JP2007074324A - Supervisory device and remote supervisory system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote supervisory system capable of easily watching a peripheral condition of even a watching place, such as a field of construction work, which is not completely provided with power sources and communication lines. <P>SOLUTION: The remote supervisory system comprises a supervisory device 1 which is installed in a prescribed watching place and is capable of imaging a peripheral condition of the prescribed watching place, and a monitor device 3 which is installed in a prescribed supervisory center connected to the supervisory device 1 via a communication line 2. The supervisory device 1 comprises a camera main body 12 for imaging the peripheral condition, a transmitter for transmitting imaged data imaged by the camera main body 12 to the prescribed supervisory center, a power source for driving the camera main body 12 and the transmitter, a cover 8 made of a transparent material covering the camera main body 12, and a stand member 15 which supports a housing 7 which houses the camera main body 12, the transmitter, and the power source and is covered with the cover 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a monitoring device suitable for imaging a situation of a monitoring place such as a construction site that exists far away and monitoring a surrounding situation from a remote place and a remote monitoring system using the monitoring device.

A conventional remote monitoring system has a power line and a communication line installed at a monitoring location far away from a monitoring center where a monitor is stationed and a monitoring location in a monitoring area, and a monitor camera is installed on the installed power supply line and communication line. Etc. are connected to a monitoring device. Information such as image data captured and collected by the connected monitoring device is transmitted to the monitoring center via the communication line, and can be monitored by the monitoring device installed in the monitoring center. (See Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP 2004-7374 A JP 2000-178946 A

  However, such a conventional remote monitoring system has a drawback in that the equipment cost increases because a power supply line and a communication line for the monitoring device must be installed at the monitoring place. In other words, the conventional remote monitoring system can be easily adopted when the infrastructure of the power supply and the communication line is prepared in advance, but changes daily such as construction sites where such infrastructure is not sufficiently provided. There was a drawback that the monitoring place could not be adopted as it is.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described drawbacks, and the object thereof can be easily applied to a monitoring place where the infrastructure of the power supply and the communication line is not prepared in advance. It is an object of the present invention to provide a monitoring device capable of monitoring the surrounding situation of the remote from a remote location and recording a video of the surrounding situation and a remote monitoring system using the monitoring device.

In order to achieve the above object, the monitoring apparatus according to the present invention includes a camera body 12 that captures the surrounding situation, and a transmitter (connector 23A, router) that transmits imaging data captured by the camera body 12 to a predetermined monitoring center. 23B), a power source (battery 18) for driving the camera body 12 and the transmitters (23A, 23B), a cover 8 made of a transparent material covering the camera body 12, and the camera body 12, the transmitters (22, 23). ), The power supply (18) is housed, and the monitoring device 1 is characterized by comprising a casing 7 on which a cover 8 is provided and a stand member 15 that supports the casing 7.
In the monitoring apparatus 1 having such a configuration, the camera body 12 capable of imaging the surrounding situation is installed at a monitoring place by a stand member 15. And the imaging data imaged with the camera main body 12 is transmitted to the monitoring center 3 via a transmitter (23A, 23B) and used for monitoring.
The cover 8 in the monitoring device 1 is characterized in that a fan 13 for stirring the air in the cover 8 is provided.
The transmitters (23A, 23B) in the monitoring device 1 are characterized in that they can communicate wirelessly or by wire.
The monitoring device 1 is characterized in that the power is supplied from the battery 18 or another power source.
Further, in order to achieve the above object, the remote monitoring system according to the present invention is installed at a predetermined monitoring place and can monitor the surrounding situation of the predetermined monitoring place, and this monitoring A remote monitoring system that is connected to the device 1 via a communication line 2 and includes a monitor device 3 installed in a predetermined monitoring center. The monitoring device 1 includes a camera body 12 that captures an image of a surrounding situation, A transmitter (23A, 23B) that transmits image data captured by the camera body 12 to a predetermined monitoring center, a power source (18) that drives the camera body 12 and the transmitters (23A, 23B), and a camera body 12 The cover 8 made of a transparent material to cover, the camera body 12, the transmitters (22, 23), and the power source (18) are housed, and the housing 7 on which the cover 8 is applied, and the chassis that supports the housing 7. It is characterized by comprising the command member 15.

  In the monitoring device 1 according to the present invention, the casing 7 that houses the camera body 12 that can capture the surrounding situation is configured to be portable so that it can be installed by the stand member 15. It has the feature that it can be installed easily. Further, the image data captured by the camera body 12 can be transmitted easily, reliably and stably to the monitor device 3 of the monitoring center via the transmitters (23A, 23B).

  Since the fan 13 for stirring the air in the cover 8 is provided in the cover 8 of the monitoring device 1, condensation on the camera lens of the camera body 12 and the inner surface of the cover 8 can be effectively prevented. Stable shooting is possible.

  Since the transmitters (23A, 23B) in the monitoring device 1 can transmit wirelessly or by wire, the image data captured by the camera body 12 regardless of the presence / absence of a telephone line, the difference in frequency band in the mobile phone system, and the like. Can be reliably transmitted to the monitoring device 3 of the monitoring center.

  In the monitoring device 1, since the power is supplied from the battery 18 or another power source, the camera body 12 and the transmitters (23A, 23B) can be driven regardless of the presence or absence of the power at the monitoring location.

  Note that the reference numerals added in the means for solving the above-described problems and the effects of the invention are given for easy reference to the parts showing the components shown in the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the structure / shape indicated by the reference numeral.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The remote monitoring system using the monitoring device 1 according to the present invention is configured to be connected to the monitoring device 3 of the monitoring center via the communication line 2 as shown in FIG. The monitoring device 1 is configured to be installed at a desired monitoring location such as a construction site, a disaster site, an event site, or a factory production line.

  The number of monitoring devices 1 installed at one monitoring location is set to 1 or 2 or more depending on the monitoring range at the monitoring location. In the example of FIG. 1, to simplify the description, a case where one monitoring device 1 is installed in each of three different monitoring locations is shown. And the monitoring apparatus 1 installed in the 1st monitoring spot is No. No. 1 is attached, and the monitoring device 1 installed at the second monitoring site is No. 1. No. 2 is attached, and the monitoring device 1 installed at the third monitoring site is No. 1. The code number 3 is assigned. The configuration of the monitoring device 1 installed at each monitoring site is the same, and the monitoring device 1 will be described in detail later.

  Among the monitoring devices 1 described above, the monitoring device 1 (No. 1) installed at the first monitoring site is not equipped with a power supply line and a communication line at the first monitoring site, and thus, for example, by wireless communication. It is configured to be connected to the communication line 2. That is, the monitoring device 1 installed at the first monitoring site uses the function of the mobile phone (including PHS and FOMA (registered trademark)) system built in the monitoring device 1 to establish the relay base 4. Via the communication line 2.

  The monitoring device 1 (No. 2) installed at the second monitoring site is configured to be connected to the communication line 2 by, for example, a wireless LAN because the second monitoring site is not equipped with a communication line. ing. That is, the monitoring device 1 installed at the second monitoring site uses the wireless LAN function built in the monitoring device 1 to the communication line 2 via the telephone connection device 5 and the wireless LAN device 6. It is connected.

  The monitoring device 1 (No. 3) installed at the third monitoring site is connected to the communication line 2 using these infrastructures because the power line and the communication line are fully equipped at the third monitoring site. It is configured to be.

  The communication line 2 is a connection means for connecting the monitoring device 1 at a monitoring location to the monitoring device 3 at a predetermined monitoring center that is a remote place for monitoring each monitoring location, and is a public network or a dedicated line. The communication line 2 includes a predetermined metal line or optical fiber, and includes the Internet. Therefore, although there is a predetermined provider (not shown) in the communication line 2, it is omitted here.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the monitoring device 1 itself will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The monitoring device 1 includes a housing 7 having an upper opening and a dome-shaped cover 8 that covers the opening of the housing 7 in a watertight manner. Yes. The cover 8 is made of a transparent synthetic resin casing dome member, and is devised so as not to obstruct the imaging of the camera body 12 described later.

  The upper part of the frame 9 provided in the casing 7 of the monitoring device 1 includes an imaging unit 10 including a CCD camera, a camera lens, and the like, and a motor that drives for tilt and span. A camera main body 12 including the driving unit 11 is attached. The imaging unit 10 is configured to be able to rotate within a predetermined angle (for example, 200 degrees) in the horizontal direction by the driving unit 11, and at the same time, for example, a predetermined angle (for example, 90 degrees in elevation and 2 in depression). It is configured so that it can swing within degrees. Furthermore, the imaging unit 10 has an infrared irradiation function, and also has an infrared camera function that can capture images at night without lighting equipment.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 14 denotes, for example, a swingable open / close lid provided on the side surface of the housing 7 so that a battery 18 (described later) housed in the housing 7 can be replaced by opening the open / close lid 14. It is configured. The opening / closing lid 14 is configured so that the periphery can be screwed with a rubber packing material interposed, for example, in order to maintain water tightness when closed. Also, a router 23B for FOMA, for example, is arranged in the casing 7 of the opening / closing lid 14 part, and each router (not shown) corresponding to the frequency band in the case of wireless communication by the mobile phone system is provided. They are arranged separately.

  Further, in FIG. 2, 15 is a tripod stand member, which is configured so that the housing 7 can be stably placed on the ground or the like of the monitoring place by supporting three points, similarly to a known tripod for a camera. In addition, the height of the housing 7 can be adjusted by rotating the handle 16. Although not shown in the drawings, the side surface of the housing 7 is connected to a terminal for receiving power from an external power source such as a commercial power source as a driving power source for the monitoring device 1, a connection terminal for directly connecting a communication line, and power switching. A switch or the like is provided.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 17 denotes a substrate provided on the frame 9 on which the control circuit and the like shown in FIG. 3 are mounted. That is, the substrate 17 includes a switching circuit 19 that selectively switches between a power source from a battery (battery) 18 that is a nickel-metal hydride rechargeable battery and an external power source, and a DC− that adjusts the output current of the switching circuit 19. A DC converter 20 and a backflow prevention circuit 21 for preventing backflow of the output from the DC-DC converter 20 are mounted. The backflow prevention circuit 21 is connected to the camera body 12 and the fan 13 described above, and is configured to receive driving power for tilting and spanning the camera body 12 and rotation of the fan 13. In addition, the backflow prevention circuit 21 is connected to a server 22 having a memory function and a control function mainly formed of a CPU, a connector 23A having a communication function, and a router 23B, so that driving power can be received. Has been.

  The server 22 is capable of recording and accumulating moving images and audio, and a moving image real-time encoder using, for example, “MPEG-4” which is an image compression technique. In particular, a semiconductor memory is mounted so that vibration resistance and heat resistance can be obtained, and a UNIX (registered trademark) compatible NetBSD is adopted as an OS to enable stable operation at all times. For example, a 64 MB memory allows video and audio to be stored for about 2 hours, and can be reliably recorded when the camera body 12 is broken, a line is disconnected, a network problem occurs, or the like. It is considered so that it can be accumulated. Furthermore, it has the function of alarm setting using alarm and mail, and the function to detect and distribute when there is a big change in the image area at the monitoring location, and external input / output such as microphone connection terminal to pick up sound Various interfaces can be installed.

  The connector 23A has, for example, a compact flash type slot into which a communication card such as a wireless LAN or PHS can be inserted. The router 23B is a connection device dedicated to FOMA (registered trademark), and is a 100Base-TX Ethernet. (Registered trademark) connector. In any case, by covering a predetermined frequency band for communication with the connector 23A, the router 23B, etc., communication with the outside can be performed wirelessly or by wire.

  In the figure, the server 22 and the connector 23A are arranged in the frame 9 together with the substrate 17, the power supply unit, the wiring, etc., and the router 23B is installed in the casing 7 in which the open / close lid 14 outside the frame 9 is opened and closed together with the battery 18. Although it is provided at the predetermined part, it is not particularly limited to the position of the arrangement or the like.

  The monitor device 3 installed in the monitoring center shown in FIG. 4 has a CPU 26 that performs predetermined arithmetic processing for monitoring using system program data stored in the ROM 24 and working data stored in the RAM 25. ing. The CPU 26 is connected to an operation unit 28 such as a numeric keypad, a display driver 30 for driving and controlling the display screen 29, and a communication control unit 31 for connecting to the communication line 2 via the I / O unit 27. ing. In addition, this monitor apparatus 3 can be comprised with the well-known personal computer (personal computer) which has a communication function.

  The control operation will be described below using the flowchart of FIG. Now, when the power of the monitoring device 1 installed at each monitoring location in FIG. 1 is turned on and in a driving state, the code number of the monitoring device 1 is input via the operation unit 28 of the monitoring device 3. (Step 100 is affirmative, Step 102. Hereinafter, the step is referred to as S). When this code number is input, an image captured by the camera body 12 of the monitoring device 1 related to the code number is displayed on the display screen 29 of the monitor device 3 (S104).

  For example, from the operation unit 28, No. When a code number of 1 is input, the surroundings are displayed on the display screen 29 by the monitoring device at the first monitoring location. The display content is subjected to zoom processing such as adjustment of the imaging angle and direction and enlargement / reduction as required via the operation unit 28. The power supply of the monitoring device 1 can be turned on and off via the operation unit 28. Furthermore, the captured image data can be stored in the memory (RAM 25) of the monitor device 3 as necessary. In addition, when the monitoring device 1 is equipped with a sound collecting device (microphone), the sound collected by the sound collecting device can be heard by the monitor device 3 and can be recorded. Furthermore, a speaker may be provided in the monitoring device 1 so that the sound from the monitor monitor from the monitor location can be output.

  The display content on the display screen 29 is changed by inputting a new code number via the operation unit 28 (Yes at S106, No at S108). In the above description, only the imaging screen of one monitoring device 1 is displayed on the display screen 29 of the monitor device 3, but the imaging screens of a plurality of monitoring devices 1 are simultaneously displayed in the split display mode. It may be configured to switch to a single screen as necessary.

  In addition, the monitoring device 1 and the remote monitoring system according to the present invention can grasp in real time the water level and surrounding conditions during heavy rain, typhoon, remotely monitor places where illegal dumping, etc. are performed, To manage the progress, instruct the work, unmanned stations, bus crossings, etc., to detect suspicious people at surveillance sites early, threaten them, etc. It is used to monitor various remote locations such as monitoring the numerical values of lamps and meters when they are remotely controlled. By monitoring the remote location in this way, the number of times of visiting the site can be reduced, the cost can be reduced, and further investigation of the cause when an abnormality occurs can be performed.

It is a schematic block diagram of the remote monitoring system using the monitoring apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is the front view which showed a part of monitoring device concerning the present invention in the section. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the monitoring apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of a monitor apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the control operation of the remote monitoring system which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Monitoring apparatus 2 ... Communication line 3 ... Monitor apparatus 4 ... Relay base 5 ... Telephone connection apparatus 6 ... Wireless LAN apparatus 7 ... Case 8 ... Cover 9 ... Frame 10 ... Imaging part 11 ... Drive part 12 ... Camera body 13 ... Fan 14 ... Opening / closing lid 15 ... Stand member 16 ... Handle 17 ... Board 18 ... Battery 19 ... Switching circuit 20 ... DC-DC converter 21 ... Backflow prevention circuit 22 ... Server 23A ... Connector 23B ... Router 24 ... ROM 25 ... RAM
26 ... CPU 27 ... I / O unit 28 ... operation unit 29 ... display screen 30 ... display driver 31 ... communication control unit

Claims (5)

A camera body that captures the surroundings;
A transmitter for transmitting imaging data captured by the camera body to a predetermined monitoring center;
A power source for driving the camera body and the transmitter;
A cover made of transparent material covering the camera body,
A housing that houses the camera body, transmitter, and power supply and is covered with a cover,
A stand member that supports the housing;
A monitoring device comprising:   The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a fan that stirs the air in the cover is provided in the cover.   3. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter is capable of communicating wirelessly or by wire.   The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the power is supplied from a battery or another power source. A monitoring device installed at a predetermined monitoring location and capable of imaging the surrounding situation of the predetermined monitoring location, and a monitor connected to the monitoring device via a communication line and installed at a predetermined monitoring center A remote monitoring system comprising a device,
The monitoring device includes a camera body that captures surrounding conditions, a transmitter that transmits imaging data captured by the camera body to a predetermined monitoring center, a power source that drives the camera body and the transmitter, and a transparent material that covers the camera body. A remote monitoring system comprising: a cover comprising: a housing that houses the camera body, transmitter, and power source; the housing is covered with a cover; and a stand member that supports the housing.

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