JP5612168B1 - Elevator monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

A monitoring camera is used to monitor the state of each part in a car with high accuracy. A monitoring camera 20 installed in a car and a monitoring center 31 that acquires an image taken by the monitoring camera 20 via a network 30 and monitors a state in the car 20 are provided. The surveillance camera 20 analyzes a partial image and a function of partially extracting an image of a preset location in the car 20 from the captured image when a preset time zone comes, and the partial image And a function for transmitting the partial image to the monitoring center 31 via the network 30 when it is determined that there is a state change. [Selection] Figure 2

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an elevator monitoring system that monitors a state of each location in an elevator car with a monitoring camera.

  There is a system in which a surveillance camera is installed in an elevator car to monitor the state in the car. In such a system, for example, a monitoring camera equivalent to 400,000 pixels is used, and an entire image of a car taken by the monitoring camera is sent to a monitoring center via a network.

  Here, in the conventional monitoring system, regardless of whether there is an abnormality or not, the entire image taken in the car taken by the monitoring camera is sent to the monitoring center in a predetermined size. In general, if the monitoring camera is equivalent to 400,000 pixels, it is sent in a VGA (Video Graphics Array) size (640 × 480) or QVGA (Quarter Video Graphics Array) size (320 × 240).

JP 2002-173274 A

  However, in the case of a surveillance camera equivalent to 400,000 pixels, the resolution is low, so it is possible to check the behavior of passengers in the car from the captured image, but details such as scratches and dirt in each part of the car It is difficult to check.

  In this case, if a high-resolution monitoring camera is used, it is possible to check each location in the car in detail from the captured image. However, since the data amount of the photographed image becomes very large, there is a problem of the bandwidth used for the network and the communication cost when the photographed image is sent to the monitoring center.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an elevator monitoring system that can monitor the state of each part in a car with high accuracy using a monitoring camera.

  An elevator monitoring system according to the present embodiment includes a monitoring camera installed in a car, a monitoring center that acquires an image taken by the monitoring camera via a network, and monitors the state of the car Is provided.

The monitoring camera includes a partial image extraction unit that partially extracts an image of a predetermined location in the car from a captured image when a predetermined time period is reached, and the partial image extraction unit. Analyzing the extracted partial image and determining a state change at a location corresponding to the partial image, and when the state change determining unit determines that there is a state change, the partial image is Transmission control means for transmitting to the monitoring center via the image processing means, and image processing means for reducing the data size of the image taken by the monitoring camera. The transmission control means is normally reduced by the image processing means. The processed whole image is transmitted to the monitoring center via the network, and in the set time period, the state change determination means When it is determined that there is a change, the partial image corresponding to the location is transmitted to the monitoring center via the network, and the data size of the whole image reduced by the image processing unit and the partial image extracting unit The extracted partial images have the same data size.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of each part in an elevator car according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the elevator monitoring system in the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a control unit provided in the monitoring camera used in the elevator monitoring system according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the surveillance camera used in the elevator surveillance system in the same embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the normal monitoring process of the monitoring camera executed in step S13 of FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a relationship between a captured image of a monitoring camera used in the elevator monitoring system according to the embodiment, an entire image sent to the monitoring center, and a partial image. FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of an image when the operation panel in the car is photographed by the low-resolution monitoring camera in the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image when the operation panel in the car is photographed by the high-resolution monitoring camera according to the embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of each part in an elevator car according to an embodiment. In the figure, 11 indicates the entire car.

  A door 12 is attached to a front entrance / exit in the car 11 so as to be freely opened and closed. When the car 11 stops on each floor, the door 12 engages with a landing-side door (not shown) and opens and closes. An operation panel 13 and a display 14 are installed in the vicinity of the door 12.

  The operation panel 13 is provided with various operation buttons including a door opening button 13b and a door closing button 13c in addition to a destination floor button 13a corresponding to each floor. When a passenger who gets in the car 11 designates a destination floor by operating the destination floor button 13a, a hoisting machine (not shown) is driven, and the car 11 moves to the destination floor.

  The display device 14 is composed of, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like, and is installed near the operation panel 13. On the screen of the display 14, the current position and driving direction of the car 11 are displayed in a predetermined format.

  In addition, an illumination device 15 that illuminates the room with a predetermined luminance is installed on the ceiling surface 11 a in the car 11. The lighting device 15 is automatically turned off when the car 11 is unattended and stopped for a predetermined time (for example, 1 minute) or longer.

  In addition, 11b and 11c in a figure are the left and right side surfaces (a back surface is abbreviate | omitted), 11d is a floor surface. Various colors and designs are given to these surfaces including the ceiling surface 11a according to the specifications of the elevator.

  Here, in order to remotely monitor the state in the car 11, a high-resolution monitoring camera 20 is installed at a predetermined location in the car 11. In the example of FIG. 1, the monitoring camera 20 is installed on the side surface 11 b in the car 11, but the installation location is not particularly limited. Any place can be used as long as it can photograph the entire interior of the car 11, such as the ceiling surface 11a.

  This surveillance camera 20 has a wide-angle lens and can photograph the entire car 11 around the front door 12 in the car 11 as a center. In addition, the monitoring camera 20 includes, for example, an image sensor equivalent to 5 million pixels, and can obtain a high-resolution image. Further, the surveillance camera 20 is equipped with an image processing function including a digital pan / tilt / zoom function.

  In a general elevator monitoring system, a low-resolution monitoring camera equivalent to 400,000 pixels is used. When monitoring the behavior of passengers, there is no particular problem even with images taken with such a low-resolution monitoring camera, but it is difficult to check in detail the changes in the state of each location in the car 11. .

  On the other hand, in this system, since the inside of the car 11 is photographed using the monitoring camera 20 equivalent to 5 million pixels, it is possible to check in detail the state change of each part in the car 11. However, if such a captured image of megapixels is transmitted as it is to the outside (monitoring center) via a network, the amount of data becomes too large, so that the bandwidth used for the network is required and communication costs are also increased.

  Therefore, in this system, normally, the data size of the entire image is reduced to VGA size or QVGA size before transmission. On the other hand, when determining the state change, only the portion to be determined is extracted from the entire image in the VGA size or the QVGA size, and only the partial image is transmitted.

A specific configuration will be described below.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the elevator monitoring system.

  The monitoring camera 20 includes an imaging unit 21, a control unit 22, a timer 23, a storage unit 24, and a communication unit 25. The imaging unit 21 includes an imaging element equivalent to 5 million pixels, and generates image data corresponding to a subject imaged through a photographing lens (not shown). The image data generated by the imaging unit 21 is given to the control unit 22 and processed. Note that the image data generation process is not directly related to the present invention, and therefore detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  The control unit 22 is a controller for controlling the operation of the monitoring camera 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 22 includes an image processing unit 22a, a partial image extraction unit 22b, a state change determination unit 22c, and a transmission control unit 22d as functions for realizing the present system. .

  The image processing unit 22a performs a process of reducing the data size of the image captured by the monitoring camera 20 (specifically, the size of the image data generated by the imaging unit 21) in accordance with the size of the partial image described later. As a reduction method, a generally known pixel thinning process or the like is used.

  The partial image extraction unit 22b performs a process of partially extracting an image of a preset location in the car 11 from an image taken by the monitoring camera 20 when a preset time zone is reached. Specifically, the partial image extraction unit 22b determines whether or not the state in the car 11 satisfies a predetermined condition when the set time period is reached, and if the condition is satisfied, the monitoring camera From the image photographed at 20, an image of a part set in advance in the car 11 as a determination target is partially extracted.

  The above conditions include that the car 11 is unmanned, the door 12 is closed, and the lighting device 15 is lit. Whether or not these conditions are satisfied can be determined by analyzing the captured image.

  Further, the determination target location includes at least a location where the operation panel 13 is installed. As shown in FIG. 1, the operation panel 13 is provided with various operation buttons such as a destination floor button 13a, a door opening button 13b, and a door closing button 13c corresponding to each floor, and is frequently touched by passengers. It is a part, and it is easy to get a crack and dirt.

  In addition, a location where the door 12 is installed, a location where the display 14 is installed, a location where the lighting device 15 is installed, and the like are also targeted. Further, each portion such as the ceiling surface 11a, the side surfaces 11b and 11c, the back surface (not shown), and the floor surface 11d may be included in the determination target to check for scratches, dirt, and the like.

  The state change determination unit 22c analyzes the partial image extracted by the partial image extraction unit 22b, and determines a state change of a portion corresponding to the partial image. Specifically, the state change determination unit 22c compares the partial image extracted by the partial image extraction unit 22b with the reference image of the part corresponding to the partial image to determine the state change of the part.

  The transmission control unit 22d outputs the whole or a part of the image in the car 11 (image generated by the imaging unit 21) captured by the monitoring camera 20 to the communication unit 25 and transmits it to the outside. The outside mentioned here is the monitoring center 31.

  Specifically, the transmission control unit 22 d normally outputs the entire image reduced by the image processing unit 22 a to the communication unit 25 and transmits it to the monitoring center 31 via the network 30. Further, in the set time period, the transmission control unit 22d outputs a partial image corresponding to the location to the communication unit 25 only via the network 30 only when the state change determination unit 22c determines that there is a state change. To the monitoring center 31.

  In addition, a timer 23, a storage unit 24, a communication unit 25, and the like are connected to the control unit 22 of the monitoring camera 20.

  The timer 23 keeps the current time. The storage unit 24 stores various data necessary for the processing operation in the control unit 22 such as reference images of various portions in the car 11. The communication unit 25 performs data transmission / reception processing with the monitoring center 31 via the network 30. The network 30 is composed of the Internet, for example.

  The monitoring center 31 is an engine that exists in a remote place and remotely monitors the operation state of the elevator of each property. By transmitting all or part of the image in the car 11 taken by the monitoring camera 20 to the monitoring center 31, the state in the car 11 is monitored remotely.

In practice, an image storage server exists on the network 30 separately from the monitoring center 31. A normal image (entire image) is sent to the image storage server, and an image (partial image) determined to have a state change at the time of determination is sent to the monitoring center 31. However, since it is not necessary to separate the monitoring center 31 and the image storage server as the configuration of this system, the following description will be made assuming that the monitoring center 31 has a function as an image storage server.

  Next, the operation of the monitoring camera 20 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the monitoring camera 20 used in this system. Note that the processing shown in this flowchart is executed by the control unit 22 mounted on the monitoring camera 20 reading a predetermined program.

  The control unit 22 monitors the current time using the timer 23 (step S11), and determines whether or not a preset time zone has been reached (step S12). This time zone has a certain time width, for example, from 13:00 to 15:00. Moreover, you may set several times in one day.

  If it is not the set time zone (No in step S12), the control unit 22 executes a normal monitoring process using the monitoring camera 20 (step S13).

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart relating to the normal monitoring process.
First, the control unit 22 acquires an entire image of the car 11 from the imaging unit 21 (step S21). Then, the control unit 22 reduces the data size of the entire image according to the data size of the partial image (step S22).

  For example, when the data size of the partial image is set to the VGA size (640 × 480), the entire image composed of 5 million pixels is reduced to the VGA size. As a reduction method, generally known pixel thinning processing or the like is used, but the present invention is not particularly limited to this method.

  When the data of the entire image is reduced to the data size of the partial image, the control unit 22 transmits the reduced entire image to the monitoring center 31 (step S23). Specifically, the reduced overall image is given to the communication unit 25 and transmitted from the communication unit 25 to the monitoring center 31 via the network 30. In this case, since the entire image is sent with a data size equivalent to that of the partial image, it is not necessary to expand the use band of the network 30 in accordance with the resolution of the monitoring camera 20 installed in the car 11.

  On the other hand, if it is the set time period in step S12, the control unit 22 determines whether or not the current state in the car 11 satisfies the following condition 1-3 (step S14).

1. The car 11 is unattended.
2. The state where the door 12 is closed.
3. The lighting device 15 is lit.

  The purpose of photographing in this set time zone is to determine state changes such as dirt and scratches at various locations in the car 11 from the photographed image. Therefore, if there are passengers in the car 11, shooting is hindered, so the condition 1 is that the car 11 is unmanned. Here, “unmanned” means that the inside of the car 11 is empty, and includes not only a person but also a misplaced baggage.

Further, in order to check for scratches and dirt on the door panel, it is assumed that the door 12 is closed. The analysis of the partial image includes not only checking the door panel for scratches and dirt, but also checking the gap change (position / closed state) of the door 12. Normally, even when the door 12 is slightly before the position where the door is completely closed, the door switch is turned on to enable operation. Here, when the position of the end of the door 12 when the door is closed is different from the previous time on the image, it can be determined that the door is not completely closed due to, for example, dust clogged in the rail groove (prediction of the door). Detection).

  Furthermore, since it is necessary to check the lighting state (brightness etc.) of the lighting device 15, the condition 3 is that the lighting device 15 is turned on at the time of photographing.

  The control unit 22 analyzes the captured image to determine whether or not these conditions 1-3 are satisfied. Specifically, a plurality of captured images obtained successively at predetermined time intervals are sequentially analyzed to find a state that satisfies the above condition 1-3. The monitoring camera 20 is provided with an image analysis function, and the captured image can be internally analyzed without sending the captured image to another apparatus.

  In order to save power, usually, when the car 11 is unattended and stops for a predetermined time (for example, 1 minute) or longer, the lighting device 15 is automatically turned off. Therefore, it is premised that an image taken before the lighting device 15 is automatically turned off when the set time period is reached is analyzed.

  When the above condition 1-3 is satisfied (Yes in step S15), the control unit 22 extracts an image of a portion set in advance as a determination target portion from the photographed image at the time when the condition is satisfied (step S16).

  As described above, the partial image data is, for example, VGA size (640 × 480). Further, the determination target location includes at least a location where the operation panel 13 is installed. In addition, the location where the door 12 is installed, the location where the indicator 14 is installed, the location where the lighting device 15 is installed, the ceiling surface 11a, the side surfaces 11b and 11c, the back surface (not shown), and the floor surface 11d are targets. It becomes.

  When the partial image of the determination target portion is extracted, the control unit 22 compares the partial image with a reference image corresponding to the portion (step S17). For this reference image, a partial image of the same part that was taken in the same time period of the previous time is used.

  For example, when the installation location of the operation panel 13 is targeted, a partial image of the operation panel 13 captured in the same time zone as the previous time is stored as a new reference image instead of the previous reference image (partial image of the previous time). Stored in the unit 24. Then, this new reference image (previous partial image) is read from the storage unit 24 when compared with the partial image of the operation panel 13 obtained at the time of photographing this time.

  In this way, by always using the partial image of the same location that was taken in the same time zone as the previous time as the reference image, it is possible to continuously analyze the state change of the location. Since there is no previous partial image at the initial stage, for example, a partial image of each part extracted from an image taken at the time of installation is used as a reference image.

  As a result of comparing the partial image with the reference image, if there is a change of a predetermined value or more (Yes in step S18), the control unit 22 determines that there is a state change. Thereby, the control part 22 gives the said partial image to the communication part 25, and transmits to the monitoring center 31 via the network 30 with the detection signal which shows having detected the state change (step S19).

  If other locations to be determined are set (No in step S20), the control unit 22 repeatedly performs the same process on each location during the set time period and detects a state change. Transmits the partial image to the monitoring center 31 via the network 30 (step S19).

  Here, in step S18 described above, the “change greater than a predetermined value”, which is the condition change determination condition, specifically refers to a state where there is a difference of, for example, 10% or more between the partial image and the reference image. . For example, if there are scratches or dirt, the difference from the reference image becomes large, and it is determined that there is a state change.

  In this case, since this system uses the high-resolution monitoring camera 20 equivalent to 5 million pixels, the resolution of the partial image itself extracted from the photographed image is higher than before, and the part corresponding to the partial image It is possible to check the state change of each with high accuracy in detail. Furthermore, when a state change is detected, only a partial image that is a part of the photographed image is transmitted to the monitoring center 31, so that the data amount can be suppressed.

This is shown in FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing the relationship between the captured image of the monitoring camera 20, the entire image sent to the monitoring center 31, and the partial image.

  40 in the figure is an image taken by the surveillance camera 20 equivalent to 5 million pixels. The photographed image 40 has a size of 2560 × 1920 horizontal. In normal times, the data of each pixel constituting the captured image 40 is thinned out to reduce it to, for example, the VGA size (640 × 480), and then sent to the monitoring center 31 via the network 30. 41 in the figure represents the entire image after size reduction.

  On the other hand, when the preset time zone is reached, that is, the time zone for determining the state change in the car 11, the digital pan / tilt / zoom function is used to focus on a predetermined portion of the captured image 40. And only that portion is extracted, for example, with a VGA size (640 × 480). 42 in the figure represents a partial image extracted from the captured image 40. That is, the data size of the whole image 41 at the normal time and the partial image 42 at the time of determination are the same, for example, the VGA size (640 × 480).

  The partial image 42 is compared with the reference image to determine the state change in the car 11. As described above, the partial image of the same location that was captured in the same time period of the previous time is used as the reference image. If any state change is detected by comparison with the reference image, the partial image 42 is sent to the monitoring center 31 via the network 30. If no state change is detected, the partial image 42 is not sent to the monitoring center 31.

  In this way, by using a megapixel camera as the monitoring camera 20, a state change in the car 11 is detected with high accuracy while partially extracting an image of a location set as a determination target in advance from the captured image 40. It becomes possible to do.

  In the monitoring center 31, the entire image 41 and the partial image 42 sent from the monitoring camera 20 can be displayed and checked on the monitor screen. In this case, even if the data sizes of the entire image 41 and the partial image 42 are the same, since the partial image 42 is a part of the high-resolution captured image 40, a fine portion can be checked on the monitor screen.

This will be specifically described with reference to FIGS.
In a conventional low-resolution surveillance camera, for example, when the portion of the operation panel 13 in the car 11 is extracted from a captured image, the image is crushed as shown in FIG. For this reason, it is difficult for the monitoring staff to check fine details such as scratches and dirt on the operation panel 13 on the monitor screen.

  On the other hand, since the high-resolution monitoring camera 20 is used in this system, when the portion of the operation panel 13 in the car 11 is extracted from the captured image, the image becomes clear as shown in FIG. Is displayed. Therefore, for example, when there is a small scratch 50 or the like somewhere on the operation panel 13, it is possible for the monitor to easily recognize it on the monitor screen. In such a case, depending on the degree of state change at each location, a maintenance staff is dispatched to the site to cope with it.

  When a change in state is detected by comparing the partial image with the previous reference image, the partial image is sent to the monitoring center 31 together with the detection signal. At that time, the detected position information is added to the header information of the partial image and transmitted. With this detection position information, the detection location can be confirmed on the monitor screen in a form surrounded by a frame. This frame is not embedded and rewritten in the image itself, but is added to the header information of the image. Therefore, the display / non-display of the detection location frame can be arbitrarily switched on the monitor screen.

  According to at least one embodiment described above, it is possible to provide an elevator monitoring system that can monitor the state of each location in a car with high accuracy using a monitoring camera.

  In the above-described embodiment, a case where a megapixel camera corresponding to 5 million pixels is used as the monitoring camera 20 has been described. However, a partial image is extracted from the captured image and each location in the car 11 is checked in high detail. Any monitoring camera may be used as long as it can.

  Alternatively, a plurality of monitoring cameras 20 may be installed at each location in the car 11 so that the entire car 11 can be monitored in detail.

  In short, several embodiments of the present invention have been described, but these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Car, 11a ... Ceiling surface, 11b, 11c ... Left and right side surface, 11d ... Floor surface, 12 ... Door, 13 ... Control panel, 13a ... Destination floor button, 13b ... Door open button, 13c ... Door close button, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Display device, 15 ... Lighting apparatus, 20 ... Surveillance camera, 21 ... Imaging part, 22 ... Control part, 22a ... Image processing part, 22b ... Partial image extraction part, 22c ... State change determination part, 22d ... Transmission control part , 23 ... timer, 24 ... storage unit, 25 ... communication unit, 30 ... network, 31 ... monitoring center, 40 ... captured image, 41 ... whole image, 42 ... partial image, 50 ... scratch.

Claims (5)

In an elevator monitoring system comprising a monitoring camera installed in a car and a monitoring center that acquires an image taken by the monitoring camera via a network and monitors the state of the car,
The surveillance camera
Partial image extraction means for partially extracting an image of a preset location in the car from a captured image when a preset time zone is reached;
Analyzing the partial image extracted by the partial image extracting means, and determining a state change of the portion corresponding to the partial image;
Transmission control means for transmitting the partial image to the monitoring center via the network when the state change determination means determines that there is a state change ;
Image processing means for reducing the data size of an image taken by the monitoring camera,
The transmission control means includes
Normally, the entire image reduced by the image processing unit is transmitted to the monitoring center via the network, and when the state change determining unit determines that there is a state change in the set time zone, Is sent to the monitoring center via the network,
An elevator monitoring system characterized in that the data size of the entire image reduced by the image processing means matches the data size of the partial image extracted by the partial image extracting means . The partial image extraction means includes
When the set time period is reached, it is determined whether or not the state in the car satisfies a predetermined condition. If the condition is satisfied, a preset value in the car is preset from a captured image. The elevator monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein an image of the part is partially extracted.   The conditions include that the inside of the car is unattended, the door of the car is in a door-closed state, and a lighting device installed in the car is in a lighting state. The elevator monitoring system according to claim 2. The partial image extraction means includes
4. The elevator monitoring system according to claim 3, wherein an image captured by the monitoring camera is analyzed to determine whether or not the condition is satisfied. The state change determination means is
The elevator monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the state change of the part is determined by comparing the partial image extracted by the partial image extracting means with a reference image of the part corresponding to the partial image. system.

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