JP2017005330A - Control method, controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such a problem that the control of the shooting angle of view of a monitor camera from a plurality of control terminals conflicts.SOLUTION: In the control method between one or more controllers where the shooting angle of view of an imaging device capable of changing the shooting angle of view is changed by indicating two points on a captured image, the imaging device notifies the one or more controllers of the start of shooting angle of view change, at the moment in time of starting the shooting angle of view change. In one or more controllers for changing the shooting angle of view of an imaging device capable of changing the shooting angle of view, the controller has means for detecting a change in the motion of an image captured by the imaging device, and means for delaying indication of the shooting angle of view to the imaging device, when the detection means detects a motion change.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a control method for controlling pan / tilt / zoom of an imaging apparatus via a network, and a control apparatus.

  Conventionally, it is possible to change the shooting angle of view by changing the shooting direction and the focal length of the optical system such as telephoto / wide-angle by remote control by a user such as a monitoring camera, such as a monitoring camera. An imaging device has been proposed.

  For example, ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum) defines a protocol for control and data communication between an imaging device and an instruction device (control device).

  In addition, in a digital camera or a portable terminal, it has been proposed to instruct an image zoom or the like on an image displayed on a monitor mounted thereon.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a mobile terminal that easily zooms in an arbitrarily designated display screen area by displaying the zoom area designated on the mobile terminal on the screen and enlarging the zoom area over the entire screen. An apparatus is disclosed.

JP 2004-157869 A

  Incidentally, in an imaging apparatus capable of pan / tilt / zoom via a conventional network, pan / tilt / zoom operations from multiple users may compete.

  For example, when the first user tries to start a control operation based on the subject displayed on the screen, the pan / tilt / zoom operation of the photographing device by the previous control operation performed by the second user starts. It is.

  If the pan / tilt / zoom position intended by the first user and the position of the second user are the same, the first user should cancel the operation. There may be a case where a control instruction is issued to the imaging apparatus due to a delay until visual recognition, a delay until a body motion for operating a joystick or the like stops. As a result, the imaging apparatus is controlled to a position different from the position intended by the first and second users.

  If the pan / tilt / zoom position intended by the first user is different from the position of the second user, shooting at the position intended by the second user and confirmation of the image by the second user are sufficiently performed. The imaging device will operate at a position previously controlled by the first user.

  In particular, in the case of the zoom operation method disclosed in Patent Document 1, the pan / tilt operation is performed simultaneously with the zoom operation. As a result, the first user has fewer opportunities to cancel the operation halfway than when pan / tilt / zoom is operated individually and continuously. There is a high possibility that the time required for the operation will be long and the target object will be missed.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an image pickup apparatus capable of performing pan / tilt / zoom batch control by indicating two points on a picked-up image that can appropriately display an area designated by a user, and one or more controls. An object is to provide an apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides:
An imaging device capable of changing an imaging angle of view, and a control method between one or more control devices that performs the imaging angle of view of the imaging device by instructing two points on the captured image,
The image pickup apparatus sends an image pick-up angle change start notification to the one or more control devices at the start of changing the image pick-up angle.

Further, the control device may be one or more control devices that perform the imaging field angle of the imaging device capable of changing the imaging field angle by instructing two points on the captured image,
The control device detects a movement change of an image captured by the imaging device;
Means for delaying an imaging angle-of-view instruction to the imaging device when the detection means detects a change in motion.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately display a specified area even when a plurality of users change the imaging angle of view operation.

It is a figure showing an example of composition of an imaging system suitable for applying a control method in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the imaging device which comprises the said imaging system. It is a time chart which shows the flow of communication control of the control method in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the content of the transaction of the imaging direction adjustment command which comprises the said communication control. It is a block diagram which shows the content of the imaging | photography angle-of-view change start event notification which comprises the said communication control. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement of the control apparatus in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the control apparatus in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

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

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of an imaging system suitable for applying the present embodiment.

  In the imaging system, the imaging device 100 is connected to one or more control devices 200 that are external devices via a network 300. Thereby, the imaging device 100 can communicate with the control device 200 via the network 300. The imaging device 100 distributes the captured image to the control device 200 via the network 300. Here, the control device 200 is an example of an external device, and is configured by an information processing device, for example. The display unit 210 displays an image captured by the imaging device 100 and transmitted to the control device 200, and is, for example, a liquid crystal display that constitutes a part of the information processing device. The display unit 210 may be a touch panel that also serves as an input unit for user operations.

  Note that the imaging apparatus 100 in the present embodiment is a monitoring camera that captures moving images, and more specifically, is an imaging apparatus used for monitoring, and communication between the imaging apparatus 100 and the control apparatus 200 is as follows. For example, communication defined by ONVIF is executed. In addition, the imaging apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is installed on a wall surface or a ceiling.

  The network 300 includes a plurality of routers, switches, cables, and the like that satisfy a communication standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark). In the present embodiment, any communication standard, scale, and configuration may be used as long as communication between the imaging device 100 and the control device 200 can be performed. For example, the network 300 may be configured by any of the Internet, a wired LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless LAN (Wireless LAN), a WAN (Wide Area Network), and the like. Note that the imaging apparatus 100 in the present embodiment may be compatible with, for example, PoE (Power Over Ethernet (registered trademark)), and may be supplied with power via a LAN cable.

  The control device 200 transmits a command to the imaging device 100. For example, the control device 200 transmits a command (request) for changing the imaging direction or the angle of view of the imaging device 100 in a format defined by ONVIF. Further, the imaging apparatus 100 changes the imaging direction in response to a command for changing the imaging direction (pan, tilt) received from the control apparatus 200. Further, the imaging apparatus 100 changes the angle of view in accordance with a command for changing the angle of view (zoom) received from the control apparatus 200.

  FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating an example of a drive mechanism for the imaging apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment to change the imaging direction or the angle of view. The pan driving mechanism 111 changes the imaging direction of the imaging device 100 to the pan direction. In addition, the tilt drive mechanism 112 changes the imaging direction of the imaging apparatus 100 to the tilt direction. Further, the zoom mechanism 113 changes the angle of view of the imaging device 100. That is, the pan driving mechanism 111, the tilt driving mechanism 112, and the zoom mechanism 113 change the imaging position of the imaging unit (122 to 126 in FIG. 2) by changing the pan, tilt, and zoom of the imaging device 100, respectively. A PTZ drive mechanism is configured. In this embodiment, it is assumed that each of the pan driving mechanism 111, the tilt driving mechanism 112, and the zoom mechanism 113 includes a stepping motor, a gear, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the imaging apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, 122 is a front lens in the imaging optical system, 124 is a variator lens, 126 is an image sensor, 128 is a video signal processing circuit, 130 is an encoding circuit, 132 is a buffer, and 134 is a communication circuit (hereinafter referred to as I / O). F may be referred to as F), 136 is a communication terminal, 142 is a pan driving circuit, 143 is a tilt driving circuit, 144 is a variator lens driving circuit (hereinafter may be referred to as a zoom driving circuit), and 146 is a central processing circuit. Reference numeral 148 denotes an electrically erasable nonvolatile memory (hereinafter sometimes referred to as EEPROM).

  The operation will be described below with reference to FIG. Light rays from the subject to be imaged enter the image sensor 126 through the front lens 122 and the variator lens 124 of the imaging optical system, and are photoelectrically converted. The variator drive circuit 144 moves the variator lens 124 in the optical axis direction based on the drive signal from the CPU 146. As the variator lens 124 moves, the focal length of the imaging optical system changes. Due to the change in the focal length, the shooting angle of view of the video transmitted by the imaging apparatus of the present embodiment changes.

  As described above, in FIG. 2, 142 is a pan driving circuit and 143 is a tilt driving circuit. Based on a drive signal input from the CPU 146 to the pan drive circuit 142, a pan drive motor (not shown) is driven. With this driving operation, the pan driving mechanism 111 in FIG. 1B is driven, and the shooting direction in the pan direction in the imaging apparatus is changed. Similarly, a tilt drive motor (not shown) is driven based on a drive signal input from the CPU 146 to the tilt drive circuit 143, whereby the tilt drive mechanism 112 is driven and the photographing direction of the tilt direction in the imaging apparatus is changed. .

  In this embodiment, when normal shooting is performed, a luminance signal and a color difference signal are output from the video signal processing circuit 128 to the encoding circuit 130 according to an instruction from the CPU 146. The encoded video signal is transmitted to the outside via the buffer 132, the I / F 134, and the communication terminal 136.

  A typical BoxZoom command sequence for changing the setting of the angle of view and the shooting direction between the control device 200 and the imaging device 100 will be described below with reference to FIG.

  When the user confirms the setting of the first coordinate (for example, X1 coordinate) and the second coordinate (for example, X2 coordinate) on the video display unit 210 in the control device 200, the control device 200 issues the SetBoxZoom command. To do. Based on the SetBoxZoom command, the imaging apparatus 100 calculates a change value between the angle of view and the direction of the imaging apparatus 100 from the acquired first and second coordinates, and drives the imaging apparatus 100 based on the calculated change value. To do. Hereinafter, BoxZoom may be abbreviated as BZ, SetBoxZoom as SetBZ, and SetBoxZoomConfiguration as SetBZC.

Hereinafter, a transaction refers to a pair of a command transmitted from the control device 200 to the imaging device 100 and a response returned from the imaging device 100 to the control device 200 in response thereto.

  1201 is a transaction of the GetServiceCapabilities command. The GetServiceCapabilities command is a command for instructing to return function information indicating functions supported by the imaging apparatus 100. This function information includes information on the SetBoxZoom command.

  Reference numeral 1202 denotes a GetCofigurations command transaction. With this command, the control device 200 acquires information on the PTZ setting of the imaging device 100. In response to the command, the imaging apparatus 100 returns a list of all PTZ settings set in the imaging apparatus. The list of PTZ settings can include a plurality of PTZ settings, and includes token information for identifying each PTZ setting. The token information is referred to as ConfigurationToken in this embodiment.

  1203 is a transaction of the GetConfigurationOptions command. The control device 200 issues the command including the ConfigurationToken. The imaging apparatus 100 stores possible option information in the setting designated by the ConfigurationToken in the GetConfigurationOptions response, and transmits the GetConfigurationOptions response to the imaging apparatus. For example, in the present embodiment, the GetConfigurationOptions response includes list information of ProfileTokens that can be set in the SetBoxZoom command. The control device 200 selects a desired ProfileToken from the ProfileToken list and issues the SetBoxZoom command.

  1204 is a Subscription command transaction. By this command, the control apparatus 200 causes the imaging apparatus 100 to start changing the angle of view when the imaging apparatus 100 receives a SetBoxZoom request to be described later and starts driving the pan / tilt / zoom mechanism. Is requested to be transmitted to the control device 200 asynchronously. Upon receiving the Subscription command, the imaging device 100 stores the request source control device 200 in a storage unit (not shown). Subsequently, monitoring of the operation of the pan / tilt / zoom mechanism is started, and an event 1206 is set to be notified asynchronously to the control device 200 when driving is started. Further, a Subscription response is transmitted to the control device 200.

  Up to this point, one or more control devices 200 perform asynchronously with the imaging device 100, respectively. The order of transactions shown in FIG. 3 is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the number of control devices 200 is not limited to two.

  1205 is a transaction of the above-described SetBoxZoom command. With this command, the control device 200 transmits the SetBoxZoom command including the SetBoxZoom request information, the ProfileToken information, the first coordinate, and the second coordinate to the imaging device 100. The imaging device 100 that has received the SetBoxZoom command stores the ProfileToken, the first coordinate, and the second coordinate in a storage unit (not shown) and transmits a SetBoxZoom response to the control device 200.

  In addition, the imaging apparatus 100 changes the shooting angle of view of the image captured by the imaging apparatus 100 based on the first coordinates and the second coordinates. That is, the imaging apparatus 100 drives the pan, tilt, and zoom mechanisms described above. As described above, the imaging apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment notifies the view angle change start event 1206 to one or more control apparatuses 200 when driving the above-described pan, tilt, and zoom mechanisms.

  FIG. 4 shows the structure of the SetBoxZoom command and the SetBoxZoom response.

  FIG. 4A shows the SetBoxZoom command. In FIG. 4A, 3001 is a destination address, 3003 is a source address, 3005 is a data field indicating a SetBoxZoom request, 3007 is a profile token field, 3009 is a start point coordinate field, and 3015 is an end point coordinate field. The start point coordinate field 3009 and the end point coordinate field 3015 include an X coordinate field and a Y coordinate field, respectively. Reference numeral 3011 denotes an X coordinate field of the start point, and 3013 denotes a Y coordinate field of the start point. Reference numeral 3017 denotes an end point X coordinate field, and reference numeral 3019 denotes an end point Y coordinate field.

  The destination address 3001 stores the address of the imaging device that is the transmission destination of the SetBoxZoom command, and the transmission source address 3003 stores the address of the client that is the transmission source.

  FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating the structure of the SetBoxZoom response. In FIG. 4B, reference numeral 3021 denotes a destination address, 3023 denotes a transmission source address, and 3025 denotes a SertBoxZoom response field.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, in the SetBoxZoom response, the SetBoxZoom response field 3025 indicates that the packet is a SetBoxZoom response. The destination address 3021 stores the address of the client that is the transmission destination of the SetBoxZoom response, and the transmission source address 3023 stores the address of the imaging device that is the transmission source.

  In the present embodiment, for example, in the SetBoxZoom command shown in FIG. 4A, when the value of the X coordinate field 3011 of the start point is smaller than the value of the X coordinate field 3017 of the end point, imaging according to the present embodiment is performed. Adjustment is made to increase the focal length of the zoom optical system in the apparatus. Further, for example, when the X coordinate value 3011 of the start point is larger than the X coordinate value 3017 of the end point, the focal length of the zoom optical system of the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment is adjusted to be short. Further, for example, if the X coordinate value 3011 of the start point is the same as the X coordinate value 3017 of the end point, the point related to the coordinate value in the control command is panned so as to be positioned at the center of the current image. And the tilt are adjusted.

  The imaging apparatus 100 that has received the SetBoxZoom command starts pan / tilt / zoom operations based on information stored in the command. As described above, when the value of the X coordinate field 3011 of the start point is smaller than the value of the X coordinate field 3017 of the end point, a so-called zoom-in operation is performed. In this zoom operation, the pan / tilt / zoom operation is adjusted so that the rectangular range specified by the start point coordinate field 3009 and the end point coordinate field is the shooting range after the zoom-in operation.

  Further, as described above, when the value of the X coordinate field 3011 of the start point is larger than the value of the X coordinate field 3017 of the end point, a so-called zoom out operation is performed. At this time, in the imaging apparatus of this embodiment, the pan / tilt operation is adjusted so that the center of the rectangular range specified by the start point coordinate field 3009 and the end point coordinate field 3015 is the center of the shooting range. . The zoom-out zoom operation is determined by the rectangular range specified in the start point coordinate field 3009 and the end coordinate field 3015, and the zoom operation is performed so that the shooting angle of view before zoom-out is in the rectangular range. Adjusted.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the shooting range after zooming during the zoom-out operation is the rectangular range specified by the start point coordinate field 3009 and the end point coordinate field 3015. The shooting range after zooming during the zoom-out operation may be determined. For example, zoom-out may be performed by a method of designating the coordinates of two points within the shooting angle of view before zoom-out in the start point coordinate field 3009 and the end point coordinate field 3015. In this case, for example, the ratio of the X-direction length of the rectangle specified by the start point coordinate field 3009 and the end point coordinate field 3015 to the lateral length (X-direction length) of the imaging range is used as the zoom ratio. Further, the zoom ratio is designated using the ratio of the length in the Y direction of the rectangle designated in the start point coordinate field 3009 and the end point coordinate field 3015 to the vertical length (Y direction length) of the shooting range. Also good. Further, the zoom ratio may be specified by the ratio of the diagonal length of the shooting range to the diagonal length of the rectangle specified by the start point coordinate field 3009 and the end point coordinate field 3015.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of the shooting angle of view change start event notification. In FIG. 5, 3031 is a destination address, 3033 is a transmission source address, 3035 is a data field indicating an angle-of-view change notification event, 3037 is a start point coordinate field, and 3043 is an end point coordinate field. The start point coordinate field 3037 and the end point coordinate field 3043 include an X coordinate field and a Y coordinate field, respectively. Reference numeral 3039 denotes an X coordinate field of the start point, and 3041 denotes a Y coordinate field of the start point. Reference numeral 3045 denotes an end point X coordinate field, and reference numeral 3047 denotes an end point Y coordinate field.

  As described above, when there are two or more control devices 200 and an operation for changing the shooting angle of view is performed asynchronously with respect to the imaging device 100, each control device 200 causes another control device 200 to change the shooting angle of view. Can be detected by the shooting angle-of-view change start event notification 1206.

  As a result, each control device 200 can delay or cancel the transmission of the SetBoxZoom command to the imaging device 100 while the other control device 200 is controlling even if there is an instruction to change the shooting angle of view from the user. .

In addition, from the information of the coordinate field included in the event notification 1206, the control device 200 can also know the details of the change in the shooting angle of view of the imaging device 100 performed by another control device 200.
Thereby, when the user has already designated the first coordinate, the display position of the first coordinate on the video display unit 210 can be changed according to the amount of pan / tilt / zoom movement.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. An imaging system suitable for applying the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2, 3, 4A, and 4B. Will be explained in part. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the control device 200 unique to the present embodiment.

  The configurations of the imaging device 100 and the control device 200 in the present embodiment are almost the same as those in the first embodiment, but when the imaging device 100 starts changing the imaging angle of view in the control method, one or more control devices 200 are added. The difference is that there is no step of notifying the change of the imaging angle of view. In FIG. 3, the transaction 1204 and the notification 1206 are read as not being processed.

  Further, the control device 200 has an operation specific to the present embodiment, which is different from the first embodiment. The details of the operation will be described below with reference to FIG.

  When activated, the control device 200 in this embodiment connects to the imaging device 100 (step s600). When the connection is completed, an image from the imaging device 100 is received (step s610) and displayed (step s620).

  Subsequently, in step s630, it is confirmed whether or not an input operation for instructing the imaging device 100 to change the imaging field angle is input from the user. If there is no input operation, the process returns to step s610 and is repeated.

  If there is an input operation, the process proceeds to step s640, and it is detected whether or not the imaging apparatus 100 is performing a shooting angle of view change operation. For example, if the image data received in step s610 has been encoded (compressed) using a motion compensation technique, it is detected using the motion vector information of the image calculated when decoding for display in step s620. To do. That is, if most of the screen moves in the same direction and the same size, it can be determined that the operation is pan / tilt / zoom.

  If the photographing angle of view is being changed, the process returns to step s640 again and waits until the operation is completed. If it is not in operation or if the operation is completed, the process proceeds to step s650, the command in FIG. 4A is sent to the imaging apparatus 100, and the process returns to step s610.

  According to the present embodiment, when there are two or more control devices 200 and an operation for changing the shooting angle of view is performed asynchronously with respect to the imaging device 100, each control device 200 has a different shooting angle of view. It is possible to autonomously determine that the change has been made.

  In the above description, the waiting for the completion of the shooting angle-of-view change operation by the other control device 200 is waited. However, the sending of the shooting angle-of-view control request from the own control device 200 may be canceled. Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the user may be inquired to input the presence / absence of transmission so as to make the determination.

100 imaging device, 200 control device

Claims (3)

A control method between an imaging device capable of changing an imaging angle of view and a control device that performs the imaging angle of view of one or more imaging devices by instructing two points on the captured image,
A control method comprising: a step of notifying the one or more control devices of a start of changing an imaging angle of view when the imaging device starts changing an imaging angle of view. The control method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of requesting the imaging device to notify the imaging field angle change start notification to the imaging device. One or more control devices that perform the imaging field angle of the imaging device capable of changing the imaging field angle by instructing two points on the captured image,
The control device detects a movement change of an image captured by the imaging device;
A control unit that delays an imaging angle-of-view instruction to the imaging device when the detection unit detects a change in motion.