JP2016086212A - Monitoring camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitoring camera capable of preventing the outside of a visible range restriction area from being imaged when a visible range restriction is used, the monitoring camera comprising an infinite rotation function, an auto-flip function and a visible range restriction function.SOLUTION: The monitoring camera comprises the infinite rotation function, the auto-flip function and the visible range restriction function and further comprises tilt angle restriction means, flip cancellation means, lens attitude discrimination means and logical coordinate/absolute coordinate transformation means. If the lens attitude discrimination means discriminates a lens attitude as a reverse attitude when starting setting the visible range restriction, a flip is cancelled by the flip cancellation means and the lens attitude is made into right attitude. Therefore, while the visible range restriction is set, control is performed in such a manner that the lens takes the right attitude at all the time, an imaging range is prevented from being deviated by the lens attitude at a camera startup time, and the outside of the visible range restriction area is prevented from being imaged.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a surveillance camera device having an infinite rotation mechanism and an auto-flip function, and more particularly to a control method for preventing photographing outside the visible range region due to a shift of the photographing region when the visible range region is set.

  With the conventional infinite rotation mechanism and surveillance camera with auto-flip function, if the pan and tilt are each moved 180 °, an image at the same position can be acquired. There was a gap. Therefore, there is a problem that when the visible range is set, the visible range is shifted depending on the flip state.

  The operation and problems of a conventional surveillance camera having an infinite rotation mechanism and an auto flip function will be described below. First, the lens orientation before the flip is the normal posture, and the lens orientation after the flip is the reverse posture. When the auto flip function is effective, the image flip operation is performed at a position where the tilt angle exceeds 100 degrees, and when the auto flip function stops at the position where the tilt angle is 135 degrees, the tilt angle is 45 degrees by the auto flip function. Become.

  First, the auto flip operation will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 201 denotes a logical coordinate pan state of 0 degrees and tilt 45 degrees (221) in which the lens attitude is a normal attitude, and 211 denotes a captured image. Here, when the tilt is moved 90 degrees, a video flip operation is performed at a point (202) where the tilt moves 55 degrees and the tilt angle exceeds 100 degrees, and the captured video changes from (212) to (213). . Further, the tilt operation stops at a point where the tilt has moved 35 degrees (203). By performing coordinate conversion at this time, the logical coordinate pan is 180 degrees and the tilt is 45 degrees (223). At this time, the lens posture is reversed.

  Next, the operation when the pan is further moved 180 degrees will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, 201 represents the state of the logical coordinate pan of 0 degrees and tilt of 45 degrees (221) with the lens posture being the normal posture, and 211 represents the photographed image. When the tilt is moved 90 degrees from the state of the logical coordinate pan 0 degree and the tilt 45 degrees (221), it stops at the position of the logical coordinate pan 180 degrees and the tilt 45 degrees (223) (203).

  Next, when the pan is moved by 180 degrees, the pan stops at the positions of the logical position pan 0 degrees and the tilt 45 degrees (323), and a captured image (313) having the same logical coordinates as the captured image 211 at 201 is obtained. Thus, the logical coordinates (323) indicate the same position as the logical coordinates (321) before the movement starts. That is, in the surveillance camera capable of performing infinite rotation in the pan direction, even when the same coordinates are given, there are two cases where the lens orientation is the normal posture and the reverse posture.

  However, the captured images 211 and 313 at this time have the same logical coordinates, but the postures are different from the normal posture and the reverse posture, and a deviation occurs in the range of the shot images due to structural problems such as a shift of the rotation center. doing.

  The conventional surveillance camera capable of infinite rotation had a function of limiting the range of motion, but with the range of motion limitation function, the shooting range varies depending on the zoom magnification. There wasn't.

  However, since the visible range restriction function provides a function of changing the movable range according to the zoom position and restricting the photographing range to be constant, the photographing range shift due to the flip becomes a problem. In addition, when the visible range restriction function is enabled conventionally, tilt angle restriction is performed to restrict the operation range to 0 to 90 degrees. For a surveillance camera capable of infinite turning, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, (501) is a shootable area when 120 ° to −120 ° shootable is provided in the pan direction. Become. (511) represents the posture of the camera with a logical coordinate pan of 0 degrees and a tilt of 45 degrees.

  If the tilt is moved 90 degrees from this state, the camera is in the (512) posture, and the shooting area is the area indicated by (502). As described above, when the operation is performed with the tilt exceeding 90 degrees, it is possible to photograph outside the photographing area even when the pan direction is limited. Therefore, even if the flip operation is not explicitly invalidated, it does not exceed 100 degrees necessary for the flip operation, and the flip operation is not performed. It will work as it is.

  If the tilt position at the start of the visible range setting is in the reverse posture, the visible range is set in the reverse posture, and the tilt position at the start of the visible range setting does not return to the normal posture. In the case of the normal posture, the visible range region is set in the normal posture state, and the posture is not reversed. For this reason, a surveillance camera with a visible range restriction may operate in a normal posture or a reverse posture depending on the lens posture at the time of camera start, and a deviation occurs in the shooting range due to each posture. I was supposed to do it.

  Conventionally, in order to solve such a problem, Patent Document 1 discloses a process for correcting a shift.

Japanese Patent No. 5179895

  However, in the prior art disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, it is necessary to create data for correction, and thus adjustment in the production process is necessary. In addition, even when adjustment is made, it is not possible to correct the deviation, and particularly with a surveillance camera with a high zoom magnification, a larger deviation occurs, causing problems such as shooting outside the visible range. There is.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a surveillance camera having an infinite rotation function, an auto flip function, and a visible range restriction function, so that it is possible to prevent photographing outside the visible range restriction area when using the visible range restriction. Is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides:
In surveillance cameras with infinite rotation function, auto-flip function, and visible range restriction function,
It has a tilt angle limiting means, a flip release function, a lens attitude determination means, a lens attitude inversion function, and a logical coordinate and absolute coordinate conversion function,
At the start of the visible range restriction setting, the auto flip function is invalidated by the flip release function, and when the lens attitude determination means determines that the lens attitude is reverse, the lens attitude reversal function sets the lens attitude to the normal attitude. By controlling the lens so that the lens is always in the normal posture when the visible range restriction is set, the lens posture at the start of the camera will not cause a deviation in the shooting range, and shooting outside the visible range restricted area It is characterized by not doing anything.

  According to the present invention, in a surveillance camera having an infinite rotation function, an auto-flip function, and a visible range restriction function, it is possible to provide a surveillance camera that can prevent photographing outside the visible range restriction region when the visible range restriction is used. Can be realized.

The figure which shows the structure of the system concerning embodiment of this invention. The figure showing the auto flip operation | movement in 1st Example of this invention. The figure showing the logical coordinate after the auto flip in 1st Example of this invention The figure showing the logical coordinate and absolute coordinate in 1st Example of this invention The figure showing the imaging | photography outside a visible range restriction | limiting at the time of the auto flip in 1st Example of this invention The figure showing the flow of the process of a visible range setting in 1st Example of this invention. The figure showing the flip cancellation | release at the time of the visible range setting in 1st Example of this invention The figure showing the visible range area | region movement of the pan direction in 1st Example of this invention. The figure showing the visible range area | region movement of the zoom in 1st Example of this invention. The figure showing the logical coordinate and absolute coordinate in 2nd Example of this invention The figure showing the flip cancellation | release at the time of the visible range setting in 2nd Example of this invention

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Example 1
With reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 4, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and FIG. 9, the procedure for setting the visible range in the surveillance camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a surveillance camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the procedure when the user operates the camera platform is described. The surveillance camera (100) in the present embodiment encodes the video obtained by the video generation unit (102) with the encoding device (105) from the signal obtained by the imaging device (101). The encoded video is transmitted to the network (120) via the protocol processing unit (109), received by the communication device (133) of the client device (130), and then decoded by the decoding device (131). And displayed on the display device (132).

  The user can operate and set the surveillance camera using the input device (134). When performing the camera pan / tilt head operation, the coordinates are uniquely determined without being aware of the lens posture. It is possible to obtain an image with a desired angle of view using the “logical coordinates”.

When the monitoring camera (100) receives a user's pan head operation request, the panning device (111) and the tilt driving device (112) are controlled via the pan head control unit (108) to determine the shooting direction. To do. When the operation request from the user is a control request such as zoom, the lens barrel (110) is controlled via the lens control unit (106).
In this embodiment, since the flip operation is performed at the tilt of 100 degrees, when the user designates the movement to the position exceeding the tilt of 100 degrees, the coordinate conversion is performed after the tilt is stopped, and the tilt stop position is determined. Always takes a value between 0 and 100 degrees. In the internal control, “absolute coordinates” having different coordinates depending on the posture of the lens are used.

  FIG. 4 shows the relationship between “logical coordinates” used in user operations and “absolute coordinates” used in actual control. Reference numeral 201 denotes a logical coordinate pan state of 0 degrees and tilt 45 degrees (221) in which the lens attitude is a normal attitude, and 211 denotes a captured image.

  When the lens posture is the normal posture, the absolute coordinates in the state of logical coordinate pan 0 degree and tilt 45 degree (221) are pan 0 degree and tilt 45 degree (431). From this state, if the tilt is moved 90 degrees, it stops at the position of logical coordinate pan 180 degrees and tilt 45 degrees (223) (203), and the absolute coordinates at this time are pan 0 degrees and tilt 135 degrees (432). ).

  Next, when the pan is moved 180 degrees, the pan stops at the position of logical position pan 0 degrees and tilt 45 degrees (323). The logical coordinates (323) at this time represent the same 0 degrees pan and 45 degrees tilt as the logical coordinates (221) before the start of movement, but the absolute coordinates (433) are 180 degrees pan and 135 degrees tilt. At this time, the logical coordinates indicate the same coordinates in the pan 0 degree, the tilt 45 degrees, the normal attitude (201), and the reverse attitude (303), but when the absolute coordinates are confirmed, the absolute coordinates (431) of the normal attitude are pan. For 0 degree and 45 degrees, the absolute coordinate (433) of the reverse posture (303) is different from the 180 degrees pan and 135 degrees tilt. Therefore, it can be determined whether the camera posture is the normal posture or the reverse posture.

  Next, the flow of processing when setting the visible range in the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the visible range limitation setting of the present embodiment, the tilt direction is not limited, and the visible range limitation of 120 degrees to -120 degrees is performed in the pan direction.

  When the visible range setting is started (601), first, the absolute coordinates of the current position are acquired (602). Here, it is determined whether the camera posture is a normal posture or a reverse posture from the absolute coordinates of the tilt (603). If the absolute tilt coordinate exceeds 90 degrees, it is determined that the posture is reversed, and control is performed so that the absolute tilt coordinate is 90 degrees (604), and further, the image is inverted (605), and the logical coordinates (606). If the absolute tilt coordinate is within 90 degrees, the process proceeds to the next process without performing tilt control, video inversion, and logical coordinate conversion.

  Next, the current zoom position is acquired in order to keep the pan direction within the visible range (607). When the zoom position is acquired, the imaging region at the left end of the pan is calculated from the obtained zoom position (608). In the present embodiment, the shootable area at the left end of the pan is set to −120 degrees. Therefore, when the angle of view obtained from the current zoom position is 60 degrees, the pan coordinates that can be photographed are −90 degrees, and when the angle of view obtained from the current zoom position is 40 degrees, The pan coordinates that can be photographed are -100 degrees.

  Here, it is determined whether the absolute position of the pan obtained in the absolute coordinate acquisition process (602) is within the imageable area (609). If the absolute pan coordinates are within the imageable area, the process proceeds to the next process. If the absolute coordinate of the pan is outside the imageable area, the pan is controlled so that the absolute coordinate of the pan is within the possible area (610).

  Next, when the zoom position is acquired, the rightmost shooting area of the pan is calculated from the obtained zoom position (611). In this embodiment, the panable right end imageable region is set to 120 degrees. Therefore, when the angle of view obtained from the current zoom position is 60 degrees, the pan coordinates that can be photographed are 90 degrees, and when the angle of view obtained from the current zoom position is 40 degrees, The possible pan coordinates are 100 degrees.

Here, it is determined whether the absolute position of the pan obtained in the absolute coordinate acquisition process (602) is within the imageable area (612). If the absolute pan coordinates are within the imageable area, the process proceeds to the next process. If the absolute pan coordinates are outside the imageable area, pan control is performed so that the absolute pan coordinates are within the possible area (613), and the visible range setting process is terminated (614).
The operation of the above-described processing flow will be described with reference to FIGS. (701) represents a state where the logical coordinate pan is 0 degrees and the tilt is 45 degrees when the posture is reversed (711). The absolute coordinates at this time are 180 degrees pan and 135 degrees tilt (721). Since the absolute tilt coordinate exceeds 90 degrees, the tilt is controlled so that the logical coordinate pan is 0 degrees and the tilt is 90 degrees (712). The absolute coordinates at this time are 180 degrees pan and 90 degrees tilt (721).

  Next, the image is inverted, and the logical coordinates are converted into logical coordinates in the normal posture. When the camera is in a normal posture and the tilt coordinate is less than each time when the flip operation is performed, in this embodiment, less than 100 degrees, the logical coordinate and the absolute coordinate coincide. Therefore, the logical coordinates after conversion are pan 180 degrees and tilt 90 degrees.

  Next, the image capturing area in the pan direction is confirmed. As shown in (801), when the current pan shooting range exceeds the left end of the shootable area, pan control is performed at the position shown in (802) so that the shooting area falls within the shootable area. I do. If the left end is within the shootable area, the right end shooting area is confirmed in the same procedure.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, there are cases where the shooting area exceeds the left and right ends of the set shootable area (901). In such a case, the zoom can be controlled so as to be within the imageable area (902) as shown.

(Example 2)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. When the camera is suspended from the ceiling, the absolute coordinates are changed by setting the installation form in advance.

  The installation state when suspended is as shown in (1001). The logical coordinates (1011) and absolute coordinates (1021) at this time are both pan 0 degrees and tilt 0 degrees. However, since the posture of the lens is reversed by the hanging installation, the installation state (1002) moved by pan 180 degrees and tilt -180 degrees becomes the normal attitude in the hanging installation. The logical coordinates (1012) at this time are pan 0 degrees and tilt 0 degrees, and the absolute coordinates (1022) are pan 180 degrees and tilt -180 degrees, and in the normal posture when the visible range is set. The absolute coordinate of the tilt operation angle is a value from -180 degrees to -90 degrees.

  (1101) represents a state in which the logical coordinate pan is 180 degrees and the tilt is -45 degrees when the posture is reversed (1111). The absolute coordinates at this time are 0 degrees pan and -45 degrees tilt (1121). When the visible range is set, since the absolute tilt coordinate is not in the range of −180 degrees to −90 degrees, control is performed so that the tilt is in the attitude (1102) of the logical coordinate pan 0 degree and tilt −90 degrees. The logical coordinates (1112) after the operation are pan 180 degrees and tilt -90 degrees, and after the operation is stopped, the coordinate conversion processing is performed together with the flip to the video, and the logical coordinates (1113) after the operation is pan 0 degrees, tilt − 90 degrees. The absolute coordinates (1122) after the stop are 0 degrees pan and -90 degrees tilt.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Image sensor, 102 Image | video production | generation part, 105 encoding apparatus, 106 Lens control part,
107 camera setting unit, 108 pan head control device, 109 protocol processing unit,
110 lens barrel, 111 pan driving device, 112 tilt driving device

Claims (3)

A surveillance camera with an infinite rotation function, an auto flip function, and a visible range restriction function,
A tilt angle limiting unit, a flip release unit, a lens attitude determination unit, a lens attitude control unit, a logical coordinate and an absolute coordinate conversion unit;
At the start of the visible range restriction setting, if the lens posture is determined to be the reverse posture by the lens posture determination means, the flip is released by the flip release means, and the lens posture is changed to the normal posture by the lens posture control means. When setting the visible range restriction, control the lens so that it is always in the correct posture, so that the lens posture does not shift due to the lens posture when starting up the camera, and the outside of the visible range restricted area is not taken. A surveillance camera characterized by   There are setting means for setting two or more types of installation states, and coordinate conversion means for changing the conversion method of logical coordinates and absolute coordinates according to the set installation states, and a coordinate conversion method according to the installation state. The surveillance camera according to claim 1, which can be changed. A control method for a surveillance camera having an infinite rotation function, an auto flip function, and a visible range restriction function,
A tilt angle limiting unit, a flip release unit, a lens attitude determination unit, a lens attitude control unit, a logical coordinate and an absolute coordinate conversion unit;
If the lens posture determination means determines that the lens posture is the reverse posture at the start of the visible range restriction setting, the flip release means releases the flip and sets the lens posture to the normal posture. At times, the lens is always controlled to be in a normal posture so as not to cause a deviation in the photographing range due to the lens posture at the time of starting the camera, and to prevent photographing outside the visible range restriction region. Monitoring camera control method.