TWI451068B - Image-detection apparatus for numerical display meter and method thereof - Google Patents

Description

Image detecting device for digital display scale and method thereof

The present invention relates to a detecting apparatus and method thereof, and more particularly to an image detecting apparatus and method thereof, which are suitable for use in a digital display gauge to measure a value displayed by the gauge.

A device having a counter of a mechanical display or a numerical display is commonly used for a meter, and is exemplified by a resource meter in a home, such as an electric meter, a water meter, and a gas meter. Since these gauges are erected in dark alleys or high places outside the house, it is quite inconvenient to look up and record the values of these gauges and climb up to get these values. In addition, many independently operated instruments are provided with a mechanical or numerical display counter device as a conduit for the user to visually inspect the instrument and measure the count results. In the system integration application of supervisory control and data capture, for such devices, the user must first visually view the numerical values of the mechanical or digital display, and then key-in at the data collection point. Taking data, in addition to being inconvenient, is quite time consuming and prone to errors.

At present, if the instrument or equipment is to transmit the internal state and measurement values of the machine, the conventional solution is to design an additional circuit, and then register the register by storing these states and measuring values. The digital content contained is transmitted to other communication modules through this additional design circuit. The difficulty of this conventional technology is that when the existing devices and devices are systematically integrated, the original control circuit needs to be changed, which is complicated and inconvenient to use. In view of this, it is indeed necessary to develop a new type of detection system to solve the above problems.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image detecting apparatus and method thereof for conveniently and accurately measuring a display value of a digital display gauge.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image detecting apparatus and method thereof for integrating numerical contents of a digital display gauge.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image detecting apparatus and a method thereof, the image detecting apparatus comprising an image capturing module, a control unit, a memory unit, a comparison module, and a transmission module. The image detecting device is connected to a digital display gauge and connected to the data processing device via a receiving module. The image capturing module is configured to capture an image of the initial value of the digital display scale as an initial image. The control unit is configured to control an execution program of the image detecting device, and receive the initial image to identify the initial image to form a numerical value as an initial value of the digital display scale, and the control unit continuously controls the image capturing The module periodically monitors the digital display scale to capture a plurality of numerical images of the digital display scale, wherein the subsequent numerical images include a previous numerical image and a subsequent numerical image. The memory unit is configured to store the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image, wherein the memory unit is configured to store the numerical image sampled by the image capturing module for direct comparison by the comparison module, and does not need to transmit the sampled numerical image. Returning to the data processing device, the control unit is controlled to control the execution efficiency of the comparison module. The comparison module is configured to determine whether the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are the same or carry and change. The transmission module transmits a corresponding value of the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image to the data processing device within a predetermined time interval.

The method for performing image detection in the embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

(1) Using the image capturing module to capture the image of the initial value of the digital display scale as the initial image. In one embodiment, the image displayed by the mechanical digital image taken by digital photography is used to identify the initial image.

(2) The initial image is recognized by the control unit to form a numerical value as an initial value of the digital display scale.

(3) the image capturing module periodically monitors the digital display scale to capture a plurality of numerical images of the digital display scale, wherein the subsequent numerical images include a previous numerical image and A subsequent numerical image.

(4) The previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are stored by the memory unit.

(5) Using the comparison module to determine whether the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are the same or carry and change.

(6) transmitting, within the predetermined time interval, the corresponding value of the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image to the data processing device by using the transmission module.

In order to make the above-mentioned contents of the present invention more comprehensible, the preferred embodiments are described below, and the detailed description is as follows:

1 is a block diagram of an image detecting apparatus 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The image detecting device 100 is connected to a digital display gauge 102, and is connected to the data processing device 106 via a receiving module 104. The data processing device 106 is, for example, a remote host 106 or a personal digital assistant (PDA). The image detecting device 100 includes an image capturing module 108, a control unit 110, a memory unit 112, a comparison module 114, and a transmission module 116. The image capturing module 108 is coupled to the digital display scale 102. The control unit 110 is coupled to the image capturing module 108 to the memory unit 112 and the comparison module 114. The transmission module 116 is coupled to the control unit. 110 to the receiving module 104. In an embodiment, the transmission module 116 is, for example, a Zigbee end device, and the receiving module 104 is, for example, a Zigbee coordinator.

The image capturing module 108 is configured to capture an image of the initial value of the digital display gauge 102 as an initial image. The control unit 110 is configured to control an execution program of the image detecting apparatus 100, and receive the initial image to identify the initial image to form a numerical value as an initial value of the digital display scale 102, and the control unit 110 continues The image capturing module 108 is controlled to periodically monitor the digital display scale 102 to capture a plurality of numerical images of the digital display scale, wherein the subsequent numerical images include a previous numerical image and a subsequent numerical image. The memory unit 112 is configured to store the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image. The memory unit 112 is configured to store the numerical image sampled by the image capturing module 108 for comparison by the comparison module 114 without sampling. The numerical image is transmitted back to the data processing device 106, and the control unit 110 is controlled to control the execution efficiency of the comparison module 114. The comparison module 114 is configured to determine whether the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are the same or carry and change. The transmission module 116 transmits a corresponding value of the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image to the data processing device 106 within a predetermined time interval.

In one embodiment, each of the plurality of digital images is composed of a plurality of digital images, and the digital images respectively correspond to a plurality of numbers. The control unit 110 controls the image capturing module to locate the position of the standard numerical image of the digital display scale, and causes the image capturing module to obtain a plurality of standard digital images that constitute the standard numerical image. It should be noted that the standard numerical image, the previous numerical image, and the subsequent numerical image of the present invention are images captured by the image capturing module 108, and the content thereof is composed of the digital display content of the digital display gauge 102. For example, the standard digital image includes digital images of 0 to 9, which are respectively stored in different memory segments of the memory unit 112 for subsequent comparison of the numerical images. The comparison module 114 compares each of the digital images of the initial image with the standard digital images to identify the numbers of the initial image, and uses the numerical values of the numbers as the digital display scale 102. Initial value.

Further, the control unit 110 controls the comparison module to compare the difference between the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image after considering the light change processing to determine whether the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are Changes are made by the same or the carry. When the pixel brightness value between the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image is considered to be a change in light, if the subtraction is zero, the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are the same, corresponding to the value of the previous numerical image. The measured value of the gauge 102 is displayed for the number. Here, the processing of considering the change of the light refers to the moment when the image capturing module 108 captures the image, even if the light slightly changes, so that the brightness values of the front and back two numerical images are not zero, but the light variation processing can still be utilized. And it is regarded as zero, that is, the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are close to a predetermined pixel brightness difference value and can be regarded as zero. When the pixel brightness value between the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image is considered to be greater than zero after the processing of the light change, the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are different, indicating the previous numerical image. There is a change in the carry. When the previous numerical image is carried and changes, the memory unit 112 updates the previous numerical image to the subsequent numerical image for use as a subsequent comparison reference. When the previous numerical image is carried and changes, the control unit 110 uses the principle of the digital carry to estimate the measured value corresponding to the subsequent numerical image. In an embodiment, the control unit 110 compares the subsequent numerical image with a plurality of standard digital images to confirm the measured value of the subsequent numerical image. The control unit 110 transmits the measured value of the subsequent numerical image to the data processing device 106.

The image detecting device 100 of the present invention can be applied to a device with a mechanical or digital display counter, including a resource meter of an electric meter, a water meter, a gas meter, and a fueling meter; Vehicle odometer, speedometer; finished product counter of factory production line; environmental monitoring (such as temperature, gas, loudness, etc.), scientific engineering laboratory measurement counter, etc. By interpreting the current values via images, the present invention enables previously independent devices and devices to communicate via wireless communication technologies such as zigbee or other wireless communication technologies, or wired communication technologies RS-232, CAN-bus or other wired communication technologies. Transfer to a remote computer host or PDA for aggregation, for local or remote supervisory control and data capture applications. For example, home information automation, plant energy information integration. The image detecting device of the present invention can also be applied to system integration devices of intelligent transportation systems, environmental monitoring, scientific engineering laboratories, retail and production lines.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2A-2C, FIG. 2A-2C is a flowchart of a method for performing image detection according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image detecting device 100 is applied to the image detecting device 100. The image detecting device 100 is connected to a digital display gauge 102, and is connected to the data processing device 106 via a receiving module 104. The image detecting device 100 includes the image detecting device 100. The image module 108, the control unit 110, the memory unit 112, the comparison module 114, and the transmission module 116. The image detection method includes the following steps:

As shown in FIG. 2A, in step S200, the image capturing module 108 is used to capture the initial value image of the digital display gauge 102 as an initial image. In one embodiment, the image displayed by the mechanical digital image taken by digital photography is used to identify the initial image.

In step S202, the initial image is recognized by the control unit 110 to form a numerical value as an initial value of the digital display scale 102.

In step S204, the image capturing module 108 periodically monitors the digital display scale 102 to capture a plurality of numerical images of the digital display scale 102 according to a predetermined time interval, wherein the subsequent numerical images include A previous numerical image and a subsequent numerical image. It should be noted that the predetermined time interval is also referred to as a monitoring interval, and the user can set the image capturing module 108 to monitor that the digital display gauge can always detect the change of the numerical image as a reference.

In step S206, the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are stored by the memory unit 112.

In step S208, the comparison module 114 determines whether the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are the same or carry a change.

In step S210, the corresponding value of the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image is transmitted to the data processing device 106 by the transmission module 116 within the predetermined time interval.

In addition, in step S202, the initial image is composed of a plurality of digital images, and the digital images respectively correspond to a plurality of numbers. In one embodiment, the digital image includes digital images from 0 to 9. The step S202 further includes the following steps, as shown in FIG. 2B:

In step S300, the image capturing module 108 positions the position of the standard numerical image of the digital display gauge 102.

In step S302, the image capturing module 108 acquires a plurality of standard digital images constituting the standard numerical image in advance.

In step S304, the comparison module 114 compares each of the digital images and the standard digital images of the initial image to identify the numbers of the initial image, and uses the numerical values of the numbers as the number. The initial value of the gauge 102 is displayed.

Next, in step S206, the following steps are further included, as shown in FIG. 2C:

In step S400, the control unit 110 controls the comparison module 114 to compare the difference between the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image after considering the light change processing to determine the previous numerical image and the subsequent Whether the numerical image is the same or a carry changes. Here, the processing of considering the change of the light refers to the moment when the image capturing module 108 captures the image, even if the light slightly changes, so that the brightness values of the front and back two numerical images are not zero, but the light variation processing can still be utilized. And it is regarded as zero, that is, the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are close to a predetermined pixel brightness difference value and can be regarded as zero.

In step S402a, when the pixel luminance value between the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image is subtracted to zero (for example, equivalent to black paper) after considering the processing of the light change, the previous numerical image and the The subsequent numerical image is the same, and the value corresponding to the previous numerical image is the measured value of the digital display scale, and then returns to step S400.

In step S402b, when the pixel brightness value between the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image is subtracted to be greater than zero (for example, the equivalent is not black paper) after considering the change of the light, the previous numerical image And the subsequent numerical images are different, indicating that the previous numerical image is carried and changes.

In step S404, when the previous numerical image is carried and changed, the memory unit updates the previous numerical image to the subsequent numerical image for use as a subsequent comparison reference.

In step S406, when the previous numerical image is carried and changes, the control unit uses the principle of the digital carry to estimate the measured value corresponding to the subsequent numerical image.

In step S408, the control unit 110 compares the subsequent numerical image with a plurality of standard digital images to confirm the measured value of the subsequent numerical image.

In step S410, the control unit 110 transmits the measured value of the subsequent numerical image to the data processing device 106.

Compared with the method of trying to take out the data to be displayed by the logic circuit of the control counter, the image detecting device and the method thereof of the present invention are characterized in that an image capturing module such as a digital camera is provided before the mechanical or digital display. Take image, identify, convert the mechanical number on the resource meter into a digital electrical signal, and use wired or wireless communication technology (such as zigbee) to transmit the parsed signal to the remote monitoring host or personal digital Assistants (PDAs), which achieve the mechanical or digital display of these devices, can be transmitted externally for system integration.

While the invention has been described above in terms of the preferred embodiments, the invention is not intended to limit the invention, and the invention may be practiced without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is therefore defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100. . . Image detection device

102. . . Digital display scale

104. . . Receiving module

106. . . Data processing device

108. . . Image capture module

110. . . control unit

112. . . Memory unit

114. . . Comparison module

116. . . Transmission module

1 is a block diagram of an image detecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A-2C is a flowchart of performing an image detection method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

100. . . Image detection device

102. . . Digital display scale

104. . . Receiving module

106. . . Data processing device

108. . . Image capture module

110. . . control unit

112. . . Memory unit

114. . . Comparison module

116. . . Transmission module

Claims (19)

An image detecting device for connecting a digital display gauge to a data processing device, the image detecting device comprising: an image capturing module for capturing an image of an initial value of the digital display gauge as an initial a control unit coupled to the image capturing module for controlling an execution program of the image detecting device, and receiving the initial image to identify the initial image to form a numerical value as the digital display scale An initial value, and the control unit continuously controls the image capturing module to periodically monitor the digital display scale to capture a plurality of numerical images of the digital display scale, wherein the numerical images include a previous numerical image and a subsequent digital image; a memory unit coupled to the control unit for storing the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image; a comparison module coupled to the control unit for determining the previous numerical image and Whether the subsequent numerical image is the same or the carry is changed; and a transmission module is coupled to the control unit and the comparison module, in a pre- Transmitting a value corresponding to one of the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image to the data processing device; wherein each of the digital images is composed of a plurality of digital images, and the digital images are respectively Corresponding to a plurality of numbers, wherein the control unit controls the comparison module to compare the difference between the average value of the pixels of the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image to determine whether the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are the same Or change in the carry position. The image detecting device of claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the image capturing module to position the position of the standard numerical image of the digital display gauge, and the image capturing module has the standard A plurality of standard digital images of a numerical image. The image detecting device of claim 2, wherein the comparing module compares each of the digital images of the initial image with the standard digital images to identify the numbers of the initial image, and A numerical value composed of the numbers is used as an initial value of the digital display scale. The image detecting device of claim 1, wherein when the pixel luminance value between the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image is subtracted within a predetermined pixel luminance difference, the previous numerical image and The subsequent numerical image is the same, and the value corresponding to the previous numerical image is the measured value of the digital display scale. The image detecting device of claim 1, wherein when the pixel brightness value between the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image is subtracted by more than a predetermined pixel brightness difference, the previous numerical image and the Subsequent numerical images are not the same, indicating that the previous numerical image is carried and changes. The image detecting device of claim 5, wherein the memory unit updates the previous numerical image to the subsequent numerical image as the subsequent comparison reference when the previous numerical image is indented to change. . The image detecting device of claim 5, wherein the control unit uses the principle of the digital carry to estimate the measured value corresponding to the subsequent numerical image when the previous numerical image is carried in a change. The image detecting device of claim 7, wherein the control unit compares the subsequent numerical image with the plurality of standard digital images to confirm the measurement of the subsequent numerical image. Value. The image detecting device of claim 8, wherein the control unit transmits the measured value of the subsequent numerical image to the data processing device. The image detecting device of claim 1, wherein the digital images comprise digital images of 0 to 9. An image detecting method for detecting a numerical value of a digital display scale, the image detecting method comprising the following steps: using an image capturing module to capture an image of an initial number of times of the digital display gauge as an initial image Identifying the initial image by using a control unit to form a value as an initial value of the digital display scale; and according to a predetermined time interval, the image capturing module periodically monitors the digital display scale to capture The digital display of the plurality of numerical images of the scale, wherein the numerical images include a previous numerical image and a subsequent numerical image; storing the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image by using a memory unit; and determining the previous using a comparison module And changing whether the numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are the same or carry; and transmitting, by the transmission module, the corresponding value of the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image to a data processing within the predetermined time interval The device, wherein the comparison module determines whether the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are The step of generating the same or changes into bits, further comprising the steps of: the control unit controls the comparison module to compare the difference between the previous value of the overall average luminance value of the pixel values between the image and the subsequent image to determine whether the first Whether the front numerical image and the subsequent numerical image are the same or carry a change. The image detecting method according to claim 11, wherein in the step of identifying the initial image by using a control unit to form a numerical value as an initial value of the digital display scale, the initial image is a plurality of The digital images are respectively corresponding to a plurality of numbers, and further comprising the following steps: the image capturing module positions the position of the standard numerical image of the digital display scale; the image capturing module is pre-acquired a plurality of standard digital images of the standard numerical image; and the comparison module compares each of the digital images of the initial image with the standard digital images to identify the numbers of the initial image, and the numbers are The value of the composition is used as the initial value of the digital display scale. The image detecting method of claim 11, wherein when the pixel luminance value between the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image is subtracted within a predetermined pixel luminance difference, the previous numerical image and The subsequent numerical image is the same, and the value corresponding to the previous numerical image is the measured value of the digital display scale. The image detecting method of claim 11, wherein the previous numerical image is obtained when the pixel luminance value between the previous numerical image and the subsequent numerical image is subtracted to be greater than a predetermined pixel luminance difference value. And the subsequent numerical images are different, indicating that the previous numerical image is carried and changes. The image detecting method of claim 14, wherein the memory unit updates the previous numerical image to the subsequent numerical image as a subsequent comparison reference when the previous numerical image is carried and changes. . The image detecting method of claim 14, wherein the control unit uses the principle of the digital carry to estimate the measured value corresponding to the subsequent numerical image when the previous numerical image is carried in a change. The image detecting method of claim 16, wherein the control unit compares the subsequent numerical image with the plurality of standard digital images to confirm the measured value of the subsequent numerical image. The image detecting method of claim 17, wherein the control unit transmits the measured value of the subsequent numerical image to the data processing device. The image detecting method of claim 12, wherein the digital images comprise digital images of 0 to 9.