JP4018714B2 - COMMUNICATION METHOD AND DEVICE, CAMERA CONTROL DEVICE - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to control of imaging means such as a camera.

  A system for remotely controlling a camera (for example, panning, tilting, zooming, etc.) is generally known.

  In such a system, even if it is performed via a network, a device based on a unique specification (protocol or control information) is adopted between the device that controls the camera and the device on the client side. It is not versatile.

  However, in recent years, the Internet has been spreading rapidly, and there has been an increasing demand for end users to view videos taken by a remote camera.

  One possible method to meet this requirement is that a server connected to the camera periodically saves images taken by the camera as a file in its own storage device and forwards it to the accessing terminal (client). To do. On the end user side, for example, the browser is activated and the user can appreciate it.

  However, this is not limited to viewing fixed images, and for example, it is not possible to meet the demand to view the right side a little more, or to view a wider area or enlarged.

  This is because conventional camera remote control is based on a unique specification and cannot be brought into the Internet as it is.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and aims to provide an end user with an environment in which a video camera can be easily remotely operated via a general-purpose network such as the Internet.

In order to solve this problem, for example, the communication method of the present invention includes the following steps. That is,
A communication method for controlling a camera via a network,
A description of a format indicating an address of one source on the network including a first character string indicating an address of a camera control device that controls the camera, and a second character string indicating a control of the camera and a control amount thereof. Using to access the camera control device;
The camera control device receiving from the camera control device an image obtained by controlling the camera according to the information relating to the second character string.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an end user with an environment in which a video camera can be easily remotely operated via a general-purpose network such as the Internet.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the camera control apparatus according to the embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 1001 denotes a camera control apparatus, which is based on a personal computer, for example. Reference numeral 1003 denotes a video camera (hereinafter simply referred to as a camera) that is a control target of the camera control apparatus 1001. The control content includes not only zooming as a shooting condition but also panning, tilting, exposure, and the like. For this reason, the camera 1003 has a pan head (not shown). The camera 1003 and the camera control apparatus 1001 are connected by, for example, an RS232C interface that is normally provided in a personal computer.

  The camera control apparatus 1001 has the following configuration.

  Reference numeral 1017 denotes camera control means 1017 for outputting various control signals to the camera 1003 via the interface. Reference numerals 1017 and 1018 denote video input means for inputting a photographed image of the camera 1003 by an image capture device. Reference numeral 1011 denotes a network adapter or the like. Is a communication interface means for exchanging information with other devices, and in addition to these resources, command interpretation realized as a program and memory data using each resource such as a CPU of a computer, a storage device and an auxiliary storage device A means 1012, a reception code generation means 1013, a time limit means 1015, an image storage means 1019, and a reservation registration means 1014 are provided.

  The external device 1002 is, for example, a WWW server or a WWW browser, and performs communication using the HTTP protocol between them. That is, the WWW browser presents the information to the WWW server, which is the storage location of the document data and image data, according to the URL indicating the storage location of the target data. In response to this, the WWW server returns corresponding document data and image data to the WWW browser.

  In this embodiment, the communication interface 1011 uses a method realized by a WWW server. That is, communication is performed using the HTTP protocol, and the control apparatus 1001 of this embodiment behaves as if it is a WWW server in the application of video data. This can be realized by using the communication method of the WWW server also in this control apparatus.

In general, when image data is pasted into a WWW document, the following description is used.
<img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/image001.gif">

  This means that the image data stored in the image001.gif file of the WWW server www.foo.co.jp is requested, and the transferred image is displayed on the browser screen. Will be done.

  In this embodiment, such a specification is utilized as it is, and it is going to control a camera remotely.

  That is, in this embodiment, the character string corresponding to the file name is interpreted as a command. In short, panning, tilting, zooming, and the like that specify the camera angle are represented by alphabetic characters “P”, “T”, and “Z”, respectively, and then the respective control amounts are represented by numbers.

For example, it is assumed that there is a camera that can select from eight stages of pan angle from -50 degrees to 50 degrees, tilt angle from -20 degrees to 20 degrees, and zoom from 1 to 8. In this case, for example, when shooting with a pan angle of 20 degrees, a tilt of 5 degrees, and a double zoom and wishing to be pasted as gif format image data, it is described as follows. Note that the network address of the camera control apparatus is www.foo.co.jp.
<img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/P20T5Z2.gif">
When there is an HTML document description as described above, the external device 1002 which is a server of the WWW browser outputs the character string of the HTML description to the camera control device 1001 and requests image data.

  When this request is input to the camera control apparatus 1001 via the communication interface unit 1011, the command interpretation unit 1012 is activated, and the request interpretation (the above-described HTML character string) and the response process are started.

  An example of the processing is as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S101, a command described as a file name is interpreted. That is, if the head of the request is “P”, it is recognized as a shooting command, and the process proceeds to step S102.

  Here, the camera 1003 is operated with the specified pan, tilt, and zoom values via the camera control means 1017 (step S102), and the captured image is converted into the image format of the specified method, and the communication interface. A response is made to the requesting external device 1002 via the means 1011. The external device 1002 stores this image data and transfers it to the original transmission source.

  At this time, since the communication interface unit 1011 uses the HTTP protocol, content type information, status information, and the like corresponding to the image format are added to the head. Then, this process ends.

  As a result, an image captured as if it were image data stored in a file of the WWW server is pasted and displayed on the HTML document. In the condition determination in step S101, if the head of the request is “R”, it is recognized as a reservation command for shooting date and time, and the process proceeds to step S105 via the condition determination in step S104.

  Reservation commands begin with the letter "R", followed by a year, month, day, hour, and minute each represented by an integer, separated by a period. Then, pan / tilt / zoom instructions that are photographing conditions follow, and finally a name representing the image format is given. When there is no shooting condition, the camera angle at the shooting date and time is adopted.

For example, if you want to make a reservation for shooting a 3x zoom video with a pan angle of 25 degrees and a tilt angle of 0 degrees at 13:15 on July 6, 1996, the following description is used. That is,
<img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996.7.6.13.15.P25T0Z3.gif">
When a reservation command as described above is designated, a unique identification number is received as a reception code from the reception code generation means 1013 in step S105. For example, it may be realized as a counter that is incremented by one for each generation request, or may be realized by a numerical value indicating the time of the requested date.

  Then, the reception code, the reservation time, the photographing condition, and the image format information are registered in a storage device (not shown) included in the reservation registration unit 1014 (step S106), and the reception code (a code for notifying that it has been received) is transmitted to the communication interface. A reply is made to the requesting external device 1002 and eventually to the original end user via the means 1011 (step S107).

  Also at this time, content type information, status information, and the like are added to the head to indicate that the response content is a reception code. Then, this process ends.

  If you simply create an HTML document that includes such a shooting reservation and try to display it with a general WWW browser, the reception code will be returned instead of the image data. Does not display an image.

  However, after a reservation is obtained for the camera control device 1001 by the same method as that of the WWW browser by the CGI program of the WWW server and the reception code is obtained, the reception code is designated by an image retrieval command described later. If an HTML document including an image data description is generated, when the generated document is displayed on a WWW browser, photographing is performed as reserved and the image data is displayed.

  In other words, the camera control device 1001 controls the camera 1003 at the registered camera angle when the reservation time registered in the reservation registration means 1014 is reached, and takes a picture of the camera 1003 with an appropriate name, for example, the image storage means 1019. The reservation number is used as the file name and stored in the specified format. Thereafter, when a fetch command is sent from the external device 1002, image data conforming to the fetch command is read from the image recording means 1019 and designated as the external device 1002 (corresponding to an end user terminal). Will be transferred in the same format.

  The retrieval command starts with the letter “G”, followed by a reception code, and finally has a name indicating the image format.

This reception code is returned to the external device 1002 when a reservation is made. For example, when “12543” is returned as an acceptance code, the following description is used when an image reserved for shooting is taken out after shooting. That is,
<img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/G12543.gif">
It is.

  Various types of information are stored in the storage device in the reservation registration unit 1014 in the form of a table as shown in FIG. 3, for example. Here, the storage device included in the reservation registration unit 1014 itself is taken as an example. However, for example, the image storage unit 1019 of the camera control device 1001 may be used, and any storage unit may be used.

  Note that the character string meaning image formation added to the end of the retrieval command (in this case, “gif”, but in principle it should be the same as when it was reserved. The camera control device may convert the image stored in the image storage means 1019 with the reservation number into a newly designated format and transfer it.

  Although the description will return, FIG. 3 shows a state when the reception code is “12543” in the case of the above reservation example. That is, first, shooting date / time information, reception code, shooting conditions, and image format (image format).

  The image storage unit 1019 is managed in a format as shown in FIG. Here, the reception code (corresponding to the reservation code and having the same meaning as the file name), the image format, and the actual image data are stored. The image storage means 1019 may be any type of storage device, but it is desirable that the capacity is sufficient. Specifically, it is a hard disk device or a magneto-optical disk device.

  As described above, the processing procedure when an extraction command is actually received will be described below.

  In the condition determination in step S101, if the head of the request is “G”, then the process proceeds to step S104, and the determination here is also negative, so the process proceeds to step S108. Here, since it is recognized that the command is an image retrieval command, the process proceeds to step S109, and data stored in the image storage unit 1019 is searched based on the reservation code included in the retrieval command.

  Then, it is determined whether or not it is stored with the same value as the reception code described as the image fetch command (step S110). If registered, the image data is fetched and the request source is sent via the communication interface means 1011. To the external device 1002.

  Also at this time, since the communication interface unit 1011 uses the HTTP protocol, content type information, status information, and the like corresponding to the image format are added to the head (step S111).

  In step S112, the column of the image storage means 1019 in which the image data that has just been extracted is stored is deleted. Then, this process ends.

  If it is determined in step S110 that the image data corresponding to the designated reception code is not stored, the target image has not been captured or has already been transferred and deleted, so error information is transmitted to the communication interface unit. A response is made to the requesting external device 1002 via 1011, and this processing ends.

  If the head of the request from the external device 1002 is not “G” in step S108, error information indicating an undefined command is returned to the requesting external device 1002 via the communication interface unit 1011. The process ends.

  As described above, information is exchanged between the external device 1002 and the control device 1001 of the present invention.

  Next, the time limit unit 1015 that performs camera control, shooting, and storage of shooting results based on reservation data registered in the reservation registration unit 1014 will be described.

  In the time limit means 1015, a time limit program is started at regular time intervals, for example, every one minute. This can be realized by using a timer of a computer.

  The operation of the timed program will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the current time is read from the timer of the control device 1001 (step S201), and the process proceeds to step S202.

  In step S202, reservation items registered one column at a time are extracted from the reservation registration unit 1014. If it is determined in step S203 that all the items have been extracted, the process ends. If the reservation item can be extracted, the process proceeds to step S204 to determine whether or not the set time in the target reservation item is later than the current time. If it is determined that the current time has not reached the set time, the processes after step S202 are repeated.

  If it is determined that the current time is greater than or equal to the set time, the process proceeds to step S205, and the camera 1003 is controlled via the camera control means 1017 according to the shooting condition of the retrieved reservation item to perform shooting. Then, the photographed image is converted into the image format of the method specified by the reservation item, and this image data is stored in the image storage means 1019 together with the reception code and the image format information (step S206).

  Subsequently, the currently retrieved reservation item is deleted from the reservation registration unit 1014 (step S207), and the process returns to step S202 to repeat the process.

  As described above, photographing is performed as scheduled, the result is stored, and when an image retrieval command is requested from the external device 1002 later, this image data is returned.

  As described above, the camera control device in the embodiment is connected to the network of the WWW system, and only the URL obtained by adding the description of the shooting condition of the camera to the address of the camera control device in the embodiment is described as the source of the image data. A live image obtained by operating a remote camera can be easily pasted into a WWW document. If only this is realized, each of the reception code means 1013, the time limit means 1015, the image storage means 1019, and the reservation registration means 1014 is unnecessary, and the steps after step S104 of the command interpretation means 1012 are unnecessary. .

  In addition, by providing the time limit means 1015, the image storage means 1019, and the reservation registration means 1014, if the CGI program of the WWW server is used, the camera shooting is reserved, and the result is later displayed on the WWW page for display. It becomes possible to do. In particular, even if an attempt is made to shoot with a remote camera in a time zone where the network is congested, it takes time to transfer the image and image data cannot be collected as expected, but according to this embodiment, Reservation is made in advance for a necessary time at a specific camera angle, and the accumulated image data can be taken out and used when the network is exhausted at night or the like.

  In particular, it is possible to obtain a great effect that it is possible to capture a plurality of images at a short interval with the same camera angle regardless of the transmission capacity of the network.

  Of course, the interface with the external device 1002 has been described as the HTTP protocol here, but any communication interface may be used.

  In this embodiment, the reception code is used to identify the photographing data for the reservation. However, a unique request number is used on the external device 1002 (end user side) that requests an image without using the reception code generation means. May be generated as a part of the reservation command, and the control device may use a method of identifying the target image data by a combination of the external device 1002 and the request number.

  Further, when notifying the above-mentioned reservation code to the transmission source, a password may be issued and notified, and the next time it is taken out, it may be transferred only after attaching the password together with the reservation code. At least in this way, the problem that the file is deleted because the third party happens to give the same reservation number and issues a transfer request can be avoided.

  In addition, although the reservation time is in minutes, it may be extended to seconds or milliseconds.

  In addition, although gif is taken as an example of the image format, JPEG may be expressed by a file extension called jpg so that one of them can be switched.

  Although the file name is regarded as a command, a URL parameter description may be used.

For example, when the pan, tilt, zoom, and image format are 25 degrees, 5 degrees, 2 times, and gif, respectively, the following description may be made.
<img src = "http://cam.foo.co.jp/cameraimage?P=20,T=5,Z=2,F=gif">

Moreover, you may mount a WWW server simultaneously in this control apparatus. In that case, for example, it can be realized by giving the name camctl.exe to the program of the command interpreting means 1012 as the CGI program of the WWW server and performing the following description.
<img src = "http://cam.foo.co.jp/cgi-bin/camctl.exe?P=20,T=5,Z=2,F=gif">

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, when the transfer of the image once reserved is completed, the image data (file) is deleted. However, depending on the case, it may not be deleted at this time.

  In other words, an appropriate time after the actual shooting and saving as a file is stored, and when that time has passed, the data is deleted regardless of whether it has been transferred or not. In this way, at least a plurality of end users can have an opportunity to view the same image.

  In some cases, a password may be assigned and transferred only when the password matches the password.

<Second Embodiment>
In the above embodiment (first embodiment), only one image can be reserved for camera shooting at a time.

  In this embodiment, a file extension representing an image format is added to a file name formed by combining a plurality of reservation commands with “+” so as to enable reservation of a plurality of times and camera angles at a time. To do.

For example, when shooting at 3 times zoom with a pan angle of 25 degrees and a tilt angle of 0 degrees at 13:15, 30, 30 and 45 minutes on July 6, 1996, and taking out three images in gif format later, Write like this.
<img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996.7.6.13.15P25T0Z3+R1996.7.6.13.30P25T0Z3+R1996.7.6.13.45P25T0Z3.gif">

  Here, in this specification, a character string enclosed by "" "and" "" may be displayed over two or more lines, but the actual description is one line that does not include line breaks. Describe in.

If the date and time are the same or the camera angles are the same, they may be omitted. In that case, the same reservation as above can be described as follows.
<img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996.7.6.13.15P25T0Z3+R....30+R....45.gif">
In this description, a portion where periods are continued indicates that the number between the periods is the same as the number set first. This makes it possible to reduce the amount of information for the same date or the like.

  The basic configuration of the second embodiment can be realized with substantially the same configuration as the first embodiment except for the following changes.

  That is, step S106, step S111, and step S112 of the procedure program in the command interpretation unit 1012 are processed according to the format indicated by “+”.

  Accordingly, the reservation codes in the reservation table of FIG. 3 are set to, for example, “12543-1”, “12543-2”, “12543-3”, and these reservation codes are also stored when images are stored. Store according to. When a retrieval command is received, the common part reservation code (in this case, “12543”) is searched, and the image data is re-ordered according to the numerical order after the hyphen, and one image data including a plurality of image data is included. The data is reformatted as image data and returned to the requesting external device 1002 via the communication interface unit 1011.

  Also at this time, since the communication interface unit 1011 uses the HTTP protocol, content type information, status information, and the like corresponding to the image format are added to the head.

  Then, in step S112 after the change, the column of the image storage unit 1019 corresponding to each of the extracted plurality of image data is deleted.

  By configuring as described above, many reservations can be made at one time, and it is possible to handle them collectively as one image data composed of a plurality of images, and a plurality of receptions corresponding to each image data. Saves you the trouble of managing your code.

  Further, when applied to intermittent photography such as plant growth recording, it is possible to handle a plurality of photographed images as a pseudo moving image that is stored in one image data.

  Of course, other applications may be the same as those in the first embodiment.

<Third Embodiment>
In the second embodiment, even when intermittent shooting is performed with the same camera angle at the same time interval, it is necessary to specify the reservation commands connected in the same number as the number of shooting.

  Therefore, in the third embodiment, the end time and the intermittent time are added immediately after the time designation of the reservation command, and then the information amount to be set is designated by designating the shooting conditions such as the camera angle and the image format. To reduce. Here, an example will be described in which the end time is designated by the time following the letter “t”, and the intermittent time is designated by the time in minutes following the letter “e”.

For example, when shooting at 3 times zoom with a pan angle of 25 degrees and a tilt angle of 0 degrees at 13:15, 30, 30 and 45 minutes on July 6, 1996, and taking out three images in gif format later, Write like this.
<img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996.7.6.13.15t1996.7.6.13.45e15P25T0Z3.gif">
Here, in this specification, a character string enclosed by """and""" may be displayed over two or more lines, but the actual description is one line that does not include line breaks. Describe in.

Of course, in this case as well, when the date and time of the end time are the same, it may be omitted as described above. In that case, the same reservation as above can be described as follows.
<img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996.7.6.13.15t....45e15P25T0Z3.gif">

  The basic configuration of the third embodiment can be realized with substantially the same configuration as the first embodiment except for the following changes.

  That is, step S106, step S111, and step S112 of the program executed by the command interpretation unit 1012 are changed to meet the above specifications. At the same time, step S207 in the time limit means 1015 is also changed to meet the above specifications.

  In this case, the table format registered in the reservation registration unit 1014 is as shown in FIG.

  That is, the shooting end time and its intermittent time are newly added to the record of FIG.

  On the other hand, in step S106, if the requested reservation command has an end time and an intermittent time, the command analysis unit 1012 uses the reservation time as the shooting time, and sets the end time, the intermittent time, the reception code, the shooting condition, Along with the image format, it is registered in the reservation registration means 1014.

  If the requested reservation command is a simple reservation and does not have an end time and an intermittent time, the end time is set to be the same as the shooting time and the intermittent time is set to 1.

  In step S111, a plurality of pieces of image data registered with the same reservation code are extracted, reformatted as one piece of image data including a plurality of pieces of image data, and the request source external device via the communication interface unit 1011. It is sufficient to reply to 1002.

  Also at this time, since the communication interface unit 1011 uses the HTTP protocol, content type information, status information, and the like corresponding to the image format are added to the head.

  In step S112, it can be understood that the column of the image storage means 1019 corresponding to each of the plurality of extracted image data is deleted.

  On the other hand, in step S207, the time limit means 1015 updates the registered reservation information with the information obtained by adding the intermittent time of the retrieved reservation item to the shooting time, and when the shooting time is later than the end time, The item is deleted from the reservation registration unit 2014.

  With the configuration described above, intermittent photographs can be easily taken with a short command.

  In particular, when taking intermittent photographs over a long period of time, in the case of the method of the second embodiment, the command becomes very long, and in many cases, it cannot be substantially realized. According to the above, it is possible to realize it by providing a sufficient storage capacity of a storage device for accumulating image data.

<Fourth Embodiment>
In the third embodiment, the result of intermittent shooting is taken out as a plurality of still image data. However, in the fourth embodiment, an example of adding a form taken out as moving image data will be described.

When extracting as video data, set the file extension to mpg. For example, it is described as follows.
<img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996.7.6.13.15t....45e15P25T0Z3.mpg">

  FIG. 7 shows the basic configuration of the fourth embodiment. As shown in the figure, the fourth embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the first embodiment except for the following changes.

  That is, a moving image compression unit 2021 such as an MPEG1 compression device is added, and a command interpretation unit 4012 capable of interpreting the file extension “mpg” is provided.

  In step S111 of the program in this case, if the image format designation is a still image format such as jpg or gif, a plurality of pieces of image data registered with the same reservation code are extracted, and a plurality of pieces of image data are included again. The data is reformatted as one image data and returned to the requesting external device 1002 via the communication interface unit 1011.

  If the image format is designated as “mpg”, a plurality of image data registered with the same reservation code is taken out, each image is restored, delivered to the moving image compression means 2021, and compressed. The moving image data is returned to the requesting external device 1002 via the communication interface unit 1011.

  Also at this time, since the communication interface unit 1011 uses the HTTP protocol, content type information, status information, and the like corresponding to the image format are added to the head.

  With the configuration as described above, compression using the relationship between image frames is performed, and particularly in intermittent photographs with little change, image data is greatly compressed. The amount of communication can be reduced, and the communication time can be greatly shortened.

<Fifth Embodiment>
In the third embodiment, the camera angles to be photographed are the same. However, in the fifth embodiment, the definition of the control variable is added immediately before the time designation of the reservation command, and then the time is set. Specify, and then repeat shooting with specified shooting conditions such as camera angle and image format.

The definition of the control variable adopts the format of “$ (” + “definition body” + “)”. Here, two ways of writing are defined in the definition body. One specifies an initial value, a closing price, and an increment, which is further divided into two types depending on whether the increment is positive or negative. Another format is to write down all the values of control variables. That is,
$ (<Control variable> = initial value, upto closing price, up increment)
$ (<Control variable> = initial value, downto closing price, down increment)
Or
$ (<Control variable> = value 1, value 2, value 3, value 4, ... value n)
It is.

  Here, <control variable> is a character string consisting of one or more English characters and is an identifier of the control variable.

  The reference of the control variable is “$ (” + reference body + “)”. The reference body is a four-rule arithmetic expression including control variables.

For example, at 13:15 on July 6, 1996,
3x zoom with a pan angle of 25 degrees and a tilt angle of 0 degrees,
3x zoom with 30 ° pan angle and 0 ° tilt angle
3x zoom with a pan angle of 35 degrees and a tilt angle of 0 degrees,
When taking a picture with (taking a picture by changing the pan angle by 5 degrees) and extracting three images in gif format later, the following is described.
"http://www.foo.co.jp/R$(pan=25,upto35,up5)1996.7.6.13.15P$(pan)T0Z3.gif"
Or
"http://www.foo.co.jp/R$(pan=0,upto10,up5)1996.7.6.13.15P$(pan+25)T0Z3.gif"
Or
"http://www.foo.co.jp/R$(pan=35,downto25,down5)1996.7.6.13.15P$(pan)T0Z3.gif"
Or
"http://www.foo.co.jp/R$(pan=25,30,35)1996.7.6.13.15P$(pan)T0Z3.gif"
Here, in this specification, a character string enclosed by """and""" may be displayed over two or more lines, but the actual description is one line that does not include line breaks. Describe in.

  The basic configuration of the fifth embodiment is basically the same as that of the second embodiment, but step S106 in the processing program of the command interpretation unit 1012 is as shown in FIG. If the character next to “R” is $, this is a definition of a control variable, which is a reserved command of the fifth embodiment.

  First, in step S501, one control variable definition starting with “$ (” and ending with “)” is acquired, and in step S502, it is checked whether all definitions have been extracted.

  After all the control variable definitions are extracted, the control variables are initialized in step S503.

  In step S504, the remaining part of the command is scanned to search for a control variable reference starting with “$ (” and ending with “)”, and the corresponding variable previously initialized is replaced with the searched control variable value. Thus, when the replacement for the number of searched control variables is completed, the process proceeds to step S506, where the character string obtained by the above process is analyzed as a reservation command for repeated shooting described above, and is generated in step S105. The reservation code and the image format information are the same, and the reservation time and shooting conditions specified by each reservation command are registered in the reservation registration means 1014 as a plurality of reservations.

  Then, the control variables are repeatedly updated so that the next stage is reached in step S507, and the processes in and after step S504 are repeated until it is determined in step S508 that all control variables have reached the end values.

  By doing as described above, an intermittent photographic image in which the camera angle is changed can be easily obtained with a short command.

  In the explanation, only one control variable definition is used, but a plurality of definitions can be written. In that case, the definitions shall be nested.

  In the fifth embodiment, the introduction of the repetition syntax has been described, but in the same manner, syntax such as a condition determination syntax, variable definition, variable assignment, and four arithmetic operations can be introduced.

  That is, the command interpreting means can be realized as a program interpreter, and the contents of the URL can be regarded as a program and held for interpretation.

  In this way, complicated camera control and the like can be automatically executed.

<Sixth Embodiment>
In the fifth embodiment, all camera angle designations for shooting must be described in the same URL.

  Therefore, in the sixth embodiment, a part of the reservation command can be separately registered as a macro library.

  Here, an example will be described in which data describing time designation and shooting conditions is stored in an external device (an appropriate server on the network).

For the sake of explanation, for example, it is assumed that shooting is performed by sequentially changing the following camera angles every minute from 13:00 on July 6, 1996.
3x zoom at 25 ° pan angle and 0 ° tilt angle (13:00:00 on July 6, 1996)
3x zoom at 30 ° pan angle and 0 ° tilt angle (13:01 on July 6, 1996)
3x zoom with a pan angle of 35 degrees and a tilt angle of 0 degrees (July 6, 1996, 13:02)
4x zoom with a pan angle of 35 degrees and a tilt angle of 1 degree (13:03 on July 6, 1996)
4x zoom with a pan angle of 35 degrees and a tilt angle of 2 degrees (July 6, 1996 13: 4)
5x zoom with a pan angle of 35 degrees and a tilt angle of 3 degrees (13:05 on July 6, 1996)
5x zoom with a pan angle of 35 degrees and a tilt angle of 4 degrees (13:06 on July 6, 1996)
6x zoom with a pan angle of 35 degrees and a tilt angle of 5 degrees (13:07 on July 6, 1996)
7x zoom with a pan angle of 35 degrees and a tilt angle of 5 degrees (July 6, 1996 13:08)
8x zoom with a pan angle of 35 degrees and a tilt angle of 5 degrees (July 6, 1996 13: 9)
A file storing a command instructing this is sent to the second external device.
http://www.bar.co.jp/camcon-a.ctl
Store as. That is, the address of the second external device is www.bar.co.jp.

  The contents of the file in this case are as follows, for example.

R199 6.7.6.13.0P25T0Z3 + R1996.7.6.13.1P30T0Z3 + R1996.7.6.13.2P35T0Z3 + R1996.7.6.13.3P35T1Z4 + R1996.7.6.13.4P35T2Z4 + R1996.7.6.13.5P35T3Z5 + R1996.7.6.13.6P35T4Z .7.6.13.7P35T5Z6 + R1996.7.6.13.8P35T5Z7 + R1996.7.6.13.9P35T5Z8.gif
In order to use this, the command given to the camera control device has a format that starts with “% 23 (”, followed by the URL, and ends with “)”. In the above case, it is necessary to inform the address of the command file.
"http://www.foo.co.jp/%23(httpd%3A//www.bar.co.jp/camcon-a.ctl)"

  The basic configuration of this embodiment is as shown in FIG. As compared with the fifth embodiment, the command interpreting means 6012 can interpret the command, and the connection state with the second external device (server storing the file having the command character string). This is a point.

  The operation of the command interpretation unit 6012 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S621, the command described as the file name is interpreted.

  If the head of the request is “% 23”, it is recognized as an external reference command, and the process proceeds to step S622.

  In this step S622, the part between “(” and “)” is regarded as the designated URL of the file in which the command is described and stored, and a file transfer request is issued according to this URL. In the above example, since the file is stored in “www.bar.co.jp”, a request is issued to the second external device 1004 in FIG.

  In step S623, a response is awaited. As a result, a long reservation command as described above is returned. The external reference command interpreted here is expanded and replaced so that it can be applied to subsequent command interpretation (step S624). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S101.

  Note that if the command is not an external reference command in step S621, the process proceeds to step S101. Since the subsequent steps are based on the description in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

  Of course, the present invention can be applied not only to the first embodiment but also to the second to fifth embodiments.

  With the configuration as described above, it is possible to easily take a complicated time reservation and intermittent photographs with complicated camera angle changes with a short command.

  In particular, according to the sixth embodiment, when there are a plurality of camera control devices (that is, a plurality of cameras) on the Internet and an image in the same shooting state is viewed, a shooting procedure is stored on one server. If you store files that describe commands, you can use them.

  For example, even when camera control devices are installed in various countries, you should appreciate each of them according to your own shooting conditions as well as your own shooting conditions. Is also possible.

In the sixth embodiment, the camera control device and the external device storing the camera control file are described as different devices. However, the two devices may be the same. In that case, the URL can be written as follows:
"http://www.foo.co.jp/%23(httpd%3A//www.foo.co.jp/camcon-a.ctl)"
Or only if the URL is the same,
"http://www.foo.co.jp/%23(camcon-a.ctl)"
Of course, if the command is stored in the external device that makes the request first, the address may be used. At that time, the second external device is unnecessary.

  Further, although not specifically described in the above embodiment, when there are camera control request acquisition requests from a plurality of locations at a time, the control right is given to any one of them. The control right is given to the first user stored in the control right queue. However, in the case of a specific user, the control right may be given preferentially.

  However, since this control right is not directly related to the present invention, further explanation is omitted.

  The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device.

  In addition, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and the computer of the system or apparatus (or CPU or MPU) stores the storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the medium.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like is used. Can do.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also the OS running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code performs the actual processing. Needless to say, a case where the function of the embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the processing, is also included.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written to the memory provided in the extension function board inserted in the computer or the function extension unit connected to the computer, the function extension is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

It is a block block diagram of the camera control apparatus in an embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement process sequence of the command interpretation means of embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the data format registered by the reservation registration means in embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the management format of the data memorize | stored of the image storage means of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation processing procedure of the time limit means in embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the data format registered by the reservation registration means in 3rd Embodiment. It is a block block diagram of the camera control apparatus in 4th Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the reservation registration of 5th Embodiment. It is a block block diagram of the camera control apparatus in 6th Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the control variable replacement process of 6th Embodiment.

Claims (12)

A communication method for controlling a camera via a network,
A description of a format indicating the address of one source on the network including a first character string indicating the address of the camera control device that controls the camera and a second character string indicating the control of the camera and its control amount. Using to access the camera control device;
And a step of receiving, from the camera control device, an image obtained by the camera control device controlling the camera according to the information on the second character string.   The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the second character string includes a character string used for zoom, pan, or tilt control of the camera.   The communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the description in the format indicating the address of the source is a URL. A communication device for controlling a camera via a network,
A description of a format indicating an address of one source on the network including a first character string indicating an address of a camera control device that controls the camera, and a second character string indicating a control of the camera and a control amount thereof. Using means for accessing the camera control device;
A communication apparatus comprising: means for receiving, from the camera control apparatus, an image obtained by the camera control apparatus controlling the camera in accordance with information relating to the second character string.   The communication apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second character string includes a character string used for zoom, pan, or tilt control of the camera.   6. The communication apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the description of the format indicating the address of the source is a URL. A communication method for controlling a camera based on a control request input from a communication device via a network,
One source on the network including a first character string indicating the address of a camera control device that controls the camera input in the communication device, and a second character string indicating the control of the camera and its control amount Identifying the information related to the second character string in the description of the format indicating the address in the camera control device;
The camera control device includes a step of controlling the camera according to information on the second character string.   The communication method according to claim 7, wherein the second character string includes a character string used for zoom, pan, or tilt control of the camera.   9. The communication method according to claim 7, wherein the description of the format indicating the source address is a URL. A camera control device that controls a camera based on a camera control request input via a network from a communication device,
One source on the network including a first character string indicating the address of a camera control device that controls the camera input in the communication device, and a second character string indicating the control of the camera and its control amount Identifying means for identifying information related to the second character string in the description of the format indicating the address;
And a control means for controlling the camera in accordance with information relating to the second character string.   The camera control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the second character string includes a character string used for zoom, pan, or tilt control of the camera.   12. The camera control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the description in the format indicating the address of the source is a URL.

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