JP3307003B2 - Operation control device for TV camera - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a television camera operation control device for controlling the operation of a television camera which is installed, for example, in a conference hall or other room and which remotely shoots a subject by a pan head operating means. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a television camera installed in a room, such as a video conference or a surveillance camera, can photograph while changing the field of view as appropriate by moving the television camera in a horizontal direction (panning) and a vertical direction (tilting). It has become. For this purpose, a television camera is installed on a camera platform, and operation of the camera platform is controlled by remote control means.

[0003] When a television camera is installed indoors, it is generally mounted on a corner of the room. In addition, various devices may be arranged around this corner, and unless the panning and tilting ranges are limited, the TV camera may collide with a wall or device, causing damage or malfunction. It causes the occurrence of. Therefore, it is necessary to limit the operation range of the television camera according to the installation location. Traditionally, this operating range limitation is:
The configuration is such that the resistance value of the servo amplifier mounted on the camera platform is changed, or both ends of the volume are adjusted.

[0004]

As described above, in order to limit the operation range of the television camera by the mechanism mounted on the camera platform, the television camera must be restricted before the television camera is actually installed at a predetermined position. It is necessary to adjust the range, and it is necessary to measure the position of obstacles etc. around the installation location of the TV camera and set the movement range to be restricted, and the workability is extremely high. There is a problem that it is bad.

[0005] Here, since the pan head operating means for operating the pan head by remote control is provided with a control device, an operation range is set in this control device, and the pan head operating means is actually operated. At this time, it is possible to control so that even if a signal exceeding the operation range is input, the operation does not exceed the set value.

The limitation of the operating range of a television camera has two significances. First, in the case where a wall surface or other equipment is arranged around the installation position of the TV camera, if the TV camera is operated without limitation, it may collide with these obstacles and cause damage or the like. Because of the danger, there is an operation range set to prevent such a situation from occurring. Secondly, in a conference hall or the like, the operation range of the television camera is limited to a field of view actually required at the shooting site, so that the television camera is prevented from moving unnecessarily.

The first operation restriction range must be strictly set due to its nature, and when the television camera moves,
Since the range that can be accommodated in the field of view must be widened, the television camera must be stopped at a position immediately before colliding with an obstacle, and this position must be the end position of the operation range. Moreover, the set range must be almost permanent. On the other hand, it is necessary to allow the second operation range to be set to some extent freely and easily in consideration of the layout of the conference hall and the like. Therefore, it is most preferable for the operation control device of the television camera that the operation ranges of these two types of television cameras can be restricted, and the restriction means should be suitable for each purpose.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to set two types of ranges, an extreme operation range of a television camera and an actually operable range. Is to do.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an extreme range setting means for limiting a maximum panning range and a maximum tilting range of a television camera, and a limit range by the extreme range setting means. And a television camera actual operation range setting unit for setting the panning and tilting ranges to an arbitrary range.

[0010]

The head is set at a predetermined position, and a television camera is mounted on the head. Then, by operating the pan head operating means to move the television camera further in the panning direction, the television camera is arranged at a position where there is a possibility of colliding with a wall surface or a device arranged around the television camera. With this position as the extreme position in the panning direction, the upper and lower limits of the potentiometer for panning are set. Similarly, in the tilting direction, the extreme positions of the upper and lower limits of the tilting potentiometer are set. Here, in order to widen the field of view that can be photographed by the television camera, it is necessary to set the position at a position almost in contact with an obstacle. Therefore, the extreme position must be set very carefully, so that the extreme position should be set at the time of installation of the television camera, especially by a skilled operator. After the setting of the extreme range, the set value is maintained so as not to be canceled or changed by the normal operation of the pan head operating means, and is changed by an external factor or the like. Without being almost permanent.

By the way, when actually operating the television camera, setting only the above-mentioned extreme range of the operation from the viewpoint of the arrangement of the desks in the conference hall or the like causes an unnecessary visual field range. For this reason, it is more convenient to perform the operation if it is possible to limit the visual field range to an actually necessary visual field range. For this purpose, a television camera actual operating range setting unit is provided to set an actual operating range different from the above-described extreme range. If there is a change in the arrangement of desks in the conference hall,
It must be possible to make appropriate changes accordingly. Therefore, the actual operation range can be reset. Since the limit range is set in advance, when the actual operation range is set, reset, and reset, the TV camera does not move beyond the limit range, so that it is easy and free. Can be set or canceled.
Further, even if the set value of the actual operation range is canceled for some reason or changed due to a malfunction, a situation in which the television camera collides with an obstacle and is damaged does not occur.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a television camera device. In the figure, 1 is a TV camera, 2 is a pan head,
Reference numeral 3 denotes a control device. The television camera 1 is configured by connecting a lens device 11 to a camera body 10, and the camera body 10 is attached to the camera platform 2. The camera platform 2 has a base 20, and a horizontally rotatable vanning table 21 is provided on the base 20, and a tilting arm 22 is erected on the panning table 21. The camera body 10 is attached to the camera 22 so as to be rotatable up and down. To control the operations of the panning table 21 and the tilting arm 22, a cord 30 from the control device 3 is connected to the camera platform 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 3 is provided with a joystick 31 and a required number of keys. By manually operating the joystick 31, the direction of the field of view of the television camera 1 can be appropriately changed. Is available. Here, the maximum rotation stroke of the panning table 21 and the tilting arm 22 is set so as to ensure the widest possible viewing range.
Usually, it is close to 360 °.

This television camera device is used for a video conference or the like. A bracket or the like is provided at a predetermined position in a room, for example, a wall of a corner portion, and a camera platform 2 is installed thereon. The television camera 1 is mounted on the camera platform 2. Usually, this TV camera 1 is a place with good visibility in order to secure a certain wide viewing range,
Generally, it is arranged at a relatively high position. However, the location where this TV camera 1 is installed includes surrounding walls,
There are obstacles such as various devices, and if the television camera 1 is panned or tilted without limitation, there is a possibility that the television camera 1 will collide with the obstacles, damage them, or cause a failure. For this reason, the panning range and the tilting range are limited to a range that does not collide with an obstacle. Further, the actual panning range and the tilting range of the television camera 1 can be further restricted from the relation of the layout of the desks in the conference hall.

Accordingly, a mechanism for limiting the panning range and the tilting range of the television camera 1 will be described below.
The operation mechanism will be described with reference to FIG. A control unit 40 includes a pan operation signal detection unit 41 for detecting a pan operation signal and a tilt operation signal of the joystick 31 and a tilt operation signal detection unit 4.
2 are connected via A / D converters 43 and 44, respectively, and based on the signals from the pan operation signal detection unit 41 and the tilt operation signal detection unit 42, the pan operation signal and the tilt operation signal Is output. Here, the panning operation and the tilting operation of the television camera 1 are performed by position control, and the output signal from the control unit 40 is a D / A converter 45,
The analog signal is converted into an analog signal by 46, and is amplified by amplifiers 47 and 48 as a pan drive signal and a tilt drive signal. A control signal is input to a pan drive circuit 49 and a tilt drive circuit 50, and panning is performed according to the control signal. And tilting operations are performed.

Reference numeral 51 denotes a panlight limit position limiter, 52 denotes a pan left limit position limit portion, 53 denotes a tilt-up limit position limit portion, and 54 denotes a tilt-down limit position limit portion. And an extreme range setting means for limiting the maximum tilting range. The pan right limit position limiter 51 and the pan left limit position limiter 52 have a potentiometer PPOT for setting a limit value of a panning range, and an upper limit setting terminal PRT and a lower limit setting terminal PLT are connected to the potentiometer PPOT. These upper limit setting terminals PR
T and the voltage signal output from the lower limit setting terminal PLT are compared with the pan control signal in the comparators PRC and PLC, and when the pan control signal exceeds the upper limit setting value or falls below the lower limit setting value, the comparators PRC and PLC Current flows through the diodes PRD and PLD provided on the output side of the device, and the control signal is not supplied to the pan drive circuit 49. Therefore, the panning range is limited by these upper limit value and lower limit value. I have. The tilt-up limit position limiter 53 and the tilt-down limit position limiter 52 are also provided with a potentiometer T for setting a limit value of a tilting range.
Upper limit setting terminal TUT and lower limit setting terminal T connected to POT
DT, these upper limit setting terminal TUT and lower limit setting terminal TD
Comparing comparators TUC and TDC for comparing a signal taken out of T with a tilt control signal, and a diode TU at an output side of the comparators TUC and TDC.
D and TDD are provided. As a result, the tilting operation range is limited by the voltage values at the upper limit setting terminal TUT and the lower limit setting terminal TDT.
The voltage signals of the pan right extreme position limiting unit 51, the pan left extreme position limiting unit 52, the tilt up extreme position limiting unit 53, and the tilt down extreme position limiting unit 54 are the pan operation signal output from the control unit 40 and The tilt operation signal and the comparators 55 to 58 are compared with each other, and when the pan operation signal and the tilt operation signal respectively exceed the upper limit position or fall below the lower limit position, it is detected and input to the control unit 40, Even if the joystick 31 is operated further, the capture of the pan operation signal and the tilt operation signal into the control unit 40 is prohibited.

As described above, the panlight limit position limiter 51, the pan left limit position limiter 52, the tilt-up limit position limiter 53, and the tilt-down limit position limiter 54.
Sets the extremes of the panning range and the tilting range. In this extreme range, the television camera 1 further includes an actual operating range setting unit that can limit the actual operating range, that is, the actual operating range. Here, the actual operation range is different from the above-described extreme range, and the joystick 3 is limited by restricting it to an actually necessary view range except for an unnecessary range among possible view ranges of the television camera 1.
1 to operate the television camera 1 without waste.

The actual operation range setting unit includes a key CL as a clear key, a key ST as a set key, and keys PR, PL, and TU among a large number of keys provided on the control device 3 together with the joystick 31. , TD are key groups for registering respective positions of pan right end, pan left end, tilt up end and tilt down end. These keys are connected to the control unit 40, and the panning range and the tilting range can be appropriately set by appropriately operating the keys. That is, the potentiometers 49p and 49p for detecting the current position in the panning operation and the tilting operation are respectively provided in the pan driving circuit 49 and the tilt driving circuit 50.
50p are provided respectively, pan light end,
Data relating to the positions of the pan left end, the tilt up end and the tilt down end are stored in the potentiometers 49p and 49p when the key operation of the control device 3 is performed.
The corresponding position is read into the control unit 40 from 50p, and the control is performed so that the actual panning range and the tilting range are limited to this range.

The camera platform 2 is mounted at an appropriate position in the room, and the television camera 1 is mounted on the camera platform 2. At this time, potentiometers PPOT and TP
Each of the setting terminals PUT, PDT, TUT, and TDT of the OT is set at a position near the middle. In this state, for example, to set the extreme position in the pan-up direction, the joystick 31 is operated in the pan-up direction, and the upper limit setting terminal PUT is operated in the direction in which the voltage increases. As a result, the panning table 20 of the television camera 1 is rotationally displaced upward. Then, the television camera 1 is displaced to a position immediately before contacting the obstacle, and the upper limit setting terminal PUT is fixed at this position. Thus, even if the joystick 31 is further operated in the panlight direction, the television camera 1 does not move in this direction. By performing this operation in each of the pan left, tilt up, and tilt down directions, the extreme position of the entire television camera 1 is set.

As described above, pan right, pan left,
By setting the extreme positions of the tilt-up and the tilt-down, there is no possibility that the television camera 1 collides with an obstacle regardless of which direction the joystick 31 is operated. In order to make the range in which panning and tilting can be performed as wide as possible, it is necessary to set this limit range as wide as possible. For this reason, it is necessary to set the limit range immediately before touching an obstacle. Since the setting is performed with the camera 1 mounted on the site, the setting can be easily performed. Moreover, the setting terminals PUT, PDT, TU of the potentiometers PPOT, TPOT
Since the TV camera 1 is displaced while adjusting T and TDT, there is no possibility that the TV camera 1 collides with an obstacle by mistake when performing the work of setting the limit range. The setting of this limit range is performed by potentiometers PPOT and TPO.
Since the setting is performed at T, once set, the set value does not change. Then, for example, by providing an operation unit of each setting terminal inside the housing of the operation device 3 so that the operation unit of the setting terminal cannot be operated during normal operation, the range once set is Maintained almost permanently.

As described above, by setting the limit range, the television camera 1 can be prevented from colliding with an obstacle. However, in a conference hall or the like, the television camera 1 is pointed at a desk or other point. There is a range that is not necessary. For this reason, it is preferable to set the field of view of the television camera 1 to be narrower than the limit range for actual operation. Therefore, by operating a group of keys constituting the actual operation range setting unit in the control device 3, the actual operation range can be set. Since the setting and release of the actual operation range are performed by key operation, it can be set very easily.

To set the actual operation range in the panning direction and the tilting direction, the clear key CL is operated with the joystick 31 held at the neutral position. As a result, even if the operation mode is set to the limited range setting mode and the actual operation range is already set,
The data is cleared. Then, when the joystick 31 is operated, for example, in the panlight direction, the panning table 21 is activated, and the television camera 1 rotates rightward.
In this direction, when it is displaced to a position where it is not necessary to rotate any more, it is stopped at that position and the key PR is operated. With this key operation, the position of the potentiometer 49p of the pan drive circuit 49 is read out to the control unit 40.
Hereinafter, the television camera 1 is moved in each of the pan left, tilt up, and tilt down directions, and the keys PL, TU, T
By operating D, the end positions of pan left, tilt up, and tilt down can be determined. When the set key ST is pressed after the four end positions are determined in this way, the actual operation range is set in the control unit 40. Therefore, when the joystick 31 is operated, the TV camera 1
Will move only within this actual operating range.

In setting the actual operation range, the television camera 1 can only move within this limit range, so that the television camera 1 may accidentally collide with an obstacle at this setting. It is not. The actual operation range is set on software in the control unit 40, and can be set and released by key operation. Therefore, the operation is extremely easy and can be set freely. . In addition, even if the joystick 31 is operated in a state where the setting is canceled by mistake, even if the data regarding the set actual operation range is lost or changed for some reason, Since the television camera 1 does not operate beyond the limit, there is no particular problem.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, in controlling the operation of a television camera, two types of operation ranges, an extreme range and an actual operation range, can be set. When installing in a predetermined position, make the limit range as wide as possible as long as it does not collide with obstacles such as indoor walls and other equipment, and make this setting almost permanent By protecting the TV camera, the operability of the TV camera can be improved by excluding a view range that is not always necessary from the actual operation range when actually photographing the subject in this extreme range. In addition, by enabling the setting and release of the actual operation range, various effects are provided such that the actual operation range can be appropriately changed as necessary.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram including a television camera and an operation control device thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the control device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a control circuit of the control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 TV camera 2 Head 3 Control device 31 Joystick 40 Control part 41 Pan operation signal detection part 42 Tilt operation signal detection part 49 Pan drive circuit 50 Tilt drive circuit 51 Pan light limit position limit part 52 Pan left limit position limit part 53 Tilt up Limit position limit unit 54 Tilt down limit position limit unit PPOT, PPOT Potentiometer PUT, PDT, TUT, TDT Setting terminal PR, PL, TU, TD, CL, ST key

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A television camera is installed on a camera platform and pan and tilt operations are performed by remote control of the camera platform operation means. A maximum panning range and a maximum tilting range of the television camera are provided. And a TV camera actual operating range setting unit that sets a panning and tilting range to an arbitrary range within the limit range set by the limit range setting unit. Operation control device for TV camera.