KR100833270B1 - Method and Apparatus for movable auto photographing - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a camera unit for recognizing and photographing an external image, a caller recognition unit for recognizing a caller corresponding to the recognized external image, a moving unit moving in the direction of the recognized caller, and shaking of the recognized caller. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a mobile automatic photographing apparatus including a camera controller for adjusting a focus and exposure of a camera and a photo corrector for correcting the photographed image.

Auto Photo Shooting, Robot, Robot

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MOVABLE AUTO PHOTOING}

1 is a view schematically showing an external configuration of a movable automatic photographing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a view showing the structure of a movable automatic photographing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

Figure 3 is a flow chart schematically showing a method for automatically taking a picture according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 illustrates a method for recognizing a caller according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram illustrating a left hand shake recognition method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is an exemplary view of determining a caller among a plurality of persons according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a view showing an image correction method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8 illustrates an example of an image correction operation in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

201: camera control unit 203: camera unit

205 caller recognition unit 207 input unit

209: transceiver 211: memory

210: image correction unit 215: photo output unit

217: moving unit 219: control unit

221: display

The present invention relates to a mobile automatic photographing method and apparatus.

With the development of robot technology, many researches have been conducted on how to use robots. How to take automatic photos with you. That is, a method of photographing by a robot has also been studied in the past as a field of robot technology. However, the conventional robot photographer technology and research proceeded in the direction of shooting regardless of the user's request or the user to control the robot through an external device such as a remote control or a mobile terminal.

Therefore, regardless of the user's will to take a picture automatically at the appropriate time, or take the picture under the control of the user, the user does not take a picture in the composition of his or her desired position in the desired location, or manually to obtain such a picture manually There was an inconvenience to operate.

In addition, even after taking a picture, even if you do not like the result of the picture, there was no way to modify it immediately, which was a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile automatic photographing method and apparatus.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic photo taking method and apparatus for automatically taking a photo in accordance with the user's intention in the desired position.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for automatically photographing that is capable of changing a photograph on the fly when a photographing result does not correspond to a user's intention.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to an aspect of the present invention, the camera unit for recognizing and photographing the external image, the caller recognition unit for recognizing the caller corresponding to the recognized external image, the direction of the recognized caller The mobile unit may move to a camera, a camera controller for adjusting focus and exposure of the camera in response to the recognized caller's hand shake, and a photo corrector for correcting the photographed image.

In a preferred embodiment, the camera unit can be characterized in that it can calculate the distance to the caller. The caller recognition unit may detect a caller by detecting a hand shake of the caller in the recognized image. In addition, the photographing of the image may be characterized by adjusting the focus according to the shake of the right hand and the shake of the left hand of the caller. In addition, the focus of the camera may be characterized by applying a No Middle Rule, a Rule of Third, and a Simple Background Rule based on the recognized face. In addition, the correction of the picture may be characterized by improving the subject to a brightness higher than a preset brightness by comparing the contrast ratio of the recognized subject and the surrounding background.

Referring to another aspect of the present invention, recognizing an external image, recognizing a caller corresponding to the recognized external image. Moving in the direction of the recognized caller, adjusting the focus of the image in response to the recognized caller's shaking, photographing the focused image and correcting the photographed image; It is possible to provide a mobile automatic photographing method.

In a preferred embodiment, the recognition of the image may be characterized in that the recognition of the image that can be calculated distance with the caller. In addition, the recognition of the caller may be characterized by recognizing the caller by detecting the hand shake of the caller inside the recognized image. In addition, the photographing of the image may be characterized by changing the focusing control according to the shaking of the right hand and the shaking of the left hand of the caller. In addition, the focus of the camera may be characterized by applying a No Middle Rule, a Rule of Third, and a Simple Background Rule based on the recognized face. In addition, the correction of the picture may be characterized by improving the subject to a brightness higher than a preset brightness by comparing the contrast ratio of the recognized subject and the surrounding background.

Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view schematically showing the external configuration of a movable automatic photographing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

With reference to FIG. 1, the device according to the invention can take the form of a humanoid as a whole. The present invention is an automatic picture taking device, it can play a role of automatically taking a picture on behalf of a general photographer. Therefore, it is preferable that the present invention takes a humanoid shape in order not to give a disgust to humans and to avoid a feeling of rejection in taking a picture.

Such a movable automatic picture taking device includes a camera 101, a guide speaker 103, a touch screen 105, and a mobile device 107.

The camera 101 is responsible for recognizing and photographing a subject in the present invention. The camera 101 should be composed of two or more to measure the distance to the subject. In the present invention, two cameras 101 are arranged side by side to take a shape similar to a human.

In addition, the camera 101 should be equipped with a series of functions as a camera for photographing a subject, such as an optical zoom function, a focus control function, an exposure control function, and a white balance adjustment function.

The guide speaker 103 plays a role of broadcasting a guide comment about the picture to the person who takes the picture. The guide speaker 103 designates a user's operation or location selection at each step of taking a picture, and determines whether to take an automatic picture or a manual picture.

The touch screen 105 not only serves to display an image of the camera 101, but also allows a user to manually view the displayed image and adjust the focus or exposure of the camera 101.

The touch screen 105 takes a convenient form for a user to check an image, and plays a role of allowing a user to check a screen to be photographed, adjust its name, and adjust the image through the displayed image.

The moving device 107 is a device for moving the movable automatic picture taking device according to the present invention. This takes a role of moving to a distance suitable for taking a picture to a user who is recognized to request picture taking using a driving device and a motor. By the mobile device 107, the user can call the movable automatic picture taking device according to the present invention by a specific operation or gesture without having to approach the device for taking a picture, and the user can take a picture at a desired position. Do.

The movement of the mobile device 107 may be implemented using a previously known path finding function using an external image recognized by the camera 101.

2 is a view showing the structure of a movable automatic photographing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 2, the movable automatic photographing apparatus according to the present invention includes a camera control unit 201, a camera unit 203, a caller recognition unit 205, an input unit 207, a transceiver 209, and a memory 211. , An image corrector 210, a photo output unit 215, a moving unit 217, a control unit 219, and a display 221.

The camera control unit 201 adjusts the focus and exposure of the subject recognized by the camera unit 203. The camera controller 201 may use an automatic exposure and focus adjustment function applied to a digital camera, and change the focus and exposure according to a user's input input from the input unit 207.

The camera unit 203 is equipped with a camera to recognize a subject and to take a role of recognizing a caller who calls a device according to the present invention to take a picture. The camera unit 203 may be composed of two or more cameras. In addition, the camera unit 203 can calculate the position and distance of the caller.

The caller recognition unit 205 is responsible for determining the subject recognized by the camera unit 203 as the caller. The caller recognition unit 205 determines whether the subject recognized by the camera performs a specific operation and recognizes the subject as the caller when performing the operation. A detailed caller recognition method will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

The input unit 207 is an input device that adjusts the camera so that when the user takes a picture, the user can adjust the picture composition, focus, exposure, etc. according to his or her taste. In addition, such an input unit 207 is an input device that allows a user to operate the device according to the present invention, such as not only the adjustment of the camera, but also a method of storing an output picture and a background conversion.

The input unit 207 may be configured as a touch screen. In this case, the input unit 207 may be combined with the display 221 to be configured on the same screen.

The transceiver 209 receives the control signal of the apparatus according to the present invention wirelessly and wired, and serves to output the captured image information to the outside. If the apparatus according to the present invention needs to be controlled, the input unit 209 may be controlled. However, since the input unit 209 can only receive input of a menu selectable by the user for the convenience of the user, the apparatus according to the present invention may be controlled. The managing manager may manage the overall operation of the apparatus according to the present invention by wire or wirelessly through the transceiver unit 209.

The memory 211 stores an overall operation control program or a photographing program of the apparatus according to the present invention, and serves to temporarily store photographed image information. The memory 211 may be a hard disk or a storage medium capable of storing digital information such as RAM and ROM.

The image corrector 210 serves to correct the photographed image.

In general, when the picture is taken, the desired brightness or saturation may not come out, and in this case, the desired picture cannot be obtained. In particular, when the background is too bright or the subject is too dark, such a result often occurs. The image correction unit 210 may automatically correct the image by determining that the captured image is not suitable. This image correction method will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 7.

The photo output unit 215 is responsible for outputting the captured image. The device according to the present invention can take an image in the field and send the photographed image by e-mail or store it on a disk, but it can be particularly aimed to provide a photographed image directly output. Therefore, the photo output unit 215 for outputting the captured image on the spot will be required.

The moving unit 217 is responsible for moving the device according to the present invention. The moving unit 217 allows the user to take a picture at a desired location. Such a moving unit may use a motor or a driving device, may approach a user by using an established path finding algorithm, or may move to optimize a composition or distance for photographing.

The controller 219 is responsible for controlling the overall operation of the movable automatic picture taking apparatus according to the present invention. In order to operate the device according to the present invention, such as calculating a method of finding and moving a user in the moving unit, calculating an optimal composition of a camera, transmitting an instruction of an input device, and displaying a display on an output screen, You can control the whole movement.

The display 221 serves to display the image taken by the camera as it is in the apparatus according to the present invention. In particular, when the display 221 is used as a touch screen method, the display 221 and the input unit 207 may be integrated and provided.

3 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a method of automatically taking a picture according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, first, an image to be photographed is input to a camera of a device according to the present invention (step 301). The input image is then analyzed to recognize the caller (step 305). The method of recognizing such caller is described in detail in FIG. 4.

The device according to the invention is then moved in the direction of the recognized caller and placed in a suitable place to take a picture of the caller (step 306). It then determines if the caller is waving (step 307), and if it is shaking the left hand (step 309), it is determined whether there is one or more people caught on the screen (step 311). Photo composition is set using the No Middle Rule) and the Rule of Third, and the composition of the photo is set using the Rule of Third if not one.

On the other hand, if the caller shakes his right hand (step 319), the picture composition is set using a simple background rule and a rule of third (step 317).

When the picture composition is set by each method, the device according to the present invention is moved according to the composition, and the exposure and focus of the camera are corrected (step 321). When this correction is completed, a picture is taken (step 323).

4 is a diagram illustrating a method for recognizing a caller according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4, first, an image to be photographed is input to a camera of the device according to the present invention (step 401). The face is then recognized by analyzing the input image (step 403). Then, the position of the face is tracked (step 405), and the hand shake recognition area is set by calculating the position at which the hand shakes corresponding to the tracked position (step 407). Thereafter, the recognized image is continuously updated (step 409), and it is determined whether the hand shake has occurred at the designated position (step 411). If the hand shake does not occur, the screen is analyzed while updating the image continuously. If the hand shake occurs, the face corresponding to the position where the hand shake occurs is recognized as the caller (step 413), and the caller moves to the position of the caller (step 415).

5 is a diagram illustrating a left hand shake recognition method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, first, a screen is divided into predetermined spaces. In this figure, it is assumed that the horizontal axis of the screen is divided into 8 spaces and the vertical axis is divided into 6 spaces. In this case, the face recognition area 510 may be displayed from the point f1 511 to the point f2 513.

In this case, the regions 520 for determining the hand shake position may be determined by h1 521 and h2 523.

In this case, if the coordinate of f1 position is (x1, y1) and the coordinate of f2 is (x2, y2)

The coordinate of h1 is (x1- (x2-x1), y1 + (y2-y1) / 2)

The coordinate of h2 is designated as (x1, y1 + (y2-y1) * 2).

This designation sets the general hand shake position in relation to the face position. In other words, the position of the width of the face is moved to the left and the height of 1.5 times the length of the face is set from the height of the middle of the face.

This setting can generally be used to measure hand shake when shaking.

The right hand shake can be calculated from the right side of the face.

6 is an exemplary view of determining a caller among a plurality of persons according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, when there are two persons on the recognized screen, the apparatus first recognizes faces of two persons through face recognition (601, 611). If the face is recognized as described above, a position for recognizing hand shake is designated based on the face in the manner described with reference to FIG. 5 (603 and 613). Then, while updating the screen and observing two people, the person in the middle shakes his left hand and the person on the right does not shake his hand. In such a case a hand shake will be detected in area 603, but a hand shake will not be detected in area 613, the device according to the invention determines the face of reference number 601 as the caller and moves there.

7 is a view showing an image correction method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, when an image is first captured (step 701), the contrast ratio between the subject and the background of the captured image is measured (step 703). Then, it is judged whether the contrast of the subject is lower than the preset reference (step 705), and if it is low, the brightness of the subject portion is improved to be above the preset reference (step 707). The standard of brightness is generally too dark for the background or the shadow is so large that the color of the subject does not come out properly.

In this case, however, increasing the brightness of the entire image may cause the background contrast to be too bright. Therefore, only the contrast of the subject is changed while leaving the background contrast unchanged.

The modified image is then confirmed (step 709). Of course, if the brightness of the subject is not low, such brightness correction will not be necessary.

8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image correction operation according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, first, a screen 810 is a screen before correcting an image. In the picture 810, the subject portion 811 is too dark to be regarded as a good picture. Accordingly, when the brightness of the subject is corrected in the method according to the present invention, a screen as shown by reference numeral 820 is generated. Looking at the screen 820, it can be seen that the brightness of the subject portion 821 is much brighter than the previous subject portion 811.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and many variations are possible by those skilled in the art within the spirit of the present invention.

According to the present invention, a movable automatic photographing method and apparatus can be provided.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automatic photo taking method and apparatus for automatically taking a photo in accordance with the intention of the user at a desired position.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automatic photographing method and apparatus capable of changing the photograph on the fly when the photographing result does not meet the intention of the user.

Claims (12)

Camera unit 203 for recognizing and photographing an external image Caller recognition unit 205 for recognizing the caller corresponding to the recognized external image A moving unit 217 moving in the direction of the recognized caller A camera controller 201 that adjusts the focus and exposure of the camera in response to the recognized caller's hand shake; Photo correction unit 213 for correcting the photographed image Removable automatic photo shooting device comprising a. The method of claim 1, The camera unit can calculate the distance to the caller Removable automatic picture taking device characterized in that. The method of claim 1, The caller recognition unit shakes the caller's hand in the recognized image. To recognize the caller by detecting Removable automatic picture taking device characterized in that. The method of claim 1, Shooting the image is to adjust the focus according to the shake of the right hand and the shake of the left hand of the caller Removable automatic picture taking device characterized in that. The method of claim 1, The focus of the camera is to apply a No Middle Rule, a Rule of Third, and a Simple Background Rule based on the recognized face. Removable automatic picture taking device characterized in that. The method of claim 1, The correction of the picture is to compare the contrast ratio of the recognized subject and the surrounding background to enhance the subject above the preset brightness. Removable automatic picture taking device characterized in that. Steps to Recognize External Images Recognizing the caller corresponding to the recognized external image Moving in the direction of the recognized caller Adjusting an image focus according to the recognized caller's hand shake Taking the focused image and Correcting the photographed image Removable automatic photo shooting method comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein Recognition of the image is to recognize the image capable of calculating the distance to the caller Removable automatic photo shooting method characterized in that. The method of claim 7, wherein Recognition of the caller is caused to shake the caller's hand within the recognized image. To recognize the caller by detecting Removable automatic photo shooting method characterized in that. The method of claim 7, wherein Shooting of the image is to change the focus control according to the shake of the right hand and the shake of the left hand of the caller Removable automatic photo shooting method characterized in that. The method of claim 7, wherein The focus of the camera is to apply a No Middle Rule, a Rule of Third, and a Simple Background Rule based on the recognized face. Removable automatic photo shooting method characterized in that. The method of claim 7, wherein The correction of the picture is to compare the contrast ratio of the recognized subject and the surrounding background to enhance the subject above the preset brightness. Removable automatic photo shooting method characterized in that.

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