JP2004210045A - Monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitoring device of a simple configuration capable of surely detecting people, vehicles and falling objects within a crossing while a crossing bar is lowered. <P>SOLUTION: The monitoring device is provided with a radar information creating means for creating three-dimensional radar information according to distance information detected by a laser radar, an object detecting means for detecting objects in the crossing based on the three-dimensional radar information, a monitoring condition determining means that determines whether or not the crossing bar is positioned at a preset watching point (space coordinates) based on the three-dimensional radar information and controls the execution of the object monitoring operation for the crossing area, and a monitoring control means that controls the object detecting operation of the object detecting means in response to the control of the monitoring condition determining means or controls the output of the detection result from the object detecting means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a monitoring device suitable for monitoring a moving object, a falling object, or the like existing in a railroad crossing area, for example, even when a barrier is down.
[0002]
[Related background art]
When monitoring a moving object or the like in a predetermined monitoring area, a monitoring camera is generally used conventionally. However, camera images obtained using a surveillance camera are generally susceptible to weather (weather), and monitoring at night is difficult. On the other hand, recently, it has been proposed to monitor an intruder or the like in a predetermined monitoring area using a laser radar (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2). According to the monitoring system using this laser radar, object detection can be performed without being affected by weather (weather) or the like.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-227608 [Patent Document 2]
JP-A-11-352245
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When monitoring a person or a vehicle at an intersection using a laser radar, it is preferable to determine the direction of movement of the person or the vehicle according to the instruction state of the traffic light. Similarly, when using a laser radar to monitor an abnormality in a railroad crossing, it is determined whether a person, a vehicle, a falling object, etc. exists in the railroad crossing according to whether the circuit breaker has descended. Is preferred.
[0005]
However, in order to perform monitoring according to the instruction state of the traffic signal or the operation state of the circuit breaker, for example, the operation signal of the traffic signal or the circuit breaker or the operation control signal thereof is detected, and the monitoring processing operation by the laser radar (for example, the object recognition processing) It is necessary to control Specifically, an operation control signal for operating a traffic light or a circuit breaker is input to a monitoring device via a predetermined signal line, and a monitoring process using a laser radar is performed in conjunction with the operation of the traffic light or the circuit breaker. Is required. Therefore, it cannot be denied that the system configuration becomes large.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make effective use of the functions of a laser radar so that the circuit breaker can be operated without inputting an operation control signal of the circuit breaker, for example. It is an object of the present invention to provide a monitoring device having a simple configuration capable of reliably detecting a person, a vehicle, a falling object, and the like in a railroad crossing in a downed state.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a monitoring device according to claim 1 of the present invention includes:
(1) a laser radar that scans the irradiation direction of the laser pulse light over the entire predetermined monitoring area while receiving the reflected light of the laser pulse light irradiated in a predetermined direction;
{Circle around (2)} radar information generating means for obtaining three-dimensional radar information indicating the spatial coordinates of the reflection point of the laser pulse light from the distance information (light reception timing of reflected light) detected by the laser radar and the information on the scanning direction. When,
{Circle around (3)} object detection means for detecting an object present in the predetermined monitoring area from the three-dimensional radar information;
{Circle around (4)} monitoring condition determining means for determining the presence or absence of a specific object at a preset point of interest (spatial coordinates) from the three-dimensional radar information and controlling execution of an object monitoring process on the monitoring region;
{Circle around (5)} monitoring control means for controlling an object detecting operation by the object detecting means under control of the monitoring condition determining means, or controlling output of a detection result by the object detecting means. .
[0008]
That is, the monitoring apparatus according to the present invention focuses on the fact that the movement of a specific object in a predetermined monitoring area is related to the necessity of the object monitoring processing on the monitoring area, and detects the spatial coordinates of the object held by the laser radar. It is determined whether or not the specific object is positioned at a predetermined portion (point of interest) by effectively utilizing the function (monitoring condition determining means), and the object detecting operation by the object detecting means is performed according to the determination result. It is characterized by controlling or controlling the output of the detection result by the object detecting means (monitoring control means). In other words, by using the function of the monitoring device equipped with the laser radar, the processing operation is controlled by itself, so that the necessary monitoring processing operation is executed without inputting a control signal from outside. .
[0009]
In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the predetermined monitoring area is a level crossing area, and the reference object is a barrier that partitions the level crossing area. This is realized as determining whether or not the aircraft is at the standby position. In particular, by detecting that the circuit breaker is not at the standby position, control is performed to execute the monitoring operation, in other words, the monitoring operation is stopped only when the circuit breaker is at the standby position. The feature is that monitoring processing is performed inside a railroad crossing with high reliability, with an emphasis on safety.
[0010]
A monitoring device according to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the monitoring device according to the first or second aspect, further includes a coordinate conversion unit configured to convert the three-dimensional radar information into planar coordinates to create a monitoring image. An image display unit is provided which superimposes and displays auxiliary information for specifying the object obtained by the object detection unit on the monitoring image created by the coordinate conversion unit.
[0011]
According to the monitoring device configured as described above, it is possible to display an image in a form that makes it easy to visually grasp (recognize) an object that is unintentionally present in a predetermined monitoring area and the position of the object. As a result, for example, it is possible to quickly and accurately take measures such as issuing an alarm and recording the above-described three-dimensional radar information at that time.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking an example of monitoring an abnormal intrusion into a railroad crossing.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a monitoring device according to this embodiment, and reference numeral 10 denotes a laser radar that scans a predetermined monitoring target area. The laser radar 10 is integrally housed in a predetermined housing to constitute a sensor unit, and is installed at a monitoring point of a predetermined height such as a wall surface of a building or a telephone pole so as to overlook a level crossing area which is a monitoring target area. Is provided. If one laser radar 10 cannot overlook the entire crossing area (monitoring area), a plurality of laser radars 10 are provided at different installation positions.
[0013]
Incidentally, the laser radar 10 is provided with, for example, a main scanning motor 12 for rotating and driving the polyhedral mirror 11 at a constant speed, and the rotation axis of the main scanning motor 12 is orthogonal to the main scanning motor 12 so that the rotation axis of the polyhedral mirror 11 is predetermined. And a sub-scanning motor 13 that oscillates the rotating surface of the polyhedral mirror 11 at a predetermined speed by tilting it within an angle range of. By irradiating the laser pulse light emitted from the laser light source 14 to the polyhedral mirror 11 via the half mirror 15, the laser pulse light is directed to a predetermined monitoring area according to the rotation and inclination of the polyhedral mirror 11. Irradiation is performed, and the reflected light from the monitoring area of the laser pulse light is received and detected by the light receiver 17 from the polyhedral mirror 11 via the condenser lens 16.
[0014]
That is, the laser radar 10 deflects and scans the irradiation direction of the laser pulse light in the main scanning direction (x direction) at high speed by the rotation of the polyhedral mirror 11 and its swing, and moves the scanning surface in the sub scanning direction (y direction). 2), thereby scanning the entire predetermined monitoring target area as illustrated in FIG. Then, the light reflected by various objects existing in the monitoring target area is received in synchronization with the irradiation of the laser pulse light, and the light reception timing (elapsed time from the laser pulse light irradiation timing to the reflected light reception timing) is obtained. It is configured to obtain distance information to an object (reflection point). The scanning range of the laser radar 10 is set to, for example, 60 degrees in the main scanning (horizontal) direction and 30 degrees in the sub-scanning (vertical) direction. Further, the laser radar 10 irradiates laser pulse light every time the scanning direction changes by 0.1 degrees and receives the reflected light, thereby sequentially transmitting information of reflected light from a total of [600 × 300] directions. It is configured to detect.
[0015]
On the other hand, for example, the monitoring apparatus main body 20 composed of a personal computer includes radar information creating means 21 for obtaining three-dimensional radar information indicating the spatial coordinates of the reflection point from the reflected light information detected by using the laser radar 10 described above. . More specifically, the radar information creating means 21 receives a synchronization signal from a laser pulse scanning circuit 21a for driving the laser light source 14 as shown in FIG. , A reflected light detector 21b for measuring the distance, a distance information converter 21c for converting the measurement time into distance information, and a density converter 21d for converting the distance information into density information.
[0016]
Incidentally, it is of course possible to directly convert the measurement time into light and shade information. Further, in this embodiment, an example is shown in which the above-mentioned distance information is converted into density information in which the density increases as the distance increases. However, a color tone conversion in which the color changes stepwise according to the distance may be performed. When it is not necessary to visualize the three-dimensional radar information as a laser radar image, the measurement time obtained by the reflected light detection unit 21b is used as it is for the reflection point of the laser pulse light without performing the above-described grayscale conversion or the like. Of course, it can be used as information.
[0017]
The laser radar image as the three-dimensional radar information is obtained by converting the density information (distance information) obtained as described above into a predetermined image memory 21e in accordance with the main scanning angle and sub-scanning angle information obtained from the laser pulse scanning circuit 21a. It is created by mapping sequentially on top. That is, the density information (distance information) obtained at that time is written to the coordinates (address of the image memory 21e) specified by the main scanning angle and the sub-scanning angle indicating the scanning direction of the laser pulse light, so that the image memory A laser radar image for three-dimensionally specifying the reflection point of the laser pulse light in the above-described monitoring target area is created on 21e.
[0018]
The monitoring device body 20 includes an object detection unit 22 that detects an object existing in the monitoring target area from the three-dimensional radar information (laser radar image) in addition to the above-described radar information creation unit 21. A monitoring condition determining unit configured to determine the presence or absence of a specific object at a predetermined point of interest (spatial coordinates) based on the information and to control execution of an object monitoring process on the monitoring target region; An area determining unit 24 for limiting an area is provided. Further, the monitoring apparatus main body 20 includes a plane coordinate conversion unit 25, a motion detection unit 26, and an auxiliary information display unit 27, as described later, in addition to these basic processing functions.
[0019]
Each of these functions will be described. Basically, the object detecting means 22 converts a set of a predetermined number or more of reflection points whose spatial coordinates are continuous from the three-dimensional radar information into one object having a certain size. And a function of detecting the center of gravity as an object position. The motion detecting means 26 determines whether the object is a fixed object or a moving object based on the temporal change of the position of the center of gravity of the object detected in this manner. In particular, when it is recognized that the object is a moving object, the direction of the change in the position of the center of gravity is recognized as the moving direction, and the amount of change in the position of the center of gravity is recognized as the moving speed.
[0020]
Further, the area determining means 24 has a role of determining whether or not the position of the object detected as described above is present in a preset monitoring target area. Specifically, the scanning range by the laser radar 10 is an area determined by horizontal scanning and vertical scanning in the direction of irradiating the laser pulse light and detecting the reflected light as described above, and includes all of the monitoring target area. It is set as follows. Therefore, the objects detected as described above include those existing at positions outside the monitoring target area. Therefore, the area determining means 24 determines only the area in which the object detection is to be performed in the spatial area scanned by the laser radar 10. By such region determination processing, for example, the ground surface itself serving as a reference plane for object detection is excluded from object detection targets, and object detection at a position 1 m or more from a railroad crossing region is excluded. Then, only the above-mentioned railroad crossing area and persons, vehicles, falling objects, and the like existing in the vicinity thereof are narrowed down as object recognition targets.
[0021]
The above-described monitoring condition determining means 23 is a characteristic processing function provided in this monitoring device, and determines whether or not a specific object specified in advance exists at a preset point of interest (spatial coordinate position). Has a role of controlling the execution of the monitoring process based on the above-described object detection. More specifically, the monitoring condition determining means 23 determines, for example, whether or not a breaker as a specific object is at the standby position, and performs the above-described object detection only when the breaker is not at the standby position. A process for monitoring whether or not an abnormal object exists in the railroad crossing based on this is executed.
[0022]
That is, in this embodiment, the purpose is to monitor the presence or absence of an abnormal entry of a person or a vehicle or a falling object into a railroad crossing, and essentially, a breaker descends to prevent entry into the railroad crossing. In that case, it is sufficient to perform the monitoring process. Therefore, basically, it is only necessary to detect the state in which the barrier is descending on the approach path to the railroad crossing and control the execution of the monitoring process. However, the position where the circuit breaker descends is a part of the level crossing area, and when the circuit breaker is not descended, a person or a vehicle crosses the above position.
[0023]
Therefore, in this device, it is determined whether or not the circuit breaker is in its standby position, in other words, whether or not the circuit breaker is raised, without being affected by a person or a vehicle passing through the railroad crossing. The operating state of the circuit breaker is detected. If the circuit breaker is not at the standby position, it is determined that the circuit breaker is descending or is about to descend, so that it can be quickly performed at a timing before the state in which the level crossing is blocked by the circuit breaker. Is instructed to execute the monitoring process. Note that the execution control of the monitoring process may control the execution of the above-described object detection process itself, or may control whether to output the information of the object required for the object detection as the monitoring result. It may be something to do.
[0024]
The detection result of the abnormal object in the railroad crossing obtained under such monitoring control is obtained by, for example, converting the above-described three-dimensional radar information into a plane coordinate using the plane coordinate conversion means 25 and looking down the railroad crossing from the sky. The image is displayed on the monitor 30 as a plane monitoring image indicating the state. That is, when a predetermined monitoring area such as a railroad crossing is divided into a plurality of areas and monitored using a plurality of laser radars 10, the viewpoints of the laser radars 10 with respect to the monitoring area and the directions of the visual fields are changed. I cannot deny that it is different. When each of these laser radar images is individually displayed, it is necessary to judge the display image content in consideration of the viewpoint position of each laser radar image.
[0025]
Therefore, the plane coordinate conversion means 25 converts these laser radar images into plane coordinates, and combines and combines the coordinates of the respective laser radar images with reference to the ground surface, whereby the monitoring target area is viewed in plan. The monitor image is created and displayed on the monitor 30. At this time, the auxiliary information display means 27 displays, for example, a frame-shaped identification mark (auxiliary information) surrounding the object recognized as described above on the plane monitoring image, thereby highlighting the object and identifying the object. Is increasing the character.
[0026]
The monitoring image obtained in this manner is appropriately recorded using, for example, the image recording device 31. In particular, when an abnormal intrusion of a person or a vehicle into a railroad crossing is detected by the above-described object detection, the person or the vehicle that has entered a blocked railroad crossing is recorded in the image recording device 31 together with the laser radar image described above. May be used to specify
[0027]
FIG. 4 shows a state of a railroad crossing monitored using the above-described monitoring device, in which 40 is a railroad track, 41 is a railroad crossing crossing the railroad track 40, and 42 is provided on both sides of an entrance of the railroad crossing 41. 3 shows the interrupted circuit breaker. Reference numeral 43 denotes a person who passes through the railroad crossing 41, 44 denotes a bicycle, and 45 denotes a vehicle. In this example, the inside of the railroad crossing 41 is divided into two areas along the diagonal line, and each of these areas is viewed obliquely using two laser radars 10a and 10b to monitor the entire area of the railroad crossing 41. Is set to A indicates a scanning area (monitoring area) by the laser radar 10a, and B indicates a scanning area (monitoring area) by the laser radar 10b.
[0028]
FIG. 5 shows a schematic processing procedure of an initial setting process in the monitoring device, and FIG. 6 shows an example of an execution control procedure of the monitoring process. To briefly describe these processing procedures, in the initial setting processing, when the laser radar 10 is installed, first, a laser radar image to be monitored is created according to information obtained by using the laser radar 10 (step S1). This laser radar image consists of a pseudo three-dimensional visualization by shading the distance information. Then, the laser radar image is displayed on the monitor 30 (Step S2), and the position where the circuit breaker waits (the detection range of the circuit breaker) is designated in the display image (laser radar image) (Step S3). The spatial coordinates of the designated position are obtained from the laser radar image, and the spatial coordinates are registered as a specific position for monitoring the operation state of the circuit breaker.
[0029]
When the initial setting process is completed as described above, the execution of the monitoring process for the railroad crossing is controlled in accordance with the process procedure shown in FIG. In this monitoring process, first, a laser radar image is obtained (Step S11), and it is detected whether or not an object (interrupter) exists at a specific position (point of interest) in the laser radar image (Step S12). If an object (blocking device) is present at the specific position, it is determined that the blocking device has not descended (it is in the standby position), and if no object (blocking device) exists, it is determined that the circuit breaker has descended. Determination <Step S13>. If the circuit breaker has not descended, it is in a state in which traffic to the railroad crossing is permitted, so that the next laser radar image is acquired again at the next scanning timing without executing the monitoring process (step S11).
[0030]
On the other hand, if it is detected that the circuit breaker has descended, an object in the railroad crossing area is detected (step S14). This object detection is performed while designating the detection target area as described above. Then, when an object is detected, the size of the detected object is determined, and its movement is determined as necessary (step S15). By this determination processing, it is determined whether the detected object is a person, a vehicle, or a falling object. Then, in order to clearly indicate the object in accordance with the identification result, the laser radar image (three-dimensional radar information) is converted to a plane coordinate as described above, and the identification mark (auxiliary mark) is added to the monitoring image displayed on the monitor 30. Information) is superimposed and displayed (Step S16). Then, if necessary, a warning is issued to the object (people or vehicle) detected as described above, and a monitoring image or the like at that time is recorded in the image recording device 31 (step S17).
[0031]
Thus, according to the monitoring device configured as described above, it is determined whether or not to execute a monitoring process of a predetermined monitoring area based on object detection using the laser radar by using a part of information detected by the laser radar. Can be easily controlled. In particular, in this embodiment, the operating state of the circuit breaker is detected by detecting whether the circuit breaker is in its standby position without being affected by objects passing through the railroad crossing when the circuit breaker is raised. Can be reliably detected. Therefore, when the circuit breaker descends and the passage of the railroad crossing is prohibited, it is necessary to reliably detect persons or vehicles that enter the railroad crossing or are left behind in the railroad crossing, and take measures to prevent accidents promptly. This makes it possible to achieve a great effect in practical use, for example. In addition, this device can be operated independently of the traffic monitoring system that controls the operation of the circuit breaker, so that the external interface can be simplified and the installation cost can be reduced. Have.
[0032]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. Here, an example of monitoring an abnormal intrusion of an object in a railroad crossing has been described. However, for example, in tower parking, the present invention can be similarly applied to a system that monitors whether a person is left behind in a parking space (car lift). In this case, it is determined whether or not a door provided on an approach path to a parking space (car lift) is open, and when the door is closed, the monitoring process may be performed for a certain period of time. . At this time, in order to prevent the presence of a person from being detected due to blind spots caused by the vehicle loaded in the parking space (car lift), the surroundings of the vehicle are monitored using a laser radar from obliquely forward and obliquely rear of the vehicle. Just do it.
[0033]
The scanning angles in the horizontal and vertical directions by the laser radar 10 and the bird's-eye view angle with respect to the monitoring area may be determined according to the monitoring specifications. Furthermore, the signal processing form for the laser radar signal can be variously modified. In short, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
[0034]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to control the execution of the monitoring process by effectively utilizing the object detection function of the laser radar, and realize a simple monitoring device with high operation reliability. be able to. In particular, for example, only when the railroad crossing is blocked, there is a great practical effect such that the railroad crossing monitoring process of detecting an object that has entered the railroad crossing can be reliably executed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a scanning form of a monitoring target area by a laser radar.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic processing unit for creating a laser radar image;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state of a railroad crossing monitored using the monitoring device shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic processing procedure of an initial setting process in the monitoring device shown in FIG. 1;
6 is a diagram showing an example of an execution control procedure of a monitoring process in the monitoring device shown in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 10 laser radar 20 monitoring apparatus main body 21 radar information creating means 22 object detecting means 23 monitoring condition determining means 24 area determining means 25 plane coordinate converting means 26 movement detecting means 27 auxiliary information displaying means 41 railroad crossing 42 breaker 43 person 44 bicycle 45 vehicle

Claims (3)

A laser radar that scans a predetermined monitoring area,
Radar information generating means for obtaining three-dimensional radar information from the distance information detected by the laser radar and the information on the scanning direction;
Object detection means for detecting an object present in the predetermined monitoring area from the three-dimensional radar information;
Monitoring condition determination means for determining the presence or absence of a specific object at a preset point of interest from the three-dimensional radar information and controlling execution of a monitoring process;
A monitoring apparatus comprising: a monitoring control unit that controls an object detection operation of the object detection unit under control of the monitoring condition determination unit, or controls an output of a detection result by the object detection unit. The predetermined monitoring area is a level crossing area, and the specific object includes a barrier that partitions the level crossing area,
The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring condition determination unit determines whether the circuit breaker is at the standby position. The monitoring device according to claim 1 or 2,
A coordinate conversion unit for converting the three-dimensional radar information into a plane coordinate to create a monitoring image;
A monitoring apparatus, comprising: image display means for superimposing and displaying auxiliary information for specifying an object obtained by the object detection means on the monitoring image created by the coordinate conversion means.

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