JPS6159260A - Water quality examination apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable examination of water quality automatically and rapidly with good accuracy, by photographing the surface of water in an aquarium in which fishes are fed and applying image processing to the motion of fishes on the surface of water. CONSTITUTION:Tap water is introduced an aquarium 1 from a conduit and the quality of the water in the aquarium is allowed to always coincide with that of tap water to feed living fishes 2. The aquarium 1 is blocked from light if necessary so as to prevent the incidence of light from the side surfaces and bottom surface thereof. A fluorescent lamp 3 is arranged so that the light thereof is allowed to almost irradiate the surface of water in the aquarium 1 and only the high reflective body at the surface part of water has certain luminosity while a TV camera 4 is arranged so as t have an angle of view only picking up the image of the surface of water in the aquarium 1. An examination part 5 receives the image signal from the TV camera 4 and at first calculates the number or total area of the patterns of bright points corresponding to the size and shape of the abdominal part of each fish 2 by operation circuits 14-16 to store the same in memory circuits 17-19 at every predetermined time. These data are compared with data preliminarily imparted by a processing circuit 20 to detect the mixing of a toxic substance or the abnormality of water quality such as an oxygen deficient state.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Technical field of the invention] This invention f! A relates to a water quality testing device suitable for testing the quality of water for water supply.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Water quality testing is essential, as it is an absolute prerequisite that water for public drinking be non-toxic. Conventional water quality testing of this type involves raising river fish, goldfish, etc. in water obtained from a pipe branching off from a water supply pipe, and then visually observing the fish for death or abnormal reactions. It was getting worse. However, such visual observation by lifeguards causes fatigue on the lifeguards, so other methods have been proposed that utilize the fish's breathing and heartbeat. However, such respiration and heartbeat data is obtained by distinguishing weak signal changes from other noise components, making the above method difficult to implement.

In addition, a method has been proposed to observe the decline in the ability of fish that have countercurrent properties, but it is difficult to implement because it is limited to special fish), and when it is done by observers, it has the same drawbacks as conventional methods. .

Furthermore, both of the above-mentioned methods based on respiration and heartbeat, and methods based on the countercurrent flow of fish, the reactions may change due to changes in the environment, and the reactions may differ depending on the individual fish, so there is no guarantee that there will be a correlation with toxicity. If a certain reaction cannot be determined, false positives may occur.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was developed in view of the shortcomings of conventional water quality testing methods, and its purpose is to provide a water quality testing device that is capable of automatic, quick testing and highly accurate testing. It is to provide.

[Summary of the invention]

Therefore, in the present invention, an imaging device includes an illumination device arranged to illuminate substantially the surface of water in an aquarium in which fish to be kept are placed, and an imaging device that images the surface of the water! ! The water quality testing device is configured to include a testing section that tests the water quality of the water in the aquarium based on a notarn formed by a high-brightness video signal obtained by The above purpose was achieved by testing the water quality.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1st rI! J is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 indicates a water tank. Water for municipal water supply is branched and led to this water tank 1 from a conduit (not shown), and the quality of the water is always made to match that of water for municipal water supply.

Further, the aquarium 1 is shaded as necessary to prevent light from entering from its side surfaces, bottom surface, etc. Aquarium l has a body length of 10
Raw fish 2 of 0n to 15an are raised. As the raw fish 2, carp, crucian carp, goldfish, or the like is used.

3 indicates a fluorescent lamp which is an illumination device. This fluorescent lamp 3 is arranged so that its light illuminates substantially the surface of the water in the aquarium 1,
Only the highly reflective material on the surface of the water has a certain brightness, and the parts in the water have a compressed hill-to-last ratio v! , so that an image can be obtained.

In addition, in order to uniformly irradiate the water surface with the light of the fluorescent lamp 3 over a sufficiently wide range, the fluorescent lamp 3 is equipped with a two-P and a reflector.
This prevents direct light from entering the television camera, which will be described later. Here, when poisonous substances etc. are mixed into the water and the water quality becomes abnormal, the fish sometimes become violent.

2. They float on their bellies for a few seconds to tens of seconds, then return to their normal posture and move around again, repeating this process.

3. Stay floating with your belly on your side. In addition, in the case of oxygen deficiency, the nose becomes raised.

In this way, fish change their reactions over time and eventually die. In this case, if you capture the fish's behavior on video: 1. The rampaging fish creates waves on the water surface and gives off a bright spot that spreads out. When the rampage stops, the bright spot naturally attenuates and disappears.

Regardless of the species, the belly of a λ fish exhibits high reflectance and forms a bright spot, but when it is in its normal position, it becomes a dark area.

3. When the fish's nose is up, the fish's mouth, head, and part of its back form a convex part on the water surface, which becomes a bright spot.

In order to capture only the above-mentioned changes on the water surface and obtain an image that is not affected by the behavior of the fish in the water, the irradiation angle of the light from the fluorescent lamp 3 is determined as described above.

4#-i This shows a television camera that is an imaging device that images the water surface. This television camera 4 is arranged above the aquarium 1 so as to have an angle of view that images only the surface of the water in the aquarium 1.

5 indicates an inspection section. This inspection section 5tj: receives the video signal obtained from the television camera 4, and detects the water (
This test tests the water quality of 11 waters.

The inspection section 5 is configured as shown in FIG. 2, for example.

In the figure, reference numeral 11 indicates an input terminal for receiving and taking video signals from the television camera 4. The video signal that has reached the binarization circuit 12 via the input terminal 11 is converted into a binary image signal and sent to the noise removal circuit 13. The noise removal circuit 13 removes small bright spots caused by minute floating objects such as male fish and bubbles floating on the water surface.

The binary image signal outputted from the noise removal circuit 13 is taken into a 3-Q calculation storage means which includes a calculation circuit and a storage circuit. The arithmetic circuit 14 obtains data on the position of a "white" signal (bright spot) pattern corresponding to the size and shape of the belly of the fish 2 from the binary image signal, and stores this data in the storage circuit 1.
Send to 7. Further, the arithmetic circuit 15 calculates the fish 2 from the binary image signal.
The data at the position of the pattern larger than the antinode size is obtained and this data is sent to the storage circuit 18. Furthermore, the arithmetic circuit 1
6 obtains data on the number of patterns smaller than the belly size of the fish 2 or their total area (number of bright spots x area of pixels) from the binary image signal, and sends this data to the storage circuit 19. The storage circuits 17 to 19 store the sent data. Here, it is assumed that the storage circuits 17 to 19 sequentially store data, for example, every 1 to 2 seconds. Reference numeral 20 indicates a processing circuit including memory circuits 17 to 19. Data on the number and total area of fish is categorized and given in advance to the processing circuit based on patterns obtained when fish behave depending on water quality. There is. Further, there is a comparison means (not shown) in the processing circuit, and this comparison means compares the data stored in the memory circuits 17 to 19 with the data given in advance, every four seconds, for example. It detects whether toxic substances have been mixed in or there is a lack of oxygen.

For example, if a poisonous substance is mixed in, Fish 2 will float with its belly on its side, as in the event described in Section 3 above, so the "white" signal pattern corresponding to the size of the belly will be displayed on the screen. In this case, the number of the above patterns is N from the number of fish 2.
Contamination with poisonous substances is detected on the condition that there are t or more fish ((Nz or more fish 2 are dead). In this way, Tx.

By appropriately selecting N, the detection sensitivity for poisonous contamination can be provided. Therefore, the comparison means compares the storage circuit 1 based on the predetermined Tx = NX K.
Referring to the data stored in 7, if the position of the "white" signal pattern corresponding to the size of the antinode does not change significantly after T seconds have elapsed, and the number of patterns is N1 or more, For example, it outputs a signal indicating poisonous substance contamination.

Furthermore, when the poisonous substance is in the initial stage or when the amount thereof is small, an abnormal reaction of the fish 2 as described in the above-mentioned item 2 occurs. At this time, as the fish 2 moves wildly, waves are generated on the water surface and a widening bright spot appears, and when the rampage stops, the bright spot naturally attenuates and disappears.

Therefore, on the screen there is a bright spot 811 larger than the belly of fish 2.
each exists for a predetermined time t. , the situation that disappears after being stationary for a predetermined time TI! is repeated Mu times or more. For this reason, the comparison means uses the previously given tl, , I'lHg TIX
e Nbxe, referring to the data stored in the memory circuit 18, there are 811 or more i-turns of the "white" signal that are larger than the antinode size, and each one is txx
It disappears after time stops, and this situation is oil within T11 time! When repeated more than once, a signal is output indicating that poisonous substances have been detected.

Furthermore, when the state of 1 oxygen deficiency occurs, the fish 2 becomes in a state where its nose is raised, so there are many relatively small bright spots within the screen, and the predetermined time T
This will continue for more than sv. Therefore, the comparison means refers to the data stored in the storage circuit 19 based on the predetermined value T, and determines that the number of patterns of "white" signals smaller than the large amount of money is equal to or greater than a predetermined number. Or, if the total area of bright spots exceeds a predetermined value and this condition continues for T or more, a signal indicating oxygen deficiency is output.

The signal output from the comparison means as described above is applied to the report output circuit 21 connected to the processing circuit 20.

The 11 report output circuit 21 generates different report sounds depending on the content of the signal output from the processing circuit.

In this way, in this embodiment, water quality can be accurately tested using three sets of calculation storage means.

Note that the arithmetic circuits 14 to 16 and the processing circuit 20 may be configured as a so-called combinator and realized by software. Further, the number of arithmetic storage means does not have to be the third meter according to the present embodiment, but can be changed to 2 or less or 4 or more depending on the type of water quality index to be tested. Furthermore,
When the fish 2 is a goldfish, an optical filter for removing the red color is disposed in front of the television camera 2 in order to remove the influence of the red color.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to capture fish reactions as a pattern formed from signals with high brightness without being influenced by the background, and it is possible to automatically detect fish reactions with high accuracy in water quality. Tests can be carried out. Furthermore, since the behavior of multiple fish is statistically processed and the judgment of water quality is automated, individual differences such as the number of fish that are monitored by lifeguards can be eliminated, and accuracy is greatly improved in this respect as well. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of the main part of the figure. 1...Aquarium 2...Fish 3...Fluorescent light 4...TV camera 5...Inspection section 12...Binarization circuit 1
3... Noise removal circuit 14-16... Arithmetic circuit 1
7-19...Storage circuit 20...Processing circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) An illumination device arranged to illuminate substantially the surface of water in an aquarium containing fish to be kept, an imaging device that takes an image of the surface of the water, and a video signal obtained from the imaging device. A water quality testing device comprising: an testing section that tests the water quality of the water in the aquarium based on a pattern formed by signals with high brightness. (2) The inspection unit includes a binarization circuit that binarizes the video signal;
an arithmetic storage means for determining and storing the position, number, or total area of patterns of a predetermined size at predetermined time intervals from the pattern formed by the "white" signal output from the binarization circuit; and the arithmetic storage means. The water quality testing device according to claim 1, further comprising comparison means for comparing the data stored in the water quality testing device with pre-stored data indicating a water quality abnormality. (3) The first arithmetic storage means calculates and stores the position of the pattern corresponding to the size and shape of the fish's belly at predetermined time intervals from the pattern formed by the "white" signal output from the binarization circuit. and a second calculation storage means for determining and storing the position of a pattern larger than the belly of a fish at predetermined time intervals from the pattern formed by the "white" signal output from the binarization circuit. and third arithmetic storage means for determining and storing the number of patterns smaller than the belly of the fish at predetermined time intervals from the patterns formed by the "white" signal output from the binarization circuit. A water quality testing device according to claim (2), characterized in that: