JP2573983B2 - Recognition method of dice eyes used in game - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for recognizing dice eyes in a game machine using dice.

[Conventional technology]

Game machines that play a game while watching game pieces such as model dice and medals or game pieces projected on a television screen are well known.

Among them, game machines that play games by actually rolling a model dice on the board mechanically and automatically are realistic and rich in game interest, but light rays from outside the game machine Due to the dirt on the surface of the dice and uneven color, etc., it is not always easy to determine the number of dice's eyes, and an erroneous interpretation often results in an erroneous game result.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recognition method capable of reliably reading the number of dice eyes used in a game. It is in.

[Means for solving the problem]

The object of the present invention is to provide a method for recognizing a dice eye comprising the steps described in the following paragraphs (a) to (f): (a) a low-brightness level field where the dice is cast; A high brightness level location pointer,
Shooting a scene including a level pointer of an intermediate brightness level with low sensitivity that cannot detect the level pointer, and recording the image data in a video RAM; and (b) a level pointer based on the data of the location pointer in the video RAM. Calculating the address at which the data of the level pointer is to be recorded; and (c) adjusting the sensitivity of the photographing machine until the desired image signal is obtained at the address at which the data of the level pointer is to be recorded; (D) calculating the offset value of the screen mask data from the address where the location pointer data is recorded, and masking data other than the detection area of the video RAM; (e) The data in the video RAM is scanned, and when the data of the high brightness level continues for a predetermined number or more, Saving the head address of the data in degrees level, and detecting a position of the die by performing the same operation for sequentially the scanning lines, video RA within the outline positions of the dice is detected (f)
The data of M is scanned, and the low brightness data is continuous within a range corresponding to the diameter of the dice eyes, and also corresponds to the dice eye diameter in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction from the center position of the continuity. Counting the set of low-brightness data as one dice eye when the low-brightness data is present within the range.

In order to remove video data such as dust and dirt present in the image data, the data of the video RAM is deleted every N bits prior to the operation of the steps described in the above (e) and / or (f). It is recommended to provide a step of dividing the data into bytes, and unifying and converting the data of each byte into only one of high-brightness data or low-brightness data by majority decision.

Conversely, the same purpose can be achieved by setting the dice and the location pointer to low brightness and setting the dice eyes and the place where the dice is cast to high brightness.

[Action]

With the above configuration, it is possible to provide a recognition method that can reliably read the number of dice eyes used in the game.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an essential part of an embodiment of a game machine for implementing a method of recognizing a dice eye according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view showing the dice of the game machine shown in FIG. Top view of the field (cross-sectional view along the line II-II in FIG. 1), FIG. 3 is an image of the field where the dice is cast by the CCD camera, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a circuit for performing image processing for recognizing dice eyes, FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an overall program for image processing, and FIGS. 6 to 10 are programs shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing details of a main part of FIG.

Thus, the game machine shown in FIG. 1 is provided with three dice operating devices A, B, and C having dice 1a, 1b, and 1c, respectively, so that the total number of dice 1b and 1c can be reduced. A gaming machine that bets on medals in anticipation. The number of the dice 1a is treated as a magnification when the above total number is hit. The dice 1a, 1b and 1c are all housed in pipes 2a, 2b and 2c made of transparent acrylic resin or the like, and are blown up into the pipes by air blown out from the respective blowers 3a, 3b and 3c. Stop the base 4
a, 4b, and 4c, the dice roll (the dice roll) at that time is detected by the CCD camera 5, the image data is sent to the image processing device 6, and the host computer controls the entire game machine. The game result is transmitted to the speaker 7 and output by, for example, a sound from the speaker 8 or other means.

The CCD camera 5 sequentially moves just above the pipes 2a, 2b and 2c of the three dice operating devices A, B and C, and moves the dice 1a, 1b and
The result of 1c is detected.

FIG. 2 shows a state where the dice in each of the pipes 2a, 2b and 2c are thrown (hereinafter, referred to as a "detection area"), and the upper surface of the bottom plate 4a is actually a low lightness level, for example, The pointers 9 are painted in black, and the detection pointers 9 are drawn at desired positions.

The detection pointer 9 is divided into a part of the level pointers 9a, 9a at the intermediate lightness level and a high lightness level, for example, a white location pointer 9b.

An example of an image obtained by the CCD camera 5 is shown in FIG. 3. In this image, not only the image of the detection area, but also the reflection image 1a of the inner wall of the pipe and the image of the ladder photographed thereon 'And reflected images 9' and 9 'of the detection pointer. The image data based on these reflection images needs to be erased for the sake of detecting the eyes of the dice.

To erase only the data of the reflection image of the inner wall, a simple mask may be applied. However, since the CCD camera moves on the three pipes, an error due to the stop position is generated. Therefore, the white location pointer 9 described above is located in the detection area.
b and 9b are drawn, and the offset value of the mask data is calculated based on the address of the location pointer in the video RAM.

The level pointers 9a and 9a are drawn as a countermeasure against external light for use in a game hall where external light changes drastically. Since the level pointer is painted at an intermediate brightness level, the intensity of the reflected light is easily affected by external light, and by using this, the sensitivity of the detection camera is appropriately adjusted according to the external light, The correct dice image can be obtained.

Next, FIG. 4 shows an outline of the image processing circuit.

Usually, these image processing circuits are built in the CCD camera. The image including the detection area is the CCD camera lens 1.
An image is formed on a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) 12 in the camera through 1.

13 is a gate array that drives the CCD 12, 14 is an amplifier that amplifies the capture signal, 15 is a decoder that captures the capture signal into the video RAM 16, 17 is a D / A converter for controlling the gain of the amplifier 14, and 18 is the entire image processing circuit. A microprocessor for controlling, 19 is a system ROM for storing necessary programs, 20 is a system RAM for storing work data for processing, and 21 is a communication interface for exchanging information with the host computer 7 of the game machine.

The procedure for detecting the dice is described below with reference to the program chart.

First, the outline of the entire detection procedure will be described with reference to FIG. 5, and then the details of the main procedure will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 5, the process waits until a detection start signal is received from the host computer 7 through the communication interface 21. (,) After receiving the detection start signal, the gain of the amplifier 14 is set to a low value α (α is a fixed value), one screen is fetched into the video RAM 16, and the location of the location pointer is detected from the fetched screen data. () Since the location pointer has high brightness, it is always reliably detected, but α is set so that the level pointer is not detected. In this state, the data recorded in the video RAM 16 is only the data of the location pointer.

When the level pointer is detected from the address where the data of the location pointer is stored, the address where the data is recorded is calculated, and until the level pointer can be detected.
The screen is fetched into the video RAM 16 while the gain of the amplifier 14 is sequentially increased step by step until. (3) In a state where the level pointer is reliably detected, the dice is naturally surely detected and recorded.

If the data of the intended address becomes Hi and indicates the existence of the level pointer, the screen mask data is calculated from the address of the location pointer, and when the dice is cast out of the data of the video RAM, that is, in the area other than the detection area, Mask the data. () In calculating the screen mask data, the calculation is simplified by calculating the offset value with respect to the standard mask data instead of directly calculating the mask data.

In this state, since only the location pointer is recorded as Hi, the address of the location pointer can be easily grasped, and the area adjacent to the address is the area where the data of the level pointer should be stored. Becomes

Next, the screen data of the video RAM is scanned to detect the position of the dice (), and then the area where the dice is recorded is scanned to detect the eyes, and the number is counted.
() The number of eyes counted is communicated to the host computer to finish detection.

 Hereinafter, the above procedure will be sequentially described.

First, the "detection of level pointer" will be described with reference to FIG. 6. In this subroutine, first, the address where the data of the level pointer is to be stored is calculated from the address where the data of the location pointer is recorded. () Next, in the data in the video RAM,
Erase data due to noise such as dirt and external light. This method will be described later.

Next, increase the gain of the amplifier by one level (),
The data is loaded into the RAM (), the data stored at the address of the level pointer is checked (), and thereafter, the above procedure is repeated while the gain of the amplifier is gradually increased until the level pointer can be confirmed.

By this processing, optimal gain adjustment is performed for external light.

Next, an example of the procedure “mask of the detection area” in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

The mask data offset value (difference from the basic mask data) is calculated from the address of the location pointer, and the data in the video RAM is masked. By this processing, only the data in the detection area is scanned, and the following calculation can be performed efficiently and reliably.

Next, the details of the procedure "detection of dice position" in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

This routine is a routine for grasping the profile of the dice or its leading edge.
, It is desirable to delete unnecessary data derived from images such as dust and dirt in a place where dice is cast.

The data in the video RAM is scanned along one scan line parallel to the horizontal axis of the corresponding CCD, and the data is sequentially read out,
It is processed by the subroutine shown in FIG. In this noise processing routine, the data read out as described above is latched every N bits, and the number of high-brightness signals and the number of low-brightness signals are compared by, for example, a majority circuit.
All of the N-bit data are unified to the signal with the larger number. Thus, the value of N is, for example, 1/2 of the number of bits of the dice.

After performing such processing, it is checked whether the high brightness signal, that is, Hi is continuous for at least 2N bits or more on the scanning line, and if the result is Yes, the first H
Record the address of the i signal as the leading edge of the dice profile.

Next, when this scanning line does not reach the lower end of the screen at the bottom of the screen, the same processing as described above is sequentially repeated for the next scanning line. This routine ends when the scan is performed to the lower end of the dice or the bottom of the screen.

Therefore, the position of the dice is determined by this routine.

Next, the details of the procedure "detection of dice eyes" in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

In this routine, first the EYE counter is reset,
Next, the noise processing routine described in the dice position detection routine is executed. In this routine, data in the area of the dice detected in the preprocessing is scanned.

The dice eyes are basically detected by checking the number of bits in the horizontal and vertical directions of the CCD image of the dice eyes.

That is, if the low-brightness data is continuous in a predetermined bit range in the horizontal direction in the area where the dice is present, and the low-brightness data is also continuous in the predetermined bit range in the vertical direction from the continuous center. The set of the low brightness data of the group is regarded as the first eye, and 1 is added to the EYE counter. This routine ends when scanning is performed to the lower end of the dice.

〔The invention's effect〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a recognition method capable of reliably reading the number of dice used in a game.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, in the above description, the dice and the location pointer are set to high brightness, and the place where the dice eyes and dice are cast is described as low brightness, These may be reversed, or they may be appropriately colored, as long as they have a certain contrast, or may be configured to achieve the same effect as described above using a filter or the like. The eye determination program and other configurations can be freely modified within the scope of the present invention, and the present invention includes all the modified embodiments that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art from the above description. Is what you do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a main part of an embodiment of a game machine for implementing a method for recognizing a dice eye according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a top view of a place where a dice is cast in the game machine shown in FIG. 1 (a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1). FIG. 3 is an image of the place where the dice is cast by a CCD camera. 4 is a block diagram of a circuit for performing image processing for recognizing dice eyes, FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an overall program for image processing, and FIGS. 6 to 10 are shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the main part of a program. A, B, C ... dice operation device 1a, 1b, 1c ... dice 2a, 2b, 2c ... pipe 3a, 3b, 3c ... blower 4a, 4b, 4c ... bottom plate 5 ... CCD camera 6 ... ... Image processing device 7 ... Host computer 8 ... Speaker 9 ... Detection pointer 9a, 9a ... Level pointer 9b, 9b ... Location pointer 11 ... Lens 12 ... CCD 13 ... Gate array 14 ... Amplifier 15 Decoder 16 Video RAM 17 D / A converter 18 CPU 19 ROM 20 RAM 21 Communication interface

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for recognizing a dice eye comprising the steps of (a) to (f) below. (A) A scene including a dice whose eyes are displayed at lower brightness than the surrounding area, a low brightness level field where the dice is cast, a high brightness level location pointer, and a middle brightness level pointer A step of taking a picture with low sensitivity in which a level pointer cannot be detected, and recording the image data in a video RAM. (B) calculating an address where the data of the level pointer is to be recorded from the data of the location pointer of the video RAM; (C) adjusting the sensitivity of the photographing device until the desired image signal is obtained at the address where the data of the level pointer is to be recorded, and recording the obtained image data in the video RAM. (D) calculating the screen mask data from the address where the data of the location pointer is recorded, and masking the data other than the detection area of the video RAM. (E) Scan the data of the video RAM, save the head address of the high-brightness level data if the high-brightness level data continues for a predetermined number or more, and perform the same operation for each scanning line sequentially. Detecting the position of the dice. (F) Video RA within the range of the detected outline of the dice
The data of M is scanned, and the low brightness data is continuous within a range corresponding to the diameter of the dice eyes, and also corresponds to the dice eye diameter in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction from the center position of the continuity. A step of counting the set of the low lightness data as one of the eyes when the low lightness data exists within the range. 2. Prior to the operation of the step (e), the data of the video RAM is divided into bytes of N bits, and the data of each byte is either one of high-brightness data or low-brightness data by majority decision. 2. The method for recognizing a dice eye according to claim 1, further comprising the step of unifying and converting only the dice. 3. Prior to the operation of the step (f), the data of the video RAM is divided into bytes of N bits, and the data of each byte is either one of high-brightness data or low-brightness data by majority decision. 3. The method for recognizing a dice eye according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a step of unifying and transforming the dice only. 4. A method for recognizing a dice eye comprising the steps of (g) to (1) below. (G) A scene including a dice whose eyes are displayed with higher brightness than the surrounding area, a high brightness level place where the dice is cast, a low brightness level location pointer, and an intermediate brightness level pointer A step of taking a picture with a high brightness at which a pointer cannot be detected and recording the image data in a video RAM; (H) calculating an address where the data of the level pointer is to be recorded from the data of the location pointer of the video RAM; (I) adjusting the sensitivity of the photographing device until the desired image signal is obtained at the address where the data of the level pointer is to be recorded, and recording the obtained image data in the video RAM. (J) calculating the offset value of the screen mask data from the address where the data of the location pointer is recorded, and masking data other than the detection area of the video RAM. (K) Scan the data of the video RAM, save the start address of the low-brightness level data if the low-brightness level data continues for a predetermined number or more, and perform the same operation for each scanning line sequentially. Detecting the position of the dice. (L) Video RA within the range of the outer shape position of the detected dice
The data of M is scanned, and the high brightness data is continuous within a range corresponding to the diameter of the eyes of the child, and also corresponds to the diameter of the eyes of the child in the direction perpendicular to the above scanning direction from the center position of the continuity. Counting the set of the high lightness data as one dice when the high lightness data exists within the range to be processed. 5. Prior to the operation of step (k), the data of the video RAM is divided into bytes of N bits, and the data of each byte is either one of high-brightness data or low-brightness data by majority decision. 5. The method for recognizing a dice eye according to claim 4, comprising a step of unifying and converting the dice only. 6. Prior to the operation of the step (l), the data of the video RAM is divided into bytes of N bits, and the data of each byte is either one of high-brightness data or low-brightness data by majority decision. The method for recognizing a dice eye according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising the step of unifying and converting the dice into eyes only.