JP2006010312A - Imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging device of the stand-alone type with a measurement function for performing measurement in a non-contacting manner on the spot without requiring marker, etc. and dispensing with a high-performance personal computer for analysis. <P>SOLUTION: This imaging device 10 is equipped with at least two digital cameras 11<SB>1</SB>and 11<SB>2</SB>, an image processing part 52 for performing image processing of various kinds on visible image data obtained by the digital cameras 11<SB>1</SB>and 11<SB>2</SB>, and a main control part 54 for causing a display part 12 to display at least image data. The processing part 52 performs image analysis for acquiring two-dimensional information by approximately taking an imaging object as an aggregate of planes based on visible image data of at least two sheets obtained by the digital cameras 11<SB>1</SB>and 11<SB>2</SB>. The control part 54 causes the display part 12 to display size value data between arbitrary two points on the visible image data calculated by the processing part 52. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging device that captures image data, and in particular, measures the size and area of an arbitrary location in a structure such as a building or a bridge, or diagnoses defects such as concrete or mortar lifting or cracking. The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus suitable for use.

  In recent years, there has been an accident in which concrete of a concrete structure such as a tunnel or a viaduct deteriorates and a part of the concrete is peeled off. In addition, accidents due to corrosion or cracking of cooling pipes in nuclear power generation systems have occurred. In connection with this, establishment of the nondestructive inspection method which can test | inspect the soundness of a structure exactly is calculated | required. As such a nondestructive inspection method, a digital image measurement method using a digital still camera is known.

  Such a digital image measurement method is a method of grasping the presence or absence and degree of defects based on an image of a concrete surface by light in a visible region. According to this digital image measurement method, it is possible to find cracks in concrete, mortar, tiles, etc. and surface defects. Such a digital image measurement method is excellent in terms of safety during measurement, ease of handling, and high-speed processing, and has been rapidly spreading in recent years. For example, Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, and Non-Patent Document 1 have been proposed as techniques for detecting defects in a structure using such a digital image measurement method.

JP 2001-133225 A JP 2003-57188 A System House Fukuchiyama Co., Ltd., “Measurement-kun”, [online], [Search June 2, 2004], Internet <URL: http://www.shfweb.com/products/jisoku/>

  Specifically, in Patent Document 1, an object to be measured is imaged with a digital camera, and the size of the object to be measured is determined based on the captured image data obtained by the imaging and the pixel size of the digital camera. A method for measuring a shape is disclosed. In particular, this method extracts measurement points from imaging data, applies distortion correction to the coordinate values of the extracted measurement points, and measures the shape and dimensions of the measurement object based on the obtained measurement point correction values. To do. Thus, in this method, the displacement amount with time can be obtained by using the corrected coordinate value subjected to distortion aberration correction, and high-precision measurement is possible.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a method of capturing at least one image of an existing artificial building and detecting the presence of one or more defects in the artificial building. In particular, the defect detection method includes (a) providing a detectable material on or in an existing man-made structure such that a portion thereof is present in one or more defects of the man-made structure; (B) an imaging step of capturing at least one digital image of the artificial building with an image sensor; and (c) processing the one or more captured digital images to provide a visual image of the artificial building; A processing step for determining the presence of one or more defects in the building, wherein the image sensor captures at least one image of the artificial building and determines the presence or absence of a detectable material in the one or more defects. The above defects are identified. Thereby, in this defect detection method, it is supposed that it can be judged appropriately whether the existing artificial building has a defect.

  Further, Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a reference rectangular image of a structure image captured by a digital camera based on a ratio between a known partial size of an imaging target and an image size / projection shape (reference rectangular shape) of the portion. The package software which calculates the distance of arbitrary sections is disclosed.

  However, the conventional digital image measurement method has the following problems.

  First, in the conventional digital image measurement method, when one digital image is used for analysis, an object (marker) having a known dimension needs to be imaged in the digital image. There is a problem that it is troublesome to install an object as a marker on the imaging target, and a high-performance personal computer and software are required to analyze the data.

  Also, in the conventional digital image measurement method, when two digital images are used for analysis, it is necessary to capture the above-described marker object in the digital image and analyze the data. In order to do so, there was a problem that a higher-performance personal computer and software were required.

  Further, in the conventional digital image measurement method, there is a problem that even if the presence or absence of a defective portion can be detected in the field, a measurement value such as its size cannot be obtained immediately.

  Furthermore, in the conventional digital image measurement method, as described above, since it is necessary to install an object to be a marker, there is a problem that the imaging target is limited or cannot be used in the field where the marker cannot be installed. was there.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and is capable of non-contact and on-site measurement without requiring a marker or the like, and does not require a high-performance personal computer for analysis. The purpose is to provide.

  An imaging apparatus according to the present invention that achieves the above-described object is an imaging apparatus that captures image data, and includes at least two digital cameras that capture visible image data of an imaging target from different viewpoints, and the digital camera. Image processing means for performing various image processing on visible image data captured by each, display means for displaying various information including at least image data, and control means for displaying at least image data on the display means The image processing means approximates the imaging object to be an aggregate of planes, and performs image analysis for obtaining two-dimensional information of the imaging object in each plane for each of the at least two digital cameras. Is performed based on at least two pieces of visible image data captured by the The size between any two points and / or the area of the region defined by at least three points is calculated, and the control means is defined by the image processing means at the two points and / or at least three points. Dimension value data and / or area value data indicating the result of calculating the area of the region is displayed on the display means.

  Such an imaging apparatus according to the present invention approximates an imaging object to be an assembly of planes, and performs image analysis for obtaining two-dimensional information of the imaging object in each plane, using at least two digital cameras. Is performed based on at least two pieces of visible image data captured by each of the above, and calculates the size between any two points specified on the visible image data and / or the area of the region defined by at least three points. Then, the dimension value data as the calculation result is displayed on the display means. As a result, in the imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the problem of deterioration in accuracy of the measurement value in the depth direction when two fixed digital cameras are used can be solved. It can be configured as a stand-alone type device that can measure dimensions in a non-contact manner at the site without any need.

  In order to realize such image analysis, the at least two digital cameras have their internal orientation elements each having a known amount, and the relative difference between the external orientation elements is fixed. As a result, in the imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the number of unknowns and equations in image analysis can be greatly reduced, and the computational capability required to perform the image analysis can be dramatically reduced. . Therefore, in the imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the analysis can be sufficiently performed by the built-in processor. In this case, the situation of the plane can be described by 12 unknowns and 12 nonlinear equations related to these 12 unknowns. Therefore, the image processing means can calculate the state of the plane by solving the twelve nonlinear simultaneous equations. In practice, the image processing means linearly approximates the nonlinear equation in the vicinity of the approximate value, obtains a correction value assuming an initial value, and substitutes the correction value into the equation again to correct the correction value. Repeat.

  Here, in the imaging apparatus according to the present invention, in order to calculate the size between any two points specified on the visible image data and / or the area of the region defined by at least three points, specifically, A series of processing is performed by displaying various image data as follows on the display means.

  First, the control means displays the visible image data on the display means so as to follow the movement of the visual field of the digital camera in order to determine the imaging target, and the image processing means determines the imaging target. Then, the visible image data is captured.

  Subsequently, the image processing means generates image data for designating a measurement area that is an area for obtaining a measurement value by performing planar approximation on the visible image data captured by the at least two digital cameras, The control means causes the display means to display image data for designating the measurement region generated by the image processing means.

  The imaging apparatus according to the present invention further includes an area designating unit that designates a measurement area for performing plane approximation on image data for designating the measurement area displayed on the display unit, and the image processing unit. When a measurement region is designated by the region designation means, feature points on the image data are automatically extracted or feature points are designated.

  The image processing means generates image data for designating measurement points for obtaining a size and / or area in the designated measurement area on the image data for designating the measurement area, and the control means Causes the display means to display image data for designating the measurement points generated by the image processing means.

  Furthermore, the imaging apparatus according to the present invention includes a measurement point designating unit that designates a measurement point on image data for designating the measurement point displayed on the display unit, and the image processing unit includes the above-described image processing unit. When two measurement points are designated by the measurement point designating means, based on the two measurement point coordinates obtained by solving the four nonlinear equations relating to the four unknowns representing the coordinate values of the two points, The dimension between the two points is calculated.

  Then, the image processing means generates image data as a measurement result obtained by superimposing the dimension value data indicating the result of calculating the dimension between two points on the visible image data, and the control means is controlled by the image processing means. The generated image data as the measurement result is displayed on the display means.

  On the other hand, in the imaging apparatus according to the present invention, when the area of the region defined by at least three points is calculated, the image processing means may designate at least three measurement points by the measurement point designating means. Based on at least three measurement point coordinates obtained by solving a plurality of nonlinear equations relating to a plurality of unknowns representing the coordinate values of at least three points, the area of the region defined by the at least three points is calculated. To do.

  The image processing means generates image data as a measurement result obtained by superimposing area value data indicating the result of calculating the area of the region defined by at least three points on the visible image data, and the control means includes: Image data as a measurement result generated by the image processing means is displayed on the display means.

  The image pickup apparatus according to the present invention includes a storage medium control unit that is detachable from the image pickup apparatus and controls reading and / or writing of data with respect to at least the storage medium that stores the visible image data. The control means can control the storage medium control means to store the visible image data in the storage medium.

  Further, the control means controls the storage medium control means, and is defined by dimension value data indicating a result of calculating a dimension between two points by the image processing means for the storage medium and / or at least three points. It is also possible to store area value data indicating the result of calculating the area of the determined region. At this time, the control means uses the information relating to the generation of the visible image data as a header, associates the visible image data, and data relating to the position and rotation of the digital camera with respect to the visible image data, with respect to the storage medium. Then, it may be stored in units of the visible image data. Thereby, in the imaging device according to the present invention, it is possible to construct an extremely easy management system even when a large amount of visible image data is captured.

  Furthermore, in the imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the control means can read out the image data stored in the storage medium, and can display a list of these image data on the display means as a thumbnail display. The desired image data selected from the list displayed as thumbnails can be read from the storage medium and displayed on the display means.

  Note that the imaging apparatus according to the present invention is extremely suitable for use in diagnosing defects in the structure as the imaging object.

  An imaging apparatus according to the present invention that achieves the above-described object is an imaging apparatus that captures image data, and includes at least two digital cameras that capture visible image data of an imaging target from different viewpoints, and the imaging apparatus described above. An infrared camera that captures thermal image data of an object; image processing means that performs various image processing on visible image data captured by each of the digital cameras and thermal image data captured by the infrared camera; A display unit that displays various information including at least image data; and a control unit that displays at least the image data on the display unit, wherein the image processing unit approximates the imaging object as an aggregate of planes. Then, the image analysis for obtaining the two-dimensional information of the imaging object in each plane is performed with the at least two digitizers. Based on at least two pieces of visible image data captured by each of the cameras, the size between any two points designated on the visible image data and / or the area of the region defined by at least three points Calculation and at least heat-visible fusion image data obtained by superimposing and fusing the thermal image data and the visible image data, and / or an extracted display image obtained by extracting only data in an arbitrary temperature range from the thermal image data Generating data, and the control means generates dimension value data and / or area value data indicating a result of calculating a dimension between two points and / or an area defined by at least three points by the image processing means. The thermo-visible fusion image data and / or the extracted display image data generated by the image processing means while being displayed on the display means It is characterized by displaying on the display means.

  Such an imaging apparatus according to the present invention approximates an imaging object to be an assembly of planes, and performs image analysis for obtaining two-dimensional information of the imaging object in each plane, using at least two digital cameras. Is performed based on at least two pieces of visible image data captured by each of the above, and calculates the size between any two points specified on the visible image data and / or the area of the region defined by at least three points. Then, the dimension value data as the calculation result is displayed on the display means. As a result, in the imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the problem of a decrease in the accuracy of the measurement value in the depth direction when two fixed digital cameras are used can be solved. It can be configured as a stand-alone type device that can measure dimensions in a non-contact manner at the site without any need. In addition, since the imaging device according to the present invention can acquire not only visible image data but also thermal image data, it can analyze not only information appearing on the surface of the imaging target but also internal information near the surface. It becomes possible. In particular, in the imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the thermo-visible fusion image data and / or the extracted display image data is displayed on the display means, so that the presence or absence of a defect portion such as a crack or a cavity of the imaging object is easily detected. be able to.

  Here, in the imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the image processing means can arbitrarily change the display intensity ratio of the visible image data and the thermal image data to be superimposed on the thermo-visible fusion image data. In the imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the image processing means can arbitrarily change a temperature range extracted from the thermal image data for the extracted display image data.

  In the imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the image processing unit corrects the visible image data and the thermal image data of the imaging target so as to have the same field of view and the same angle of view, and the corrected visible image data and thermal image. The extracted thermal image data for the data and / or the extracted display image data for the corrected thermal image data is generated.

  Such an imaging apparatus according to the present invention is extremely suitable for use in diagnosing defects in the structure as the imaging object.

  In the present invention, non-contact and on-site measurement is possible without the need for a marker or the like, and a high-performance personal computer is not required for analysis, and high-precision measurement is performed at low cost. Can be performed. Further, in the present invention, it is possible to easily create a CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawing including digital data such as the size and area of the imaging object acquired by using the imaging apparatus.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  This embodiment is an imaging apparatus that captures image data. This imaging apparatus is suitable for measuring the size and area of an arbitrary position in a structure or diagnosing a defect, and uses two digital cameras and an imaging object to be measured. By implementing new analysis modeling that obtains two-dimensional information of the imaged object in each plane after approximating a set of planes to a non-contact type without the need for markers, etc. In addition, it can be measured in the field and does not require a high-performance personal computer for analysis.

  Here, it is publicly known to acquire three-dimensional information of an imaging object using two digital cameras and a personal computer. In acquiring the three-dimensional information of the imaging target, it is necessary to specify points corresponding to all the points that characterize the imaging target for a plurality of images captured from the left and right viewpoints. Performing image analysis requires extremely high computing power by a personal computer.

  In general, it is necessary to use an internal orientation element and an external orientation element of a camera for image analysis. The internal orientation elements are the focal length of the camera, the size of an image sensor such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Devices), and the position of the principal point, and are elements inherent to the camera. The principal point is a point that passes through the center of the camera lens and intersects the image sensor with an optical axis perpendicular to the image, and is close to the center position of the image sensor but not at the same position. On the other hand, the external orientation element is an imaging position and tilt of a camera, and is an element that expresses the usage status of the camera. In order to perform image analysis, it is necessary to acquire such an external orientation element for each imaging location. Therefore, it is usually necessary to install a marker whose position and size are known in the captured image.

  On the other hand, by using two digital cameras with fixed positions, these parameters become constant regardless of the imaging situation, and thus there is an advantage that the analysis using a personal computer is simplified. On the other hand, when two digital cameras with fixed positions are used, there is a drawback that the accuracy of the measurement value in the depth direction is lowered. This is because the distance between the optical axes of the two digital cameras must be substantially the same as the distance to the imaging object in order to improve the measurement accuracy in the depth direction. The two digital cameras with fixed positions have a distance between the optical axes on the order of 10 cm and the distance to the imaging object to be measured is in the range of several meters to several tens of meters. The decline cannot be denied.

  Therefore, the applicant of the present application pays attention to the fact that, when measuring the defective portion of the imaging object, information on fine irregularities appearing on the surface of the imaging object is not necessary, and details will be described later. A new analytical modeling has been devised in which an imaging object is approximated to be an aggregate of planes and two-dimensional information of the imaging object in each plane is acquired.

  By performing the planar approximation, the problem of “insufficient measurement accuracy in the depth direction” due to the use of two digital cameras with fixed positions can be avoided. Furthermore, by performing planar approximation, the purpose of image analysis is simplified to acquiring two-dimensional information of the imaging object. Therefore, in performing image analysis, it is only necessary to specify the plane on which the measurement value is to be obtained, so that it is not necessary to specify all points that characterize the imaging target. Here, the plane can be defined by at least three points. Therefore, in the image analysis, the calculation capability required for the personal computer to perform the analysis is drastically reduced, and the analysis can be sufficiently performed by the built-in processor. Thereby, the stand-alone type imaging device which can perform dimension measurement and / or area measurement of the imaging subject concerning the present invention can be constituted.

  As described above, the imaging apparatus according to the present invention appropriately compensates not only the advantages of using two digital cameras, but also the disadvantages caused by using the two digital cameras by applying new analysis modeling. In particular, it is possible to perform dimension measurement and / or area measurement in a non-contact manner in the field without requiring a marker or the like.

  Hereinafter, an imaging apparatus devised based on such a background will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, an imaging apparatus 10 includes at least two digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ that capture visible image data of a structure that is an imaging target from different viewpoints, and a camera lens of which is not illustrated. It arrange | positions and is provided so that it may be exposed outside from the front side wall surface.

Each of the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ can be configured using a digital still camera having, for example, about 4 million effective pixels. Here, the specification in the case of using the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ having the number of pixels of about 4 million pixels will be examined. Assume that the camera has a camera lens with a horizontal pixel number of 2272 pixels, a vertical pixel number of 1704 pixels, a horizontal field angle of 36 °, and a vertical field angle of 28 °. In the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ , in the case of imaging a structure separated by a distance of 10 m under such specifications, the horizontal distance per pixel is 2.86 mm and the vertical The directional distance is 2.93 mm. That is, the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ capture visible image data corresponding to a distance of about 3 mm per pixel. The digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ can capture visible image data corresponding to a distance of about 1 mm per pixel when the optical 3 × zoom is applied. On the other hand, when the specification in the case of using the digital camera having the number of pixels of about 400,000 pixels is examined, the number of pixels in the horizontal direction and the number of pixels in the vertical direction are respectively compared with the digital camera 12 having the number of pixels of about 4 million pixels. Therefore, the distance per pixel is 3.3 times, which is about 10 mm. Therefore, even if the optical 3 × zoom is applied under this specification, visible image data corresponding to a distance of about 3.3 mm per pixel is only captured.

On the other hand, the crack as a defect part is normally classified into three about 0.2 mm or less, 0.2 mm-1.0 mm, and 1.0 mm or more about the width. Therefore, in order to image a 0.2 mm defect portion, in order to correspond to a distance of 0.2 mm per pixel, an optical 3 × zoom was applied to a digital camera having about 4 million pixels. In this case, it is sufficient that the imaging distance to the structure is further close to 2 m. However, when the optical 3 × zoom is applied to a digital camera having the number of pixels of about 400,000 pixels, It needs to be close to 60cm. In addition, when an optical 3 × zoom is applied to a digital camera having a number of pixels of about 400,000 pixels and the structure is close to 60 cm, the imaging area obtained by one imaging is horizontal. The distance is 39 cm and the vertical distance is 30 cm, which is extremely narrow and cannot be put to practical use. Therefore, it is desirable to use digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ having an effective pixel count of about 4 million pixels.

Here, in the imaging apparatus 10, in order to eliminate the need for a high computing capability by a personal computer, the number of unknowns in parameters necessary for image analysis is reduced. In order to realize this, in the imaging apparatus 10, the constraint conditions of the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ are strengthened. For example, in the imaging apparatus 10, the imaging surfaces of the _two digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ are provided on the same plane, and the internal angles such as the angle between the optical axes of the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ and the distance between the camera lens centers are included. The orientation factor is a known amount. Further, in the imaging apparatus 10, camera constants such as focal lengths and camera lens diameters of the _two digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ are made the same. At this time, in the imaging apparatus 10, it is desirable to use the same optical system for the _two digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ from the viewpoint of mounting convenience. Furthermore, in the imaging apparatus 10, it is desirable that the optical axes of the _two digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 _{2 be} approximately parallel. Note that in the imaging apparatus 10, the optical axes of the _two digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ do not necessarily have to be completely parallel, and the angle between the optical axes is known, so that the correction can be easily performed.

  In addition, the imaging device 10 includes a display unit 12 that is a display unit that displays various types of information including at least image data, such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). Specifically, the display unit 12 is configured as a 5.5 inch TFT (Thin Film Transistor) liquid crystal device in VGA (Video Graphics Array) format, and may be configured as a device capable of displaying 16-bit RGB format data. it can. The display unit 12 is arranged so that the display screen is exposed to the outside from the back side wall surface of the casing, and displays various image data including at least visible image data.

Furthermore, the imaging device 10 includes various operation buttons 13 inside the housing. The operation button 13 is disposed so that its operation surface is exposed to the outside from the upper side wall surface of the housing. These include operating buttons 13, at least, still by a power button, a digital camera 11 _1, 11 ₂ for turning on / off the power by a battery (not shown) is a secondary battery which is detachably attached to the imaging apparatus 10 A shutter button for capturing image data, image analysis of visible image data captured by the digital cameras 11 ₁ , 11 ₂ , and designating measurement areas and measurement points for obtaining measurement values on the visible image data An analysis button as a region designation means and a measurement point designation means, and a PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) card-type memory 14 as a storage medium that is detachable from the imaging apparatus 10 and stores at least visible image data An image data storage button for storing image data in An image data read button for reading the image data stored in the PCMCIA card type memory 14 and displaying it on the display unit 12 may be provided.

Furthermore, although not shown in particular, the imaging device 10 is adjusted so that the optical axes of the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ are parallel to each other in the housing in order to increase the imaging accuracy of the structure. An optical axis adjustment mechanism may be provided. Although not particularly shown, the imaging device 10 includes a buffer mechanism for protecting the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ from an impact, and a dust and splash proof mechanism for preventing dust and water droplets from entering the housing. May be provided.

Furthermore, such an imaging device 10, in the housing, the digital camera ₁₁ 1, 11 ₂ for controlling each of the two camera controller ₅₁ 1, 51 _2, according to the digital camera ₁₁ 1, 11 ₂ into a visible image data The image processing unit 52 is an image processing unit that performs various types of image processing, and an SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) 53 that is used as a work area of the image processing unit 52. Furthermore, the imaging apparatus 10 includes a main control unit 54 that is a control unit that comprehensively controls each unit, a flash ROM (Read Only Memory) 55 that stores various information such as programs, and a work area of the main control unit 54. And a PCMCIA controller 57 which is a storage medium control means for controlling reading and / or writing of data with respect to the PCMCIA card type memory 14 installed in the PCMCIA card slot 58.

The camera control unit ₅₁ 1, 51 _2, respectively, to control the digital camera ₁₁ 1, 11 _2, for example USB under the control of (Universal Serial Bus) main control unit 54 connected by the digital camera ₁₁ 1, 11 ₂ obtains a visible image data of the imaged e.g. 10-bit digital by, and supplies it to the image processing unit 52 as the resolution data such as, for example, VGA format.

The image processing unit 52 includes, for example, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) that executes processing using the SDRAM 53 as a work area or an embedded processor. The image processing unit 52 captures the visible image data captured by the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ , performs image analysis processing described later, the dimension between any two points designated on the visible image data, and Processing for calculating the area of the region defined by at least three points is performed. At this time, the image processing unit 52 generates image data for designating a measurement region for obtaining a measurement value and image data for designating a measurement point on the visible image data captured by the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ . In addition, an image as a measurement result obtained by superimposing dimension value data indicating a dimension between two designated measurement points and area value data indicating a result of calculating an area of a region defined by at least three points on the visible image data. Generate data. The image processing unit 52 converts the image data into a format that can be displayed by the display unit 12 such as RGB format, and stores the image data in the PCMCIA card type memory 14, for example, JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). Compress to a predetermined format.

  The SDRAM 53 stores temporary data generated by execution of processing by the image processing unit 52. For example, two 128M bits are provided, and a total of 256M bits of data can be read and / or written. Memorize temporarily.

The main control unit 54 can be configured by a dedicated LSI (Large Scale Integration), and operates based on the operation of the operation buttons 13 or time information by an RTC (Real Time Clock) 59. The main control unit 54 controls the display unit 12 to cause the display unit 12 to display visible image data captured by the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ and various image data generated by the image processing unit 52. The main control unit 54, by transmitting a predetermined command to the camera control unit ₅₁ 1, 51 ₂ for example is USB connected, controls the camera control unit ₅₁ 1, 51 _2. Further, the main control unit 54 controls the PCMCIA controller 57 to store the visible image data of the maximum number of pixels captured by the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ in the PCMCIA card type memory 14. Furthermore, the main control unit 54 controls the PCMCIA controller 57 to transfer various image data to the personal computer when the personal computer is connected to the personal computer via the PCMCIA card slot 58 or the like, though not shown. To do. The main control unit 54 also controls the PCMCIA controller 57 to store various image data and the like compressed by the image processing unit 52 into the JPEG format in the PCMCIA card type memory 14.

The flash ROM 55 stores various information such as a program executed by the main control unit 54. For example, two 16M bit data are provided, and a total of 32M bit data is stored so as to be readable and / or writable. . The flash ROM 55 stores various parameters including known amounts such as the relative difference between the internal orientation elements and the external orientation elements of the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ used for image analysis.

  The SDRAM 56 stores temporary data generated by execution of processing by the main control unit 54. For example, two 128M bits are provided, and a total of 256M bits of data can be read and / or written. Memorize temporarily.

  The PCMCIA controller 57 controls reading and / or writing of data with respect to the PCMCIA card type memory 14 installed in the PCMCIA card slot 58 under the control of the main control unit 54.

As described above, the imaging apparatus 10 having such a circuit configuration includes a user interface including the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ , the display unit 12, and operation buttons 13, and various circuits and mechanisms, all in a single housing. It can be housed and configured inside the body. In addition, the imaging device 10 may be configured as an integrated unit excellent in portability by storing these user interfaces, various circuits, and mechanisms in a single portable casing. it can.

  In such an imaging apparatus 10, under the control of the main control unit 54, various image data including visible image data generated by the image processing unit 52 are displayed on the display unit 12 and presented to the measurer. To do. The measurer can grasp the defective part recognized on the image data while visually recognizing the image data. Further, in the imaging apparatus 10, by operating the image data storage button in the operation button 13, these various image data are compressed into the JPEG format or the like by the image processing unit 52 and then stored in the PCMCIA card type memory 14. Can do. Further, in the imaging apparatus 10, various image data stored in the PCMCIA card type memory 14 under the control of the main controller 54 and the PCMCIA controller 57 by operating the image data read button in the operation button 13. And a list of these image data can be displayed on the display unit 12 as a so-called thumbnail display. In the imaging apparatus 10, the desired image data is selected from the thumbnail-displayed list, and the image data is read from the PCMCIA card type memory 14 under the control of the main control unit 54. Can be displayed on the display unit 12. The imaging apparatus 10 can also be connected to a personal computer via the PCMCIA card slot 58 and transfer image data to the personal computer, facilitating image analysis as post-processing using the personal computer. be able to.

  Hereinafter, image analysis processing in the imaging apparatus 10 will be described.

In the imaging device 10, an arbitrary specified on the visible image data displayed on the display unit 12 based on at least two pieces of visible image data captured from different viewpoints by the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 _2. Image analysis is performed to calculate the dimension between the two points and / or the area of the region defined by at least three points.

  Here, in the image analysis based on such a plurality of pieces of image data, a specific attention point existing in the image data is generally obtained by imaging an imaging target having a three-dimensional spread from a plurality of viewpoints. Based on the information on which position in which image data is located, the three-dimensional position information of the target point is calculated backward. In general, in performing such image analysis, in order to characterize the shape of the imaging target object, usually, dozens of markers are set on the surface of the imaging target object as analysis target points, and the entire imaging target object The image will be captured without hesitation.

More specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the image analysis includes three points: a target point P to be analyzed, an image point p on the image data, and a camera position (imaging center of the camera) O. It is based on the geometric principle of existing on one straight line. Here, the three-dimensional coordinates of the target point P in the ground coordinate system can be described by three sets of variables such as P (X, Y, Z), and the three-dimensional coordinates in the ground coordinate system of the camera position O are also represented. , O (X _O , Y _O , Z _O ) and the like, can be described by three sets of variables. On the other hand, the image point p on the image data is described as p (X _p , Y _p , Z _p ) in the three-dimensional coordinate expression in the ground coordinate system, but the two-dimensional coordinates (x, y). Under such a coordinate expression, the above-described geometric principle is that the focal length of the camera is f, and the rotation angles around the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis of the camera in the camera coordinate system are respectively ω, If φ, κ and the three-dimensional coordinates of the image point p in the camera coordinate system are (x, y, −f), they can be expressed as collinear conditional expressions shown in the following expressions (1) and (2). .

Note that m ₁₁ , m ₁₂ , m ₁₃ , m ₂₁ , m ₂₂ , m ₂₃ , m ₃₁ , m ₃₂ , and m ₃₃ in the above formula (1) and the above formula (2) are respectively expressed by the following formula (3). expressed.

  Further, the collinear conditional expression is obtained by substituting the above expression (1) and the above expression (2) when taking into consideration the focal length of the camera, the principal point position, and optical distortion called distortion of the camera lens. It can deform | transform into Formula (4) and following Formula (5). Note that Δx and Δy in the following expressions (4) and (5) are correction terms determined based on the focal length of the camera, the principal point position, the optical distortion coefficient of the camera lens, and the like.

The collinear conditional expressions shown in the above formula (1) and the above formula (2) describe the six unknowns consisting of the camera position (X _O , Y _O , Z _O ) and the camera rotation angle (ω, φ, κ). As an external orientation element. These unknowns are generally imaged by placing markers at a plurality of target points P of known three-dimensional coordinates (X, Y, Z) obtained by actual measurement or the like, and 2 of the marker image points p on the image data. It is standardized by obtaining the dimensional coordinates (x, y). In image analysis using two pieces of image data, the coordinate values of two image points are given to one marker, and therefore, by placing three markers in one piece of image data, the principle Above, six unknowns can be located. In the collinear conditional expressions shown in the above equations (4) and (5), in addition to the camera position (X _O , Y _O , Z _O ) and the camera rotation angle (ω, φ, κ), the focal point The distance, the principal point position, the optical distortion coefficient of the camera lens, and the like are unknowns as the above-described internal orientation elements. Therefore, in the image analysis using the collinear conditional expressions shown in the above equations (4) and (5), the common equations shown in the above equations (1) and (2) are used to determine the unknowns. Compared to the case of using a line conditional expression, a large number of target points P on which markers are set are required. In the image analysis, if the unknown in the collinear conditional expression can be determined, the two-dimensional coordinate value of the arbitrary point on the image data is substituted into the collinear conditional expression, so that the terrestrial coordinate system corresponding to the arbitrary point It is possible to calculate three-dimensional coordinates.

  Here, if the number of markers is n, the three-dimensional coordinates of the marker are described by three sets of variables as described above, and therefore the number of target points P to be analyzed is 3n. Further, if the number of image data to be captured is m, there are 3n + k + 6m unknowns including k internal orientation elements and 6m external orientation elements. On the other hand, since the coordinates of the image point p of the marker on the image data are described by two sets of variables as described above, the number of equations is 2 nm. As an example, if n = 20, m = 15, and k = 6, the number of equations is 600 for 156 unknowns. Therefore, in the image analysis, an unknown value that minimizes the error of these groups of equations is obtained by the method of least squares. In performing image analysis for processing such a large number of numerical data, it is necessary to use a high-performance personal computer.

Therefore, in the imaging device 10, in order to greatly reduce the number of unknowns and equations and to be processed by a built-in processor, the entire imaging object is approximated to be a set of planes, The analysis target is one plane among a plurality of planes. Thereby, in the imaging device 10, if the three-dimensional coordinate system is (X, Y, Z), a plane can be described by the three target points P. That is, n = 3. In the imaging apparatus 10, if the plane to be analyzed is Z = 0, the coordinates can be described by two variables (X, Y). Therefore, the number of unknowns is 2n. Furthermore, in the imaging apparatus 10, as described above, by using the two digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ whose positions are fixed to each other, the internal orientation elements are acquired in advance as known quantities, so k = It can be set to zero. Furthermore, in the imaging device 10, the number of visible image data captured is one by each of the _two digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ , and therefore m = 2. Therefore, the number of unknowns is apparently 2n + 6m = 6 + 12 = 18. However, in the imaging device 10, since the relative difference between the external orientation elements of the _two digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ is fixed after the assembly of the device, the number of unknowns is reduced by 6 and 12 It becomes a piece. On the other hand, the number of equations is 2 nm = 12.

As described above, the imaging apparatus 10 uses the new analysis modeling that approximates the imaging target in a plane, and also uses the visible image data that is captured using the two fixed digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ , so that 12 The situation can be described by the unknowns and the 12 equations for these 12 unknowns. Since these equations are non-linear, the imaging apparatus 10 only has to solve twelve non-linear simultaneous equations. Actually, in the imaging apparatus 10, the equation is linearly approximated in the vicinity of the approximate value, the correction value is obtained assuming the initial value, and the correction value is corrected by substituting the correction value into the equation again. By calculating, the true value is calculated numerically.

  Now, in such an imaging device 10, specifically, the following operations are performed.

When the imaging apparatus 10 shifts to an operable state by operating the power button of the operation button 13, the visible image data follows the movement of the visual field of the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ in order to determine the imaging target. In this way, it is displayed on the display unit 12 as moving image data. The moving image data displayed on the display unit 12 requests image data from the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 _{2 at} a predetermined time interval under the control of the main control unit 54, and is sent. Is generated and displayed on the display unit 12 and is based on visible image data captured by _{one of} the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ . At this time, the imaging device 10 generates moving image data based on visible image data having a smaller number of pixels than the number of pixels of the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ , and displays the moving image data on the display unit 12. 52 and the main control unit 54 can be reduced, and real-time moving image data smoothly following the movement of the visual field of the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ can be displayed on the display unit 12.

In the imaging apparatus 10, when the measurer determines the imaging target by visually recognizing the real-time moving image data, the visible image data by the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ is stopped by operating the shutter button in the operation button 13. Various types of processing such as storage of various image data in the PCMCIA card type memory 14 can be performed as image data. Here, in the imaging apparatus 10, it is desirable to perform processing on the image data having the maximum number of pixels of the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ after capturing the visible image data in the image processing unit 52, thereby measuring. It is convenient for the user, and it is possible to easily and reliably perform dimension measurement, area measurement, and detection of a defective portion.

  Now, when the imaging apparatus 10 shifts to an operable state by operating the power button on the operation button 13 and obtains visible image data as the still image data described above, the following processing is performed. Do.

  First, in the imaging device 10, when visible image data is supplied to the image processing unit 52, the image processing unit 52 corrects the visible image data to an equal scale, and the corrected equal scale image data is stored in the SDRAM 53. Store. In the imaging apparatus 10, the lens aberration correction process described below is executed by the image processing unit 52.

  This lens aberration correction process is a process for correcting optical distortion called distortion of the camera lens, and an example thereof is described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-379548. In other words, in the imaging apparatus 10, in order to correct distortion that causes a phenomenon that image data after imaging is distorted in a barrel shape, the image processing unit 52 performs a process called affine transformation.

This affine transformation is a method of moving or transforming figures and shapes by a combination of Euclidean geometric linear transformation and parallel movement, and can be represented by 4 × 4 matrix operations. Shear's coordinate transformation. This affine transformation is a transformation method in which geometrical properties are maintained such that points arranged in a straight line in the original figure are arranged in a straight line after conversion, and parallel lines are parallel lines after conversion. Therefore, in the imaging apparatus 10, the nature of the optical distortion of the camera lens of the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ , that is, the aberration characteristic of the camera lens is previously collected as data and stored in the flash ROM 55 or the like. As a result, in the imaging device 10, visible image data from which the optical distortion due to the aberration of the camera lens is removed can be obtained by the calculation of the image processing unit 52 using the data indicating the aberration characteristic of the camera lens.

  In the imaging device 10, such lens aberration correction processing is performed on all of the plurality of visible image data captured. In the imaging apparatus 10, the corrected visible image data obtained by performing the lens aberration correction processing is stored in the PCMCIA card type memory 14 under the control of the image processing unit 52 and the main control unit 54. Or can be displayed on the display unit 12.

And in the imaging device 10, by operating the analysis button in the operation button 13, image analysis processing is performed on the visible image data captured by the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ . At this time, in the imaging device 10, under the control of the image processing unit 52 and the main control unit 54, a measurement region for obtaining a measurement value is specified on the visible image data captured by the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ . The image data for displaying is displayed on the display unit 12. The measurement area is an area for obtaining a measurement value by performing plane approximation. In the imaging device 10, when the measurer designates a region for plane approximation using an analysis button on the image data for designating the measurement region displayed on the display unit 12, for example, a rectangular shape, the image processing unit 52. The feature points on the image data are automatically extracted by the above, or the feature points are manually designated arbitrarily by the measurer, and the above-described twelve nonlinear simultaneous equations are solved using these feature points as the target points. To calculate the state of the plane. In the imaging apparatus 10, when analyzing a region where an obvious step exists, the region may be specified as a separate plane so as not to cross the step.

Subsequently, in the imaging apparatus 10, the measurement point is designated within the designated measurement region by further operating the analysis button in the operation button 13. At this time, in the imaging apparatus 10, image data for designating measurement points is displayed on the display unit 12 under the control of the image processing unit 52 and the main control unit 54. In the imaging device 10, on the image data for designating the measurement point displayed on the display unit 12, for example, as shown in FIG. Two measurement points MP ₁ and MP ₂ are arbitrarily designated such as both end points. In response to this, in the imaging apparatus 10, the measurement point coordinates of the two points are obtained by directly solving the four nonlinear equations regarding the four unknowns representing the coordinate values of the two designated points by the image processing unit 52. Then, based on these coordinates, the dimension between the two points is calculated. Further, in the imaging apparatus 10, when calculating the area of the region defined by at least three points, as shown in the figure, the measurer uses the analysis button to at least three measurement points MP ₃ and MP _4. , MP ₅ is arbitrarily specified, the image processing unit 52 obtains at least three measurement point coordinates by directly solving a plurality of nonlinear equations concerning a plurality of unknowns representing the specified coordinate values of at least three points. Based on these coordinates, the area of the region defined by the at least three points is calculated.

  Then, in the imaging device 10, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, image data as a measurement result is generated by superimposing the dimension value data RS and the area value data RA calculated by the image processing unit 52 on the visible image data. The image data is displayed on the display unit 12 under the control of the control unit 54. In the imaging apparatus 10, the calculated dimension value data and area value data can be stored in the PCMCIA card type memory 14 under the control of the image processing unit 52 and the main control unit 54. At this time, in the imaging device 10, under the control of the main control unit 54, the visible image data is generated using the information related to generation of the visible image data such as the name of the image file and the imaging date and time constituting the visible image data as a header. In addition, when data relating to the position and rotation of the digital camera is associated with the visible image data and stored in the visible image data unit in the PCMCIA card type memory 14, a large amount of visible image data is captured. Even so, an extremely easy management system can be constructed.

As described above, the imaging apparatus 10 shown as the embodiment of the present invention uses at least two pieces of visible image data captured from different viewpoints by the two digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ and should measure the image data. By approximating the object to be imaged to be a collection of planes and acquiring two-dimensional information of the object to be imaged in each plane, the marker and high-performance personal computer have an extremely simple configuration. It is possible to measure the dimensions in a non-contact manner on the site without any need. Further, in the imaging apparatus 10, it is possible to easily create a CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawing including digital data such as the size and area of the imaging object acquired by using the imaging apparatus 10, for example, It is possible to easily create a deformed development view in which the size of the defect portion is clearly shown on the drawing. Furthermore, since the imaging apparatus 10 can measure the distance and angle from the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ to the center of the imaging object on the visible image data by performing image analysis processing, the imaging apparatus 10 It is not necessary to separately provide a distance meter for measuring the distance of the lens and an angle measuring device for measuring the imaging angle of the imaging object, and the apparatus can be greatly reduced in size.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, in the above-described embodiment, it has been described that two digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ are used. However, the present invention only needs to use at least two pieces of visible image data captured from different viewpoints. Therefore, the present invention can be applied even when three or more digital cameras are mounted.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, it has been described that only visible image data is captured. However, in order to perform more precise analysis, an infrared camera may be mounted.

Specifically, an imaging apparatus 100 as shown in FIG. 5 can be configured. That is, the imaging apparatus 100 includes an infrared camera 111 that captures thermal image data of a structure that is an imaging target, as with the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 _2. The video encoder 112 includes a video encoder 112 that encodes thermal image data captured by the infrared camera 111.

  The infrared camera 111 is configured using, for example, an infrared camera whose measurement temperature range is about −20 ° C. to 100 ° C. and the number of pixels of the captured image data is about 320 (H) × 240 (V) dots. be able to.

The video encoder 112 is provided when the thermal image data captured by the infrared camera 111 is analog data. That is, when the video encoder 112 acquires the analog thermal image data imaged by the infrared camera 111, the video encoder 112 performs a predetermined encoding on the thermal image data, for example, a digital video such as a QVGA (Quarter Video Graphics Array) format. Generate thermal image data. The video encoder 112 supplies the generated thermal image data to the image processing unit 52. Note that the infrared camera 111 may be manually set for focus or the like, or, like the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ , the infrared camera 111 is controlled based on the control of the main control unit 54. Also good.

  In such an imaging apparatus 100, not only visible image data but also thermal image data can be acquired, so that not only defects appearing on the surface of the object to be imaged but also internal defects near the surface such as floats, cavities, and jumpers are detected. It is also possible to discover. In the imaging apparatus 100, as detailed in Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2004-112222 and 2004-1556047 already filed by the applicant of the present application, visible image data and thermal image data are obtained. The image processing unit 52 generates thermo-visible fusion image data that is image data that is superimposed and fused, or extracted display image data that is image data obtained by extracting only data in an arbitrary temperature range from the thermal image data. It can be displayed on the display unit 12.

More specifically, in the imaging apparatus 100, the image processing unit 52 uses the visible image data captured by any _one of the digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ and the thermal image data captured by the infrared camera 111. The following heat-visible fusion image data and / or extracted display image data is generated and displayed on the display unit 12. When generating the thermo-visible fusion image data and / or the extracted display image data, only the visible image data captured by one of the two digital cameras 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ is used, and the other digital camera is used. The visible image data imaged by the camera is used to obtain the distance and angle to the imaging object that are necessary in the parallax correction process described later. Therefore, in the following, as a visible image data used to generate the heat visible fused image data and / or the extracted display image data, used as captured by the digital camera 11 _1, and the distance and angle to the imaging object the visible image data used to determine the, shall be used those which are captured by the digital camera 11 _2.

  First, in the imaging apparatus 100, the following processing is performed when generating thermo-visible fusion image data.

  First, in the imaging apparatus 100, when visible image data and thermal image data are supplied to the image processing unit 52, the image processing unit 52 corrects the visible image data and thermal image data to an equal scale, and after this correction Are stored in the SDRAM 53. In the imaging apparatus 100, the image aberration correction process is performed by the image processing unit 52. In the imaging apparatus 100, when the lens aberration correction process is performed, the image processing unit 52 executes the parallax correction process.

This parallax correction process is described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-379548. That is, in the imaging apparatus 100, since it is the housing interior and the digital camera 11 ₁ and the infrared camera 111 is accommodated juxtaposed to the structure, the imaging range of the digital camera 11 ₁ of the imaging range and the infrared camera 111 In other words, a shift, that is, parallax occurs. The parallax correction process is a process for correcting such a parallax.

In the imaging apparatus 100, equal horizontal direction of the camera lens angle, when imaging the same direction of the object and a vertical direction of the camera lens angle equals digital camera 11 ₁ and the infrared camera 111 are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction Moves the captured image data of one of these two types of cameras in the vertical direction by the amount of parallax, thereby superimposing the image data obtained by these two types of cameras. The matched image data can be synthesized. Further, in the imaging apparatus 100, when the camera lens angle of the digital camera 11 ₁ and the infrared camera 111 is different, and each camera optics the distance between the centers of these digital camera 11 ₁ and the infrared camera 111, the other by using the distance to the imaging target object obtained by the above-described image analysis processing using the visible image data captured by the digital camera 11 _2, correcting the parallax caused by the difference in perspective between the visible image data and thermal image data can do.

In the imaging apparatus 100, by disposing the digital camera 11 ₁ to a position to be directly above the infrared camera 111, it can be simplified such parallax correction.

Further, in the imaging apparatus 100, when the camera lens angle of the digital camera 11 ₁ and the infrared camera 111 is different, corrected to the visible image data and thermal image data become the same field of view and the same angle. At this time, in the imaging apparatus 100, the field of view and the angle of view of the visible image data and the thermal image data are matched using the value with the smaller camera lens angle of view.

  In the imaging apparatus 100, when such parallax correction processing is performed, thermo-visible fusion image data obtained by superimposing and fusing visible image data and thermal image data having the same field of view and angle of view, or a corrected thermal image. Extracted display image data obtained by extracting only data in an arbitrary temperature range from the data is generated by the image processing unit 52, and the generated thermo-visible fusion image data and / or extracted display image data under the control of the main control unit 54 Is displayed on the display unit 12.

  Here, in the imaging device 100, by operating the operation button 13, the image processing unit 52 can change the display intensity ratio of the visible image data and the thermal image data to be superimposed on the thermal-visible fusion image data. it can. Specifically, in the imaging apparatus 100, when the thermal image intensity: visible image intensity is set to 75:25, the thermal image data component appears stronger than the visible image data component as shown in FIG. The thermo-visible fusion image data is displayed on the display unit 12. In the imaging apparatus 100, when the thermal image intensity is reduced and the thermal image intensity: visible image intensity is 50:50, as shown in FIG. 7, the components of the visible image data and the components of the thermal image data are as shown in FIG. Is displayed on the display unit 12. Furthermore, in the imaging apparatus 100, when the thermal image intensity is further reduced and the thermal image intensity: visible image intensity is set to 25:75, as shown in FIG. Thermo-visible fusion image data superimposed at a weak level is displayed on the display unit 12. Therefore, in the imaging apparatus 100, when the thermal image intensity: visible image intensity is set to 100: 0, the thermal image data can be displayed on the display unit 12, and the thermal image intensity: visible image intensity is set to 0: 100. In this case, the visible image data can be displayed on the display unit 12.

  In the imaging apparatus 100, it is desirable to visually present to the measurer the display intensity ratio of the visible image data and the thermal image data to be superimposed as the thermo-visible fusion image data. For example, as shown in FIG. The scroll bar, which is index information that can indicate the current display intensity ratio by scrolling in one direction according to the change in the display intensity ratio of the visible image data and the thermal image data by the operation 13, You may make it display on the display part 12 with fusion image data. At this time, in the imaging device 100, the scroll bar for the display unit 12 may be displayed as necessary so as not to hinder the display of the thermo-visible fusion image data displayed on the display unit 12 having a limited display screen area. A function of switching between display and non-display may be provided.

  As described above, in the imaging apparatus 100, when the thermo-visible fusion image data is displayed on the display unit 12, the display intensity ratio between the visible image data and the thermal image data can be arbitrarily changed. Therefore, in the imaging apparatus 100, when it is desired to grasp the existence of a defective portion that cannot be recognized only by the visible image data, the thermal image intensity is increased or the defective portion is obtained from the thermo-visible fusion image data with the reduced thermal image intensity. It is possible to perform an operation of confirming the estimated location by increasing the thermal image intensity.

  Further, in the imaging apparatus 100, the extracted display image data can be generated by the image processing unit 52 and displayed on the display unit 12 by the operation of the operation button 13 as described above.

  Specifically, in the imaging device 100, the image processing unit 52 converts the thermal image data into a temperature, a range from the maximum value (Max) to the minimum value (Min) of the temperature, and the maximum value to the minimum value. An arbitrary temperature range between the values is divided into predetermined stages, and each of these stages is converted into a predetermined color to generate extracted display image data. Here, the maximum value and the minimum value of the temperature are required for the entire imaging target. However, in the imaging apparatus 100, since the maximum value and the minimum value are unknown before measurement, image processing is performed. The unit 52 automatically sets the initial value of the maximum value and the minimum value based on a predetermined prediction formula. In the imaging apparatus 100, after acquiring the actual values of the maximum value and the minimum value, the image processing unit 52 can set the maximum value and the minimum value for diagnosis using the actual values.

  Here, in the imaging apparatus 100, the temperature range extracted from the thermal image data for display on the display unit 12 as the extracted display image data, the “sensitivity” indicating the temperature range, and the “center value” of the temperature range are variable. By operating the operation button 13 that can be set as follows, the image processing unit 52 can arbitrarily change the value. That is, in the imaging apparatus 100, by operating the operation button 13, the temperature range extracted from the thermal image data can be made variable for the extracted display image data. At this time, in the imaging apparatus 100, the image processing unit 52 automatically sets the initial values of the sensitivity and the center value based on a predetermined empirical formula.

Specifically, in the imaging apparatus 100, for example, as shown in FIG. 10A, when the sensitivity S _a and the center value C _a are set as initial values, as shown in FIG. When the central value is changed to C _b (> C _a ) without changing the sensitivity as S _b (= S _a ), only the high temperature data is changed without changing the width of the temperature range. Extract from thermal image data. Further, in the imaging apparatus 100, as shown in (c) of the figure, when the center value is changed to C _c (<C _a ) without changing the sensitivity as S _c (= S _a ). First, only the low temperature data is extracted from the thermal image data without changing the width of the temperature range. Furthermore, in the imaging apparatus 100, as shown in (d) in the figure, when the sensitivity is changed to S _d (<S _a ) without changing the center value as C _d (= C _a ). First, the width of the temperature range extracted from the thermal image data is increased. Furthermore, in the imaging apparatus 100, as shown in (e) in the figure, the sensitivity is changed to S _e (<S _a ) without changing the center value as C _e (= C _a ). In this case, the width of the temperature range extracted from the thermal image data is narrowed. Therefore, in the imaging device 100, when the sensitivity and the center value are set so as to include all of the maximum value and the minimum value of the temperature range, the thermal image data can be displayed on the display unit 12.

  As described above, in the imaging apparatus 100, only data belonging to an arbitrary temperature range between the maximum value and the minimum value of the temperature in the thermal image data determined by the sensitivity and the center value is extracted from the thermal image data. Can be displayed on the display unit 12 as extracted display image data. Thereby, in the imaging device 100, it is possible to accurately grasp the existence of a defective portion that cannot be recognized only by normal visible image data or thermal image data.

  In the imaging apparatus 100, it is desirable that the temperature range extracted from the thermal image data to be displayed on the display unit 12 as the extracted display image data is also visually presented to the measurer. A temperature range bar as shown in FIG. 10 is extracted as index information that can indicate which temperature range of the maximum value to the minimum value is displayed using which color. You may make it display on the display part 12 with display image data. Even in this case, in the imaging device 100, the temperature range for the display unit 12 may be set as necessary so as not to hinder the display of the extracted display image data displayed on the display unit 12 having a limited display screen area. You may provide the function to switch display / non-display of a bar.

  As described above, in the imaging apparatus 100, the thermal-visible fusion image data that can arbitrarily change the display intensity ratio of the visible image data and the thermal image data to be superimposed, and the temperature range to be displayed can be arbitrarily changed. By generating the extracted display image data, a tool that is extremely convenient for the measurer can be provided.

  In the imaging apparatus 100, when the dimension between two arbitrary points and / or the area of the region defined by at least three points is calculated, these dimension value data and area value data are converted into only visible image data. Instead, they can be superimposed on the generated thermo-visible fusion image data or extracted display image data and displayed on the display unit 12.

  Thus, it goes without saying that the present invention can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the imaging device shown as embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the geometric relationship between the object point which performs image analysis, the image point on image data, and a camera position, and is a figure for explaining a collinear conditional expression. It is a figure explaining the example of the image data for designating the measurement point displayed on the display part in the imaging device. It is a figure explaining the example of the image data as a measurement result displayed on the display part in the imaging device. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the imaging device shown as other embodiment of this invention carrying an infrared camera. Thermal image intensity: It is a figure explaining the example of thermo-visible fusion image data in case visible image intensity is set to 75:25. Thermal image intensity: It is a figure explaining the example of thermo-visible fusion image data when visible image intensity is 50:50. Thermal image intensity: It is a figure explaining the example of thermo-visible fusion image data when visible image intensity is 25:75. It is a figure explaining the example of the scroll bar which shows the display intensity ratio of the visible image data and thermal image data to superimpose as thermo-visible fusion image data. It is a figure explaining the example of a setting of the sensitivity and center value which determine the temperature range displayed on a display part as extraction display image data.

Explanation of symbols

10 imaging device 11 _1, 11 ₂ digital camera 12 display unit 13 operating button 14 PCMCIA card type memory 51 _1, 51 ₂ camera control unit 52 image processing unit 53 and 56 SDRAM
54 Main controller 55 Flash ROM
57 PCMCIA controller 58 PCMCIA card slot 59 RTC
111 Infrared camera 112 Video encoder

Claims (23)

An imaging device for imaging image data,
At least two digital cameras that capture visible image data of the imaging object from different viewpoints;
Image processing means for performing various types of image processing on visible image data captured by each of the digital cameras;
Display means for displaying various information including at least image data;
Control means for displaying at least image data on the display means,
The image processing means approximates the imaging object to be an assembly of planes, and performs image analysis for obtaining two-dimensional information of the imaging object in each plane by each of the at least two digital cameras. Based on at least two captured visible image data, calculate the size between any two points specified on the visible image data and / or the area of the region defined by at least three points,
The control means displays, on the display means, dimension value data and / or area value data indicating a result of calculating a dimension between two points and / or an area of a region defined by at least three points by the image processing means. An image pickup device characterized by The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least two digital cameras each have a known amount of an internal orientation element and a relative difference between the external orientation elements is fixed. The plane situation is described by 12 unknowns and 12 nonlinear equations for these 12 unknowns,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image processing means calculates the state of the plane by solving the twelve nonlinear simultaneous equations. The image processing means linearly approximates the nonlinear equation in the vicinity of an approximate value, obtains a correction value assuming an initial value, and repeatedly performs a calculation for correcting the correction value by substituting the correction value into the equation again. The imaging apparatus according to claim 3. The control means displays the visible image data on the display means so as to follow the movement of the field of view of the digital camera in order to determine the imaging target,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit captures the visible image data when an imaging target is determined. The image processing means generates image data for designating a measurement region that is a region for obtaining a measurement value by performing planar approximation on the visible image data captured by the at least two digital cameras,
6. The imaging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control means causes the display means to display image data for designating a measurement region generated by the image processing means. An area designating unit for designating a measurement area for plane approximation on the image data for designating the measurement area displayed on the display unit;
7. The image processing unit according to claim 6, wherein when the measurement region is designated by the region designation unit, the feature point on the image data is automatically extracted or the feature point is designated. Imaging device. The image processing means generates image data for designating measurement points for obtaining dimensions and / or areas in the designated measurement area on the image data for designating the measurement area,
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control means causes the display means to display image data for designating a measurement point generated by the image processing means. A measurement point designating unit for designating the measurement point on the image data for designating the measurement point displayed on the display unit;
When the two measurement points are designated by the measurement point designation means, the image processing means calculates two non-linear equations obtained by solving four nonlinear equations concerning four unknowns representing the coordinate values of the two points. The imaging device according to claim 8, wherein a dimension between the two points is calculated based on the measurement point coordinates. The image processing means generates image data as a measurement result obtained by superimposing dimension value data indicating a result of calculating a dimension between two points on the visible image data,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the control unit causes the display unit to display image data as a measurement result generated by the image processing unit. A measurement point designating unit for designating the measurement point on the image data for designating the measurement point displayed on the display unit;
When at least three measurement points are designated by the measurement point designating means, the image processing means is obtained by solving a plurality of nonlinear equations relating to a plurality of unknowns representing the coordinate values of the at least three points. The imaging device according to claim 8, wherein the area of the region defined by at least three points is calculated based on the three measurement point coordinates. The image processing means generates image data as a measurement result in which area value data indicating a result of calculating an area of a region defined by at least three points is superimposed on the visible image data,
12. The imaging apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the control unit causes the display unit to display image data as a measurement result generated by the image processing unit. A storage medium control means for controlling reading and / or writing of data to / from a storage medium that stores at least the visible image data and is detachable from the imaging apparatus;
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the storage medium control unit to store the visible image data in the storage medium. The control means controls the storage medium control means and dimension value data indicating a result of calculating a dimension between two points by the image processing means for the storage medium and / or specified by at least three points. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 13, wherein area value data indicating a result of calculating the area of the region is stored. The control means uses the information relating to the generation of the visible image data as a header, associates the visible image data and data relating to the position and rotation of the digital camera with respect to the visible image data, and relates the visible image data to the storage medium. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the image pickup apparatus is stored in units of image data. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the control means reads image data stored in the storage medium and causes the display means to display a list of these image data as thumbnail display. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the control means reads out desired image data selected from a list displayed as thumbnails on the display means from the storage medium and displays the data on the display means. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging apparatus is used for diagnosis of a defect in a structure as the imaging object. An imaging device for imaging image data,
At least two digital cameras that capture visible image data of the imaging object from different viewpoints;
An infrared camera that captures thermal image data of the imaging object;
Image processing means for performing various types of image processing on visible image data captured by each of the digital cameras and thermal image data captured by the infrared camera;
Display means for displaying various information including at least image data;
Control means for displaying at least image data on the display means,
The image processing means approximates the imaging object to be an assembly of planes, and performs image analysis for obtaining two-dimensional information of the imaging object in each plane by each of the at least two digital cameras. Based on at least two captured visible image data, calculate the size between any two points specified on the visible image data and / or the area of the region defined by at least three points, At least heat-visible fusion image data obtained by superimposing and fusing the thermal image data and the visible image data and / or extraction display image data obtained by extracting only data in an arbitrary temperature range from the thermal image data are generated. ,
The control means displays, on the display means, dimension value data and / or area value data indicating a result of calculating a dimension between two points and / or an area of a region defined by at least three points by the image processing means. And displaying the thermo-visible fusion image data and / or the extracted display image data generated by the image processing means on the display means. The imaging apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the image processing means arbitrarily changes a display intensity ratio between the visible image data and the thermal image data to be superimposed on the thermo-visible fusion image data. The imaging apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the image processing means arbitrarily varies a temperature range extracted from the thermal image data for the extracted display image data. The image processing unit corrects the visible image data and the thermal image data of the imaging object so as to have the same field of view and the same angle of view, and the thermo-visible fusion image data of the corrected visible image data and thermal image data. The image display apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the extracted display image data for the corrected thermal image data is generated. The imaging apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the imaging apparatus is used for diagnosis of a defect in a structure as the imaging object.