JP2010200167A - Monitoring system and monitoring method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitoring system which can display a video of a monitoring target imaged by a camera on a screen so that it can be confirmed from a specified position and direction by an easy operation. <P>SOLUTION: In the monitoring system for displaying the video of the monitoring target on the screen by using cameras 20-1 to 20-n, a configuration having a central control unit 11 which includes an ITV control section 110 for performing a process for selecting the corresponding one among the cameras based on map coordinate information specified according to an input operation of input-output interfaces 12 to 14 and trajectory slope information which indicates a photographing direction of the camera is used. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention particularly relates to a monitoring system using a camera, and more particularly to a screen display control technique for an image captured by a camera.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a monitoring device that captures an image of a monitoring target with a camera and displays and monitors an image obtained from the camera on a screen (for example, see Patent Document 1). Further, there has been proposed an imaging apparatus that displays a corresponding subject image on a screen when an arbitrary position is designated on a screen that displays an image captured by a camera (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent No. 3365182 JP-A-10-257375

  For example, in a monitoring system that monitors the status of lighting equipment, air conditioning equipment, etc. using a camera in units of building floors, it is possible to monitor on the screen by applying the monitoring equipment and imaging equipment presented in the prior art literature. If you click with a mouse, you can construct a monitoring system that displays an image showing the point on the screen.

  With such a monitoring system, for example, by displaying an image showing an arbitrarily designated position on the floor on the screen of the central monitoring room in the building, the status of lighting equipment, air conditioning equipment, etc. can be confirmed in detail. It becomes possible to do. However, there is a disadvantage that only a part of the lighting equipment or air-conditioning equipment can be displayed depending on the mounting position of the camera, simply by displaying the video imaged by the camera on the screen. In addition, it is usually required to perform complicated and complicated remote operation by remotely operating the camera from the central monitoring room and acquiring an image from a desired angle.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring system capable of displaying on a screen so that an image of a monitoring target photographed by a camera can be confirmed from a specified position and direction with an easy operation.

  An aspect of the present invention is a monitoring system configured to display a video from a position and a direction specified on a screen in a monitoring system that displays a video to be monitored on a screen using a camera.

  A monitoring system according to an aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of cameras provided at specified positions in a monitoring target area, input / output interface means for displaying information on a screen and performing input operations on the screen, Selection means for selecting a corresponding camera from the respective cameras based on coordinate information corresponding to a designated position of the monitoring target area and information indicating a shooting direction of the camera in the information input by the entry output interface means; And a central control unit that outputs control information for controlling the camera selected by the selection unit and displays an image captured by the camera on the screen.

  According to the monitoring system of the present invention, it is possible to display a monitoring target image captured by a camera on a screen so that it can be confirmed from a specified position and direction with an easy operation. As a result, it is possible to reduce the monitoring work stress and obtain a highly requested monitoring video.

The block diagram which shows the principal part of the monitoring system regarding embodiment of this invention. The figure for demonstrating the method of the screen display operation regarding this embodiment. The figure for demonstrating the method of the screen display operation regarding this embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the camera / map corresponding | compatible information table regarding this embodiment. The figure for demonstrating the method of the screen display control regarding this embodiment. The flowchart for demonstrating the method of the screen display control regarding this embodiment. The flowchart for demonstrating the method of the screen display control regarding this embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(System configuration)
As shown in FIG. 1, the monitoring system of the present embodiment roughly includes a central monitoring device 10 and a plurality of monitoring cameras (ITV cameras, hereinafter simply referred to as cameras) 20-1 to 20-n. The cameras 20-1 to 20-n are distributed at different positions on the floor of a building, for example. As will be described later, the installation locations of the cameras 20-1 to 20-n are specified by the camera coordinate information. The central monitoring device 10 is installed in a management room of a building, for example, which is remote from the cameras 20-1 to 20-n, and is based on the images taken by the cameras 20-1 to 20-n. This is a configuration that can monitor the floor.

  The central monitoring device 10 includes a central control unit 11, an input device 12, a liquid crystal display (LCD) 13, a display control unit 14, a storage device 15, an information input / output unit 16, and a transmission control unit 17. Have. The central control unit 11 is composed of a computer and has functions of an ITV control unit 110 and a monitoring control unit 111 realized by software.

  The input device 12, the LCD 13, and the display control unit 14 are devices constituting an input / output interface (man / machine interface). The input device 12 includes input operation devices such as a keyboard and a mouse. The input device 12 may be a touch screen device that is a combination of the LCD 13 and the display control unit 14. The LCD 13 has a screen (liquid crystal screen) for displaying information. The display control unit 14 controls the screen display of the LCD 13 based on information output from the central control unit 11.

  The storage device 15 stores various information necessary for the control operation of the central control unit 11. The information input / output unit 16 inputs video from the cameras 20-1 to 20-n transmitted via the transmission control unit 17 and transmits the video to the central control unit 11. The information input / output unit 16 outputs control information output from the central control unit 11 to an information collection device control unit (hereinafter abbreviated as an information collection control unit) 19 via the transmission control unit 17.

  On the other hand, the information collection control unit 19 is installed in the vicinity of the cameras 20-1 to 20-n and remote from the central monitoring device 10, and is connected to the central monitoring device 10 via the transmission control unit 18. Yes. The information collection control unit 19 controls the cameras 20-1 to 20-n based on the control information output from the central control unit 11, and collects images captured by the selected camera. The information collection controller 19 transmits the images from the cameras 20-1 to 20-n to the central monitoring device 10 via the transmission controller 18. The transmission control unit 18 is connected to a transmission control unit 17 included in the central monitoring apparatus 10 by a communication line (wired or wireless) 21. The communication line 21 constitutes a LAN (local area network), for example.

(System operation)
Hereinafter, the operation of the monitoring system of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, in the monitoring system of the present embodiment, for example, the central monitoring device 10 installed in a management room in a building captures images (monitoring) taken by cameras 20-1 to 20-n installed on each floor of the building. Video) is collected via a LAN or the like including the communication line 21 and displayed on the screen of the LCD 13 of the input / output interface. The manager in the management room in the building can monitor the situation in each floor using the screen of the LCD 13 as a monitor. Here, the administrator operates the input operation device of the input device 12 to select a floor in the building.

  The central control unit 11 executes processing as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 in response to an input operation from the input device 12. That is, in the central control unit 11, for example, when the ITV mode is set from the input device 12, the ITV control unit 110 is activated. As will be described later, the ITV control unit 110 is an operation for displaying an image captured by the selected camera on the screen of the LCD 13.

  First, as shown in FIG. 2A, the ITV control unit 110 displays the specified floor map information 200 on the screen 130 of the LCD 13 (step S1). The map information 200 is, for example, graphic image information corresponding to the layout (arrangement relationship) of the floor, and in a predetermined form including icons 210a to 210d that mean installed cameras (four here). Is displayed. The map information 200 is linked to coordinate information for specifying the floor position.

  When the administrator operates the mouse (input operation device) 120 of the input device 12 shown in FIG. 2B and clicks an arbitrary point 230 on the cursor 220 as shown in FIG. 2A, the ITV control unit 110 executes a map coordinate fixed point setting process (step S2). This map coordinate fixed point setting process is a process of calculating coordinate information (designated as map coordinate information for convenience) for designating an arbitrary monitoring target (for example, an air conditioner) in the floor.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the administrator operates the mouse 120 to move the cursor 220a from the coordinates (point 230) to the target direction, the ITV control unit 110 sets the tilt direction. Processing is executed (step S3). As shown in FIG. 3A, the tilt direction setting process is a process of calculating the tilt direction (for convenience, the trajectory tilt information) from the trajectory 240 by mouse movement.

  As will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7, the ITV control unit 110 captures a monitoring target (for example, an air conditioner) designated in the floor by executing a map coordinate fixed point setting process and a tilt direction setting process. A process of selecting a possible camera is executed. That is, as shown in FIG. 3A, among a plurality of cameras (icons 210a to 210d) installed on the floor, a camera (210c) that can photograph a designated monitoring target (for example, an air conditioner). Selected and indicated by cursor 220b. The ITV control unit 110 obtains a camera number for specifying the selected camera (210c) and its coordinate information (camera coordinate information for convenience).

  Further, processing of the central control unit 11 and the ITV control unit 110 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4, 5, and 7.

  First, as described above, the ITV control unit 110 calculates the map coordinate information and the locus inclination information by executing the map coordinate fixed point setting process and the inclination direction setting process (step S11). The ITV control unit 110 refers to the camera / map correspondence information table 112 stored in the storage device 15, and obtains the camera number and the camera coordinate information corresponding to the map coordinate information and the locus inclination information (step S12).

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the camera / map correspondence information table 112 includes a camera number (NO) corresponding to map coordinate information (X1, Y1, X2, Y2) and locus inclination information (inclination 1, inclination 2) and its Camera coordinate information (x, y, z) is set. That is, the coordinate system (x, y, z) of the camera 210 shown in FIG. 5A corresponds to the coordinate system (X, Y) of the map information shown in FIG. In short, the ITV control unit 110 uses the camera / map correspondence information table 112 to set the cameras having the camera coordinates and the shooting direction capable of shooting the monitoring target specified by the map information 200 to each camera installed on the floor. Select from 210a to 210d.

  Next, the central control unit 11 transmits the control information including the camera number calculated by the ITV control unit 110 and the camera coordinate information via the information input / output unit 16 and the transmission control unit 17 (step S13). When the information collection control unit 19 receives the control information transmitted from the central control unit 11 via the transmission control unit 18, the information collection control unit 19 selects the corresponding camera (indicated here by the icon 210c) from the cameras 20-1 to 20-n on the floor. The camera is selected and controlled (step S14).

  The information collection control unit 19 collects the video captured by the selected camera and transmits it from the transmission control unit 18 to the central monitoring apparatus 10 via the communication line 21 (step S15). In the central monitoring apparatus 10, the transmitted video is transmitted to the central control unit 11 via the transmission control unit 17 and the information input / output unit 16.

  The ITV control unit 110 processes the transmitted video and displays it on the screen of the LCD 13 via the display control unit 14 (step S16). That is, as shown in FIG. 3A, a video 250 taken by the selected camera (the camera indicated by the icon 210c) is displayed on the screen 130 of the LCD 13. Here, an example is shown in which the appearance of the air conditioner that is the monitoring target is displayed as it is, but other display modes may be used. Specifically, the ITV control unit 110 may process the transmitted video, convert it into a graphic image, and display it.

  As described above, in the system according to the present embodiment, map information corresponding to the layout of the monitoring target area that is a floor of a building, for example, is displayed on the screen of the central monitoring device 10, and the coordinates of the target point of this map information and A camera that can shoot a target point to be monitored can be selected and controlled by a process in which the designated direction, the coordinates of each camera, and the shooting direction are linked. That is, for example, an administrator in a management room in a building simply operates a mouse that is an input operation device of the input device 12 and inputs map coordinate information and trajectory inclination information for specifying a monitoring target on the screen of the LCD 13. A camera capable of photographing the monitoring target can be selected, and video from the camera can be acquired. The administrator can confirm the status of, for example, the air conditioner as the monitoring target from the operation panel by confirming the video imaged on the screen of the LCD 13.

  In short, simply click on a point on the map information on the screen, move the cursor to specify the shooting direction, select the corresponding camera, and display the video from the desired direction on the camera. Can be displayed above. Therefore, the administrator can check devices such as air conditioners installed on the floor corresponding to the monitoring target area from a specified angle. As a result, for example, it is possible to present an image necessary for monitoring work to a manager in a management room in a building with a simple operation, thereby reducing stress in the monitoring work and improving work efficiency. It becomes possible.

  In the central monitoring device 10, the central control unit 11 activates the monitoring control unit 111 in response to an input operation from the input device 12, and is a monitoring target based on the control information from the monitoring control unit 111, for example. The air conditioner can be controlled.

  In the present embodiment, each floor of the building is assumed as the monitoring target area. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a designated area in a facility such as a factory may be assumed. In the present embodiment, the ITV control unit 110 is configured to acquire information for specifying a camera to be selected using the information table 112 illustrated in FIG. 4. A method of calculating the information by the calculated arithmetic expression may be used. Furthermore, although the mouse 120 is assumed as the input operation device of the input device 12 of the present embodiment, a device such as a joystick or a touch panel may be used.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Central monitoring apparatus, 11 ... Central control part, 12 ... Input device,
13 ... Liquid crystal display (LCD), 14 ... Display control unit, 15 ... Storage device,
16 ... Information input / output unit, 17 ... Transmission control unit, 18 ... Transmission control unit,
19: Information collecting device controller, 20-1 to 20-n: Surveillance camera (ITV),
21 ... Communication line (LAN), 120 ... Mouse (input operation device), 130 ... Screen.

Claims (11)

A plurality of cameras provided at specified positions in the monitored area;
I / O interface means for displaying information on the screen and performing input operations on the screen;
Selection means for selecting a corresponding camera from each camera based on coordinate information corresponding to a designated position of the monitoring target area and information indicating a shooting direction of the camera in the information input by the input / output interface means;
A monitoring system comprising: central control means for outputting control information for controlling the camera selected by the selection means and displaying an image taken by the camera on the screen. The input / output interface means includes
Map information corresponding to the position coordinates of the monitoring target area is displayed on the screen, and includes means for inputting the coordinate information and information for instructing the photographing direction in accordance with an input operation on the screen. The monitoring system according to claim 1. The selection means includes
Including an information table having camera specifying information for specifying the camera corresponding to the coordinate information in the monitoring target area and the information of the shooting direction;
The information table is referred to based on the information input by the input / output interface means, and the camera specifying information corresponding to the camera capable of shooting at the specified position in the monitoring target area is acquired from each camera. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring system is provided.   The monitoring system according to claim 3, wherein the camera specifying information includes camera identification information for identifying the selected camera and camera coordinate information indicating an installation position of the camera. Camera control means for controlling each camera based on control information output from the central control means;
Transmission control means for transmitting video captured by each camera,
The said camera control means is comprised so that the image | video image | photographed with the camera selected based on the said control information may be transmitted to the said central control means via the said transmission control means. The monitoring system according to claim 1. The input / output interface means includes
The input operation means for operating a cursor for instructing a designated position in the monitoring target area and the shooting direction on the screen. 6. Monitoring system.   The input / output interface means displays information indicating the layout of the monitoring target area on the screen, and indicates the coordinate information of the designated position in the layout and the shooting direction according to the input operation on the screen. The monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising means for inputting The selection means generates camera identification information for identifying the selected camera and coordinate information of the camera,
The said central control means is comprised so that the said control information containing the said camera identification information and the coordinate information of the said camera may be output, The one of Claim 1 or Claim 5 characterized by the above-mentioned. Monitoring system. A plurality of surveillance cameras provided at specified positions in the monitored area;
Camera control means for controlling each of the monitoring cameras based on the control information transmitted from the central monitoring device, and transmitting the captured image to the central monitoring device;
The central monitoring device is
An input / output interface means including a screen for displaying information and an input operation means for performing an input operation on the screen;
Based on the information input by the input operation means on the screen, the corresponding camera is selected from the cameras based on the coordinate information corresponding to the designated position of the monitoring target area and the information indicating the shooting direction of the camera. Selecting means for generating camera identification information and coordinate information of the camera;
The control information including the camera identification information from the selection unit and the coordinate information of the camera is transmitted to the camera control unit, and an image shot by the camera selected and controlled by the camera control unit is displayed on the screen. And a central control means. A monitoring method applied to a monitoring system including a plurality of cameras provided at specified positions in a monitoring target area and means for displaying on the screen a video taken by the camera,
A process of inputting coordinate information corresponding to a designated position of the monitoring target area on the screen and information indicating a shooting direction of the camera;
A process of selecting a corresponding camera from the cameras based on the input information;
A process of outputting control information for controlling the selected camera;
A monitoring method, comprising: a process of receiving an image captured by the selected camera and displaying the image on the screen. Including an information table having camera specifying information for specifying the camera corresponding to the coordinate information in the monitoring target area and the information of the shooting direction;
The process of selecting refers to the information table based on the input information, and acquires the camera specifying information corresponding to a camera capable of shooting at a specified position in the monitoring target area from each camera. The monitoring method according to claim 10, wherein:

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