JP2516905B2 - Image separation device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image separation device that separates a moving object from a complicated static background screen in an image obtained by an image pickup device such as a television camera.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the widespread use of television cameras, the fields of use thereof are being expanded to, for example, monitoring applications, visual applications for industrial robots, medical education applications, and the like. In many of these applications, the images were simply played back and checked on the screen, but in recent years, in applications such as FA (factory automation), robots, and remote monitoring, the image capture angle of the TV camera itself is determined by the image. There is a demand for control, monitoring a specific moving object, and tracking imaging. Thus, conventionally, the output signal level of the camera image is used to confirm the peak value, or the camera image is converted into a contour signal to control the imaging angle of the television camera.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, it was not possible to separate the moving object from the static background screen in the camera image.

Therefore, it is difficult to confirm the moving object, and the certainty of controlling the imaging angle of the television camera, monitoring the moving object, and tracking is poor.

Therefore, the present invention can separate and extract a moving object from a static background screen in an image obtained by an image pickup apparatus such as a television camera, and thus control the image pickup angle of the image pickup apparatus, monitor the moving object, and track the moving object. It is intended to provide an image separation device capable of easily and surely performing the above-mentioned operations, safely extracting a moving object, and having a relatively simple circuit configuration. Is.

Means for Solving Problems The technical means of the present invention for solving the above problems are a contour signal generating circuit for generating a contour signal of a subject from an image signal obtained by an image pickup device, and a contour signal generating circuit. A storage circuit that stores the contour signal from the signal generation circuit, and a contour extraction circuit that extracts only the contour signal of the moving object by the delay contour signal read from the storage circuit and the contour signal from the contour signal generation circuit It is a thing.

Action The action of the above technical means is as follows. That is,
An image signal obtained by the image pickup device is converted into a contour signal by a contour signal generation circuit. After delaying this contour signal in the storage circuit, this delay contour signal is compared with the contour signal of the image output next from the image pickup device by the contour extraction circuit, and only the contour signal of the moving object is extracted to determine the moving object. Separate from complex static background information.

Examples Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram showing an image separation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a television camera which is an image pickup device,
Reference numeral 2 is an image signal output from the television camera 1, 3 is a contour signal generation circuit into which the image signal 2 is input, 4 is a subject contour signal output from the contour signal generation circuit 3, and 5 is a subject contour signal 4. Storage circuit (line memory circuit or field memory circuit), 6 is a delay contour signal output from the storage circuit 5, 7 is a contour extraction circuit for extracting only the contour signal of the moving object from the delay contour signal 6 and the contour signal 4,
It is composed of an exclusive OR circuit (EXCLUSIVE OR circuit) 8 and an AND circuit (AND circuit) 9. Reference numeral 10 is a moving object contour signal output from the contour extraction circuit 7, 11 is an amplifier of the moving object contour signal 10, and 12 is an output terminal.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the image explanatory view shown in FIG. 1A shows a reproduced image of the delayed contour signal 6 in FIG. 1, FIG. 6B shows a reproduced image of the contour signal 4, and FIG. 7C shows a reproduced image of the moving object contour signal 10.

First, the image signal obtained by the television camera 1 is input to the contour signal generation circuit 3. Here, only the contour signal of the image is generated and converted into a binary signal of about 1 Vpp. The contour signal 4 is stored in the storage circuit 5 once, read out one field later, and the delay contour signal 6 and the contour signal output from the contour signal generation circuit 3 one field later are used as the contour extraction circuit 7
And only the contour signal of the moving object is extracted. That is, the delay contour signal 6 and the contour signal 4 are input to an exclusive OR circuit (EXCLUSIVE OR circuit) 8, and the output signal and the contour signal 4 are input to a logical product circuit (AND circuit) 9 to output the moving object contour signal. Outputs 10. Here, the reproduced image by the delayed contour signal 6 includes the moving object at the position A and its background as shown in FIG. 2 (a), and the reproduced image by the contour signal 4 as shown in FIG. 2 (b) is the moving object. Moves from the A position to the B position, and the reproduced image by the moving object contour signal 10 output from the contour extraction circuit 7 including this moving object and its background has moved to the B position as shown in FIG. Only moving objects. Then, the moving object contour signal 10 is further taken out as an output image signal from the output terminal 12 via the amplifier 11 and used as a moving object detection signal.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the image signal obtained by the image pickup device is converted into the contour signal by the contour signal generating circuit, and the contour signal is delayed by the storage circuit.
This delayed contour signal and the contour signal of the image next output from the image pickup device are compared by a contour extraction circuit, and only the contour signal of the moving object is extracted so that the moving object is separated from the complicated static background information. There is. Therefore, the control of the imaging angle of the imaging device, the monitoring of the moving object, the tracking, etc. can be performed easily and reliably. Further, the contour signal of the moving object can be stably extracted without being influenced by the brightness level of the image, and the circuit can be configured with a relatively simple circuit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram showing an image separation device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 (a), (b), and (c) are a delayed contour signal reproduced image, a contour signal reproduced image, and movement, respectively. It is a figure which shows the example of the reproduced image of an object outline signal. 1 ... TV camera (imaging device), 2 ... image signal, 3
...... Contour signal generation circuit, 4 ... Contour signal, 5 ... Memory circuit, 6 ... Delayed contour signal, 7 ... Contour extraction circuit, 10 ...
Moving object contour signal.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A contour signal generation circuit for generating a contour signal of an object from an image signal obtained by an image pickup device, a storage circuit for temporarily storing the contour signal from the contour signal generation circuit, and an output from this storage circuit. An exclusive OR circuit for exclusive ORing the delayed contour signal and the contour signal from the contour signal generating circuit, and a logical product for ANDing the output signal of the exclusive OR circuit and the contour signal. Provided with an arithmetic circuit,
An image separation device characterized by extracting only a contour signal of a moving object.