TWI719766B - Warning area configuration system and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A warning area configuration system and method thereof are provided. In the method, a virtual warning area is formed according to the positions of one or more reference objects in a field, external factors of the field is analyzed, and the shape of the virtual warning area is adjusted according to the external factors. The external factor may be, for example, the position of the obstacle, the range of motion, or industrial safety. An alarm would be provided in response to an external object being inside the virtual warning area. In addition, the embodiment further provides multi-target or multi-stage warning control. Accordingly, it is convenient to establish and manage the area having a warning requirement.

Description

Warning zone setting system and method

The present invention relates to a field monitoring technology, and particularly relates to a warning area setting system and method.

Companies, campuses, stores, government agencies, computer rooms, or banks may have plans for warning areas, and set gates or fences to prevent unrelated or unauthorized persons from entering. In addition, construction, transportation, or moving may also require a warning area, and workers may place guardrails or warning triangles to avoid industrial accidents. However, the construction of gates or fences is costly and time-consuming. Although the guardrail or warning triangle can be temporarily placed, the protective effect is quite limited, and the area planned by the personnel may not be appropriate.

In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provide a warning area setting system and method, which can automatically plan a suitable warning area.

The warning zone setting system of the embodiment of the present invention includes but is not limited to Reference object, image capture device and control device. Reference objects are used to place on the field. The image capturing device is used to capture a reference object to form an image. The control device forms a virtual warning area according to the position of the reference object in the image on the site, analyzes the external factors of the site, and adjusts the shape of the virtual warning area according to the external factors. A warning is issued in response to the external object being located in the virtual warning area.

On the other hand, the warning area setting method of the embodiment of the present invention includes but is not limited to the following steps: forming a virtual warning area according to the location of the reference object in the image; analyzing the external factors of the venue; adjusting the virtual warning according to the external factors The shape of the area. A warning is issued in response to the external object being located in the virtual warning area.

Based on the above, the warning area setting system and method of the embodiment of the present invention form a virtual warning area according to the position of the reference object in the image recognition result, and further judge the external factors of the venue, and adjust the shape of the virtual warning area accordingly. In this way, an electronic fence can be easily and conveniently formed, and the shape of the virtual warning area can be automatically changed by adaptively reflecting the influence of external factors, thereby conforming to the actual situation of the scene.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the following specific embodiments are described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

1: Warning zone setting system

110: Reference

130: Image capture device

150: control device

S210~S250: steps

R: Warning triangle

WA1~WA6: virtual guard area

C: Truck

WL1, WL2: cordon

P: Character

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a warning area setting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for setting a warning zone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figures 3A to 3C are examples of virtual guard areas.

Figure 4 is an example of a virtual guard zone.

Figure 5 is an example of a multi-stage alert.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a warning area setting system 1 according to an embodiment of the invention. Please refer to FIG. 1, the warning area setting system 1 includes but is not limited to one or more reference objects 110, one or more image capturing devices 130, and a control device 150. In an embodiment, the warning zone setting system 1 can be applied to indoor or outdoor venues. For example, roads, construction sites, or border areas.

The reference object 110 may be an object such as a warning triangle, a guardrail, a triangle connecting rod, a vehicle, or a building. In an embodiment, the reference object 110 is used to be set in a venue, and the embodiment of the present invention does not limit the type and shape of the venue.

The image capturing device 130 can be a camera, a video recorder, a webcam, a closed-circuit camera, etc., and is used to photograph the reference object 110 to form one or more images.

The control device 150 may be a smart phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a server, or a workstation. In one embodiment, the image capturing device 130 and the control device 150 are connected through a wired or wireless manner to transmit data to each other. In some embodiments, the image capturing device 130 and the control device 150 may be integrated into a single device.

In order to facilitate the understanding of the operation process of the present invention, many embodiments will be given below Detailed description. Hereinafter, the method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be explained in conjunction with each device in the system 1 in FIG. 1. Each process of the method can be adjusted accordingly according to the implementation situation, and is not limited to this.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for setting a warning zone according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the control device 150 obtains an image from the image capturing device 130, and forms a virtual warning area according to the position of the reference object in the image on the field (step S210). Specifically, the control device 150 may identify the reference object based on object detection technology such as texture feature analysis, classifier, or deep learning technology, and further estimate the location of the reference object 110 in the venue. For example, the control device 150 determines the relative position of the reference object 110 to the ground based on the corresponding pixel position of the reference object 110 in the image. In some embodiments, the image capturing device 130 may further include a depth camera or a stereo camera, and may also obtain the relative position of the reference object 110 through a distance sensor.

Then, the control device 150 forms a virtual warning area based on the extension of the location of the reference object 110. In one embodiment, the venue is provided with two reference objects 110, and the control device 150 uses the line connecting the bottom positions of the two reference objects 110 as the bottom of the virtual warning area.

In another embodiment, the venue is provided with three or more reference objects 110, and the control device 150 connects the bottom positions of those reference objects 110 to form the bottom shape of the virtual warning area. This bottom shape may be a triangle, a quadrangle, or other polygons. The bottom positions of these reference objects 110 will be used as the vertices of the bottom shape of the virtual warning area, and the control device 150 finds the bottom shape that can form the largest area based on these vertices to form a preliminary virtual warning area.

In some embodiments, the control device 150 extends upward from the bottom position of the reference object 110 to a fixed or random height (for example, a specific ratio of the height of the image frame (for example, 1/2, 2/3, or 1/4, etc.) ) To form a three-dimensional virtual warning area. In other words, the three-dimensional virtual warning area has the aforementioned bottom shape and a specific height.

For example, FIGS. 3A to 3C are examples of virtual guard areas. Please refer to FIG. 3A first, the bottom line of the two warning triangles R and the 1/2 height of the upwardly extending image frame form a virtual warning area WA1. Referring to FIG. 3B, if the control device 150 recognizes that there are three warning triangles R in the field, a virtual warning area WA2 with a triangle as its bottom shape can be formed. Referring to FIG. 3C, four warning triangles R can form a virtual warning area WA3 whose bottom shape is a quadrilateral.

It should be noted that in other embodiments, the virtual warning area may also be other geometric solids. In some embodiments, the reference object 110 may be used as the center of the virtual warning area, and a circle, square, or other polygon formed by the bottom position of the reference object 110 extending a certain distance outward may be used as the bottom shape of the virtual warning area. In addition, in some embodiments, the virtual warning area is not limited to having an elevation perpendicular to the ground, and its surface may have an angle other than ninety degrees with the ground.

It is worth noting that if external objects (for example, people, other animals, or non-living things) are located in the virtual warning area, the control device 150 can issue a warning. The control device 150 may have built-in or external warning devices (for example, warning lights, speakers, communication transmitters, etc.) to notify others (for example, on-site personnel or remote controllers) through lights, images, sounds, and messages. In some embodiments, the control device 150 may directly control a gate or other door switches.

Next, the control device 150 analyzes the external factors of the site (step S230). Specifically, the reference object 110 is provided to the user as a reference basis for determining the shape of the virtual warning area (ie, step S210). However, the user may just place the reference object 110 randomly or not according to the regulations, so that the shape of the virtual warning area may not be suitable for the on-site situation. In order to solve the aforementioned problem, the embodiment of the present invention analyzes the image and determines whether other external factors other than the reference object 110 in the venue are applicable to the aforementioned preliminary virtual warning area.

In an embodiment, the presence factor is also related to the corresponding position of one or more obstacles or the range of movement of the moving object. The obstacle is, for example, a building, a tree, or an object other than the reference object 110. Here, the obstacle is defined as a fixed object. The movable objects are, for example, on-site construction personnel, on-site deployment personnel, or other related personnel, and may also be vehicles, automated machinery, or other movable biological or non-biological objects. The control device 150 may obtain the corresponding position of the obstacle or the corresponding range of motion of the moving object based on a comparison table or a multiple object tracking (Multiple Object Tracking, MOT) related function (for example, SORT (Simple Online and Realtime Tracking), or Deep SORT) , Or it may be the corresponding range of motion or the corresponding position from the analysis of the motion trajectory of the active object in the image.

In another embodiment, the additional factor is related to industrial safety regulations. For example, warning objects (for example, warning triangles, fences, etc.) or isolation objects (for example, fences, etc.) must be placed at a certain distance or range from the construction site or large machinery (for example, cranes, excavators, power transporters, etc.) ), or a certain distance or range of dust, special gas, high temperature, or radiation, etc., must be warned to others. Control device 150 can remember Record or download the relevant regulations on distance and/or range isolation in the industrial safety regulations from an external device, and identify and compare the corresponding objects in the venue accordingly. For example, the control device 150 determines whether a crane appears in the image. It should be noted that the industrial safety regulations may be based on government regulations or policies, or may be based on standards organization regulations or internal company regulations, which are not limited by the embodiment of the present invention.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, the control device 150 may analyze multiple external factors at the same time, and may comprehensively consider the priority order of these external factors.

Next, the control device 150 adjusts the shape of the virtual warning area according to external factors (step S250). Specifically, for the corresponding position of the obstacle or the range of movement of the moving object related to the external factors, the control device 150 can determine whether the corresponding position or range of movement is within the initial virtual warning area. If the corresponding position or the moving range exceeds the initial virtual warning area, the control device 150 can change the shape of the virtual warning area according to the corresponding position or moving range. If the corresponding position or range of motion does not exceed the initial virtual warning area, the control device 150 maintains the shape of the virtual warning area.

For example, Figure 4 is an example of a virtual guard area. Please refer to FIG. 4, the user places a warning triangle on the rear of the truck C as a reference 110. At this time, the preliminary virtual warning area WA4 is the warning line as shown in the figure. Next, the control device 150 determines that the position where the user unloads the cargo exceeds the virtual warning area WA4. The control device 150 may change the virtual warning area WA4 to the virtual warning area WA5 based on the placement position of the goods and the location of the truck C. For example, the position of the truck C and the placement position of the goods extend one meter outward.

Regarding the industrial safety regulations related to external factors, the control device 150 can compare the specific objects in the site within the scope of the industrial safety regulations, and determine whether the scope of the industrial safety regulations is within the initial virtual warning area. Similarly, if the range specified by the industrial safety exceeds the initial virtual warning area, the control device 150 can change the shape of the virtual warning area according to the range specified by the industrial safety. Taking Figure 4 as an example, if the industrial safety regulations require warning objects to be placed 3 meters behind the truck C, and the virtual warning area WA4 is only 2 meters away from the truck C, the control device 150 adjusts the virtual warning area WA4 to the virtual warning area WA5 Make it 3 meters away from truck C.

From this, it can be seen that the embodiment of the present invention can dynamically adjust the virtual warning area based on the actual situation on the spot, thereby providing a suitable warning range.

In addition, it should be noted that the initial virtual warning area may be that only part of the area is affected by external factors and changed, and part of the area remains unchanged.

In addition, in some situations, there may be different permissions or different target control requirements. For example, a certain area allows only certain people or objects to enter. In one embodiment, the control device 150 can expand from the virtual warning area to form one or more multi-level warning lines. For example, Figure 5 is an example of a multi-stage alert. Please refer to FIG. 5, the virtual warning area WA6 formed by the warning triangle R extends outward (take the right side of the figure as an example) at 1 meter and 2 meters to form warning lines WL1 and WL2, respectively. If an external object (for example, the person P) enters different multi-level warning lines, the control device 150 can issue different warnings. For example, if the person P enters the warning line WL2, the control device 150 will present a warning message of “Dangerous Approaching!” through the display. If the character P enters the warning line WL1, the control device 150 will display a warning message "No entry!" through the display. interest.

In some embodiments, the control device 150 can recognize the types or identities of external objects based on the images captured by the image capturing device 130, and provide a control that allows a part of the cordon to pass through for certain types or identities. For example, supervisors will not be warned when they pass through the cordon WL2, but employees will be warned when they pass through the cordon WL2.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the present invention does not limit the shape and size of the cordon, and the cordon may be adjusted according to actual conditions.

To sum up, in the warning area setting system and method of the embodiment of the present invention, a reference object is provided to allow the user to divide the area to be watched by himself, and then a virtual warning area corresponding to the reference object is formed based on the image recognition result. It is worth noting that the embodiment of the present invention can further analyze the external factors of the site where the reference object is currently located (for example, the location of the obstacle, the range of movement of the object, or industrial safety regulations, etc.), and change the virtual warning area accordingly. The construction cost of the embodiment of the present invention is low (for example, an existing or newly installed surveillance camera (ie, image capture device) can be used to shoot a reference object) and is not affected by the field (for example, only a power supply is required to connect the camera, and After setting the network connection for image transmission, the preliminary system construction can be completed). The virtual guard area in the embodiment of the present invention can replace a physical fence. For example, public security problems caused by the removal of the campus wall or the setting of the border wall between the United States and Mexico can be solved by applying the embodiments of the present invention. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention can perform multi-target or multi-stage warning control, thereby providing a flexible and variable warning notification application.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone with ordinary knowledge in the relevant technical field will not depart from the essence of the present invention. Within the scope of Shenhe, some changes and modifications can be made, so the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to those defined by the attached patent application scope.

130: Image capture device

R: Warning triangle

WA6: virtual guard area

WL1, WL2: cordon

P: Character

Claims (10)

A warning area setting system includes: at least one reference object for placing on a field; at least one image capturing device for shooting the at least one reference object to form at least one image; and a control device based on the at least one The at least one reference object in an image forms a virtual warning area at the location of the site, an external factor of the site is analyzed, and the shape of the virtual warning area is adjusted according to the external factor, wherein an external object is reflected in the location of the virtual warning area. A warning is issued in the virtual warning area, and the external factor is related to a corresponding position of an obstacle, an activity range of at least one movable object, or an industrial safety regulation. For example, the warning area setting system described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control device recognizes the corresponding position of the obstacle or the range of motion from the at least one image, and is based on the corresponding position of the obstacle or the position of the range of motion Adjust the shape of the virtual warning area. For example, the warning zone setting system described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control device determines whether the virtual warning zone formed according to the at least one reference object meets the industrial safety regulations, and adjusts the virtual warning zone according to the industrial safety regulations The shape of the area. For example, in the warning area setting system described in claim 1, wherein the at least one reference object includes a plurality of reference objects, and the control device connects the bottom positions of the reference objects to form the virtual warning area The bottom shape extends upward from the bottom position of the reference objects to a height to form the three-dimensional virtual warning area. The warning zone setting system according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control device expands outward from the virtual warning zone to form at least one multi-level warning line, wherein the at least one multi-level warning line is reflected when the external object enters the different at least one multi-level warning line The warning is different from in-line. A method for setting a warning zone includes: forming a virtual warning zone based on the position of at least one reference object in at least one image; analyzing an external factor of the site, wherein the external factor is related to the corresponding position of an obstacle, At least one movable object's activity range or an industrial safety regulation; and the shape of the virtual warning area is adjusted according to the external factors, wherein a warning is issued in response to an external object being located in the virtual warning area. For example, in the method for setting the warning zone described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, the step of analyzing the external factors of the site includes: identifying the corresponding position of the obstacle or the range of motion from the at least one image, and according to the external The step of adjusting the shape of the virtual warning area by factors includes: adjusting the shape of the virtual warning area according to the corresponding position of the obstacle or the location of the moving range. For example, the warning area setting method described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, wherein the step of analyzing the external factors of the site includes: judging whether the virtual warning area formed according to the at least one reference object meets the industrial safety regulations, and The steps of adjusting the shape of the virtual warning area according to the external factors include: Adjust the shape of the virtual warning area according to the industrial safety regulations. For example, in the method for setting a warning area according to the scope of patent application, the at least one reference object includes a plurality of reference objects, and the virtual warning area is formed according to the position of the at least one reference object in the at least one image on the site The steps include: connecting the bottom positions of the reference objects to form the bottom shape of the virtual warning area; and extending a height upward from the bottom positions of the reference objects to form the three-dimensional virtual warning area. For example, the warning area setting method described in item 6 of the scope of patent application further includes: expanding from the virtual warning area to form at least one multi-level warning line, wherein the response is that the external object enters the different at least one multi-level warning line A different warning is issued within.

Images