JP2022159638A - Imaging apparatus, control method of imaging apparatus, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To suppress restriction of a degree of freedom for changing an imaging direction when further changing the imaging direction after controlling the imaging direction to reach to a target position.SOLUTION: An imaging apparatus includes: imaging means for capturing an image; control means for executing processing for controlling at least any one of panning and tilting in order to control an imaging direction of the imaging means; acquisition means for acquiring a current position of the imaging direction; and identifying means for identifies a difference between the current position of the imaging direction acquired by the acquisition means and a target position, which is a target to be reached in the imaging direction. The control means determines a direction in which the imaging direction is driven in accordance with the difference identified by the identifying means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a control method for an imaging device.

2. Description of the Related Art There is a technique of controlling an imaging direction by driving at least one of panning and tilting of an imaging device that captures an image. Among such techniques, there is a technique of controlling the imaging direction from the current position in the imaging direction to a target position, which is a goal to be reached, so that an image of a place intended by the user can be captured after controlling the imaging direction.

Patent Document 1 discloses a method of determining the shortest path for rotating an imaging unit from a current angular position to a target angular position, and performing pan/tilt driving according to the determined shortest path.

JP 2019-186604 A

As in Patent Document 1, when the imaging direction is driven along the shortest path to the target position, the target position is reached because the shortest path is selected, but the imaging direction is stopped near the driving end of the pan or tilt. There is something. At this time, when the user wants to additionally drive panning or tilting, the degree of freedom to change the imaging direction may be limited because the driving end is just around the corner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to prevent the degree of freedom of changing the imaging direction from being restricted when the imaging direction is further changed after the imaging direction is controlled to reach a target position.

In order to solve the above problems, the imaging device in this embodiment has, for example, the following configuration. Namely, imaging means for capturing an image, control means for executing processing for controlling at least one of panning and tilting in order to control the imaging direction of the imaging means, and the current position of the imaging direction. an acquiring means for acquiring; and a specifying means for specifying a drive amount to the target position based on the current position in the imaging direction acquired by the acquiring means and a target position, which is a target position to be reached in the imaging direction. and the control means determines a direction in which the imaging direction is driven according to the drive amount specified by the specifying means.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when changing an imaging direction further after controlling an imaging direction and making it reach|attain a target position, it can suppress that the flexibility which changes an imaging direction is restrict|limited.

It is a figure which shows an example of a system configuration. It is a figure which shows an example of the external view of an imaging device. It is a figure which shows an example of the functional block of an imaging device and a camera platform. 4 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing for controlling the imaging direction; 4 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing for controlling the imaging direction; 4 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing for controlling the imaging direction; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a coordinate system in control of an imaging direction; It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of each apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the configurations shown in the following embodiments are merely examples, and are not limited to the illustrated configurations.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the system configuration in this embodiment. The system in this embodiment has an imaging device 1000 , a camera platform 2000 , a client device 3000 and a network 4000 .

The imaging device 1000 and the client device 3000 are connected via a network 4000 so as to be able to communicate with each other. The network 4000 is implemented by a plurality of routers, switches, cables, etc., conforming to communication standards such as ETHERNET (registered trademark).

Note that the network 4000 may be implemented by the Internet, a wired LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless LAN (Wireless LAN), a WAN (Wide Area Network), or the like.

The imaging device 1000 can transmit captured image data and the like to the client device 3000 via the network 4000 in response to a request from the client device 3000 . Further, the imaging device 1000 may actively transmit image data and the like to the client device 3000 connected in advance. Here, the client device 3000 is an information processing device configured with a general terminal device such as a personal computer (PC), a smart phone, or a tablet PC. The client device 3000 controls the imaging direction, image quality control, and the like for the imaging device 1000 . Note that the client device 3000 may directly control the camera platform 2000 for the imaging direction. Also, the client device 3000 may be a dedicated controller device or the like for operating the imaging device 1000 or camera platform 2000 . In addition, the client device 3000 may be a control device that sets and controls the imaging device 1000 such as focus and white balance, and controls the platform 2000 .

The camera platform 2000 is a device that controls panning and tilting of the imaging device 1000 via the imaging device 1000 in response to a request from the client device 3000 . Communication between the imaging device 1000 and the camera platform 2000 may be realized by RS-232C/RS-422A/RS-485, which are communication standards of EIA (Electronic Industries Association), or other communication standards. Note that the imaging device 1000 and pan head 2000 may be provided in the same housing, in other words, the imaging device 1000 itself may have a driving unit for controlling the imaging direction.

Here, the imaging device 1000 and pan head 2000 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. FIG. 2 is an example of an external view of the imaging device 1000 and camera platform 2000 in this embodiment. An imaging device 1000 is a device that captures an image, and can change a zoom value by controlling a lens driving unit 1001 . The camera platform 2000 in this embodiment can change the imaging direction of the imaging apparatus 1000 to a pan direction (horizontal direction) 2003 and a tilt direction (vertical direction) 2004 by controlling a pan drive unit 2001 and a tilt drive unit 2002 . be.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the functions of the imaging device 1000 and camera platform 2000 will be described. Of the functional blocks of the imaging apparatus 1000 according to this embodiment, the functions of the image processing unit 1012, the lens control unit 1013, the storage unit 1014, the communication unit 1015, and the system control unit 1016 are realized as follows. shall be That is, it is realized by the CPU (Central Processing Unit) 800 of the imaging device 1000 executing a computer program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 820 of the imaging device 1000, which will be described later with reference to FIG.

The imaging unit 1011 is configured by an imaging device (not shown) such as a CCD (charge coupled device) sensor or a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) sensor. The imaging unit 1011 photoelectrically converts the subject image formed through the lens to generate an electric signal. An image processing unit 1012 performs image processing such as a process of converting an electrical signal photoelectrically converted by the imaging unit 1011 into a digital signal and a compression encoding process, and generates image data. Note that the number of image data to be generated is not limited to one, and a plurality of image data with different resolutions and video qualities may be generated simultaneously. Also, the generated image data is transmitted to the system control unit 1016 . A lens driving unit 1001 is configured by driving systems for a focus lens and a zoom lens, and its operation is controlled by a lens control unit 1013 . A lens control unit 1013 controls the lens driving unit 1001 based on the instructions transmitted from the system control unit 1016 . It also transmits focus movement information and zoom movement information to the system control unit 1016 .

A storage unit 1014 stores various setting information and the like. The system control unit 1016 analyzes the transmitted camera control command and performs processing according to the command. For example, the system control unit 1016 instructs the image processing unit 1012 to adjust image quality and the lens control unit 1013 to perform zoom and focus control according to the acquired camera control command. Also, image data generated by the image processing unit 1012 is acquired and transmitted to the communication unit 1017 . Furthermore, the pan/tilt control command received by the communication unit 1015 is converted into a camera platform control command and transmitted to the communication unit 1015 .

The communication unit 1015 transmits image data transmitted from the system control unit 1016 to the client device 3000 . Also, various setting commands and camera control commands transmitted from the client device 3000 are received and transmitted to the system control unit 1016 . Also, the response of the imaging device 1000 to the command transmitted from the client device 3000 is transmitted to the client device 3000 . Furthermore, the camera platform control command sent from the system control unit 1016 is sent to the communication unit 2012 of the camera platform 2000 .

Next, functional blocks of the camera platform 2000 will be described. It is assumed that each function of the functional blocks of the camera platform 2000 according to this embodiment is implemented as follows. That is, the CPU 800 of the camera platform 2000 executes a computer program stored in the ROM 820 of the camera platform 2000, which will be described later with reference to FIG.

A pan drive unit 2001 of the camera platform 2000 is configured by a mechanical drive system that performs a pan operation and a motor as a drive source, and performs control to rotate the imaging apparatus 1000 in the pan direction 2003 . to drive. The operation of the pan driving section 2001 is controlled by the system control section 2011 . The tilt drive unit 2002 is configured by a mechanical drive that performs a tilt operation and a motor that is a drive source, and drives to perform rotational drive control for rotationally driving the imaging direction of the imaging apparatus 100 in the tilt direction 2004 . The operation of the tilt drive section 2002 is controlled by the system control section 2011 .

The system control unit 2011 analyzes the transmitted camera platform control command and instructs the pan drive unit 2001 and the tilt drive unit 2002 to perform pan/tilt operations. Also, the current angle data of the pan drive unit 2001 and the tilt drive unit 2002 are acquired and transmitted to the communication unit 2012 .

The communication unit 2012 transmits the camera platform control command transmitted from the communication unit 1015 of the imaging device 1000 to the system control unit 2011 . Also, the current angle data of the pan driving unit 2001 and the tilt driving unit 2002 transmitted from the system control unit 2011 are received and transmitted to the communication unit 1015 of the imaging apparatus 1000 . Note that the imaging device 1000 and pan head 2000 may be in the same housing.

The pan head control method can be broadly classified into two types. The first is position designation control in which a position in the pan direction 2003 and a position in the tilt direction 2004 are designated, and the imaging direction is controlled so as to achieve the designated positions in the pan direction 2003 and tilt direction 2004 . Secondly, there is direction designation control for designating the operation direction of the imaging direction. Note that in direction designation control, the camera platform 2000 continues to drive at least one of the pan driving section 2001 and the tilt driving section 2002 so that the imaging direction is controlled in the designated direction until a stop command is transmitted.

In this embodiment, if the target position is separated from the current position by a predetermined value or more when the position designation control is executed on the camera platform 2000, the direction designation control is substituted for the position designation control. In the position designation control, positions in the pan direction 2003 and tilt direction 2004 are designated, and the pan drive unit 2001 and tilt drive unit 2002 of the camera platform 2000 are driven to the designated positions (target positions) to reach the target positions. Stop driving according to the operation. The direction designation control is a method of controlling by designating the rotation directions of the pan driving unit 2001 and the tilt driving unit 2002. Rotate in the specified direction.

Here, with reference to FIG. 7, the coordinate system used when controlling the imaging direction in this embodiment will be described. Although the coordinate system in the pan direction 2003 will be described in FIG. 7, it is assumed that the tilt direction 2004 also has a similar coordinate system. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the coordinate system of the camera platform 2000 when one drive end is "-200 degrees", the other drive end is "+200 degrees", and the front is 0 degrees with respect to the pan direction 2003. . That is, in the camera platform 2000 of this embodiment, the panning direction 2003 can be driven in a range of -200 degrees to +200 degrees. FIG. 7A is a top view of a camera platform 2000 and an imaging apparatus 1000 that can be rotated in a range of -200 degrees to +200 degrees with the front being 0 degrees with respect to the panning direction. It shows the case where the current position of the pan direction 2003 is -90 degrees. A target position 7000 is a target position designated by a position designation command requesting position designation control. Also, as shown in FIG. 7A, +170 degrees and -190 degrees in the pan direction 2003 are different as parameters held by the camera platform 2000 but are the same position as the imaging direction of the imaging apparatus 1000 . Here, FIG. 7(b) is a diagram showing the angle in the pan direction 2003 of the camera platform 2000 shown in FIG. 7(a) by a number line. A movable range 7001 of the pan head 2000 is a range in which the pan head can physically rotate. A limited range 7002 is a range in which the client 3000 side can designate a target position with a position designation command in the movable range 7001 of the camera platform. A current position 7003 is an angle of “−90 degrees” in the current pan direction 2003 of the imaging direction of the imaging apparatus 1000 . When the target position 7000 shown in FIG. 7(a) is plotted on the number line shown in FIG. 7(b), there are a target position 7000a corresponding to +170 degrees and a target position 7000b corresponding to -190 degrees. Here, for example, it is assumed that the client 3000 transmits to the imaging device 1000 a position designation command requesting position designation control so that the imaging direction reaches the target position 7000 by the user. At this time, the system control unit 1016 of the imaging apparatus 1000 according to this embodiment specifies the difference between the current position 7003 and the target position 7000, and controls the imaging direction according to whether the specified difference is less than 180 degrees. If the difference is less than 180 degrees, the imaging direction is controlled so that the shortest path from the current position to the target position indicated by the position designation command requesting the position designation control. On the other hand, if the difference is 180 degrees or more, even if there are two routes from the current position to the target position, the longest route is selected by direction designation control to control the imaging direction. Here, for example, it is assumed that the imaging direction is positioned near the driving end such as −180 degrees to −200 degrees or +180 degrees to +200 degrees in order to reach the target position. At this time, even if the user manually controls the imaging direction from that position, the degree of freedom in controlling the imaging direction is limited because the position is near the drive end. On the other hand, as described above, in this embodiment, by adaptively determining the direction in which the imaging direction is controlled according to the difference between the current position and the target position, the image is captured near the drive end when reaching the target position. It is possible to prevent the direction from being positioned. That is, it is possible to suppress reduction in the degree of freedom in the imaging direction.

Here, a method for controlling the imaging direction in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG. 4 is executed by the functional blocks shown in FIG. 3 implemented by the CPU 800 of the imaging device 1000 executing a computer program stored in the ROM 820 of the imaging device 1000, for example.

First, in S4001, the system control unit 1016 of the imaging apparatus 1000 acquires information on the current position in the imaging direction. Information on the position in the imaging direction is indicated by pan and tilt position information. For example, the system control unit 1016 transmits to the camera platform 2000 a position acquisition command requesting information on the position in the current imaging direction, and transmits the information on the position in the current imaging direction from the camera platform 2000 as a response to the position acquisition command. get.

Next, in S4002, the system control unit 1016 determines the angle difference (difference) between the current pan or tilt position of the camera platform 2000 acquired in S4001 and the target position specified by the position specification command for position specification control. is less than a predetermined value. Here, it may be determined whether the difference between the current position and the target position is less than a predetermined value for each of the panning direction 2003 and the tilting direction 2004. You may make it determine whether the difference with is less than a predetermined value. Here, the target position specified by the position specifying command is an angle within a range that can be specified by the client, and in the example shown in FIG. Other values may be used without limitation. Also, the user may change the value of the parameter used as the predetermined value. If it is determined in S4002 that the difference between the current position and the target position is less than 180 degrees (Yes in S4002), the process proceeds to S4003. On the other hand, if it is determined that the difference between the current position and the target position is 180 degrees or more (No in S4002), the process proceeds to S4004. In the example shown in FIG. 7, when "+170 degrees" is specified as the target position specified by the position specifying command, "260 degrees" is specified as the difference between the current positions "-90 degrees" and "+170 degrees". be. Then, the stem control unit 1016 determines that the difference is 180 degrees or more, and transitions to S4004.

In S4003, the system control unit 1016 of the imaging apparatus 1000 sends a position designation control command to the camera platform 2000 using the target position information designated by the position designation command, and ends the execution of the position designation command. . At this time, the system control unit 1016 generates a command for controlling the imaging direction so as to follow the shortest route from the current position to the target position specified by the user according to the position specifying control, and transmits the command to the platform 2000 .

Next, in S4004, the system control unit 1016 determines the direction to control the imaging direction. In this embodiment, the direction passing through the longest route among the routes from the current position to the target position is determined as the direction for controlling the imaging direction in the direction designation control. Here, it is assumed that "+170 degrees" is designated as the target position by the position designation command. As shown in FIG. 7, there are “+170 degrees” and “−190 degrees” as parameters for obtaining an imaging direction equivalent to the imaging direction of the target position. At this time, in order to control the imaging direction so as to reach the target position, in the example shown in FIG. -190 degrees”. In general, it is conceivable that the shortest route is selected as the direction for controlling the imaging direction. In the example shown in FIG. The direction is located. Therefore, in S4004, the system control unit 1016 selects the direction that passes through the longest path from the current position of "-90 degrees" to the target position of "+170 degrees" as the direction for controlling the imaging direction in the direction designation control. decide. By doing so, the imaging direction can be positioned at "+170" which is not near the drive end, instead of "-190 degrees" which is near the drive end. As a method of determining the direction for controlling the imaging direction, the following processing may be executed. That is, the rotation direction is obtained by subtracting the current pan/tilt position of the camera platform 2000 acquired in S4001 from the target pan/tilt position specified by the position specifying command requesting the position specifying control. For example, when the value obtained by subtracting the current position from the target position is a "positive value", the imaging direction is controlled in the clockwise direction when the imaging apparatus 1000 is viewed from directly above as shown in FIG. Determine as direction. If the value obtained by subtracting the current position from the target position is a "negative value", the counterclockwise direction is determined as the direction for controlling the imaging direction.

Next, in S4005, the system control unit 1016 for the imaging direction 1000 sends a direction designation control command to the camera platform 2000 using the rotation direction information obtained in S4004. That is, the system control unit 1000 transmits a command to the camera platform 2000 requesting that the imaging direction be controlled in the direction determined in S4004.

Next, in S4006, the system control unit 1016 acquires information on the position of the current imaging direction. For example, the system control unit 1016 transmits to the camera platform 2000 a position acquisition command requesting information on the position in the current imaging direction, and transmits the information on the position in the current imaging direction from the camera platform 2000 as a response to the position acquisition command. get.

In S4007, system control unit 1016 compares the target position specified by the position specifying command with the current position acquired in S4006 to confirm whether the current position has reached the target position. If not, the process returns to S4006. When it reaches, it progresses to S4008. In S4008, system control unit 1016 executes processing for stopping control of the imaging direction. For example, the system control unit 1016 transmits a stop command to the camera platform 2000 to request the camera platform 2000 to stop controlling the imaging direction, thereby stopping the camera platform 2000 from controlling the imaging direction.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the target position specified by the position specifying command in the position specifying control is away from the current position by a predetermined angle or more, the direction specifying control is executed in the direction passing through the longest route instead of the shortest route. Here, it is assumed that the target position specified by the position specifying command in the position specifying control is "+170 degrees". At this time, in an imaging device that always selects the shortest path in position designation control, if the current position is "-90 degrees", the imaging direction is substantially the same as the target position "+170 degrees". The imaging direction is moved by 190 degrees. In this case, when the imaging direction reaches "-190 degrees", it is positioned near the drive end, and if the imaging direction is further controlled from there, the degree of freedom for controlling the imaging direction is reduced because it is near the drive end. . On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, when the current position is separated from the target position by 180 degrees or more, the direction designation control controls the imaging direction so that the longest route instead of the shortest route is taken. , “+170 degrees” can be reached. Therefore, since it can be positioned at "+170 degrees", which is not near the drive end, it is possible to suppress reduction in the degree of freedom in controlling the imaging direction.

(Embodiment 2)
In general, direction designation control may have lower accuracy in stopping the imaging direction at the target position than position designation control. For example, when the pan head 2000 is controlled to position the imaging direction at the target position according to position designation control, the pan head 2000 itself can perform stop processing in response to reaching the target position. On the other hand, a case is assumed in which the camera platform 2000 is controlled according to the direction designation control so that the imaging direction is positioned at the target position. At this time, the imaging apparatus 1000 transmits a position acquisition command to the platform 2000 and acquires the current position as a response in the process of controlling the platform 2000 to move the imaging direction 2000 in a predetermined direction by direction designation control. When the current position reaches the target position, the imaging device 1000 transmits a stop command to the camera platform 2000 to cause the camera platform 2000 to stop controlling the imaging direction. In this way, since commands are exchanged in order to reach the target position by direction designation control, depending on the communication situation, etc., there may be a time difference between the current position reaching the target position and the tripod head actually stopping. may occur. Therefore, the stopping error may become larger than when the camera platform is controlled by position designation control. Therefore, in this embodiment, position designation control is performed after transmitting a stop command to the camera platform 2000 in direction designation control. Note that portions different from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and the same reference numerals will be given to the same or equivalent components and processes as in the first embodiment, and redundant description will be omitted.

Here, processing for controlling the imaging direction in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG. 5 is executed by the functional blocks shown in FIG. 3 implemented by the CPU 800 of the imaging device 1000 executing a computer program stored in the ROM 820 of the imaging device 1000, for example. Note that S5001 to S5007 are the same as the contents described in S4001 to S4007 in the first embodiment, so description thereof will be omitted. In S5008, the system control unit 1016 transmits a stop command to the camera platform 2000, and proceeds to S5009. In S5009, the system control unit 1016 of the imaging apparatus 1000 sends a position designation control command to the camera platform 2000 using the target position information designated by the position designation command, and ends the execution of the position designation command. do.

It should be noted that the timing of performing the position designation control in S5009 may be immediately after transmitting the stop command to the pan head in S5008, or after confirming the stop state of the pan head by an arbitrary method.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the position designation control is performed after the stop command is transmitted to the camera platform. It becomes possible to make it smaller.

(Embodiment 3)
As described in the second embodiment, when the position designation control is replaced by the direction designation control in the first embodiment, the pan head actually moves after the current pan/tilt position of the pan head reaches the target position. There may be a time lag before it stops. Therefore, the stopping error may become larger than when the camera platform is controlled by position designation control. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to reduce the stop error when the direction designation control is substituted for the position designation control in the first embodiment, when the angle difference between the current position and the target position becomes less than 180 degrees, , to switch pan head control to position control. Note that portions different from the above-described embodiments will be mainly described, and the same or equivalent components and processes as those of the above-described embodiments will be given the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

Here, processing for controlling the imaging direction in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG. 6 is executed by the functional blocks shown in FIG. 3 implemented by the CPU 800 of the imaging device 1000 executing a computer program stored in the ROM 820 of the imaging device 1000, for example. Further, since S6001 to S6006 are the same as the contents described in S4001 to S4006 described in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment, description thereof will be omitted. In S6007, the system control unit 1016 of the imaging apparatus 1000 checks whether the angle difference between the current position of the camera platform 2000 acquired in S6006 and the target position specified by the position specification command is less than 180 degrees. If less than 180 degrees (Yes in S6007), the process proceeds to S6008. If it is 180 degrees or more (No in S6007), the process returns to S6006. In S6008, the system control unit 1016 of the imaging apparatus 1000 sends a position designation control command to the camera platform 2000 using the information on the target position designated by the position specification command, and controls the camera platform based on the position specification control. 2000 is controlled so that the imaging direction reaches the target position.

In S6007, it was confirmed whether the angle difference between the current position and the target position was less than 180 degrees. Any timing is fine.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, at the timing when the angle difference between the current position and the target position becomes less than 180 degrees, the pan head control is switched to the position designation control, thereby changing the position designation control in the first embodiment to the direction designation control. It becomes possible to reduce the stop error when the control is performed instead of the control.

(Other embodiments)
Next, with reference to FIG. 8, the hardware configuration of the imaging device 1000 for realizing each function of each embodiment will be described. Although the hardware configuration of the imaging apparatus 1000 will be described below, the camera platform 2000 and the client apparatus 3000 are also assumed to have the same hardware configuration.

The imaging device 1000 in this embodiment has a CPU 800, a RAM 810, a ROM 820, an HDD 830, and an I/F 840.

A CPU 800 is a central processing unit that controls the imaging apparatus 1000 . RAM 810 temporarily stores computer programs executed by CPU 800 . Also, the RAM 810 provides a work area used when the CPU 800 executes processing. Also, the RAM 810 functions, for example, as a frame memory or as a buffer memory.

The ROM 820 stores programs and the like for the CPU 800 to control the imaging device 1000 . The HDD 830 is a storage device that records image data and the like.

The I/F 810 communicates with external devices via the network 4000 according to TCP/IP, HTTP, or the like.

In the above description of the embodiment, an example in which the CPU 800 executes the processing is described, but at least part of the processing of the CPU 800 may be performed by dedicated hardware. For example, the process of reading the program code from the ROM 820 and developing it in the RAM 810 may be executed by a DMA (DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS) functioning as a transfer device.

Note that the present invention can also be implemented by processing in which one or more processors read and execute a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments. The program may be supplied to a system or device having a processor via a network or storage medium. The invention can also be implemented in a circuit (eg, an ASIC) that implements one or more of the functions of the embodiments described above. Further, each unit of the imaging apparatus 1000 may be realized by hardware shown in FIG. 8, or may be realized by software.

Note that another device may have one or more functions of the imaging device 1000 according to the above-described embodiments. For example, another device may have one or more functions of the imaging device 1000 according to the embodiment.

As described above, the present invention has been described together with the embodiments, but the above-described embodiments merely show specific examples for carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is interpreted to be limited by these. not a thing That is, the present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from its technical idea or main features. For example, a combination of each embodiment is also included in the disclosure of this specification.

1000 imaging device 1016 system control unit 2000 platform 2011 system control unit 3000 client device 4000 network

Claims (7)

imaging means for capturing an image;
a control means for executing processing for controlling at least one of panning and tilting in order to control the imaging direction of the imaging means;
Acquisition means for acquiring the current position in the imaging direction;
a specifying means for specifying a difference between the current position in the imaging direction acquired by the acquiring means and a target position, which is a target to be reached in the imaging direction;
The imaging apparatus, wherein the control means determines a direction in which the imaging direction is driven according to the difference specified by the specifying means. When the difference specified by the specifying means is less than a predetermined value, the control means selects the direction of the longer route among the routes from the current position in the imaging direction acquired by the acquiring means to the target position. 2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging direction is determined as the driving direction. The control means controls the imaging direction to the target position by direction designation control when the difference identified by the identification means is less than a predetermined value, and controls the imaging direction to the target position by position designation control after stop processing. 3. The imaging device according to claim 2, wherein the direction is controlled. When the difference specified by the specifying means is less than a predetermined value, the control means moves the image in the direction of the shortest route from the current position in the imaging direction acquired by the acquisition means to the target position. 3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the direction is controlled. 3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined value is 180 degrees. A control method for an imaging device having imaging means for imaging an image, comprising:
a control step of performing processing for controlling at least one of panning and tilting in order to control the imaging direction of the imaging means;
an acquisition step of acquiring the current position in the imaging direction;
a specifying step of specifying a difference to the target position based on the current position in the imaging direction acquired in the acquiring step and a target position that is a target to be reached in the imaging direction;
A control method, wherein, in the control step, a direction for driving the imaging direction is determined according to the difference specified in the specifying step. A program for causing a computer to function as each means of the imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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