JPH087839B2 - Vehicle imaging device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention captures an image of a vehicle traveling in a prohibited zone represented by a prohibited zone such as a roadside zone of a highway,
The present invention relates to a vehicle photographing device for recording.

[Conventional technology]

On highways, roadside belts are provided outside the driving lanes in the event of a disaster or accident. In this roadside belt, normal vehicles are prohibited from passing and may be used as dedicated roads for emergency vehicles. Many. However, some drivers drive in this prohibited zone, and in general, roadside vehicles tend to overspeed and overtake, which is a cause of accidents.

In addition to such roadside lane traffic, there are increasing demands for preventing vehicles from entering the no-pass zones or no-entry zones.
Here, taking an image of a roadside vehicle as an example will be described.

It is a general method to detect a vehicle traveling on a roadside belt by using a normal film type camera and a vehicle detector, and film and record the vehicle on a film passing through such a prohibited zone. FIG. 6 shows a configuration diagram of a conventional vehicle photographing device.

In the figure, (1) is the driving lane, (2) is the roadside belt,
(3) is a vehicle running on the roadside belt (2), (4) is a vehicle detector, (5) is a camera, (6) is a strobe as an illumination light source, and (7) is from a vehicle detector (4). Vehicle detection signal,
(8) is a strobe tuning signal from the camera (6).

The vehicle detector (4) is composed of a light emitter (4a), a light receiver (4b), and a vehicle detection processing circuit (4C), and the light emitter (4a) and the light receiver (4b) are connected from the side of the road. A vehicle detection signal is output from the vehicle detection processing circuit (4C) when the vehicle enters the roadside zone at the point where the vehicle detector (4) is installed, aiming at the side zone. When the vehicle reaches the roadside zone where the vehicle detector (4) is installed, the light from the projector (4a) hits the side surface of the vehicle and the reflected light is received by the light receiver (4C). The vehicle detection processing circuit (4C) detects the presence of a vehicle by detecting that the received light intensity entering the light receiver (4C) increases. Further, since the vehicle detector (4) is installed at a predetermined point on the side of the road, when the vehicle passes the roadside zone on the side of the vehicle detector (4), the vehicle detection signal ( 7) is output and supplied to the camera (5). Furthermore, when the camera (5) receives the vehicle detection signal (7), the shutter (not shown) of the camera (5) operates, and at the same time, the strobe tuning signal (8) is output to the strobe (6) and the strobe (6) is turned on. It emits light.

As described above, when the vehicle (3) passes the roadside belt (2) to the side of the vehicle detector (4), the violating vehicle (3) determines that the vehicle violates the roadside under the strobe lighting by the camera (5). Filmed from the front of the vehicle and left on film. The reason why the strobe (6) is made to emit light at the time of photographing is to clearly photograph regardless of the weather.

By the way, in the configuration shown in FIG. 6, only one picture is left for one infringing vehicle. Regarding roadside traffic violations, the conditions around the road and the circumstances that led to the driver's violation are also important factors. For example, it is necessary to consider that the vehicle was forced out by another vehicle in the driving lane (1) and was forced to enter the roadside belt. Then, it is difficult to read.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In the configuration of FIG. 6, only one film is photographed for each vehicle, and there are cases where it is difficult to read the history of running conditions, such as the situation in which the roadside belt was run, only from the film. there were.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, using a TV camera instead of a still camera,
In addition, another vehicle detector is installed in front of the conventional vehicle detector, the TV camera starts shooting with the newly installed vehicle detector, and when the vehicle reaches a predetermined point, the TV camera It is intended to realize a vehicle photographing device capable of clearly photographing and recording the vehicle by recording a still image on a VTR by operating a high-speed shutter by I am trying.

[Means for solving the problem]

A vehicle photographing apparatus according to the present invention includes a first vehicle detector for detecting that a vehicle has reached a photographing start point, and a second vehicle detector installed at a still image photographing point behind the first vehicle detector. With a built-in container and a shutter as a photographing means
A TV camera, a strobe as an illumination means, an image memory for temporarily storing the image from the TV camera, and a VTR (Video Tape) for recording the image from the image memory on a video tape.
Recorder) and a shutter controller that controls the TV camera.

[Operation] In the present invention, when the first vehicle detector detects a vehicle, the TV camera starts shooting under natural lighting by the low-speed shirt, until the second vehicle detector detects the vehicle. At the point where the second vehicle detector detects the vehicle continuously, the TV camera takes a picture of the vehicle under the strobe lighting with a high-speed shutter, for example, a shutter speed of about 1/1000 seconds, and further, under natural light. In shooting, the shutter speed is switched by the photometry of the optical sensor, and the image has a brightness comparable to that of strobe lighting. The images taken with a high-speed shutter under strobe lighting provide clear images with little blurring for both the driver and the vehicle. The image taken in this way is a VTR
It can be recorded at a later date and replayed as needed.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, in which (9) is a first vehicle detector, (10) is a second vehicle detector, and (11) is a first vehicle detector. (9) a moving image shooting command signal which is a vehicle detection signal of the device (9), (12) a still shooting command signal which is a vehicle detection signal of the second vehicle detector (10), (13)
Is a TV camera, (14) is a shutter controller that determines the shutter speed and strobe emission command of the TV camera (13), (1
5) is a shutter speed signal from the shutter controller (14), (16) is a strobe emission command signal from the shutter controller (14), (17) is a video signal from the TV camera (13), and (18) is An optical sensor, (19) is a light reception signal from the optical sensor (18), (21) is a video signal from the image processing circuit (20), and (22) is a VTR. In addition, (1) to (3) in the figure
And (6) have the same functions as the same reference numerals in FIG. Here, the TV camera (13) is, for example, "Video Information", 1988,
The frame transfer type CCD device (Charge Coupled Device) in Volume 20, No. 9, P41 to P46 is used as the image sensor, and it is possible to shoot a normal movie with the shutter open and also to operate the shutter. Has become. The above CCD has an image area and a storage area. By photoelectrically converting the image in the image area and transferring the charge to the storage area at high speed, a still image can be taken by the electronic shutter operation, and the shutter speed is It can be changed arbitrarily by a signal from the outside. The lens aperture value of the TV camera (13) is preset to a constant F value. The image processing circuit (20) stores the image from the TV camera (13) as image data, and is mainly composed of a semiconductor memory device.

Further, the optical sensor (18) is installed so as to detect the brightness within the field of view of the TV camera (13). The brighter the brightness within the field of view, the greater the output voltage of the light reception signal (19). It is supposed to be.

The first vehicle detector (9) and the second vehicle detector (10) have the same structure as the vehicle detector (4) of FIG. 6, and are installed on the side of the road. The roadside strip (2) on the side of the installation point is set as the sensing area. The first vehicle detector (9) is in front of the TV camera, for example, about 100 m, and the second vehicle detector (10) is in front of the TV camera, for example, about 100 m.
It is installed at a point of 20m. Setting up like this
When the first vehicle detector (9) detects that the vehicle is traveling on the roadside zone (2), the video recording is started from this point, and the second vehicle detector (10) detects the vehicle. This is because the moving image shooting is continued until and the still image is captured when the vehicle is detected by the second vehicle detector (10). Therefore, it is necessary to select the location of these vehicle detectors according to the application.

Furthermore, the focal length of the lens of the TV camera (13) is fixed, so that when the still image is taken by the second vehicle detector (10), the vehicle has a full field of view, for example, in the width direction of the road.
It is set to about 3m. Therefore, when the first vehicle detector (9) starts photographing, the adjacent lane, here the traveling lane (1), is also photographed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the details of the image processing circuit (20), in which (201) is a video signal (1) from a TV camera.
A) that converts 7) into a digital value corresponding to the magnitude of the voltage
A / D converter (Analog to Digital Converter), (202) is a sync signal separation circuit (203) for extracting a vertical sync signal and a horizontal sync signal from a video signal (17), and a sync signal separation circuit (2).
The video signal (17) is an address counter that outputs a memory address for each pixel according to the vertical synchronizing signal and the horizontal synchronizing signal from (02) and counts a built-in clock (not shown) by the vertical synchronizing signal and the horizontal synchronizing signal. An address counter for updating and determining the memory address (206), (204) is an image memory for storing the output of the A / D converter (201), and (205) is a D / A converter (Digiatl to Analog Conv).
The image stored in the image memory (204) is extracted again as a video signal (21).
The image processing circuit (20) is configured in this way, and the captured image is quantized by the A / D converter (201) and stored in the image memory (204) as an image for one screen. At this time, the vertical synchronizing signal carried on the video signal (17) gives a break of one captured image, and the address counter (203) is reset. Further, the horizontal synchronizing signal is output to one scanning line, and the address counter (203) counts up the built-in clock to determine the horizontal coordinate of the image by the horizontal synchronizing signal and increments the image memory for each pixel. The quantized image data output from the A / D converter (201) is stored in the image memory (204). The image in the image memory (204) is taken out as a video signal (21) via the D / A converter (205).

FIG. 3 is a detailed configuration diagram of the shutter controller (14). (141) is a level determiner, (142) is a data selector, (143) is a pulse generator, and (144) is a first gate ( 145) is the second gate. Here, the level determiner (1
41) quantizes the magnitude of the voltage of the received light signal (19) with respect to a fixed level, and outputs, for example, 2-bit level judgment outputs G1 and G2.
Output as The first level judgment output G1 is the lower bit of the level judgment unit (141), and the second level judgment output G2 is the higher bit of the level judgment unit (141). The data selector (142) selects the pulse outputs D1 to D4 from the pulse generator (143) according to the logic of the first level judgment output G1 and the second level judgment output G2, and takes out the data output Q. Further, the pulse generator (143) gives a pulse for determining the shutter speed, and has a reference pulse output D0, a first pulse output D1, a second pulse output D2, a third pulse output D3, Generate a fourth pulse output D4. Here, the reference pulse output D0 gives a shutter speed at the time of photographing by strobe illumination, and outputs a pulse having a pulse width of 1/1000 second, for example. On the other hand, the first pulse output D1,
The pulse widths of the second pulse output D2, the third pulse output D3, and the fourth pulse output D4 are, for example, D1 = 1/60 seconds, D2 = 1/120 seconds D3
= 1/250 seconds, D4 = 1/500 seconds and set to multiple series. When D1 is selected, the TV camera operates in 1/60 seconds.

The first gate (144) is a still image shooting command signal (12)
After turning on, one reference pulse D0 is output, and when it is off, the data output Q is output from the shutter speed signal (15). The second gate (145) is a still image shooting command signal (1
After 2) is turned on, only one reference pulse D0 is output as a strobe light emission command signal (16). FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a truth value for explaining the operation of the shutter controller (14). As the light entering the optical sensor (18) becomes brighter, a high shutter speed is output from the data output Q. Is shown to be done. The shutter speed value shown in FIG. 4 is merely an example. As is clear from FIG. 3 for explaining the operation of the shutter controller (14) in FIG. 3, when the still image shooting command signal (12) is off, the light receiving signal (detected by the optical sensor (49) ( The shutter speed signal (15) corresponding to 19) is output. During this time, the strobe light emission command signal (16) is turned off. On the other hand, when the still image shooting command signal (12) is turned on, the reference pulse D0 is output to the shutter speed signal (15), and the shutter speed becomes a predetermined value. At the same time, a strobe light emission command signal (16) is output. Again, the gist of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In the figure, when the vehicle (3) travels on the roadside belt (2) and is detected by the first vehicle detector (9), the video shooting command signal (11) is output, the VTR (22) is activated, and the shutter is released. The controller (14) captures images at a shutter speed corresponding to the brightness within the field of view of the TV camera (13) detected by the optical sensor (18). This natural light only shooting continues until the vehicle (3) is detected by the second vehicle detection (10) and the still image shooting command signal (12) is output, and the traffic condition of the vehicle (3) is TV camera. Photographed by (13). This video signal (17) is recorded in the VTR (22) via the image processing circuit (20). When the vehicle (3) reaches the position of the second vehicle detector (10), it is detected by the second vehicle detector (10) and a still image photographing command signal (12) is output. The shutter controller (14) receives the still image shooting command signal (12) and shoots one still image at a predetermined shutter speed. At this time, the strobe is also activated by the strobe light emission command signal and emits light to illuminate the vehicle (3). This image is also recorded in the VTR (22) via the image processing circuit (20). In this way, when shooting in natural light, the shutter speed is controlled according to the brightness of the outside, and when using strobe lighting, the image is recorded with a high-speed shutter that is predetermined so that the image does not shake. You can leave. In addition, at the time of shooting the moving image, the situation of the adjacent lane is also taken, and it is possible to understand under what circumstances the vehicle (3) was traveling on the roadside belt (2). Furthermore, in a still image, the vehicle is photographed large on the screen under strobe lighting, so the driver's appearance and the license plate of the vehicle can be read, making it easy to identify the vehicle and the driver.

As a result, a clear image including the traffic situation can be recorded, and the processing at a later date can be smoothly performed. In addition,
Although not shown, it is automatically
You can also stop the VTR and stop shooting with the TV camera.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, (30) is a data generator, which internally has a clock (31) and an installation point setting unit (32).
In 1), time data such as year, month, day, hour, minute, second, etc. is generated. In addition, the installation location setting unit (32) is a ROM (Read Only M
The name of the installation location is entered in advance in a memory element that is configured by emory) or the like. Reference numeral (40) is an image synthesizer that superimposes the data from the data generator (30) as an image in the video signal (16) to form a single screen. With this configuration, time data and place data can be inserted in the image, which is convenient for later processing. Of course, for example, the first vehicle detector (9) may be provided with a speed measuring function, and the obtained speed information may be inserted into the image.

In the embodiment, the photoelectric sensor using the light projector (4a) and the light receiver (4b) has been described as the vehicle sensor, but other ultrasonic sensors, loop coil sensors and the like are also available. Although the VTR is used as the recording medium, it may be an optical disc or the like. In the embodiment, the level determiner (141) shows the case of 2-bit level output, but two levels are provided in order to make the brightness of the high-speed shutter image by stroboscopic illumination and the low-speed shutter image by natural light as constant as possible. However, it may be other than this depending on the application. Further, in the embodiment, the case of photographing a roadside vehicle is taken as an example, but it can be used for the same purpose.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the present invention can record moving images and still images including the traffic situation of the vehicle, and can obtain an image effective for identifying the vehicle and the driver, and uses the VTR as a recording medium. It can be played back instantly and a vehicle imaging device can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle photographing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of an image processing circuit, FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of a shutter controller, and FIG. 4 is a shutter controller. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a truth value, FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle imaging device showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a conventional vehicle imaging device. In FIG. (2) is the roadside belt,
(3) is a vehicle, (4) is a vehicle detector, (5) is a camera,
(6) is a strobe, (7) is a vehicle detection signal, (8) is a strobe tuning signal (9) is a first vehicle detector, (10) is a second vehicle detector (11) is a video shooting command signal , (12) is a still image shooting command signal, (13) is a TV camera, (14) is a shutter controller (15) is a shutter speed signal, (16) is a flash light emission command signal, (17) is a video signal, ( 18 is an optical sensor (19) is a light reception signal, (20) is an image processing circuit, (2
1) is a video signal, (22) is a VTR, (30) is a data generator,
(31) is a clock, (32) is an installation point setting unit, (40) is an image synthesizer (141) is a level determiner, (142) is a pulse generator, (143) is a data selector, and (144) is the first. One gate, (145) second gate, (201) A / D converter, (2
02) is a sync signal separation circuit, (203) is an address counter, (204) is an image memory, (205) is a D / A converter, (20)
6) is the memory address. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle photographing device for photographing a vehicle traveling on a no-traffic zone on a road. A TV camera capable of shutter operation for photographing the vehicle to obtain a video signal, and illumination means for the TV camera. A strobe, a first vehicle detector provided at a predetermined position in front of the TV camera, which generates a moving image shooting command signal when the vehicle reaches the position, and the first vehicle detection A second vehicle detector that is installed between the TV camera and the TV camera, and that generates a still image shooting command signal when a vehicle passing through the first vehicle detector arrives at that position, and the TV camera Sensor for detecting the brightness in the field of view of the vehicle, an image processing circuit for temporarily storing the image from the TV camera, a recorder for recording the video signal from the image processing circuit, and the first vehicle detector. Video shooting finger output from A function of operating the recorder by a signal and outputting a shutter speed signal corresponding to the output of the optical sensor to the TV camera, receiving a still image shooting command signal output from the second vehicle detector, and predicting it. A vehicle photographing apparatus comprising: a shutter speed and a strobe light emission command signal, which are defined in advance, and a controller having a function of outputting to the strobe. 2. A vehicle photographing device for photographing a vehicle traveling on a no-traffic zone on a road, which comprises a TV camera capable of shutter operation for photographing the vehicle and obtaining a video signal, and an illumination means for the TV camera. A strobe, a first vehicle detector provided at a predetermined position in front of the TV camera, which generates a moving image shooting command signal when the vehicle reaches the position, and the first vehicle detection A second vehicle detector that is installed between the TV camera and the TV camera, and that generates a still image shooting command signal when a vehicle passing through the first vehicle detector arrives at that position, and the TV camera Optical sensor to detect the brightness in the field of view, a data generator to generate installation location and time data, a video signal from the TV camera and the output data of the data generator are superimposed on one image. Image synthesizer to An image processing circuit for temporarily storing the image from the image synthesizer, a recorder for recording the image data from the image processing circuit, and the recorder according to the moving image capturing command signal output from the first vehicle detector. And a function to output a shutter speed signal corresponding to the output of the optical sensor to the TV camera, and a still image capturing command signal output from the second vehicle detector, which is predetermined. A vehicle photographing apparatus comprising: a shutter speed and a strobe light emission command signal, and a controller having a function of outputting the strobe light to the strobe.