JPH117519A - Video sensor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily set a judgement area in an optional shape to an optional position by setting the shape based on input image data for the judgement area of a video sensor device. SOLUTION: Input video signals are digitized by an A/D converter and a sample holder and impressed to a contour extraction circuit 2 and the contour of images is extracted there and sent out to a judgement area generation circuit 3 and a judgement circuit 6. The judgement circuit 6 compares the extracted contour of the images and the judgement area prepared in the judgement area generation circuit 3, judges video change in the case that the contour of the images goes out of the judgement area or in the case that it enters inside and outputs alarm signals. A synthesis circuit 8 synthesizes a judgement area input video image and the judgement area and makes judgement area setting on the input video image possible. A D/A conversion circuit 9 makes the digitized video signals analog and converts them into a signal form capable of being impressed to a display device such as a jonitor or the like.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention sets a judgment area of an arbitrary shape at an arbitrary position of an image output from an image signal output device, automatically detects a change in the image in the judgment area, and generates an alarm. To a video sensor device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional apparatus, when a determination area is set, sensor dots are arranged in the determination area, and the determination area is constituted by an aggregate of the sensor dots.

[0003]

In the above-described conventional method, the position of each sensor dot must be manually set, and when the determination area is wide or complicated, the setting of the determination area becomes complicated. I was

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above drawbacks and to realize a video sensor device capable of easily setting a determination area of an arbitrary shape at an arbitrary position.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the shape of a determination area of a video sensor device is set based on input image data.

As a result, even if the determination area is wide or has a complicated shape, the determination area can be easily set.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The structure and operation of an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

1 is an A / D for digitizing an input video signal.
A D conversion circuit, a contour extraction circuit for extracting a subject contour from a digitized video signal, a decision area generating circuit for creating a decision area from the subject contour, a pointing device for setting and editing the decision area, Reference numeral 5 denotes a determination area setting / editing circuit which is an interface between the determination area generation circuit 3 and the pointing device 4, 6 denotes a determination circuit for detecting a video change in the determination area, and 7 denotes an operation when the determination circuit 6 detects a video change. Alarm output circuit,
Reference numeral 8 denotes a synthesizing circuit for synthesizing an input image and a determination area, and 9 denotes a D / A conversion circuit for converting a digitized video signal into an analog signal.

The configuration and operation of the present invention are characterized by a contour extraction circuit 2 and a decision area generation circuit 3, and the other components are basically the same as those mounted on a conventional video sensor device. The same is applicable.

The input video signal applied to the A / D conversion circuit 1 is digitized by an A / D converter, which is an internal circuit of the A / D conversion circuit 1, and a sample holder, and applied to the contour extraction circuit 2. Here, the number of quantization bits of the A / D conversion circuit 1 is desirably 8 bits or more because it directly affects the contour extraction accuracy.

The contour extraction circuit 2 extracts the contour of the image,
The signal is sent to the judgment area generating circuit 3 and the judgment circuit 6. The contour extraction circuit 2 includes a screen collector, an image enhancer, and the like, and detects a contour based on the luminance contrast of an image. As a specific method, there are a detection by a multiple differentiation method, a binarization circuit, and the like.

The determination area generating circuit 3 is composed of a contour selector and a boundary maker.

The outline of the image input from the outline extraction circuit 2 is the outline of the image of the entire screen, and it is necessary to select only the image outline necessary for setting the shape of the determination area. This operation is performed by the outline selector, and the operation of moving the selected image outline to create the determination area width is performed by the boundary maker.

The selection of the image outline and the creation of the determination area are performed under the control of the determination area setting / editing circuit 5.

Both the contour selector and the boundary maker are used in image processing technology, non-contact inspection technology, and the like, and are known.

The pointing device 4 is used to select and specify a necessary image contour and to move the image contour in order to create a judgment area width, and includes a light pen, a mouse, a cursor, and the like.

The determination area setting / editing circuit 5 is a man-machine interface section, and includes a driver of the pointing device 4, a control circuit, and the like.

The judging circuit 6 compares the contour of the image extracted by the contour extracting circuit 2 with the judging region created by the judging region generating circuit 3, and when the contour of the image goes out of the judging region, or , And determines that the image has changed, and outputs an alarm signal to the alarm output circuit 7.

The alarm output circuit 7 performs an alarm operation such as a buzzer sound and a trigger pulse output according to the alarm signal from the determination circuit 6.

The synthesizing circuit 8 synthesizes the input image and the judgment area when the judgment area is set, and makes it possible to set the judgment area on the input image.

The D / A conversion circuit 9 converts the digitized video signal into an analog signal and converts it into a signal form that can be applied to a display device such as a monitor.

Hereinafter, an electric wire monitoring system, which is a more detailed embodiment of the above embodiment, will be specifically described.

The purpose of this system is to monitor snow on an outdoor high-voltage line or the like, fluctuation of a strong wind or the like, abnormal bending, and the like.

FIG. 2 shows an image from a video camera monitoring an electric wire in a normal state. An electric wire in a normal state is displayed at the center of the screen. On the other hand, FIG. 3 shows a large amount of snow which is in an abnormal state, FIG. 4 shows shaking in a strong wind, and FIG. 5 shows an image when abnormal bending occurs.

In general, the video sensor device automatically detects and issues an alarm when the image of FIG. 2 changes as shown in FIGS. Therefore, it is necessary to set a determination area for sensing a change. In the conventional determination area setting method, as shown in FIG. 6, sensor dots are arranged in the determination area, and the determination area is configured by an aggregate of the sensor dots. However, the position of each sensor dot is manually set. Must be
When the determination area is wide or has a complicated shape, the setting of the determination area is complicated.

The determination area setting of the video sensor device according to the present invention sets the shape of the determination area based on the input image data. The procedure will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 7 shows an outline extracted from the image of the electric wire in the normal state shown in FIG. A portion having a large change in luminance is recognized as a contour. This contour is used as a source signal to move up, down, left, and right to set a determination area. FIG. 8 shows this setting.
In the present embodiment, since the monitoring of the electric wire is performed, the contour is moved only in the vertical direction for setting the determination area.

The determination area set in the above procedure is shown by the hatched portion in FIG. An image of the electric wire in a normal state is displayed in the center, but an alarm is generated when the electric wire comes out of the determination area due to a large amount of snow, shaking in a strong wind, abnormal bending, or the like.

[0029]

As described above, it is possible to realize a video sensor device which can easily set a determination area even if the determination area is wide or has a complicated shape.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an image monitoring an electric wire in a normal state.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of an image monitoring a large amount of electric wires during snowfall.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of an image monitoring an electric wire at the time of shaking in a strong wind.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an image monitoring an electric wire when abnormal bending occurs.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional determination area setting screen using an aggregate of sensor dots.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a screen in which an outline is extracted from an image of an electric wire in a normal state according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a screen in which a determination area is set by moving the contour according to the present invention up, down, left, and right as a source signal.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a determination area setting screen of the video sensor device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: A / D conversion circuit, 2: contour extraction circuit, 3: judgment area generation circuit, 4: pointing device, 5: judgment area setting editing circuit, 6: judgment circuit, 7: alarm output circuit,
8: synthesis circuit, 9: D / A conversion circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A judgment area having an arbitrary shape is set at an arbitrary position of an image from a television camera or an image from an image signal output device, and a change in image in the judgment area is automatically detected and an alarm is generated. A video sensor device in which a shape of a determination area is set based on input image data in a video sensor.