JP2006113358A - Digital camera with automatic azimuth control function - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to take a photograph by specifying the name of a subject after setting a camera in a good perspective location and also to make it possible to take a photograph even if a user does not know the location or azimuth of a mountain, a famous building, or the like. <P>SOLUTION: The name of a subject is searched from a data base and its position is captured. The set position of the camera itself is captured from a GSP system and a digital altimeter. A facing direction is captured from a digital azimuth magnet, and an elevation angle is captured from a digital level. The latitude, longitude, and altitude of the subject fixed on the ground are captured from the subject data base. The direction and distance of the subject are calculated from the set position of the camera and the position of the subject. The camera is directed toward the target subject by controlling a camera direction control function, based upon the information of the digital azimuth magnet and digital level. The zoom level of the lens is controlled, based upon the distance of the subject. The shutter is automatically released after the confirmation of the completion of the control. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to control for automating operations necessary for photographing in a digital camera.

  Cameras have been digitized and automated for a long time, starting with autofocus and autoexposure, and with the use of strobes and digital cameras, various automatic controls such as automatic gradation correction and automatic processing of shooting data have been advanced. Automatic subject recognition technology has also been introduced, such as recognizing a subject and capturing only a stationary or moving object.

On the other hand, incidental information at the time of photographing with a digital camera is stored and used at a later date. For example, exposure, shutter speed, presence / absence of flash use, etc. are stored and used for image reproduction close to the appearance later. Further, the photographing date and time and memo input are stored to increase the value of the image information as a record. In addition, a technique for storing a photographed position, direction, and distance to a subject and searching for a subject from a database is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-174578 A

  Although the automation of shooting is progressing in this way, there is still work to find a subject that you want to shoot from around you, and to point the camera in that direction and release the shutter. The present invention provides a technique for automatically turning a camera to a subject to be photographed and releasing a shutter, thereby providing a camera capable of photographing a subject without knowledge of the position of the subject. .

  According to the camera of the present invention, when the camera is installed at a good view location with a view and the name of the subject is specified, the location and orientation of the subject such as a mountain or a famous building that is fixed on the ground can be known. You can take a picture without it.

  According to the camera or camera system of the present invention, when the name of the subject that the user wants to photograph is specified, the name of the subject is retrieved from the built-in database, and its position, that is, the exact latitude, longitude, and altitude are acquired.

  On the other hand, the installation position of the camera itself is acquired from the GSP system and the digital altimeter by using the function built into the system.

  Further, the direction in which the camera is facing is obtained from the digital compass, and the elevation angle is obtained from the digital level.

  The direction and distance of the subject are calculated from the camera installation position and the subject position.

  Based on the information of the digital azimuth magnet and the digital level, the camera is pointed in the direction of the target subject using a camera azimuth change drive mechanism.

  Change the zoom level of the lens based on the distance to the subject and set it appropriately.

  Confirm that the control is complete and automatically release the shutter.

  At this time, exposure, focus adjustment, etc. are performed automatically as in the prior art.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when a camera is installed at a good view place and a name such as a mountain or a famous building that is a fixed object on the ground is designated, the place and direction cannot be known. But you can take a picture.

  As a result, even if there is no knowledge about the position of the subject or if you go to a tourist spot that is unguided by geography, you can take a picture without a handicap, which greatly contributes to the improvement of the product value of the camera.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of the present invention, which is mainly composed of a digital camera and a tripod with a drive function. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a digital camera having a GPS antenna and a receiver. GPS is built into the camera to improve the camera position accuracy. Reference numeral 20 denotes a tripod for fixing the camera. In order to control the direction of the camera fixed to the tripod, a camera is mounted by superimposing three rotation control tables, a horizontal rotation table 31, a left / right tilt control table 32, and a front / rear tilt control table 33. ing. The left / right tilt control stand 32 is provided with a left / right digital level for detecting left / right tilt. The front / rear tilt control table 33 is provided with a front / rear digital level for detecting front / rear tilt. Further, since the control table 33 is a control table that directly fixes the camera, a digital azimuth magnet is further attached to the control table 33 so that the direction in which the camera is facing can be measured. In the figure, reference numeral 40 denotes a control stand that collects functions for performing control processing and search processing. This includes a subject database necessary for search, an azimuth calculation device for calculating camera position control, and an azimuth control device. The name of the subject to be photographed is designated on the input panel 50. In the subject database, subject names and their position information are comprehensively stored.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the present invention. In the figure, a control unit 40 is built in the control table 40 of FIG. The subject name designated from the input panel 50 is retrieved from the subject DB 41, and the latitude, longitude and altitude information of the subject is read out and sent to the azimuth calculation device.

  The azimuth calculation device acquires the latitude, longitude, and altitude information of the camera from the GPS receiver 11 and the digital altimeter 12 attached to the camera. The positional relationship between the two is calculated from the latitude, longitude, altitude information of the subject and the latitude, longitude, and altitude information of the camera, and the azimuth and elevation angle of the camera and the distance between them are calculated. Information on the azimuth, the elevation angle, and the distance is sent to the azimuth control device 43.

  The azimuth control device first reads the left / right digital level 112 and controls the left / right tilt control pulse motor to fix the left / right horizontal. In other words, the camera is used in the horizontal direction.

  Next, the horizontal rotation control pulse motor 101 is controlled while reading the digital azimuth magnet 111 so that the camera faces the azimuth given from 42.

  Next, the front / rear tilt control pulse motor 103 is controlled while reading the front / rear digital level 113 so that the camera faces the elevation angle given by 42.

  Next, according to the distance given from 42, a zoom level suitable for the distance is sent to the camera control unit 120.

  After completing the above setting, the direction control device instructs the camera control unit to release the shutter.

  Thus, a picture of the subject designated from the input panel 50 can be taken.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation in the configuration example of the present invention.

  Since the flow of operation is the same as that described in FIG.

The block diagram of this invention. FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram of the present invention. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement in an Example.

Claims (3)

Use your GPS receiver and digital altimeter to get your location information,
An electronic device that controls its position with a digital compass and digital level. Use your GPS receiver and digital altimeter to get your location information,
A digital camera that controls its position with a digital compass and digital level.   3. The digital camera according to claim 2, wherein the position of the subject is acquired from a database storing the position of the subject, and a photograph is automatically taken toward the subject by a driving device owned by the digital camera.

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