JP2014099719A - Camera with universal head motion control and display control scheme - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to perform accurate position adjustment to a target position although in the prior art, in the case where a camera with a universal head including a zoom lens is remotely operated by means of a tablet terminal, it is difficult to accurately position the camera at the target position due to a travel amount by one operation and a time required for communication in a scheme, in which the camera moves one pitch or consecutively during operation, like a joystick and button.SOLUTION: A camera system can exactly move a camera according to a target position given by one operation on a tablet terminal by a user. Further, it enables the user to perform scaling down or scaling up operation at the same time by instructing two points pinching a target objective by pinch-in or pinch-out, and to perform the pan, tilt, and zoom operation of the camera in a short time.

Description

The present invention relates to a camera system with a pan head that performs pan, tilt and zoom operations of a camera by remote control from a tablet terminal in a camera with a zoom lens.

Patents have been filed in which a camera camera with a pan head is operated by an operation from a touch panel as in Patent Document 1. The need to control the camera with a pan head is not limited to such a television camera for broadcasting, but is also used for surveillance cameras, security cameras, inspection cameras, etc. It is conceivable that there is an increasing use of remote control since the camera and monitor are remote.
Also, with the widespread use of wired and wireless network lines, it has become easier to transmit shooting data over the network and to control and operate the camera.
An operation is also performed while displaying an image from a camera using a touch panel monitor, and the operation can be performed by touching a button displayed on the screen. With the spread of smartphones and tablet terminals, operations such as tapping, flicking, pinching in, and pinching out have become common, and a technique for instructing and scaling processing using two fingers has been proposed.
In this way, an operation of using two fingers to move away from each other is called a pinch out, and an operation of bringing them closer is called a pinch in.
An operation of touching and inputting a display screen with one finger is called a tap, and a quick slide is called a flick.

JP-A-5-236319 JP 2012-123066 A

In the camera system as shown in FIG. 1, in order to operate the camera to the target position on the screen by operating the tablet terminal and to enlarge or reduce it to an arbitrary size, tap the target position on the screen and center it on the field of view. It has been necessary to carry out multiple operations such as enlarging and reducing after moving, or moving one pitch at a time determined by the operation of the joystick, buttons, and cursor, approaching the target, and enlarging and reducing.

In such an operation to move one pitch at a time, it takes time to match the target position,
Positioning with an accuracy of 1 pitch or less is not possible. In addition, in an operation that continues to move while the joystick or button is pressed, a time lag occurs due to the time required for reciprocal communication between the camera device and the tablet terminal, and the time for the pan head to move, and positioning at the target position is accurate. It is difficult to do.

On the tablet device where the camera image is displayed, pinch-in and pinch-out to pinch the target object, pan and tilt the pan head, determine the zoom lens magnification, and target with a single operation The image is moved to the center of the field of view and enlarged or reduced.

In the case of enlarging by pinch-out, as shown in FIG.
At the end of the operation, the positions of P3 and P4 are acquired in (b). The length of one side obtained in (a), (b)
7 is calculated by the calculation unit of the tablet terminal 4 from the length of one side obtained in step 706, the rate of change is obtained in step 706, the new rate is obtained from the rate of change in step 708, and the magnification in the camera unit is obtained in step 709 Is transmitted. Similarly, when enlarging by pinching out, the start position and the position at the end of the operation are acquired, the calculation shown in FIG. 7 is performed from the length of one side, the change rate is obtained by 706, and the current magnification is changed by 708. A new magnification is obtained from the rate, and the magnification is transmitted to the 709 camera unit.

Further, by flicking, it is moved to one field of view up, down, left, and right in the direction to be moved by one operation, so that positioning can be performed in a short time.
In Patent Document 1, in the enlargement / reduction operation, a pressure for operating the touch panel is used as an input parameter. However, the operation cannot be confirmed without actually performing the zoom operation, and the enlargement / reduction operation is performed until the target magnification is reached. Will be repeated.

Moreover, it is necessary to store the parameter of the magnification according to a press in ROM beforehand.
In order to solve this problem, the target is instructed to be sandwiched between two points, a rectangle inscribed in the two points, a pinch-in and pinch-out, and a rectangle inscribed in the two points after enlargement and reduction are displayed visually. Thus, the enlargement / reduction magnification can be known, and the parameters used for calculating the magnification are not required.

In the conventional method, the zoom ratio corresponding to the zoom position and the parameter corresponding to the touch panel press need to be obtained and stored in the ROM. However, in the present invention, the angle of view is parameterized instead of the zoom ratio. As for the magnification, it is necessary to obtain in advance parameters necessary for calculation for converting the value designated by the operator into the command value by using the ratio of the rectangle represented by the two fingers of the start position and the end position as a parameter. Even if the zoom lens is replaced, it can be used as it is.

According to the present invention, by pinching in and out on the object to be enlarged or reduced displayed on the tablet terminal, the object by panning and tilting of the camera is displayed at the center of the visual field of the tablet terminal by one operation. A camera that can change the magnification and does not have the accuracy of movement for each pitch or cannot be accurately controlled due to communication time lag, etc. Can be moved by the pan head and can be enlarged and reduced.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the camera system using the pan head and tablet terminal concerning the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the visual field of object, the horizontal field angle of a zoom lens, and a vertical field angle. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the target position of the object which wants to bring in the visual field on the screen of a tablet terminal, and a visual field center. It is a figure which shows about the functional block and interface in a camera apparatus. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the time of pinch-in start and end, and the time of pinch-out start and end. It is a figure which shows the calculation which drives the zoom lens at the time of pinch in and pinch out. It is a figure which shows the sequence which performs control. It is a figure which shows moving a visual field by one angle of view by a slide.

The camera system of the present invention includes a camera device 1, a zoom lens 2, a pan head 3, and a tablet terminal 4. The camera device includes a camera unit 401 and a control unit 402, and can communicate with the tablet terminal 4 via a communication module 406 built in the control unit 402 in a wired or wireless manner.

A camera device 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a camera unit 401 and a zoom lens 2 as shown in FIG.
The camera unit 3 includes a camera platform 3 and a control unit 402. The control unit 402 further includes a camera control unit 403, a camera platform control unit 404, a camera application 407 including a CPU 405, and a communication module 406.
Consists of

An angle of view and a magnification 409 are sent as input data from the camera unit, and a magnification 409 is sent as a command value to the camera unit. The above data is obtained by the computing unit of the tablet terminal,
The data is transmitted from the camera control unit 403 to the camera unit 401 via the control unit 402 as it is, and conversely, is transmitted from the camera unit 401 to the tablet terminal 4 via the control unit 402.

The communication module 406 and the tablet terminal 4 are connected by wire or wirelessly,
Remotely transmits camera images, zoom lens angle of view, magnification, and command values from tablet terminals. Furthermore, the tablet terminal can transmit / receive data to / from a remote location via an Internet line such as a LAN or WAN.

On the screen of the tablet terminal where the video from the camera can be seen, use two fingers to pinch the target you want to bring to the center of the field of view, and pinch in and out as it is so that the target will be in the center of the field of view Pan / tilt and change magnification.

As shown in FIG. 5, a center position 503 serving as a midpoint between the two points 501a and 501b is obtained based on the position designated by two fingers. A rectangle having the same aspect ratio as the screen aspect ratio for performing display in contact with 501a and 501b with the center at 503 is obtained. Depending on the positional relationship between the center position and the two points, there are two types as shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b).

As shown in FIG. 6B, the visual field center is obtained from the finger positions P3 and P4 at the end of the operation. The object center position PC2 in FIG. 6B is the object position 302 in FIG. 3, the amount of movement with respect to the visual field center 301 is obtained, the amount of pan and tilt movement is obtained from FIG. 7705, and the pan head is driven. .

On the screen of the tablet terminal, a rectangular figure 6 601 corresponding to the screen aspect ratio obtained from the position instructed at the start and a rectangular figure 6 602 obtained at the end of the operation are displayed so that the change in magnification can be visually observed. By displaying a rectangle corresponding to the screen aspect ratio, it can be visually confirmed that the object is designated as the destination. The rectangle 601 representing the visual field at the start of the operation in FIG. 6B and the rectangle 602 representing the visual field at the end of the operation are displayed in different colors so that they can be distinguished.

The length of one side of the rectangle 601 and the length of the rectangle 602 shown in FIG. 6 are used as means for obtaining the zoom magnification from the two start positions and two end positions designated on the tablet terminal.
The amount of change in magnification can be obtained from the following equation.

Magnification change = length of one side of 602 / length of one side of 601

The zoom magnification at the end position can be obtained by the following equation.

Zoom magnification at end position = zoom magnification at start position x magnification change amount

The length of one side used for the calculation may be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal, and the same location may be used at the start position and the end position.

The relationship between the field of view of the zoom lens and the angle of view is shown in FIG. Angle of view 2 in the horizontal direction with respect to the field of view 201
Suppose 02 is H, the angle of view 203 in the vertical direction is V, and 204 is the object to be brought to the center of the field of view.
On the screen of the tablet terminal, it looks as shown in FIG. 3, and it is assumed that the object 204 is at the target position 302.

The amount of movement for moving the target position 302 to the visual field center 301 is as follows.

Horizontal operation angle = horizontal field angle H x horizontal pixel number difference dx / horizontal pixel number x

Operating angle in the vertical direction = vertical field angle V × vertical pixel number difference dy / vertical pixel number y

Thus, by obtaining the current angle of view from the camera device, it is possible to easily obtain the operating angle of the camera platform.

Also, in FIG. 4, as the information from the camera unit 401, the current angle of view and magnification of the zoom lens are passed to the camera control unit 403 and transmitted to the tablet terminal 4 via the camera application 407 and the communication module 406. The tablet device 4 uses the angle of view to determine the amount of movement, so that the same algorithm can always be used even if the magnification changes, and the algorithm must be changed even if the zoom lens is replaced with a different one. There is no.

By performing a flick operation on the screen of the tablet terminal, the screen is moved and displayed by one screen in the direction in which the finger slides (up, down, left and right). An inspection camera or the like needs to cover inspection points as few times as possible without overlapping, and panning and tilting are performed by giving command values corresponding to viewing angles (view angles) by one operation.

In FIG. 8A, the current visual field is set to 801, the display on the tablet terminal is set to (b), and the screen is set to 802. Move the visual field (1) by one flick operation (1). in this way,
By moving the field of view by flicking, the target area on the matrix can be moved and displayed without omission. In the inspection system and the monitoring system, it is necessary to look at a specific range in order without double, and it is possible to move so that the target area can be seen one by one in order.

In the camera system of FIG. 1, the camera system 2 and the tablet terminal 4 are remotely connected via an Internet line or a mobile phone network. Even in an environment where a delay occurs due to communication, positioning can be performed in a short time by directly indicating a target position and magnification on the tablet terminal. For example, in FIG. 2, when the horizontal angle of view 202 is 50 degrees, the difference from the visual field center to the target position is 20 degrees, and the movement amount of one pitch is 2 degrees, ten operations are required. Positioning can be done with one operation and the time required for positioning is
1/10. It can be used in remote monitoring systems such as traffic, distribution, construction sites, security systems, structural inspections, and maintenance systems to control cameras remotely.

The present invention relates to control of a camera system with a zoom lens mounted on a camera platform and a display method, and in particular, it can be remotely operated using a tablet terminal and moved to an arbitrary position on a screen and scaled. The present invention relates to an operation control and a configuration for making it happen.
Furthermore, it is possible to use a camera system such as a TV camera system, a surveillance camera, a security camera, or an inspection system that moves, enlarges, or reduces a camera according to an object.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Camera apparatus, 2 ... Zoom lens, 3 ... Head, 4 ... Tablet terminal, 201 ... Visual field,
202 ... Horizontal angle of view H, 203 ... Vertical angle of view V, 204 ... Object, 301 ... Center of visual field, 302
... target position 303 ... target object 304 ... horizontal pixel number x, 305 ... vertical pixel number y, 306 ... horizontal pixel number difference dx, 307 ... vertical pixel number difference dy, 401 ... camera unit, 402 ... control unit, 403 ... camera control unit, 404 ... pan head control unit, 405 ... CPU, 406 ... communication module, 407 ... camera application, 408 ... angle of view (command value), 409 ... angle of view / magnification,
410 ... pan head command value, 501 ... two designated positions, 502 ... rectangle in contact with 501 503
... the midpoint of the two points designated by 501 and the center of the rectangle of 502, 504 ... the designated position of two points, the rectangle touching 505 ... 504, the midpoint of the two points designated by 506 ... 504, and 505
601... Rectangle at the start position for performing pinch out, 602... Rectangle after the end of pinch out, 701 to 709... Algorithm for giving a command value to the camera unit,
801 ... Current view of the subject, 802 ... Display screen of the tablet terminal.

Claims (5)

In response to an operation instruction from a tablet terminal capable of projecting a camera image, the pan and tilt movement amount and the zoom magnification are transmitted to the camera device, thereby controlling the position of the camera platform and the camera and the zoom magnification of the lens unit. In a system where is controlled
On the tablet device, the target to be brought to the center of the field of view is indicated with two fingers, the amount of pan and tilt is calculated so that the midpoint is the center of the field of view,
Calculate zoom magnification for reduction by pinch-in or enlargement by pinch-out,
By controlling the pan head and zoom camera as computation output,
A camera system that controls a target position with a single operation. The camera system according to claim 1,
Find a rectangle with the same aspect ratio as the screen aspect ratio that touches the two points specified by two fingers around the midpoint of the two points specified by two fingers at the start of the operation.
Obtain the rectangle touching the position pointed by the two fingers with the same aspect ratio in the same way as the start, with the midpoint of the position pointed by the two fingers after pinching in or pinching out as the center of the field of view,
A display device that shows the change in magnification visually by overlapping rectangles at the start and end of operation and displaying them in different colors. The camera system according to claim 1,
By the method described above, the length of one side of the rectangle obtained at the end of the operation and the change rate of the length of one side of the rectangle obtained at the start of the operation are obtained by multiplying the zoom magnification obtained from the camera unit at the start of the operation,
Control method that transmits to the camera unit and changes the zoom magnification. The camera system according to claim 1,
Send the angle of view and magnification from the camera unit to the tablet device,
By transmitting the magnification and pan and tilt movement angles from the tablet terminal to the camera unit,
A camera system that does not require algorithm changes even if the camera and lens specifications change. The camera system according to claim 1,
By touching the touch panel with one finger and sliding the finger in the direction you want to move the camera up / down / left / right,
A control method in which panning and tilting for one field of view is moved by a single operation in the direction specified by up / down / left / right slides.

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