JP2003163928A - Image monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the time and labor which become necessary in monitoring work using many cameras, and also to prevent the occurrence of a human error. <P>SOLUTION: Computers 2<SB>1</SB>-2<SB>n</SB>for accumulation preserve images taken by n pieces of cameras 1<SB>1</SB>-1<SB>n</SB>, relating them to the information about the time when the images are acquired, and also perform the judgement of existence of abnormal objects within the images, and output the information about the time when the image being determined that there is an abnormal object is acquired and the information about the position of the camera which has taken the image to a computer 3 for totalization. The computer 3 for totalization receives the information about the time when the abnormal object is detected and the positional information from n pieces of computers 2<SB>1</SB>-2<SB>n</SB>for accumulation, and totalizes the time information and the positional information at every hour and preserve them. A computer 4 for compilation of display forms performs the setting of display form of the time information and positional information preserved in the computer 3 for totalization. A terminal 6 for display perform the display of the time information and the positional information, based on the form set by the computer 4 for compilation of forms. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image monitoring system for monitoring an image from an image pickup device such as a plurality of cameras arranged at a plurality of points.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, CCD (Charge Cou
2. Description of the Related Art With the high performance and low price of cameras, the use of TV cameras has rapidly become widespread. In addition, by expanding the information distribution infrastructure via the Internet, etc., it becomes possible to obtain information at remote locations at low cost, and the need for monitoring technology from remote locations using networks is becoming apparent.

At present, an image monitoring system in which a plurality of TV cameras and a computer are combined is sold, and most of them have a large-capacity storage device so that an image from the TV camera is stored as a digital image in the storage device. It has become. In such an image monitoring system, since the video information stored as a digital image is stored in the storage device together with the information on the recording time and the recording location, the necessary video information is searched without replacing the video tape or the like. It is possible.

However, in such a conventional image monitoring system, when the installation place of the surveillance camera is increased, the number of monitors for displaying the image information picked up by the surveillance camera is increased, or the cameras are switched every time. It is necessary to take measures such as displaying. Then, in the conventional image monitoring system, since only the recording time and the recording location information are added to the recorded video information, first, the video is selected based on the time and the recording location regarding the necessary video information, and then the It was necessary to search for the necessary parts by visual confirmation. In addition, when it is not possible to specify the acquisition time and the shooting location as in suspicious person monitoring, it was necessary to visually check all the images. Furthermore, in the conventional image monitoring system, it is necessary to judge whether or not the recorded image information includes an abnormal object by human eyes, but there is a limit in monitoring by human eyes. , Human error such as oversight occurs.

[0005]

The above-mentioned conventional image monitoring system has the following problems. (1) In order to confirm the recorded image information, it is necessary to visually confirm all the recorded image information by a human, so that the monitoring work requires time and labor. Especially, as the surveillance area and surveillance cameras increase, this time and labor increase further. (2) Since it is necessary to determine whether or not an abnormal object is included in the recorded image information by human eyes or the like, a human error such as an oversight may occur.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image monitoring system capable of reducing the time and labor required for monitoring work using a large number of cameras and preventing the occurrence of human error.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an image monitoring system of the present invention is an image monitoring system for monitoring images from a plurality of image pickup devices respectively arranged at a plurality of points, A plurality of image pickup devices installed at a plurality of places, respectively, save the images captured by the plurality of image pickup devices in association with time information when the images are acquired, and determine the presence or absence of an abnormal object in the image And a plurality of storage computers that output time information when the image determined to have an abnormal object and position information of the imaging device that captured the image, and an abnormal object from the plurality of storage computers is detected. A counting computer that receives the time information and the position information, and collects and saves the time information and the position information for each time; and the time information stored in the counting computer. And a display format editing computer for setting the display format of the position information, and a display terminal for displaying the time information and the position information based on the format set by the display format editing computer. .

According to the present invention, the presence or absence of an abnormal object in the images picked up by a plurality of image pickup devices is determined in each storage computer, and the time information and the image at which the image determined to have the abnormal object is acquired. Since the position information of the image pickup device that picked up the image is centrally managed in the counting computer, it is possible to reduce the time and labor required for the monitoring work and prevent the occurrence of human error.

Another image monitoring system of the present invention is
Each of the plurality of storage computers stores an image storage unit for storing an image and an image captured by each image capturing device in the image storage unit in association with time information when the image was captured. Image information acquisition means, reference image storage means for accumulating a reference image that is an image in which there is no abnormal object, and the images acquired by the image information acquisition means are sequentially observed, and a change occurs in the image for a certain time or longer. If not, the reference image generation means for accumulating the image at that time as the reference image in the reference image storage means, and the correlation value between the acquired image at the current time and the reference image stored in the reference image storage means If the calculated correlation value is less than or equal to a preset threshold value, the image comparison unit that determines that there is an abnormal object and the position information where the imaging device is installed are registered in advance. Installation information registration means, and interface means for transmitting time information when the image determined to have an abnormal object by the image comparison means and position information registered in the installation information registration means to the counting computer. It consists of

Another image monitoring system of the present invention is
Each of the plurality of storage computers stores an image storage unit for storing an image and an image captured by each image capturing device in the image storage unit in association with time information when the image was captured. An image information acquisition unit, a reference image storage unit for accumulating a reference image which is an image in which no abnormal object exists, and a reference image generated by obtaining an average for a certain period of time of the images acquired by the image information acquisition unit. Then, the correlation value between the reference image generation means for accumulating in the reference image storage means, the acquired image at the current time and the reference image stored in the reference image storage means is calculated, and the calculated correlation value is set in advance. If it is less than or equal to the threshold value, an image comparison unit that determines that there is an abnormal object, an installation information registration unit that pre-registers position information where the imaging device is installed, and the image comparison unit Image determined as there abnormal object is composed of the interface means to transmit the location information registered in the time information and the installation information registration means captured in the aggregate for computer by stage.

Further, another image monitoring system of the present invention further comprises a plurality of sensors which are provided for each of the plurality of image pickup devices and which detect an abnormal object and output the result as sensor information. Image storage means for storing images, and image information acquisition means for storing images captured by the image capturing devices in the image storage means in association with time information when the images were captured. A sensor information storage unit for storing the sensor information; a sensor information acquisition unit for storing the sensor information from the sensor in the sensor information storage unit together with time information when the sensor information was acquired; An object detection unit that searches the sensor information stored in the storage unit, and transmits time information indicating that the sensor information has detected an abnormal object, The installation information registration means in which the position information of the image pickup device is registered in advance, the time information transmitted from the object detection means, and the position information registered in the installation information registration means are used for the aggregation. The image monitoring system according to claim 1, comprising an interface means for transmitting to a computer.

In the image monitoring system of the present invention, an infrared sensor or an ultrasonic sensor may be used as the sensor.

According to the present invention, the presence or absence of an abnormal object is detected by the sensor. Therefore, as compared with the case where the presence or absence of an abnormal object is determined by obtaining the correlation value between the acquired image information and the reference image. It is possible to reduce the time required for the processing for determining the presence / absence of an abnormal object.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an image monitoring system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The image monitoring system of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, are respectively connected to the plurality of n which are disposed in a point of the camera 1 ₁ to 1 _n, the camera 1 ₁ to 1 _n n Individual storage computer groups 2 ₁ to 2 _n , aggregating computer 3,
A display format editing computer 4 and a display terminal 6 are provided. The storage computer groups 2 ₁ to 2 _n , the tabulation computer 3, the display format editing computer 4, and the display terminal 6 are connected via a network 5. Storage computer 2 ₁ ~
Network communication software is installed in 2 _n . Further, the network terminal software is installed on the display terminal 6.

The storage computers 2 ₁ to 2 _n are connected to the cameras 1 ₁ to 1 _n.
The image captured by the image is stored in association with the time information when the image was acquired, and the presence or absence of an abnormal object in the image is determined, and the time information and the time when the image determined to have an abnormal object is acquired. The position information of the camera from which the image was captured is output.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the storage computer 2 ₁ . Storage computer 2 ₁ includes an image information acquisition unit 20, a reference image generating unit 21, an image storage unit 22, the reference image storage section 23
And an image comparison unit 24, an installation information registration unit 25, and a network interface unit 26. The configuration of the storage computers 2 _{2 to} 2 _n is also similar to that of the storage computer 2 ₁ , and the description thereof is omitted.

The image information acquisition unit 20, an image captured by the camera 1 _1, accumulate over time information the image is captured in the image storage unit 22.

The reference image storage unit 23 stores an image having no abnormal object as a reference image.

The reference image generation unit 21 includes an image information acquisition unit 2
The images acquired by 0 are sequentially observed, and when the images have not changed for a certain time or more, the image at that time is stored in the reference image storage unit 23 as the reference image. Alternatively, the reference image generation unit 21 may generate the reference image by calculating the average of the images acquired by the image information acquisition unit 20 for a certain period and store the reference image in the reference image storage unit 23.

The image comparison unit 24 calculates a correlation value between the acquired image at the current time and the reference image stored in the reference image storage unit 23, and when the calculated correlation value is equal to or less than a preset threshold value, It is determined that there is an abnormal object, and the time information is transmitted to the network interface unit 26.

The installation information registering unit 25, the position information camera 1 ₁ such as the position in the room number and the room is installed is registered in advance.

The network interface unit 26 sends the time information when the abnormal object is detected, which is transmitted from the image comparison unit 24, and the position information registered in the installation information registration unit 25 to the counting computer 3 via the network 5. Send.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the counting computer 3. The counting computer 3 includes a storage computer database unit 30, a detection result totaling unit 31, a detection result storing unit 32, and a network interface unit 33.

In the storage computer database section 30, the network address of the storage computer 3 is registered in advance as a database.

The detection result totaling unit 31 sequentially accesses the storage computers registered in the storage computer database unit 30 and receives time information and position information when an abnormal object is detected. Then, the detection result counting section 31, after receiving the presence or absence of detection from all storage computer 2 ₁ to 2 _n, which is registered, the time from the storage computer detects an abnormal object, the result detects the position information storage section 32 Send to.

The detection result accumulating section 32 includes a detection result totaling section 3
The location information of the storage computer received from 1 is sorted by time and stored as a database.

The time information and the position information accumulated in the detection result accumulating section 32 are transmitted to the display format editing computer 4 via the network interface section 33.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the display format editing computer 4. The display format editing computer 4 has a display format setting unit 41.
A display format storage unit 42, a detection data conversion unit 43,
It is composed of a counting computer database unit 40 and a network interface unit 44.

The display format setting unit 41 has a program creating and editing function for converting the time information and the position information received from the tabulation computer 3 into the drawing information shown in FIG.

The display format storage section 42 is a display format setting section 4
It has a function of saving an arbitrary number of programs created in 1. The network address of the counting computer 3 is registered in the counting computer database unit 40 in advance as a database.

The detection data conversion unit 43 is provided with a counting computer database unit 40 when a request is made from the display terminal 6.
The computer 3 for aggregation is accessed according to the retrieved network address to request the time information when the abnormal object is detected and the position information of the camera which has detected the abnormal object, and receive the data. Then, the detection data conversion unit 43
Converts the received position information and time information into drawing information based on the program stored in the display format storage unit 42 and transmits the drawing information to the display terminal 6. The drawing information transmitted to the display terminal 6 represents the room in which the cameras 1 ₁ to 1 _n are arranged, the terrain, etc. as a simplified figure, and the camera 1 ₁
All information can be displayed as a list according to the location of ~ 1 _n . Further, the map image and the drawing information such that the detection position is drawn and displayed in the map image may be used.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a sequence of processing for performing person detection processing in the storage computer groups 2 ₁ to 2 _n , the tabulation computer 3, the display format editing computer 4, and the display terminal 6. The flow of displaying the result on the display terminal 6 from the person detection is as follows.

The counting computer 3 includes the storage computer groups 2 ₁ ...
The detection result request is delivered to 2 _n (step 601). The accumulation computer group 2 ₁ to 2 _n is the aggregation computer 3
The detection result is transmitted to (step 602). The tallying computer 3 receives the tallying results, tallies them, adds them to the database, and saves them (step 603). Further, the above-mentioned "detection request", "detection result reception", and "database update" are repeated at regular time intervals.

Next, the user operates the display terminal 6 to enter the time range for detecting a person. Then, the detection time request is transmitted from the display terminal 6 to the display format editing computer 4 (step 604). The display format editing computer 4 transmits a time range designation detection result request to the tallying computer 3 (step 605). Calculating computer 3
According to the time range designation from the display format editing computer 4, the detection result is retrieved from the database and transmitted to the display format editing computer 4 (step 606). The display format editing computer 4 receives the position information and the time information (501 in FIG. 5), which are the detection results from the tabulation computer 3, and converts them to the display program format (502 in FIG. 5) (step 607). ), And sends it as drawing information to the display terminal 6 (step 608). The display terminal 6 receives the display program and displays it on the terminal display (503 in FIG. 5).
To do. At the same time, from the display terminal 6 to the storage computer 2 ₁
Image information is requested in accordance with the detection time information at ~ _2n (step 609). Upon receipt of the image time request from the display terminal 6, the storage computer group transmits the image information at the requested time to the display terminal 6 (step 61).
0). The display terminal 6 that has received the image from the storage computer groups 2 to 2 displays the received image information on the terminal display.

By performing the above processing,
According to the image monitoring system of the present embodiment, the time information and the position information when the abnormal object is detected are collectively displayed on the display terminal 6, so that the user can use each of the storage computers 2 ₁ to 2 _n.
Since it is not necessary to check all the image information recorded in each of the above, it is possible to reduce the time and labor required for the monitoring work as compared with the conventional image monitoring system. Further, since the user can carry out the surveillance work by referring to only the information displayed on the display terminal 6, the time and labor required for the surveillance work hardly change even if the surveillance area and surveillance cameras increase. Moreover, the determination of whether or not contain abnormal object on the recorded image information is to be done by each storing computer 2 ₁ to 2 _n, human error does not occur, such as oversight.

(Second Embodiment) Next, an image monitoring system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the image monitoring system of the first embodiment, the presence or absence of an abnormal object is determined by calculating the correlation value between the acquired image at the current time and the reference image. Therefore, a certain amount of time is required for the process of determining the presence / absence of an abnormal object from the acquired image information. The image monitoring system according to the second embodiment of the present invention is for reducing the time required for this determination processing.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an image monitoring system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The image monitoring system of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, has n cameras 1 ₁ to 1 _n , n sensor groups 7 _{1 to} 7 _n , and n storage computer groups 12 _{1 to} 12 _n , a counting computer 3, a display format editing computer 4, and a display terminal 6. The storage computer group 12 ₁ -
12 _n , the tabulation computer 3, the display format editing computer 4, and the display terminal 6 are connected via a network 5. Network communication software is installed in the storage computers 12 _{1 to} 12 _n . Further, the network terminal software is installed on the display terminal 6.

The image monitoring system of this embodiment is different from the image monitoring system of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that the storage computer groups 2 ₁ to 2 _n are replaced by storage computer groups 12 _{1 to} 12 _n . The sensors 7 _{1 to} 7 _n are connected to the storage computer groups 12 _{1 to} 12 _n , respectively.

Specifically, the sensors 7 _{1 to} 7 _n are composed of infrared sensors or ultrasonic sensors, and the camera 1 ₁
They are installed so as to correspond to the visual field directions of 1 _n .

FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the storage computer 12 ₁ .
The storage computer 12 ₁ includes an image information acquisition unit 50, an image storage unit 51, a sensor information acquisition unit 52, a sensor information storage unit 53, an object detection unit 54, an installation information registration unit 55,
The network interface unit 56. The configuration of the storage computers 12 _{2 to} 12 _n is also the same as the configuration of the storage computer 12 ₁ , and the description thereof is omitted.

The image information acquisition unit 50, an image captured by the camera 1 ₁ is stored in the image storage unit 51 together with the time information which the image has been captured.

The sensor 7 ₁ detects an abnormal object and outputs the result as sensor information. As the sensor information, specifically, a sensor signal that turns on when an abnormal object is detected and turns off when no abnormal object is detected is used.

The sensor information acquiring unit 52, the sensor information from the sensor _71, is stored in the sensor information storage section 53 together with the time information which the sensor information was obtained.

The installation information registering unit 55, the position information camera 1 ₁ such as the position in the room number and the room is installed is registered in advance.

The object detection unit 54 includes a sensor information storage unit 53.
The sensor information stored in is retrieved, and time information indicating that the sensor information has detected an abnormal object is transmitted to the network interface unit 56.

The network interface section 56 is
The time information transmitted from the object detection unit 54 and the position information registered in the installation information registration unit 55 are transmitted to the counting computer 3.

The subsequent processing is the same as that of the image monitoring system of the first embodiment described above, and the system outline and the block diagram of the storage computer processing and the internal processing thereof are different.

According to the present embodiment, since the abnormal object is detected by the sensor without comparing the reference image and the acquired image, in addition to the effect obtained by the first embodiment, the acquired image is acquired. It is possible to obtain an effect that it is possible to reduce the time required for the process for determining the presence / absence of an abnormal object from image information.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The following effects can be obtained. (1) The presence or absence of an abnormal object in images captured by a plurality of imaging devices is determined by each storage computer, the time information at which the image determined to have an abnormal object is acquired, and the imaging device that captured the image. Since the location information is centrally managed by the aggregation computer, it is possible to reduce the time and labor required for the monitoring work and prevent the occurrence of human error. (2) By making the sensor detect an abnormal object without comparing the reference image with the acquired image, the time required for the process for determining the presence or absence of the abnormal object from the acquired image information can be reduced. Can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing a configuration of an image monitoring system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a storage computer 2 ₁ in the image monitoring system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a tallying computer 3 in the image monitoring system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a display format editing computer 4 in the image monitoring system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram for explaining a process of editing received data in the display format editing computer 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a sequence of processing for detecting a person in the image monitoring system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a system diagram showing a configuration of an image monitoring system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a storage computer 12 ₁ in an image monitoring system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ₁ to 1 _n camera 2 _{1 to} 2 _n storage computer 3 tabulation computer 4 display format editing computer 5 network 6 display terminal 7 _{1 to} 7 _n sensor 12 _{1 to} 12 _n storage computer 20 image information acquisition unit 21 Reference image generation unit 22 Image storage unit 23 Reference image storage unit 24 Image comparison unit 25 Installation information registration unit 26 Network interface unit 30 Storage computer database unit 31 Detection result totaling unit 32 Detection result storage unit 33 Network interface unit 40 Totaling computer Database unit 41 Display format setting unit 42 Display format storage unit 43 Detection data conversion unit 44 Network interface unit 50 Image information acquisition unit 51 Image storage unit 52 Sensor information acquisition unit 53 Sensor information storage unit 54 Object detection unit 55 Installation information registration unit 56 Network interface unit 501 Time information and location information 502 Display 601 to 610 steps of the display program 503 display terminal 6

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 5/765 H04N 5/91 L (72) Inventor Taku Nishio 2-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo F-Term in Japan Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (Reference) 5C022 AA01 AA15 AB61 AC69 5C053 FA09 FA11 FA14 FA21 FA27 HA29 JA30 LA01 LA05 LA11 LA14 5C054 AA02 CA05 CA08 CE14 CG06 CG07 CH02 CH08 DA01 DA06 EA01 EA03 EA05 FC12 5 AA03 AA22 AA24 BB03 BB11 BB74 DD03 DD20 DD33 EE07 EE11 FF01 FF02 FF04 FF19 FF20 GG02 GG08 GG12 GG19 GG22 GG23 GG32 GG66 GG67 GG71 GG83

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image monitoring system for monitoring images from a plurality of image pickup devices respectively arranged at a plurality of points, comprising: a plurality of image pickup devices respectively installed at a plurality of places; The captured image is stored in association with the time information when the image was acquired, and the presence or absence of an abnormal object in the image is determined, and the time information when the image determined to have an abnormal object and the image are acquired. A plurality of storage computers that output the position information of the image pickup device that has captured the image, and the time information and the position information when the abnormal object is detected from the plurality of storage computers are received, and the time information and the position information are obtained at each time. And a display format editing computer for setting the display format of the time information and the location information stored in the totalizing computer, and the display Image monitoring system comprising, based on the set form by the formula editing computer, and a display terminal that displays the time information and position information. 2. The plurality of storage computers respectively store an image storage unit for storing an image, and associate the image captured by each image capturing device with time information when the image was captured. Image information acquisition means for accumulating in the storage means, reference image storage means for accumulating a reference image that is an image in which no abnormal object exists, and the images acquired by the image information acquisition means are sequentially observed and fixed to the image. Reference image generation means for accumulating the image at that time as a reference image in the reference image storage means when no change occurs over time, the acquired image at the current time, and the reference image stored in the reference image storage means If the calculated correlation value is less than or equal to a preset threshold value, an image comparison unit that determines that there is an abnormal object, and position information where the imaging device is installed Is registered in advance, the time information at which the image determined to have an abnormal object by the image comparison unit is captured, and the position information registered in the installation information registration unit are stored in the counting computer. The image monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising an interface means for transmitting. 3. The plurality of storage computers respectively associate an image storage unit for storing an image, and an image captured by each of the image capturing devices with time information when the image was captured. Image information acquisition means for accumulating in the storage means, reference image storage means for accumulating a reference image that is an image without an abnormal object, and obtaining an average of the images acquired by the image information acquisition means for a certain period. A reference image generation unit that generates a reference image by the above and stores it in the reference image storage unit, and a correlation value between the acquired image at the current time and the reference image stored in the reference image storage unit is calculated and calculated. When the correlation value is less than or equal to a preset threshold value, an image comparison unit that determines that there is an abnormal object, and an installation information registration unit that pre-registers position information where the imaging device is installed And interface means for transmitting time information when the image determined by the image comparison means is an abnormal object and position information registered in the installation information registration means to the counting computer. The image monitoring system according to claim 1. 4. A plurality of sensors, each of which is provided for each of the plurality of imaging devices, detects an abnormal object and outputs the result as sensor information, wherein the plurality of storage computers respectively store images. An image storage unit for storing the image, an image information acquisition unit for storing the image captured by each of the image capturing devices in the image storage unit in association with time information when the image was captured, and a sensor for storing the sensor information. An information storage unit, a sensor information acquisition unit that stores the sensor information from the sensor in the sensor information storage unit together with time information when the sensor information was acquired, and a sensor information stored in the sensor information storage unit. An object detection unit that searches and transmits time information indicating that the sensor information has detected an abnormal object, and position information in which the imaging device is installed. Is registered in advance, and interface means for transmitting the time information transmitted from the object detection means and the position information registered in the installation information registration means to the counting computer. The image monitoring system according to claim 1. 5. The image monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein the sensor is an infrared sensor. 6. The image monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein the sensor is an ultrasonic sensor.