JP7141842B2 - monitoring device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a monitoring apparatus for tracking and photographing an object moving within a monitoring area by changing the photographing direction according to the position of the object.

Conventionally, there has been known a system that detects a moving object by scanning a monitoring area using an area sensor device such as a laser sensor, changes the shooting direction of the camera according to the position of the detected object, and tracks and shoots the object. there is

In this system, when the laser sensor detects multiple objects, there is a method for determining the object to be tracked and photographed. A method of tracking and photographing an object has been proposed (Patent Document 2 below).

JP 2014-175844 A JP 2014-175843 A

The conventional system assumes that the detected object is an object to be tracked and photographed. However, while laser sensors can detect a plurality of types of objects such as people and vehicles, the types of objects to be tracked and photographed with priority may differ depending on the purpose of monitoring. For example, when it is desired to monitor the traffic of people, an object whose type is a person should be preferentially photographed. Therefore, if the tracking imaging target is determined without considering the type of the detected object, there is a risk that the object that should be preferentially photographed cannot be photographed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. The purpose is to provide an apparatus.

(1) A monitoring device according to the present invention is a device that tracks and photographs a moving object in a monitoring area, detects the moving object within the monitoring area, and outputs detection results including the position of the moving object. a detection unit, an imaging unit capable of changing an imaging direction, a control unit that controls the imaging unit based on the detection result, a type determination unit that determines the type of the moving object based on the detection result, and When only one moving object is detected by the object detection unit, the moving object is set as a tracking photographing target regardless of the type of the moving object, and when a plurality of moving objects are detected, each type is set. a photographing object setting means for preferentially setting the moving object having a high photographing priority set in advance as a tracking photographing object.

(2) In the monitoring apparatus described in (1) above, each time a moving object is newly detected in the monitoring area, the shooting target setting means selects a tracking shooting target for the plurality of detected moving objects. It can be configured to be reset.

(3) In the monitoring apparatus described in (1) and (2) above, the photographing target setting means, when the plurality of moving objects have the same photographing priority, selects a currently moving object among the moving objects. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which an object that is moving is set as the tracking photographing target.

(4) The monitoring apparatus described in (1) to (3) above further evaluates a predetermined feature amount for each of the detected moving objects to obtain a shooting target possibility that indicates the likelihood of a tracking shooting target. Evaluation means is provided, and the imaging target setting means preferentially tracks a moving object having a high possibility of being the imaging target among the moving objects when the imaging priority is the same for a plurality of the moving objects. It can be configured to be set as an object to be photographed.

(5) The monitoring device described in (1) to (4) further determines whether or not each detected moving object is an intruding object that satisfies a predetermined reporting condition based on a predetermined feature value. and the imaging target setting means sets the moving object determined as the intruding object by the determining means to be the tracking imaging target regardless of the imaging priority, and sets the moving object as the intruding object. If there is only a moving object that has not been determined, a configuration can be adopted in which a tracking photographing target is set according to the photographing priority.

(6) In the monitoring apparatus described in (1) to (5) above, the type determination means determines at least a person and a vehicle as the types, and the imaging target setting means determines that the imaging priority of the vehicle is: Even if the shooting priority is set higher than that of the person, when a new person is detected within a predetermined range from the vehicle set as the tracking shooting target, the person is set as the tracking shooting target. can be configured to switch between.

According to the present invention, it is possible to preferably set a tracking shooting target for a detected object, particularly in a situation where a plurality of objects are detected, preferably set a tracking shooting target.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the outline of the monitoring system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic flow diagram of control related to tracking imaging of the monitoring device according to the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of processing by a tracking imaging target setting unit; FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of processing by a tracking imaging target setting unit;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A monitoring system 1 including a monitoring device according to the present invention will be described below as an embodiment (hereinafter referred to as an embodiment) of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a monitoring system 1 according to an embodiment. A monitoring system 1 includes a monitoring device 2 and a monitoring center 3 . The monitoring device 2 and the monitoring center 3 are communicably connected.

The monitoring device 2 is installed in a place, a building, or the like, where a monitoring area 4 to be monitored is set, and tracks and photographs a moving object (person, vehicle, etc.) in the monitoring area 4 . The monitoring device 2 includes an object detection unit 5 , an imaging unit 6 and a control unit 7 , and at least the object detection unit 5 and the imaging unit 6 are installed at positions facing the monitoring area 4 . For example, the monitoring area 4 is set outdoors, and the object detection unit 5 and the imaging unit 6 are installed on an outer wall surface of a building, a pole erected adjacent to the monitoring area 4, or the like. On the other hand, the control unit 7 is installed at a predetermined location within the monitoring area 4 or in the vicinity of the monitoring area 4, and is connected to the object detection unit 5 and the imaging unit 6 via a LAN, for example. The control unit 7 can be installed in a place close to the object detection unit 5 and the imaging unit 6, or the object detection unit 5 and the imaging unit 6 can be installed outdoors, and the control unit 7 can be installed indoors. It can also be placed at a position separated from the object detection unit 5 and the imaging unit 6 . Also, each function of the control unit 7 may be provided in the object detection unit 5 and the imaging unit 6 .

The monitoring area 4 is set, for example, in a semicircular shape with a radius of several tens of meters [m] (for example, 20 m) around the monitoring device 2 . In the monitoring area 4 set in this way, the resolution of an object detected at a position distant from the camera is not so high with a general-purpose camera, and sufficient information about the object cannot be obtained, so it is necessary to perform zoom control appropriately. arise. It should be noted that the monitoring area is not limited to this example, and can be appropriately determined according to security planning.

An object detection unit 5 detects a moving object within the monitoring area 4 and outputs a detection result including the position of the moving object. When the object detection unit 5 detects an abnormal event that has occurred within the monitoring area 4 (for example, a suspicious person or vehicle enters the monitoring area 4), the object detection unit 5 transmits tracking information, which will be described later, to the control unit 7.

The imaging unit 6 performs camera control in accordance with the camera control command from the control unit 7, and photographs the movement of an object that has entered the surveillance area 4 while tracking it.

The control unit 7 generates a camera control command as a control instruction to the imaging unit 6 based on the tracking information of the object.

The monitoring center 3 is a facility operated by a security company or the like, and is usually equipped with a center device composed of one or more computers. Also, the monitoring center 3 is connected to one or more monitoring devices 2 via a network. In the monitoring center 3, for example, various devices are controlled by the center device, abnormal signals received from the monitoring device 2 are recorded, and abnormal information and images captured by the imaging unit 6 are displayed on the display. is monitoring the surveillance area.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the monitoring device 2. As shown in FIG. The configuration of the monitoring device 2 shown in FIG. 2 will be described below.

The object detection unit 5 includes an area sensor device, for example, performs spatial scanning of the monitoring area 4 at a predetermined cycle using a beam-shaped search signal, and detects reflected light reflected by an object (person, vehicle, etc.) on the optical path. is received, the position of an object existing within the monitoring area 4 is detected. In addition, the object detection unit 5 can calculate the moving speed and moving direction of the object using the position detection results obtained at a plurality of times.

The object detection unit 5 includes communication means 51 , storage means 52 , detection means 53 , tracking means 54 and control means 55 .

The communication means 51 is connected to the control section 7 , receives a guard start signal and a guard release signal output from the control section 7 , and inputs the signals to the control section 55 . Further, when the presence of a moving object in the monitoring area 4 is determined by the detection means 53 , the communication means 51 transmits a detection signal including its own address information to the control section 7 . For example, tracking information is transmitted to the control unit 7 as a detection signal.

The storage means 52 is a storage device composed of a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and stores various setting information, programs for operating the object detection unit 5, and the like. memorize For example, the storage unit 52 stores address information for specifying the object detection unit 5 itself. In the storage means 52, monitoring area information indicating the monitoring area 4 set as the range to be monitored by the object detection unit 5, reference data generated by the detection means 53, and data obtained by the detection means 53 are stored. Measured data for a predetermined period in the past and tracking information of a moving object (intruding object) are stored.

Here, the reference data is data that is compared with the current measurement data in order to extract a moving object newly appearing in the monitoring area 4 in tracking processing for tracking a moving object. Specifically, the reference data is generated from the measurement data acquired at any past time from the start of scanning by the detection means 53 to the present. For example, an existing object such as a plant or an outer wall acquired by scanning while there is no moving object in the monitoring area 4 is used as the reference data. The reference data can be stored, for example, in the form of a table that associates angles (directions) with distances.

The tracking information is information used in tracking processing for tracking a moving object newly appearing in the monitoring area 4 over a plurality of cycles, and consists of the detected position, size, shape, and the like of the moving object. The tracking information is also used when the evaluation means 74 obtains the possibility of an object to be photographed. The tracking information includes an identifier (object ID) for distinguishing moving objects from each other, the position, size, and shape of each moving object (object ID) at which the object first appeared in the monitoring area, the position in each cycle up to the present, The size and shape are associated in chronological order. Further, the tracking information may be associated with the type information of the moving object (vehicle, person, etc.) and the elapsed time after the first detection of the moving object (tracking time).

The detection means 53 is basically means for periodically scanning the monitoring area 4 to detect an object present in the monitoring area 4 and calculating the position of the object. In this embodiment, the detection means 53 is configured using a laser sensor, and emits a laser beam as a search signal. For example, the laser sensor is installed so that the direction of emission of the laser light is horizontal or has a certain depression angle so that the detection target in the monitoring area 4 is irradiated with the laser light.

Specifically, the detection means 53 repeats scanning at a predetermined cycle (for example, 60 milliseconds) in a horizontal angular range facing the monitoring area 4 centering on the laser sensor. Distance measurement by the detection means 53 is performed using the time of flight method (TOF method) at predetermined angular steps (for example, 0.25°) within the scanning angle range. That is, the time required from the emission of the laser pulse to the light reception is measured, and the distance to the object that reflected the laser is calculated from the measured time and the speed of light.

The measurement data obtained by the detection means 53 is represented by a scanning angle (azimuth) and a distance, and the position of the laser light reflection point on the object with the laser sensor as the viewpoint is given by the measurement data. Specifically, the measurement data is information consisting of a collection of a plurality of measurement point data in which the angle (direction) of transmission and reception of the laser light and the distance to the reflection point are associated with each other. If the reflected light does not return within a predetermined time, it can be considered that there is no object within the range where the laser beam can be irradiated, and the detection means 53 uses predetermined pseudo data (for example, monitoring area) as the distance. 4, an appropriate value greater than the effective measurement distance by laser light, etc.) are set.

Further, the detection means 53 detects a moving object appearing in the monitoring area 4 by comparing the current measurement data and the reference data. Specifically, the difference between the distance value for each scanning angle obtained from the current measurement data and the distance value for each angle stored in the reference data is calculated for each corresponding angle, and the angle at which the distance value has changed is calculated. Let the measurement point of the current measurement data at be the detection point. Then, among the detection point group, adjacent detection points whose distance value is considered to have changed due to the same object to be measured are grouped as distance measurement data and detected as a moving object. Also, as the size of the moving object, the length in the real space between the end points of the grouped detection points, that is, the current width of the moving object, is calculated from the angles and distances of the end points. Also, as the shape of the moving object, the current linearity of the moving object is calculated based on the variation in the distance at the grouped detection points. Specifically, since the variation in distance becomes large when the surface of the object is uneven, a shape with low linearity is used when the variation in distance is large. Note that the size and shape of the moving object may be calculated by the evaluation means 74, which will be described later, using a similar method.

Note that the detection means 53 is not limited to a laser sensor, and can be configured using various sensors capable of detecting the position of an object, such as an ultrasonic sensor.

The tracking means 54 associates the moving objects detected in the previous cycle and the current cycle to generate and update tracking information, and uses this to track the moving object. The association is made based on distance, size, and the like. That is, when the distance between objects detected in both cycles is within the threshold and the variation in size is within the threshold, the moving objects in both cycles are associated as the same object.

The control means 55 is composed of a microcomputer comprising a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM, RAM, etc. and its peripheral circuits.

The control means 55 outputs a drive signal to the detection means 53 when a guard start signal is input from the control section 7 via the communication means 51 to start driving the detection means 53 . As a result, the detection means 53 starts emitting laser light, driving a scanning mirror for changing the scanning angle of the laser light, and the like. On the other hand, the control means 55 outputs a drive stop signal to the detection means 53 when the security release signal is input from the control section 7, and stops the driving of the detection means 53 when the scanning at that time is completed. As a result, the emission of laser light, the driving of the scanning mirror, and the like are stopped.

The imaging unit 6 can change the imaging direction in order to track and photograph a moving object. In addition, the imaging unit 6 can perform zoom control in order to obtain an object image with sufficient resolution for an object that is far from the monitoring device 2 . In other words, the imaging unit 6 of the present embodiment is configured using a camera (PTZ camera) capable of pan, tilt and zoom (PTZ) control, and the control unit based on the tracking information of the moving object detected by the object detection unit 5 7, the moving object is imaged by performing PTZ control so that the moving object stays within the angle of view, especially in the center of the angle of view. The camera of the imaging unit 6 is installed at a position facing the monitoring area 4 together with the laser sensor of the object detection unit 5 as described above. Here, the imaging unit 6 can be installed at the same position as the object detection unit 5, or at a position shifted in the vertical direction with respect to the object detection unit 5, or at another location near the object detection unit 5. may be installed.

The imaging unit 6 includes camera driving means 61 , imaging means 62 , communication means 63 and storage means 64 .

The camera drive means 61 includes a drive mechanism for changing the photographing direction (pan, tilt) of the camera and a drive mechanism for driving the zoom lens of the camera to change the angle of view. It operates the drive mechanism to control panning, tilting, and zooming.

The image capturing means 62 is composed of, for example, a camera using an image sensor, and captures images of the monitored area and moving objects.

A communication unit 63 receives a camera control signal from the control unit 7 . Further, the communication means 63 transmits the image captured by the imaging means 62 to the monitoring center 3 via the control section 7 .

A storage unit 64 is a storage device configured by an HDD, ROM, RAM, etc., and stores captured images. Further, the storage means 64 stores the home position of the camera (angle of view when no moving object is detected).

The control unit 7 is communicably connected to the object detection unit 5 and the imaging unit 6, outputs control signals to them, and receives detection signals and captured images from them. The control unit 7 is communicably connected to a remote monitoring center 3, receives control signals from the monitoring center 3 for the monitoring device 2, and monitors abnormal signals and photographed images detected in the monitoring area 4. It is transmitted to the center 3. For example, communication between the control unit 7 and the monitoring center 3 can be performed via a virtual private network (VPN) built on a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet.

Further, for example, a user performs an operation for starting or canceling monitoring of the monitoring area 4 using an operation unit provided in the monitoring device 2, or receives an instruction to start or cancel monitoring from the monitoring center 3. As a result, the control unit 7 sets the monitoring state of the monitoring area 4 to start or cancel, and transmits a security start signal or security cancellation signal to the object detection unit 5 .

The control unit 7 includes communication means 71 , storage means 72 , camera control means 73 , evaluation means 74 , type determination means 75 and tracking imaging target setting means 76 . The control unit 7 is composed of a microcomputer comprising a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc. and its peripheral circuits. It functions as type determining means 75, tracking imaging target setting means 76, and the like.

The communication unit 71 performs communication between the object detection unit 5 and the imaging unit 6 and the control unit 7 in the monitoring device 2 and communication with the monitoring center 3 . For example, the communication means 71 transmits a security start signal or a security release signal to the object detection unit 5 . Further, to the monitoring center 3, an abnormality signal generated when an abnormality is detected in the monitoring area 4 and a photographed image are transmitted.

The storage unit 72 is a storage device configured by HDD, ROM, RAM, etc., and stores various setting information, programs for operating the control unit 7, and the like. For example, the storage means 72 stores object tracking information. Also, the relative positions of the object detection unit 5 and the imaging unit 6 are stored in advance in the storage unit 72 .

The camera control means 73 generates a signal for giving a control instruction (PTZ control amount and its speed) to the imaging unit 6 based on the detected position and movement speed obtained from the tracking information of the object. It is preferable that the imaging direction (pan, tilt) control is performed so that the object appears in the center of the angle of view, and the zoom control is performed so that the object appears at a predetermined size. Zoom control is performed based on the position of the detected object (distance to the object). Control is performed so that the closer the object is, the lower the zoom magnification is. Furthermore, it is preferable to consider the moving speed of the object in the zoom control. Specifically, the faster the object is, the more the object is zoomed out and photographed.

The evaluation unit 74 evaluates a predetermined feature amount for each moving object detected by the object detection unit 5, and obtains a shooting target possibility indicating the likelihood of a tracking shooting target. The imaging target possibility may be defined numerically such as "0 to 100%", or may be defined by levels or stages such as "high/middle/low". This evaluation can be performed when a new moving object is detected or at predetermined time intervals.

In the present embodiment, a person or a vehicle is the object of tracking and photographing, and indices such as the size and shape of a moving object are used as feature quantities to be evaluated. ) is obtained.

The evaluation means 74 refers to the tracking information stored in the storage means 72, acquires the size and shape of the moving object to be evaluated, and compares them with the characteristics generally possessed by people and vehicles. For example, distance measurement data indicating a person has characteristics such as the width of the object being within a predetermined range (for example, 20 cm to 100 cm), and the surface of the object being uneven and having low linearity (variation in distance is greater than a predetermined value). The evaluation means 74 evaluates the photographing target possibility (person-likeness) more highly as the width and shape of the moving object match the characteristics of the person. Further, the distance measurement data indicating the vehicle has characteristics such as the width of the object being within a predetermined range (for example, 1 m to 5 m), the surface of the object being highly linear, and two straight lines intersecting at right angles. , the more the moving object's width and shape match the characteristics of the vehicle, the more likely it is to be photographed (vehicle-likeness).

In addition, you may use a moving speed as a feature-value to evaluate. In this case, the evaluation unit 74 calculates the moving speed of the moving object from the movement history included in the tracking information, and evaluates the possibility of being a photographed object more highly as the moving speed matches the characteristics of the person or vehicle. For example, when tracking and photographing a person, evaluation is performed so that the closer the moving speed is to 10 km/h or less, the more likely the object is to be photographed. Evaluation is made so that the closer to 60 km, the higher the possibility of being an object to be photographed.

The type determination means 75 determines the type of moving object based on the detection result of the object detection section 5 . In this embodiment, the type determining means 75 determines at least vehicle and person as the types of detected objects. The type determination means 75 determines the type by comparing the size, shape, moving speed, etc. of the detected object with the characteristics generally possessed by the person or vehicle described above. For example, if a detected object has a size of a predetermined size (for example, 1 m) or more, a shape including a right angle, and a moving speed of a predetermined speed (for example, 30 km/h) or more, the type of the detected object is determined to be a car. can be done. Also, if the detected object has a size within a predetermined range (for example, 20 cm to 100 cm) and has a shape with low linearity, the type of the detected object can be determined as a person. Further, the type of moving object may be determined based on whether the photographing target probability of the human-likeness or the vehicle-likeness is equal to or higher than a predetermined value (for example, "50%" or "medium").

Regarding the type determined by the type determining means 75, the priority (imaging priority) when setting a moving object as a tracking imaging target is determined in advance. In other words, the shooting priority is set for each type, and basically, superiority or inferiority is set between the types. For example, it can be set such that the photographing priority of a person is "high", the photographing priority of a vehicle is "middle", and the photographing priority of other objects is "low". If you want to monitor the traffic of people in the monitoring area, by setting the shooting priority of people high in this way, even if an object other than a person (such as a vehicle) is detected, the person can be tracked and shot. it becomes possible to Note that the shooting priority associated with each type is stored in advance in the storage unit 72, for example. Note that the shooting priority may be switched according to the time period, the moving object detection status, and the like. For example, during the daytime, the priority for car photography is set to "high" and the priority for portrait photography is set to "medium." do.

The tracking shooting target setting unit 76 is the shooting target setting unit of the present invention, and sets an object to be a tracking shooting target based on the shooting priority regarding the type of the detected object. If only one moving object is detected by the object detection unit 5, the tracking shooting target setting means 76 sets the moving object as a tracking shooting target regardless of the type of the moving object. In this case, a moving object having a high shooting priority set in advance for each type is preferentially set as a tracking shooting target. For example, among a plurality of moving objects, the one with the highest shooting priority in terms of type can be set as the tracking shooting target.

Further, the tracking shooting target setting means 76 can also set the tracking shooting target by combining the shooting priority regarding the type and other criteria. For example, if there are a plurality of moving objects with the highest shooting priority for type, the tracking shooting target can be selected from among the plurality of moving objects by other criteria.

For example, when a plurality of moving objects are of the same type, the tracking shooting target setting means 76 sets an object that is currently moving among the moving objects as a tracking shooting target (referred to as "movement priority"). ). By the way, the tracking information can be used to determine whether the object is currently moving or stationary.

In addition, it is possible to select the tracking photographing target taking into consideration not only the photographing priority but also the possibility of the photographing target sought by the evaluation means 74 . For example, when shooting priorities are the same for a plurality of moving objects, an object with a high possibility of being a shooting target can be set as a tracking shooting target. Note that if the imaging target possibilities are also the same, the tracking imaging target may be set with movement priority. In addition, even if an object has a high shooting priority, if the shooting target possibility is a predetermined value or less (for example, "30% or less", "low", etc.), it is configured not to be set as a tracking shooting target. can also

In addition, it is also possible to preferentially set the latest or oldest detected object among the plurality of moving objects as the tracking photographing target. Giving priority to the most recently detected moving object is called "late priority", and giving priority to the oldest detected moving object is called "early priority".

Also, the tracking shooting target may be set by switching the shooting priority according to the detection status of the moving object. For example, when the priority of photographing a vehicle is set higher than that of a person, the tracking photographing target setting means 76 determines that the vehicle set as the tracking photographing target has stopped based on the tracking information. In a situation where a new person is detected within a predetermined range (for example, 1 m) from the detection position of the vehicle, the person priority mode is set for a predetermined period of time, and the photographing priority of the person is set higher than the photographing priority of the vehicle. good too. Also, it is possible to switch the tracking shooting target to the person for a predetermined period regardless of the shooting priority. Here, the predetermined period is any of a certain period of time (for example, 30 seconds), a period of time until a stationary vehicle moves, a period of time until a new vehicle is detected, a period of time until the person is no longer detected, and the like. Determined by As a result, in a situation where a person has gotten off the vehicle, it is possible to preferentially track and photograph the person who has gotten off the vehicle without continuously photographing the stationary vehicle. Also, when switching the tracking shooting target to a person, it is preferable that the person is moving.

The tracking shooting target setting means 76 can set the tracking shooting target in synchronization with the timing at which the type determination means 75 discriminates the type. For each moving object that has been detected, the tracking shooting target is set again.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart of control related to tracking photographing of the monitoring device 2. As shown in FIG. When a moving object is detected by the object detection unit 5, the monitoring device 2 starts control related to tracking photography (step S1), and the type determination unit 75 detects the tracking information (size, shape, moving speed, etc.) of the moving object. (step S2). If there are a plurality of objects detected by the object detection unit 5 ("Yes" in step S3), the tracking shooting target setting means 76 performs tracking shooting based on the shooting priority of the plurality of objects. A target is set (step S4). Specifically, the object with the highest imaging priority is set as the tracking imaging target. On the other hand, when the number of objects detected by the object detection unit 5 is one ("No" in step S3), the object is set as a tracking photographing target (step S5). In this way, when an object to be tracked and photographed among the objects detected by the object detection unit 5 is set, the camera control means 73, based on the detection position of the object set as the object to be tracked and photographed, A control instruction including PTZ control is issued to the imaging unit 6, and the imaging unit 6 performs PTZ control of the camera to track and photograph an object (step S6).

4 and 5 are schematic diagrams for explaining an example of processing by the tracking imaging target setting means 76. FIG. Here, a person and a vehicle are subject to tracking photography, and the type determining means 75 determines the type of the detected object to be a person and a vehicle. Here, it is assumed that the photographing priority is set higher for "car" than for "person".

FIG. 4 shows the correspondence between object IDs and types of detected objects in a tabular form. FIG. 4A shows the case where only one moving object is detected. The type of the detected object "ID1" is "person" and has a lower shooting priority than "vehicle", but the tracking shooting target setting means 76 sets the object "ID1" as a tracking shooting target.

FIGS. 4(b) and 4(c) are cases where three moving objects are detected. When a plurality of moving objects are detected in this way, basically, the tracking shooting target setting unit 76 sets the object with the highest shooting priority as the tracking shooting target. Therefore, in the example of FIG. 4B, the object "ID2" of the type "car" having a higher shooting priority than the objects "ID1" and "ID3" of the type "person" is set as the tracking shooting target. .

On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 4C, the objects "ID2" and "ID4" are "cars". When there are a plurality of objects having the highest photographing priority in this manner, it is possible to determine the tracking photographing target by using other determination criteria. For example, the tracking imaging target setting unit 76 sets the tracking imaging target based on the above-described imaging target possibility, first priority, rear priority, movement priority, and the like.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which the photographing priority related to the type is used as a basic criterion, and the photographing object possibility is used as an auxiliary judgment criterion. They are shown in a tabular format in association with each other. Here, the shooting target possibility is defined in the range of 0 to 100[%], and the evaluation means 74 obtains shooting target possibilities representing human-likeness and vehicle-likeness for each detected object. In FIG. 5, the numerical values shown in the columns of "person-likeness" and "car-likeness" are the photographing target possibilities of human-likeness and car-likeness, respectively.

In FIG. 5(c), as described in FIG. 4(c), it is not possible to determine the object "ID2" or "ID4" as the object to be tracked and photographed only by the photographing priority. In this respect, as described with reference to FIG. 4(c), it is possible to set the priority order to the object "ID2" and the object "ID4" by using the imaging target possibility. 2, the tracking shooting target setting unit 76 compares the object "ID2" and the object "ID4" in terms of "car-likeness" among the shooting target possibilities, and selects the object "ID2" having the higher value as the tracking shooting target. set to

Note that when there is one detected object shown in FIG. 5(a), there is no need for sorting, as in the case of FIG. 4(a). is set as a tracking shooting target.

Further, in the case of FIG. 5B, one object, that is, the object "ID2" can be set as the tracking photographing target based on the photographing priority alone, as in FIG. 4B. That is, in this case, the tracking shooting target setting unit 76 sets the tracking shooting target without considering the possibility of the shooting target. In FIG. 5B, the object "ID2" is detected as a vehicle, but since the "likeness of a vehicle" is equal to or less than a predetermined value (eg, "30"), the possibility of being a vehicle is low, and the photographing priority is given as follows. It is also possible to set the tracking shooting target based on the shooting target possibility without setting the tracking shooting target based on the object "ID3".

The monitoring device 2 using the present invention described above determines the type (person, vehicle, etc.) of the object detected by the object detection unit 5, and when there are multiple detected objects, based on the shooting priority for each type A detection object to be tracked and photographed is determined. Specifically, as its basic configuration, the photographing priorities of a plurality of detected objects are compared, and an object with the highest photographing priority is set as a tracking photographing target. As a result, when a plurality of objects are detected, for example, it is possible to preferentially track and photograph an object that is more likely to be an intruder among them. Specifically, as described above, when it is desired to monitor the traffic of people, by setting the photographing priority of a person to be high, it is possible to preferentially track and photograph a person even if a vehicle and a person are detected.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, the evaluation means 74 may have a function of determining whether or not the moving object is an intruding object that has entered the monitoring area based on the evaluation of the feature amount of the moving object. In this case, the evaluation means 74 determines that there is an intrusion abnormality and notifies the monitoring center 3 of the occurrence of the abnormality when the index such as the size and shape of the moving object satisfies the notification criteria indicating a person or vehicle, and the moving object is treated as an intruding object. Intruding objects are determined based on the feature values that indicate the object's size and shape, which indicate the object's likelihood of being tracked and photographed, as well as the elapsed time since the moving object was first detected, the moving distance, and the moving trajectory (moving direction, moving route, etc.). ) may be used. Further, the abnormality determination function may be performed by abnormality determination means provided separately from the evaluation means 74 .

Then, the tracking shooting target setting unit 76 preferentially sets a moving object having a high shooting priority among a plurality of moving objects as a tracking shooting target. In addition, among those moving objects, a moving object determined to be abnormal as an intruding object may be set as a tracking photographing target.

The tracking shooting target setting unit 76 preferentially sets a moving object determined as an intruding object among a plurality of moving objects as a tracking shooting target. When there are a plurality of determined moving objects, or when there is only a moving object that is not determined to be abnormal as an intruding object, a moving object with a high imaging priority may be set as a tracking imaging target. Further, when there are a moving object (ID1) determined to be an intruding object and a moving object (ID2) not determined to be an intruding object to be abnormal among the plurality of moving objects, regardless of the shooting priority, That is, even if the shooting priority of ID1 is lower than the shooting priority of ID2, ID1 is set as the tracking shooting target.

Reference Signs List 1 monitoring system 2 monitoring device 3 monitoring center 4 monitoring area 5 object detection unit 6 imaging unit 7 control unit 51, 63, 71 communication means 52, 64, 72 storage means 53 detection means 54 Tracking means 55 Control means 61 Camera drive means 62 Imaging means 73 Camera control means 74 Evaluation means 75 Type determination means 76 Tracking object setting means.

Claims (5)

In a monitoring device for tracking and photographing a moving object in a monitoring area,
an object detection unit that detects the moving object within the monitoring area and outputs a detection result including the position of the moving object;
an imaging unit capable of changing the shooting direction;
a control unit that controls the imaging unit based on the detection result;
type determination means for determining the type of the moving object based on the detection result;
When only one moving object is detected by the object detection unit, the moving object is set as a tracking photographing target regardless of the type of the moving object, and when a plurality of moving objects are detected, the type is set. a shooting target setting means for setting the moving object having a high shooting priority set in advance for each object as a tracking shooting target with priority;
Determination means for determining whether each detected moving object is an intruding object that satisfies a predetermined alarm condition based on a predetermined feature amount,
The imaging target setting means sets the moving object determined as the intruding object by the determining means as the tracking imaging target regardless of the imaging priority, and only the moving object not determined as the intruding object exists. setting a tracking shooting target according to the shooting priority;
A monitoring device characterized by: In a monitoring device for tracking and photographing a moving object in a monitoring area,
an object detection unit that detects the moving object within the monitoring area and outputs a detection result including the position of the moving object;
an imaging unit capable of changing the shooting direction;
a control unit that controls the imaging unit based on the detection result;
type determination means for determining the type of the moving object based on the detection result;
When only one moving object is detected by the object detection unit, the moving object is set as a tracking photographing target regardless of the type of the moving object, and when a plurality of moving objects are detected, the type is set. a shooting target setting means that preferentially sets the moving object having a high shooting priority set in advance for each object as a tracking shooting target;
The type determination means determines at least a person and a vehicle as the types,
The photographing target setting means sets a new photographing object within a predetermined range from the vehicle set as the tracking photographing object even when the photographing priority of the vehicle is set higher than the photographing priority of the person. When a person is detected, switching the tracking shooting target to the person,
A monitoring device characterized by: 3. Each time a moving object is newly detected in the monitoring area, the photographing object setting means resets the tracking photographing object of the plurality of detected moving objects. The monitoring device according to . The photographing target setting means sets a currently moving object among the moving objects as the tracking photographing target when the plurality of moving objects have the same photographing priority. 4. A monitoring device according to any one of claims 1-3. evaluation means for evaluating a predetermined feature amount for each of the detected moving objects to obtain a shooting target possibility that indicates the likelihood of a tracking shooting target;
When the photographing priorities are the same for a plurality of the moving objects, the photographing object setting means preferentially sets a moving object having a high possibility of being the photographing object among the moving objects as a tracking photographing object. thing,
5. The monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , characterized by:

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