JP2006084418A - Automatic reading apparatus for measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic reading apparatus for measuring instrument capable of measuring measured values at an easy rate and with high accuracy. <P>SOLUTION: An flow meter 2 has a display part 3 and a measurement indicator 4. In the display part 3, a maximum scale line 3a is placed on its upper part, a minimum scale line 3b is placed on its lower part, and a plurality of scale lines are placed between those maximums scale line 3a and minimum scale line 3b evenly spaced apart. The automatic reading apparatus 1 for measuring instrument is equipped with a photographing means 10. a communication channel 12 connecting shot images 11 and a host computer in a centralized control room, and a data processing unit 20 inside the automatic reading apparatus 1 for measuring instrument. During a preparing process, users photograph the flow meter 2 and determine the coordinates of scale lines 3a and 3b with a mouse. During measuring process, the data processing unit 20 photographs the flow meter 2 and detects the coordinate at the top of the measuring indicator 4. Thus, the data processing unit 20 calculates measured value from the coordinates of those scale lines 3a and 3b and coordinates at the top of the measurement indicator 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic measuring instrument reading device, and more particularly to an automatic measuring instrument reading device suitable for reading a measurement value of an on-site measuring instrument provided in various plants such as a water treatment facility.

  Conventionally, as a measuring instrument used in various plants such as water treatment facilities, a field-type measuring instrument that cannot read the measured value unless it goes to the installation site of the measuring instrument, and converts the measurement result into an electrical signal There is an electric measuring instrument that can read a measured value at a distance by transmitting it to a remote central control center or the like.

  Among these measuring instruments, the electrical measuring instrument is expensive because it has a complicated configuration such as a sensor unit and a signal conversion unit. Therefore, if an electric measuring instrument is used up to a measuring instrument that is used only at the time of operation adjustment after the repair of the plant or at the time of trial operation, the equipment cost becomes high.

  On the other hand, field-type measuring instruments are inexpensive because they have a simple mechanical mechanism, but they require labor costs because measurement workers go to the site to read the measured values, and it takes time to collect the measured values. There are inconveniences such as a difference in measurement values due to different reading people.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-288780 discloses an automatic reading device for a usage meter of gas or the like attached to each household.

  The usage meter used in the publication is a needle-type circular reading meter, the display portion is made of a disk, and numbers 0 to 9 are attached to the periphery of the disk. This automatic reading device is provided with an imaging device such as a CCD, and 10 images on the display unit with the hands indicating 0 to 9 are stored in advance in the storage unit as templates. At the time of measurement, the usage meter is imaged by the imaging device, the captured display unit is compared with the 10 images, and the pointer value of the image with the closest needle position among the 10 images is the measured value. Is done.

In the automatic reading device disclosed in the publication, since an on-site measuring instrument that has already been installed can be used as it is, it is less expensive than a case where it is replaced with an electric measuring instrument. In addition, since the measurement value is not read by the measurement worker, the measurement value can be read with high accuracy in a short time.
JP 2002-288780 A

  In the automatic meter reading apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-288780, when reading various types of measuring instruments, it is necessary to store a plurality of images as templates for each measuring instrument in advance in the storage unit. Take it.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic measuring instrument reading device that solves the above-described problems and can measure a measuring instrument inexpensively and accurately.

  A measuring instrument automatic reading device according to the present invention (Claim 1) is an automatic reading device that reads a measurement value of a measuring instrument having a scale and a measurement value indicator, and a measuring instrument photographing means for photographing the measuring instrument. Scale storage means for storing the maximum scale position and minimum scale position of the measuring instrument in the captured image, indicator position detection means for detecting the position of the measurement value indicator in the image, and the maximum scale position; Measurement value calculation means for calculating the measurement value of the measuring instrument based on the minimum scale position and the position of the measurement value indicator is provided.

  A measuring instrument automatic reading device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the instrument automatic reading device according to the first aspect, further comprising type storage means for storing the type of the measuring instrument, wherein the measurement value calculation means is based on a type signal from the type storage means. The measurement value is calculated according to the type of the measuring instrument.

  The automatic measuring instrument reading device of the present invention (Claim 1) is based on the positional relationship between the maximum scale position and the minimum scale position stored by the scale storage means and the position of the measurement indicator detected by the indicator position detection means. Since the measurement value of the measuring instrument is calculated based on this, it is not necessary to store a plurality of images in the storage unit in advance, and it does not take time.

  In the present invention, reading of the on-site measuring instrument can be automatically performed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to measure with low cost and high accuracy compared to the case where reading is performed by a measurement worker.

  The automatic measuring instrument reading device according to claim 2 comprises a type storage means for storing the type of the measuring instrument, and the measurement value calculation means is based on a type signal from the type storage means according to the type of the measuring instrument. Since the measurement value is calculated, the measurement values of various types of measuring instruments can be read.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 (a) is a perspective view of a measuring instrument automatic reading device and a flow meter according to the embodiment, FIG. 1 (b) is a front view of a display unit of the flow meter, and FIG. 2 is a measuring instrument of FIG. It is a schematic block diagram of an automatic reader.

  An automatic measuring instrument reading device 1 is installed in the vicinity of the flow meter 2 which is an on-site measuring instrument.

  In this embodiment, the flow meter 2 is a flow meter, and is a display composed of a cylindrical casing 2a whose vertical direction is the cylindrical axis direction, and a plurality of scale lines formed by printing, engraving, etc. on the outer surface of the casing 2a. Part 3 and a measurement value indicator 4 made of a rotor-type float housed in the casing 2a. The display unit 3 is provided with a maximum scale line 3a at the top and a minimum scale line 3b at the bottom, and a plurality of equidistant intervals are provided between the maximum scale line 3a and the minimum scale line 3b. The scale line is provided. The measurement value indicator 4 has an inverted conical shape, and a flat portion on the upper end side is an instruction point for instructing a measurement value.

  The automatic measuring instrument reading device 1 includes an imaging means 10 such as a CCD, a screen 11 provided on the rear surface, a communication line 12 for connecting the automatic measuring instrument reading device 1 to a host computer (not shown), and a measuring instrument. It has a data processing unit 20 inside the automatic reading device 1.

  Although not shown in the drawing, a light source such as a lamp or a flash that shines in synchronization with the photographing timing is provided on the front surface of the automatic measuring instrument reading device 1. According to this light source, since it can be brightened only at the time of photographing, the power consumption can be reduced and the life of the camera / lighting device can be extended.

  The data processing unit 20 includes a signal processing CPU and includes the following seven portions 21 to 27. The photographing means control unit 21 has a function of operating the photographing means 10 to execute the photographing operation of the flow meter 2. The scale storage unit 22 stores the coordinates on the image of the maximum scale line 3a, the coordinates on the image of the minimum scale line 3b, and the images around these scale lines 3a and 3b in the image photographed by the photographing means 10. It has a function. The type storage unit 23 has a function of storing the type of the flow meter 2 selected by the user, for example, the type of a vertical instrument, a horizontal instrument, a circular instrument, and the like. The misalignment detection unit 24 compares the peripheral images of the scale lines 3a and 3b stored in advance by the scale storage unit 22 with the peripheral images of the scale lines 3a and 3b taken at the time of measurement, and automatically reads the measuring instrument. It has a function of detecting whether or not the device 1 and the flow meter 2 are misaligned. The display unit image extraction unit 25 has a function of extracting the image of the display unit 3 from the photographed image. The indicator position detection unit 27 has a function of detecting the coordinates of the indication point of the measurement value indicator 4 on the image. The measurement value calculation unit 27 has a function of calculating a measurement value from the coordinates of the scale lines 3a and 3b, the coordinates of the indication point of the measurement value indicator 4 and the type of the flow meter 2.

  The operation of the automatic measuring instrument reading apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a preparation process before measurement, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the measurement process.

[Preparation process]
In the preparation step, as shown in FIG. 3, the user operates the measuring instrument automatic reading device 1 to photograph the flow meter 2 (STEP 1).

  Next, the scale storage unit 22 collects and stores images around the scale lines 3a and 3b from the image on the screen 1a. Further, the user determines the coordinates of the scale lines 3a and 3b by using a pointing device such as a mouse and stores them in the scale storage unit 22 (STEP 2).

  Next, the user selects the type of the flow meter 2 using the screen 1a and stores it in the type storage unit 23 (STEP 3).

[Measurement process]
In the measurement process, the photographing means control unit 21 operates the photographing means 10 to photograph the flow meter 2 (STEP 1).

  Next, the photographed image is checked (STEP 2). In this STEP2, the misalignment detection unit 24 matches the peripheral image of the scale lines 3a and 3b on the captured image with the peripheral image of the scale lines 3a and 3b stored in the scale storage unit 22 in the preparation process. The check is performed to determine whether the automatic measuring instrument reading device 1 and the flow meter 2 are misaligned or whether the automatic measuring instrument reading device 1 is defective. For example, the image data of the peripheral images of the scale lines 3a and 3b in the measurement process and the peripheral images of the scale lines 3a and 3b in the preparation process are subtracted, and it is determined whether the image values at all coordinates are almost zero. Check. If there is a deviation, a predetermined range (for example, within a 1 cm square) is searched for a matching place. If a matching part can be detected, the coordinate axes are changed and stored so as to match. If a matching location cannot be detected, it is determined that a normal video cannot be taken due to factors such as the camera being greatly displaced or out of order, and an alarm is issued (STEP 3).

  Thereafter, the image of the display unit 3 is extracted from the image (STEP 4). First, the display image extraction unit 25 calls the coordinates of the scale lines 3 a and 3 b from the scale storage unit 22 and calls the type of the flow meter 2 from the type storage unit 23. And the display part image extraction part 25 calls the program corresponding to the classification of the flowmeter 2 from the several image extraction programs memorize | stored beforehand, and extracts the image of the display part 3 from an image according to this program ( cut).

  In the present embodiment, since the flow meter 2 is a vertical type, the extracted image is a vertically long rectangular image from the minimum scale line 3a to the minimum scale line 3b. In the case of a horizontally long measuring device, the extracted image is a horizontally long rectangular image, and in the case of a circular measuring device, the extracted image is a donut-shaped image.

  Next, the indicator position detection unit 26 detects the measurement value indicator 4 (STEP 5). The measurement value indicator 4 can be detected by various known image processing. For example, the measurement value indicator 4 may be detected by storing the shape pattern of the measurement value indicator 4 in advance in the preparation step and searching for the same shape pattern from the extracted image in the measurement step. In addition, the extracted image pattern of the display unit 3 when the measurement value indicator 4 indicates the minimum scale line 3b is stored in advance, and the extracted image pattern is compared with the current extracted image pattern for measurement. The value indicator 4 may be detected.

  Next, a measurement value calculation is performed (STEP 6). Below, collation with the extraction image pattern of the display part 3 in a measurement process, and the extraction image pattern of the display part 3 when the measured value indicator 4 is pointing the minimum scale line 3b previously memorize | stored at the preparation process. The method of calculating the measured value will be described. First, a difference calculation of pattern data in these two extracted image patterns is performed. The calculation result is a two-dimensional array, and a place where a difference occurs in this array is detected. If there is no difference, the measured value indicator 4 in the measurement process points to the minimum scale line 3b as in the preparation process. When a difference has occurred, the measured value indicator 4 indicates a point other than the minimum scale line 3b. Since the upper end of the measurement value indicator 4 indicates the measurement value, the uppermost coordinate among the coordinates where the difference occurs is the coordinate indicating the measurement value. From the coordinates of the upper end portion of the measurement value indicator 4 and the coordinates of the scale lines 3a and 3b stored in the scale storage unit 22, the measurement value calculation unit 26 uses a calculation method according to the type of the flow meter 2. Calculate the measured value.

  In the present embodiment, since the flow meter 2 is a vertical type, from the ratio of the distance from the minimum scale line 3b to the maximum scale line 3a and the distance from the minimum scale line 3b to the upper end of the measurement value indicator 4 What percentage of the measurement range the measurement value indicator 4 indicates is calculated. The indicated value of the maximum scale line 3a and the indicated value of the minimum scale line 3b may be stored in the data processing unit 20 in advance, and the measured value may be calculated from these indicated values and the% value of the measurement range. .

  Finally, the calculated measurement value is output to the host computer via the communication line 12 (STEP 7).

  In the above-described embodiment, the positional deviation between the imaging unit 10 and the flow meter 2 is considered. However, when the possibility of positional deviation is low, it may not be considered. In this case, storage of peripheral images in the preparation process (see STEP 2 in FIG. 3) and photographed image check and alarm transmission (STEPs 2 and 3 in FIG. 4) in the measurement process are omitted.

  In the above embodiment, the type of measuring instrument is selected. However, when only one type of measuring instrument is read, the type storing function may not be provided. In this case, the selection and storage of the type of measuring instrument in the preparation process (STEP 3 in FIG. 3) is omitted.

  In the above-described embodiment, only one measuring instrument is automatically read by one measuring instrument automatic reading device, but a plurality of measuring instruments may be automatically read by one measuring instrument automatic reading device. In this case, in the preparation process, a plurality of measuring instruments are photographed on one photographed image, and the steps STEP2 and STEP3 in FIG. 3 are performed for each measuring instrument. Also in the measurement process, a plurality of measuring instruments are photographed on one photographed image, and the steps 2 to 7 in FIG. 4 are performed for each measuring instrument.

(A) is a perspective view of a measuring instrument automatic reading device and a flow meter concerning an embodiment, and (b) is a front view of a display part of a flow meter. It is a schematic block diagram of the measuring device automatic reader of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the preparatory process before a measurement. It is a flowchart explaining a measurement process.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Measuring instrument automatic reader 2 Flowmeter 3 Display part 3a Maximum scale line 3b Minimum scale line 4 Measurement value indicator 10 Imaging means 11 Screen 12 Communication line 20 Data processing unit

Claims (2)

An automatic reading device that reads a measurement value of a measuring instrument having a scale and a measurement value indicator,
A measuring instrument imaging means for imaging the measuring instrument;
Scale storage means for storing the maximum scale position and the minimum scale position of the measuring instrument in the captured image;
Indicator position detecting means for detecting the position of the measurement value indicator in the image;
A measuring instrument automatic reading device comprising: a measured value calculation means for calculating a measured value of the measuring instrument based on the maximum scale position, the minimum scale position, and the position of the measured value indicator. In claim 1, further comprising a type storage means for storing the type of the measuring instrument,
The measurement value automatic reading device, wherein the measurement value calculation means calculates a measurement value according to the type of the measurement device based on a type signal from the type storage unit.

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