JP5287347B2 - Array type sensor calibration system, method and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an array-type sensor calibration system, method, and program, and more particularly to a sensor information input unit calibration method in a system that integrates and processes a plurality of sensing information, such as a microphone array and a stereo camera, or a robot equipped with the system. About.

  There are technologies for improving sound quality by controlling sound directivity using a plurality of microphones (beamform), and technologies for estimating the position and direction of a sound source. The microphone array is one of the techniques for eliminating the interference signal superimposed on a desired audio signal. In the microphone array, first, a highly sensitive direction (beam) is formed on an incoming signal of a desired signal (target signal). At the same time, a direction with low sensitivity (null) is adaptively formed according to the incoming signal of the interference signal, and the interference signal included in the microphone input signal is suppressed by the sensitivity difference depending on the direction.

  Details of the microphone array are disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1. Sound source detection is a technology that estimates the position and direction of a sound source based on the principle of triangulation using the difference in arrival time to different microphones according to the distance from a desired sound source to each of a plurality of microphones. is there.

  As a method of calibrating multiple microphones, the same calibration signal for sensitivity adjustment is input to multiple microphones to be adjusted and the output signals of the microphones are compared as a method of uniformly adjusting the sensitivity between the multiple microphones. The method of adjusting with is disclosed in Patent Document 2.

  These technologies are based on the premise that the number and arrangement of microphones making up the array are designed in advance, and use the positional relationship information obtained from the design information to perform processing and sound quality for controlling sound directivity. Audio signal processing such as processing for improving the sound quality or processing for estimating the position and direction of the sound source is performed.

JP 2005-077731 A JP 2007-129373 A

  In the method of determining hardware specifications such as the number and arrangement of microphones in advance as described above, since only the manufacturer can manufacture the microphone array device, there are the following problems.

-In the case of an assembly-type robot kit, although the shape of the robot can be freely changed, the arrangement of a plurality of microphones cannot be changed, so the degree of freedom in changing the shape of the assembly-type robot is reduced.

The audio signal processing can improve the performance by increasing the number of microphones constituting the array, but cannot perform this because the array configuration cannot be changed.

  The above two are common problems that the arrangement of the microphones cannot be changed flexibly. In particular, it is a big problem that the microphone arrangement cannot be changed after the product is shipped.

-In addition, it is necessary to provide different microphone array parts for each type of robot and signal processing algorithms to cope with them, and there is a problem that the manufacturing cost becomes high because it is not suitable for mass production. .

  Although the above is a case where an assembly robot is assumed, there is a similar problem in a case where a plurality of microphones are installed in an environment such as a room or a facility to perform audio signal processing. Similarly to audio signal processing using a plurality of microphones, a stereo camera that performs processing such as calculating distance information to an object in a captured image by using arrangement information of a plurality of cameras is also used. There are similar issues.

  Therefore, in view of the above situation, the present invention provides an array sensor that can appropriately calibrate the contents of signal processing even when the arrangement of sensors is changed in a system including a plurality of removable sensors. An object is to provide a calibration system, method and program.

  To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an array type sensor calibration system, method, and program having the following features.

The array type sensor calibration system according to the present invention includes configuration information acquisition means for acquiring configuration information including arrangement information of a plurality of individually removable sensor components, and changes the contents of signal processing in accordance with the acquired configuration information. Signal processing control means .

The array-type sensor calibration method of the present invention includes a configuration information acquisition step of acquiring configuration information including arrangement information of a plurality of individually removable sensor parts, and changes the contents of signal processing according to the acquired configuration information. And a signal processing control step .

Calibration program according to the present invention, the calibration system of an array type sensor, a configuration information acquisition means for acquiring configuration information including the allocation information of the plurality of sensors parts removable individually, signal processing according to the acquired configuration information It functions as signal processing control means for changing the contents .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even if it is a case where arrangement | positioning of a sensor is changed in the system provided with the several sensor which can be attached or detached, it becomes possible to calibrate the content of signal processing appropriately.

It is a system diagram showing an example of composition of a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is an external appearance block diagram of the sensor unit of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is an external appearance block diagram at the time of using a microphone as a sensor as an example of a sensor unit. It is an external appearance block diagram at the time of using a video camera as a sensor as an example of a sensor unit.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Referring to FIG. 1, the first embodiment of the present invention is an assembly-type robot, which includes an upper head unit 1A, a lower head unit 1B, an upper head unit 1A, and a lower head unit 1B. A sensor unit 2 connected in a sandwiched manner, a stereo camera unit 3 connected to the spherical surface of the upper head unit 1A, a head connecting column unit 4, a neck unit 5, and a torso A unit 6, a wheel right unit 7A connected to the right side of the fuselage unit 6, a wheel left unit 7B connected to the left side of the fuselage unit 6, and a caster unit 8 connected to the back of the fuselage unit 6. Including.

  FIG. 2 is an external configuration diagram of the sensor unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The illustrated configuration is one of typical configuration examples of the sensor unit 2 in the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the sensor unit 2 includes a sensor mounting base 21, a mounting sensor component 22A, a mounting sensor component 22B, and a mounting sensor component 22C. The sensor mounting base 21 includes a mounting portion for mounting a large number of mounting type sensor components. In FIG. 2, the sensor mounting base 21 has three mounting type sensor parts attached only to the outermost side of the base, but it is possible to attach four or more mounting type sensor parts, It is possible to attach to parts other than the outermost part of the base.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention, and is a signal array for integrating a sensor array, a processing unit for corresponding to the configuration of the sensor array, and information on a plurality of sensors constituting the sensor array. It is a block diagram containing a part.

  The arrangement information acquisition unit 31 calculates the coordinate information and the total number of attached sensors in accordance with the arrangement of the respective attachment type sensor parts attached to the sensor unit 2. For example, an electrical switch that is energized when a sensor component is mounted on the sensor mounting portion of the sensor unit 2 and is not energized when the sensor component is not mounted. Are converted into coordinate values in the reference point and the coordinate system defined in advance on the sensor mounting base 21 in accordance with the position of the energized component. The definition method of the reference point and the coordinate position here can be arbitrarily defined. For example, when the sensor mounting base is circular, a polar coordinate system with the center of the circle as the origin may be used, or the sensor mounting When the pedestal is rectangular, an xy coordinate system having the origin at the intersection of diagonal lines of the rectangle may be used.

  The signal processing control unit 32 receives the total number of sensors mounted and the coordinate information of all the mounted sensors from the arrangement information acquisition unit 31, and the sensor signal processing processing content and the total number of sensors mounted. Signal processing control information for adapting to desired processing contents according to the coordinates of all the sensors that have been performed is generated.

  The sensor input signal acquisition unit 33 acquires signals from all sensor components attached to the sensor unit 2. The signal processing core unit 34 changes the signal processing content based on the digital signals of the plurality of sensors that are the output of the sensor input signal acquisition unit 33 and the control information that is the output of the signal processing control unit 32, and performs integrated signal processing. Output the result.

  If the processing content of the signal processing core unit 34 is, for example, sound source position detection processing, the integrated signal processing result outputs the distance and direction to the sound source, and the processing content of the signal processing core unit 34 is, for example, a microphone. In the case of an array, the target signal is amplified and a signal in which the interference signal is suppressed is output.

  FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram in the case where the sensor unit 22A to 22C in FIG. 2 is replaced with the wearable microphones 42A to 42C. In the case of the configuration illustrated in FIG. 4, the processing content of the signal processing core unit 34 is sound source direction detection signal processing or target speech enhancement processing (both processing may be performed).

  FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram when the sensor unit 22A to 22C of the sensor unit in FIG. 2 is replaced with wearable video cameras 52A to 52B. In the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 4, the processing content of the signal processing core unit 34 is stereo image processing.

  The schematic configuration of the above embodiment and effects achieved by the configuration will be described below.

  In the above embodiment, in a system that integrates and processes a plurality of sensing information such as a plurality of microphones and stereo cameras or a robot equipped with this system, each microphone and camera are configured as removable parts such as blocks. . And the said embodiment is the signal which changes the content of the signal processing according to the arrangement | positioning information acquisition means 31 which functions as a configuration information acquisition means which acquires the number and arrangement | positioning information when the said components are assembled | assembled The process control means 32 and the sensor signal input means which takes in the signal which each component outputs are comprised.

  According to the configuration described above, even if the arrangement and number of sensor components such as a plurality of microphones and stereo cameras are changed, it is possible to automatically acquire the changed position information and number without any time difference. In addition, by incorporating in advance a mechanism for changing signal processing parameters and the like so as to correspond to the acquired information, it is possible to realize signal processing adapted to changes in the arrangement and number of sensor components. That is, according to the above-described configuration, even when detachable parts are arbitrarily combined, the configuration information can be automatically created from the arrangement without manually creating the configuration information.

  Therefore, it is possible to flexibly change the number and arrangement of parts that acquire the original signal that constitutes the signal processing function, and it is possible to secure the degree of freedom in designing an assembly robot or the like. Further, the number of components can be added / reduced according to the desired signal processing performance, and the arrangement of the components can be changed in order to realize a desired appearance design. As a secondary effect, the same parts can be used to achieve various signal processing performances, and array sensor systems of various sizes and shapes can be configured. It can also be expected to reduce manufacturing costs due to mass production effects.

  Note that each unit (the arrangement information acquisition unit 31, the signal processing control unit 32, the sensor input signal acquisition unit 33, and the signal processing core unit 34) shown in FIG. 3 is built in the system or the assembly robot shown in FIG. It can be realized by hardware such as a microcomputer (not shown) and a software program using the hardware. In addition, such a software program can provide the same effects as those described above. Further, such a software program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium to improve portability.

1A Upper head unit 1B Lower head unit 2 Sensor unit 3 Stereo camera unit 4 Head connection column unit 5 Neck unit 6 Body unit 7A Wheel right unit 7B Wheel left unit 8 Caster unit 21 Sensor mounting bases 22A to 22C Type sensor parts 31 Arrangement information acquisition means 32 Signal processing control means 33 Sensor input signal acquisition means 34 Signal processing core parts 42A to 42C Wearable microphone parts 52A and 52B Wearable video cameras

Claims (10)

Configuration information acquisition means for acquiring configuration information including arrangement information of a plurality of sensor parts that can be individually detached ,
Signal processing control means for changing the contents of the signal processing according to the acquired configuration information;
Calibration system of an array-type sensor that have a. A plurality of sensor parts configured as individually removable parts;
The array type sensor calibration system according to claim 1, comprising: A pedestal part to which two or more of the sensor parts can be attached;
The array type sensor according to claim 2 , wherein the configuration information acquisition unit acquires , as the configuration information, arrangement information related to information on how each of the sensor components is arranged with respect to the pedestal component. Calibration system. The pedestal component has means for determining whether or not the sensor component is mounted at a position where the sensor component can be attached,
4. The array type sensor calibration system according to claim 3 , wherein the arrangement information is determined based on a determination by means for determining whether or not the sensor component is mounted. 5. The array sensor calibration system according to claim 1 , wherein the arrangement information includes coordinate points of the plurality of sensor parts in a reference point and a coordinate system defined in advance. The array sensor calibration system according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor component is a microphone, and the signal processing whose contents are changed by the signal processing control unit is sound source signal processing. The array type sensor calibration system according to claim 6 , wherein the sound source signal processing is sound source direction detection signal processing or target speech enhancement processing. The array sensor calibration system according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor component is a video camera, and the signal processing whose content is changed by the signal processing control unit is stereo image processing. A configuration information acquisition step for acquiring configuration information including arrangement information of a plurality of sensor parts that can be individually detached ,
A signal processing control step for changing the content of the signal processing according to the acquired configuration information;
A method for calibrating an array-type sensor. Array type sensor calibration system
Configuration information acquisition means for acquiring configuration information including arrangement information of a plurality of sensor parts that can be individually detached ,
To function as a signal processing control means for changing the contents of the signal processing according to the acquired configuration information, the calibration program.

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