JP2006317304A - Monitor device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitor device capable of obtaining a monitor image of good image quality. <P>SOLUTION: When the information of monitor image angle is inputted to the zoom lens controller 28 in the laser radar controller, the zoom lens controller 28 controls the position of the light receiving part 12 from the monitor image angle, while the information of the monitor image angle is also inputted to the light transmission lens controller 27. The light transmission lens controller 27 moves the light transmission lens 112 to the proper position so as to irradiate the laser light to an irradiation area suitable for monitor image angle. Thereby, the position of the light transmission lens 112 can be moved to the proper position corresponding to the monitor image angle. Therefore, the information of the monitor object can be obtained on the proper laser irradiation area and with the monitor image angle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a monitoring device that monitors an obstacle or the like in a ship or the like.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a monitoring device using a laser radar as a monitoring device that is installed on a ship or the like and detects an object over a wide range (see, for example, JP-A-2002-162466).
For example, as shown in FIG. 12, such a monitoring device using a laser radar displays a laser radar 51, a laser radar control unit 52 that controls the laser radar 51, and an image signal obtained by the laser radar 51. And a display unit 53. The laser radar 51 has a configuration in which the angle of attack and the rotation angle are controlled by a convolution table 54.
In such a configuration, at the time of monitoring, pulse laser light is emitted from the laser head in the laser radar 51 to the periphery of the ship, and this laser light reaches the monitoring target A and the reflected light is reflected by the laser radar 51. An image is picked up by the light receiving unit provided in the inside, and this image signal is output to the display unit 53, whereby an object (here, the monitoring target A) existing around is displayed on the display unit 53.
JP 2002-162466 A (page 2-4, FIG. 1)

However, in the above-described monitoring apparatus, even if the distance to the monitoring target A changes, the setting of the light transmitting unit or the light receiving unit is not adjusted in conjunction with the change. However, there is a problem that the image quality of the monitoring image is greatly different depending on the case. In addition, since the light transmitting unit that emits the laser light and the light receiving unit that captures the reflected light of the laser light are not linked, there is a problem that an image cannot be acquired with an optimal setting.
Furthermore, in the monitoring device described above, since the acquired monitoring image is only displayed on the display device, all decisions made after checking the monitoring image are left to the monitoring personnel, and the burden on the monitoring personnel etc. There was a problem that was large.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring apparatus that can obtain a monitoring image with good image quality by linking a light transmitting unit and a light receiving unit. There is to do.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring device that can reduce the burden on the monitoring staff.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means.
The present invention provides a light transmitting means for emitting light, and a shutter is opened and captured in accordance with the timing at which the light emitted from the light transmitting means reaches the monitoring target and the reflected light reflected by the monitoring target arrives. A monitoring device including an imaging unit that converts the reflected light into an image signal and outputs the image signal, and a light transmission control unit that adjusts an irradiation area of the light transmission unit based on a monitoring field angle of the imaging unit. A monitoring device is provided.

  According to the above configuration, since the imaging unit opens the shutter in accordance with the timing when the light emitted from the light transmitting unit reaches the monitoring target and the reflected light returns, only the desired reflected light is captured. Can do. In this case, the light transmission control means adjusts the irradiation area of the light transmission means based on the monitoring angle of view of the imaging means, so that it is possible to irradiate light on a suitable area that matches the monitoring angle of view. . As a result, the image signal obtained by the imaging means can be made an image signal with an optimum image quality, and a monitor image with an optimum image quality can be obtained by displaying this image signal on a display device or the like.

  The monitoring apparatus described above may further include an imaging control unit that adjusts a monitoring angle of view of the imaging unit based on a distance to the monitoring target.

  According to the above configuration, by adjusting the monitoring field angle of the imaging unit by the imaging control unit, the field angle of the imaging unit can be set to a suitable monitoring field angle corresponding to the distance to the monitoring target. . As a result, the image signal obtained by the imaging means is acquired by the optimum monitoring angle of view set according to the distance to the monitoring target and the optimum irradiation area set according to the monitoring angle of view. Therefore, by displaying this image signal on a display device or the like, it is possible to obtain a monitoring image with optimum image quality.

  The monitoring apparatus having the above-described configuration includes an evaluation unit that performs noise evaluation of the image signal output from the imaging unit, and the light transmission control unit and / or the imaging control unit is in accordance with a result of noise evaluation by the evaluation unit. Then, it is preferable to adjust the irradiation area of the light transmitting means and / or the monitoring angle of view of the imaging means.

According to the above configuration, the noise evaluation of the image is performed based on the image signal output from the imaging unit by the evaluation unit. Then, the light transmission control means and / or the imaging control means can reduce the noise of the monitoring image by adjusting the irradiation area and / or the monitoring angle of view so that the result of the noise evaluation is improved. It becomes. Thereby, the image quality of the monitoring image can be further improved.
The light transmission control unit and / or the imaging control unit, for example, as a result of noise evaluation by the evaluation unit, for example, an S / N (Signal to Noise ratio) ratio is set to be higher than a preset S / N ratio. In addition, the irradiation area and / or the monitoring angle of view may be adjusted.
Alternatively, the light transmission control means and / or the imaging control means accumulates the result of noise evaluation (for example, S / N ratio) when the setting of the irradiation area and / or the monitoring angle of view is changed in a stepwise manner. The irradiation area and / or monitoring angle of view when the S / N ratio is the highest among them may be determined, and monitoring may be performed using this irradiation area and / or monitoring angle of view.

  The present invention provides a light transmitting means for emitting light, and a shutter is opened and captured in accordance with the timing at which the light emitted from the light transmitting means reaches the monitoring target and the reflected light reflected by the monitoring target arrives. Based on the imaging means for converting the reflected light into an image signal and outputting it, the timing at which the light transmitting means emits light, and the timing at which the imaging means opens the shutter, the distance to the monitoring target is determined. Distance calculating means for calculating, position specifying means for specifying the position of the monitoring target using the distance calculated by the distance calculating means, storage means for storing the geographical information of the sea area, and the position specifying means A monitoring unit comprising: a determination unit that determines a state of the monitoring target position by comparing the position of the monitoring target specified by the geographic information stored in the storage unit. To provide a device.

According to the above configuration, based on the timing at which the light transmitting unit emits light and the timing at which the shutter of the imaging unit is opened so that the light reaches the monitoring target and the reflected light reflected by the monitoring target is captured. The distance to the monitoring target is calculated. And the position of the monitoring object is specified using this distance. For example, if the position of the device and the direction of the monitoring target are known, the position of the monitoring target can be easily specified using the distance.
Here, the position of the device can be acquired by using, for example, GPS, and the direction of the monitoring target can be acquired by the direction of the light transmitting means or the imaging device. Then, the position of the monitoring target is determined by collating the position of the monitoring target specified in this way with the geographical information of the neighborhood stored in the storage unit. This makes it possible to determine whether the monitoring target is dangerous when, for example, it is approaching more than necessary to shallow water, important facilities, etc., or when navigating other than the specified route, It is not necessary for the observer to determine whether or not it is dangerous, and the burden can be reduced.

  In the monitoring apparatus described above, it is preferable to include tracking means for tracking the monitoring target based on the determination result of the determination means.

  According to the above configuration, for example, when the monitoring unit determines that the monitoring target is dangerous by the determination unit, tracking of the monitoring target is performed by the tracking unit, and thus additional information on the monitoring target is acquired as necessary. It becomes possible to do. As a result, it is possible to reduce the risk of oversight and other burdens such as oversight.

  The monitoring device described above is provided in the vicinity of a light source included in the light transmission unit, and a light detection unit that detects light emitted from the light source, and a timing at which light is detected by the light detection unit, It is preferable to include shutter timing determining means for determining the shutter timing of the imaging means.

  According to the above configuration, the light detection means for detecting light is provided in the vicinity of the light source of the light transmission means, and the shutter timing of the imaging means is based on the timing at which the light is detected by the light detection means. Is determined. As a result, it is possible to eliminate a time difference (jitter) from when a signal instructing the emission timing is input to the light transmitting means until light is actually emitted from the light transmitting means. Thereby, the precision of the shutter timing of an imaging means can be improved.

According to the monitoring apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to obtain a monitoring image with a good image quality by linking the light transmission unit and the imaging unit.
Moreover, according to the monitoring apparatus of this invention, there exists an effect that the burden of a monitoring person can be reduced.

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the monitoring apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the monitoring device according to the present embodiment includes a laser radar 1, a laser radar control unit 2, a control device 3, and a display device (display means) 4.

The laser radar 1 includes a light transmitting unit (light transmitting unit) 11 and a light receiving unit (imaging unit) 12.
The light transmission unit 11 includes, for example, a laser oscillator 111 that emits pulsed laser light, a light transmission lens 112 that expands the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator 111 and outputs the laser light to the outside, and a light transmission lens 112. A light transmission lens actuator (not shown) for adjusting the position is provided as a main component.
The laser oscillator 111 is a small laser such as a semiconductor laser, for example, and receives a power supply from a laser power source 26 in the laser radar control unit 2 described later, and emits a pulsed laser beam. The light transmission lens actuator adjusts the position of the light transmission lens 112 based on a control signal supplied from a light transmission lens control unit (light transmission control means) 27 in the laser radar control unit 2 described later. Thereby, it is possible to adjust the irradiation area of the light that passes through the light transmission lens 112 and is radiated to the outside in a desired range.

The light receiving unit 12 includes, for example, a zoom lens 121, a high-speed gate device 122, and an ICCD (image intensifier CCD) camera head 123. The zoom lens 121 collects the reflected light emitted from the light transmitting unit 11 and reflected by the monitoring target, and guides it to the high-speed gate device 122. The direction of the zoom lens 121 is adjusted based on a control signal supplied from a zoom lens control unit (imaging control unit) 28 provided in the laser radar control unit 2 described later. The high-speed gate device 122 is driven by a high-speed gate device control unit (shutter timing determining means) 24 provided in the laser radar control unit 2 to be described later, and the light guided by the zoom lens 121 is transmitted to the ICCD camera head. It functions as a shutter to be taken in by 123. The ICCD camera head 123 converts the captured light into an electrical signal to generate an image signal, and outputs the image signal to the image processing device 25 in the laser radar control unit 2.
Such a laser radar 1 has a structure in which the rotation angle and the attack angle are adjusted to desired angles by the swivel base 5.

The laser radar control unit 2 controls the light transmitting unit 11, the light receiving unit 12, and the swivel base 5 of the laser radar 1 based on various control signals supplied from the control device 3. The laser radar control unit 2 includes, for example, a turntable drive unit 21, a synchronization circuit 22, a control signal conversion device 23, a high-speed gate device control unit 24, an image processing device 25, a laser power source 26, a light transmission lens control unit 27, and a zoom. A lens control unit 28 and the like are provided.
The control device 3 generates various control signals for controlling the laser radar 2, outputs the generated various control signals to the laser radar control unit 2, and displays the monitoring results supplied from the laser radar control unit 2 as a display device Output to 4. The control device 3 is connected to an input device (not shown), and supplies information input from the input device to the laser radar control unit 2.
The display device 4 includes a display monitor (not shown) that displays the monitoring result input from the control device 3.

The laser radar control unit 2 and the control device 3 described above are, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an HD (Hard
A computer system including a Disc), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like is incorporated. A series of processing steps for realizing various functions to be described later are recorded in the form of a program on an HD or a ROM, and the CPU reads the program into the RAM and executes information processing / calculation processing. Thus, various functions described later are realized.

Next, the operation of the monitoring apparatus according to this embodiment will be described.
First, at the time of monitoring, when a monitoring field angle is input from an input device (not shown), the control device 3 supplies information on the monitoring field angle to the laser radar control unit 2. Further, the control device 3 receives a synchronization control signal necessary for emitting laser light at a predetermined timing, a laser beam emitted at a predetermined timing reaches a predetermined object, and receives only reflected reflected light. 12 generates a shutter drive signal and the like to be taken into the ICCD camera head 123 included in the image sensor 12, and outputs them to the laser radar control unit 2.

Information on the monitoring angle of view output from the control device 3 is supplied to the light transmission lens control unit 27 and the zoom lens control unit 28 in the laser radar control unit 2.
The light transmission lens control unit 27 sets an irradiation region suitable for the monitoring angle of view acquired as input information, and sets the position of the light transmission lens 112 of the light transmission unit 11 so that light is emitted to the set irradiation region. Adjust. Specifically, the light transmission lens control unit 27 generates a drive signal for moving the light transmission lens 112 to a position where an optimum irradiation area can be obtained with respect to the monitoring field angle, and this drive signal is illustrated in the figure. Not output to the light transmission lens actuator. As a result, the position of the light transmission lens 112 is adjusted so as to be an optimum irradiation region with respect to the monitoring field angle.

  Regarding the setting of the irradiation area suitable for the monitoring angle of view, for example, the light transmission lens control unit 27 has a table in which the monitoring angle of view is associated with the irradiation area suitable for it, and refers to this table. Thus, an irradiation area suitable for the monitoring angle of view may be set. Alternatively, in place of the above-described table, a table that directly associates the monitoring angle of view with the position of the light transmission lens 112 is held, and the position of the light transmission lens 112 is directly acquired from this table. It is good also as a simple structure. An example of a table in which the monitoring angle of view is associated with the light transmission lens 112 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the vertical axis represents the position of the light transmission lens 112, and the horizontal axis represents the monitoring angle of view. As shown in this figure, when the monitoring angle of view is determined, the position of the light transmission lens is uniquely determined.

  On the other hand, the zoom lens control unit 28 generates a drive signal for driving the zoom lens 121 arranged in the laser radar 1 so that the monitoring field angle of the light receiving unit 12 becomes the monitoring field angle acquired as input information. This drive signal is output to a zoom lens actuator (not shown). Thereby, the zoom lens 121 is moved to a position corresponding to the monitoring angle of view.

Further, the synchronization control signal and the shutter drive signal output from the control device 3 are respectively supplied to the synchronization circuit 22 and the high-speed gate device control unit 24 via the control signal conversion device 23 in the laser radar control unit 2. .
The synchronization circuit 22 generates a synchronization signal for synchronizing the transmission and reception of the laser beam based on the input synchronization control signal, and outputs the synchronization signal to the laser power source 26 and the high-speed gate device controller 24. To do.
The laser power source 26 generates an operation signal of the laser oscillator 111 in the light transmitting unit 11 included in the laser radar 1 based on the synchronization signal supplied from the synchronization circuit 22, and drives the laser oscillator 111 based on the operation signal. To do. As a result, pulsed laser light is emitted from the laser transmitter 111 at a predetermined timing.
On the other hand, the high-speed gate device control unit 24 drives the high-speed gate device 122 of the light receiving unit 12 included in the laser radar 1 based on the shutter drive signal input from the control device 3 and the synchronization signal input from the synchronization circuit 22. .

  As a result, first, the laser oscillator 111 is driven by the laser power source 26, whereby pulsed laser light is emitted from the laser oscillator 111 at a predetermined timing. The laser light passes through the light transmission lens 112 whose position is adjusted by the light transmission lens control unit 27, and is expanded so as to obtain an irradiation region suitable for the monitoring angle of view, and is emitted to the outside. The laser beam reflected by the object existing in the irradiation area is guided to the high-speed gate device 122 through the zoom lens 121 of the light receiving unit 12 set to a predetermined monitoring field angle. The high-speed gate device 122 is driven based on the shutter drive signal supplied from the high-speed gate device control unit 24, so that only the laser light reflected by the object can be taken into the ICCD camera head 123. Become.

  Then, the light information captured by the ICCD camera head 123 is converted into an image signal that is an electrical signal and output to the image processing device 25 in the laser radar control unit 2. The image processing device 25 performs predetermined image processing on the image signal and outputs the image signal. An image signal from the image processing device 25 is input to the control device 3 via the control signal conversion device 23. The control device 3 outputs the input image signal to the display device 4. As a result, the outline of the object and the like are displayed on the display monitor of the display device 4 as visible information. Then, by confirming the image displayed on the display monitor by a monitor or the like, it is possible to acquire information such as the shape and size of the object existing in the irradiation region.

As described above, according to the monitoring apparatus according to the present embodiment, the irradiation area of the laser beam emitted from the light transmitting unit 11 is adjusted based on the monitoring angle of view specified from an input device (not shown). Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the irradiation area can be changed in conjunction with the monitoring angle of view. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, when the monitoring angle of view is large, the irradiation area is also adjusted to be larger in accordance with the monitoring angle of view. As shown in FIG. Is adjusted to be smaller in conjunction. And since an irradiation area | region is always adjusted to the range smaller than the area | region by a monitoring angle of view, useless light irradiation can be prevented and it becomes possible to monitor efficiently.
As described above, since it is possible to irradiate light within a suitable range in accordance with the monitoring angle of view, the image signal obtained by the imaging unit can be an image signal having an optimum image quality, and this image signal is displayed. By displaying on the device 4 or the like, it is possible to obtain a monitoring image with an optimum image quality.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a monitoring apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The monitoring device according to the present embodiment has a configuration substantially the same as the configuration of the monitoring device according to the first embodiment, but the monitoring device according to the first embodiment described above monitors from an input device (not shown). While the angle of view is input, the monitoring device according to the present embodiment is different in that a distance from an input device (not shown) to a monitoring target is input.
In this embodiment, based on the distance to the monitoring target, an optimal monitoring field angle and an optimal irradiation area of the laser beam are set and monitoring is performed. Hereinafter, the monitoring apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, when a distance from an input device (not shown) to the monitoring target is input, this distance is supplied from the control device 3 to the zoom lens control unit 28 in the laser radar control unit 2. The zoom lens control unit 28 sets a monitoring angle of view suitable for the distance based on the distance to the monitoring target. For example, the zoom lens control unit 28 has a table in which the distance to the monitoring target and the monitoring angle of view suitable for the distance are associated with each other, and the distance obtained as input information by referring to this table. Set the corresponding optimal monitoring angle of view.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a table in which the distance to the monitoring target is associated with the monitoring angle of view. As shown in this figure, the longer the distance to the monitoring target, the narrower the monitoring angle of view is set. This is because the reflection component of the laser light incident on the ICCD camera head 123 is reduced in monitoring a long distance, so that the angle of view must be narrowed and the amount of light incident on the camera must be maintained compared to the case of monitoring a short distance. Because there is.
When the zoom lens control unit 28 refers to such a table and sets the monitoring angle of view, the zoom lens control unit 28 generates a drive signal for moving the zoom lens 121 to a position corresponding to the monitoring angle of view, and zooms this. Supply to the lens actuator. Thereby, the zoom lens 121 is moved to a position corresponding to the monitoring angle of view.

On the other hand, the zoom lens control unit 28 outputs the set information of the monitoring angle of view to the light transmission lens control unit 27. Thereby, the light transmission lens control unit 27 controls the light transmission unit 11 so that the irradiation area by the light transmission unit 11 is an area suitable for the monitoring angle of view. Note that the processing of the light transmission lens control unit 27 is the same as described above.
Then, as described above, the monitoring angle of view is set based on the distance to the monitoring target, and the irradiation area suitable for this monitoring angle of view is set, so that as shown in FIG. The longer the distance, the narrower the angle of view for monitoring, and in conjunction with this, the irradiation area is set to a narrow range.

  As described above, according to the monitoring apparatus according to the present embodiment, the light receiving unit 12 is adjusted so as to obtain an optimal monitoring field angle based on the distance to the monitoring target, and further suitable for the monitoring field angle. Since the light transmission unit 11 is adjusted so that the irradiated area can be obtained, it is possible to perform optimum monitoring according to the distance to the monitoring target. Thereby, the image quality of the image displayed as the monitoring result can be optimized.

In the monitoring apparatus according to the second embodiment described above, a noise evaluation function (noise evaluation means) for performing noise evaluation of the image signal acquired by the light receiving unit 12 is added to the image processing apparatus 25, and this noise is added. Based on the evaluation result of the evaluation function, the monitoring angle of view and the irradiation area may be finely adjusted.
Specifically, in the above-described monitoring device, the image processing device 25 performs noise evaluation of the image signal acquired by the light receiving unit 12 while gradually changing the set monitoring angle of view and irradiation area step by step. Do. This noise evaluation is performed, for example, by obtaining an S / N (Signal to Noise ratio) ratio.
Then, when the S / N ratio obtained as a result of the noise evaluation exceeds a preset allowable noise value, the monitoring angle of view and the irradiation area at that time are adopted, and monitoring for the distance is performed. I will do it. Alternatively, the S / N ratio when the monitoring angle of view and the irradiation area are changed step by step is accumulated, and the irradiation area and the monitoring angle of view when the S / N ratio is the highest among them are adopted. We will monitor the distance.
As described above, by adjusting the monitoring angle of view and the irradiation area based on the noise evaluation result, it is possible to reduce the noise of the monitoring image and obtain a monitoring image with high image quality.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a monitoring apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, in order to avoid the influence of scattered light generated by factors such as rain and fog as shown in FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. During the period in which the light emitted from the unit 11 is reflected back to rain or fog near the device, the high-speed gate device 122 is closed to avoid the influence of scattered light and reach the monitoring target. By opening the high-speed gate device 122 at the timing when the reflected light of the laser beam returns, it is possible to capture only the reflected light from the monitoring target A as shown in FIG.
On the other hand, in the monitoring apparatus according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the light transmitting unit 11 and the light receiving unit are arranged so that the region where strong scattered light is generated is not included in the monitoring field angle of the light receiving unit 12. 12 are arranged. As a result, it is possible to avoid the influence of scattered light due to rain, fog, etc., and capture the reflected light from the monitoring target A by simple processing without performing the opening / closing control of the high-speed gate device 122 as described above. Become.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, a monitoring device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The monitoring device according to the present embodiment is obtained by further adding a danger detection unit as described later in the laser radar control unit 2 provided in the monitoring device according to the first to third embodiments described above.
As shown in FIG. 11, the danger detection unit 30 according to the present embodiment includes a distance calculation unit (distance calculation unit) 31, a position specification unit (position specification unit) 32, a storage unit (storage unit) 33, and a determination unit ( A determination unit) 34 and a tracking unit (tracking unit) 35. A series of processing steps for realizing each function realized by each unit provided in the danger detection unit 30 is recorded in, for example, a program format in the HD or ROM provided in the laser radar control unit 2. The program is realized by the CPU built in the laser radar control unit 2 reading the program into a RAM or the like and executing information processing / calculation processing.

The distance calculation unit 31 calculates the distance to the monitoring target A based on the timing at which the light transmitting unit 11 (see FIG. 1) emits light and the timing at which the light receiving unit 12 opens the high-speed gate device 122. Specifically, the time when the laser beam is emitted from the light transmitting unit 11 and t1, and the time when the light reaches the monitoring target A and the reflected reflected light is taken into the light receiving unit 12 are t2. The distance L to the monitoring object A can be obtained by the following equation (1).
L = c · (t2−t1) / 2 (1)
In the above equation (1), c is the speed of light.

  The position specifying unit 32 specifies the position of the monitoring target A using the distance to the monitoring target A calculated by the distance calculation unit 31. For example, if the position information of the self (monitoring device) and the direction and distance of the monitoring target A based on the position information are known, the position of the monitoring target A can be specified. Here, as for the position information of itself, for example, the position information can be acquired by providing the monitoring device with a GPS receiver or the like. Further, the direction of the monitoring target A can be determined based on the turning angle of the light transmitting unit 12. Based on these pieces of information, the position specifying unit 32 specifies the position of the monitoring target A.

The storage unit 33 stores geographical information on the sea area. Thus, if the position is known, it is possible to confirm what state the position is in.
The determination unit 34 compares the position of the monitoring target A specified by the position specifying unit 32 with the geographical information of the sea area stored in the storage unit 33, so that the position of the monitoring target A is in any state. Determine if there is. Thereby, it is possible to determine whether or not the monitoring target A is dangerous when it is closer than necessary to shallow water, important facilities, or when navigating a route other than the specified route.

  The tracking unit 35 tracks the monitoring target A when the determination unit 34 determines that the monitoring target A is dangerous.

  In the danger detection unit 30 configured as described above, first, the distance calculation unit 31 uses the light transmission timing of the light transmission unit 11 and the shutter timing of the light reception unit 12 (that is, the timing at which the high-speed gate device 122 is closed). Then, when the distance to the monitoring target A is calculated by the expression (1), the information on the distance is output to the position specifying unit 32. The position specifying unit 32 specifies the position of the monitoring target A using its own position information, the direction of the monitoring target A, and the distance acquired from the distance calculation unit 31, and outputs the specified position information to the determination unit 34. . The determination unit 34 extracts neighboring geographical information from the storage unit 33 based on the position information of the monitoring target A input from the position specifying unit 32 and collates the extracted geographical information with the position information of the monitoring target A. Thus, it is determined whether or not the monitoring target A is dangerous. As a result, when it is determined that the monitoring target A is dangerous, the determination result is output to the tracking unit 35. When receiving the determination result, the tracking unit 35 tracks the monitoring target A.

  As described above, according to the monitoring apparatus according to the present embodiment, since the danger detection unit 30 is provided, when it is determined that the monitoring target A is dangerous, the monitoring target A can be tracked. It becomes. Thereby, since the tracking of the monitoring target A is automatically performed as necessary, it is possible to reduce the burden on the monitoring staff and the like, and it is possible to reduce the risk of oversight.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail with reference to drawings, the specific structure is not restricted to this embodiment, The design change etc. of the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention are included.
First, in the monitoring apparatus according to the first to fourth embodiments described above, a shake correction function may be added to the laser radar 1 or the turntable 5. In this way, by adding the shake correction function, for example, it is possible to prevent problems such as the laser radar 1 vibrating due to the influence of wind or the like and the image acquired by the light receiving unit 12 being out of focus. A high-quality monitoring image can be obtained.
Second, in the monitoring apparatus according to the first, second, and fourth embodiments described above, an optical sensor (light detection means) that detects light is provided at the emission port of the laser oscillator 111 provided in the light transmission unit 11. The high-speed gate device control unit (shutter timing determining means) in the laser radar control unit 2 determines the shutter timing of the high-speed gate device 122 included in the light receiving unit 12 with reference to the timing at which light is detected by the optical sensor. Anyway.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to eliminate a time difference (jitter) from when a signal instructing the emission timing is input to the laser oscillator 111 of the light transmission unit 11 until the laser light is actually emitted. It becomes. Thereby, the precision of the shutter timing of the high-speed gate device 122 of the light receiving unit 12 can be improved, and a monitoring image with good image quality can be obtained.

It is the block diagram which showed schematic structure of the monitoring apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the table which matched the monitoring angle of view and the light transmission lens position. It is the figure which showed an example of the irradiation area | region of the laser beam in case a monitoring angle of view is wide. It is the figure which showed an example of the irradiation area | region of the laser beam in case a monitoring field angle is narrow. It is the figure which showed an example of the table which matched the distance to the monitoring object, and the monitoring angle of view in the monitoring apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. In the monitoring apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, it is the figure which showed the change with the monitoring angle of view at the time of changing the distance to monitoring object, and the irradiation area | region of a laser beam. It is explanatory drawing shown about the scattered light resulting from rain or fog. It is explanatory drawing shown about the shutter timing of a high-speed gate apparatus. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing information captured by the ICCD camera head when the high-speed gate device is operated at the shutter timing of FIG. 8. It is the figure which showed an example of the positional relationship of arrangement | positioning of a light transmission part and a light-receiving part in the monitoring apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed schematic structure of the danger detection part with which the monitoring apparatus which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention is provided. It is explanatory drawing shown about the conventional monitoring apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Laser radar apparatus 2 Laser radar control part 3 Control apparatus 4 Display apparatus 5 Turntable 11 Light transmission part 12 Light reception part 21 Turntable drive part 22 Synchronous circuit 23 Control signal conversion apparatus 24 High-speed gate apparatus control part 25 Image processing apparatus 26 Laser Power supply 27 Light transmission lens control unit 28 Zoom lens control unit 111 Laser oscillator 112 Light transmission lens 121 Zoom lens 122 High-speed gate device 123 ICCD camera head

Claims (6)

A light transmitting means for emitting light, and the reflected light taken in by opening the shutter in accordance with the timing when the light emitted from the light transmitting means reaches the monitoring target and the reflected light reflected by the monitoring target reaches A monitoring device comprising an imaging means for converting the signal into an image signal and outputting the image signal,
A monitoring apparatus comprising light transmission control means for adjusting an irradiation area of the light transmission means based on a monitoring field angle of the imaging means.   The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an imaging control unit that adjusts a monitoring angle of view of the imaging unit based on a distance to the monitoring target. Evaluating means for performing noise evaluation of the image signal output from the imaging means,
3. The light transmission control unit and / or the imaging control unit adjusts an irradiation area of the light transmission unit and / or a monitoring field angle of the imaging unit according to a result of noise evaluation by the evaluation unit. The monitoring device described. Light transmitting means for emitting light;
The shutter is opened in accordance with the timing at which the light emitted from the light transmitting means reaches the monitoring target, and the reflected light reflected by the monitoring target reaches, and the captured reflected light is converted into an image signal and output. Imaging means;
A distance calculating unit that calculates a distance to the monitoring target based on a timing at which the light transmitting unit emits light and a timing at which the imaging unit opens the shutter;
Position specifying means for specifying the position of the monitoring object using the distance calculated by the distance calculating means;
Storage means for storing the geographical information of the sea area;
A monitoring apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines a state of the position of the monitoring target by collating the position of the monitoring target specified by the position specifying unit with the geographic information stored in the storage unit.   The monitoring apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising tracking means for tracking the monitoring target based on a determination result of the determination means. A light detecting means provided in the vicinity of the light source included in the light transmitting means, for detecting light emitted from the light source;
6. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a shutter timing determination unit that determines a shutter timing of the imaging unit with reference to a timing at which light is detected by the light detection unit.

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