JP2012022631A - Notification device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a notification device performing notification by detecting persons' actions taken only in an emergency.SOLUTION: The notification device comprises: tracking means for tracking persons' actions in a monitoring area composed of a first area where unspecified persons are permitted to enter and exit, a second area where only specified persons are permitted to enter and exit and a specified area which is a non-passage provided between the first area and the second area; notification means for performing notification when the tracking means detects that a person of the first area entered the second area through the specified area.

Description

  The present invention relates to a notification device that detects and reports the occurrence of an emergency such as a burglary, and more particularly to a notification device that does not require operation of a notification button or the like.

Conventionally, as a notification device for a user such as a store or an office to notify an emergency such as a burglary to the outside, a remote monitoring center displays an image captured by a monitoring camera together with an emergency signal by operating a so-called emergency button. What is sent out to is widely known.
Although this type of reporting device is based on the user's voluntary operation, it rarely reports an emergency situation accidentally, but when an emergency such as a burglary occurs, the operation of the emergency button is prevented by the burglary. The user may be upset and forget to operate the emergency button, and there is a problem that the certainty of the notification is lacking.

Also, those who are engaged in the delivery of cash face to face with the customer operate a notification function to the police etc. that is attached to the lower part of the counter as a detour because the perpetrator for the purpose of robbery possesses weapons etc. Doing so may irritate the perpetrator and cause injury.
In Patent Document 1, the movement trajectory information of a monitoring target is obtained using a video of a stereo camera for the purpose of providing a suspicious behavior detection system that can identify and identify a suspicious person who is performing an abnormal behavior. A suspicious behavior for detecting a suspicious behavior of a monitoring target, comprising: a movement trajectory acquisition unit that detects the suspicious behavior of the monitoring target by identifying a behavior state of the monitoring target based on the movement trajectory information A detection system is disclosed.

JP 2008-217602 A

  According to the suspicious behavior detection system proposed in Patent Document 1, when an elderly person is walking steadily from a person's walking trajectory or the like, it can be identified as an elderly person or a suspicious person staying there. .

  However, in a convenience store, etc., even ordinary customers take various actions and their movement trajectories are diverse. For example, when deciding on a product, situations such as hanging around or staying in one place can usually occur. Therefore, it is difficult to determine that the person is a suspicious person only with the movement trajectory.

Also, for example, robbery incidents that occur at stores such as convenience stores have a similar pattern of robbery behavior patterns.For example, when entering a store from the store entrance, they get over the counter and enter the cash register area, threatening the store clerk. Or take the action of forcibly opening the cash register and stealing cash.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a store where an unspecified number of people are allowed to enter and exit, the behavior of a person that is usually not taken and is taken only in an emergency such as a robber The purpose is to propose a reporting device that can detect and report.

  In order to achieve the above object, the notification device according to the present invention includes a first area where an unspecified person is allowed to enter and exit, a second area where only a specified person is allowed to enter and exit, and the first area. A tracking unit that tracks a person's behavior in a monitoring area configured by a specific area that is a non-passage provided between the second area and the second area, and the tracking unit includes: A notification determination means for determining that an emergency call is required when it is detected that a person has entered the second area through the specific area; and a notification for performing a notification when the notification determination means determines that a notification is required Means.

  Thereby, the reporting device can prevent the detection and reporting of behavior specific to the burglar.

The tracking unit further includes an image acquisition unit that acquires an image of the monitoring area, and tracks the action of a person in the monitoring area from the image.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to detect behavior specific to a burglar that does not occur during normal business hours.

It is the schematic which shows the whole structure of the notification system by the notification apparatus of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the notification apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the monitoring process of the notification apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the movement locus | trajectory of the person of this invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.
In this embodiment, for example, a sales office such as a financial institution or a store is to be monitored, and a store area (first area), a checkout counter area (second area), and an upper space of the checkout counter are monitored areas to be monitored. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to this.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a notification system 1 using the notification device of the present invention.
FIG. 1 shows a monitoring area 2 including a store area 2a having an entrance to the outside, a checkout counter area 2b, and a specific area 2c which is an upper space of the checkout counter 22, a monitoring camera 3 installed in the monitoring area 2, and a heat ray The relationship between the security sensor 7 such as a sensor or an open / close sensor and the notification device 4 to which the surveillance camera 3 and the security sensor 7 are connected is schematically shown on a plan view.

Here, in this embodiment, the monitoring area 2 is divided into a store area 2 a, a cashier counter area 2 b, and a specific area 2 c that is an upper space of the cashier counter 22.
The store area 2a is a space where unspecified persons such as general customers are allowed to enter and exit.
The cashier counter area 2b is a dedicated area where a specific person such as a store clerk is allowed to enter and exit. The specific area 2c is a space above the cashier counter 22 that separates the cashier area 2a from the cashier counter area 2b. Usually, goods and money are handed over between the customer and the clerk, but it is not a passage. It does not pass through the space itself.
As shown in FIG. 1, the store area 2a is provided with a store entrance 21 as an entrance to the outside.

  In the example of FIG. 1, the monitoring camera 3 is installed at a position where the entire store area 2a including the store entrance 21 of the store area 2a, the checkout counter area 2b, and the specific area 2c that is the upper space of the checkout counter 22 can be imaged. . The monitoring camera 3 and the notification device 4 are connected by a LAN (not shown), and the notification device 4 is further connected to a remote monitoring center 5 via a communication line network 6.

  Further, a security sensor (open / close sensor) 7 is installed at the store entrance 21 of the store area 2a, and a heat ray sensor (not shown) is installed in the store area 2a and the register counter area 2b. These security sensors 7 are connected to a LAN connecting the reporting device 4 and the monitoring camera 3.

  The monitoring camera 3 is a monitoring unit that generates monitoring information of the monitoring area 2. The surveillance camera 3 stores a camera number for identifying each surveillance camera 3 in advance, and an image signal input from the image sensor is transmitted at a predetermined photographing interval (for example, a cycle of 0.2 seconds, that is, 5 fps (frame / second)). Then, the image data is converted into a digital signal, compression-encoded, and image data compliant with a predetermined standard (for example, JPEG standard) is generated. The generated image data is output to the LAN and transmitted to the notification device 4. The image data transmitted at this time includes a camera number. Note that the surveillance camera 3 may compress and encode the audio signal input from the microphone to generate audio data, multiplex the image data and audio data, and output the multiplexed audio data to the LAN.

  The security sensor 7 is a monitoring unit that detects an intruder entering the inside of the monitoring area 2. The security sensor 7 stores a sensor number for identifying each security sensor 7 in advance, and outputs a detection signal including the sensor number to the notification device 4 when an intruder is detected.

  The notification device 4 monitors an intruder entering the monitoring area 2 based on the detection signal from the security sensor 7 and the security mode set in the monitoring area 2. The security mode includes a security set mode as a monitoring mode and a security release mode as a non-monitoring mode. The security set mode is a mode that is set in an unattended state in which no user is present in the monitoring area 2, and the reporting device 4 enters when a detection signal is received from the security sensor 7 when the security set mode is set. It is determined that there is an abnormality, and an intrusion detection signal is transmitted to the monitoring center 5. The security release mode is a mode that is set in a manned state where a user is present in the monitoring area 2, and the notification device 4 receives a detection signal from the security sensor 7 when the security release mode is set. However, it is not determined as an intrusion abnormality, and the intrusion detection signal is not transmitted to the monitoring center 5.

  In addition, the notification device 4 receives the image data input from the monitoring camera 3, and if it is determined that the notification is necessary from the action of the person in the monitoring area 2, the notification device 4 sends the monitoring center 5 via the communication line network 6. The emergency report signal is reported and the image data received from the monitoring camera 3 is transmitted to the monitoring center 5. The image data transmission process is continuously performed until a stop input is received from a user of the monitoring center 5 or the monitoring area 2.

In particular, in the present embodiment, the reporting device 4 uses the area information that is the position information on the image of the store area 2a, the cashier counter area 2b, and the specific area 2c that is the upper space of the cashier counter 22 as the area information of the monitoring area 2. Is remembered.
When the reporting device 4 detects a person in the store area 2a, the reporting device 4 tracks the behavior of the person, and when the person enters the register counter area 2b from the store area 2a through the specific area 2c. Execute the notification process.

  The monitoring center 5 is a facility provided with a center device 51 operated by a security company or the like. The center device 51 is composed of one or a plurality of computers, and realizes the function of the monitoring center 5 related to the present invention. In the monitoring center 5, various devices are controlled by the center device 51, and a suspicious person detection signal received as an emergency call from the reporting device 4 is recorded, and image data transmitted from the reporting device 4 is displayed on the display 52. The monitor monitors a plurality of monitoring areas 2 to be monitored.

<Notification device>
Next, the configuration of the notification device 4 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the notification device 4.
The reporting device 4 is installed in the monitoring area 2 (in the present embodiment, the cashier counter area 2b), is connected to the monitoring camera 3 and the security sensor 7, and is connected to the monitoring center 5 via the communication line network 6.

  The reporting device 4 includes a monitoring information acquisition unit 41 as a communication I / F (interface) connected to the LAN, a communication unit 42 connected to the communication network 6, and an operation unit 43 on which a user performs an input operation. The storage unit 44 includes an HDD, a memory, and the like, and the control unit 45 includes an MPU, a microcomputer, and the like and controls each unit.

The monitoring information acquisition unit 41 is connected to the monitoring camera 3 and the security sensor 7 and receives the camera number and image data output from the monitoring camera 3 as the monitoring information of the monitoring area 2 and the detection signal output from the security sensor 7. The data is output to the control unit 45.
The communication unit 42 is connected to the center device 51 via the communication line network 6 and communicates with the monitoring center 5. When the control unit 45 determines that the notification is necessary, the communication unit 42 transmits an emergency notification signal including its own address information and image data captured by the monitoring camera 3 to the monitoring center 5. The communication unit 42 transmits an intrusion detection signal including its own address information to the monitoring center 5 when it is determined by the control unit 45 that an intruder is present in the monitoring area 2 set in the guard set mode. .
The operation unit 43 is a switch capable of inputting setting information such as a security mode setting operation.

  The storage unit 44 is configured by a ROM, a RAM, or an HDD, stores address information for identifying itself, various programs, and the like, and further stores various information for operating the reporting device 4. Specifically, the storage unit 44 stores reference data serving as background information for extracting a moving object, mode information indicating the current security mode, and area information for performing an emergency notification necessity determination process. is doing. Further, the storage unit 44 stores image data for a past predetermined time output from the monitoring camera 3.

  Here, the reference data stored in the storage unit 44 is comparison reference information used for extracting a moving object in the monitoring area 2 in comparison with the current image data in the visitor detection process described later. This is image data obtained by capturing an image of the unattended monitoring area 2 in advance.

  Further, the mode information stores a security mode (a security set mode or a security release mode) currently set in the monitoring area 2. The security mode is set by the control unit 45 based on an operation input to the operation unit 43 by the user.

  The area information is position information for distinguishing on the image the store area 2a in the monitoring area 2, the checkout counter area 2b, and the specific area 2c that is the upper space of the checkout counter 22.

  The control unit 45 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like and peripheral circuits thereof, and controls each unit described above. For this purpose, the control unit 45 includes an electronic calendar unit 450 as a clock means for acquiring the current date and time as a functional module realized by the microcomputer and a computer program executed on the microcomputer, and a security mode of the monitoring area 2 A mode setting unit 451 for setting / changing an intruder, an intruder detection unit 452 for detecting an intruder into the monitoring region 2, an action tracking unit 453 for tracking the behavior of a person in the monitoring region 2, and whether or not a notification is necessary. A notification determination unit 454 for determining and a communication control unit 455 for controlling communication processing by the communication unit 42 are provided.

  The mode setting unit 451 compares the information input from the operation unit 43 when the user sets the security mode, and if the verification is OK, the mode setting unit 451 sets the security mode of the monitoring area 2 based on the input of the operation unit 43 as a security set. Set to mode or security release mode. The security mode set by the mode setting unit 451 is stored in the mode information of the storage unit 44.

  As described above, the security set mode is set when the monitoring area 2 is unattended, such as outside business hours or holidays, and is remotely monitored via the communication unit 42 when the security sensor 7 detects a change in the event. This is a mode for notifying the center 5 of an abnormality. Further, the security release mode is a mode that is set when the monitoring area 2 is manned and does not perform an abnormality report due to detection of an event change by the security sensor 7.

  When an intruder detection unit 452 receives a detection signal from the security sensor 7 via the monitoring information acquisition unit 41, the intruder detection unit 452 refers to the mode information stored in the storage unit 44 and the current security mode is the security set mode. In this case, it is determined that there is an intruder in the monitoring area 2. On the other hand, if the security sensor 7 outputs a detection signal when the current security mode is the security release mode, the presence of an intruder is not determined. Information that the intruder detection unit 452 detects the intruder and information of the security sensor 7 that has output the detection signal are stored in the storage unit 44 and reported to the monitoring center 5 as an intrusion detection signal.

  The behavior tracking unit 453 generates tracking information for tracking the moving object image from the unattended image data stored in the storage unit 44 and the image data input from the monitoring information acquisition unit 41. Specifically, the tracking information is extracted from the reference data (image data when there is no person) generated based on the monitoring image captured when there is no person and stored in the storage unit 44, and each moving object image. Feature amount. As the feature amount, a luminance histogram of a moving object image, texture information, or the like can be used. The tracking is a process for obtaining a moving trajectory for each moving object image by identifying moving object images having similar feature quantities at the preceding and following times as images of the same moving object. A common identifier (image ID) is assigned to the identified moving object image, and the feature amount is stored in association with the image ID for each identified moving object image.

  The movement trajectory is a history of the position of a person who is a moving object in the monitoring image, and is generated as a result of action tracking. The movement trajectory is stored in the storage unit 44 in association with the image ID and time information for each identified moving object image.

  The report determination unit 454 collates the movement locus of the person detected by the behavior tracking unit 453 with the area information stored in the storage unit 44, and passes from the store area 2a to the specific area 2c that is the upper space of the cashier counter 22. When it moves to the cashier counter area 2b, it is determined that an emergency call is necessary.

The communication control unit 455 transmits an emergency notification signal to the monitoring center 5 when the notification determination unit 454 determines that an emergency notification is necessary. The emergency notification signal includes address information of the notification device 4. Further, when it is determined that an emergency call is necessary, the communication control unit 455 starts transmission of image data input from the monitoring camera 3 to the monitoring center 5. The camera number and the address information of the reporting device 4 are added as header information to the transmitted image data, and the current image data is continuously transmitted each time it is input from the monitoring camera 3. The communication control unit 455 stops the image data transmission process to the monitoring center 5 when receiving either the image transmission stop signal by the stop input of the operation unit 43 or the image transmission stop signal transmitted from the monitoring center 5. To do.
Further, when the intruder detection unit 452 determines that an intruder exists in the monitoring area 2 set in the guard set mode, the communication control unit 455 transmits an intrusion detection signal to the monitoring center 5.

<Description of operation>
About the notification system 1 comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement is demonstrated with reference to drawings. Here, the operation related to the emergency notification process by the notification device 4 will be mainly described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the monitoring program repeatedly executed by the notification device 4.

  The notification device 4 accepts input of image data captured by the monitoring camera 3 from the monitoring information acquisition unit 41 at a predetermined cycle (for example, a cycle of 0.2 seconds, that is, 5 fps (frames / second)), and stores it in the storage unit 44. .

When the monitoring program shown in FIG. 3 is executed, the control unit 45 starts the behavior tracking process of the person 102 (FIG. 4) in the monitoring region 2 by operating the behavior tracking unit 453. The behavior tracking unit 453 detects the movement locus of the person in the monitoring area 2 by performing image processing on the image data acquired by the monitoring information acquisition unit 41 from the time when the person 102 is detected. (Step ST1)

  FIG. 4 shows an image taken by the surveillance camera 3 installed on the ceiling of the store area 2a, and the black circle exemplifies the movement trajectory of the person 102. Each black circle in the figure corresponds to the center of gravity of the moving object image at each time, and data in which the coordinates of the center of gravity are arranged in time series for each moving object image is the movement locus. A black circle f + 1 indicates the position of the person 102 after 0.5 seconds from the time when the person is detected, and a black circle f + 2 indicates the position of the person 102 after 1 second, for example. This time pitch may be narrower or wider, and is determined by the size of the monitoring area 2 or the like.

When the message determination unit 455 collates the movement trajectory of the person 102 detected by the behavior tracking unit 453 with the area information read from the storage unit 44 and determines whether or not it matches a specific movement pattern, The process moves to sending an emergency call signal. Specifically, the movement trajectory of the person 102 detected by the behavior tracking unit 453 moves from the area of the store area 2a to the area of the cashier counter area 2b through the area of the specific area 2c that is the upper space of the cashier counter 22. It is determined that an emergency call is necessary.
That is, when a normal clerk moves from the store area 2a to the cashier counter area 2b, he / she does not move over the cashier counter 22, so that the specific area 2c, which is the upper space of the cashier counter 22, is a person. Is passed, it is considered that the robber has entered the cashier counter area 2b in order to take money.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the movement trajectory of the person 102 is tracked from the time point f when the person 102 enters the store area 2a from the store entrance 21.
Then, the detected person 102 moves from the store entrance 21 to the store area 2a to the front of the checkout counter 22 (black circle f → f + 1 → f + 2 → f + 3 → f + 4), and then the checkout counter 22 It is determined that it is necessary to send an emergency call when the vehicle passes over the area of the specific area 2c (black circle f + 5) and moves into the cashier counter area 2b (black circle f + 6) (step ST2-Yes) ) Move to the process of sending an emergency call signal.

The behavior tracking unit 453 ends the tracking process of the person when the person 102 exits the store area 2a from the store entrance 21 without passing through the area of the specific area 2c.

  The communication control unit 455 transmits an emergency notification signal to the monitoring center 5 (step ST4), and starts transmitting image data input from the monitoring camera 3 to the monitoring center 5 (step ST5). The transmission of the image data is continuously performed until an image transmission stop signal is input from the operation unit 43 or the monitoring center 5. When an image transmission stop signal is input from the operation unit 43 or from the monitoring center 5 (step ST6-Yes), the transmission of image data to the monitoring center 5 is stopped and the process is terminated (step ST7).

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above by way of example, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can be changed or modified according to the purpose within the scope of the claims. is there.

  For example, in the present embodiment, an example in which the monitoring information acquisition unit 41 acquires image data as monitoring information of the monitoring area 2 as tracking means and tracks the behavior of the visitor 102 using the image data has been described. It is not limited to this. That is, the monitoring information is not limited to image data, and may be information that can identify a moving object in the monitoring area 2 and recognize its position. For example, instead of the monitoring camera 3 or in addition to the monitoring camera 3, reflected light reflected by an object on the optical path by performing spatial scanning at a predetermined period while irradiating the monitoring region 2 with laser light as a monitoring means A laser scanning distance sensor that detects the position of the object by obtaining the distance data and the irradiation direction to the object existing in the monitoring region by receiving the light may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reporting system 2 Monitoring area 2a Shop area 2b Cash register counter area 2c Specific area 3 Surveillance camera 21 Store entrance / exit 22 Cash register counter 4 Reporting device 41 Monitoring information acquisition part 42 Communication part 43 Operation part 44 Storage part 45 Control part 450 Electronic calendar part 451 Mode setting unit 452 Intruder detection unit 453 Action tracking unit 454 Report determination unit 455 Communication control unit 5 Monitoring center 51 Center device 52 Display 6 Communication line network 7 Security sensor

Claims (2)

A first area in which unspecified persons are allowed to enter and exit, a second area in which only specific persons are allowed to enter and exit, and a non-area provided between the first area and the second area. A tracking means for tracking the behavior of a person in a monitoring area composed of a specific area that is a passage;
In the tracking unit, a notification determination unit that determines that an emergency call is necessary when it is detected that a person in the first area has entered the second area through the specific area;
A notification device comprising: notification means for making a notification when the notification determination means determines that the notification is necessary. The tracking means further comprises image acquisition means for acquiring an image of the monitoring area,
The notification device according to claim 1, wherein an action of a person in a monitoring area is tracked from the image.