JPH09298680A - Remote control method for camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely and easily display images intended by an operator even for the transmission delay of the images to the position and posture control commands of a camera. SOLUTION: At the time (time t0 ) of performing remote control for making the camera stand still, the return control (c)→(d)→(e) of the position or posture of the camera is performed for the change portion (a)→(b)→(c) of the position or posture of the camera generated by the control delay (tbc ) of the camera by the remote control and the transmission delay (tab ) of the photographing images of the camera. Meanwhile, until the return control is ended, the images (a) fetched at the time of starting the control are fetched as still images instead of the images (b), (c) and (d) sent from the camera.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a surveillance camera, etc.
The present invention relates to a remote control method for a camera having a position control function and the like, which performs position control and the like based on an image sent from the camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, when a surveillance camera is used for on-premise monitoring or remote monitoring, the surveillance camera is mounted on a platform or the like to have a function of remotely controlling the position and posture of the camera.

Those who monitor the image sent from this camera can display the desired image on the display and further record the image so that the position and orientation (zoom focus) of the camera can be controlled by the control device at hand.・ Pan / tilt etc.) is controlled.

Such position / orientation control will be described with reference to the overall configuration diagram shown in FIG. A person who controls the position and orientation of the surveillance camera by operating the control device is hereinafter referred to as an operator. In addition, cameras that are installed and controlled at a location distant from the operator, such as a local surveillance camera and a remote surveillance camera, will be referred to as remote cameras hereinafter.

In FIG. 3, signal transmission from the operator 1 to the remote camera 2 is an upstream system, and vice versa. The upstream system is a signal transmission system for controlling the position and attitude of the remote camera 2 by the operator 1, and its transmission time is t
_{Let's say du} . The downstream system is a video signal transmission system from the remote camera 2, and its transmission time is t _dd .

The transmission time is mainly the transmission time by the network 4, but when the image of the remote camera 2 is compressed and transmitted by the codec 3, it is compressed / _tdd in t _dd
Since the time required for decompression is included, the time becomes several times to several tens of times as compared with the case without compression transmission.

[0007]

In the conventional position control method, when the operator 1 controls the remote camera 2, the time from when the operator gives an operation instruction until when the remote camera 2 actually starts / stops by the control. , A delay of the control signal transmission time t _du occurs.

On the other hand, the operator 1 confirms whether the remote camera 2 is started or stopped by the image transmission from the remote camera 2. Therefore, there is a delay of the transmission time t _dd of the image signal from the time when the remote camera 2 captures the image at a certain point until the operator confirms it.

From the above, a time delay of t _du + t _dd occurs after the operator 1 gives an operation instruction and before the operator 1 can confirm the start / stop of the remote camera 2.

The delay in starting the control of the remote camera 2 gives the operator 1 an impression that the control is slow, but no countermeasure is taken here.

From the above, in the conventional method, the delay of the control of the remote camera 2 at the time of stationary causes a problem that the camera 2 cannot be stationary at the position intended by the operator 1. For example, when the camera 2 is panned,
It becomes as follows (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

While the operator pans the remote camera to the left, the angular velocity is assumed to be a constant value ω. Target video at time t ₀ (video at point a: see FIG. 4)
It is assumed that the still operation was carried out because I caught.

At this time, if it takes t _ab (= t _dd ) for the video signal from the remote camera to reach the operator,
The image actually supplemented by the remote camera at time t ₀ is the image at point b (see FIG. 4).

Further, when it takes t _bc (= t _du ) for the control signal of the still operation by the operator to reach the remote camera, the remote camera moves by ω · t _bc during that time, so that the point c is eventually supplemented. It will be stationary at the position where it can be obtained (see FIGS. 4 and 5). In this case, unlike the image that the operator wants, inconvenience occurs in monitoring.

The same inconvenience also occurs in other position and attitude controls (zoom, focus, tilt, etc.).

It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control method for a camera, which can reliably and easily display an image intended by an operator even if the image transmission delay with respect to a camera position or attitude control command is delayed.

[0017]

According to the present invention, when an operator or the like remotely controls a camera whose position or orientation can be controlled to capture an image taken by the camera, when the remote control is performed to stop the camera, The present invention is characterized in that the control for returning the position or orientation of the camera is performed by the amount of change in the position or orientation of the camera caused by the control delay of the camera due to the remote control and the transmission delay of the image captured by the camera.

Further, according to the present invention, when a remote control for stopping the camera is performed, the image captured at the start of control is captured as a still image instead of the image sent from the camera until the return control is completed. Is characterized by.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(First Embodiment) The present embodiment is a method of returning the extra movement of the remote camera (change in camera position or posture) due to image transmission delay.

Explaining using the above example, in FIG. 3, the time t _ab required for the video signal to reach the operator from the remote camera and the time t _bc required for the operation command to reach from the operator to the remote camera. Is constant and can be known in advance, the remote camera is controlled as follows.

From when the operator performs the still operation of the remote camera until when the remote camera actually stops,
Only t _ab + t _{bc is} required. During this period, the angular velocity of the remote camera is constant at ω, so that the remote camera is at ω (t _ab +
t _bc ) will be moved extra.

Therefore, after the remote camera stands still, a control for returning only ω (t _ab + t _bc ) is automatically executed to return the extra moved amount. At this time,
The image that the operator confirms on the display changes as a → b → c → d → e in FIG. 1, and the image of a intended by the operator is obtained at time t = t ₀ +2 (t _bc + t _ab ). be able to.

(Second Embodiment) This embodiment is a method in which an image captured by the operator is stopped during the return control of the remote camera.

In the method of returning the extra movement of the remote camera due to the transmission delay according to the first embodiment,
After the operator operates the remote camera still,
Until the target image is finally displayed, the image changes moment by moment as shown in FIG.

As described above, if the image changes even though the operator is not operating the remote camera, the operator may feel uncomfortable with the operation of the remote camera.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the image at the moment when the operator remotely operates the remote camera by remote control is held as a still image on the control device on the operator side, and the image sent from the remote camera is stored. instead of,
It automatically switches to display this still image.

This automatically switched display and record storage are
Continue until the control to return the remote camera by the amount of extra movement is completed. The remote camera returns to the target position, and when the time has passed for the target image to be sent, the image sent from the remote camera is displayed again instead of the still image that is held. Switch automatically.

Since such image switching is performed in accordance with the movement of the remote camera, the operator can perform a still operation of the remote camera as shown by a → b → c → d → e in FIG. The moment you go, the remote camera feels stationary. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the operator from feeling uncomfortable with the operation of the remote camera.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, when an operator or the like remotely controls a camera whose position or orientation can be controlled to capture an image taken by the camera, when the remote control is performed to stop the camera, Since the control for returning the position or posture of the camera is performed by the amount of change in the position or posture of the camera caused by the control delay of the camera due to the distance control and the transmission delay of the image captured by the camera, the operator can delay the remote control. The intended still image can be obtained reliably and easily.

Further, according to the present invention, when the remote control for stopping the camera is performed, the image captured at the start of control is captured as a still image instead of the image sent from the camera until the return control of the camera is completed. Therefore, the image when the operation for obtaining the still image intended by the operator is held as it is, and it is possible to eliminate the discomfort of the operator for the operation and improve the usability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an image example of a display monitored by an operator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an image example of a display monitored by an operator according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an operation (pan) of the remote camera.

FIG. 5 is an image example of a display monitored by an operator in the conventional method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Operator 2 ... Remote camera 3 ... Codec 4 ... Network

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. When an operator or the like remotely controls a camera whose position or orientation can be controlled to capture a captured image of the camera, when remote control is performed to make the camera stand still, the camera control delay due to the remote control and A remote control method for a camera, wherein return control of the position or orientation of the camera is performed by an amount corresponding to a change in the position or orientation of the camera caused by transmission delay of a captured image of the camera. 2. When performing remote control to make the camera stand still, the image captured at the start of control is captured as a still image instead of the image sent from the camera until the return control is completed. The remote control method for a camera according to claim 1.