JP2009272819A - Intercom system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an intercom system which does not emit an alarm if a person whom a sensor camera picks up under operation is an unsuspicious person such as family or the like. <P>SOLUTION: A sitting-room master unit 2 is provided with a characteristic setting part 25 which stores characteristics of persons who are extracted from the video images of a camera 36 and a characteristic storing part 27 which stores characteristics of the extracted persons. The characteristics of persons are extracted from the video images of a sensor camera 3 by using a master unit CPU30, and the characteristic setting part 25 is operated to store them in the characteristic storing part 27. The master unit CPU30 compares characteristics of a person picked up newly by the sensor camera 3 with those of the person stored in the characteristic storing part 27, and if the characteristics of the picked-up person matches those of the person stored in the characteristic storing part 28, an alarm sound is not emitted by a master unit loudspeaker 23 or the like. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an intercom system to which a security function is enhanced by connecting a sensor camera.

There is an intercom system that includes a human sensor that detects the approach of a person, connects a sensor camera that starts imaging when the person approaches, and has an enhanced security function. In such an intercom system, when the sensor camera receives a detection operation of the sensor and starts imaging, the captured video is displayed on the monitor of the living room master unit. Further, depending on the setting, recording is performed or an alarm is issued in the room master (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-237874 A

  However, in such a conventional intercom system, when the installation environment of the sensor camera is an environment where the family frequently enters and exits the detection range of the sensor, the sensor camera performs an imaging operation each time, and unnecessary notification and recording are performed. It will be broken. In order to avoid such an unnecessary operation, the setting for not performing notification or recording, that is, the sensor function can be stopped, but in this case, when a suspicious person enters, it cannot be detected. Further, the notification operation may be set to OFF only while there is a family member or the like, but if forgetting to cancel the setting, even if the sensor camera operates, it will not be noticed and will be meaningless.

  Therefore, in view of such problems, the present invention has an object to provide an intercom system that does not issue an alarm when a person who has been activated and imaged by a sensor camera is not a suspicious person such as a family member.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 includes an entrance cordless device for a visitor to call a resident and make a call, and a room for the resident to respond by informing the call from the entrance cordless device. An interphone system having a parent device and a sensor camera that transmits a captured image to a living room parent device when the approach of a person is detected, and extracts features of the person from the captured image of the sensor camera to the sensor camera or the living room parent device A feature extraction unit, a feature storage unit that stores the characteristics of a person extracted by the feature extraction unit, and a determination that compares and determines the characteristics of the person stored in the feature storage unit and the characteristics of the person newly captured by the sensor camera On the other hand, the living room base unit has a monitor that outputs the captured image of the sensor camera, a storage operation unit that performs a storage operation in the feature storage unit, and an alarm notification unit, and the determination control unit includes: Recorded in the feature memory If it is determined that the characteristics of the person selected and the characteristics of the person newly imaged by the sensor camera do not match, the alarm reporting unit is activated, and if it matches, the alarm reporting is not stopped or the alarm is not performed. It is characterized by that.
According to this configuration, when the person imaged by the sensor camera has the feature stored in the feature storage unit, the alarm notification is not stopped or performed in the room master unit. Therefore, by storing the characteristics of the resident, it is possible to set not to notify when the person being imaged is a resident, and it is possible to eliminate unnecessary alarms.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a timer is provided that erases the information stored in the feature storage unit when a predetermined time has elapsed since the information was stored.
According to this configuration, even if the feature to be extracted is a feature that can be easily discriminated such as the shape and color of clothes, for example, it is automatically deleted after one hour has passed. Therefore, even if a suspicious person imitates a resident's clothes, the feature memorize | stored at that time is erase | eliminated, it can detect that it is a suspicious person, and the structure of a feature extraction part and a determination control part can be simplified.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the room master unit includes a video storage unit that records a video image captured by the sensor camera, and the feature extraction unit is configured based on the video stored in the video storage unit. The feature is extracted, the feature extracted by the operation of the storage operation unit is stored in the feature storage unit, and the determination control unit compares the stored information with the feature of the person newly imaged by the sensor camera. To do.
According to this configuration, since the feature of a person is extracted based on the recorded video, it is possible to select a video that easily captures the feature and cause the feature to be extracted, so that highly accurate determination can be performed. In addition, the resident can take an image of himself / herself and memorize the characteristics, and can easily perform the memory operation alone.

  According to the present invention, when the person imaged by the sensor camera has the feature stored in the feature storage unit, the alarm notification is not stopped or performed by the living room master unit. Therefore, by storing the characteristics of the resident, it is possible to set not to notify when the person being imaged is a resident, and it is possible to eliminate unnecessary alarms.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an intercom system according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram, and FIG. 2 shows each device in FIG. 1 as a circuit block. 1 is an entrance handset for a visitor to call a resident and make a call, 2 is a room base station for announcing a call from the entrance handset 1 and a resident responds, and 3 is an approach of a person It is a sensor camera that transmits a captured image to the living room base unit 2. The entrance child device 1 is connected to the living room parent device 2 via the child device transmission line L1, and the sensor camera 3 is connected to the living room parent device 2 via the camera transmission line L2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the entrance terminal 1 includes a call button 11 for calling a resident, a call circuit 14 including a handset microphone 12 and a handset speaker 13, a camera 15 for imaging a visitor, a camera 15, a video processing unit 16 that performs modulation processing and the like to transmit the video imaged to the living room master unit 2, a slave unit CPU 17 that controls the entire front door unit 1, and an interface (slave unit) IF) 18 etc.

  The living room master unit 2 includes a monitor 20 composed of an LCD for displaying images and the like, a video processing unit 21 that performs demodulation processing and the like to display the transmitted video signal on the monitor 20, a master microphone 22 and a master unit A call circuit 24 having a speaker 23, a feature setting unit 25 for setting a feature of a person who is displayed based on a captured image of the camera 15, a timer 26 for canceling the set feature, and a set feature A feature storage unit 27 for storing, a video storage unit 28 for storing video, an operation button and a touch panel, an operation unit 29 for performing various operations, a call button 29a for receiving and responding to calls, and controlling the entire room base unit 2 A main unit CPU 30 and an interface (base unit IF) 31 for communicating with the entrance sub unit 1 are provided.

Furthermore, the sensor camera 3 includes a sensor 34 for detecting a person approaching, a sensor range storage unit 35 for storing a detection range of the sensor 34, a camera 36 for imaging a person in response to a detection operation of the sensor 34, An image processing unit 37 that performs modulation processing and the like to transmit the image captured by the camera 36 to the living room master unit 2, a sensor camera CPU 38 that controls the entire sensor camera 3, and an interface for communicating with the living room parent unit 2 (sensor camera IF) 39, night illumination light 40, and the like.
The detection range of the sensor 34 of the sensor camera 3 is determined by operating the operation unit 29 of the living room master unit 2, and the determined detection range is stored in the sensor range storage unit 35 of the sensor camera 3. According to this set range, the sensor camera 3 is activated (detects a suspicious person).

  The intercom system configured as described above operates as follows. However, the visitor operates the call button 11 of the entrance cordless handset 1 to make a call, and the visitor video is displayed on the monitor 20 together with the sound of the ringing sound in the living room master unit 2 and the resident displays on the monitor 20. The operation of performing a hands-free response by pressing the call button 29a while viewing the visitor image being performed is the same as in the conventional art, and thus the description thereof will be omitted. Here, the operation of the sensor camera 3 will be mainly described.

  First, a case where a person or a suspicious person approaches the sensor camera in a state where information is not yet stored in the feature storage unit 27 will be described. The operation in this case is the same as the operation of the conventional sensor camera. When a person enters the sensor range of the sensor camera 3, the camera 36 starts imaging and the video is transmitted via the video processing unit 37 and the sensor camera IF 39. It is transmitted to the room master unit 2. In the living room base unit 2, the video transmitted through the base unit IF 31 and the video processing unit 21 is displayed on the monitor 20. Further, according to the setting of the room master 2, it is stored in the video storage unit 28 under the control of the master CPU 30, or an alarm sound is issued from the master speaker 23 to notify the resident. Furthermore, a threatening sound is issued from a speaker (not shown) of the sensor camera 3.

  Next, a setting operation for storing the characteristics of a person in the characteristics storage unit 27 of the sensor camera 3 will be described. First, the room master 2 is shifted to the setting mode by a predetermined operation, and a person such as a resident who does not perform the alarm operation is moved to the sensor range of the sensor camera 3. In response to the intrusion of the person, the camera 36 is activated, and the captured image is displayed on the monitor 20 of the living room master unit 2. In the setting mode, even if a person is included in the image captured by the camera 36, the master CPU 30 does not perform control such as issuing an alarm.

When the feature setting unit 25 is operated by another resident looking at the monitor 20, the master CPU 30 obtains information about the person being imaged (displayed on the monitor) from the video processing unit 21. And stored in the feature storage unit 27. Specifically, a person is extracted from the captured video, and features such as silhouettes or clothing colors are extracted, and this information is stored in the feature storage unit 27.
It should be noted that the person extraction and the feature extraction can be performed by a known technique such as the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-220047 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-79458.

In this way, the characteristics of the specific person are stored in the characteristic storage unit 27, and when the setting mode is canceled, the master CPU 30 operates as follows. The master CPU 30 continues to extract a person from the captured video, extract its features, and compare this feature with the stored feature. As a result, since the characteristics of this person are stored, the master CPU 30 determines that it is the same as the stored person and does not record video or issue an alarm.
Further, even if the person disappears from the camera imaging range (or disappears from the detection range of the sensor 34) and the camera 36 stops imaging and then appears in front of the sensor camera 3 again, the master CPU 30 stores the feature memory. The characteristics of the person stored in the unit 27 are compared with the characteristics of the person extracted from the image being captured. As a result, it is determined that they are the same person, and no alarm is issued.

  However, the master CPU 30 starts the timer 26 in response to the feature storing operation, and starts counting for a certain time (for example, 1 hour). Then, when the timer 26 counts up, the feature of the person stored in the feature storage unit 27 is deleted. Thus, the initial unset state is automatically restored. For this reason, even if a person has a feature stored once, when the timer 26 counts up, the master CPU 30 determines that the person is a suspicious person unless the timer 26 is reset.

  The feature setting operation for storing the characteristics of the person may be performed as follows. When a person who has not been set enters the detection range of the sensor 34, the living room base unit 2 performs a notification operation by determining that the person is a suspicious person as described above. When the feature setting unit 25 is operated in this state, the feature of the person is stored in the feature storage unit 27. As a result, the base unit CPU 30 releases the alarm operation in order to determine that the characteristics of the person in the current captured image are the same as the stored characteristics by comparing them. By this operation, the alarm can be canceled only for the person without stopping the operation of the sensor camera 3 itself.

  On the other hand, when the feature is stored, if the person who has entered the sensor range of the sensor camera 3 is a suspicious person or a resident who has not stored the feature, the camera 36 starts imaging and monitors 20 is displayed. Then, base unit CPU 30 determines that there is a suspicious person and operates call circuit 24 in the same manner as when there is no information in feature storage unit 27 in order to determine that the information does not match the information stored in feature storage unit 27. Then, an alarm sound is issued from the master speaker 23 to notify the resident.

As described above, when the person imaged by the sensor camera has the feature stored in the feature storage unit, the alarm notification is not stopped or performed in the room master unit. Therefore, for example, when the resident wanders the sensor range of the sensor camera for garden work or the like, it can be set so that the alarm is not issued by the living room base unit, and unnecessary alarms can be prevented.
In addition, even if information having a small number of features such as silhouettes and clothes colors is used to distinguish the characteristics of the person to be extracted, the information is automatically deleted after one hour, for example. Therefore, even if the suspicious person imitates the resident's clothes, the memorized feature is deleted at that time, so that the suspicious person can be detected. In addition, the configuration of the feature extraction unit and the determination control unit can be simplified.

  In the above embodiment, the operation of directly extracting a person's feature from the captured image of the sensor camera 3 has been described. However, the captured image is first stored in the image storage unit 28, and the person's feature is extracted based on this stored image. You may make it memorize | store in the characteristic memory | storage part 27. By recording once in this way, it is possible to select a video that is most easily extracted, that is, to easily capture the feature, and to extract the feature, so that highly accurate determination can be performed. In addition, the resident can take an image of himself / herself and memorize the characteristics, and can easily perform the memory operation alone.

In the above embodiment, one person is stored as a feature. However, it is a matter of course that a plurality of features can be stored. It is possible to easily implement a configuration in which each person is extracted and compared with the individual features stored in the feature storage unit 27 for each person. Further, when capturing an image in a dark situation such as at night, the color of clothes can be determined by turning on the light 40 and capturing the image.
Further, although the feature storage unit 27 is provided in the living room master unit 2, it may be provided in the sensor camera 3, or the master unit CPU 30 extracts a person from the captured image and stores the features stored in the feature storage unit 27. Although the comparison determination is performed, a feature extraction unit that extracts a person from the captured video and a determination control unit that performs comparison determination may be provided in the sensor camera 3.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of embodiment of the intercom system which concerns on this invention. It is the block diagram which showed each apparatus of FIG. 1 with the circuit block.

Explanation of symbols

  1 .. Entrance cordless handset, 2 .... Living room master, 3 .... Sensor camera, 20 .... Monitor, 23 ... Speaker (alarm reporting unit), 25 ... Feature setting unit (memory operation unit), 26. -Timer, 27-Feature storage unit, 28-Video storage unit, 29-Operation unit, 30-Master CPU (feature extraction unit, determination control unit), 34-Sensor, 36-Camera, 38 ..Sensor camera CPU

Claims (3)

An entrance handset for a visitor to call a resident and make a call, an in-home base station for a resident to respond by invoking a call from the entrance handset, and the in-home base station upon detecting the approach of a person An intercom system having a sensor camera that transmits a captured image to
In the sensor camera or the living room master unit, a feature extraction unit that extracts a person feature from a captured image of the sensor camera, a feature storage unit that stores a person feature extracted by the feature extraction unit, and the feature storage unit A determination control unit for comparing and determining the characteristics of the person stored in the image and the characteristics of the person newly captured by the sensor camera,
The living room base unit includes a monitor that outputs a captured image of the sensor camera, a storage operation unit that performs a storage operation in the feature storage unit, and an alarm notification unit,
When the determination control unit determines that the feature of the person stored in the feature storage unit and the feature of the person newly imaged by the sensor camera do not match, the alarm notification unit is caused to perform a notification operation and match. Then, the intercom system is characterized in that when it is determined, the alarm notification is stopped or is not performed. The intercom system according to claim 1, further comprising a timer that erases the information stored in the feature storage unit when a predetermined time has elapsed since the information was stored. The living room master unit includes a video storage unit that records a video captured by the sensor camera, and the feature extraction unit extracts features from the video stored in the video storage unit and extracts them by operating the storage operation unit. Stored in the feature storage unit,
The intercom system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination control unit compares and determines the stored information and the characteristics of a person newly captured by the sensor camera.

Images