JP2004260608A - Camera device, activation method thereof, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

In a camera device having a collapsible optical system, the start-up time can be significantly reduced by performing initialization of the optical system before starting control of the entire device.
When a power is turned on, a CPU causes a zoom motor to start an extension operation of a lens group prior to control of the entire apparatus based on a predetermined program stored in a flash memory. Thereafter, during the extension operation of the lens group 11, loading of a predetermined program and preparation for control of the entire apparatus based on the program are started in parallel. In the meantime, when the battery voltage becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined value, the sub CPU 44 that manages the power supply causes the CPU 5 to issue an external interrupt, and makes the CPU 5 recognize the shortage of the remaining battery level depending on the presence or absence of the external interrupt. The correct remaining battery level can be confirmed under a high load while the lens group 11 is being driven, and the parallel processing of the initialization of the lens group 11 and other initialization can be performed.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a camera device having a collapsible optical system, for example.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electronic still camera, an image of a subject is captured by an image sensor such as a CCD, and while the image is displayed as a through image on a liquid crystal display device, an image captured according to a shutter operation is converted into digital data as a recording medium such as a memory card. It is recorded in. Therefore, when the electronic still camera is powered on for the purpose of photographing, for example, hardware such as preparation for recording data on a recording medium, preparation for imaging a subject, and preparation for displaying a captured image is performed. Various initialization operations are required for both the software and the software, and a certain start-up time is required from when the power is turned on until photographing becomes possible. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-216,087 discloses a technique for shortening the start-up time and eliminating time for reading management information from a removable memory card.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-237977 (see paragraph "0025")
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in an electronic still camera having a retractable optical system that requires the zoom lens to be extended before photographing, the extension of the optical system during the startup time occupies a large amount of time. Therefore, even if the time for reading the management information from the memory card is eliminated as described above, the time is only a small percentage of the total activation time. Therefore, the following method has been considered.
[0005]
That is, at the time of startup, before the program required for controlling the entire apparatus is started, the feeding operation of the optical system is started, and during that time, initialization preparation in other parts based on the program is performed in parallel. This shortens the startup time. However, when such initialization of the optical system is performed, the remaining amount of the battery as the power source is checked after the control by the program is started, so that a high load is applied during driving of the optical system. It is not possible to check the correct battery level in the state. Therefore, there is a problem that the optical system cannot be initialized before the control of the entire apparatus is started.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and in a configuration having a collapsible optical system, the start-up time can be significantly reduced by performing initialization of the optical system before control of the entire apparatus is started. It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera device capable of being activated, a method of starting the same, and a program used to realize the same.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera apparatus for driving an optical system to a predetermined position upon initialization when the apparatus is started in a state in which a shooting operation mode is set. Driving means for driving the system, detecting means for detecting a power supply voltage and generating an interrupt request indicating that the detected value is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and controlling the driving prior to controlling the entire apparatus based on a predetermined program. And control means for starting driving of the optical system to a predetermined position and receiving an interrupt request from the detection means.
[0008]
In such a configuration, even after the driving of the optical system to the predetermined position is started and before the control of the entire apparatus is started based on the predetermined program, the control unit determines that the power supply voltage has become equal to or lower than the predetermined value. This can be recognized by an external interrupt. Therefore, it is possible to correctly check the remaining battery level under a high load during driving of the optical system.
[0009]
In the invention according to claim 2, the control means causes the driving means to stop driving the optical system to a predetermined position in response to the occurrence of the external interrupt.
[0010]
In such a configuration, when the power supply voltage becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined value, the driving of the optical system is stopped, so that unnecessary power consumption thereafter can be avoided.
[0011]
In the invention according to claim 3, the control means causes the driving means to stop driving the optical system to a predetermined position in response to the occurrence of the external interrupt, and controls the entire apparatus based on a predetermined program. After that, a predetermined process corresponding to the occurrence of the external interrupt is performed.
[0012]
In such a configuration, when the remaining battery power is insufficient at the time of startup, processing such as automatically returning the corresponding optical system to the storage position can be performed.
[0013]
According to the invention of claim 4, in the camera device for driving the optical system to a predetermined position at the time of initialization when the camera is started in a state where an operation mode for photographing is set, the entire device is based on a predetermined program. Control means for controlling the driving of the optical system to a predetermined position in a preparatory stage prior to the start of the control, and when the power supply voltage becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined value, the control is performed by an external interrupt. Notify the means.
[0014]
According to this method, even after the driving of the optical system to the predetermined position is started and before the control of the entire apparatus is started based on the predetermined program, the control unit makes the power supply voltage fall below the predetermined value. Can be recognized by an external interrupt. Therefore, it is possible to correctly check the remaining battery level under a high load during driving of the optical system.
[0015]
Also, in the invention according to the fifth aspect, at the time of initialization when the apparatus is started in a state where an operation mode for photographing is set, a computer having a camera device that drives an optical system to a predetermined position by a driving unit is provided to a computer. Prior to control of the entire apparatus based on the program, the drive unit starts driving the optical system to a predetermined position, and functions as a control unit that receives an external interrupt indicating that the power supply voltage has fallen below a predetermined value. Program.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of an electronic still camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. This electronic still camera has a zoom function and an autofocus function, and has a lens block 1 for realizing the functions.
[0017]
The lens block 1 includes a collapsible lens group 11 (an optical system of the present invention) including a zoom lens and a focus movably arranged in the optical axis direction, and a zoom position and a focus position in the lens group 11. Position detection sensors 12 and 13, a zoom motor 14 for moving a zoom lens and a focus motor 15 for moving a focus lens, an aperture actuator 16 for opening and closing a not-shown aperture, and a shutter actuator 17 for opening and closing a mechanical shutter. Are provided. The above-described motors and actuators 14 to 17 are provided by various drivers 21 to 24 for zoom (ZOOM), focus (Focus), aperture (Iris), and shutter (Shutter) provided in the driver block 2. Driven.
[0018]
Further, the electronic still camera mainly includes a CCD 31 which is an image pickup device arranged behind the lens group 11 on the photographing optical axis, a CCD (Correlated Double Sampling) / AD block 32, and a TG (Timing Generator) 33. The system block 3 is provided. When the electronic still camera is set to the recording mode, the CCD 31 photoelectrically converts the optical image of the subject formed by the lens group 11 and scans and drives the TG 33 to output the photoelectric conversion output for one screen at regular intervals. Output. After being output from the CCD 31, the CDS / AD block 32 performs noise removal by correlated double sampling on an analog output signal whose gain has been appropriately adjusted for each of the RGB color components, and performs conversion into a digital signal. 4 is output.
[0019]
The color process circuit 4 performs a color process process including a pixel interpolation process on the input image signal to generate a luminance signal (Y) and color difference signals (Cb, Cr) of digital values, and is a control means of the present invention. Output to the CPU 5 which controls the entire electronic still camera. The CPU 5 is actually a microprocessor having an internal memory, various arithmetic processing circuits, a data input / output interface, and the like.
[0020]
The digital signal (image signal) sent to the CPU 5 is temporarily stored in the DRAM 6 and sent to the image display unit 7. The image display unit 7 includes a video encoder, a VRAM, a liquid crystal monitor, and a drive circuit thereof, generates a video signal based on the transmitted digital signal by the video encoder, and displays a display image based on the video signal, that is, a through image of a subject captured by the CCD 31. Is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor.
[0021]
The key input unit 8 includes various keys such as a power key, a recording / playback mode switch, a shutter key, and a menu key. The sub CPU 44 sends an operation signal corresponding to an input of any key of the key input unit 8 to the CPU 5 and sends a state signal indicating a state of a mode changeover switch, that is, a mode setting state, to the CPU 5. For example, when the shutter key of the key input unit 8 is pressed in the recording mode, a trigger signal (operation signal) corresponding to the depression is output to the CPU 5. In addition, the sub CPU 44 controls the power supply unit 45 including the battery to manage the power of the entire electronic still camera, and functions as a detection unit of the present invention to detect the battery voltage. When the detected voltage value becomes equal to or less than the predetermined value, the CPU 5 interrupts the CPU 5 and notifies the CPU 5 of the interruption.
[0022]
When the trigger signal is input from the sub CPU 44, the CPU 5 converts the image data for one screen captured from the CCD 31 at that time into a basic unit called a basic block of 8 pixels by 8 pixels for each of Y, Cb, and Cr components. Each time it is read out and written into the JPEG circuit 9. Further, compressed data of one image compressed by DCT (Discrete Diffusion Transform) and encoding by the JPEG circuit 9 is read and stored in the image recording unit 42. The image recording unit 42 is specifically composed of a card interface and various nonvolatile memory cards which are connected to the CPU 5 via the card interface and which are detachably mounted on the camera body.
[0023]
In the recording mode, the CPU 5 sends the lens control block 43 to the lens control block 43 based on various programs stored in the rewritable nonvolatile flash memory 41 and the above-described operation signals from the key input unit 8. A drive signal to be sent to the various drivers 21 to 24 of the driver block 2 described above is generated, thereby controlling the position of the zoom lens and the focus, the opening of the aperture, and the opening and closing operations of the shutter. At that time, lens position information detected by the position detection sensors 12 and 13 for the zoom position and the focus position is sequentially input to the CPU 5 via the lens control block 43. On the other hand, the image data recorded in the image recording section 42 is read out by the CPU 5 in the reproduction mode, decompressed by the JPEG circuit 9, sent to the image display section 7, and displayed on the liquid crystal display monitor.
[0024]
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a data storage structure of the flash memory 41 described above. Inside the flash memory 41, a lens information area 41a, a program area 41b, and various memory areas 41c are secured. The lens information area 41a is data acquired at the factory shipment stage of the electronic still camera, and indicates the solid-state performance of the above-described lens group 11 (zoom lens and focus lens) and adjustment data indispensable for their control. Is stored. In the present embodiment, the lens information area 41a also stores individual information of the imaging system such as the CCD 31 and white balance characteristics.
[0025]
The program area 41b stores programs necessary for the CPU 5 to control the above-described units and various data required for the control. In particular, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, at the beginning of the program area 41b, an OS (Operating System) 101 indispensable for the operation of the CPU 5 and a start LENZ control necessary for a start process described later. A startup program 102 including a module, a startup factor determination module for startup, an individual information access module for startup, and a program load module for startup is stored in order, followed by a plurality of tasks necessary for realizing various operations in the electronic still camera. A main program 103 composed of modules (TASKs 1, 2, 3,... N) is stored.
[0026]
The various memory area 41c is an area managed by a file system constructed by the CPU 5 after the OS is started, and stores various data other than the above that are read from the CPU 5 as needed. In this area, arbitrary data including image data is also stored as needed.
[0027]
Next, the operation of the electronic still camera having the above configuration at the time of start-up accompanying the ON operation of the power switch will be described. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing specific processing procedures of the CPU 5, and FIG. 6 is a time series showing the main operation contents of the electronic still camera when the recording mode for photographing is set at the time of startup. FIG.
[0028]
4 and FIG. 5, the CPU 5 is started upon power-on, and then loads only the OS 101 and the boot program 102 from the program area 41b of the flash memory 41 by the boot loader, and expands them in the internal memory. After that, the OS is started (steps S1 and S2: (1) in FIG. 6). The boot loader is a small program that is read in order to load the program, and is stored in a predetermined address area (other than the various memory areas 41c) of the flash memory 41 that is automatically accessed by the CPU 5 at the time of startup. . Thereafter, the CPU 5 processes the root task up to step S24 by executing a predetermined interrupt processing routine based on the start program 102.
[0029]
First, hardware setting such as port initialization is performed (step S3), and setting of a lens system interrupt handler, that is, setting of an interrupt process necessary for controlling the lens group 11 is performed (step S4). Next, a status signal is received from the sub CPU 44 of the key input unit 8 to determine a start factor (step S5). Here, it is determined whether the set mode state is a recording mode for photographing or another mode such as a reproduction mode for displaying a recorded image. Next, the power of the lens system such as the lens block 1, the driver block 2, and the lens control block 43 is turned on (step S6), and the individual information is loaded from the flash memory 41 (step S7). Subsequently, it is determined whether to perform high-speed activation or normal activation based on the determination result of the activation factor acquired in step S5 (step S8). Here, if the set mode is the recording mode, the high-speed start is performed, and otherwise, the normal start is performed.
[0030]
Then, when the activation factor is the normal activation, the processing of steps S9 to S14 thereafter is not performed, and the loading of the main program 103, which is the remaining control program, is immediately started (step S15). On the other hand, if it is a high-speed startup, after waiting for a predetermined time (for example, 30 ms or less) until the voltage of the lens system started to supply in step 7 becomes a steady voltage (step S9), the hardware in the lens control block 43 Is initialized (step S10). Further, the shutter actuator 17 starts the shutter opening drive (SHUTTEROPEN) (step S11: (2) in FIG. 6), acquires the battery voltage detection result sent from the sub CPU 44 at that time, and sets the predetermined voltage. It is determined whether or not it has exceeded (step S12). It should be noted that a slight processing wait is performed between the start of the opening drive of the shutter and the check of the battery voltage. Here, if the voltage value is equal to or less than the predetermined value and "there is no battery", the loading of the remaining program (main program 103) is started at that time (step S15).
[0031]
On the other hand, if the voltage value exceeds the predetermined value and is “battery OK”, the adjustment data of the zoom lens and the focus lens in the individual information loaded in step S7 is checked and initialized (step S13). ), Zoom-out (ZOOM OPEN) for initializing the lens group 11 is started (step S14: (3) in FIG. 6).
[0032]
Then, after starting the above-described zoom lens extending process, the CPU 5 immediately starts loading the remaining programs (step S15: (4) in FIG. 6). That is, the main program 103 is loaded in parallel with the end of the extension operation of the lens group 11 without waiting for the end.
[0033]
Subsequently, initialization of the hardware, that is, initialization of the memory card, the message buffer, the DRAM 6 and the like of the image recording unit 42 (steps S16 and S17), the remaining data of the individual information (other than the adjustment data of the zoom lens and the focus lens) is performed. A check, initialization of the CCD imaging system block 3 using the check (step S18), and initialization of the LED and the display system are performed (steps S19 and S20). Further, software initialization, that is, initialization of the sub CPU 44 (various settings) and initialization of the memory manager are performed (steps S21 and S22). Note that part of the initialization of the sub CPU 44 has already been performed at the time of determining the activation factor in step S5. Further, after each task for realizing various operations in the loaded main program 103 is generated (step S23), the root task is terminated (step S24: (5) in FIG. 6).
[0034]
Thereafter, at the timing when the root task is completed, it is determined whether or not the battery voltage is equal to or less than the predetermined value based on the presence or absence of an interrupt from the sub CPU 44 indicating that the battery voltage has become equal to or less than the predetermined value (step S25). . If there is an interrupt in a state where the previous interrupt processing cannot be performed, the processing is suspended until such timing. Then, when the battery voltage is equal to or lower than the predetermined value ("no battery" in step S25), a process of turning off the power is performed at that time (step S26).
[0035]
On the other hand, when there is no interruption from the sub CPU 44 and it is determined that the battery voltage exceeds the predetermined value (“battery OK” in step S25), recording and reproduction based on the processing of the plurality of tasks generated in step S23. The process shifts to the execution of the process corresponding to each mode (step S26). That is, by executing each task according to the main program 103, the CPU 5 shifts to processing according to the set operation mode, and performs processing in the recording mode or the reproduction mode.
[0036]
When the recording mode is set, as shown in FIG. 6, first, the diaphragm actuator 16 is driven to open the diaphragm ((6)), and then the focus motor 15 is driven to drive the lens. The movement of the focus lens to the initial position (FOCUS OPEN) in the group 11 is started ((7)). In the meantime, the control of the focus motor 15 starts before and after the control of the aperture, and starts preparation of a through image such as initialization of the imaging system such as the CCD 31 and white balance characteristics and preparation of image display on the image display unit 7. It is completed during operation (8). Thereafter, when the focus lens reaches the initial position, a through image is displayed on the image display unit 7 ((9)), and a shooting standby state is set.
[0037]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the CPU 5 starts the extension process of the zoom lens before starting the control of the electronic still camera based on the main program 103, during which the main program 103 is loaded, and By performing initialization preparations in other parts in parallel, the start-up time T until photographing becomes possible is reduced.
[0038]
Moreover, even after starting the zoom lens extension process accompanying the initialization at the time of startup and before starting the control based on the main program 103, the battery voltage becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined value due to an external interrupt from the sub CPU 44. You can recognize that. That is, it is possible to confirm the correct remaining battery level under a high load while the zoom motor 14 is being driven. Therefore, after the initialization of the zoom lens is completed, the battery voltage is checked in a state where no load is applied, and a malfunction caused by erroneously determining that the remaining battery level is still based on the battery voltage, that is, a sudden stop of operation during shooting or This prevents the zoom lens from being stowed and the like. Therefore, in the configuration including the collapsible lens group 11, the start-up time can be significantly reduced by performing the above-described parallel processing.
[0039]
Here, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that a process of immediately turning off the power is performed when the battery voltage is equal to or lower than a predetermined value during the extension of the zoom lens before the control based on the main program 103 is started. However, the present invention is preferably implemented as follows. That is, in step S25 described above, when it is confirmed that the battery voltage has become equal to or less than the predetermined value, the power supply is left as it is, the operation of extending the zoom lens is stopped, and control is shifted to control based on the main program 103. Then, a process of turning off the power after storing the zoom lens is performed. In that case, by stopping the extension operation of the zoom lens, wasteful power consumption can be avoided as compared with the case of continuing the extension operation, so that the user is notified of the shortage of the remaining battery power including the storage operation of the zoom lens. In this case, the degree of freedom in the subsequent operation contents is increased, for example, the display for the image is performed on the image display unit.
[0040]
In the present embodiment, the CPU 5 determines whether or not the battery voltage is equal to or lower than a predetermined value at a timing after the task generation of the main program 103 is completed. At times, since an interrupt request is sequentially generated from the sub CPU 44, the extension operation of the zoom lens may be stopped at any time when the interrupt can be accepted.
[0041]
Also, when the electronic still camera is provided with a mode switching function that shifts to an operation mode other than the operation set by the mode switching switch when, for example, a power key ON operation continues for a predetermined time or more, In the above-described process of determining the activation factor based on the status signal received from the sub CPU 44 in step S5, it is not possible to deal with it. In this case, when the power key is turned on, only the operation time measurement is started in the above-described route task, and after the control by the main program 103 is started, the operation time is confirmed. What is necessary is just to make it shift to another operation mode by the specific operation mentioned above.
[0042]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first and fourth aspects of the present invention, even after the driving of the optical system to the predetermined position is started and before the control of the entire apparatus is started based on the predetermined program, By causing the control means to recognize that the power supply voltage has become equal to or lower than the predetermined value by an external interrupt, it is possible to correctly check the remaining battery level under a high load during driving of the optical system. Therefore, in the configuration having the collapsible optical system, it is possible to significantly shorten the startup time by performing the initialization of the optical system before starting the control of the entire apparatus.
[0043]
Further, in the second aspect of the present invention, when the power supply voltage becomes equal to or less than the predetermined value, the driving of the optical system is stopped, so that unnecessary power consumption thereafter can be avoided. Therefore, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom of a measure to be taken when the power supply voltage becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined value.
[0044]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the remaining battery power is insufficient at the time of startup, processing such as automatically returning the corresponding optical system to the storage position can be performed. Therefore, usability can be improved.
[0045]
Also, in the invention of claim 5, the invention of claim 1 and claim 4 can be realized by using the program.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an electronic still camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a data storage structure of a flash memory.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing data stored in a program area of the flash memory.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of a CPU at the time of activation.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart following FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing, in chronological order, main operation contents when a recording mode is set at the time of activation.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 lens block 2 driver block 5 CPU
8 Key Input Unit 11 Lens Group 12 Position Detection Sensor 14 Zoom Motor 15 Focus Motor 16 Aperture Actuator 17 Shutter Actuator 31 CCD
41 Flash memory 43 Lens control block 44 Sub CPU
T startup time

Claims (5)

Upon initialization when started in a state in which an operation mode for shooting is set, in a camera device that drives an optical system to a predetermined position,
Driving means for driving the optical system,
Detecting means for detecting a power supply voltage and generating an interrupt request indicating that a detected value is equal to or less than a predetermined value;
A camera comprising: control means for causing the drive means to start driving the optical system to a predetermined position and for receiving an interrupt request from the detection means prior to control of the entire apparatus based on a predetermined program. apparatus. 2. The camera device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the driving unit to stop driving the optical system to a predetermined position when the external interrupt occurs. In response to the occurrence of the external interrupt, the control unit causes the driving unit to stop driving the optical system to a predetermined position, starts control of the entire apparatus based on a predetermined program, and responds to the occurrence of the external interrupt. 3. The camera device according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined process is performed. Upon initialization when started in a state in which an operation mode for shooting is set, in a camera device that drives an optical system to a predetermined position,
A control means for controlling the entire apparatus based on a predetermined program starts driving control of the optical system to a predetermined position prior to the start of the control. A method for activating a camera device, wherein the control unit is notified by an external interrupt. At the time of initialization when started in a state where the operation mode for shooting is set, a computer having a camera device that drives the optical system to a predetermined position by a driving unit,
Prior to control of the entire apparatus based on a predetermined program, the driving means starts driving the optical system to a predetermined position, and functions as control means for receiving an external interrupt indicating that the power supply voltage has fallen below a predetermined value. Program for.

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