JPH0963313A - Automatic tracking lighting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately automatically track an object without missing tracking even if the feature of the object changes by providing a pattern light irradiation portion and an object position detection portion which recognize the position of the object based on how the pattern light of an image is seen. SOLUTION: A pattern light irradiation portion 11 irradiates reference pattern light suitable for recognizing the distance, the surface shape, and the like of an object. A pattern extraction portion 52 conducts binary treatment on image data stored in an image memory 51 so as to extract the pattern image irradiated by the irradiation portion 11. A pattern analysis portion (an object position detection portion) 53 analyzes the distance to the object and its shape based on the pattern image extracted by the extraction portion 52, and further by adding the movement direction and the distance from the last time position, and the like so as to correctly discriminate whether it is the tracking object or not with high probability. Thereby, since a rotation base 3 can be attitude- controlled so that the radiation direction of a spotlight always faces in the direction of the object via a rotation base movement vector production portion 54, and a rotation base control portion 4, the object can correctly be tracked.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic tracking illumination device that automatically follows a moving object and illuminates only the vicinity of the object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Originally, a lighting device of this type illuminates the position of an object such as a person by performing a remote control operation with a joystick while a person judges a spotlight installed on an electric rotating table. . Therefore, if the spotlights are distributed and installed in multiple places, it is difficult for one operator to handle, and if the irradiation angle of the spotlights is different from the operator's angle of view, the operator is very difficult. It requires a lot of labor and skill.

Therefore, in recent years, an image pickup means such as a television camera having a field of view of a part or the whole of an illumination range is provided, and a video signal obtained from the image pickup means is processed to automatically determine the position of an object to be illuminated. Research and development has been conducted on an automatic tracking lighting device for tracking and lighting an object. But,
In these automatic tracking illumination devices, the position of an object is generally detected from the color of the object, the shape of the object, or the image change due to the movement of the object, and the spotlight is generally tracked automatically. there were.

[0004]

However, in the conventional automatic tracking illumination device as described above, when the image change due to the color of the target object or the shape of the target object or the motion of the target object fluctuates extremely, There is a risk of deviating from tracking and becoming unable to track. For example, when the object is a person such as an actor in a theater or a bride and groom in a wedding hall, it cannot be said that the change in image due to color, shape or movement does not change extremely during tracking, and the image due to color, shape or movement does not change. There is a problem in that tracking only by focusing on the characteristics of changes does not allow perfect and perfect automatic tracking.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and its object is to provide an excellent automatic tracking without deviating from the tracking even if the characteristics of the object change. Another object is to provide an automatic tracking lighting device.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a spotlight equipped with an image pickup means that matches the irradiation direction, and a spotlight of the spotlight. Automatic tracking illumination including a turntable for attitude control, a target detection unit for detecting a target from a video signal of an image pickup unit, and a turntable control unit for driving the turntable so that a spotlight tracks the target. An apparatus, which is a device for irradiating an illumination area including a target object with a predetermined pattern light, and a target object position detecting unit for recognizing the position of the target object by the appearance of the pattern light in a captured image. And is provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a spotlight equipped with an image pickup means that matches the irradiation direction, a turntable for controlling the attitude of the spotlight, and an object detected from a video signal of the image pickup means. An automatic tracking lighting device comprising an object detection unit that performs, and a turntable control unit that drives a turntable so that the spotlight tracks the object, the spotlight being predetermined in an illumination area including the object. And a pattern extraction unit for extracting the pattern drawn by the pattern light in the video signal output from the image pickup unit, and the extracted pattern. And a rotary table moving vector for calculating a movement vector of the rotary table based on the object position and transmitting the vector to the rotary table controller. And characterized in that and a generator.

According to a third aspect of the invention, the pattern light is a light beam outside the visible light wavelength range.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of an automatic tracking illumination device according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an automatic tracking illumination device. 2A and 2B are explanatory views showing how the object looks when it is irradiated with pattern light. FIG. 2A shows an image of image data before pattern extraction processing, and FIG. 2B shows after pattern extraction processing. The image of the image data of is shown. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of an automatic tracking illumination device.

As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic tracking illumination device is
A spotlight 1, a television camera 2 corresponding to an image pickup unit, a turntable 3, a turntable control unit 4, and an image processing device 5 corresponding to an object detection unit are provided.

The spotlight 1 is an illuminating device for illuminating an object like a spot, and as shown in FIG.
The light source 10, the pattern light irradiation unit 11, and the irradiation light switching unit 12 are provided. The light source 10 is for obtaining main illumination light for illuminating an object such as an actor on the stage. The pattern light irradiation unit 11 irradiates reference pattern light suitable for recognizing the distance and surface shape of the object, for example, polka dot pattern light in which circles are arranged in a grid pattern. The irradiation range of the pattern light irradiation unit 11 is set to be wider than the irradiation range of the spotlight 1, and the optical axis of the pattern light is made to substantially coincide with the optical axis of the main illumination light of the spotlight 1. . Further, as the light from the pattern light irradiation unit 11, infrared rays or the like which are outside the visible light wavelength range and are easy to image are used. The irradiation light switching unit 12 includes the image processing device 5
The irradiation of the main illumination light from the light source 10 and the irradiation of the pattern light generated by the pattern light irradiation unit 11 are alternately switched at high speed based on the timing signal output from the light source 10.

The television camera 2 is attached to the spotlight 1, and the image pickup axis of the television camera 2 is made parallel to the optical axis of the main illumination light of the spotlight 1. In addition, the television camera 2 can enhance the pattern light so that an image can be captured.
Sometimes a special filter is used. The turntable 3 is an electric turntable that can freely change the attitude of the spotlight 1 in the pan and tilt directions based on a drive instruction from the turntable control unit 4. There is. The turntable control unit 4 makes the irradiation direction of the spotlight 1 always face the direction of the object based on the turntable movement vector output from the image processing device 5, even if the object such as an actor on the stage moves. , Attitude control of the turntable 3.

The image processing apparatus 5 includes an irradiation light switching section 12
A timing signal is transmitted to the rotary table and a rotary table movement vector for giving a control instruction to the rotary table controller 4 is transmitted to the inside of the A / D converter 50 as shown in FIG.
A video memory 51, a pattern extraction unit 52, a pattern analysis unit 53 corresponding to an object position detection unit, a turntable movement vector generation unit 54, and a timing generation unit 55.

The A / D converter 50 converts an analog video signal from the television camera 2 into a digital video signal.
The video memory 51 stores the digital video converted by the A / D converter 50. The pattern extraction unit 52 uses the image data stored in the video memory 51 to extract the pattern light irradiation unit 1 from the image data.
Extract the irradiated pattern image of 1. The pattern analysis unit 53 identifies the target object from the pattern image extracted by the pattern extraction unit 52 and estimates the position of the target object.
The turntable movement vector generation unit 54 includes a pattern analysis unit 53.
Based on the estimated position of the target object, a rotary table movement vector for giving a control instruction to the rotary table controller 4 is calculated and generated, and is output to the rotary table controller 4. Timing generator 55
Is for synchronizing the irradiation light switching unit 12 so that the image data captured by the TV camera 2 is stored in the video memory 51 while the pattern light irradiation unit 11 is emitting the pattern light. Generates and outputs a timing signal for taking.

The automatic tracking lighting device configured as described above operates as follows. That is, spotlight 1
The main illumination light from the light source 10 and the pattern light from the pattern light irradiation unit 11 are alternately switched at high speed in synchronization with the timing signal output from the timing generation unit 55, while illuminating a stage including an object, for example. To do. On the other hand, the TV camera 2 captures an image of the stage and converts the video signal into an A / D conversion unit 5
Output to 0 sequentially. The A / D converter 50 converts the analog video signal from the television camera 2 into a digital video signal, and sequentially outputs the digital video signal to the video memory 51.

The video memory 51 includes a timing generator 55.
In synchronization with the timing signal output by the A / D converter 5
The image data showing the pattern irradiated with the pattern light in the digital video signal output by 0 is stored and held. An image of the image data stored and held in the video memory 51 is as shown in FIG. However,
In FIG. 2A, in order to facilitate understanding, a rectangular parallelepiped placed on the floor of the stage is assumed as an object.

The pattern extraction unit 52 performs a binarization process on the image data stored in the image memory 51 and extracts the pattern image irradiated by the pattern light irradiation unit 11. For example, the image data after binarizing the image data as shown in FIG. 2A becomes as shown in FIG. 2B. In other words, in the case of a polka dot pattern reflected on the floor of the stage, it can be predicted in advance by knowing the installation position of the spotlight 1 and the current posture control state (state of the turntable 3), but the floor of the stage The polka dot pattern reflected on the surface of the rectangular parallelepiped placed on the surface, that is, the surface of the object, appears to be out of the previously predictable polka dot pattern (usually looks large). At the same time, the size of the polka dot also correlates with the distance from the pattern light irradiation unit 11.

Therefore, the pattern analysis unit 53 can recognize from the pattern image extracted by the pattern extraction unit 52 that, for example, something is present on the floor surface of the stage, and the You can recognize the size,
Also, the distance to anything can be recognized. Although FIG. 2 shows an example of a rectangular parallelepiped having a simple shape as an object, the principle is the same even if the object has a complicated shape like a human. Moreover, the pattern image extracted by the pattern extracting unit 52 thus obtained is affected even when the image change due to the color of the object, the shape of the object, or the movement of the object fluctuates extremely. It is possible to stably recognize the existence of the target object. Therefore, if the existence of the target object is successively recognized at high speed based on the above-described principle, the movement of the target object can be continuously and accurately tracked.

The pattern analysis unit 53 includes a pattern extraction unit 5
Persons other than the tracking target, such as the table, included in the extracted pattern image 2 are of course recognized in the same manner as the tracking target. However, the pattern analysis unit 53 analyzes whether or not it is a tracking target more than before by performing analysis by taking into consideration the distance and shape to the target, and further the moving direction and distance from the previous position. It can be correctly identified with a high probability.

When the pattern analysis unit 53 identifies the target object and estimates the position of the target object as described above, it outputs the estimated position to the rotary base movement vector generation unit 54. Based on the position of the target object estimated by the pattern analysis unit 53, the turntable movement vector generation unit 54 gives a pan to the turntable 3 necessary to position the estimated position in the center of the image captured by the television camera 2. A turntable movement vector corresponding to the rotation angle and the tilt rotation angle is calculated and generated, and is output to the turntable control unit 4. Based on the turntable movement vector output from the turntable movement vector generation unit 54, the turntable control unit 4 always sets the irradiation direction of the spotlight 1 to the direction of the subject even if the subject such as an actor on the stage moves. The attitude of the turntable 3 is controlled so as to face it. Therefore, if the series of operations described above is repeatedly executed at high speed and sequentially, the object can be accurately tracked without deviating from the tracking and becoming untrackable.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the pattern light may be not only a polka dot pattern but also a rectangular pattern, such as a grid-like straight line pattern or a parallel straight line pattern. May be. Further, the pattern light irradiation unit does not necessarily have to be provided in the spotlight, and may be provided in a building material or the like near the spotlight.

[0022]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the characteristic of the tracking target is not passively captured, but the tracking target is identified by the active capturing method of irradiating the pattern light to perform accurate tracking. It is possible to provide an excellent automatic tracking lighting device that can be realized.

According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the above effects, there is an effect that it is possible to provide an excellent automatic tracking illumination device capable of realizing more accurate tracking.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above effects, it is possible to prevent the pattern light for tracking from being seen by the naked eye, so that the audience on the stage does not feel uncomfortable. It is possible to provide an excellent automatic tracking lighting device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an automatic tracking lighting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing how an object looks when irradiated with pattern light.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of the automatic tracking illumination device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Spotlight 11 Pattern light irradiation part 2 Imaging means 3 Rotating table 4 Rotating table control section 5 Object detecting section 52 Pattern extracting section 53 Object position detecting section 54 Rotating table moving vector generating section

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A spotlight equipped with an image pickup means that matches the irradiation direction, a turntable that controls the attitude of the spotlight, an object detection unit that detects an object from a video signal of the image pickup means, and a spotlight. Is an automatic tracking lighting device comprising a turntable control unit that drives a turntable so as to track an object, and a pattern light irradiation unit that irradiates a predetermined pattern light to an illumination area including the object, An automatic tracking illumination device, comprising: an object position detection unit that recognizes a position of an object based on how the pattern light is viewed in a captured image. 2. A spotlight equipped with an image pickup means that matches the irradiation direction, a turntable that controls the attitude of the spotlight, an object detection unit that detects an object from a video signal of the image pickup means, and a spotlight. Is an automatic tracking illumination device including a turntable control unit that drives a turntable so as to track an object, and the spotlight is a pattern light irradiation that illuminates an illumination area including the object with predetermined pattern light. The object detection unit includes a pattern extraction unit that extracts a pattern drawn by the pattern light in the video signal output by the image pickup unit, and an object that determines an object position based on the extracted pattern. An object position detection section and a turntable movement vector generation section for calculating a turntable movement vector based on the object position and transmitting the movement vector to the turntable control section. And an automatic tracking lighting device. 3. The pattern light according to claim 1, wherein the pattern light is a light beam outside the visible light wavelength region.
The described automatic tracking lighting device.