JP2009136212A - System for counting wagging of tail of pet, and system for estimating sentiment of pet - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To count the wagging of the tail of a pet, and to estimate the sentiment of the pet. <P>SOLUTION: A system for counting the wagging of the tail of the pet is composed of a lighting part 11 for lighting the interior of a room where a dog A which is the pet resides, markers 12 mounted on the tip and the root of the tail of the dog A, an image pickup part 13 for picking up the image of the interior of the room, a movement detecting part 14 for detecting the movement of the markers 12, a movement data storing part 15 for storing the movement data of the markers 12, a tail-wagging counting part 16 for counting the wagging of the tail of the dog A, and a display part 17 for displaying the frequency of tail-wagging. The image of the whole interior of the room is picked up to detect light reflecting from the markers 12, and the frequency of the tail-wagging of the dog A is computed on the basis of the coordinates of the markers 12 moving with the wagging of the tail of the dog A, and displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a pet tail swing counting system that counts pet tail swings and estimates pet emotions, and a pet emotion estimation system.

  Pets such as dogs and cats are members of the family, and observing behaviors such as tail swinging and joking shown to the owner is extremely important for intuitively judging the health state of the pet. Conventionally, in order to manage the health of a pet, an example of a health analyzer for a pet that performs health management by comparing the health state of a pet with a standard state based on health information such as daily biological information and appearance information Has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-318325 A

  However, in the above conventional example, personal information including body information such as weight, amount of food, walk distance and time, and appearance information such as hair gloss, hair loss, nose wetness, feces state and frequency is stored on a personal computer. It is input to the terminal and is used to estimate emotions such as emotions by observing familiar behaviors such as tail swinging and jogging, and to subjectively understand health conditions such as pet's stress state and medical condition Absent.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. A pet tail swing counting system and a pet emotion estimation system capable of counting pet tail swings and estimating pet emotions are provided. The purpose is to provide.

  A pet tail swing counting system according to the present invention includes a tracked unit provided on a pet tail, a motion detection unit that detects motion of the tracked unit and generates motion data, and the motion data. A tail swing counting unit that counts the number of times the pet swings the tail.

  With this configuration, the pet deadline can be easily grasped by counting the number of pet tail swings.

  In addition, the pet tail swing counting system of the present invention includes an illumination unit that emits illumination light for illuminating a pet, a marker that is attached to the pet and reflects the illumination light, and an imaging unit that images the marker And a motion detector that detects motion of the captured marker and generates motion data, and a tail swing counter that counts the pet's tail based on the motion data.

  With this configuration, it is possible to easily count the tail movement of the pet by imaging the marker attached to the tail of the pet and detecting the movement of the tail. In addition, the emotion of the pet's joy can be grasped from the number of times the pet's tail swings.

  In the pet tail swing counting system, the illumination light of the illumination unit may include ultraviolet rays or infrared rays, the marker may reflect the ultraviolet rays or the infrared rays, and the imaging unit may emit the ultraviolet rays. Those having sensitivity in the band or the infrared band are also included.

  With this configuration, ultraviolet light and infrared light have a low reflectance in furniture such as carpets in the room where pets live and pet hair, so an ultraviolet light and infrared light are captured by an imaging unit having sensitivity ranges for ultraviolet light and infrared light. In addition, a marker that efficiently reflects infrared light can be imaged with high contrast, and it becomes easy to detect the movement of the pet's tail.

  Furthermore, the present invention includes a pet tail swing counting system, wherein the marker is attached to a tip and a base of the pet tail.

  With this configuration, it is possible to easily detect the tail swing by detecting the movement of the marker attached to the tip of the tail relative to the marker attached to the base of the tail.

  The present invention further includes a storage unit that stores the detected movement of the marker in the pet's tail swing counting system, and the movement detection unit stores the captured movement of the marker and the stored past movement. Also included is one that generates the motion data by comparing the motion of the marker.

  With this configuration, by comparing the detected movement of the current marker with the movement of the past marker, it is possible to easily count the pet's tail swing without depending on individual flutter.

Further, the present invention includes the above pet tail swing counting system, further including a display unit for displaying the counted number of times of pet tail swing.
With this configuration, it is possible to easily count and display the pet's tail swing by imaging the marker attached to the pet's tail and detecting the movement of the tail. In addition, the emotion of the pet's joy can be grasped from the number of times the pet's tail swings.

The pet emotion estimation system according to the present invention includes a tracked unit provided on the tail of the pet,
Corresponding to the pet's emotion, a motion detection unit that detects the movement of the tracked unit and generates motion data, a pattern analysis unit that analyzes the pet's tail swing pattern based on the motion data, The pattern storage unit that stores the pet's tail swing pattern in advance, and the analyzed tail swing pattern and the stored tail swing pattern corresponding to the pet's emotion are collated. An emotion estimation unit that estimates an emotion and a display unit that displays the estimated emotion of the pet.
With this configuration, the pet's emotion can be easily estimated by detecting the movement of the pet's tail, analyzing the pattern, and comparing it with a pattern corresponding to the pet's emotion stored in advance.

  A pet emotion estimation system according to the present invention includes an illumination unit that emits illumination light for illuminating a pet, a marker that is attached to the pet and reflects the illumination light, an imaging unit that images the marker, Corresponding to the pet's emotion, a motion detector that detects motion of the captured marker and generates motion data, a pattern analyzer that analyzes the pet's tail swing pattern based on the motion data The pattern storage unit that stores the pet's tail swing pattern in advance, and the analyzed tail swing pattern and the stored tail swing pattern corresponding to the pet's emotion are collated. An emotion estimation unit that estimates an emotion and a display unit that displays the estimated emotion of the pet.

  With this configuration, the marker attached to the tail of the pet is imaged, the movement of the tail is detected, the pattern is analyzed, and the emotion of the pet is compared with the pattern corresponding to the pet emotion stored in advance. Can be easily estimated.

  In the pet emotion estimation system according to the present invention, the illumination light of the illumination unit includes ultraviolet light or infrared light, the marker reflects the ultraviolet light or the infrared light, and the imaging unit captures the ultraviolet light. Those having sensitivity in the band or the infrared band are also included.

  With this configuration, ultraviolet light and infrared light have a low reflectance in furniture such as carpets in the room where pets live and pet hair, so an ultraviolet light and infrared light are captured by an imaging unit having sensitivity ranges for ultraviolet light and infrared light. In addition, a marker that efficiently reflects infrared light can be imaged with high contrast, and it becomes easy to detect the movement of the pet's tail.

  In the emotion estimation system according to the present invention, the marker may be mounted at one position on a body axis excluding the tip and root of the pet's tail and the tail.

  With this configuration, the tail swing is detected by detecting the movement of the marker attached to the tip of the tail relative to the marker attached to the base of the tail, and the tail attached to the body axis is used as a reference. By detecting the movement of the marker attached to the base, the direction of the body axis of the pet can be specified. Therefore, it is possible to detect the swing angle of the tail to the left and right and its bias, and by comparing this with the tail swing pattern corresponding to the pet emotion stored in advance as the tail swing pattern, Emotion can be estimated.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a pet tail swing counting system and a pet emotion estimation system capable of counting pet tail swings and estimating pet emotions.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a part of the configuration of a tail swing counting system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the tail swing counting system in the first embodiment includes an illumination unit 11 and an imaging unit 13 installed on a ceiling or a wall surface in a room where a dog A as a pet lives. In this embodiment, the pet is the dog A, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the animal may have other tails such as a cat. In FIG. 1, the single imaging unit 13 is illustrated, but a plurality of imaging units 13 may be installed on the ceiling and the wall surface.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the entire tail swing counting system in the present embodiment. The tail swing counting system 1 detects the movement of the illumination unit 11 that illuminates the room where the dog A lives, the marker 12 attached to the dog A, the imaging unit 13 that images the room where the dog A lives, and the marker 12 A motion detection unit 14, a motion data storage unit 15 that stores motion data of the marker 12, a tail swing counting unit 16 that counts the tail swing of the dog A, and a display unit 17 that displays the number of tail swings. is there.

  The illumination unit 11 is a luminaire in which a light source that emits ultraviolet light or infrared light and a light source that emits visible light are provided. As a light source that emits ultraviolet light, an ultraviolet fluorescent lamp having a peak wavelength of 360 nm can be used, and as a light source that emits infrared light, an incandescent lamp, an LED lamp, or the like can be used.

  The marker 12 is composed of a seal made of a retroreflective material having a strong reflection characteristic in the incident direction of light, and is attached to the base and tip of the dog A tail.

  The imaging unit 13 is a video camera including a lens and a CCD imaging device, and is installed on the ceiling of the room where the dog A lives, and captures the entire room to acquire moving image data. The lens is preferably an ultra-wide angle lens, particularly a fisheye lens.

  The motion detection unit 14 detects light reflected by the marker 12 from the moving image data, calculates the movement coordinates as motion data, and sends it to the tail swing counting unit 16. At this time, by generating comparison information in comparison with past motion data stored in the motion data storage unit 15, motion data that does not depend on individual variation can be acquired. In addition, it is possible to improve the accuracy of motion data by performing coordinate conversion for correcting lens distortion in the imaging unit 13 as necessary.

  The motion data storage unit 15 is composed of a flash memory or the like, and stores the motion data of the marker 12 detected by the motion detection unit 14.

  The tail swing counting unit 16 analyzes the motion data of the marker 12 sent from the motion detection unit 14 and calculates the number of times the dog A swings the tail. For example, the following method is used to detect the tail swing from the motion data. When the dog A swings the tail, the marker 12 attached to the tip of the tail moves, but the marker 12 attached to the base moves little. The tail swing can be detected by obtaining the relative movement coordinates of the marker 12 affixed to the tip of the tail with the position of the marker 12 affixed to the root as the origin.

  The tail swing counting unit 16 includes a microprocessor and a memory together with the motion detection unit 14 described above, and operates by executing a program stored in the memory.

  The display unit 17 includes a liquid crystal display and an LED display, and displays the number of tail swings of the dog A calculated by the tail swing counting unit 16 to notify the owner. The owner can estimate the current emotion such as the joy of the dog A that he owns based on the number of tail swings.

  As described above, according to the tail swing counting system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the illumination unit 11 that illuminates the room where the dog A, which is a pet, lives, and the tail of the dog A Marker 12 attached to the tip and base, imaging unit 13 that images the room, motion detection unit 14 that detects the motion of marker 12, motion data storage unit 15 that stores motion data of marker 12, and dog A's A tail swing counting unit 16 that counts the tail swing and a display unit 17 that displays the number of tail swings are configured. The whole room is imaged and light reflected by the marker 12 is detected, and dog A shakes the tail. Accordingly, the number of tail swings of the dog A is calculated based on the coordinates of the moving marker 12 and displayed. Thereby, the owner can estimate emotions such as joy of dog A.

  In the present embodiment, the imaging unit 13 is installed on the ceiling, but a handy device configuration as shown in FIG. 5 including the motion detection unit 14 or the display unit 17 may be used. According to this, the tail swing of the dog A can be counted not only indoors but also outdoors while taking a walk.

  In the above-described embodiment, the marker is formed of a seal. However, the hair-fastening marker may be fastened to the base of the tail of the dog A and the hair at the tip. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a hair clip type marker, (a) is a side view showing the hair clip type marker, and FIG. 3 (b) is a plan view seen from above. As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), a spring 123 on the top surface of the barb knob 121, a white portion 125 coated with a highly reflective white paint in a concentric shape surrounding the hinge 124, and a black paint A characteristic pattern composed of the applied black portion 126 is formed.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the entire pet emotion estimation system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment as well, like the pet's tail swing counting system 1 in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, it is installed on the ceiling or wall in the room where the dog A as a pet lives. In this configuration, the illumination unit 11 and the imaging unit 13 are provided. Moreover, about the structure same as the pet tail-counting system based on 1st Embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In FIG. 5, the pet emotion estimation system 2 includes a lighting unit 11, a marker 22, an imaging unit 13, a motion detection unit 14, a motion data storage unit 15, and a pattern for analyzing the dog A tail swing pattern. The configuration includes an analysis unit 24, a pattern storage unit 25 that stores a tail swing pattern in advance, an emotion estimation unit 26 that estimates the emotion of dog A, and a display unit 17.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the marker 22 includes a marker 221 attached to the base of the tail of the dog A, a marker 222 attached to the tip of the tail, and a marker 223 attached to the back along the body axis of the dog A. Consists of These markers 221 to 223 are formed, for example, by dyeing dog A's hair with a hair dye mixed with aluminum powder, and reflects ultraviolet rays well.

  Based on the motion data sent from the motion detection unit 14, the pattern analysis unit 24 determines the left / right amplitude of the marker 222 with respect to the marker 221 (hereinafter referred to as “amplitude”) and the marker with reference to the marker 223. The deviation of the swing angle of 221 to the left and right (hereinafter referred to as “bias”), that is, (the swing angle in the right direction / the swing angle in the left direction) is calculated.

  It is said that 'amplitude' and 'bias' have a correlation as shown in FIG. 7 corresponding to the emotion of the dog (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). The pattern storage unit 25 stores data shown in FIG. 7 in advance.

A. Quaranta. M.M. Siniscalchi. G. Valortigara. “Asymmetrical tail-wagging responses by dogs to differential emotional stimulus”, Current Biology, Vol. 17, No. 6, 2007.

  The emotion estimation unit 26 collates the calculated values of “amplitude” and “bias” with the data stored in the storage unit 25, and “strong joy”, “expectation / weak joy”, “warning”, “indifference” It is inferred that the current emotion of dog A is based on the result.

  The emotion estimation unit 26 is configured by a microprocessor and a memory together with the motion detection unit 14 and the pattern analysis unit 24 described above, and operates by executing a program stored in the memory.

  As described above, according to the tail swing counting system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the illumination unit 11 that illuminates the room in which the dog A who is a pet lives, and the tail of the dog A Marker 22 attached to the root and tip, and the back along the body axis, imaging unit 13 that images the room, motion detection unit 14 that detects the motion of marker 22, and motion data storage that stores the motion data of marker 22 Unit 15, pattern analysis unit 24 that analyzes the tail swing pattern of dog A, pattern storage unit 25 that previously stores the tail swing pattern, emotion estimation unit 26 that estimates the emotion of dog A, and the estimated dog Based on the coordinates of the marker 22 that is configured to include the display unit 17 that displays the emotion of A, detects the light reflected by the marker 22 by imaging the entire room, and the dog A moves by shaking the tail, Left of tail Calculating a deviation of swing angle of the lateral relative to the amplitude and the body axis to be displayed by estimating the emotion of the dog A by matching the correlation between previously stored emotions. As a result, the owner can easily know the current emotion of dog A.

  The pet tail swing counting system and the pet emotion estimation system according to the present invention can count pet tail swings and have an effect capable of estimating pet emotions. Etc. are useful.

The figure which shows the partial structure of the pet tail-counting system concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention The figure which shows schematic structure of the pet's tail swing counting system whole which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention (A) Side view showing a hair clip type marker of the pet tail swing counting system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. (B) The pet tail swing counting system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. A plan view from above showing a barrage marker The figure which shows other schematic structure of the pet's tail swing counting system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention The figure which shows schematic structure of the whole pet emotion estimation system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of the marker of the pet emotion estimation system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the correlation with ‘amplitude’ and ‘bias’ of the pet emotion estimation system according to the second embodiment of the present invention and the emotion of the dog

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pet's tail swing counting system 2 Pet's emotion estimation system 11 Illumination part 12, 22 Marker 13 Imaging part 14 Motion detection part 15 Motion data storage part 16 Tail swing counting part 17 Display part 24 Pattern analysis part 25 Pattern storage part 26 Emotion Estimator

Claims (10)

The tracked part provided on the tail of the pet,
A motion detector that detects motion of the tracked unit and generates motion data;
Based on the movement data, a tail swing counting unit that counts the number of tail swings of the pet,
Pet tail swing counting system. The tail swing counting system according to claim 1,
An illumination unit that emits illumination light for illuminating the pet;
The tracked part is attached to the pet and reflects the illumination light; and
An imaging unit that images the marker,
The pet motion counting unit is a pet tail swing counting system that detects motion of the captured marker and generates motion data. The tail swing counting system according to claim 2,
The illumination light of the illumination unit includes ultraviolet rays or infrared rays,
The marker reflects the ultraviolet ray or the infrared ray,
The imaging unit is sensitive to the ultraviolet band or the infrared band,
Pet tail swing counting system. The tail swing counting system according to claim 2 or 3,
The marker is
It is attached to the tip of the pet's tail and the base,
Pet tail swing counting system. The tail swing counting system according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
Furthermore, a storage unit for storing the detected movement of the marker is provided,
The motion detector is
Comparing the captured movement of the marker with the stored movement of the marker in the past to generate the movement data;
Pet tail swing counting system. The tail swing counting system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Furthermore, a display unit for displaying the counted number of times the pet's tail is swung,
Pet tail swing counting system. The tracked part provided on the tail of the pet,
A motion detector that detects motion of the tracked unit and generates motion data;
Based on the movement data, a pattern analysis unit that analyzes a pattern of the pet's tail swing,
A pattern storage unit that prestores a pattern of the pet's tail swing corresponding to the pet's emotion;
An emotion estimation unit that estimates the emotion of the pet by comparing the tail swing pattern that has been analyzed with the tail swing pattern that corresponds to the stored emotion of the pet;
A display unit for displaying the estimated emotion of the pet;
A pet emotion estimation system. The pet emotion estimation system according to claim 7,
An illumination unit that emits illumination light for illuminating the pet;
The tracked part is attached to the pet and reflects the illumination light; and
An imaging unit that images the marker,
The motion detection unit is a pet emotion estimation system that detects motion of the captured marker and generates motion data. The pet emotion estimation system according to claim 8,
The illumination light of the illumination unit includes ultraviolet rays or infrared rays,
The marker reflects the ultraviolet ray or the infrared ray,
The imaging unit is sensitive to the ultraviolet band or the infrared band,
Pet emotion estimation system. The pet emotion estimation system according to claim 8 or 9,
The marker is
The tip and root of the tail of the pet, and one place on the body axis excluding the tail, respectively.
Pet emotion estimation system.

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