KR20150111471A - Apparatus and Method of recording event based image data - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an image recording device and a method thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to: an event image recording device which stores a specific area of an image frame recorded by a camera, adjusts the specific area of the image frame to include an object upon sensing the approach of the object which can be a vehicle, person, item, or stone, and stores the adjusted area of the image frame; and a method thereof. According to the present invention, the image recording method includes the steps of: recording an image with a camera and monitoring the approach of an object; buffering the image frame recorded with the camera; determining an image area including the corresponding approaching object in the entire area of the image frame being buffered when it is confirmed by an object approach monitoring result that the approach is sensed; and storing the determined image area of the image frame.

Description

[0001] Apparatus and method for recording an event image [

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for photographing and recording an image, and more particularly, it relates to an apparatus and method for photographing and recording an image, in which a specific area of an image frame photographed by a camera is stored, The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for recording and recording an event image, in which a specific area of an image frame is changed and stored.

Due to the development of the automobile industry, the spread of automobiles has been commercialized to the extent that it is one household and one automobile era. There are various kinds of vehicles related to automobiles such as accidental contact with other vehicles while driving, theft of theft theft, Accidents are occurring frequently.

Recently, a video recording apparatus called a black box is mounted on a vehicle in accordance with such a car accidents. That is, the user can identify the situation of the vehicle accident through the camera shot image stored in the image shooting recording device, thereby to determine whether or not the vehicle strikes, .

In addition, 4-channel (front / rear / left / right) cameras are mounted on the video recording device due to the increase of the demand of the consumers and the technology development, or a high-definition camera such as Full- A large-capacity flash memory is mounted. In addition, a variety of convenient functions such as a display function that allows the user to view the video while recording the camera video, and a function to transmit the camera video to the smartphone are also added.

On the other hand, the video recording apparatus has a normal recording mode and an event recording mode.

The continuous recording mode is a method of storing all the images taken by the camera in the flash memory from the time when the power supply is started to the video recording apparatus until the power supply is terminated.

In the event recording mode, instead of storing all the images at all times, the camera is driven to shoot an image, and when a shock sensor such as a G sensor is used to sense a shock to the vehicle, the camera shot image is stored in the flash memory Method.

However, the normal recording mode of the related art has a problem of a shortage of storage capacity due to the storage of a large amount of image data, in particular, a shortening of the life of the flash memory having a limited number of data writing operations in storing a large number of image data. This is a costly and cumbersome way for consumers to purchase flash memory for a short period of time, from six months to a year or six months, in order to secure a vehicle accident image.

The event recording mode of the related art has an advantage that the flash memory can be efficiently used compared to the normal recording mode by storing the camera photographed image only when an impact occurs.

However, the event recording mode of the related art still has a problem of insufficient storage capacity and shortening the life of the flash memory.

That is, in order to obtain full-HD video, camera image data of 30 frames per second and 60 frames per second is required. However, since the event recording mode of the related art also stores the entire scene of the image frame captured by the camera (i.e., the entire area of the image frame), the storage capacity shortage problem and shortening of the life time of the flash memory can not be solved. Of course, it is also difficult and inconvenient for the user to find and play back the image to be viewed.

Also, the event recording mode of the related art has a problem that unneeded image areas irrelevant to an accident related to a vehicle such as a contact accident, a vehicle theft, and a vehicle crash are also stored. For example, in case of a contact accident with another vehicle during driving, the user needs only the contact image area in order to secure the accident situation, and the image area surrounding the mountain image is unnecessary.

Recently, a 4-channel (front / rear / left / right) camera is installed to implement an Around View. In order to process and record images captured by a plurality of cameras, This is because there is a problem in that evidence data can not be obtained because important vehicle accident images can not be processed and stored.

On the other hand, in recent years, it has become common that an ultrasonic type proximity sensor is mounted on a vehicle. In general, the proximity sensor senses whether there is an obstacle behind the vehicle when parking the vehicle. In the vehicle system, the proximity sensor is used to give a warning to the driver by giving a warning sound to the driver (e.g.

However, in the prior art, only a video recording recording technique using an impact sensor is presented, and a proximity sensor is not provided in a video recording and recording apparatus, and a technique of linking a proximity sensor and a video recording apparatus is not provided.

Therefore, based on the technique of linking the proximity sensors, there is a desperate need to develop a technique of storing only the necessary image area among the image frames photographed by the camera, which can solve the storage shortage problem and shorten the life time of the flash memory, Is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been conceived in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for storing a specific area of an image frame captured by a camera, And a method of recording an event image.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of recording and recording an image, the method comprising: capturing an image with a camera and monitoring an object proximity; Buffering image frames photographed by the camera; Determining an image region in which the near object is included among all the regions of the buffered image frame if proximity sensing is performed as a result of the object proximity monitoring; And storing an image region of the determined image frame.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for recording and recording an image, comprising: at least one proximity sensor for monitoring proximity of an object; At least one camera for capturing an image with respect to a specific direction; A buffer for buffering image frames photographed by the camera; A nonvolatile storage medium storing an image frame of the buffering unit; And a control unit for determining a signal processing target image frame in accordance with whether the proximity sensor performs object proximity sensing on the image frame of the buffering unit and storing the determined image region of the signal processing target image frame in the nonvolatile storage medium, .

The present invention can solve the storage capacity shortage problem of the nonvolatile storage medium and shorten the life time due to the writing of data, can guarantee the real time signal processing of the camera image, It is possible to sufficiently secure necessary images such as images immediately before a vehicle accident and images at the time of a vehicle accident.

1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an event image recording and recording apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a vehicle mounting position of a camera and a proximity sensor of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an image sensing target image frame and proximity sensing according to an event of the present invention; FIG.
4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating a process of changing a storage image area of a video frame according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an embodiment of an event video recording method according to the present invention. FIG.

It should be understood that the specific details of the invention are set forth in the following description to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention and that the present invention may be readily practiced without these specific details, It will be clear to those who have knowledge.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, with reference to the parts necessary for understanding the operation and operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of an event image recording and recording apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a vehicle mounting position of a camera and a proximity sensor according to the present invention.

1, the event image recording and recording apparatus of the present invention includes a camera 10, a proximity sensor 20, a buffering unit 30, a nonvolatile storage medium 40, a control unit 50, and the like do. In addition, the display unit 60 may further include a display unit 60.

The camera 10 photographs the outside of the vehicle and / or the inside of the vehicle to acquire images such as color, monochrome, and infrared rays. In the present invention, one camera or a plurality of cameras may be mounted. For example, only one channel front camera for acquiring an image of the front of the vehicle may be mounted, a two-channel camera for acquiring images of the front and rear of the vehicle may be mounted, or a video image of front, rear, left, Or a four-channel camera for acquiring an ambient view image of the surroundings of the vehicle.

2, a front camera 11 having an angle of view toward the front of the vehicle for photographing the front of the vehicle, a rear camera 11 having an angle of view toward the rear direction of the vehicle for photographing the rear of the vehicle A left camera 13 having an angle of view toward the left side of the vehicle for photographing the left side of the vehicle and a right side camera 14 having an angle of view toward the right side of the vehicle for photographing the right side of the vehicle are mounted on the vehicle have. Here, the angles of view of the front camera 11, the rear camera 12, the left camera 13, and the right camera 14 may overlap each other.

Hereinafter, the four-channel camera of FIG. 2 will be described as an example. Of course, the 4-channel camera may be mounted on the main body of the event image recording apparatus, not the vehicle. In such a case, the 4-channel camera suffices if the optical system is arranged so as to photograph the front, rear, left, and right directions.

The proximity sensor 20 may be used to sense proximity of an object (e.g., a vehicle, a person, an object, a stone, etc.), i.e. a proximity change to an approaching or approaching object of the vehicle, and / or sensing proximity, A value and / or a shock, and a shake of the vehicle.

In the present invention, a vehicle collision and a vehicle collision are also seen as a part of the proximity because collision and shaking must be close to the vehicle. The proximity sensor 20 used in the present invention may be any sensor using a system of ultrasonic wave, radio wave, infrared ray, heat, light, magnetic, three-axis motion, six-axis motion, acceleration, gyro, inertia, geomagnetism, Can also be implemented.

2, the proximity sensor 20 includes a bumper, a grille, a fender, a side mirror, a door, a trunk, a front window at the front of the room mirror, a rear window at the vicinity of the brake lamp, etc. And can be mounted in a plurality of positions at any vehicle position.

Hereinafter, a front proximity sensor 21 for performing proximity sensing in the vehicle front direction as in the proximity sensor mounting position in FIG. 2, a rear proximity sensor 22 for proximity sensing in the rear direction of the vehicle, The proximity sensor 23 and the right proximity sensor 24 for sensing the proximity of the vehicle in the right direction will be described as an example. Of course, the proximity sensor may be mounted on the main body of the event image recording apparatus, not the vehicle. In this case, the proximity sensor may be arranged and arranged so as to be able to perform proximity sensing in the front, rear, left and right directions.

On the other hand, in the present invention, all or some of the cameras installed in the vehicle, or all or some of the proximity sensors installed in the vehicle can be used. That is, recent vehicles are basically equipped with a rear camera and a rear proximity sensor for parking guidance, or some advanced vehicles are equipped with a proximity sensor for ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System). Accordingly, in the present invention, the camera of the vehicle and the proximity sensor can be used in conjunction with the event image recording and recording apparatus.

That is, the event video recording apparatus includes a vehicle communication unit to implement data transmission / reception with the camera of the vehicle system and the proximity sensor. In this case, the event image capture recording apparatus (preferably, the control unit 50) receives the captured image from the camera control and the camera through the vehicle communication unit, and performs proximity sensor control, proximity sensing data And / or proximity of objects). Such another exemplary event video recording apparatus of the present invention will be referred to as a " vehicle-linked event video recording apparatus ".

The vehicle communication unit is an interlocking module for transmitting and receiving signals, data, and information between the vehicle interlocking type event image recording and recording apparatus and the vehicle system, and may be implemented as a transceiver, driver, or the like according to a CAN (Controller Area Network) standard. Here, when the vehicle system provides sensing data or the like to the vehicle interlocked event image recording and recording apparatus in the form of raw data or CAN message format, the control unit 50 analyzes and processes the data of the vehicle system. As another example, the vehicle system may provide sensing data and the like in a processed data format so that the vehicle-linked event imaging recording apparatus recognizes the data.

The buffering unit 30 has a buffer function for temporarily storing images photographed by the cameras 11, 12, 13, and 14, and may be implemented as a RAM or the like as a volatile storage medium. In addition, a plurality of buffers may be provided for temporary storage of the captured images of the cameras 11, 12, 13, and 14, or all the captured images may be temporarily stored in one buffer.

The nonvolatile storage medium 40 is a data storage unit for storing images acquired by the camera 10 by data writing of the control unit 50. The nonvolatile storage medium 40 may be a flash memory such as an SD card or a USB memory, Lt; / RTI >

The control unit 50 may be implemented by an MCU or a CPU. The control unit 50 may control the overall control logic of an event image recording apparatus such as a camera driving driver control, a proximity sensing discrimination, a signal processing, . The main functions and operations of the control unit 50 in the present invention will be described below.

The display unit 60 may display an image shot by the camera, reproduce and display the stored image, or function as an interface such as a menu (mode) setting. The display unit 60 may be implemented as a touch screen panel or the like. Of course, the display unit 60 may be implemented with a liquid crystal unit having no touch function, and in this case, a menu (mode) setting button may be provided in the event video recording apparatus. The function and operation of the display unit 60 in the present invention will be described later with reference to Figs. 4A to 4C.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a proximity sensing according to an event and an image frame to be subjected to signal processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 4A to 4C illustrate a process of changing a storage image region of an image frame according to the present invention. Fig.

FIG. 3 shows a situation in which a contact accident occurs between the vehicles (the vehicle and the other vehicle). This is a scenarios in which a car comes into close proximity to the center line and then touches the center line to cause a contact accident between the other car and the car.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle is traveling in the first lane at time t1, and the other vehicle approaches the vehicle in the vicinity of the center line at time t2. At time t3, It is.

The proximity sensor 21, the rear proximity sensor 22, the left proximity sensor 23, and the right proximity sensor 24 do not have proximity sensing because there is no proximity of the other vehicle at time t1.

At a time t2, the proximity sensor 21 is proximate to the proximity of the other vehicle.

At time t3, the forward proximity sensor 21 and the left proximity sensor 23 are in proximity sensing due to the contact of the other vehicle on the front and left portions of the vehicle.

The entire area of the image frame, that is, the image frame, as one scene photographed by the front camera 11, the rear camera 12, the left camera 13 and the right camera 14 is temporarily stored in the buffering unit 30. [ Are being stored.

According to the present invention, in response to whether the proximity sensors 21, 22, 23, and 24 are used for proximity sensing, image processing is performed on image frames photographed by the cameras 11, 12, 13 and 14 and temporarily stored in the buffering unit 30 (Determines) a target image frame, changes the stored image region of the signal processing target image frame, and stores it in the nonvolatile storage medium 40. [

That is, since the image frames of the front and rear left and right cameras 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the time t1 in FIG. 3 are normal images without proximity sensing of the front, rear, left and right proximity sensors 21, 22, 23, and 24, 4a, a specific area (reference numeral 410) set in advance is stored in the nonvolatile storage medium 40 among the entire area of the image frame. Of course, the image frame of FIG. 4A or a predetermined area set in advance may be discarded without being stored in the nonvolatile storage medium 40. FIG.

The image frames of the front and rear left and right cameras 11, 12, 13 and 14 of the time t2 in FIG. 3 are detected by the proximity sensing of the front proximity sensor 21 among the front, rear, left and right proximity sensors 21, 22, As shown in FIG. 4B, the image area of the entire image frame of the front camera 11 is changed to include the difference, and the changed image area 420 is stored in the nonvolatile storage medium 40 . At this time, in the image frames of the rear camera 12, the left camera 13 and the right camera 14 corresponding to the rear proximity sensor 22, the left proximity sensor 23 and the right proximity sensor 24 without proximity sensing 4A, a specific area (reference numeral 410) set in advance is stored in the nonvolatile storage medium 40 among the entire area of the image frame.

The image frames of the front and rear left and right cameras 11, 12, 13 and 14 of the time t3 in FIG. 3 are transmitted to the front and rear proximity sensors 21, 22, 23, 23, the image area is changed to include the difference between the image frame of the front camera 11 and the image frame of the left camera 13 as shown in FIG. 4C, And stores the image area (reference numeral 430) in the nonvolatile storage medium 40. 4A, for the image frames of the rear camera 12 and the right camera 14 corresponding to the rear proximity sensor 22 and the right proximity sensor 24 without proximity sensing, (410) is stored in the nonvolatile storage medium (40).

Meanwhile, it has been described that the image area of the image frame photographed and temporarily stored in the camera corresponding to the proximity sensor that has been subjected to the proximity sensing is changed and stored. However, in another example, It is possible to change and store all the image areas of the image frames of all the cameras. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention can also be applied to an event image recording apparatus including one proximity sensor and one camera.

4A to 4C, a predetermined area preset in the entire area of the image frame, and a modified image area including the difference among the entire area of the image frame are displayed on the display unit 60, And the user can set the image area by a touch or the like. The display unit 60 is a kind of user interface.

That is, the display unit 60 enables the user to see what the entire area of the image frame currently being photographed, the specific area set in advance, and the changed image area including the difference is, So that the user can confirm what the image area stored in the nonvolatile storage medium 40 is. The user can drag the image area displayed on the screen to enlarge or reduce the image area or change the position within the image frame.

The event image recording and recording apparatus and method of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5 and FIGS. 1 to 4C.

The control unit 50 drives the camera 10 to continuously photograph the image, and drives the proximity sensor 20 to monitor the proximity of the object (501). Here, since the starting power is supplied from the vehicle battery in the vehicle running state, the problem of battery discharge does not occur, so that the image can be continuously photographed. The proximity sensing operation may be performed continuously or may be performed at a specific time period. On the other hand, in the vehicle parking state, there is a problem of battery discharge of the vehicle, so that camera shooting and proximity sensing operations can be performed in a specific time period in order to minimize power consumption.

The control unit 50 temporarily stores the entire area of the image frame, i.e., the image frame, as a scene captured by the camera 10, in the buffering unit 30 (502).

Then, based on the object proximity monitoring result by the proximity sensor 20 (503), if there is no proximity sensing, the control unit 50 sets in advance the entire area of the image frame temporarily stored in the buffering unit 30 A specific area (410) is stored in the nonvolatile storage medium (40) by writing data from the buffering unit (30) (504). As another example, the image frame of FIG. 4A or a predetermined area set in advance may be discarded without being stored in the nonvolatile storage medium 40 by writing data from the buffering unit 30. FIG.

On the other hand, if the proximity sensor 20 detects proximity of the object 503, the controller 50 may detect proximity of the entire region of the image frame temporarily stored in the buffering unit 30 And the modified image areas (420 and 430) are stored in the nonvolatile storage medium (40) by writing data from the buffering unit (30) (505).

At this time, in the process of changing the image area to include the proximity object, the area where the object is located in the entire area of the image frame is recognized through the known object recognition, the specific area set in advance is expanded to the location area of the object, And determines an image area. At this time, rather than widening the specific area set in advance to the object position area, the object image area may be determined by widening the area to which the object is located to the peripheral area. Of course, the storage target image area may be determined to be smaller than the size of the specific area set in advance, such as storing only the object and the area surrounding the object location, rather than expanding the area to the object location area.

Next, various extended embodiments of the present invention will be described.

According to the present invention, it is possible to set an object as a distance change approaching to a vehicle or an event image shooting recording apparatus under a proximity sensing condition. If the proximity sensing distance is set farther, old image data before an event can be secured Pull forward].

In addition, in the present invention, it is possible to variably adjust the proximity sensing distance in conjunction with the change of the traveling speed of the vehicle. For example, when the traveling speed is high, the contact accident with the other vehicle occurs instantaneously. It is possible to secure sufficient image data before the occurrence of the event, and to adjust the proximity sensing distance more closely when the traveling speed is slow.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the proximity sensor is implemented by an ultrasonic method or the like. However, it is preferable that the distance between the camera and the object is measured using at least one camera installed in the vehicle, It is possible. As another example, an infrared type proximity sensor may be used in a dark environment.

On the other hand, in the case of using an ultrasonic proximity sensor, an error in proximity sensing operation may occur due to ambient noise during driving and signal interference of an ultrasonic sensor of another vehicle. Therefore, in the present invention, a magnetic identification code is inserted in the ultrasonic wave of the proximity sensor and transmitted, or a separate infrared sensor is further installed, so that only the data when the sensing result of the ultrasonic sensor matches the sensing result of the infrared sensor is used as the correct proximity sensing data It is possible.

On the other hand, if the proximity sensor fails, the operation of the event image recording apparatus may not be performed properly. In this case, if the failure of the proximity sensor is determined in the present invention, it is preferable to switch to the normal continuous image recording mode without storing the event image recording process and store the image captured by the camera in the nonvolatile storage medium. Of course, when the failure of the proximity sensor is determined, the user is informed of proximity sensor replacement / repair, and the user can be informed that the normal image capture recording mode is performed until the proximity sensor is operated normally.

As described above, since the present invention stores a specific area other than the entire area of the image frame, it is possible to solve the storage capacity shortage problem of the nonvolatile storage medium and the life shortening due to the data writing. Also, real-time signal processing of the camera image can be guaranteed. In addition, sufficient images can be secured as evidence of vehicle accidents, such as normal images, images immediately before a vehicle accident, and images at the time of a car accident.

The present invention can be applied to the vehicle driving state, the vehicle stop state, and the vehicle parking state regardless of the driving state of the vehicle. In addition, the present invention can be applied to both the conventional continuous recording mode and the event recording mode regardless of the recording mode. In addition, the present invention can be applied to any accident involving a vehicle, such as a contact accident, a car theft, a vehicle crash, and the like.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is capable of various modifications within the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited by the illustrated embodiments, but should be determined by the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

10, 11, 12, 13, 14: camera 20, 21, 22, 23, 24: proximity sensor
30: buffering unit 40: nonvolatile storage medium
50: control unit 60:

Claims (13)

A method for recording an image and recording the image,
Capturing an image with a camera and monitoring an object proximity;
Buffering image frames photographed by the camera;
Determining an image region in which the near object is included among all the regions of the buffered image frame if proximity sensing is performed as a result of the object proximity monitoring; And
And storing an image region of the determined image frame. The method according to claim 1,
The step of determining the image region including the proximity object may include determining an area where the near object is located in the entire area of the image frame and changing a preset specific area to a position area of the proximity object, And determining whether to record the event image. The method according to claim 1,
The step of determining an image area including the proximity object may include determining an area in which the near object is located in the entire area of the image frame and determining a surrounding area as a storage target image area around the area in which the near object is located Features video recording event recording method. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising the step of storing a preset specific area of the entire area of the buffered image frame if proximity sensing is not performed as a result of the object proximity monitoring. The method according to claim 1,
And discarding the buffered image frame if there is no proximity sensing as a result of the object proximity monitoring. An apparatus for photographing and recording an image, the apparatus comprising:
At least one proximity sensor for monitoring proximity of an object;
At least one camera for capturing an image with respect to a specific direction;
A buffer for buffering image frames photographed by the camera;
A nonvolatile storage medium storing an image frame of the buffering unit; And
A control unit for determining a signal processing target image frame according to whether the proximity sensor senses an object proximity to the image frame of the buffering unit and storing a specific image region of the determined signal processing target image frame in the nonvolatile storage medium Included event video recording device. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the control unit stores the image area including the corresponding near object in the entire area of the image frame of the buffering unit in the nonvolatile storage medium when there is object proximity sensing by the proximity sensor, Device. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the control unit stores a preset specific area of the entire area of the image frame of the buffering unit when the object proximity sensing by the proximity sensor is not performed. 9. The method according to claim 7 or 8,
Wherein the control unit stores an image area including the corresponding near object in the entire area of the image frame photographed by the first camera corresponding to the first proximity sensor having the object proximity sensing, And stores the predetermined area set in advance among the entire area of the image frame photographed by the corresponding second camera. The method according to claim 6,
Further comprising a display unit for displaying an image frame photographed by the camera,
Wherein the control unit displays a specific image area to be stored in the image frame on the display unit. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the specific image region of the signal processing target image frame is varied in size or position within the image frame by the user. The method according to claim 6,
The proximity sensor may detect proximity of an object in at least one of an ultrasonic wave, a radio wave, an infrared ray, a heat, a light, a magnetic, a three-axis motion, a six-axis motion, an acceleration, a gyro, an inertia, a geomagnetism, Wherein the monitoring unit monitors the recording of the event image. The method according to claim 6,
The proximity sensor and / or the camera are mounted on a vehicle system,
Further comprising: a vehicle communication unit for performing communication with the vehicle system,
Wherein the control unit is connected to the vehicle system via the vehicle communication unit to detect proximity sensing and / or receive a camera image.

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