JPH0622183A - Drive controller for small sized panhead - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To trace a moving object automatically and to surely record a video image only when the moving object is in existence. CONSTITUTION:A motion detection circuit 35 receiving a video signal from an image pickup camera 28 to detect a moving state of an object and a CPU 36 outputting a drive command signal to trace the moving object based on the output of the motion detection circuit are arranged in the small sized panhead head to trace the moving object automatically and to pick up its image. When the moving object is detected, a recording start signal is outputted to avoid useless video recording.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drive control device for a small pan head, and more particularly to the contents of drive control for a pan head for remotely pointing a photographing camera or the like in an arbitrary direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art ITV (Industrial Television), C
In shooting with a TV camera in CTV (Closed-Circuit Television), TV broadcasting, etc., the shooting camera is remotely operated in order to properly project a target subject or to capture a video in a predetermined area. A pan head is used to change the direction of this shooting camera.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a pan head device used in a conventional ITV. A photographing camera 1 connected to a monitor is attached to a pan head 2 via a support disk. A control unit 4 is connected to the platform 2 via a cable 3, and a joystick 5 for directing the camera to a desired direction, a speed knob 6 for setting a driving speed, and the like are arranged on the control unit 4. Therefore, the pan / tilt head 2 is driven by the operation of the control unit 4, whereby the photographing camera 1 can be directed to the tilt (vertical direction) 100 and the pan (horizontal direction) 200.

[0004]

However, in the conventional camera platform control, when a specific moving object is observed while the photographing camera 1 is photographing a predetermined area and it is desired to photograph the moving subject, There is an inconvenience that the operator has to follow the subject by driving the platform 2 using the joystick 5 and the speed knob 6 of the control unit 4. In television shooting or the like using the camera platform 2, unmanned monitoring of a predetermined place is often used. Therefore, if a moving subject can be automatically shot, it becomes a convenient device.

Further, when used as a surveillance camera, the image being taken is recorded, and in this case, a state in which there is no change is recorded for a long time, which causes a problem of a lot of waste. is there.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to be able to automatically track a moving subject and to reliably record a video only when a moving subject is present. It is an object of the present invention to provide a drive control device for a small tripod head that can be used.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the drive control device for a small platform according to the invention of claim 1 detects a motion state of a subject by inputting a video signal from a photographing camera. A motion detection circuit and a central processing unit that outputs a drive command signal for tracking a moving subject based on the output of the motion detection circuit are provided in a small platform for driving the photographing camera in an arbitrary direction. It is characterized by that. Further, the invention according to the second aspect is characterized in that the recording is operated when the moving subject is detected by the movement detecting circuit.

[0008]

According to the above construction, the motion of the subject is detected by specifying the center of gravity (center) or the contour of the subject. When this moving subject is detected, the photographing camera determines the direction of the movement. A drive signal for the platform is formed so as to track the subject. At this time, it is preferable to control the driving speed of the platform as well, and the platform is driven by a drive signal that determines the direction and speed. Also, regarding recording,
If the video is recorded only when the moving subject is detected, the reproduction becomes simple.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the circuit configuration of a drive control device for a small pan head according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows the internal construction of a small pan head. First, in FIG. 2, the platform 10 is configured by connecting a pipe-shaped main chassis 11 made of aluminum extruded material to a sub-chassis 12 which is a wall piece.
The thickness is about 3 cm to 5 cm.
Therefore, the platform 10 of the embodiment is about 1/5 smaller than the conventional platform (2) shown in FIG. In other words, the conventional platform (2) is relatively large (vertical and horizontal dimensions are more than 10 cm).
However, in recent years, photography cameras have become smaller, lighter and simpler, and in order to respond to this, it was decided to obtain a downsized pan head device. It is a thing.

In the storage space inside the main chassis 11, the two drive shafts 13 and 14 that intersect at right angles and the gear train 1 are arranged.
5, 16 and motors 17, 18 are arranged, and the drive shaft 1
Support discs 20 and 21 for connecting a photographing camera or a support wall are attached to 3 and 14. Further, in the storage space formed by the main chassis 11 and the sub chassis 12, a control circuit board having a position sensor 22 and a control circuit 23, each of which is composed of a rotary variable resistor, is provided corresponding to each of the drive shafts 13 and 14. A control circuit board 27 having 24, a position sensor 25 and a control circuit 26 is arranged.

In FIG. 1, a camera 10 is attached to the camera platform 10 described above, and a composite video signal obtained by the camera 28 is guided into the camera platform 10. In the platform 10, a separation circuit 30 for separating a sync signal from the composite video signal, a high pass filter (band pass filter in the case of a color video signal) 31 for extracting a high band video signal, a gate circuit 32, A memory 34 for storing image information, a digital signal processor (DSP) 35 for detecting a movement of a subject from the image information in the memory 34, a central processing unit (CP) for controlling the control.
U) 36, driver 3 for driving the motors 17, 18
7 is provided.

The DSP 35 obtains the position of the center of gravity (or contour) of the subject from the image information of one field stored in the memory 34, and supplies this position of the center of gravity to the CPU 36. Then, the CPU 36 determines the motion state of the subject from the center-of-gravity position information input at every predetermined time, and when it is determined to be in the motion state, the CPU 36 determines the movement direction of the subject from the moving state of the center-of-gravity position. Identify the speed,
The drive signal capable of tracking the movement is output to the driver 37. Further, the CPU 36 can send a recording start signal to a recording device (not shown) when detecting the movement of the subject, and can send a recording end signal when the tracking mode ends.

The embodiment has the above construction, and its operation will be described below. First, the pan / tilt head 10 to which the photographing camera 28 is attached is driven based on operation control from a control unit (not shown), and for the purpose of monitoring, the photographing camera 28 stops or moves in a specific area or place. While shooting. The composite video signal obtained by the photographing camera 28 is supplied to the separation circuit 30 and the high-pass filter 31 in the camera platform 10, and the separation circuit 30 separates the synchronization (SYNC) signal to obtain a high-pass filter. At 31, the high frequency video signal is extracted. This high frequency video signal is supplied to the memory 34 via the gate circuit 32, and only the signals required as image information are stored in the memory 34, for example, for each field.

In the DSP 35 in the next stage, the center of gravity of the subject is calculated based on the image information in the memory 34 as described above. That is, a moving subject is specified based on the contrast of the image on the screen (luminance signal of each pixel), and the center of gravity (center) position of this subject is calculated. Then, the position of the center of gravity of the subject is supplied to the CPU 36,
Here, the state of motion of the subject is determined.

That is, FIG. 3 shows the operation of the CPU 36. First, in step 301, the position of the center of gravity of the subject is input from the DSP 35, and in the next step 302, it is determined whether or not the center of gravity has changed. It That is, it is determined that there is motion when the difference between the center-of-gravity position before the predetermined time and the center-of-gravity position input this time exceeds a predetermined (threshold) value, and when the difference is below the predetermined value, there is no motion. To determine. If it is determined that the subject is in motion, the direction and speed of the motion are obtained in step 303. This is the previous center of gravity position and the current center of gravity position after a predetermined time. Can be obtained by comparing

Next, in step 304, the tracking mode is started, and a drive signal for the camera platform 10 is output so that the subject is in the center of the screen in consideration of the direction in which the subject is present. The motors 17 and 18 are rotationally driven by the driver 37 which inputs the signal. For example, considering the case where the subject H moves from the left side to the right side on the screen as shown in FIG. 4A, the platform 10 moves the center O of the photographing camera 28 to the subject H as shown in FIG. Controlled to approach. Further, in the next step 305, it is determined whether or not the variation amount of the movement of the subject is within the allowable range.
If "Y (YES)", the process returns to step 304, but "N"
In the case of (NO) ”, the speed control is performed in the next step 306. That is, as shown in FIG. 6C, when the subject H is being tracked in the state of being centered on the screen, the subject H When the camera platform 10 moves to the right faster than the driving speed of the platform 10, the variation amount of the motion exceeds the allowable range, and the photographing camera 28 cannot track the state.
A drive signal for increasing the speed (the drive direction is also determined) is formed by the PU 36, and the speed of the platform 10 is increased by this drive signal, and the subject H is placed at the center of the screen as shown in FIG. You can track in the state.

In step 307, it is determined whether or not the current position of the platform 10 is within the allowable range of motion. If "Y", the process returns to step 301, and if "N", the platform 10 moves. Since it is located in the tracking limit area, the tracking mode is canceled in the next step 308. Therefore, after that, the set pointing operation is executed again, and the tracking mode is executed when the motion state is detected separately from the normal pointing control.

Further, in the CPU 36, the above step 30
When it is determined in step 2 that the center of gravity has changed, recording can be started by sending a recording start signal to a recording device (not shown), while when the tracking mode is canceled in step 308. Recording can be ended by sending a recording end signal.

In the above embodiment, the movement of the subject is detected by using the image information in the memory 34. However, in the movement detection, the output of the A / D converter 33 is integrated and the representative value of the screen is displayed. May be obtained and the determination may be made based on the change in the representative value, and various known detection circuits can be applied.

[0020]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, a motion detecting circuit for inputting a video signal from a photographing camera and detecting a motion state of a subject, and an output of the motion detecting circuit are used. Since a central processing unit that outputs a drive command signal to track a moving subject is provided in the small platform, it can be automatically tracked if there is a moving subject, which is convenient. It is possible to obtain a good small platform.

In the invention according to the second aspect, since the recording is operated when the moving object is detected by the motion detecting circuit, unnecessary image recording can be eliminated. There is an advantage that it can be used without waste.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a drive control device for a small platform according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a camera platform according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the camera platform of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an operating state of a platform on a screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional platform device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 28 ... Shooting camera, 2, 10 ... Pan head, 13, 14 ... Drive shaft, 17, 18 ... Motor, 34 ... Memory, 35 ... Digital signal processor, 36 ... CPU.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A motion detection circuit for inputting a video signal from a photographing camera to detect a motion state of a subject, and a central processing for outputting a drive command signal for tracking a moving subject based on the output of the motion detection circuit. And a drive control device for the small pan head, which is provided in the small pan head for driving the photographing camera in an arbitrary direction. 2. The drive control device for a compact platform according to claim 1, wherein the recording is operated when the moving detection circuit detects a moving subject.