in a car navigation system 1, the position predetermined to take a picture image is stored in a memory portion 8. When the current position of a car reaches approximately the position predetermined for imaging, a camera 16 on the car takes on image, and the image taken by the camera 16 is stored in the memory portion 8. When the driver performs operation for displaying the picture image, the image taken by the camera 16 is read from the memory portion 8 and is displayed on a display portion 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup device having an image pickup means and a program executed by the image pickup device.

[0002]

There is a case where a driver, for example, approaches a spot with a good scenery while traveling and wants to view the scenery over time. In that case, by stopping, you can see the scenery over time. However, for example, when driving on a one-lane road and stopping when the following vehicles are in a row, it will cause annoyance to the following vehicles, and while driving on toll roads such as highways. , According to the Road Traffic Law, you cannot stop. In addition, even when it is desired to carefully check the situation of a road, a facility such as a restaurant, or a parking lot that is always crowded, it is not possible to easily check the situation. Therefore, it is not always possible to drive comfortably.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an image pickup device and a program capable of surely confirming an external condition at a desired position even at another place. To provide.

[0004]

According to the image pickup device of the present invention, the image pickup control means is arranged so that the current position specified by the current position specifying means is stored in the position storage means. When the position is almost reached, the image capturing means captures an image of the external situation at the image capturing position, and
Since the image storage unit is configured to store the image captured by the image capturing unit, by storing a desired position in advance as the image capturing planned position, when the image capturing unit travels at the image capturing planned position, The external situation at the planned position can be captured and stored, and thereafter, the external situation at the desired position can be read by, for example, stopping at a safe place and reading the stored image. You can surely check it at another place.

According to the image pickup device of the second aspect, the display control means is configured to read the image stored in the image storage means and display the read image on the display means. By looking at the image displayed on the means, the external situation at the desired position can be reliably confirmed.

According to the image pickup device of the third aspect, the position setting means for setting the position of the image pickup scheduled stored in the position storage means is provided. By performing the operation of setting the position of, the desired position can be stored as the position to be imaged.

According to the image pickup device of the fourth aspect, the position storage means is configured to store a plurality of different positions to be imaged, so that there are a plurality of desired positions for confirming the external situation. Even in such a case, it is possible to reliably confirm the external situation at the plurality of desired positions.

According to the image pickup device described in claim 5, since the image pickup means is configured to pick up a plurality of times at the same position where the image is to be picked up, the external situation at the desired position can be expressed by a plurality of images. It can be confirmed, for example, a change in the situation can be confirmed.

According to the sixth aspect of the image pickup device, since the image pickup direction setting means for setting the image pickup direction of the image pickup means is provided, the image pickup direction is set in advance by the image pickup direction setting means. By performing the operation
A desired direction can be set as the imaging direction.

According to the seventh aspect of the image pickup device, the image pickup direction adjusting means, when the current position specified by the current position specifying means approaches the position of the image pickup scheduled stored in the position storage means, Since the image pickup direction of the image pickup means is adjusted to the image pickup direction set by the image pickup direction setting means in advance, for example, when it is desired to take an image of an object to be imaged such as a favorite building, the image pickup is planned in advance. By setting the direction from the position toward the image capturing object as the image capturing direction, the image capturing target can be captured and stored when traveling at the position where the image capturing is planned.

According to the eighth aspect of the image pickup device, the image storage means is configured to store the image picked up by the image pickup means together with the date and time when the image was picked up. Therefore, the image stored in the image storage means. Can be read using the date and time as a parameter.

According to the ninth aspect of the image pickup device, since the image pickup means is provided with the notifying means which operates when the image pickup means picks up the image, the image pickup means picks up the image by confirming that the notifying means has operated. You can check what you have done.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, when the program is installed in an image pickup device and executed, the current position specified by the current position specifying means and the image pickup stored in the position storing means in advance. The positional relationship with the planned position is compared, and when the current position almost reaches the planned imaging position, the imaging means is caused to capture the external situation at the planned imaging position, and the captured image is stored in the image storage means. As a result, it is possible to obtain the same operational effect as that described in claim 1 above. That is, by storing a desired position as the imaging scheduled position in advance, when the vehicle travels at the imaging scheduled position, the external situation at the imaging scheduled position can be captured and stored. Then, after that, for example, by stopping the vehicle at a safe place and reading the stored image, the external condition at the desired position can be surely confirmed.

According to the program described in claim 11, when the program is installed in the image pickup device and executed, the image stored in the image storage means is displayed on the display means. It is possible to obtain the same effects as those described in item 2. That is, by looking at the image displayed on the display means, the external situation at the desired position can be surely confirmed.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, when the program is installed in an image pickup apparatus and executed, the current position approaches the position where the image pickup is planned.
Since the image pickup direction of the image pickup means is adjusted to the preset image pickup direction, it is possible to obtain the same operational effect as that described in the seventh aspect. That is, for example, when it is desired to capture an image of a target such as a favorite building, by setting the direction from the planned image capturing position toward the image capturing target in advance as the image capturing direction, the planned image capturing position is changed. When you drive
The object to be imaged can be imaged and stored.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The image pickup apparatus of the present invention will be described below.
An embodiment applied to a car navigation device mounted on an automobile will be described with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall configuration of a car navigation device as a functional block diagram. 1, a car navigation device 1 includes a control unit 2 (imaging control unit and display control unit according to the present invention), a position detection unit 3 (current position specifying unit according to the present invention), and a display unit 4 (referred to as the present invention). Display unit), switch information input unit 5 (position setting unit and image pickup direction setting unit in the present invention), map data storage unit 6, voice output unit 7 (informing unit) and memory unit 8 (position storage unit in the present invention). , Image storage means).

The position detector 3 includes a geomagnetic sensor, a gyroscope, a distance sensor, and a GPS (Global Positioning S).
ystem) receiver, etc., and each of these sensors detects (specifies) the current position of the automobile. still,
In this case, the position detection unit 3 does not need to include all of these sensors, and may be configured to include only the necessary sensors according to the detection accuracy. The display unit 4 is, for example, a liquid crystal display capable of color display, an organic EL (Electro Lumine).
scent) display, plasma display or C
It is composed of RT (Cathode Ray Tube), etc., and displays additional information such as a current position mark indicating the current position of the car, a destination mark indicating the destination, or a guide route as well as displaying a map, characters or images. Display on the map. The switch information input unit 5 is composed of a touch switch (touch panel) displayed on the display unit 4, a mechanical push switch arranged in the peripheral portion of the display screen, and the like.

The map data storage unit 6 is, for example, a DVD-R.
OM (Digital Versatile Disk-Read Only Memory),
Map data, map matching data, mark data or HTML (Hype) from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory) or a memory card.
r Text Markup Language) Reads various data such as data and stores the read various data. The voice output unit 7 is composed of, for example, a speaker, and outputs voice for guidance, voice for screen operation, and the like. The memory unit 8 is, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a RAM.
(Random AccessMemory), etc., and stores a program for controlling the operation of the car navigation device 1 in its ROM area, and secures a work memory for the program in its RAM area and stores map data. The map data and the like input from the unit 6 is temporarily stored.

The control unit 2 has a function of controlling the overall operation of the car navigation device 1, and includes a map data acquisition unit 9, a map matching unit 10, a route calculation unit 11, a route guidance unit 12, a drawing unit 13 and The screen control management unit 14 is provided. The map data acquisition unit 9 acquires the map data necessary for the navigation operation from the map data storage unit 6, and the map matching unit 10 detects the current position detected by the position detection unit 3 and the map data acquisition unit 9 detects the map data. A process (so-called map matching process) of correcting the current position of the vehicle on the road of the map is performed based on the road shape data in the map data acquired from the storage unit 6.

By operating the switch information input unit 5 or the operation remote controller (not shown), the driver can display a desired map on the display unit 4 and set a destination. When the destination is set, the route calculation unit 11 automatically calculates the optimum route (guide route) from the current position detected by the position detection unit 3 (or the departure place designated by the driver) to the destination. To set. Here, as a method for automatically setting the optimum route, there is, for example, the Dijkstra method. The route guidance unit 12 calculates the points required for guidance based on the result of the route calculation, the road shape data in the map data, the position information of the intersection, the position information of the railroad crossing, etc. Turn, turn left, etc.) is calculated, and hourly guidance is given as the vehicle travels.

The on-vehicle camera control section 15 (imaging direction adjusting means in the present invention) communicates with the on-vehicle camera 16 (imaging means in the present invention) to control (adjust) the on / off of the in-vehicle camera 16 and the imaging direction. At the same time, the RGB signals representing the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 16 are input. In accordance with the instruction from the screen control management unit 14, the drawing unit 13 causes the display unit 4 to display a map of the current position, a schematic view of a highway, an enlarged view near an intersection, and the like, and also causes the screen control management unit 14 to
The RGB signal representing the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 16 is input through the vehicle-mounted camera control unit 15 to display the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 16 on the display unit 4.

Further, the driver can set a position corresponding to a desired place name, facility name, parking lot or the like as a position to be imaged by operating the switch information input unit 5 or the operation remote controller, and the memory can be set. When the imaging scheduled position is set, the unit 8 stores the imaging scheduled position, and also stores the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 16 at the imaging scheduled position.

Next, the operation of the car navigation system 1 thus constructed will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 10. In the following description, according to the processing of the control unit 2, (1) a process of storing the planned imaging position in the memory unit (2) when the current position almost reaches the planned imaging position,
Processing for causing the vehicle-mounted camera 16 to capture an external situation at that point and storing the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 16 in the memory unit 8 (3) reading the image from the memory unit 8 and displaying the read-out image on the display unit 4. The processing to be performed will be described in order.

(1) Processing for storing the planned imaging position in the memory section 8 The driver operates the switch information input section 5 or the operation remote controller to select the imaging planned position setting menu. When detecting that the operation of displaying the selection screen of the setting menu has been performed, the control unit 2 proceeds to step S
It is determined to be “YES” in 1 and the selection screen of the setting menu as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display unit 4 (step S2).

Here, if the driver selects "facility name" from the setting menu, the position corresponding to the facility name such as leisure facility, hot spring, hotel, or transportation (station, airport, etc.) is scheduled to be imaged. If you select "Telephone number", you can set the location corresponding to the facility of the entered telephone number as the planned imaging location. If you select "Address", you can enter the entered address (prefecture, municipality). , Etc.) can be set as the position to be imaged. In addition, the driver can set the position corresponding to one of the pre-registered memory points as the planned imaging position by selecting "Memory Point" from the setting menu, and selecting "Latitude / Longitude". The position corresponding to the input latitude and longitude can be set as the position to be imaged.

Next, when the control unit 2 detects that an operation of selecting one of the setting menus is performed and an operation of setting an arbitrary position as the planned imaging position is performed,
It is determined to be "YES" in step S3, and the set position is stored in the memory unit 8 as the position to be imaged (step S4). In this case, the control unit 2 can simultaneously store a plurality of different positions (for example, 100 positions) in the memory unit 8 as positions to be imaged.

(2) Processing control for causing the vehicle-mounted camera 16 to capture the external situation at the point when the current position has almost reached the position where the vehicle is to be imaged and to store the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 16 in the memory section 8. By performing the process (1) described above, the unit 2 determines “YES” in step S5 when the position to be imaged is stored in the memory unit 8, and the position detection unit 3 detects it. The current position is compared with the position of the planned imaging stored in the memory unit 8 (step S6).
When the control unit 2 detects that the current position detected by the position detection unit 3 is close to the planned imaging position (for example, the distance between them is within several kilometers), “YES” in step S7. ", And causes the vehicle-mounted camera control unit 15 to adjust the imaging direction of the vehicle-mounted camera 16 (step S8).

Specifically, in FIG. 3, when the driver wants to image a specific direction (for example, the direction in which an object to be imaged such as a favorite building exists) at a position where the image is to be taken, the driver can, for example, A deviation α in a specific direction (direction indicated by an arrow P in FIG. 3) based on true north is set. The control unit 2 shifts β in the traveling direction (direction indicated by an arrow Q in FIG. 3) of the vehicle A in which the car navigation apparatus 1 is mounted and traveling with reference to true north, for example.
Is calculated based on the azimuth calculated by the position detection unit 3, and the relative deviation (β−α) between the two is calculated based on the difference between the calculated deviation β and the deviation α previously set by the driver. Calculate,
Based on the calculated deviation (β-α), the vehicle-mounted camera control unit 15 is caused to adjust the imaging direction of the vehicle-mounted camera 16.
The driver does not necessarily have to set the image capturing direction, and does not need to set the image capturing direction if there is no favorite image capturing object.

Next, when the control unit 2 detects that the current position detected by the position detection unit 3 has substantially reached the position to be imaged, it determines "YES" in step S9,
The vehicle-mounted camera control unit 15 causes the vehicle-mounted camera 16 to capture an image (step S10). At this time, the control unit 2
In order to inform the driver that the vehicle-mounted camera 16 has captured an image, a voice message such as “I just captured an image” is output from the voice output unit 7.

Then, the control unit 2, as shown in FIG.
In addition to the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 16, an image capturing position indicating a position at which the image is actually captured, an image capturing date and time indicating an actual image capturing date and time, and an image capturing direction (for example, a traveling direction) when the image capturing direction is set. To the memory unit 8 (step S1)
1). The car navigation device 1 includes a calendar timing circuit (not shown) that counts the date and time,
The date and time are specified by the calendar timing circuit.

(3) An image is read out from the memory section 8 and the processing driver for displaying the read out image on the display section 4 is stored in the memory section 8 by operating the switch information input section 5 or the operation remote controller. Select the image readout menu. When the image is stored in the memory unit 8 by performing the process (2) described above, the control unit 2 returns “Y” in step S12.
If it is determined to be “ES” and it is detected that the operation for displaying the read menu selection screen is performed, it is determined to be “YES” in step S13, and the read menu selection screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display unit 4. Display (Step S1
4).

Here, if the driver selects "select by image pickup position" from the read menu, the driver can read the image taken at that image pickup position based on the image pickup position at which the image was actually taken, If "Select by image pickup date" is selected, the image picked up at the image pickup date can be read based on the image pickup date when the image was actually picked up. When any one of the read menus is selected, the control unit 2 determines “YES” in step S15, reads the image selected according to the operation from the memory unit 8,
The image read from the memory unit 8 is displayed on the display unit 4 (step S16).

7 and 8 show an example in which the driver selects, for example, "around XX town in Fujinomiya city" as the image capturing position, as an example of the case where the driver selects "select by image capturing position" from the read menu. The image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 16 at “the vicinity of XX town in Fujinomiya city”, which is the image capturing position, is displayed on the display unit 4.

In FIGS. 9 and 10, as an example of the case where the driver selects “select by image pickup date and time” from the read menu, for example, “April 15, 2001 16:10” is selected as the image pickup date and time. The image capturing date and time is “15 April 2001, 16:10”.
The image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 16 in “minute” is displayed on the display unit 4.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
In the car navigation device 1, when the driver performs an operation of setting a position to be imaged, the position to be imaged is stored in the memory unit 8, and when the current position of the vehicle almost reaches the position to be imaged, the vehicle-mounted camera 16 Is picked up, the picked-up image is stored in the memory unit 8, and when the driver performs an operation to display the image, the image is read from the memory unit 8 and displayed on the display unit 4. As configured.

Therefore, the driver stores a desired position as a position to be imaged before driving, so that the driver can know the external situation at the position to be imaged when traveling at the position to be imaged. It can be captured and stored, and thereafter, the stored image can be viewed by stopping at a safe place and displaying the stored image. It is possible to reliably confirm the external situation at the position of even at another place.

Further, in the case where the on-vehicle camera 16 is set to the image capturing direction, the vehicle-mounted camera 16 is configured to face the image capturing direction when the current position of the vehicle approaches the image capturing planned position. When you want to capture an image of a target such as your favorite building, you can set the direction from the planned imaging position to the imaging target as the imaging direction so that when you drive at the planned imaging position. , The imaged object can be imaged and stored, and thereafter, by stopping at a safe place and displaying the stored imaged object, the stored imaged object can be stored. You can be sure.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be modified or expanded as follows. The structure is not limited to the structure applied to the car navigation device mounted on the automobile, but may be a structure using a dedicated device. When the vehicle-mounted camera captures an image, the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera may be stored in the memory unit and the image may be displayed on the display unit in real time. Further, it may be configured such that whether or not the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera is displayed on the display unit in real time as described above.

Immediately after the vehicle-mounted camera captures an image, a display message may be displayed on the display unit instead of outputting a voice message from the voice output unit for notifying the driver that the vehicle-mounted camera has captured the image. Alternatively, the voice message may be output from the voice output unit and the display message may be displayed on the display unit at the same time.
The imaging means may be a vehicle-mounted camera that is installed in the automobile from the beginning or a portable digital camera that can be attached to and detached from the automobile. In the case of a digital camera, the digital camera is installed at a predetermined portion of the automobile. The image captured by the digital camera may be transferred to the car navigation device and displayed on the display unit.

The position to be imaged may be set in advance, or may be set, for example, by a specific genre, a specific facility, or a specific area.

After searching for facilities or points by the search function of normal navigation operation, it is possible to set whether or not to set the searched facilities or points as the planned imaging positions and set the planned imaging positions. It may be configured to.

A preset number of images may be continuously picked up at the same position for picking up images,
Accordingly, a plurality of images captured by the vehicle-mounted camera may be configured to be displayed on the display unit in frame-by-frame increments. With such a configuration, changes in the situation can be confirmed.

The image may be compressed and stored in the memory unit, and the image compressed and stored in the memory unit may be decompressed and displayed on the display unit. More images can be stored in the memory unit.

A radio wave beacon system, an optical beacon system or an FM multiplex broadcasting system may be used to specify the current position by wireless communication with the outside.

The program for performing the above processing is not limited to the program stored in the memory unit from the beginning (for example, at the stage of commercialization), but may be downloaded from a specific server to a car navigation device through a network or a CD-ROM. It may be transferred from a storage medium such as a card or card to the car navigation device and installed.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 Flow chart

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an imaging direction.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an imaging position, an imaging date and time, and an imaging direction.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display.

FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 8 is a view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 10 is a view corresponding to FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

In the drawings, 1 is a car navigation device (image capturing device), 2 is a control unit (imaging control means, display control means), 3
Is a position detection unit (current position specifying unit), 4 is a display unit (display unit), 5 is a switch information input unit (position setting unit, imaging direction setting unit), 7 is a voice output unit (notifying unit), and 8 is a memory. Reference numeral 15 is an in-vehicle camera control unit (imaging direction adjusting unit), and 16 is an in-vehicle camera (imaging unit).

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A position storage unit for storing a position to be imaged, a current position specifying unit for specifying a current position, an image pickup unit, and a current position specified by the current position specifying unit in the position storage unit. An image capturing control unit that causes the image capturing unit to capture the external situation at the image capturing planned position when the stored image capturing planned position is substantially reached, and an image storage unit that stores the image captured by the image capturing unit. An image pickup device provided with. 2. The image pickup device according to claim 1, further comprising display means and display control means for reading an image stored in the image storage means and displaying the read image on the display means. An image pickup device characterized by the above. 3. The image pickup device according to claim 1, further comprising a position setting unit for setting a position of an image pickup scheduled stored in the position storage unit. 4. The image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein the position storage means stores a plurality of different positions to be picked up. 5. The image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup unit picks up images a plurality of times at the same scheduled image pickup position. 6. The image pickup device according to claim 1, further comprising an image pickup direction setting unit for setting an image pickup direction of the image pickup unit. 7. The image pickup device according to claim 6, wherein when the current position specified by the current position specifying unit comes close to a position to be imaged stored in the position storage unit, the image pickup unit An image pickup apparatus comprising: an image pickup direction adjusting unit that adjusts the image pickup direction of the image pickup unit to the image pickup direction preset by the image pickup direction setting unit. 8. The image capturing device according to claim 1, wherein the image storage unit stores an image captured by the image capturing unit,
An image pickup apparatus, which stores the image pickup date and time. 9. The image pickup device according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit that operates when the image pickup unit picks up an image. 10. A procedure for comparing a positional relationship between a current position specified by the current position specifying means and a position to be imaged, which is stored in advance in the position storage means, in the image pickup device; When it almost reaches the position where the imaging is planned,
A program for executing a procedure for causing an image capturing unit to capture an external situation at a position where the image capturing is planned and a procedure for storing an image captured by the image capturing unit in an image storage unit. 11. The program according to claim 10, for executing a procedure for displaying an image stored in the image storage means on a display means. 12. The program according to claim 10, wherein when the current position approaches the position where the image is to be captured, a procedure for adjusting the image capturing direction of the image capturing unit to a preset image capturing direction is executed. Program for.