JP2006080601A - Supervisory camera system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a supervisory camera system capable of quickly confirming a situation of a site and taking countermeasures against it in case of emergency such as occurrence of a crime, an accident or a disaster at a remote place. <P>SOLUTION: In the supervisory camera system provided with a plurality of supervisory cameras, a plurality of sensors, and a supervisory center to which a plurality of the supervisory cameras and a plurality of the sensors are connected via transmission lines, the supervisory center includes a control section and a storage section, a plurality of the supervisory cameras and a plurality of the sensors are grouped into a plurality of areas, the storage section of the supervisory center stores a table denoting the grouping, and when the control section detects a fault signal from at least one sensor of a plurality of the sensors, the control section is configured to collect video images of a plurality of the subscriber cameras of a group to which the sensor for sensing the abnormity belongs. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a surveillance camera system, and more particularly to a surveillance camera system that can prevent crimes, accidents, disasters, and the like that occur in a remote place or quickly confirm and respond to an on-site situation in an emergency.

  Conventionally, a monitoring camera is installed in each of a plurality of monitoring areas, a monitoring image taken by each monitoring camera is transmitted to a monitoring center via a transmission line, and an image sent from each monitoring camera device is displayed on the monitor at the monitoring center. Surveillance camera systems that monitor crimes, accidents, disasters, etc. are known.

  In the surveillance camera system, an emergency call transmitted from a person who has witnessed a crime, an accident, a disaster, etc. using a mobile terminal or other terminal is received at a predetermined monitoring center, and the location of the emergency call sender is determined, for example. It is specified by GPS, wireless, etc., and the monitoring camera device nearby is operated and measures such as dispatching guards are taken.

  Recently, security lights equipped with emergency call radios have been installed in downtown areas, etc., and when a crime occurs, a notification button provided on the security tower is pressed and a predetermined transmission line is used to perform predetermined monitoring. A surveillance camera system that reports to the center or the police is also considered.

  As a monitoring system, a system for reporting an emergency call image or sound to a monitoring center (for example, see Patent Document 1) is known. This system will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, the monitoring center 501 is connected to the monitoring device 503 via the transmission line 502. The monitoring device 503 includes, for example, a monitoring terminal installed in a place to be monitored, for example, a bank that monitors intrusion of a suspicious person, a small wireless base station device in a small area, and the like, and a portable terminal having an emergency notification function 507 is communicable. When the monitoring device 503 receives the emergency notification from the portable terminal 507 via the antenna 506, the monitoring device 503 immediately activates the monitoring camera and transmits the emergency notification to the monitoring center 501, for example, image / audio transmission. The monitoring center 501 monitors the monitoring image sent from each monitoring device 503 on a plurality of monitors, and when an emergency call is sent from the monitoring device 503, the police, fire department, A monitoring image or the like is transmitted through a transmission line 504 for emergency notification to the local government. In addition, the monitoring center 501 is configured to be able to remotely control activation of a monitoring camera provided in the monitoring device 503, a monitoring direction, and the like.

  Thus, in the above-described conventional surveillance camera system, an image of the monitoring target visual field range imaged by the surveillance camera is sent to the surveillance center, and the supervisor monitors by viewing the image. However, in the event of an emergency such as a crime, accident or disaster, not only the monitoring information of the monitoring location, but also a wide range of monitoring information related to the monitoring location or the monitoring information of the passage of time is the cause of the crime, accident or disaster. In many cases, it is useful for the investigation of crimes, accidents and disasters. Therefore, it is desired to realize a monitoring camera system that collects such a wide range of monitoring information or monitoring information over time.

JP 2003-274050 A

  In the case of an emergency such as a crime, accident or disaster, not only the monitoring information of the monitoring location, but also a wide range of monitoring information related to the monitoring location or the monitoring information of the passage of time is the cause of the crime, accident or disaster. In many cases, it is useful for investigation and further prevention of crimes, accidents or disasters.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a surveillance camera system that enables quick confirmation and response of on-site conditions in an emergency such as a crime, accident, or disaster that occurs in a remote place.

  Another object of the present invention is to collect surveillance videos of related surveillance camera devices when a sensor detects a crime, accident, disaster, etc., and investigate the cause of the crime, accident, disaster, etc. It is an object of the present invention to provide a surveillance camera system that is useful for preventing such problems.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a surveillance camera system that can quickly respond to an emergency by distributing surveillance video to related departments.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a surveillance camera system that enables quick confirmation and response of an on-site situation in an emergency by storing surveillance images from a number of surveillance camera devices in a recording device. is there.

  The present invention provides a monitoring camera system comprising a plurality of monitoring camera devices, a plurality of sensor devices, the plurality of monitoring camera devices, and a monitoring center in which the plurality of sensor devices are connected via a transmission line. The center includes a control unit and a storage unit, and the plurality of monitoring camera devices and the plurality of sensor devices are grouped into a plurality of regions, and the grouped table is the storage unit of the monitoring center. And when the control unit detects an abnormal signal from at least one sensor of the plurality of sensor devices, the control unit displays images of the plurality of monitoring camera devices of the group to which the sensor detecting the abnormality belongs. Configured to collect.

  In the surveillance camera system of the present invention, the surveillance center further includes a printer, and each video from a plurality of surveillance camera devices of a group to which the sensor that detects the abnormality belongs is stored in the storage unit. In addition, the video stored in the storage unit is output by the printer.

  In the surveillance camera system of the present invention, the video stored in the storage unit stores at least the installation location of the surveillance camera device and the imaging time of the video, and the installation in the image output by the printer. The location and the imaging time are output simultaneously.

  In the surveillance camera system of the present invention, the table stored in the storage unit further includes priority order information according to the installation location of the surveillance camera device, and the surveillance center provides sensor output during an abnormality. Based on the priority information, the image from the monitoring camera device is collected.

  In the surveillance camera system of the present invention, the control unit of the surveillance center includes a timer device, and the images of the plurality of surveillance camera devices are sequentially stored in the storage device at different times based on the output of the timer. Configured to be stored.

  In the monitoring camera system of the present invention, the monitoring center further includes a video distribution unit, and videos from a plurality of monitoring camera devices of a group to which the sensor that detects the abnormality belongs are stored in the storage unit. Based on the grouped table, the information is distributed to a predetermined department.

  As described above, if the surveillance camera system of the present invention is used, not only the surveillance information of the surveillance location but also a wide range of surveillance information related to the surveillance location or the surveillance information of the passage of time can be collected. Alternatively, it can be used for investigation of the cause of a disaster, and further prevention of crimes, accidents, disasters, etc., and prompt and accurate disaster prevention activities and suppression of damage at the time of a disaster can be achieved. In addition, it is possible to realize a surveillance camera system that can quickly respond in an emergency by distributing surveillance video to a mobile terminal or the like even outdoors. Furthermore, by storing monitoring images from a large number of monitoring camera devices in a recording device, it is possible to realize a monitoring camera system that enables quick confirmation and response of an on-site situation in an emergency, which is extremely effective.

  FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an application form of a surveillance camera system in which surveillance camera devices are arranged in a dam, a river or the like for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, 201 is a transmission line such as an optical network, 202 is a monitoring center, 203 is a dam, 204 is a sluice gate, 205 is a drainage station, 206 is a water level gauge, CA-1, CA-2 CA-n indicates a monitoring camera device provided for monitoring dams and rivers.

  The operation of this surveillance video distribution system will be described. For example, the monitoring camera device CA-1 constantly monitors the dam 203, and performs dam water level monitoring and suspicious person intrusion monitoring during heavy rain. The monitoring camera device CA-2 monitors a water level meter 206 provided in the river and transmits information such as a dangerous water level. Similarly, the monitoring camera devices CA-3,... CA-n are also provided for monitoring any abnormalities such as the water level of the river, the sluice 204, the drainage station 205, the situation of the intruder, and the like. Then, the video of the monitoring location captured by each monitoring camera device is sent to the monitoring center via the transmission path 201.

  Although each surveillance camera device can always take an image of the surveillance location and transmit it to the surveillance center, this will increase the consumption of drive power due to the operation of each surveillance camera device, and many There is a problem that the transmission bandwidth of the video on the transmission path has to be widened for video transmission from the surveillance camera device, and it is usually configured to transmit the video of the monitoring location where the abnormality occurred Is normal. Therefore, each monitoring camera device is provided with a sensor for detecting an abnormality, and is configured to operate the monitoring camera device when the sensor detects an abnormality. Examples of this sensor include an infrared sensor, a sound sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a door of a building, and a door sensor. There is also a method for detecting an abnormality by image processing in the surveillance camera device. In this abnormality detection method using image processing, for example, the luminance signal of the image one frame before the captured image is compared with the luminance signal of the image after one frame, and it is determined that there is an abnormality if there is a change greater than a predetermined threshold. There is a way. There is also a method of detecting an abnormality from the histogram of the captured image signal. Hereinafter, an image processing sensor that detects an abnormality by processing an image of a camera in this manner is referred to as an image processing sensor.

  The above-described monitoring camera system has been described as being adapted to a monitoring system for rivers such as dams. However, such a monitoring camera system includes a monitoring system in a tunnel, an illegal dumping monitoring system, and an incident monitoring system in a town. There are various types such as security monitoring systems for public facilities, banks, airports, etc.

  In the various monitoring systems as described above, the present invention can collect a wide range of monitoring information related to the monitoring location, or monitoring information of the passage of time, investigate the cause of crime, accident or disaster, This is to realize a surveillance camera system that is useful for preventing crimes, accidents or disasters.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. 101-1,... 101-n are a plurality of surveillance camera devices. Note that the surveillance camera device 101 is collectively referred to as the surveillance camera device 101. Reference numerals 102-1,... 102 -m denote sensors (or sensor devices). As described above, the sensor 102 includes an infrared sensor, a sound sensor, a door sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, an image processing sensor, and the like. The plurality of monitoring camera devices 101 and the plurality of sensors 102 are connected to the monitoring center 104 via a transmission line such as a network. Note that the plurality of monitoring camera devices 101 and the plurality of sensors 102 are usually composed of several tens to several hundreds, and the plurality of monitoring camera devices 101 and the plurality of sensors 102 are grouped by monitoring target or monitoring area. And is configured to collect the necessary monitoring information. This will be described with reference to Table 1.

  Table 1 is a table in which, for example, a monitoring area, a camera installation location, a camera number, and a sensor type are tabulated as a table A. The table A is stored in, for example, a storage unit of a central processing unit of the monitoring center described later, and the system administrator can change or modify the setting contents depending on the situation. is there. In Table 1, for example, area A indicates a monitoring system that monitors areas such as dams and rivers. That is, in the monitoring system described with reference to FIG. 2, the monitoring camera device CA-1 is disposed in the dam 203, and the above-described image processing sensor function is provided for abnormality detection. In addition, a monitoring camera device CA-2 is arranged on the river water level meter 206, and a water level sensor is arranged. Similarly, a monitoring camera device CA-n is disposed in the drainage station 205, and an infrared sensor is disposed.

  Moreover, the monitoring system which monitors B area of a monitoring area shows the incident monitoring system in a town, for example, and A camera is provided with monitoring camera apparatus CB-1 and an infrared sensor. In addition, a monitoring camera device CB-m and an image processing sensor are provided on the A street. Similarly, the monitoring system for monitoring the N district of the monitoring area indicates a system for monitoring the flow of automobiles on a highway or a car accident. A monitoring camera device CN-1 and an image processing sensor are located at the highway X point. The Y interchange is provided with a monitoring camera device CN-p and an image processing sensor.

  Thus, the plurality of camera apparatuses 101-1,... 101-n shown in FIG. 1 described above correspond to the monitoring camera apparatuses in the monitoring areas A, B. . Similarly, the plurality of sensors 102-1,... 102 -m correspond to sensors arranged in each area shown in Table 1. The outputs of the respective monitoring camera devices and the respective sensors are transmitted to the monitoring center 104 via the transmission path 103.

  The operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described below. First, the monitoring center 104 includes a video switching unit 110 that appropriately switches a video signal supplied from the transmission path 103, a control unit 111 that controls the monitoring center, a monitoring monitor 112 that displays the monitoring video, and a video that is transmitted to another related department, for example, A video delivery unit 113 for delivery to a transmission path 105 or a portable wireless device 106 for transmission to the police, fire department, local government (not shown), a video storage unit 114, an operation unit 115 for operating the control unit, and a printer 116. In addition, the sensors 102-1,... 102-m are arranged at locations where the monitoring camera device 101 is arranged in pairs with the monitoring camera device 101, respectively. When the monitoring camera device 101 has a function as an image processing sensor, a sensor such as an infrared sensor or a sound sensor is unnecessary, but a plurality of sensors may be combined and placed depending on the installation location and environment. In some cases. The sensor output of each sensor 102 is transmitted to the control unit 111 via the transmission path 103. The control unit 111 is configured to control each device of the monitoring center 104 in response to the sensor output from each sensor 102.

  Here, the operation of the control unit 111 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. First, in step 301, sensor output is detected. That is, the monitoring center 104 constantly monitors the sensor outputs of a large number of sensors 102 connected to a transmission path 103 such as a network. When an abnormality occurs in the sensor output, it is detected which sensor has notified the abnormality. For example, FIG. 4 shows a monitoring image of the monitoring camera device CA-1 shown in FIG. This surveillance camera device CA-1 always images the dam 203. Now, a case will be described as an example where the image processing sensor detects that the amount of water in the dam has increased and exceeded the dangerous water level due to torrential rain and the like, and the controller 111 is notified of the abnormality. Needless to say, the monitoring camera device CA-1 has a zoom function and can enlarge an image as necessary. In addition, on the monitor screen, the location and date and time are displayed as follows: imaging location: dam, imaging date and time: August 5, 16:31:26. In addition to the location and date and time, for example, information such as the type of sensor that has detected an abnormality may be displayed on the monitor screen.

  In step 302, it is determined in which district the sensor that has notified the abnormality is the sensor. That is, since the table shown in Table 1 is stored in the storage unit 114 as described above, for example, the control unit indicates that the image processing sensor of the monitoring camera device CA-1 belongs to the A area. 111 can be determined.

  In step 303, the monitoring camera apparatus 101 belonging to the A area based on the result determined as the A area sensor in step 302, that is, all the monitoring camera apparatuses CA arranged in the A area shown in Table 1 are displayed. -2, CA-n is activated from the control unit 111.

  In step 304, all images of the monitoring camera devices CA-1, CA-2,... CA-n are obtained by controlling the image switching unit 110.

  In step 305, the video obtained by the video switching unit 110 is displayed on the monitor monitor 112.

  As described above, in the present invention, when an abnormality is detected in any one of the sansa arranged at a plurality of locations, the monitoring camera device of all the districts to which the sensor belongs, for example, all the surveillance of the A district The camera devices CA-1, CA-2,... CA-n are activated, and all the images can be obtained at the monitoring center. In the above case, when the amount of water in the dam increases due to torrential rain or the like, and the image processing sensor notifies the dam 203 that the dangerous water level has been exceeded, the monitoring camera device CA-2 or drainage of the river downstream from the dam Since the monitoring camera device such as the monitoring camera device CA-n of the machine place 205 is automatically activated and the captured image is transmitted to the monitoring center 104, the degree of danger and the situation of the river downstream from the dam can be grasped. It can be used for emergency disaster countermeasures and disaster prevention. In the above embodiment, for example, a wide area has been described, but it is needless to say that the A district can be subdivided into a plurality of districts and implemented at the municipal level of the river basin. In the above embodiment, the A area has been described, but the same applies to the B area and the N area. For example, when a suspicious person is found in the A bank in the B district, that is, the sensor device of the A bank is activated, and all the surveillance camera devices in the B district are driven. Therefore, since the subsequent action of the suspicious person is captured as a monitoring video by the monitoring camera device disposed on each street (road) in the B district, the image stored in the monitoring monitor 112 or the storage unit 114 is viewed. This makes it possible to grasp the situation. Also, for example, in the N district, when an accident occurs on the highway X point, an image is taken with a monitoring camera device arranged in the vicinity thereof, so it becomes easy to grasp the situation before and after the accident. .

  In addition, when an abnormality is detected as described above, the video distribution unit 113 uses a transmission path 105 to a predetermined department for each grouped area, for example, a plurality of monitoring cameras of the group for the police, fire department, local government, etc. Distribute the video of the device. Furthermore, the video can be automatically distributed to related portable terminals 106 at a plurality of remote locations as necessary.

  In the above embodiment, the monitoring monitor 112 is a monitor of a multi-image display screen that can display images of a plurality of monitoring camera devices, and has a function of sequentially scrolling and watching the images of each monitoring camera device. However, for that purpose, the storage unit 114 is preferably a storage unit capable of recording videos from a plurality of surveillance camera devices. As the storage unit, a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, an MO disk, an optical disk or the like can be used.

  Further, based on Table 1, the storage unit 114 stores the image of the camera to be stored, the imaging location (corresponding to the installation location of the monitoring camera device), and time information. The imaging location and time information are displayed on the monitor screen of FIG. In addition, when an abnormality is detected, a large number of monitoring camera devices are activated, and images from a large number of monitoring camera devices are transmitted at a time and stored in the storage unit 114. Is possible. Therefore, in such a case, there is a feature that an image can be printed by the printer 116 and provided to a disaster countermeasure manager. When printing an image on the printer 116, one image may be printed on one page, or images of a plurality of monitoring camera devices 101 of a group to which a sensor that detects an abnormality belongs are collected. Printing may be performed so that a list is displayed on one page. Similarly to FIG. 4, when the image is printed by the printer 116, monitoring information such as the shooting location, the shooting time, and the type of sensor that detects the abnormality is printed together with the image. Note that printing of an image on the printer 116 may be automatically performed in a predetermined department that receives the video from the monitoring center 104 via the transmission path 105. Further, the image information may be transmitted by facsimile to the predetermined department described above. In this way, when an abnormality is detected by the sensor, an image is printed out immediately, which has advantages such as convenience of reporting when an incident occurs and immediacy of countermeasure meetings.

  In the above example, when an abnormality is detected by the sensor, a configuration is shown in which the monitoring camera devices 101 of all the districts to which the sensor belongs are activated by a command from the monitoring center 104. However, as another configuration example, The monitoring camera 101 is always activated, and when an abnormality is detected by the sensor, the monitoring center 104 outputs a video transmission request to the monitoring camera devices 101 of all the districts to which the sensor belongs. Etc. may be used.

  Furthermore, as another configuration example, the monitoring camera 101 is configured so that the imaging direction (pan, tilt), zoom magnification, and the like can be remotely controlled by a command from the monitoring center 104, and an abnormality is detected by the sensor. In such a case, a video transmission request is output from the monitoring center 104 to all the monitoring camera devices 101 in the area to which the sensor belongs, and the imaging direction and zoom magnification are set to preset shooting points (preset values). A configuration may be used that outputs a command to change the above. Thus, for example, even when the imaging direction of the monitoring camera 101 is directed in an unexpected direction by remote control from the monitoring center 104 or the like at a normal time when no abnormality is detected by the sensor, the abnormality is detected by the sensor. When detected, the imaging direction of the monitoring camera 101 can be immediately returned to a direction suitable for confirmation of the monitoring area, so that the monitoring area can be effectively monitored.

  Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Table 2. Table 2 shows a case where priorities (1, 2,... N) are given to installed sensors, for example.

  Table 2 shows, for example, a case where priority is provided to the monitoring camera devices and sensors arranged in the A district. The monitoring camera device installed upstream of the river has a high priority, and the downstream has a low priority. For example, when an abnormality is notified from a plurality of sensors almost simultaneously, the processing may be confused. However, if the processing priority is determined in advance, there is an advantage that the control unit 111 can perform processing according to the priority. In particular, when images are sent from a large number of monitoring camera devices, it becomes a problem which monitoring camera device image is to be monitored first on the monitoring monitor 112. It is possible to monitor the image according to That is, an image from a monitoring camera device with a high priority can be displayed on the monitoring monitor 112 first, distributed to the mobile terminal 106 at a remote location, or printed by the printer 116. The priority settings shown in Table 2 can be variously changed or modified depending on the location, situation, and environment.

  Still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Table 3. Table 3 is a system that periodically accumulates temporal changes in video in a surveillance video distribution system and determines abnormalities, for example.

  Table 3 is a table in which, for example, the water level at time t1 and the water level at time t2 of the A district (dam, river district) shown in Table 1 is recorded, and this is stored in the storage unit 114. For example, when the sensor 102 notifies the abnormality, for example, the control unit 111 activates the monitoring camera device 101 in the area where the abnormality is notified. For example, in the case of the A area, the temporal data of the water level of the dam and the river Are collected and recorded in the storage unit 111. Further, if necessary, by displaying this data on the monitoring monitor 112, the degree of danger and the situation of danger can be grasped. In this embodiment, the case where the sensor 102 has notified the abnormality has been described. However, in addition to the sensor 102 notifying the abnormality, the monitoring center monitor operates the operation unit 115 to obtain image data of a necessary area. Related information can also be stored in the storage unit 114. In the case of automatic recording, a timer is provided in the control unit 111, and a time for periodically collecting video from each monitoring camera device is set in this timer. The data shown in Table 3 can be collected.

  Further, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The monitoring center 104 always acquires videos from the plurality of monitoring cameras 101 and accumulates the acquired videos in the storage unit 114. When the sensor 102 detects an abnormality, a plurality of frames that are temporally different are read from the storage unit 114 and the images (still images) of the monitoring camera device corresponding to the sensor 102 are read out. Distribution to 106 is performed. For example, in addition to a still image at the time of abnormality detection of the sensor, a total of four still images, an image 10 minutes before the abnormality detection time, an image 30 minutes before the abnormality detection time, and an image 1 hour before, are sent to the mobile terminal 106 at a remote location. Distribution or printing by the printer 116. Such a time setting can be changed or modified in various ways by a system administrator or the like depending on the situation. When a plurality of images are printed by the printer 116, printing may be performed so that a list is displayed on one page.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the monitoring camera system described here, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be widely applied to other monitoring camera systems. No.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of one Example of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the application form of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the control part of this invention. It is a figure which shows the monitoring image | video of the monitoring camera apparatus of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the conventional surveillance camera system.

Explanation of symbols

  101: Surveillance camera device, 102: Sensor, 103, 105, 201, 502: Transmission path, 104, 202, 501: Monitoring center, 106, 507: Portable terminal, 110: Video switching unit, 111: Control unit, 112: Monitor: 113: Video distribution unit, 114: Storage unit, 115: Operation unit, 116: Printer, 203: Dam, 204: Sluice gate, 205: Drainage station, 206: Water level gauge, 503: Monitoring device, 504: Image transmission 505: Police / fire department / local government 506: Antenna.

Claims (3)

  In the surveillance camera system comprising a plurality of surveillance camera devices, a plurality of sensor devices, the plurality of surveillance camera devices, and a surveillance center in which the plurality of sensor devices are connected via a transmission path, the surveillance center is controlled A plurality of monitoring camera devices and a plurality of sensor devices are grouped into a plurality of regions, and the grouped table is stored in the storage unit of the monitoring center, When the control unit detects an abnormality signal from at least one sensor of the plurality of sensor devices, the control unit collects images of a plurality of monitoring camera devices of a group to which the sensor that detects the abnormality belongs. Surveillance camera system.   2. The surveillance camera system according to claim 1, wherein the surveillance center further includes a printer, and each video from a plurality of surveillance camera devices of a group to which the sensor that detects the abnormality belongs is stored in the storage unit. And the video stored in the storage unit is output by the printer. 2. The monitoring camera system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring center further includes a video distribution unit, and videos from a plurality of monitoring camera devices of a group to which the sensor that detects the abnormality belongs are stored in the storage unit. A surveillance camera system, which delivers to a predetermined department based on the grouped table.

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