JPWO2017204126A1 - Image recognition system, motion detection unit and care support system - Google Patents

Abstract

The image recognition system includes an illumination unit located on the ceiling (101a) of the living room (101), an optical detection unit (23) located on the ceiling (101a) of the living room (101), and an image recognition unit. The illumination light emitted from the illumination unit includes diffused light (L1) as the first light and direct light (L2) as the second light having a diffusion degree lower than that of the diffused light (L1). The illumination unit diffuses light (L1) toward the second region (R2) including the first region (R1) on the floor surface (101b) directly below the optical detection unit (23) in the living room (101). ) And direct light (L2) to the outside of the second region (R2).

Description

  The present invention relates to an image recognition system used for moving object detection, a moving object detection unit provided with the image recognition system, and a care support system configured using the moving object detection unit. The care support system is also called a watching system.

  In recent years, a care support system has been proposed in order to detect an abnormality or the like of the health condition of a person (hereinafter, also referred to as a cared person) who spends in a care facility. In the care support system, the camera captures an image of the living room including the cared person, and recognizes the condition or operation of the cared person by image recognition to determine the presence or absence of an abnormality such as falling of the cared person, and the cared person Are watching over

  Cameras for image recognition used in the care support system include, for example, super wide-angle lenses and fisheye lenses. These cameras are installed, for example, on the ceiling of the living room so that the entire living room including the care recipient can be photographed from the ceiling without a blind spot. In addition, since the camera attached to the ceiling shoots from almost directly above the care receiver in the living room, the camera that performs such shooting will be referred to as “directly above viewpoint camera” or “ceiling It is also called a viewpoint camera. When the viewpoint camera directly above is used, the distance from the viewpoint camera immediately above to the corner (ground height) of the living room is the maximum subject distance.

For example, the ceiling height of a typical residence is 2.4 m. On the other hand, the size of the nursing home is regulated by law, and it is 13 m ² or more (equivalent to 10 tatami mats) in the nursing care room (private room) of pay nursing home, 10.65 m ^{2 in} the multi-floor room of the special nursing home. It is 21.6 m ² in the care house. Assuming an average 10-tatami room, when the camera is attached to the center of the ceiling of the living room, the distance from the camera to the corner of the floor of the living room is about 4 m, and this distance is the maximum subject distance.

  When the maximum object distance is about 4 m, the angle of view required to capture the entire floor surface with the camera on the ceiling is about 127 °. The super wide-angle lens and the fisheye lens satisfying this angle of view generally have inferior image quality of the peripheral portion compared to that of the central portion in the photographed image because the angle of view is wide. In addition, even if the same subject is photographed by the viewpoint camera immediately above, the peripheral part of the screen appears smaller than the central part of the screen and appears darker. This is because the distance (actual distance) from the camera to the actual position of the subject appearing in the peripheral portion of the screen is longer than the distance (actual distance) from the camera to the actual position of the subject appearing in the central portion of the screen.

  In addition, cameras for image recognition differ in their features and specifications from general surveillance cameras and network cameras. In the case of surveillance cameras and network cameras, it is important to obtain a good image that looks clean to the human eye. On the other hand, in the case of a camera for image recognition, it is considered important to obtain an image with high recognition accuracy. Specifically, in the case of a surveillance camera or a network camera, it is necessary to acquire an image with good image quality at the center of the screen, and in the case of a camera for image recognition, high recognition accuracy regardless of the position on the screen It is necessary to obtain an image from which

  The above-mentioned image recognition is shape recognition, and is, for example, extraction of the contour of an object (subject) and determination of the shape by a method such as pattern matching. In order to improve the image recognition accuracy, it is desirable that the contrast and the signal-to-noise ratio of the image be high. Generally, when the object on the screen is large, it is hard to be influenced by the contrast and SN ratio, and when the object on the screen becomes small, it becomes easy to be affected by the contrast and SN ratio, and the recognition accuracy tends to deteriorate. .

  In a care support system using a camera for image recognition, in order to shoot an object with a good SN ratio, the illumination unit also illuminates the object. In photographing with the viewpoint camera directly above, a general horizontal viewpoint camera (with respect to the subject with respect to the illumination orientation) is taken into consideration in that the subject is smaller and darker than the center of the screen as described above. Approach different from a camera that shoots from the horizontal direction).

  Here, although it is not illumination for imaging | photography, there exist some which were disclosed by patent document 1 and 2 as a technique which illuminates illumination object uniformly, for example. Patent Document 1 discloses a lighting device for indoor lighting attached to the ceiling of a living room. The illumination device includes a light source unit, a light distribution control member including a plurality of prisms arranged in a plane, and a diffusion layer, and the light emitted from the light source unit is butted by the light distribution control member and the diffusion layer. By distributing light in a wing-like luminous intensity angular distribution (bimodal distribution having peak values in two directions symmetrical to the optical axis), excessive reduction of luminous intensity on the optical axis is suppressed To improve the uniformity of the illumination on the surface to be illuminated.

  Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a luminaire including an LED light source and an optical lens having an incident surface and an exit surface. The incident surface of the optical lens is concave toward the LED light source side, and the exit surface is shaped to expand the central luminous flux including the optical axis and to condense the peripheral luminous flux. By using an optical lens of such a shape, uniform illumination is realized.

JP-A 2013-73735 (see claim 1, paragraphs [0002], [0017], [0027], [0054], FIG. 1, etc.) JP, 2011-44315, A (refer to paragraph [0004], Drawing 15, etc.)

  Since a general surveillance camera can usually secure the field of view with a narrow viewing angle and is installed at the corner of the ceiling that is less noticeable, the illumination is often distributed around the optical axis of the surveillance camera. However, in such an arrangement of the surveillance camera, a blind spot occurs below the surveillance camera.

  On the other hand, the camera for image recognition of the directly overhead viewpoint does not have a blind spot as described above, but the illumination for the immediately above viewpoint camera corresponds to the super wide angle illumination corresponding to the super wide angle photographing range of the immediately above viewpoint camera. Is required. In this case, when an aggregate of spot light sources is used as a light source for illumination, a very large number of light sources are required, so a diffused light source (for example, a light emitting diode) or a light source close thereto is used. When the diffused light source is installed so that the illumination optical axis is perpendicular to the ceiling, the illuminance on the floor decreases according to the fourth power law as the angle θ (radiation angle) with respect to the vertical direction increases. Moreover, also in the directly overhead viewpoint camera, the illuminance of the light receiving surface decreases according to the cos fourth law as the position is separated from the center of the light receiving surface of the imaging sensor. Therefore, in an image recognition apparatus having both the illumination unit and the directly above viewpoint camera, the peripheral portion of the image captured by the immediately above viewpoint camera becomes extremely dark. In the image recognition process, contour extraction is also performed before image recognition. However, if there are many noises due to reduced illuminance in the captured image, contour extraction can not be properly performed, and the accuracy of image recognition based on the extracted contour is descend. For this reason, it is necessary to increase the illuminance of the periphery of the object to be illuminated as much as possible during illumination.

  In addition, the care support system is intended to monitor the condition of the cared person, but the cared person should not give as much pressure and mental pain as constantly monitored to the cared person. It is also important to be able to send everyday life normally. For that purpose, for example, it is necessary to make the above-mentioned illumination light source used for photographing inconspicuous. In particular, the directly above viewpoint camera is generally provided in the vicinity of a place (e.g., a bed or a futon) where the care recipient is the longest in daily life. Therefore, it is necessary to make the light source for illumination attached to the ceiling inconspicuous when looking up the ceiling from within a region including the area directly below the viewpoint camera (for example, above the bed).

  Although the patent documents 1 and 2 mentioned above implement | achieve the uniform illumination in all, it does not perform illumination for imaging | photography (monitoring), Moreover, the illumination intensity of the peripheral part of illumination object at the time of illumination is Regarding setting the illumination light distribution in consideration of the positional relationship with the viewpoint camera immediately above in order to reduce pressure feeling given to the care recipient by illumination for monitoring while increasing the image recognition accuracy There is no disclosure of

  Note that the system that recognizes the condition of the care recipient by image recognition is also applied to, for example, a system that monitors a fall in a hospital room or a fall from a bed of a hospitalized person (caregiver or patient) in a hospital. It is possible. Therefore, when the above-mentioned cared person and the cared person are the subjects to be detected as the detection target, in the image recognition system, the illuminance of the peripheral part of the lighting target is increased during the lighting and the image recognition accuracy is It is desirable to appropriately set the illumination light distribution in consideration of the positional relationship with the viewpoint camera immediately above in order to reduce pressure feeling or the like given to the subject by the illumination for monitoring while improving.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to increase the illuminance of the peripheral part of the object to be illuminated during illumination, and to improve the image recognition accuracy, Image recognition system capable of reducing pressure sensation and mental pain given to a subject by lighting by appropriately setting illumination light distribution in consideration of positional relationship with a viewpoint camera (imaging unit), and image recognition thereof A motion detection unit using the system and a care support system using the motion detection unit.

  An image recognition system according to one aspect of the present invention is an illumination unit that is located on a ceiling of a living room and emits illumination light toward at least the entire floor surface, and is located on a ceiling of the living room and is also illuminated by the illumination unit. And an imaging unit for capturing an image by imaging the living room, and performing image recognition processing on image data of the image acquired by the imaging unit, the subject in the living room And an image recognition unit that recognizes a state, wherein the illumination light includes a first light that is diffused light and a second light that is less diffused than the first light, and the illumination unit is configured to In the room, the first light is emitted toward the second area including the first area on the floor immediately below the imaging unit, while the light is outside the second area on the floor Emitting the second light.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to increase the illuminance of the periphery of the floor surface apart from immediately below the imaging unit at the time of illumination, thereby improving the accuracy of image recognition based on the photographed image. In addition, the lighting for monitoring can reduce pressure and mental pain given to the subject.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the whole structure of the care support system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is an explanatory view showing typically composition of a part of the above-mentioned care support system. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically a mode of the living room in which the moving body detection unit was installed. It is a block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the said moving body detection unit containing an image recognition system. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the optical detection part which the said image recognition system has. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically an example of the image acquired by imaging | photography by the said optical detection part. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically an example of the illumination light distribution when illuminating the said room from a ceiling. It is an explanatory view showing typically an example of the lighting field in the above-mentioned living room. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the other example of the illumination area | region in the said indoor room. It is sectional drawing which shows an example of a detailed structure of the illumination part which the said image recognition system has. It is explanatory drawing which shows the light emission characteristic of the light source of the said illumination part. It is an explanatory view showing change of illumination distribution on a floor surface at the time of changing direction of the above-mentioned light source, without arranging a visible light absorption cover. When the said light source is inclined and arrange | positioned with respect to the perpendicular direction, it is explanatory drawing which shows the change of the illumination distribution on a floor surface by the presence or absence of the said visible light absorption cover. It is a graph which shows the relationship of the incident angle of the chief ray contained in the light which injects into the permeation | transmission area | region of the said visible light absorption cover, and the transmittance | permeability. It is sectional drawing which shows the other structure of the said illumination part. It is a perspective view which shows one structural example of the rib which the visible light absorption cover of the illumination part of FIG. 15 has. It is a perspective view which shows the other structural example of the said rib. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance shape of the said visible light absorption cover.

  It will be as follows if one embodiment of the present invention is described based on a drawing. In the present specification, when the numerical range is expressed as A to B, the values of the lower limit A and the upper limit B are included in the numerical range.

[Care support system]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view (floor view) schematically showing the entire configuration of the care support system 1 of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 schematically shows a part of the configuration of the care support system 1 of FIG. FIG. The care support system 1 is a system for supporting the daily life of a cared person living in a care facility or a patient (cared person) admitted to a hospital, and is also called a watching system. . The care receiver and the care recipient are targets of support by the care support system 1, that is, subjects (subjects) who are detected and recognized by the image recognition system 20 described later. Here, as an example, a case where the care support system 1 is constructed in a care facility will be described.

  In the care facility, a staff station 100 and a living room 101 are provided. The staff station 100 is a so-called filling station of a carer who supports the life of a carer who spends in a care facility. The staff station 100 is provided with a server 100a and a display unit 100b. The server 100 a is a terminal device connected communicably to the later-described moving object detection unit 10 installed in the living room 101 via the communication line 200. The communication line 200 is configured by, for example, a wired LAN (Local Area Network), but may of course be a wireless LAN.

  The server 100a receives and manages various information (for example, a photographed image in the living room 101 and biometric information of a carer (for example, a breathing state)) transmitted from the moving body detection unit 10 via the communication line 200. A process of displaying the received information on the display unit 100b is performed. Thereby, the caregiver of the care facility can see the information displayed on the display unit 100b and grasp the health condition etc. of the care recipient. The display unit 100b can be configured by, for example, a display of a personal computer. In addition, when it is recognized that the care receiver's operation is abnormal, such as the care receiver falling over on the floor surface, the server 100 a detects the moving object detection unit 10 by the image recognition processing in the image recognition system 20 described later. The information to that effect is received from the data, and the data of the photographed image in the living room 101 acquired by the optical detection unit 23 of the moving body detection unit 10 is transmitted to the portable terminal owned by the caregiver, and the care recipient's abnormality is It is also possible to inform the caregiver. At the time of transmission of image data from the server 100a to the portable terminal, the size and resolution of the image are appropriately adjusted.

  In a care facility, at least one living room 101 is provided, and FIG. 2 shows the case where two living rooms 101 are provided as an example. In the living room 101, a bed 102 used by the care recipient is installed. When two or more carers move into one living room 101, a plurality of beds 102 corresponding to each of the carers are installed (see FIG. 1). In addition, the bed 102 is often placed on a wall away from the door in order to secure a living space and in consideration of privacy (see FIGS. 3 and 6).

  FIG. 3: is explanatory drawing which shows typically the mode in the living room 101 in which the moving body detection unit 10 was installed. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the moving body detection unit 10 is installed on the ceiling 101 a of each living room 101 and is communicably connected to the communication line 200. When the living room 101 is a multi-bed room in which a plurality of beds 102 are installed, one moving body detection unit 10 is installed for one bed 102. In the room 101, the height a of the ceiling 101a from the floor surface 101b is, for example, 2.4 m. Assuming that the size of the room 101 is 10 tatami, the central portion of the ceiling 101a of the room 101 to the floor surface 101b. The distance b to the corner is about 4 m.

  The care support system 1 described above includes the moving body detection unit 10 (at least one moving body detection unit 10) installed in at least one living room 101 and the server 100a provided in the staff station 100 via the communication line 200. It is configured to be communicably connected.

Moving Object Detection Unit and Image Recognition System
Next, details of the above-described moving object detection unit 10 will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the moving object detection unit 10 including the image recognition system 20. As shown in FIG. The motion detection unit 10 includes an image recognition system 20, a radio wave detection unit 30, and a unit control unit 40. The details of the image recognition system 20 will be described later. The motion detection unit 10 is also referred to as a sensor box since it includes various sensors such as the radio wave detection unit 30 described above and an optical detection unit 23 described later.

  The radio wave detection unit 30 is configured of a microwave Doppler sensor for emitting and receiving radio waves and individually detecting biological information of a care recipient. The radio wave detection unit 30 includes a radiation unit and a reception unit (not shown), for example, radiates a microwave of 24 GHz band toward the bed of each living room, reflects it by the cared person, and reflects the Doppler-shifted reflected wave To receive. Thereby, the radio wave detection unit 30 can detect the respiratory state, the sleep state, the heart rate and the like of the care recipient from the received reflected wave.

  In addition, when the care recipient is breathing (including during sleep), minute movement of the body (micro movement) occurs due to the respiration of the care recipient. For this reason, detecting the respiratory state and the sleep state of the care recipient is the same as detecting the movement of the care recipient. From this, it can be said that the radio wave detection unit 30 functions as a micro motion detection unit that detects micro motion of the care recipient (subject).

  The unit control unit 40 controls the operations of the image recognition system 20 and the radio wave detection unit 30, and performs image processing and signal processing on the information obtained from the image recognition system 20 and the radio wave detection unit 30. Is a control board which outputs to the server 100a as information on the condition of the care receiver. The unit control unit 40 includes a main control unit 41, an information processing unit 42, an interface unit 43, a storage unit 24, and an image recognition unit 25. The storage unit 24 and the image recognition unit 25 are provided in the unit control unit 40 here, but may be provided independently of the unit control unit 40. The details of the storage unit 24 and the image recognition unit 25 will be described later.

  The main control unit 41 is configured by a central processing unit (CPU; Central Processing Unit) that controls the operation of each unit in the moving object detection unit 10. The information processing unit 42 and the image recognition unit 25 may be configured by the above-described CPU (may be integrated with the main control unit 41), or may be another calculation unit or a circuit that performs a specific process. It may be configured.

  The information processing unit 42 is configured to perform predetermined processing on information (for example, image data) output from an optical detection unit 23 described later of the image recognition system 20 and information (for example, data related to a breathing state) output from the radio wave detection unit 30. Perform signal processing based on the algorithm of The information obtained by the signal processing is used for image recognition in the image recognition system 20 (in particular, the image recognition unit 25).

  A network cable (not shown) of the communication line 200 is electrically connected to the interface unit 43. Information on the condition of the care recipient detected by the moving object detection unit 10 based on the image and the microwave is transmitted to the server 100 a via the interface unit 43 and the communication line 200.

  Next, details of the image recognition system 20 will be described. The image recognition system 20 includes an illumination unit 21, an illumination control unit 22, and an optical detection unit 23.

  The illumination unit 21 is located on the ceiling 101 a of the living room 101, emits illumination light from the ceiling 101 a toward at least the entire floor surface 101 b, and illuminates the inside of the living room 101. The details of the illumination unit 21 will be described later. The illumination range of the illumination unit 21 may be only the floor surface 101 b or may be a range extending from the floor surface 101 b to the wall portion 101 c (see FIG. 3). Note that the wall portion 101c may include a door or a window.

  The illumination control unit 22 controls the illumination of the illumination unit 21 and is configured of, for example, a CPU. In FIG. 4, the illumination control unit 22 is provided independently of the unit control unit 40, but may be provided in the unit control unit 40. Further, the main control unit 41 of the unit control unit 40 may of course be configured to serve also as the illumination control unit 22.

  The optical detection unit 23 is an imaging unit that is located on the ceiling 101 a of the living room 101 and captures an image by capturing the inside of the living room 101 under illumination by the illumination unit 21. For example, a camera (directly above viewpoint camera, overhead viewpoint Camera). FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the optical detection unit 23, and FIG. 6 schematically shows an example of an image acquired by photographing with the optical detection unit 23. As shown in FIG. The optical detection unit 23 is disposed in the central portion of the ceiling 101 a of the living room 101 adjacent to the illumination unit 21, and acquires an image of a viewpoint directly above, whose view direction is directly below, by photographing. The optical detection unit 23 includes a lens 51, an imaging device 52, an AD conversion unit 53, an image processing unit 54, and a control calculation unit 55.

  The lens 51 is, for example, a fixed focus lens composed of a general super wide-angle lens or a fisheye lens, and is disposed on the imaging device 52 via a support portion 51a (see FIG. 10). As the super wide-angle lens, a lens having a diagonal angle of view of 120 ° or more (preferably 150 ° or more) can be used. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to photograph the entire living room 101 from the ceiling 101a, and it is possible to photograph a cared person in the room and the entire room without a blind spot.

  The imaging device 52 is configured of, for example, an image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS). The imaging device 52 is configured by removing the IR cut filter so that the condition of the care recipient can be detected as an image even in a dark environment. An output signal from the imaging element 52 is input to the AD conversion unit 53.

  The AD conversion unit 53 receives an analog image signal of an image captured by the imaging element 52, and converts the analog image signal into a digital image signal. The digital image signal output from the AD conversion unit 53 is input to the image processing unit 54.

  The image processing unit 54 receives the digital image signal output from the AD conversion unit 53, and executes image processing such as black correction, noise correction, color interpolation, white balance, and the like on the digital image signal. . The signal after image processing output from the image processing unit 54 is input to the image recognition unit 25.

  The control calculation unit 55 performs calculations such as AE (Automatic Exposure) related to the control of the imaging device 52, and also controls the exposure time and gain of the imaging device 52. In addition, the control calculation unit 55 executes calculations such as suitable light amount setting and light distribution setting for the illumination unit 21 as necessary, and executes control. The control calculation unit 55 may have the function of the illumination control unit 22 described above. In addition, the imaging device 52, the AD conversion unit 53, the image processing unit 54, and the control calculation unit 55 described above may be integrally configured.

  The above-described image recognition system 20 further includes the storage unit 24 and the image recognition unit 25 described above.

  The storage unit 24 is a memory for storing control programs executed by the unit control unit 40 and various types of information, and includes, for example, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), and a non-volatile memory.

  The image recognition unit 25 performs an image recognition process on the image data of the image acquired by the optical detection unit 23. More specifically, the image recognition unit 25 receives a signal after the image processing unit 54 of the optical detection unit 23 has performed the image processing, and, for example, extracts an outline of an object (subject) and performs pattern matching, etc. Execute image recognition processing to recognize the shape by the method. As a result, the image recognition unit 25 can recognize the state and operation of the care receiver in the living room 101.

  Here, as a state or operation of the care receiver who is in the living room 101, getting up, leaving, getting in, falling, etc. are assumed. Awake refers to a condition in which a cared person wakes up and wakes up on a bed. Bed leaving refers to the condition in which the care recipient wakes up on the bed and then descends to the floor and leaves the bed. “In-bed” refers to the movement of a cared person from the floor surface up to the bed and lying down. Falling refers to the action of the care recipient falling on a floor surface. At the point that the above mentioned getting up, leaving, getting in the bed, falling down is accompanied by the size operation (body movement) of the care recipient's body, micro body movement detected by the radio wave detection unit 30 (micro movement of the body by respiration etc. It is distinguished from).

[About illumination light]
In the care support system 1 of the present embodiment, as described above, the image captured by the optical detection unit 23 which is a ceiling viewpoint camera is used for the image recognition process by the image recognition unit 25. The target of image recognition is the head or face of the care recipient, and the size is within a certain range. That is, the image recognition unit 25 does not have to recognize an image that is much larger or smaller than the human head. Qualitatively, when an object is photographed with a ceiling-view camera, the object appears large at the center of the screen and small at the periphery of the screen (see FIG. 6). When recognizing an image, it is possible to recognize the shape of a large object even if there is a little noise, but if it is buried in the noise, it will be difficult to recognize the shape of an originally small object. Therefore, when attempting to improve the image recognition performance with a ceiling-view camera, the screen peripheral part (where the distance to the object is farther) where the object appears smaller than the center of the screen (side where the distance to the object is closer) It can be said that it is better to set the irradiation center to

  In addition, in order to minimize the feeling of pressure that the carer is always monitored by the light and to feel the mental pain caused by the monitoring as much as possible, the light source for the illumination used for photographing should be the carer side, ie the floor surface. It is also necessary to make it inconspicuous from the side.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the illumination light of the illumination unit 21 (see FIG. 10) includes diffused light L1 (first light) and direct light L2 having a diffusion degree lower than that of the diffused light L1. And the second light. Then, the illumination unit 21 (see FIG. 4 etc.) located on the ceiling 101 a emits the diffused light L1 toward the second region R2 including the first region R1 directly below the optical detection unit 23 in the living room 101. On the other hand, direct light L2 is emitted toward the outside (the opposite side to the first region R1) than the second region R2. As a result, the light L2 is directly emitted to the third region R3 around the second region R2 on the floor surface 101b and the lower portion of the wall portion 101c intersecting perpendicularly with the floor surface 101b. The direct light L3 refers to light directly transmitted to a region outside the second region R2 without being diffused by a visible light absorbing cover 63 (see FIG. 10) described later. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the diffused light L1 refers to light which is diffused and emitted from one point in many directions.

In the second area R2 (including the first area R1) illuminated with the diffused light L1 in the living room 101, the light from the illumination section 21 is diffused, so the illumination section 21 looks up at the ceiling 101a. Blurs and becomes inconspicuous as a point light source. Therefore, in the second area R2, the illumination for monitoring the cared person OB ₁ can reduce the feeling of pressure and mental distress.

In addition, since the direct light L2 has a lower diffusion degree than the diffused light L1, the area outside the second area R2 (for example, the third area R3) illuminated with the diffused light L1 has a higher illuminance than the diffused light L1. Illuminated with high direct light L2. Thereby, at the time of illumination, the illumination intensity of the peripheral part of the floor surface 101b can be increased. Therefore, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the image recognition in the image recognition unit 25 based on the image data of the photographed image (in particular, the peripheral portion). Therefore, even if the cared person OB ₂ on a corner of the floor 101b of the room 101 falls down from the images taken the situation, to recognize accurately overturning of the care person OB _2, the server 100a Appropriate measures can be taken, such as sending information to that effect.

In particular, it is desirable that the illumination unit 21 illuminate the sleeping area R4 of the care recipient OB ₁ with the diffused light L1 in the living room 101. The sleeping area R4 refers to the installation area of the bed 102 (or futon) used by the care recipient OB ₁ at bedtime. In sleeping area R4, the care OB ₁ is to be illuminated by diffused light L1, even up at the ceiling 101a while lying in bed area R4, the illumination unit 21 is not easily visible blurred. Therefore, it can be reduced that sleep of the cared person OB ₁ is disturbed by the feeling of pressure that it is illuminated at bedtime.

If the sleeping area R4 is at a position where at least a part of the sleeping area R4 is illuminated with the diffused light L1, it is possible to expect the acquisition of the above-mentioned effect, that is, an effect capable of reducing interference with sleep at bedtime. For example, FIGS. 8 and 9 schematically show illumination areas (second area R2 and third area R3) according to the installation position of the moving body detection unit 10 in the living room 101, respectively. Corresponds to the case where the moving body detection unit 10 is installed at the central portion of the ceiling 101a of the living room 101, and FIG. 9 corresponds to the case where the moving body detection unit 10 is installed at a position deviated from the ceiling 101a. In any arrangement of the moving body detection unit 10, a part of the bed 102 (sleeping area R4) is in the second area R2 illuminated by the diffused light L1 of the illumination unit 21. In such a form of lighting, the cared person enters the bed 102 at bedtime and lies sideways so that the head of the cared person is positioned within the second region R2, and thus the cared person has the ceiling 101a. Even when looking up, the illumination unit 21 becomes blurred and difficult to view. Therefore, in this case, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the care receiver OB ₁ 's sleep is disturbed by the feeling of pressure being illuminated at bedtime.

  In addition, the moving body detection unit 10 is configured to include the image recognition system 20 having the illumination unit 21 described above, and the radio wave detection unit 30 as a body movement detection unit. In the image recognition system 20, the image recognition accuracy can be improved by the above-described distribution of illumination light (illumination light distribution). Therefore, based on the result of the image recognition in the image recognition system 20 and the detection of the micro movement in the radio wave detection unit 30, it is possible to monitor the state of the care receiver with high accuracy.

  Further, since the moving body detection unit 10 includes the interface unit 43, the information acquired by the image recognition system 20 and the radio wave detection unit 30 described above is transmitted to the external server 100a via the interface unit 43. It is possible to collectively manage the above information on the external server 100a.

  Further, in the care support system 1 of the present embodiment, the server 100a receives and manages the information transmitted from the moving body detection unit 10, whereby an abnormality (for example, a fall) of the care recipient in the living room 101 is detected. It can be grasped on the server 100 a side. As a result, it is possible to transmit information from the server 100a to the staff of a facility or a portable terminal of a care giver, and to take appropriate measures such as prompting confirmation of the condition of the care receiver.

[About the details of the lighting unit]
Hereinafter, the specific structure of the illumination part 21 which implement | achieves the illumination light distribution mentioned above is demonstrated. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a detailed configuration of the illumination unit 21. As shown in FIG. The illumination unit 21 includes a plurality of light sources 61, a support member 62, and a visible light absorbing cover 63 (visible light absorbing member).

  The plurality of light sources 61 are configured by, for example, light emitting diodes (LEDs). LEDs consume less power than halogen lamps and the like. In addition, since the LED emits light having a spread than the laser light and there is no need to scan the emitted light two-dimensionally to illuminate it, it is very suitable as a light source for illumination.

  FIG. 11 shows the light emission characteristics of the LEDs constituting the light source 61. As shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the LED has a peak of emission intensity around a wavelength of 890 nm, and emits light in a wavelength range of approximately 890 ± 50 nm. Therefore, the illumination unit 21 including the plurality of light sources 61 emits light having an intensity peak in the near infrared wavelength range (for example, 780 to 1000 nm) as illumination light. In order to correspond to such an illumination unit 21, the optical detection unit 23 (in particular, the imaging device 52) has sensitivity in the near infrared wavelength range. When the illumination light is near-infrared light, it is difficult for the cared person to visually recognize the light even at night when he goes to bed, so the feeling of being lighted (monitored) is given and the cared person sleeps Interference can be reduced.

  The support member 62 is made of, for example, a metal lead frame, and a plurality of light sources 61 are arranged in a line along the ceiling 101 a and a plurality of light sources are arranged to surround the optical detection unit 23 along the ceiling 101 a. It supports each of 61. In particular, the support member 62 supports each light source 61 at a position away from the shooting optical axis Y of the optical detection unit 23, and the illumination optical axis X of each light source 61 is along the shooting optical axis Y passing through the light source 61. Each light source 61 is supported so as to be inclined to the side (peripheral side of the floor surface 101 b) away from the first region R <b> 1 directly below the optical detection unit 23 with respect to the axis Y ′. The angle of the illumination light axis X with respect to the axis Y ′ is preferably set to, for example, greater than 0 ° and 90 ° or less.

  The photographing optical axis Y refers to the optical axis of the lens 51 of the optical detection unit 23. In the present embodiment, the optical detection unit 23 is installed on the ceiling 101 a so that the photographing optical axis Y is vertically positioned on the ceiling 101 a of the living room 101. In addition, the illumination optical axis X refers to an axis (central axis) along which the light beam (the chief ray, the central ray) having the highest light emission intensity travels through the light emission point of the light source 61 (LED).

  The visible light absorbing cover 63 is a cover that absorbs visible light contained in the light emitted from the light source 61, and includes, for example, polycarbonate or an acrylic resin. The visible light absorbing cover 63 contains a visible light absorbing agent, whereby the visible light contained in the light emitted from the light source 61 is absorbed. As the visible light absorber, a pigment, a dye, a metal oxide, or the like exhibiting a color (for example, black) capable of efficiently absorbing the wavelength of the visible light region can be used. More specifically, as the pigment, for example, carbon black, carbon fiber, graphite, expanded graphite, activated carbon, carbon nanotube, titanium black can be used. As the dyes, for example, azo dyes, anthraquinone dyes, cyanine dyes and the like can be used. As a metal oxide, colored metal oxides such as iron oxide and copper oxide can be used, for example.

  The visible light absorbing cover 63 is formed to cover the plurality of light sources 61, the support member 12, and the optical detection unit 23 from the floor surface 101b side. More specifically, the visible light absorbing cover 63 has a flat plate portion 64 and a plurality of side wall portions 65. The flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65 are both flat plate members having the same (constant) thickness.

  The flat plate portion 64 is positioned to intersect perpendicularly with the photographing optical axis Y of the optical detection portion 23. The flat plate portion 64 has a rectangular shape in plan view (when viewed from the floor surface 101 b side). In the flat plate portion 64, a window portion 63w is formed at a position facing the optical detection portion 23. The optical detection portion 23 is a window portion that reflects light (near infrared light) reflected by the care recipient by illumination. It is possible to receive light through 63w. The window portion 63 w may be formed as an opening as long as the optical detection portion 23 can receive the light, or may be formed as a transmission portion made of a material that transmits the light.

  The side wall portion 65 is positioned to intersect perpendicularly with the illumination light axis X of the light source 61, and is connected to the end portion of the flat plate portion 64. As described above, since the flat plate portion 64 has a rectangular shape in plan view, four side wall portions 65 are provided corresponding to the four sides of the flat plate portion 64 and are connected to the respective ends of the flat plate portion 64 There is. Thus, as a result of the flat plate portion 64 and the plurality of side wall portions 65 being connected, the visible light absorbing cover 63 has a concave cross-sectional shape along the photographing optical axis Y, and the opening portion on the ceiling 101a side It is a housing having 63p.

  The visible light absorbing cover 63 of the above configuration has a diffusion region DR and a transmission region TR. The diffusion region DR is a region that diffuses part of the light emitted from the light source 61 and emits it as the diffused light L1. The diffusion region DR is a region in which the concavo-convex surface 63 a is formed on the visible light absorbing cover 63 and is located on the floor surface 101 b side (downward) with respect to the illumination optical axis X of the light source 61. In the present embodiment, the above-described uneven surface 63a is formed on both of the front and back surfaces of the visible light absorbing cover 63, but may be formed on only one of them. In addition, although the above-mentioned concavo-convex surface 63a is formed across the flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65 on the front and back surfaces of the visible light absorbing cover 63, it may be formed only on the flat portion 64. The uneven surface 63a can be realized, for example, by polishing the surface of the visible light absorbing cover 63, mixing a matting agent (for example, metal fine particles) into the resin, pressing the mold having unevenness during molding, or the like.

  The transmission region TR is a region that transmits the remainder of the light emitted from the light source 61 and emits the light as direct light L2. The transmission region TR is located on the side wall portion 65 of the visible light absorbing cover 63, and is located on the ceiling 101a side (upper side) than the diffusion region DR. The surface roughness in the transmission region TR of the visible light absorbing cover 63 is much smaller (the surface is flat or nearly flat) than the surface roughness of the diffusion region DR (the uneven surface 63a). Therefore, the visible light absorbing cover 63 can transmit the light incident on the transmission region TR as it is without diffusing the light. Even when the transmissive region TR has some surface roughness due to an error or the like, if it is smaller than the surface roughness of the uneven surface 63a, the light passing through the transmissive region TR is greater than the diffused light L1. It shall be treated as direct light L2 with a low degree of diffusion.

  In the above configuration, the light emitted from each light source 61 enters the visible light absorbing cover 63. Among these, light incident on the diffusion region DR of the visible light absorbing cover 63 is diffused by the diffusion region DR (concave and convex surface 63a) and then emitted to the floor surface 101b as the above-described diffused light L1. On the other hand, the light that has entered the transmission region TR of the visible light absorbing cover 63 is not diffused there, is transmitted as it is, and is emitted to the floor surface 101b side as the above-described direct light L2. Of the light incident on the transmission region TR, light other than on the illumination light axis X is refracted by the front and back surfaces of the visible light absorbing cover 63 (side wall portion 65) and then emitted to the floor surface 101b side. Ru.

  The diffusion region DR described above is located closer to the floor surface 101 b than the illumination optical axis X in the visible light absorbing cover 63, so the diffused light L 1 emitted from the diffusion region DR is the first light directly below the light source 61. The second region R2 including the region R1 is illuminated to illuminate the second region R2 (see FIG. 7). On the other hand, since the transmission region TR is located closer to the ceiling 101a than the diffusion region DR, the direct light L2 emitted from the transmission region TR is around the floor surface 101b which is the region outside the second region R2. It is led to a part and illuminates the above-mentioned peripheral part.

  Here, FIG. 12 does not arrange the visible light absorbing cover 63 described above, and changes the direction of the light source 61 (the direction of the illumination light axis X) formed of a diffused light source such as an LED, on the floor surface 101b. Shows the change of the illuminance distribution of The horizontal axis (angle) in the figure corresponds to the position on the floor surface 101b in the direction in which the angle to the vertical direction is θ (°) from the position of the light source 61. When the light source 61 is disposed such that the illumination optical axis X is inclined at 0 ° (the illumination optical axis X coincides with the vertical direction), the illuminance is highest immediately below the light source 61, and the angle with respect to the vertical direction As the angle θ becomes larger (as the position moves away from immediately below the light source 61 and along the floor surface 101b), the illuminance of the floor surface 101b decreases according to the cos fourth law (see graph a1).

  When the light source 61 is arranged such that the illumination optical axis X is inclined 40 °, 60 °, and 80 ° with respect to the vertical direction, the illuminance directly below the light source 61 sequentially decreases, and the maximum illuminance is also sequentially Further, the position at which the illuminance is maximum is shifted to the side where the angle θ becomes large (the peripheral side of the floor surface 101b) (see graphs a2 to a4). However, when the illumination optical axis X is inclined, it is understood that the peripheral illuminance (for example, the illuminance on the floor surface 101b in the direction of 60 ° from the light source 61 in the vertical direction) increases. Therefore, by tilting the illumination optical axis X, it can be said that the peripheral illumination can be increased to improve the accuracy of the image recognition based on the peripheral part of the photographed image. However, the increase effect of the peripheral illuminance due to the inclination of the illumination light axis X becomes flat at a certain level and does not increase further (see the position of the angle 60 °). As the illumination optical axis X inclines, the overall illuminance decreases and becomes dark. However, the captured image is only used for image recognition and is not used as a viewing image, so the entire illumination range is There is no particular problem even if the illuminance of light drops.

  FIG. 13 shows the presence or absence of the visible light absorbing cover 63 described above when the light source 61 is arranged (supported by the support member 62) such that the illumination optical axis X is inclined at 30 ° with respect to the vertical direction (axis Y ′). Shows the change of the illuminance distribution on the floor surface 101b. If the visible light absorbing cover 63 is not disposed, the illuminance is too high at a position where the angle θ is in the direction of 0 ° to 40 ° from the light source 61, and the light source 61 (illumination unit 21) becomes conspicuous and easily recognized (graph see b1).

  On the other hand, when the visible light absorbing cover 63 is disposed, the illuminance decreases at a position in the direction from 0 ° to 40 ° from the light source 61 as compared with the case of the graph b1 (see graph b2). It is considered that this is because visible light is absorbed by the visible light absorbing cover 63 and part of the light from the light source 61 is diffused by the diffusion region DR of the visible light absorbing cover 63. In the peripheral portion where the angle θ is larger than 40 °, the illuminance is lower than in the case of the graph b1 (see the graph b2), but the illumination optical axis X is not inclined as in the graph a1 of FIG. By comparison, it can be said that the illuminance at the periphery is increasing.

  As described above, the illumination unit 21 of the present embodiment includes the plurality of light sources 61 and the visible light absorption cover 63. When the light emitted from each light source 61 passes through the visible light absorption cover 63, the illumination light of the illumination unit 21 includes visible light as well as near infrared light, and the visible light absorption cover 63 Can absorb visible light and extract only near infrared light. Thereby, the structure which illuminates the inside of the living room 101 with the near infrared light to which a care receiver does not visually recognize illumination can be implement | achieved reliably.

  Further, since the visible light absorbing cover 63 has the diffusion region DR and the transmission region TR, the illumination unit 21 emits the diffused light L1 and the direct light L2 described above to illuminate the interior of the living room 101. It can be realized reliably.

  Also, as the eye gets used to darkness (when it adapts), as shown in FIG. 11, a wavelength range (eg, 360 to 840 nm) wider than the wavelength range of visible light (eg, 360 to 830 nm) It becomes possible to visually recognize. As a result, when light having a wavelength of about 830 to 840 nm is included in the illumination light, humans can view the light. However, since the illumination light is diffused by the diffusion region DR of the visible light absorbing cover 63, the second region R2 illuminated with the diffused light L1 even if the illumination light includes light near a wavelength of 830 to 840 nm. From the above, it becomes difficult to visually recognize the illumination light, and the light emission point (light source 61) of the near infrared light included in the illumination light becomes difficult to visually recognize even in the dark. This makes it possible to reliably reduce the pressure on the care recipient by the illumination for monitoring.

  In addition, the support member 62 of the illumination unit 21 supports each light source 61 at a position away from the imaging optical axis Y of the optical detection unit 23, and each illumination optical axis X corresponds to the imaging optical axis Y passing through the light source 61. Each light source 61 is supported so as to be inclined to the side away from the first region R1 with respect to the axis Y 'along. In this case, compared to the case where the illumination optical axis X of each light source 61 is perpendicular to the floor surface 101b, the illuminance at the periphery of the floor surface 101b can be increased, and based on the image of the periphery of the floor surface 101b in the captured image. The accuracy of image recognition can be improved. In addition, since the area directly below the illumination unit 21 (light source 61) is illuminated with diffused light L1 with low illuminance (see FIG. 13), the distance between the optical detection unit 23 and each light source 61 is appropriately set. The diffused light L1 can also be supplied immediately below the detection unit 23 and around it. As a result, it is possible to reliably illuminate the first region R1 immediately below the optical detection unit 23 and the second region R2 including the same with the diffused light L1.

  Further, the visible light absorbing cover 63 has a flat plate portion 64 and a side wall portion 65, and the diffusion region DR is positioned at least on the flat plate portion 64 and at a side closer to the floor surface 101b than the illumination optical axis X. doing. As a result, among the light emitted from the light source 61, light on the floor surface 101b side of the illumination optical axis X is diffused at least in the diffusion region DR of the flat plate portion 64 and is guided to the second region R2 as the diffused light L1. be able to. Further, the transmissive region TR is located on the side wall portion 65, and is located closer to the ceiling 101a than the diffusion region DR. Thus, of the light emitted from the light source 61, light on the ceiling 101a side of the diffusion region DR can be directly guided as it is to the third region R3 as the light L2 directly through the transmission region TR of the side wall 65, for example. it can.

  Further, the diffusion region DR includes an uneven surface 63 a formed on at least one of the front surface and the back surface of the visible light absorbing cover 63. The light incident on the uneven surface 63a is diffused there and becomes diffused light, so that a part of the light emitted from the light source 61 can be diffused to realize the diffusion region DR emitted as the diffused light L1 with certainty. .

  In addition, since the support member 62 supports the plurality of light sources 61 so as to line up along the ceiling 101 a of the living room 101, it is possible to realize a wide range of illumination from the ceiling 101 a toward the floor surface 101 b. In addition, since the support member 62 supports the plurality of light sources 61 so as to surround the optical detection unit 23 along the ceiling 101 a, the entire circumferential direction of the imaging optical axis Y of the optical detection unit 23 in the living room 101 To illuminate at least the entire floor surface 101b.

  Further, the visible light absorbing cover 63 has an opening 63 p on the ceiling 101 a side, and is configured of a cover that covers at least the plurality of light sources 61 from the floor surface 101 b side. Thus, after the optical detection unit 23 is attached to the ceiling 101a, the visible light absorbing cover 63 can be attached to the ceiling 101a integrally with the light source 61 or the like so that the optical detection unit 23 fits in the opening 63p. Become. That is, it is possible to retrofit the visible light absorbing cover 63 including the light source 61 and the like to the room 101 in which the optical detection unit 23 is already installed on the ceiling 101a. Further, since the light source 61 is covered from the floor surface 101b side by the visible light absorbing cover 63, the light source 61 is hidden by the visible light absorbing cover 63 from the appearance on the floor surface 101b side and becomes inconspicuous.

  FIG. 14 shows the relationship between the incident angle and the transmittance of the chief ray (the central ray having the highest intensity) contained in the light incident on the transmission region TR of the visible light absorbing cover 63. The measurement wavelength of the transmittance is 890 nm. As shown in the figure, when the incident angle exceeds 60 °, the transmittance drops sharply, which is considered to be due to an increase in light quantity loss due to surface reflection. If the transmittance decreases, there is a concern that the illuminance at the time of illuminating the peripheral portion of the floor surface 101b via the transmissive region TR may significantly decrease. For this reason, it is desirable that the side wall portion 65 of the visible light absorbing cover 63 intersect the illumination light axis X so that the incident angle is 60 ° or less. In addition, from the viewpoint of reliably illuminating the peripheral portion of the floor surface 101b with high illuminance by reliably avoiding a sharp drop in transmittance in the transmissive region TR, the side wall portion 65 has an incident angle of 30 ° or less. It is more desirable to intersect with the illumination light axis X so that the light incident angle is 0 °, ie, the side wall 65 and the illumination light axis X are vertically positioned. It is.

[Another configuration of the lighting unit]
FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing another configuration of the illumination unit 21. As shown in FIG. The visible light absorbing cover 63 described above of the illumination unit 21 may further include a rib 66. The rib 66 is a columnar prism (optical element) having a right triangle in cross section, and has a shape in which the width along the thickness direction of the side wall 65 increases from the ceiling 101a side of the room 101 toward the floor surface 101b. ing. The rib 66 is located in the optical path on the light source 61 side (in the optical path of the light emitted from the light source 61 and incident on the visible light absorbing cover 63) with respect to the connection portion between the flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65 . Here, the rib 66 is formed of the same material (for example, the same resin material) as the flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65, and is integrally formed with the flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65.

  FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing one configuration example of the rib 66. As shown in FIG. The ribs 66 may be formed of separate prisms corresponding to the plurality of light sources 61 and may be spaced apart in the direction in which the plurality of light sources 61 are arranged (connected to the flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65 May). FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing another configuration example of the rib 66. As shown in FIG. The rib 66 may be configured of one columnar prism common to the plurality of light sources 61 aligned in one direction along the ceiling 101 a. As described above, when the plurality of light sources 61 are positioned so as to surround the periphery of the optical detection unit 23 along the ceiling 101 a, a total of four ribs 66 are arranged along the four directions of the optical detection unit 23. It will be

  The flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65 are vertically connected in order to form the rib 66 having a right-angled triangular cross section integrally with the flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65. Then, two surfaces intersecting at right angles in the rib 66 are integrated with the surfaces of the flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65 on the light source 61 side. Since the flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65 are vertically connected, the external appearance of the visible light absorbing cover 63 looks like a rectangular parallelepiped when viewed from the floor surface 101b as shown in FIG. However, as shown in FIG. 15, an opening 63p is present on the ceiling 101a side of the visible light absorbing cover 63, and the ceiling 101a is open.

  By providing the rib 66 having the above shape on the visible light absorbing cover 63, as shown in FIG. 15, the light source 61 is supported by the support member 62 so that the illumination optical axis X is horizontal (vertical to the vertical direction). However, the light traveling on the illumination optical axis X (the light with the highest intensity) is refracted at the interface between the rib 66 and the air layer on the thicker side (the floor surface 101b side) of the rib 66, and the side wall portion After transmitting through the transmission region TR of 65, the light travels toward the periphery of the floor surface 101b as direct light L2. Thereby, it becomes possible to illuminate the peripheral part of the floor surface 101b with high illumination intensity.

  In addition, by providing the ribs 66, the light source 61 can be supported by the support member 62 so that the illumination optical axis X is horizontal (the peripheral illuminance can be increased even with such support). The support structure is also simplified. That is, in the configuration of FIG. 15, in supporting the light source 61 so that the illumination optical axis X is horizontal, the support member 62 may be bent at 90 °, and the bending angle of the support member 62 is managed at other than 90 °. The design (bending) of the support member 62 is facilitated as compared to the required configuration of FIG.

  Also, for example, the rib 66 may be configured as a separate member from the flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65, but in this case, it is necessary to position and bond the rib 66 to the flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65 And the manufacturing process becomes complicated. In this respect, by integrally forming the rib 66 with the same material as the flat plate portion 64 and the side wall portion 65, such a positioning step and a bonding step become unnecessary, and the visible light absorbing cover 63 having the rib 66 can be easily made. It becomes possible to realize.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, ambient light (light with a large radiation angle from the illumination light axis X) of the LED (light source 61) which is a relatively weak diffused light source is further diffused. Thereby, the luminance of the light source 61 is lowered by diffusion even if the near infrared light source 61 looks slightly (without diffusion) in the darkness of the sleeping environment immediately below the optical detection unit 23, The light source 61 becomes inconspicuous, and even a nervous carer can reduce the possibility of disturbing the sleeping. On the other hand, a place near the sleeping place such as a door is light close to the illumination optical axis X of the light source 61 and is illuminated with the direct light L2 which is not diffused. Can be secured.

  Further, by disposing the light source 61 substantially directly facing the visible light absorbing cover 63, it is possible to reduce the loss of light amount due to the surface reflection at the visible light absorbing cover 63. Further, by inclining the illumination optical axis X of the light source 61 from the vertical direction toward the peripheral part, direct light entering the super wide-angle camera (optical detection unit 23) is eliminated, and the light shielding structure can be simplified. Furthermore, the amount of light directly below the camera necessarily decreases, and the diffusion further facilitates the reduction of the light source luminance. Further, in the configuration in which the ribs 66 described above are provided as an optical element, the ribs 66 are integrally formed on the visible light absorbing cover 63 without affecting the appearance of the visible light absorbing cover 63, and light utilization efficiency can be improved. It is possible to raise it.

  In the present embodiment, a system is described in which a cared person spending at a care facility is a target of moving body detection (target of support), but a cared person who needs to receive nursing care at a hospital etc. is a target of moving body detection Of course, the configuration of this embodiment can be applied to the system to be used. That is, the configuration of the present embodiment is applicable to a system in which a subject including the care recipient and the care recipient is an object of assistance.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

  The image recognition system, the moving object detection unit, and the care support system of the present embodiment described above can be expressed as follows, and it can be said that the following effects can be obtained.

  The image recognition system of the present embodiment is located on the ceiling of the living room, and has an illumination unit that emits illumination light toward at least the entire floor surface, and is located on the ceiling of the living room under illumination by the illumination unit. An imaging unit for capturing an image by imaging the living room, and performing image recognition processing on image data of the image acquired by the imaging unit, thereby recognizing a state of the subject in the living room The illumination light includes a first light, which is diffused light, and a second light, which has a lower degree of diffusion than the first light, and the illumination unit is in the living room. And, while emitting the first light toward a second area including a first area on the floor immediately below the imaging unit, the light is directed outward more than the second area on the floor. And emit the second light.

  According to the above configuration, the image recognition unit performs the image recognition process on the image data of the image when the imaging unit captures an image by photographing the room from the ceiling under the illumination of the illumination unit. Thus, the condition of the subject is recognized. The illumination unit illuminates the second area including the first area on the floor surface directly below the imaging section in the room from the ceiling with the first light which is diffused light, and the second area Illuminate the outer area (for example, the area around the second area on the floor surface or the lower part of the wall perpendicular to the floor surface) with the second light which is less diffused than the first light . In the second area illuminated by the first light, when the subject looks up at the ceiling, the illumination part of the ceiling is blurred and inconspicuous due to the diffusion of light. This makes it possible to reduce pressure on the subject and mental pain by the illumination for monitoring. Further, since the second light has a lower diffusion degree than the first light, the illuminance is high, and the region outside the second region is illuminated with the second light having high illuminance. By this, it is possible to increase the illuminance of the peripheral part of the illumination target, that is, the peripheral part of the floor surface away from immediately below the imaging unit at the time of illumination, and the accuracy of image recognition in the image recognition unit based on the photographed image It can be done.

  The illumination unit may emit light having an intensity peak in a near infrared wavelength range as the illumination light, and the imaging unit may have sensitivity in the near infrared wavelength range.

  In the configuration of a dark field system in which the illumination unit emits near-infrared light, the imaging unit receives near-infrared light to acquire an image, and the image recognition unit performs image recognition based on the image, the above-described effects You can get In addition, since the illumination light is near-infrared light, it is difficult for the subject to visually recognize the illumination even at night when he goes to bed, and the feeling of pressure given to the subject when he goes to bed can be reduced.

  The illumination unit may include a plurality of light sources, and a visible light absorbing member that absorbs visible light contained in the light emitted from the light sources.

  Even when the illumination light of the illumination unit contains not only near infrared light but also visible light (in particular, visible light close to near infrared), light emitted from the light source is transmitted through the visible light absorbing member And near infrared light can be taken out. Thus, the configuration for illuminating the room with near infrared light can be reliably realized.

  The visible light absorbing member diffuses a part of the light emitted from the light source and transmits the diffused region emitted as the first light, and the remainder of the light emitted from the light source to transmit the second light. It may have a transmission area emitted as light.

  The visible light absorbing member has a diffusion region and a transmission region, so that the configuration in which the illumination unit emits the above-described first light and second light to illuminate the interior of the room is surely realized. be able to.

  The imaging optical axis of the imaging unit is perpendicular to the ceiling of the living room, and the lighting unit supports each of the plurality of light sources at a position away from the imaging optical axis of the imaging unit. Each of the plurality of light sources is supported such that each illumination light axis is inclined away from the first area directly below the imaging unit with respect to an axis along the photographing optical axis passing through the light source It may further have a supporting member.

  As described above, since each of the plurality of light sources is supported by the support member, the illumination optical axis of each light source faces the periphery of the floor surface. Thereby, the illuminance of the peripheral part of the floor surface can be increased, and the accuracy of the image recognition based on the photographed image can be improved.

  The visible light absorbing member is a flat plate portion positioned to intersect the photographing optical axis, and a flat plate-shaped side wall positioned to intersect the illumination optical axis of the light source and connected to an end of the flat portion. The visible light absorbing member is at least located on the flat plate portion and is located on the floor side of the illumination light axis, and the transmission region is It may be located in the said side wall part, and may be located in the ceiling side rather than the said spreading | diffusion area | region.

  In the visible light absorbing member, the diffusion region is located at least in the flat plate portion and is located on the floor side with respect to the illumination light axis, and therefore, of the light emitted from the light source, the floor plane is more than the illumination light axis The light on the side can be diffused at least in the diffusion region of the flat plate portion, and can be guided as the first light (diffuse light) to the above-described second region. On the other hand, in the visible light absorbing member, since the transmission area is located on the side wall and is located on the ceiling side of the diffusion area, the light emitted from the light source is on the ceiling side of the diffusion area. Can be led to the area outside the second area as the second light as it is through the transmission area of the side wall.

  The visible light absorbing member extends along the thickness direction of the side wall as it goes from the ceiling side to the floor side in the light path on the light source side with respect to the connection portion between the flat plate portion and the side wall portion. The optical element may have a shape of increasing width.

  In this configuration, even if the light source is supported by the support member so that the illumination optical axis is horizontal, light of high intensity traveling on the illumination optical axis is refracted toward the floor surface when it is transmitted through the optical element. Therefore, it becomes possible to illuminate the periphery of the floor surface with high illuminance.

  The optical element may be a prism integrated with the flat plate portion and the side wall portion. In this case, a visible light absorbing member with an optical element can be easily realized.

  The diffusion region may include an uneven surface located on at least one of the front surface and the back surface of the visible light absorbing member. Since the light incident on the uneven surface is diffused there and becomes diffused light, it is possible to diffuse a part of the light emitted from the light source and to surely realize the diffusion region to be emitted as the first light.

  The support member may support the plurality of light sources in a row along a ceiling of the living room. In this case, multiple light sources can be arranged along the ceiling to achieve wide-angle illumination.

  The support member may support the plurality of light sources so as to surround the imaging unit along a ceiling of the living room. In this case, the entire circumferential direction of the imaging optical axis of the imaging unit can be illuminated to illuminate the entire floor surface in the living room.

  The visible light absorbing member may have an opening on the ceiling side, and may be configured of a cover that covers at least the plurality of light sources from the floor surface side. Since the visible light absorbing member has an opening on the ceiling side, for example, after attaching the imaging unit to the ceiling, the visible light absorbing member is integrated with the light source so that the imaging unit fits in the opening. It becomes possible to attach. In addition, since at least a plurality of light sources are covered from the floor surface side by the visible light absorbing member, the light sources are hidden by the visible light absorbing member in appearance and become inconspicuous.

  The plurality of light sources may be light emitting diodes. A light-emitting diode (LED) saves power compared to a halogen lamp or the like, and emits light having a spread than laser light, and thus is very suitable as a light source for illumination.

  The illumination unit may illuminate the sleeping area of the subject in the living room with the first light. In the sleeping area, the subject is illuminated with the first light, which is diffused light, so the illumination unit becomes blurred and difficult to view even when looking up at the ceiling while lying in the sleeping area.

  The moving object detection unit according to the present embodiment is a moving object detection unit installed on the ceiling of a living room, and includes the above-described image recognition system and a micromotion detection unit that detects micromotion of a subject. According to the configuration of the image recognition system described above, the image recognition accuracy can be improved. Therefore, based on the result of the image recognition and the detection of the body movement, it is possible to accurately monitor the state of the subject. it can.

  The moving body detection unit may further include an interface unit for transmitting the information acquired by the image recognition system and the movement detection unit to the outside. In this case, by transmitting the information acquired by the image recognition system and the body movement detection unit to the outside (for example, a server) through the interface unit, it is possible to manage the above information outside.

  The care support system according to the present embodiment includes at least one moving body detection unit described above, a server connected to the moving body detection unit via a communication line, and receiving and managing the information transmitted from the moving body detection unit Contains. In this configuration, the server receives and manages the information transmitted from the moving object detection unit, and therefore, when an abnormality occurs in the operation of the subject such as a fall on the floor, the server side It becomes possible to grasp the situation and transmit information to the staff of the facility, the caregiver and the nurse's portable terminal, and to take appropriate measures such as prompting confirmation of the subject.

  The present invention provides an image recognition system used for detecting a moving object, a moving object detecting device for detecting a moving object provided with the image recognition system, and a moving object detecting device for supporting the daily life of a subject such as a care recipient Available for care support system.

1 Care Support System 10 Motion Detection Unit 20 Image Recognition System 21 Lighting Unit 23 Optical Detection Unit (Imaging Unit)
25 image recognition unit 30 radio wave detection unit (microscopic movement detection unit)
43 interface unit 61 light source (light emitting diode)
62 Support member 63 Visible light absorbing cover (visible light absorbing member)
63 a uneven surface 63 p opening 64 flat plate 65 side wall 66 rib (optical element, prism)
100a server 101 room 101a ceiling 101b floor 102 bed 200 communication line L1 diffused light (first light)
L2 direct light (second light)
R1 first area R2 second area R4 bedtime area DR diffusion area TR transmission area X illumination light axis Y photographing light axis

Claims (17)

An illumination unit located on the ceiling of the living room and emitting illumination light toward at least the entire floor surface;
An imaging unit that is located on a ceiling of the living room and captures an image by imaging the living room under illumination by the illumination unit;
An image recognition unit that recognizes a state of a subject in the living room by performing image recognition processing on image data of the image acquired by the imaging unit;
The illumination light includes a first light which is diffused light, and a second light which is diffused less than the first light,
The illumination unit emits the first light toward the second area including the first area on the floor surface directly below the imaging unit in the living room, while the illumination unit emits the first light on the floor surface. An image recognition system characterized in that the second light is emitted toward the outside of the region of (4). The illumination unit emits light having an intensity peak in a near infrared wavelength range as the illumination light,
The image recognition system according to claim 1, wherein the imaging unit has sensitivity in the near-infrared wavelength region.   The image recognition system according to claim 2, wherein the illumination unit includes a plurality of light sources, and a visible light absorbing member that absorbs visible light contained in light emitted from the light sources. The visible light absorbing member is
A diffusion region for diffusing a part of the light emitted from the light source and emitting it as the first light;
4. The image recognition system according to claim 3, further comprising: a transmission region that transmits the rest of the light emitted from the light source and emits the second light. The imaging optical axis of the imaging unit is perpendicular to the ceiling of the living room,
The illumination unit supports each of the plurality of light sources at a position away from the imaging optical axis of the imaging unit, and each illumination optical axis is an axis along the imaging optical axis passing through the light sources A support member for supporting each of the plurality of light sources is further provided to be inclined to the side away from the first area directly below the imaging unit. Image recognition system. The visible light absorbing member is
A flat plate portion positioned to intersect with the photographing optical axis;
And a flat plate-like side wall portion which is positioned to intersect with the illumination light axis of the light source and is connected to an end portion of the flat plate portion.
The diffusion area of the visible light absorbing member is located at least in the flat plate section and is located on the floor side with respect to the illumination optical axis, and the transmission area is located in the side wall section, and The image recognition system according to claim 5, wherein the image recognition system is located closer to the ceiling than the diffusion area.   The visible light absorbing member extends along the thickness direction of the side wall as it goes from the ceiling side to the floor side in the light path on the light source side with respect to the connection portion between the flat plate portion and the side wall portion. The image recognition system according to claim 6, characterized in that it has an optical element of a shape that increases in width.   The image recognition system according to claim 7, wherein the optical element is a prism integrated with the flat plate portion and the side wall portion.   The image recognition system according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the diffusion area includes an uneven surface located on at least one of the front surface and the back surface of the visible light absorbing member.   The image recognition system according to any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein the support member supports the plurality of light sources so as to be aligned along the ceiling of the living room.   The image recognition system according to claim 10, wherein the support member supports the plurality of light sources so as to surround the imaging unit along a ceiling of the living room.   12. The visible light absorbing member according to any one of claims 5 to 11, wherein the visible light absorbing member has an opening on the ceiling side, and a cover that covers at least the plurality of light sources and the support member from the floor surface side. Image recognition system described in.   The image recognition system according to any one of claims 3 to 12, wherein the plurality of light sources are light emitting diodes.   The image recognition system according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the illumination unit illuminates the sleeping area of the subject in the living room with the first light. A moving object detection unit installed on the ceiling of a living room,
The image recognition system according to any one of claims 1 to 14,
A moving body detection unit characterized by including a micromotion detection unit for detecting micromotion of a subject.   The moving body detection unit according to claim 15, further comprising an interface unit for transmitting the information acquired by the image recognition system and the body movement detection unit to the outside. At least one moving object detection unit according to claim 16;
A care support system comprising: a server connected to the moving body detection unit via a communication line and receiving and managing the information transmitted from the moving body detection unit.

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