JP7168418B2 - Image capturing device and remote image monitoring system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image capturing device having a function of unattended capturing of digital images in a dark place, and a remote sensing device having a function of remotely capturing an image using the image capturing device placed at a remote location. . The present invention provides a power-saving photographing method that is particularly effective when the power that can be used by the image photographing unit is limited.

With the expansion of the use of underground areas, the needs for remote sensing and monitoring in dark places such as tunnels for roads and railways, water supply and sewage systems, and wiring tunnels are increasing. In urban areas, factories, and plants, unmanned areas are often left unlit from the viewpoint of energy saving. A large number of monitoring cameras for dark places installed in such places have been commercialized and used in a wide range. When shooting in a dark place, the brightness (illuminance) of the shooting location and the shooting target is a big problem, and if there is a certain amount of ambient light, even if it is weak, it is possible to shoot images with an ultra-high-sensitivity night vision camera without using lighting. can be done.

However, when the ambient light is insufficient, it becomes difficult to distinguish the photographed image, and problems such as resolution deterioration and loss of color information due to image noise occur. In such a case, it is desirable to provide lighting for photography inside or outside the surveillance camera. As an example of a monitoring camera equipped with such illumination, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-206991 “Imaging Device and Imaging Control Program” (Patent Document 1) is disclosed.

JP 2009-206991 A

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a general illuminated monitoring camera as a conventional image capturing device. Inside the conventional image capturing apparatus 120, a CPU 103, a camera module 101, an image compression/cutout circuit 102, and an image memory 121 are arranged. In this example, the CPU 103 receives a shooting command 110 from the outside, sends a shooting signal to the camera module 101, and at the same time sends a flash emission signal 113 to the flash light source 106. 106 is made to emit light. In the case of moving image shooting, the flash light source 106 is often continuously emitted during the shooting period. However, the flash emission signal 113 may be sent in accordance with the exposure timing in each frame to emit pulse light. It is also possible to increase the amount of flash light with

The captured image data 114 is transmitted from the camera module 101 to the image compression/cutout circuit 102 and is stored in the image memory 121 after the image size is reduced by compression processing such as trimming to an image of a required size or JPEG encoding. The output image data 115 is output to an external device or network in response to this.

A white LED (Light Emitting Diode) or a light bulb is generally used as a flash light source. The ratio of power consumption to the entire imaging device tends to be high, and generally there is a limit to the lighting power that can be used. Especially when the shooting distance is long, the lighting power must be increased in proportion to the square of the distance, and the required power tends to become a big problem.

As an example of such a lighting power saving technique, the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of moving an optical axis variable mechanism (mirror, etc.) provided in front of the light source to mechanically move the illumination area while shooting. is described.

Further, for example, when the camera module 101 uses a wide-angle lens, it is necessary to use a sensor with a sufficient number of pixels in order to ensure the resolution required for monitoring using the wide-angle lens. As a result, the amount of data of the captured image increases, and the time required for transferring the data increases, resulting in an increase in power consumption.

In order to solve at least one of the above problems, one aspect of the present invention provides an image capturing device capable of controlling light emission intensity independently of a camera module that captures a digital image, and each of the camera modules A plurality of light sources arranged to illuminate different parts within the angle of view of, an emission intensity control unit for controlling the emission intensity of each light source, and an image clipping unit for clipping a part of the captured image, The light emission intensity control section controls the light emission intensity of each of the light sources so that any portion within the angle of view of the camera module is illuminated with sufficient brightness, and the camera module controls the light emission intensity of each of the light sources. an image is captured so that at least a part of the shooting time overlaps with the shooting time, and the image clipping unit clips an image of an area illuminated with sufficient brightness from the image output from the camera module; The image capturing device further includes a power supply circuit and an image recording unit, the power supply circuit supplying power to the image capturing device, the image recording unit storing the image captured by the camera module, and storing the image captured by the camera module. The photographing device further comprises a memory that stores a plurality of patterns in which the light emission intensities of the light sources are combined corresponding to a plurality of areas within the angle of view of the camera module , wherein the memory stores the light emission intensities of the light sources. storing a plurality of combinations of combined patterns and image areas cut out corresponding to the respective patterns; determines a center position of an area of the image to be cut out according to the center of gravity of the brightness detected by the brightness detection unit, or detects a range in which the brightness exceeds a predetermined value, and cuts out the image determining the size of the

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is an effect of suppressing power consumption required for lighting and data transmission, which is a problem when wide-angle cameras are used in an image monitoring apparatus used in an environment with insufficient brightness. As a secondary effect, power saving results in a surplus of power, which has the effect of increasing the lighting to improve the quality of images, shooting at longer distances, and increasing the frequency of shooting.

In addition, since the direction of illumination can be changed without using moving parts, the reliability of the equipment is improved, and maintenance intervals and life are extended.

Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the following description of the embodiments.

1 is a configuration diagram of an image capturing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of image capturing in the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an image clipping operation in the first embodiment of the present invention; 1 is a configuration diagram of a conventional image capturing device; FIG. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an image capturing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a flash light source and a pattern memory circuit in a third embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a flash light source and a pattern memory circuit in a fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a remote image monitoring system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a photographing command and a photographing condition table in the fifth embodiment of the present invention;

Several embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image capturing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, which includes a camera module 101, an image compression/cutting circuit 102, a CPU 103, a pattern memory circuit 104, a switch circuit 105, and a N flash light sources 106-1 to 106-N with different illumination directions are arranged.

When the CPU 103 receives a photographing command 110 from the outside, it starts an image photographing operation and sends a photographing signal 111 to the camera module 101 . On the other hand, the CPU 103 refers to the pattern memory 104 to obtain light emission pattern information corresponding to a desired photographing direction, that is, combination information of the numbers of the light sources to be emitted from among the flash light sources 106-1 to 106-N, or combination information of the light emission intensity. to get The CPU circuit 103 sends to the switch circuit 105 a flash light source selection signal 112 generated based on the read light emission pattern information.

The switch circuit 105 determines the intensity of the drive signal for each flash light source based on the flash light source selection signal 112 received from the CPU circuit 103, and sends a flash light emission signal 113 to the flash light source to emit light. As a result, the light emission intensity of each flash light source is controlled, for example, only some of the flash light sources 106-1 to 106-N emit light, and a part of the area within the angle of view of the camera module 101 is bright enough for photographing. illuminated. The switch circuit 105 may be a light emission intensity control section capable of independently controlling the light emission intensity of each of the flash light sources 106-1 to 106-N, and does not necessarily have a configuration corresponding to a switch.

As will be described later, the flash light sources 106-1 to 106-N may be LED elements, but this is an example, and any light source with any light emission principle may be used. Also, the flash light sources 106-1 to 106-N may be light sources that emit light momentarily, or light sources that can emit light continuously.

The camera module 101 takes an image when a partial area within the angle of view is illuminated. Specifically, the camera module 101 captures at least the shooting time (that is, the time during which the imaging device (not shown) of the camera module 101 is exposed) and the time during which a partial area within the angle of view is illuminated. Take pictures so that some of them overlap.

The photographed image data obtained from the camera module 101 is input to the image compression/cutout circuit 102, and after a part of the area illuminated by the flash light sources 106-1 to 106-N is cut out and compressed, output image data 115 is obtained. is output as

The image compression/clipping circuit 102 may be composed of a dedicated logic circuit as long as it includes an image compression unit having a function of compressing an image and an image clipping unit having a function of cutting out an image. may be realized by executing the program of

Note that the captured image data 114 may be in any form as long as it is an output signal of a digital camera. For example, it may be output as a RAW image, a bitmap image, or a video signal that is a single-phase or differential analog voltage signal. . Some camera modules have an image clipping circuit and an image compression circuit in advance in the internal chipset, and it may be possible to compress and clip only the specified area inside the angle of view and output it. Even when such a camera module is used, when selectively extracting and outputting the part illuminated by the flash light source, the processing configuration is the same as the configuration presented by the present invention, and is one of the variations of the configuration. can be interpreted as

Image compression processing is not essential in the image capturing apparatus 100, and the image compression/cutout circuit 102 may be replaced with a cutout circuit that does not have an image compression function. However, since the image compression/clipping circuit 102 not only cuts out the image but also compresses the image, the amount of image data to be transmitted is reduced and the power consumption is suppressed.

Also, the above explanation of the operation is mainly based on still image shooting, but the present invention can also be applied to moving image shooting. In this case, the CPU 103 sends a shooting signal 111 to the camera module unit 101 in accordance with the shooting command 110 to instruct the start of moving image shooting. Some of the flash light sources 106-1 to 106-N emit light with the intensity indicated by the flash emission signals 113-1 to 113-N to illuminate a partial area within the angle of view of the camera module 101. FIG. The flash light source may emit light at a constant intensity all the time during shooting, or more efficiently may emit light periodically in synchronization with the shooting frame of a moving image or the exposure timing during the frame.

FIG. 2 is a more specific illustration of the operation of the present invention. In this figure, the angle of view of the camera module 101 is illustrated by a dotted square area, and the three flash light sources 106-1, 106-2, and 106-3 are oriented in different directions for simplification. , three elliptical illumination ranges are sequentially illuminated from the left. In the figure, when the camera module 101 is used to photograph an oblique left direction, the switch circuit 105 causes only the flash light source 106-1 to emit light. Then, the image compression/clipping circuit 102 cuts out only the region A (the hatched region in FIG. 2) where sufficient illuminance is obtained, and outputs the image data 115 as output image data 115 .

When it is desired to photograph the front direction and the right direction, similarly, the flash light sources 106-2 and 106-3 are emitted, respectively, and only the areas B and C are cut out and used as output image data.

With a single actual light source, a sufficient emission intensity cannot be obtained, or the unevenness of the illuminance in the illumination area becomes large. It is effective to emit light in combination with If there are N flash light sources, so are flash light sources 106-2 through 106-N.

As the flash light sources 106-1 to 106-N, for example, a white LED light source, which is a power-saving illumination light source, or a combination of three-color LEDs can be used. An LED, which is a semiconductor compact light source, is particularly suitable for use in the present invention because a plurality of LEDs can be arranged on the surface of a printed circuit board or the like and arbitrarily connected by printed wiring, but essentially other light sources can be used. The light source is not limited, and can be arbitrarily used as long as it is applicable to photography of still images and moving images, such as xenon bulbs, semiconductor lasers, and DLP (Digital Light Processing) (registered trademark) used in projectors. Also, in FIG. 1, the flash light source is provided inside the image capturing apparatus 100, but this is a conceptual description of the apparatus, and in the actual apparatus configuration, the flash light source is provided with the camera module 101 as shown in FIG. A separate external illumination light source may be used.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the image clipping operation in the image compression/snipping circuit 102 of the present invention. For example, the camera module 101 acquires a wide-angle image with a resolution of full HD (1920×1080), and this example shows an example of cutting out partial areas A, B, and C of a VGA image (640×480).

For example, in FIG. 2, when only the left portion of the image is illuminated by the flash light source 106-1, a sufficiently bright image can be obtained by cutting out the partial area A and extracting the output image data 115. can. As a result, it is possible to reduce the illumination power and the time required for image transmission to about 1/7 compared to the case of illuminating and photographing the entire area indicated by the dotted line.

Since the image compression/clipping circuit 102 can be realized by relatively simple image processing, the CPU 103 may use its internal arithmetic function to implement it. Still image/moving image compression codes such as JPEG and mpeg can be widely used for the image compression of the present invention. is. However, it is not a function that is truly essential to the implementation of the present invention, and it is sufficient to have the image clipping function for the essence of the present invention.

Note that FIG. 3 and other explanatory diagrams of the present invention show an example in which the photographing direction of an image is changed only in one horizontal direction for the sake of simplification of explanation, but the photographing direction may be changed up or down depending on the light emission direction and arrangement of the flash light source 106.・Can be set at any horizontal position. In such a case, the clipping area of the image may be arbitrarily set according to the illumination direction. For example, when illuminating the lower right direction, the area D indicated by the dotted line may be cut out.

Next, a second embodiment of the invention will be described. Except for the differences described below, parts of the second embodiment are identical to like-numbered parts of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. are omitted.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an image capturing apparatus 100 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. By providing a power supply circuit 132 and an image memory 121 in the configuration of FIG. 1, the apparatus can be installed and operated as an independent image capturing apparatus. is an example of what is possible.

A battery, a solar battery, various types of energy harvesting devices, and the like can be used as the power supply circuit 132 , and the power supply circuit 132 supplies power necessary for the operation of the entire image capturing apparatus 100 . In such a configuration, the power that the power supply circuit 132 can supply is limited, so the power saving effect of the present invention is extremely high. is also possible.

The image memory 121 is a memory medium for storing captured images, and can be widely used for storing digital information such as flash memory and disk media.

In this embodiment, a photographing sequence memory 131 is connected to the CPU 103, whereby the camera module 101 automatically controls the emission intensity of the flash light source 106 periodically to change the lighting direction, and the camera module 101 takes a plurality of images. to save the captured image. In the photographing sequence memory 131, in the example of FIG. The order and timing of changing the lighting/photographing direction, such as illuminating the region and photographing, are described, and the CPU 103 can sequentially read out this memory to change the lighting/photographing direction. The imaging sequence does not necessarily have to be placed in an independent external memory (the imaging sequence memory 131 in the example of FIG. 5), and may be embedded in the program of the CPU 103 or shared with another memory such as an image memory.

Further, in this embodiment, an image distortion correction circuit 130 is provided between the camera module 101 and the image compression/cutout circuit 102 . A photographed image obtained by a wide-angle camera often has large image distortion, as typified by a fisheye lens. In such a case, an image distortion correction circuit 130 is provided before or after the image compression/clipping circuit 102 to digitally correct the geometric distortion and aberration caused by the lens and improve the accuracy of the image as necessary. By correcting it, it becomes possible to obtain a partial image that is easy to observe. When a rectangular image is obtained as output image data by such processing, the corresponding original image area is no longer rectangular, and is greatly deformed into a fan shape or the like. As a result, the image clipping shape of the image compression/clipping circuit 102 is deformed, but since the pattern of deformation can be calculated or stored in advance, it does not pose a particular problem in the implementation of the present invention. .

The image distortion correction circuit 130 may be configured by a dedicated logic circuit as long as it includes an image distortion correction unit having a function of correcting image distortion, or may be realized by the CPU 103 or the like executing a predetermined program. may be

The image distortion correction circuit 130 and the imaging sequence memory 131 of this embodiment can also be provided in the imaging apparatus 100 of Embodiment 1 and Embodiments 3 to 5, which will be described later.

The image compression/clipping circuit 102 may store the clipped and compressed image as it is in the image memory 121, but by synthesizing a plurality of images clipped from a plurality of images, the image of each clipped image can be obtained. An image with an angle of view larger than the angle may be generated and stored in the image memory 121 . For example, in the example of FIG. 3, the image compression/clipping circuit 102 extracts one image of areas A to C from the images of areas A to C clipped from three images shot while changing the illumination position. may be combined and stored in the image memory 121 . This facilitates observation of the object.

A third embodiment of the present invention will now be described. Except for the differences described below, the parts of the third embodiment are the same as the parts of the first and second embodiments shown in FIGS. Therefore, descriptions thereof are omitted.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a flash light source and a pattern memory circuit in a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6A is a bird's-eye view of the flash light source section of this embodiment from above. A plurality of LED light sources 135-1 to 135-9 are arranged on three planes of a polyhedron-shaped pedestal 133, each facing in a different direction, and these correspond to the flash light source 106 of the present invention. do. For example, when the flash light source units in FIG. 6A correspond to the flash light sources 106-1 to 106-3 in FIG. 2, the directions A and B shown in FIG. corresponds to the direction.

The direction of light emission of the LED light sources corresponds to the direction of each surface of the pedestal 133. The three LED light sources 135-1 to 135-3 are in the direction A, the three LED light sources 135-4 to 135-6 are in the direction B, The three LED light sources 135-7 to 135-9 are arranged facing the direction C. As shown in FIG. Further, each LED signal line 134 is connected to the switch circuit 105, and it is possible to independently control the light emission intensity of the LEDs 135-1 to 135-9 (for example, from the intensity of 0, that is, from no light emission to the maximum intensity). be.

FIG. 6(b) shows a configuration example of the pattern memory circuit 104, and the table on the left records the LEDs to emit light in the three light emitting directions of A, B, and C and their intensities. For example, when photographing in the A direction, the three LEDs 135-1, 135-2, and 135-3 indicated by A in the table are caused to emit light at ratios of 4, 3, and 2, respectively. All of these LEDs may emit light with equal intensity, but by increasing the number of LEDs and giving them an intentional intensity distribution, it is possible to reduce unevenness in light emission within the illumination area and improve the quality of the captured image. Become.

Also, in the table on the right side of FIG. 6(b), the clipping regions of the images corresponding to the three lighting directions A, B, and C are indicated by the upper left coordinate points of the images. This coordinate indicates the upper left coordinate point of the three image areas A, B, and C in the figure when the angle of view of the camera module is set to the range of 1920×1080 shown in FIG. The image compression/cutout circuit 102 of the present invention can know the image area to be cut out by using the photographing direction information and this table.

This table also describes the light emission pattern and the cutout area when the illumination is directed in the directions B and C in the same manner. In this example, all three sets are set so that the sum of the light emission power is uniform, but in actual photography, the color, surface condition, distance, etc. of the object to be photographed may change depending on the lighting direction. For example, if there is a wall nearby in direction A, and the object to be photographed is far away in direction B, the photographed image in direction A will suffer overexposure if illumination is performed with the same emission intensity in both directions. Or, the image in the direction B may be underexposed. Therefore, it is desirable to correct the luminous intensity shown in the table based on the actual brightness of the photographed image in each direction so that good photographing conditions can always be obtained according to the direction.

Also, the illuminance in the clipped image may be uneven depending on the installation conditions of the imaging apparatus of the present invention. or automatically corrected. By writing this correction result back into the pattern memory, it is possible to always obtain a good photographed image thereafter.

Also, in this example, only three sets of illumination patterns in the three directions of directions A, B, and C are described, but illumination in an intermediate direction between A and B is obtained by interpolating the emission intensities described in directions A and B. This can be achieved by generating an intermediate illumination pattern with

A fourth embodiment of the present invention will now be described. Except for the differences described below, the parts of the fourth embodiment are identically numbered parts of the first to third embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-3 and 5-6. are the same as , so the description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a flash light source and a pattern memory circuit in a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7A is a bird's-eye view of the flash light source section of this embodiment from above. In this example, a plurality of LED light sources 135-1 to 135-9 are arranged along the curved surface with their directions slightly changed, and these correspond to the flash light source 106 of the present invention.

In this example as well, each LED light source is connected to the switch circuit 105 via the signal line 134 in the same manner as in the example of FIG. In the pattern memory circuit 104 shown in FIG. 7B, the LED light source and its intensity corresponding to each direction are described in the left table, and the center coordinates of the cutout area are described in the right table. When the direction of the LED light source is gently changed as in this example, it is possible to change the light emission direction more finely than in the case of the third embodiment, as indicated by directions A, B, and C in the figure.

The table on the right in FIG. 6B lists the coordinates of the upper left corner of the clipping area, and the table on the right in FIG. 7B lists the coordinates of the center of the clipping area. Any coordinates can be used as long as the position of the extraction coordinates can be specified.

In accordance with this, the cutout area of the image in the right table also gradually moves in the horizontal direction. This makes it possible to crop the image so that the area to be photographed in the angle of view of the camera module is more accurately positioned at the center of the image, and to concentrate the lighting area only on the photographing target and its vicinity, thereby increasing the illuminance and increasing the brightness of the target. It is also possible to observe details and shoot at longer distances.

In both Examples 3 and 4, the flash light sources are arranged only in the horizontal direction and the directions of the individual light sources are changed on the horizontal plane. You can change and arrange them. An example of such arrangement is, for example, arrangement on a gently curved convex spherical surface. This makes it possible to freely change the direction of lighting within a two-dimensional plane and to reduce unevenness in lighting to obtain more uniform illuminance.

Also, it is not necessary to limit the location and pedestal where the flash light source is arranged to one as in the third and fourth embodiments. Arrangement is also possible. In general, by increasing the number of light sources and increasing the distance between the light sources in this way, the shadows and reflections on the surface of the photographed object caused by lighting are weakened, and more uniform illumination is achieved. Great improvements in quality are possible.

A fifth embodiment of the present invention will now be described. Except for the differences described below, the parts of the fifth embodiment are identically numbered parts of the first to fourth embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-3 and 5-7. are the same as , so the description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a remote image monitoring system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows a configuration in which a monitoring device 140 performs operation control and monitoring of a plurality of remotely located sensing devices 142-1 and 142-2 via a network 141. FIG. A water level sensor 144-1, a vibration sensor 145-1, and two imaging devices 100-1 and 100-2 of the present invention are connected to the sensing device 142-1, and a water level sensor is connected to the sensing device 142-2. 144-2, a vibration sensor 145-2, and an image capturing device 100-3 of the present invention are connected.

The sensing device 142-2 has a function of supplying operating power to the image capturing device 100-3 through a power supply line 143, transmitting a capturing command 110, and receiving an output image 115. FIG. The sensing device 142-2 performs remote sensing and remote image monitoring by performing measurement and image capturing with the connected sensor according to the command from the monitoring device 140 and reporting the results to the monitoring device 140 via the network 141. come true.

FIG. 9A shows an example of the photographing command 110 sent from the monitoring device 140. FIG. The direction of photography (ie, lighting direction, A in this example) is listed in the command along with the destination, flash intensity and image size. The photographing command 110 is delivered to the image photographing device 100-3 of the sensing device 142-2 described as the destination via the network 141, and the CPU 103 starts the photographing operation upon receipt of this command. At this time, the CPU 103 refers to the pattern memory circuit 104, and the switch circuit 105 controls the emission intensity of each flash light source so that the flash light source emits light in the direction A specified by the photographing command 110. An image of the direction is photographed and returned to the monitoring device 140 via the network 141 again as the output image data 115 .

Image capturing by the image capturing devices 100-1, 100-2, and 100-3 is not limited to when receiving a command to capture images from the monitoring device 140, but may be performed periodically or when conditions are met in advance. I don't mind. For example, as described in the second embodiment, when performing automatic photography by periodically changing the photography direction from A to B to C, the output image data 115 is sent to the monitoring device 140 after adding the photography direction information and the photography time. As a result, the monitoring device 140 side can also grasp the orientation of the image and the shooting time.

As described above, in the remote image monitoring system of this embodiment, the monitoring device 140 side can manage the image capturing direction and remotely capture an image in an arbitrary direction.

A photographing condition table 147 is provided in the sensing device 142-2 of FIG. FIG. 9B is an example of the photographing condition table 147. For example, when the water level of the water level sensor 144-2 exceeds 3 m, photographing in the direction A is performed, and abnormal vibration is detected by the vibration sensor. In this case, photographing is performed sequentially in directions A and B. FIG. Sensing device 142-2 generates a photographing command 110 and sends it to image capturing device 100-3 when these conditions are met.

By providing the photographing condition table as described above, intelligent unmanned monitoring becomes possible, such as observing the state of the water surface and weirs when the water level exceeds a certain value, or investigating the cause of abnormal vibrations. If an abnormality is detected in the captured image, it is possible to add processing such as continuing image capturing or enlarging the image.

Although an example in which the water level sensor 144, the vibration sensor 145, and the image capturing device 100 of the present invention are connected to the sensing device 142 of this embodiment, the sensors to be connected are not limited to these. Temperature, water quality, gas sensors, etc. can be widely installed according to the conditions, and the shooting conditions can also be made more advanced by combining the measurement values of multiple sensors.

For the network 141 shown in this embodiment, various wired/wireless public networks such as wired lines such as telephone networks, optical fibers, and Ethernet, and mobile wireless and low-power wireless networks can be used. In addition to this, a dedicated serial/parallel communication line or the like may be used as long as image data and various commands can be transmitted and received.

As one implementation example, the monitoring device 140 and the sensing devices 142-1 and 142-2 are connected by a dedicated optical fiber line, the monitoring device 140 transmits strong laser light, and each sensing device 142 operates the received light. Fiber-optic power feeding technology is also feasible for use as power. The optical fiber power supply has the advantage that it is not necessary to wire another power supply to each sensing device 142, but on the other hand, there is a power limitation that the power that can be supplied is limited to about several to several tens of milliwatts. The present invention is a technology that greatly reduces the power used for image capturing, and is particularly suitable for application to such a remote image capturing system.

In the image capturing apparatus 100-3 of this example, the captured image data 114 output from the camera module 101 is input to the image brightness detection/cutout circuit 146. FIG. The image brightness detection/clipping circuit 146 detects the center of gravity of the brightness of the input two-dimensional image, and automatically creates an image of a preset size and shape (for example, a 320x200 rectangular image) centering on the brightest point. output. As a result, it is possible to automatically determine the clipped portion of the image in accordance with the change in the direction of the illumination, so there is an advantage that the illumination direction and the clipped portion of the image do not deviate from each other.

Further, the image brightness detection/clipping circuit 146 may detect a range in which the brightness exceeds a predetermined value from the input two-dimensional image, and determine the size of the image to be clipped based on the size of the range. good. For example, the larger the detected range, the larger the size of the clipped image. This makes it possible to automatically determine the size of the image to be cut out according to the size of the range that is actually illuminated with sufficient brightness. There is an advantage that no deviation occurs.

The image brightness detection/cutout circuit 146 determines the center of the image cutout range according to the center of gravity of the brightness, and determines the size of the image cutout range according to the size of the range where the brightness exceeds a predetermined value. Only one of the determinations may be performed, or both may be performed.

The image brightness detection/clipping circuit 146 may be configured by a dedicated logic circuit as long as it includes an image brightness detection section having a function of detecting brightness of an image and an image clipping section having a function of clipping an image. , the CPU 103, etc., executing a predetermined program.

The image compression/cutout circuit 102 of the image capturing apparatus 100 of Embodiments 1 to 4 may have the same function as the image brightness detection/cutout circuit 146 described above.

In addition, when the monitoring device 140 receives a plurality of cut-out images captured while changing the lighting direction from one image capturing device 100, the monitoring device 140 synthesizes the images to obtain the respective received images. An image with an angle of view larger than the angle of view may be generated. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the monitoring device 140 receives images of areas A to C cut out from three images captured while changing the illumination position, the monitoring apparatus 140 obtains images of areas A to C from those images. A single image obtained by photographing C may be synthesized. This facilitates observation of the object.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications. For example, the above embodiments have been described in detail for better understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Also, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, or to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Moreover, it is possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with another configuration.

Further, each of the above configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, and the like may be realized by hardware, for example, by designing a part or all of them using an integrated circuit. Moreover, each of the above configurations, functions, etc. may be realized by software by a processor interpreting and executing a program for realizing each function. Information such as programs, tables, files, etc. that realize each function is stored in storage devices such as non-volatile semiconductor memories, hard disk drives, SSDs (Solid State Drives), or computer-readable non-volatile memory such as IC cards, SD cards, DVDs, etc. It can be stored on a temporary data storage medium.

Also, the control lines and information lines indicate those considered necessary for explanation, and not necessarily all the control lines and information lines are indicated on the product. In fact, it may be considered that almost all configurations are interconnected.

100: image capturing device of the present invention, 101: camera module,
102: image compression/cutout circuit, 103: CPU,
104: pattern memory circuit, 105: switch circuit,
106: Flash light source, 110: Shooting command, 111: Shooting signal,
112: flash light source selection signal, 113: flash emission signal,
114: photographed image data, 115: output image data,
120: Conventional image capturing device, 121: Image memory,
130: image distortion correction circuit, 131: photographing sequence memory, 132: power supply circuit,
133: pedestal, 134: signal line, 135: LED light source,
140: monitoring device, 141: network, 142: sensing device,
143: power supply line, 144: water level sensor, 145: vibration sensor,
146: image brightness detection/cutout circuit, 147: photographing condition table

Claims (3)

In the imaging device,
a camera module for capturing digital images;
a plurality of light sources each having an independently controllable emission intensity and arranged to illuminate a different portion within an angle of view of the camera module;
a light emission intensity control unit that controls the light emission intensity of each of the light sources;
and an image clipping unit for clipping a part of the captured image,
The light emission intensity control unit controls the light emission intensity of each light source so that any part within the angle of view of the camera module is illuminated with sufficient brightness,
The camera module captures an image such that at least a part of the light emission time of each light source and the capture time overlap,
The image clipping unit clips an image of an area illuminated with sufficient brightness from the image output from the camera module,
The image capturing device further comprises a power supply circuit and an image recording unit,
The power supply circuit supplies power to the imaging device,
The image recording unit stores an image captured by the camera module,
The image capturing device further comprises a memory for storing a plurality of patterns in which the emission intensities of the light sources are combined, corresponding to a plurality of areas within the angle of view of the camera module ,
the memory stores a plurality of combinations of patterns obtained by combining the light emission intensities of the light sources and regions of images cut out corresponding to the respective patterns;
The image capturing device further comprises a brightness detection unit that detects the brightness of the image,
The image clipping unit determines a center position of the region of the image to be clipped according to the center of gravity of the brightness detected by the brightness detection unit, or detects a range in which the brightness exceeds a predetermined value. and determining the size of the image to be cut out . A remote image monitoring system comprising an image capturing device and a monitoring device arranged to communicate with the image capturing device,
In the image capturing device,
a camera module for capturing digital images;
a plurality of light sources each having an independently controllable emission intensity and arranged to illuminate a different portion within an angle of view of the camera module;
a light emission intensity control unit that controls the light emission intensity of each of the light sources;
and an image clipping unit for clipping a part of the captured image,
The light emission intensity control unit controls the light emission intensity of each light source so that any part within the angle of view of the camera module is illuminated with sufficient brightness,
The camera module captures an image such that at least a part of the light emission time of each light source and the capture time overlap,
The image clipping unit clips an image of an area illuminated with sufficient brightness from the image output from the camera module,
The image capturing device further comprises a power supply circuit and an image recording unit,
The power supply circuit supplies power to the imaging device,
The image recording unit stores an image captured by the camera module,
The image capturing device adds lighting direction data indicating directions in which the plurality of light sources illuminate to the image captured by the camera module when each direction is illuminated, and transmits the data to the monitoring device. A remote image monitoring system. A remote image monitoring system comprising an image capturing device and a monitoring device arranged to communicate with the image capturing device,
In the image capturing device,
a camera module for capturing digital images;
a plurality of light sources each having an independently controllable emission intensity and arranged to illuminate a different portion within an angle of view of the camera module;
a light emission intensity control unit that controls the light emission intensity of each of the light sources;
and an image clipping unit for clipping a part of the captured image,
The light emission intensity control unit controls the light emission intensity of each light source so that any part within the angle of view of the camera module is illuminated with sufficient brightness,
The camera module captures an image such that at least a part of the light emission time of each light source and the capture time overlap,
The image clipping unit clips an image of an area illuminated with sufficient brightness from the image output from the camera module,
The image capturing device further comprises a power supply circuit and an image recording unit,
The power supply circuit supplies power to the imaging device,
The image recording unit stores an image captured by the camera module,
The monitoring device sends a photographing command including at least lighting direction data to the image photographing device,
The remote image monitoring system, wherein the emission intensity control section of the imaging device controls the emission intensity of each of the light sources based on illumination direction data included in the imaging command.

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