JP2014146287A - Photographing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain a photographing system that allows a flying robot to quickly photograph a characteristic of a vehicle trespassing on a surveillance area.SOLUTION: The photographing system is composed of a flying robot having a photographing function and capable of flying and moving over a surveillance area and a control section causing the flying robot to photograph a trespassing object present in the surveillance area. The flying robot has: illumination means that has a prescribed irradiation intensity characteristic or more in a plurality of wavelength bands and can control a light-on and light-off; and photographing means that acquires a light-on image having the trespassing object photographed when the illumination means is lighted on and a light-off image having the trespassing object photographed when the illumination means is lighted off. The control section has: color detection means that detects color information on the trespassing object by comparison of the light-on image with the light-off image; and output means that outputs at least the color information.

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging system that images an approaching object such as an automobile that has entered a monitoring area from a flying robot, and more particularly, to an imaging system that appropriately captures information that identifies the vehicle body color of the automobile.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a monitoring system in which various sensors are installed in a building and its surrounding monitoring area, and when the sensor detects an abnormality, the mobile robot moves to the place where the abnormality is detected and images the monitoring area.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a monitoring system in which a ground-traveling mobile robot moves to a place where an abnormality occurs and images an abnormal situation based on signals from a sensor that detects a fire or a sensor that detects an intruder. It is disclosed. Such a monitoring system may monitor a wide monitoring area such as a factory or a shopping mall where a parking lot is provided. In the system of Patent Document 1, the mobile robot travels to a place where the sensor detects an abnormality, and performs imaging of the place where the abnormality has occurred, notification to the monitoring center, and the like.

JP 2009-181270 A

By the way, bandits that infiltrate buildings such as factories and steal goods in factories often use automobiles to facilitate carrying out and escape of safes. That is, it is often the case that a car is parked in a parking lot of a factory or the like and then invades the factory. For monitoring systems, information related to automobiles is useful for identifying bandits, and in particular, information on the body color of automobiles can be used to identify suspicious vehicles when conducting inspections or nominations. It will be very useful information for the investigation.

In the conventional monitoring system, for example, when a sensor is installed at the gate of the parking lot, the vehicle is detected by the gate, and the mobile robot arrives at the gate where the sensor is installed and images the middle of it. It is possible to process the image, determine the body color of the car, and send the information to the center. At this time, it is preferable that the monitoring system captures information so as to obtain information useful for identifying the automobile.

  However, the car parking method cannot be predicted in advance depending on the character of the bandits or the parking conditions. For this reason, it may be difficult for the mobile robot to photograph the car so that the body color of the car can be recognized.

  For example, even if you try to shoot a car using a color visible light camera and try to determine the color of the car body, the color of the image obtained in the daytime and the image obtained in the evening changes due to the influence of sunlight. Even if is white, it may be determined to be orange when taken in the evening. Even at night, depending on the light components from lighting equipment installed in parking lots and illuminated advertising equipment installed on the outer wall of a nearby commercial facility, the color of the impression may differ from the color visually seen by humans. There was a problem that it might become.

Furthermore, the mobile robot is also equipped with a dedicated lighting device for discriminating the color of the vehicle body. Even if an attempt is made to determine the color of the vehicle body by acquiring an image with the lighting device turned on, the mobile robot is It is not always possible to be positioned so as to face the nearly flat surface of the vehicle body. When shooting at a position where the car body is viewed diagonally, the light component around the car is reflected even though it is equipped with a dedicated lighting device, and the influence cannot be ignored and accurate color determination cannot be performed. was there.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to realize an imaging system in which a flying robot can image a vehicle body color, which is one of the characteristics of an automobile that has entered a monitoring area, in a distinguishable manner.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an imaging system including a flying robot having an imaging function and capable of flying in a monitoring area, and a control unit that causes the flying robot to image an approaching object existing in the monitoring area. The flying robot has an illumination characteristic that has an irradiation intensity characteristic that is greater than or equal to a predetermined value in a plurality of wavelength bands, can be controlled to be turned on and off, an on-time image that captures an entering object when the lighting unit is turned on, and an illumination unit that is turned off. An imaging unit that captures an image of the entering object when it is extinguished, and the control unit outputs at least the color information, and a color detecting unit that detects the color information of the entering object by comparing the lighting image and the extinguishing image. And an output means.

Accordingly, the present invention can accurately determine the color of the approaching object by eliminating the influence of the ambient light by comparing the images acquired when the illumination is turned on and off.

The flying robot further includes a plurality of band transmission filters corresponding to the wavelength bands in which the illumination unit has an irradiation intensity characteristic equal to or higher than a predetermined value, and the color detection unit is acquired by the imaging unit via the same band transmission filter. It is preferable to detect the color information by comparing the lighted image and the lighted image.

This makes it possible to control the wavelength components of the light incident on the photographing means to known ones for the images acquired when the illumination is turned on and off, and for which wavelength components strong reflected light is obtained. Therefore, color determination can be performed even if the imaging means is a monochrome type.

Further, it is preferable that the illumination unit is a plurality of light emitting diodes that irradiate light having different wavelengths.

As a result, even if an ideal white light source having almost uniform irradiation characteristics in the visible light region is not available, color determination can be performed by using a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) advantageous in terms of power consumption and heat generation. It becomes possible.

The imaging system further includes an object sensor that measures the object position in the monitoring space map of the monitoring area, the control unit further stores a monitoring space map that represents the monitoring area, and the object sensor measures An object sensor signal analyzing means for detecting an approaching object from the change in the object position, and a flight control means for causing the flying robot to fly to a shooting position facing a part of the approaching object. It is preferable to detect color information using the on-time image and the off-time image acquired when flying to the imaging position.

By taking a picture after flying the flying robot to a position facing the part of the approaching object, it avoids the reflection of light components around the car, and the light emitted from the illumination has sufficient intensity for color determination. It can be captured as reflected light, and the accuracy of color determination is improved.

  As a result, the present invention can photograph the vehicle body color, which is one of the characteristics of the automobile that has entered the monitoring area, even in an environment that is susceptible to ambient light.

Illustration explaining the flying image of a flying robot Functional block diagram of a flying robot Overall configuration diagram of the monitoring system Functional block diagram of security equipment Functional block diagram of the robot control module Diagram showing shooting conditions for flying robot Diagram showing vehicle color parameters Diagram showing the detection area of the laser sensor Shooting and car body color discrimination flow when detecting a car Functional block diagram of a flying robot in the second embodiment The figure which shows the structure of the imaging means in 2nd Embodiment. Shooting and body color discrimination flow at the time of automobile detection in the second embodiment The figure which shows the vehicle body color parameter of the memory | storage part in 2nd Embodiment

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment in which an imaging system according to the present invention is applied to a monitoring system will be described.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating the overall configuration of the monitoring system 1. The monitoring system 1 includes a security device 2, a flying robot 3, a laser sensor 4, a building sensor 5 installed in a monitoring area E, and a center device 6 installed in a monitoring center connected via a network. ing. The center device 6 is connected to the security device 2 via an IP network, receives an image taken by the flying robot 3 from the security device 2, a detection signal from the in-building sensor 5, and the like, and displays it on the monitor. The monitor looks at this monitor to grasp the status of the monitoring area E and performs an appropriate response. Although the network is described as an IP network, the network is not limited to this as long as there is no problem in image transmission / reception such as a general public line network or a mobile phone network.

The flying robot 3 receives a wireless flight control signal from the security device 2, flies while photographing to a predetermined target position, and transmits the photographed image to the security device 2. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing functional blocks of the flying robot 3.
The flying robot 3 includes an antenna 31 for performing wireless communication with the security device 2, four rotors 32 for flying such as ascending / descending / turning direction / advancing, a motor for providing driving force to the rotor 32, and the like. A rotor drive unit 33; a height sensor 34 that projects and receives a laser beam vertically downward to measure the current altitude of the own device; a distance measurement sensor 35 that projects a laser beam in the horizontal direction and surroundings to measure the surrounding situation of the own device; A camera 36 that captures a car that has entered the monitoring area E with a color image, an LED 37 that is turned on for color determination of the automobile and has a substantially uniform irradiation intensity in the visible light area, an illumination 37 that includes an incandescent lamp, and a camera 36 The pan head 3852 for changing the direction of the camera 36 and the illumination 37 so that the subject vehicle is included in the field of view and the illumination range of the illumination 37, and the pan head drive unit for moving the pan head 3852 851, and a flight Robo control unit 38 for controlling the entire robot 3, the power supply 39 is a lithium polymer battery for supplying electricity to each part of the flying robots 3.

The robot control unit 38 also acquires communication control means 381 for controlling wireless communication with the security device 2 via the antenna 31, acquisition start / end of the camera 36 and images taken by the camera 36, and communication control means 381. Control means 382 for performing processing such as transmission to the security device 2 from the camera, altitude information measured by the distance measuring sensor 35 and altitude sensor 34 and distance data between the object surrounding the own apparatus and the own apparatus as scan data, and communication control means The scanning unit 383 that performs processing such as transmission from the security device 381 to the security device 2, and the flight that controls the rotor drive unit 33 based on the flight control signal from the security device 2 to control the flying robot 3 to fly to the target position. The control unit 384 includes a pan head control unit 385 that controls the pan head drive unit 3851.

Next, the security device 2 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4. The security device 2 is installed inside the building B in the monitoring area E shown in FIG. The security device 2 includes a sensor 5 in the building installed at an appropriate location for detecting an intruder into the building B, a laser in the monitoring area E and outside the building B such as a parking lot. Each sensor 4 is connected.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating functional blocks of the security device 2. The security device 2 includes a security mode switching unit 21 for performing a switching operation between a security set state monitored by the monitoring center and a security release state not monitored by the monitoring center, a laser sensor 4 and a sensor 5 in the building. A sensor interface 22 that receives input of signals from the sensors, a flying robot communication unit 25 that communicates with the flying robot 3, images captured by the flying robot 3, abnormal signals detected by various sensors, and the like via the monitoring center 6 and the network. A monitoring center communication unit 26 that performs communication, a storage unit 24 composed of peripheral components such as ROM / RAM storing programs and various data and parameters necessary for the processing of the security device 2, and the security device 2 is composed of a security control unit 23 composed of a CPU, MPU, etc. for overall control.

  Here, information stored in the storage unit 24 will be described. The monitoring space map 241 is information that represents the monitoring area E in three dimensions, and is map information that represents the monitoring space from the ground to a height required for the flight of the flying robot 3. In the present embodiment, information on objects existing in the monitoring space in advance, such as the presence of a fence that separates the monitoring area E from the outside, the building B, and the installation position of the laser sensor 4 is stored. Note that the monitoring space map 241 also includes three-dimensional information inside the building B, and places where people can enter and exit are registered, such as doors and windows.

The in-building sensor arrangement information 242 is position information in the monitoring space map 241 of the monitoring location of each in-building sensor 5. This is determined in advance by a security plan, and a position on the monitoring space map 241 is associated with each in-building sensor 5.

The laser sensor parameter 243 is information including the correspondence between the position of the laser sensor 4 in the monitoring space map 241 and the position in the detection area of the laser sensor 4 and the position on the monitoring space map 241. It is a parameter for converting the determined position into a position on the monitoring space map 241.

The various parameters 244 are various other parameters such as the IP address of the monitoring center 6 required for the security device 2 to monitor the monitoring area E and data for communication with the flying robot 3. In addition to these, the storage unit 24 stores various programs for realizing the functions of the security device 2.

The vehicle body color parameter 245 is information for determining the vehicle body color of the automobile to be imaged. This will be described later with reference to FIG.

Next, the security control unit 23 will be described in detail. The security control unit 23 reads a software module (not shown) in the storage unit 24 and performs each process by a CPU or the like.

The laser sensor analysis module 231 is software for analyzing the signal of the laser sensor 4 input from the sensor interface 22. Specifically, the search signal obtained by scanning the detection area with the laser beam by the laser sensor 4 is analyzed in time series. If there is no new approaching object or the like in the detection area, the search signal of the laser sensor 4 input in time series does not change so much, and the analysis result indicates that there is no moving object.
On the other hand, if there is a new approaching object or the like in the detection area, the search signal of the laser sensor 4 changes, so the position in the detection area where the change has occurred is obtained by analysis. Further, using the laser sensor parameter 243 of the storage unit 24, the position is converted into a position on the monitoring space map 241 to calculate the position / size / movement direction of the approaching object, and the approaching object is tracked on the monitoring space map 241. . Further, when the approaching object stops, there is no change in the signal thereafter, so it can be determined that the object such as the automobile being tracked is parked.
The analysis result of the laser sensor analysis module 231 is output to an abnormality determination module 232 and a robot control module 233 described later.

The abnormality determination module 232 receives a security set / release signal from the security mode switching unit 21 and signals from the in-building sensor 5 and the laser sensor 4 and determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the monitoring area E. When receiving the security set signal from the security mode switching unit 21, the abnormality determination module 232 sets the monitoring area E to the security set mode that warns, and when receiving the security release signal, sets the monitoring area E to the security release mode that is not warning.
In the security release mode, no special processing is performed even if a detection signal from the in-building sensor 5 or the laser sensor 4 is received.
On the other hand, in the security set mode, when a detection signal from the in-building sensor 5 or the laser sensor 4 is received, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred, and the monitoring center communication unit 26 notifies the monitoring center 6 of the abnormality.
Along with the abnormality report, activation control of the flying robot 3 is executed for the robot control module 233. And the process which transmits the image which the flying robot 3 received from the flying robot communication part 25 image | photographed from the monitoring center communication part 26 to the monitoring center 6 is continued until an abnormal state is cancelled | released. Although there are various methods for canceling the abnormal state, the description thereof is omitted because it is not relevant to the present invention.

When the robot control module 233 receives the activation signal of the flying robot 3 from the abnormality determination module 232, the robot control module 233 performs flight control of the flying robot 3 from the flying robot communication unit 25.

Here, the robot control module 233 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the robot control module 233. The robot control module 233 includes target position setting means A for determining a target position to be reached by the flying robot 3, flight path calculation means RO for calculating a flight path for reaching the target position set by the target position setting means A, Robo control means C for generating and transmitting a flight control signal to the flying robot 3 so as to fly along the flight path calculated by the flight path calculation means B, and a current flight position on the monitoring space map 241 of the flying robot 3 Flight position calculating means D for calculating

When the laser sensor analysis module 231 detects parking of the vehicle, the target position setting means a is located right next to the side surface of the vehicle in the monitoring space map 241 and is away from the vehicle so that the entire vehicle can be photographed. Set a certain altitude as the target position. At the same time, in order for the flying robot 3 to be able to photograph the entire side surface of the vehicle, the target position setting means a is a pan head control means 385 so that the illumination 37 and the camera 36 mounted on the flying robot 3 are directed horizontally. Set to output control signal to. The target position is set to a position directly beside the side surface of the automobile. Since the body of an automobile is often configured with a gently curved surface, the light emitted from the illumination 37 is opposed to a plane so that it can be captured by the camera 36 as much as possible. This is so that the vicinity of the door can be taken even if it is considered to be.

Alternatively, the target position setting means a sets the altitude of about 5 m immediately above the position on the monitoring space map 241 of the automobile that is the approaching object calculated by the laser sensor analysis module 231 as the target position. Here, about 5 m is a height that allows the flying robot 3 to photograph the entire automobile. At the same time, in order for the flying robot 3 to be able to photograph the entire vehicle, the target position setting means a is a pan head control means 385 so that the illumination 37 and the camera 36 mounted on the flying robot 3 are directed vertically downward. Set to output control signal to.
The reason for setting the target position directly above the automobile is to photograph the ceiling so that the camera 36 can capture as much light as possible from the illumination 37 as much as possible when the target position is set to the side of the automobile.

In the present embodiment, the vehicle body color is determined by the image processing module 234, which will be described later, but the monitor visually confirms the image captured by the flying robot 3 displayed on the monitor of the monitoring center 6. A signal indicating that the determination has been made and confirmed may be transmitted to the security device 2.

Returning to FIG. 4, the image processing module 234 processes the image captured by the flying robot 3 received from the flying robot communication unit 25.
Processing for determining the vehicle body color from an image of a car taken by the image processing module 234 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 6A schematically shows a state in which the flying robot 3 images the automobile 7 from the right side. The flying robot 3 flies to the right side surface of the automobile 7 set by the target position setting means a of the robot control module 233. Then, referring to a signal for controlling the pan head 3852 included in the flight control signal output from the robot control module 233, the pan head driving unit 3851 causes the light 37 and the camera 36 to face in the horizontal direction. The table 3852 is driven.
When the flying robot 3 flies up to the right side of the automobile 7 and the illumination 37 and the camera 36 face the horizontal direction, the robot control means 38 turns on the illumination 37 and the camera 36 controlled by the camera control means 382 is in the automobile 7. An image including the right side of is acquired. Subsequently, the robot control unit 38 turns off the illumination 37 and acquires an image including the right side surface of the automobile 7. Then, the acquired image is transmitted from the antenna 31, and the security device 2 is received by the flying robot communication unit 35 and input to the image processing module 234.

An image I4 illustrated in FIG. 6B is a color image obtained by the flying robot 3 capturing a vehicle from the right side. In addition, when considering the possibility that the vehicle body color of the automobile is different between right and left, both the right and right images are used.
When the image processing module 234 acquires the image I4, the image processing module 234 identifies the region 71 of the vehicle portion from the image by the segmentation method using the feature information of the vehicle such as the tire, the vehicle body, and the window of the vehicle, and displays the image of the vehicle. Extract as shown in 6 (c).

FIG. 6D schematically shows a state in which the flying robot 3 photographs the automobile 7 from directly above. The flying robot 3 flies to the position immediately above the automobile 7 set by the target position setting means a of the robot control module 233. Then, referring to the signal for controlling the pan head 3852 included in the flight control signal output from the robot control module 233, the pan head drive unit 3851 causes the illumination 37 and the camera 36 to face vertically downward. The pan head 3852 is driven.
When the flying robot 3 flies just above the automobile 7 and the illumination 37 and the camera 36 face vertically downward, the robot control means 38 turns on the illumination 37, and the camera 36 controlled by the camera control means 382 is connected to the automobile 7. An image including the top surface, particularly the ceiling portion, is acquired. Subsequently, the robot control unit 38 turns off the illumination 37 and acquires an image including the upper surface of the automobile 7. Then, the acquired image is transmitted from the antenna 31, and the security device 2 is received by the flying robot communication unit 35 and input to the image processing module 234.

An image I5 shown in FIG. 6E is a color image taken by the flying robot 3 from directly above the automobile.
When the image processing module 234 obtains the image I5, the image processing module 234 identifies a region 73 of the vehicle portion from the image by a segmentation method using vehicle feature information such as the vehicle body / window of the vehicle, and displays the image of the vehicle in FIG. Extract as shown in f).
The reason for moving the flying robot 3 to the side of the automobile or directly above is to capture the light emitted from the illumination 37 with the camera 36 as much as possible, as described above. The difference between the position of the flying robot 3 being the side of the automobile or directly above is as follows. It does not affect the color determination. Therefore, the following description will be made with reference to FIGS.

The image processing module 234 examines color information (RGB values) of a small area 72 (an area indicated by reference numeral 74 in FIG. 6F) near the center of the car image. For this purpose, the RGB values of each pixel included in the small area 72 are checked, and the pixel values of the entire small area 72 are totaled to obtain the average luminance of each of the RGB values.
The color information (RGB values) of the small area 72, not the entire image of the automobile, is checked by moving the flying robot 3 to the side of the automobile or directly above the plane facing the camera 36 and the illumination 37 from the illumination 37. This is because even if the light is irradiated, the light irradiated from the illumination 37 outside the small area 72 may be reflected in a direction that cannot be captured by the camera 36. In this case, even if color information (RGB values) is examined from pixels located outside the small area 72, the accuracy of color determination cannot be expected.
However, if the light emitted from the illumination 37 is too strong and appears to be saturated white in the image acquired by the camera 36, the average luminance of the RGB values from the non-saturated area immediately outside the saturated area. Is determined. Whether or not it is saturated white can be determined by determining whether or not any component value is almost the highest value, for example, a value close to 255 in the luminance expression of the RGB values.

The average luminance of each of the RGB values is obtained from the on-time image acquired by the camera 36 when the illumination 37 is turned on and the off-image obtained by the camera 36 when the illumination 37 is turned off. Hereinafter, the average luminance of the small area 72 obtained from the lighting image is referred to as lighting average luminance, and the average luminance of the small area 72 obtained from the lighting image is referred to as extinguishing average luminance.
The image processing module 234 subtracts the RGB value of the turn-off average brightness from the RGB value of the turn-on average brightness. The result is hereinafter referred to as reflection average luminance. Then, the image processing module 234 refers to the vehicle body color parameter 245 shown in FIG.

That is, the image processing module 234 refers to the body color parameter 245 shown in FIG. 7 for the obtained combination of RGB values of the reflection average luminance, and identifies the closest combination as the color of the small area.
The vehicle body color parameter 245 shown in FIG. 7 indicates how the eight colors including achromatic white, black, and gray are expressed as RGB values.

For example, when the combination of the reflection average luminances of the RGB values of the small area 72 is (220, 30, 60), the vehicle body color of the automobile 7 is specified as red. Similarly, when the combination of the reflection average luminances of the RGB values of the small area 72 is (110, 110, 110), each component has the same brightness, so that the body color of the automobile 7 is specified as gray. To do.

  The average extinction luminance is the luminance obtained when the illumination 36 is extinguished, and captures only the component of the ambient light in the monitoring area E. On the other hand, since the lighting average luminance is the luminance obtained when the illumination 36 is lit, it captures the light component of the illumination 36 in addition to the ambient light component of the monitoring region E. Yes. Therefore, the reflection average brightness obtained by subtracting the turn-off average brightness from the turn-on average brightness does not include the ambient light component, and is a brightness value only by the illumination 36. That is, the illumination 37 has a substantially uniform irradiation intensity in the visible light region, and the reflection average luminance is a luminance value that captures the body color of the automobile 7 without being affected by the ambient light. . Therefore, by using the reflection average luminance, it is possible to accurately determine the body color of the automobile 7 by eliminating the influence of the illumination device originally installed in the monitoring region E and sunlight.

Returning to FIG. 3, the laser sensor 4 is installed outdoors, and monitors the approach of the monitoring area E to the parking lot and the surroundings of the building B. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a detection area of the laser sensor 4. As shown in the figure, the laser sensor 4-1 is installed from the upper left of the monitoring area E as the detection area in the direction of the building B, and the laser sensor 4-2 is detected from the lower right of the monitoring area E in the direction of the building B. It is installed so that.

The laser sensor 4 transmits a search signal that is a laser beam in a radial manner so as to scan a preset detection area, and receives the search signal that is reflected back to the object in the detection area. Then, the distance to the object is calculated from the time difference between transmission and reception, and the direction in which the search signal is transmitted and the calculated distance are obtained.

And the laser sensor 4 transmits the result of the scanning unit which scanned the detection area with the predetermined period to the security apparatus 2. As a result, the laser sensor analysis module 231 of the security device 2 can perform the outdoor object placement state in the monitoring area E, the presence or absence of an approaching object, the tracking of an automobile, and the like. In this embodiment, since the purpose is to monitor the approach of a vehicle traveling on the ground, scanning is performed in one step in the horizontal direction. However, depending on the purpose of monitoring, scanning in a plurality of steps may be performed in the vertical direction. Good.

The in-building sensors 5 (5a to 5f) are appropriately installed at various locations in the building B as shown in FIG. For example, for a window or door, a magnet sensor that detects opening or closing of the window or door, a glass breakage sensor for a glass window, an infrared sensor that detects a human body inside a room, or an image sensor that detects an intruder in an image Etc. are installed in appropriate places. Each building sensor 5 is stored in the security device 2 as building sensor arrangement information 242 in association with a detection location on the monitoring space map 241.

  Next, an operation image of the monitoring system 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows a situation when the vehicle 7 is parked after entering the vehicle during the security set mode. When the automobile 7 enters, the security device 2 detects an abnormality based on the signal from the laser sensor 4. Then, the security device 2 notifies the monitoring center 6 of an abnormality when the abnormality occurs, and starts control of the flying robot 3. The fact that any of the in-building sensors 5 has detected a human body may be added to the condition for starting the control of the flying robot 3.

Here, the color determination process of the automobile 7 by the security device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a processing flow of the security device 2 when the automobile 7 is detected. First, when the automobile 7 is detected, the target position setting means a sets the position on the monitoring space map 241 to a position at an altitude of about 1 m away from the center of gravity of the automobile 7 analyzed by the laser sensor analysis module 231. The position is set (S91).
The predetermined distance from the position of the center of gravity of the automobile 7 is a distance that allows the camera 37 of the flying robot 3 to capture the entire side surface of the automobile 7, and is determined as appropriate based on the size of the imaging element of the camera 37, the focal length of the lens, and the like. It is done.
The position of the center of gravity of the automobile 7 can be detected by the laser sensor analysis module 231 processing a signal from the laser sensor 4.

Then, the flight path calculation means b calculates the flight path by a predetermined path search algorithm using the target position set in step S71, the current position of the flying robot 3, and the monitoring space map 241. The predetermined route search algorithm calculates a route that can be reached safely and in the shortest in consideration of the arrangement state of the monitoring space map 241 and the size of the flying robot 3 if the current position and the target position are set.
Further, the robot control means C calculates a control signal for the flying robot 3 so that the flying robot 3 can fly along the route calculated by the flight path calculation means B. A specific control signal is the number of rotations of each of the four rotors 32 in the flying robot 3. Then, a control signal is transmitted by radio signal from the flying robot communication unit 25 (S92).

Since the flying robot 3 is located at a predetermined standby position until the activation signal is received, that position is the current position. In other cases, the current position of the flying robot 3 is calculated by receiving the scan data acquired by the scanning means 383 of the flying robot 3 and calculating the location where this scan data matches the monitoring space map 241. In the present embodiment, the current position is calculated based on the scan data. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the flying robot 3 is provided with a GPS signal receiving function, and the current position is calculated based on the GPS signal. Also good.

When the flying robot 3 receives the control signal from the antenna 31, the flying robot 3 flies based on the received control signal. Specifically, the control signal received from the antenna 31 is input to the flight control means 384, and the number of rotations of each rotor 32 is individually controlled from the rotor drive unit 33 to fly.

Here, although not described in the flow shown in FIG. 9, when the flying robot 3 first receives a control signal, the camera control means 382 activates the camera 36 and starts transmitting the captured image to the security device 2. . In addition, the scanning unit 383 activates the distance measuring sensor 35 and the altitude sensor 34 and starts transmitting scan data to the security device 2. Incidentally, FIG. 1 shows a situation in which the flying robot 3 is photographing the whole image of the automobile 7 looking for a parking place from the side surface direction and a position immediately above.

Next, the security device 2 acquires a lighting-time image in which the flying robot 3 has photographed the automobile 7 with the illumination 37 turned on (S93). The security device 2 temporarily stores the acquired lighting image in a temporary storage area (not shown) of the storage unit 24.

Subsequently, the security device 2 acquires an off-time image obtained when the flying robot 3 captures the automobile 7 with the illumination 37 turned off (S94). The security device 2 temporarily stores the acquired unlit image in a temporary storage area (not shown) of the storage unit 24.

The image processing module 234 calculates the lighting average luminance from the lighting image acquired in step S93, calculates the lighting average luminance from the lighting image acquired in step S94, and obtains the reflection average luminance. Then, the vehicle body color of the automobile 7 is determined with reference to the vehicle body color parameter 245 (S95). A specific method is as described in the description of the image processing module 234.

The security control unit 23 transmits vehicle body color information determined by the image processing module 234 to the monitoring center via the monitoring center communication unit 26. If at least one of the unlit image and the unlit image captured by the flying robot 3 is transmitted at the same time, it can be displayed on the monitor of the center device 6 installed in the monitoring center. .

As described above, the monitoring system to which the imaging system according to the present invention is applied can determine the vehicle body color of the automobile in which the suspicious vehicle has entered the monitoring area without being affected by the environmental light, and the vehicle body color information. Can be sent automatically to the appropriate contact by telephone or radio. For example, it is possible to use useful information for identifying a suspicious vehicle when performing an inspection or a wanted arrangement. Furthermore, by displaying an image of a car on the monitor of the monitoring center and visually confirming by a monitor, it is possible to notify vehicle type information and the like while supplementing delicate colors with human knowledge.

Next, a monitoring system that is a second embodiment of the photographing system according to the present invention will be described. In the monitoring system described so far, the color information (RGB value) is acquired from the photographed image on the assumption that the camera 36 mounted on the flying robot 3 is a color camera. In the second embodiment, a case where a monochrome camera is used will be described.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of the flying robot 3 according to the second embodiment, and corresponds to FIG. In the following, the description of the parts common to the description of FIG. 2 is omitted, but the camera 36b is a monochrome camera, and the filter wheel driving unit 3861, the filter wheel 3862, and the robot control unit 38, as compared with FIG. The difference is that a filter control means 386 is added.

FIG. 11A schematically shows a device configuration related to the imaging function mounted on the flying robot 3 according to the second embodiment.
Since the illumination 37 is the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.
In the second embodiment, a monochrome type camera 36b is used as means for photographing a car. In the monochrome type camera, color information is not included in the output from the camera, but in order to compensate for this, a filter wheel 3862 and a filter wheel driving unit 3861 for driving it are provided.

FIG. 11B is a diagram showing the configuration of the filter wheel 3862. The filter wheel 3862 is equipped with five bandpass (band transmission) type filters 3862a to 3862e having different transmission characteristics with respect to the wavelength of light. Further, the transmission characteristic 1100 of each filter is schematically shown in FIG.
The filter 3862a has a transmission characteristic having a peak at 430 [nm], and mainly has a property of transmitting amber light. A graph showing the transmission characteristics is shown by reference numeral 1100a in FIG.
The filter 3862b has a transmission characteristic having a peak at 480 [nm], and mainly has a property of transmitting dark green light. A graph showing the transmission characteristics is shown by reference numeral 1100b in FIG.
The filter 3862c has a transmission characteristic having a peak at 520 [nm], and mainly has a characteristic of transmitting green light. A graph showing the transmission characteristics is shown by reference numeral 1100c in FIG.
The filter 3862d has a transmission characteristic having a peak at 580 [nm], and mainly has a property of transmitting orange light. A graph showing the transmission characteristics is shown by reference numeral 1100d in FIG.
The filter 3862e has a transmission characteristic having a peak at 630 [nm], and mainly has a property of transmitting red light. A graph showing the transmission characteristics is shown by reference numeral 1100e in FIG.

The filter 3862f is equipped with a transparent filter having uniform transmission characteristics for each wavelength band. This is because even if the image is taken through any of the above-mentioned filters, the human eye can obtain an image that is significantly different from the actual brightness, but such an image is visually confirmed by a monitor in the monitoring center 6. Not suitable for. Therefore, in order to display an image having the same brightness as that in practice, it is used when photographing regardless of the transmission wavelength. Instead of the transparent filter 3862f, there may be no filters and the lens of the camera 36b may be directly exposed.
It should be noted that the number of filters shown in FIG. 11 and the transmission characteristics of each filter are merely examples, and the transmission characteristics have peaks that do not overlap with each other and that have equal intervals in the visible light wavelength region. It is preferable to do this.

Next, color determination processing of the automobile 7 by the security device 2 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 corresponds to FIG. 9 in the first embodiment. Steps S91, S92, and S96 in FIG. 9 are the same as steps S121, S122, and S125 in FIG.

When the flying robot 3 flies to a position where the entire right side surface of the automobile 7 can be photographed, first the illumination 37 is turned on and the camera 36b photographs the image (S123). At that time, each time the camera control unit 382 controls the camera 36b to acquire one image including the entire right side surface of the automobile 7, the filter control unit 386 rotates the filter wheel 3862 by one filter. Thus, the control signal is output to the filter wheel drive unit 3861. This is repeated 5 times, which is the number of filters 3862a to e shown in FIG. Note that the image by the filter 3862f is not essential because it is for visual confirmation and is not used for color determination.

Next, the flying robot 3 turns off the illumination 37 and takes a picture with the camera 36b. At this time, as in the case of shooting with the illumination 37 turned on, each time the camera control unit 382 controls the camera 36b to acquire one image including the entire right side surface of the automobile 7, the filter control unit 386 However, the control signal is output to the filter wheel drive unit 3861 so that the filter wheel 3862 is rotated by one filter. This is repeated 5 times, which is the number of filters 3862a to e shown in FIG. Note that the image by the filter 3862f is not essential because it is for visual confirmation and is not used for color determination.

A total of ten images are acquired by performing imaging using each of the filters 3862a to e for whether or not the illumination 37 is turned on.
Then, using the luminance information in the small area 72 shown in FIG. 6C in the first embodiment, the color of the vehicle body is determined from each image with reference to the vehicle body color parameter 245b shown in FIG. S124).
The vehicle body color parameter 245b in FIG. 13 corresponds to the vehicle body color parameter 245 shown in FIG. 4 in the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, the filters 3862a to e are used, and the luminance value of the small region 72 from the on-image obtained when the illumination 37 is turned on and the off-image obtained when the illumination 37 is turned off is the same as in the first embodiment. The average reflection brightness is obtained.

First, when the filter 3862a is positioned in front of the camera 36b, the reflection average luminance is obtained by subtracting the average luminance at the time when the image is turned off from the average luminance when the image is turned on. This process is repeated for filters 3862b to 3862e to obtain a total of five reflection average luminances, and the closest one is specified by comparison with the vehicle body color parameter 245b of FIG.
When the five reflection average luminances are arranged in order from the one corresponding to the filter 3862a, for example, when it is (10, 15, 8, 12, 235), the closest is red (0, 0, 0, 0, 255), the image processing module 234 determines that the vehicle body color of the automobile 7 that exists in the monitoring area E and is photographed by the flying robot 3 is red. Similarly, for example, when five reflection average luminances are arranged, and when it is (120, 115, 130, 124, 119), the image processing module 245 determines that the vehicle body color of the automobile 7 is gray.

In the second embodiment, the monochrome type camera 36b that cannot output color information is used. However, by using a sufficient number of band transmission filters for color determination, the reflection from the automobile 7 sequentially for each color. The color can be determined by obtaining the intensity. At this time, as in the first embodiment, the luminance at the time of turning off the illumination 37 is subtracted from the luminance at the time of turning off the lighting 37, so that the determination can be made in a state where the influence of the ambient light is eliminated.

In both cases of the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, the influence of ambient light in the monitoring area is eliminated by comparing the image acquired when the illumination is turned on with the image acquired when the illumination is turned off. Thus, the color of the car can be determined. Especially in the body of an automobile, in order to photograph the door part and ceiling part that are considered to have a substantially flat surface, it is possible to capture the ambient light by shooting after flying the flying robot to the side of the car body or above the car body. In this state, almost all of the light emitted from the illumination is captured by the camera, and accurate color determination is possible.

In addition, another form is also considered as embodiment concerning this invention.
For example, in the description so far, the illumination mounted on the flying robot has been described as being composed of LED illumination or incandescent lamp having substantially uniform irradiation intensity at least in the visible light region, but the wavelength required for the color determination processing A plurality of LEDs that emit light may be arranged, and an image obtained when each LED is turned on may be acquired and used for color determination.
In the first embodiment, LEDs for irradiating RGB light are arranged, and a lighting image when only a red LED is lit, a lighting image when only a green LED is lit, and only a blue LED are displayed. Each of the lighting images when illuminated is obtained and color determination is performed.
In the second embodiment, LEDs that emit light having the same wavelength as the peak wavelength of the band-pass filter attached to the filter wheel are arranged, and the on-time image obtained by synchronizing the rotation of the filter wheel and the light emission of each LED is obtained. To do. For example, when a LED that emits red light is turned on, a filter that transmits red light is positioned in front of the camera to acquire an image when lighted. Similarly, color determination can be performed for other filters by acquiring lighting images.

1 ... Monitoring system 2 ... Security device (control unit)
3 ... Flying robot 4 ... Laser sensor (object sensor)
5 ... In-building sensor

Claims (4)

An imaging system comprising a flying robot having an imaging function and capable of flying in a monitoring area, and a control unit that causes the flying robot to image an approaching object existing in the monitoring area,
The flying robot is
Illumination means having illumination intensity characteristics that are greater than or equal to a predetermined value in a plurality of wavelength bands and capable of controlling turning on and off,
An imaging unit that acquires an on-time image obtained by imaging the approaching object when the illumination unit is turned on and an off-time image obtained by imaging the approaching object when the illumination unit is turned off.
With
The controller is
Color detection means for detecting color information of the approaching object by comparing the lighting image and the extinguishing image;
Output means for outputting at least the color information;
An imaging system characterized by comprising:
The flying robot further includes a plurality of band transmission filters corresponding to wavelength bands in which the illumination unit has an irradiation intensity characteristic equal to or higher than a predetermined value,
2. The color detection unit according to claim 1, wherein the photographing unit detects the color information by comparing the lighting-time image and the lighting-time image acquired through the same band-pass filter. The shooting system described.
The illumination means includes
The imaging system according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a plurality of light emitting diodes for irradiating light of different wavelengths.
The imaging system further includes an object sensor that measures an object position in a monitoring space map of the monitoring area,
The control unit further includes:
A storage unit for storing a monitoring space map representing the monitoring area;
Object sensor signal analysis means for detecting the approaching object from a change in the object position measured by the object sensor;
Flight control means for flying the flying robot at a shooting position facing a part of the approaching object;
The said color detection means detects the said color information using the said image at the time of lighting when the said flying robot flew to the said imaging | photography position, and the said image at the time of extinction. The imaging system according to any one of the above.

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