JP3687081B2 - Remote head system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a remote control pan head system, and in particular, a camera can be photographed in a desired manner by remotely operating a drive mechanism such as a tilt drive unit and a pan drive unit built in the pan head main body with a controller having an operation member called a joystick. The present invention relates to a communication data processing technique of a remote control pan head system positioned at a position.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A surveillance camera installed in a building or the like is used by being fixed on a camera mounting plate of a pan head. The pan head main body incorporates drive mechanisms such as a tilt drive unit and a pan drive unit, and the drive mechanisms are remotely controlled by a remote control device (controller). That is, when a joystick for instructing the operation speed of the pan / tilt head is operated, a control signal for instructing the amount of change in the position of the pan / tilt head is output according to the amount of operation. The control signal is converted into a drive signal by the relay circuit and output to the tilt drive unit and the pan drive unit.
[0003]
Serial communication is used for data exchange between the controller and the pan head, and the tilt driving unit and pan driving unit of the pan head main body drive the tilt axis and pan axis based on the driving signal, and the camera is operated in a desired manner. Position it at the shooting position.
For example, for pan drive, if the total operating angle of 320 degrees is represented by a ¹⁶ -bit (2 ¹⁶ = 65536) digital quantity and the maximum speed of the pan head is 13 degrees / second, the digital quantity that changes maximum per second is From the formula (1), it is 2661 / sec.
[0004]
[Expression 1]
65536 × 13/320 = 2626 (1)
When each displacement amount is communicated 30 times per second, the maximum digital amount transmitted in one communication is 88 from the following equation (2).
[0005]
[Expression 2]
2662 ÷ 30 = 88 (2)
Since the sign of increase / decrease (±) is required for the amount of change, 88 × 2 = 176 is required at the maximum, and 8-bit data is required for communication under this condition. Since the conventional pan head system normally sends six types of data of pan, tilt, zoom, focus, iris, and pedestal in one communication, the conventional 8-bit data requires 6 bytes.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional data communication method has a problem that the amount of data is relatively large and the communication response is poor. In addition, there is no margin in the number of bits, and it is difficult to detect bit errors (errors) that occur in the data communication transmission process.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and reduces the amount of data required for the pan head control without causing any trouble in the pan head operation control. An object is to provide a remote control pan head system capable of detection.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
For the present invention, to attain the aforementioned object, the communication with the controller and a predetermined communication cycle having an operating member which camera commanding the tilt orientation or panning position of the camera platform mounted is performed, the operation of the operating member In response, in the remote control pan head system that controls the camera to a desired photographing position based on instruction data output from the controller, the predetermined communication cycle operates the operation member to the maximum operation position of the operation member. Is set to be shorter than the minimum time required for the operation, and the controller outputs instruction data for instructing a displacement amount of the pan head tilt direction or panning position according to the operation position of the operation member. , and the corresponding instruction data, and the previous instruction data for each of the communication cycle in accordance with a change amount of the operation position of the operation member of said communication per cycle It is characterized by transmitting to the platform main body side by a change amount format for indicating the difference.
[0008]
That is, conventionally, the operation position of the operation member is grasped on the basis of a predetermined reference position (stationary position), and the instruction data indicating the displacement amount of the pan head tilt direction or panning position is the predetermined reference position (stationary position). ) Is output according to the operation position of the operation member.
On the other hand, in the present invention, instruction data for instructing the amount of displacement of the pan head tilt direction or panning position is transmitted in a change amount format according to the change amount of the operation position of the operation member for each communication cycle. . Thereby, the data amount of instruction data can be reduced compared with the past, and responsiveness can be improved. Further, since the reduced bits can be used for other control signals, the operation of the pan head can be smoothed. Furthermore, by using the reduced bits for error detection, there is an advantage that a pan head system that is resistant to noise can be realized.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A preferred embodiment of a remote control pan head system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view including a partial break of a remote control pan head to which the present invention is applied. The remote control pan head 10 shown in the figure is mainly composed of a pan head 12, a pan shaft main body 14, a camera 16 mounting portion, and the like. The pan head 12 is fixed on an installation base 17 via the pan shaft main body 14. is set up.
[0010]
The pan head 12 has a camera mounting plate 18 for supporting the camera 16, and the camera mounting plate 18 is cantilevered on a tilt shaft 22 whose left side surface portion extends from the side surface of the pan head main body 20. . The tilt shaft 22 is rotationally driven around its axis 22A by a tilt drive unit including a motor, a worm wheel, and a worm gear (not shown) built in the camera platform body 20, and is thereby supported by the camera mounting plate 18. The camera 16 can be tilted to a desired position.
[0011]
In addition, a pan shaft 24 is rotatably provided via a bearing 25 at the lower portion of the pan head main body 20. The pan shaft 24 is driven by a pan drive unit including a motor 26, a worm wheel 28, and a worm gear 30 built in the pan head body 20. Further, the panning position of the pan driving unit is controlled by a potentiometer 32 built in the pan head main body 20.
[0012]
The pan head 12 is remotely controlled by a pan head controller 40 connected via a relay circuit (relay box) 38. For example, when the joystick 42 of the pan head controller 40 is operated (see FIG. 2), the control signal is converted into a drive signal by the relay circuit 38 and output to the motor of the tilt drive unit and the motor 26 of the pan drive unit, respectively. It is like that. Serial communication is used for communication between the pan head 12 and the pan head controller 40, and data is transmitted at a speed of 2400 bps, for example.
[0013]
FIG. 2 is a top view showing an example of the pan head controller, and FIG. 3 is a rear view thereof. A pan / tilt joystick 42, a focus control knob 44, a zoom seesaw control lever 46, an iris control knob 48, a master pedestal knob 50, an operation time setting knob 52, and the like are provided on the operation surface of the pan head controller 40. Yes.
[0014]
The joystick 42 indicates the operating speed of the pan / tilt head of the pan head 12. The operating speed from “stop” to the maximum speed (13 ° / sec) is determined by the angle at which the stick is tilted from the reference position (vertical position). Can be directed.
When the joystick 42 is operated in the horizontal direction in the figure, the pan direction of the pan head 12 can be instructed, and when it is operated in the vertical direction in the figure, the tilt angle can be instructed. The pan / tilt head has a total operating angle of 320 degrees, for example, and is driven at a speed corresponding to the operation amount of the joystick 42. Note that the pan azimuth and tilt angle of the pan head 12 can be confirmed by a display issue diode (LED) of the azimuth display unit 54 and the angle display unit 55, respectively.
[0015]
Further, a pan / tilt head speed adjustment knob 56 is provided at the upper right portion of the joystick 42 in the figure, and the maximum speed of the pan / tilt head can be set by the amount of rotation of the knob.
In the figure, 58 is a shot button, 60 is a memory button, 61 is an extender button, and 62 is an iris mode changeover switch. Various camera control buttons 66 such as an ND filter button 64, an auxiliary (AUX) button 68 for eight systems, four trace control buttons 70, and the like are also provided.
[0016]
In the figure, reference numeral 72 is a wiper button, reference numeral 73 is a defroster button, and reference numeral 74 is a wiper washer button. In the LED indicator 76 surrounded by a two-dot chain line in the figure, the operation status and various warnings (alarms) of the fan, defroster, heater, etc. of the pan head device are displayed by turning on the LED. Reference numeral 78 denotes a tally indicator lamp, reference numeral 80 denotes a power switch, and reference numeral 81 denotes a take button.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 3, an AC power input connector 84, a DC power input connector 85, a tally signal input connector 86, a network connector 87, a modem / computer connector 88, and a modem are provided on the rear surface of the pan head controller 40. / Relay box changeover switch 89, image memory unit connector 90, and AUX connector 91 are formed.
[0018]
Next, a specific example of processing of communication data in the remote control platform configured as described above will be described.
For example, for pan driving, if the total operating angle of 320 degrees is represented by a ¹⁶ -bit (2 ¹⁶ = 65536) digital quantity and the maximum speed of the pan head is 13 degrees / second, the digital quantity that changes the maximum per second is 2662 / Sec (Formula (1)).
[0019]
In addition, when each displacement amount is communicated 30 times per second, conventionally, the maximum digital amount transmitted in one communication is assumed to be 88 as in the above equation (2), and the increase / decrease (±) The data of 8 bits including the code of was used.
However, even if the joystick 42 is suddenly operated in the entire operating range, it has been confirmed by experiments that a minimum time of about 0.2 seconds is required. This means that, as shown in FIG. 4, in order to operate the joystick 42 from the stationary state (vertical position) to the maximum deflection angle (Max (+)) on one side (Max (+)), a time of at least 0.1 second is required. Means that
[0020]
When data communication is performed 30 times per second between the pan head 12 and the pan head controller 40, data instruction is performed three times in 0.1 second. Therefore, it is not necessary to designate the digital amount of “88” by one data instruction, and the difference (change amount) ΔD from the previous instruction data (Dn−1) is set every communication cycle (1/30 second). By instructing
[0021]
[Equation 3]
ΔD = Dn−Dn−1 where Dn is the nth instruction data (3)
For the maximum speed indication, the following formula (4)
[0022]
[Expression 4]
88 ÷ 3 ≒ 29 ... (4)
The data instructions are sufficient.
Considering the positive and negative (±) directions indicating the increase / decrease in the amount of change, a maximum of 29 × 2 = 58 is required as the maximum digital amount sent in one communication. This data amount can be expressed by 6 bits.
[0023]
As described above, the instruction data can be represented by 6 bits by transmitting the instruction data in the change amount format according to the change amount of the operation position of the joystick 42 in consideration of the operation speed of the joystick 42.
In the above-described embodiment, the pan operation has been described as an example. Similarly, for each of the six types of data of pan, tilt, zoom, focus, iris, and pedestal, each instruction data is changed by 6 bits as described above. By transmitting in the format, 6 × 6 ÷ 8 = 4.5, that is, 5 bytes is sufficient, and there is a remainder of 4 bits than before, so these 4 bits are used as a checksum (error detection code) of lower 4 bits. Can be used.
[0024]
Thereby, while being able to improve responsiveness, a pan head system with smooth operation and noise resistance can be realized.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the remote control pan head system according to the present invention, the instruction data for instructing the tilt amount of the pan head or the displacement amount of the panning position is changed according to the change amount of the operation position of the operation member for each communication cycle. Since the data is transmitted in a quantity format, the data amount of the instruction data can be reduced compared to the conventional case, and the responsiveness can be improved. In addition, there is an advantage that the operation of the pan head becomes smooth. Furthermore, by using the reduced bits for error detection, there is an advantage that a pan head system that is resistant to noise can be realized.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view including a partial break of a remote control pan head according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a top view illustrating an example of a pan / tilt head controller.
3 is a rear view of the pan / tilt head controller shown in FIG. 2. FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram used for explaining operation of a joystick.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 ... remote head 12 ... head 16 ... camera 20 ... head body 40 ... head controller 42 ... joystick

Claims (2)

Communication is performed at a predetermined communication cycle with a controller having an operation member for instructing the tilt direction or panning position of the pan head on which the camera is mounted, and the instruction data output from the controller according to the operation of the operation member In a remote control pan head system for controlling the camera to a desired shooting position based on
The predetermined communication cycle is set to be shorter than the minimum time required to operate the operating member to the maximum operating position of the operating member,
The controller outputs instruction data instructing a tilt amount of the pan head or a displacement amount of a panning position according to an operation position of the operation member , and the instruction data is the operation member for each communication cycle. A remote head system is transmitted to the head body side in a change amount format instructing a difference from the previous instruction data for each communication cycle in accordance with a change amount of the operation position.   The remote control head system according to claim 1, wherein the instruction data is expressed by 6 bits.

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