HK1097328B - Composite marker information acquisition apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Combined mark information acquisition device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a composite marker used in a system for presenting information using a marker, and a composite marker information acquisition apparatus for acquiring information from the composite marker.

Background

Barcode readers are widely known as an information presenting device that presents predetermined information relating to real world objects and/or given signs.

In bar code readers, there is a device that utilizes the spatial information of an object and/or a given mark to present information. For example, US 6389182B 1 discloses an information presentation apparatus that uses a camera to read a 2D code printed on a business card, analyzes an ID corresponding to the 2D code with a program installed on a computer, and presents a photograph of a person corresponding to the ID on a display of the computer as if the photograph was printed beside the 2D code.

More specifically, the above apparatus disclosed in US 6389182B 1 is an information presentation apparatus that inputs an image of a given marker and analyzes spatial localization information of the marker to identify a corresponding ID, thereby outputting predetermined information associated with the marker. The flag and the predetermined information correspond to each other one to one. Therefore, in order to present 10 different kinds of information, 10 different kinds of marks must be prepared.

However, in the case where the device that reads the marks and presents information corresponding to the marks is a mobile terminal such as a PDA, high-precision image processing cannot be expected. Therefore, in the case where a very large number of marks are provided, it is more likely that misrecognition of the marks occurs.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a composite mark capable of reducing the number of types of marks to be used and reducing misrecognition, and a composite mark information acquisition apparatus for acquiring information from the composite mark.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a combination mark comprising an optical mark section having at least three or more characteristic points that can be optically distinguished, a 3D arrangement of the characteristic points being known, the combination mark characterized by comprising:

a storage device for storing position information of the optical marker, by which an area in which the optical marker is located can be specified; and

a transmission section for transmitting the position information of the optical marker section stored in the storage device in a non-contact manner, and

the optical marker, the storage device and the transmitter are integrally formed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a combination mark comprising an optical mark section having at least three or more characteristic points that can be optically distinguished, the 3D arrangement of the characteristic points being known, the combination mark characterized by comprising:

a storage device for storing specific information of the optical marker section, by which each combination marker can be specified among a plurality of combination markers having optical marker sections including the same feature point; and

a transmission section for transmitting the specific information of the optical mark section stored in the storage device in a non-contact manner, and

the optical marker, the storage device and the transmitter are integrally formed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a combination mark for an information acquisition apparatus including a camera having a predetermined capture area, and a non-contact ID information acquisition section that acquires information held by a non-contact ID tag provided at a predetermined position with respect to the capture area, the combination mark characterized by comprising:

an optical marker section having at least three or more feature points that can be optically distinguished, the 3D arrangement of the feature points being known, and the position and posture of the optical marker section relative to a camera that captures an image including the feature points being specifiable based on the image captured by the camera; and

a non-contact ID tag which includes a storage device for holding information associated with the optical marker portion or an article to which the optical marker portion is fixed, and a transmission portion for transmitting the information held by the storage device in a non-contact manner, and

the transmitting portion includes an antenna portion fixed to a predetermined position with respect to the optical marker portion.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a combination mark information acquisition apparatus for acquiring information corresponding to a combination mark having a 1 st mark and a non-contact ID tag, the 1 st mark having an optical characteristic, characterized by comprising:

an image input section having a predetermined capture area and for capturing the composite marker fixed to an object located within the capture area;

a marker detecting section that detects the 1 st marker from the image captured by the image input section as an input;

a non-contact ID reading unit that reads information from the non-contact ID tag, with a detection result of the marker detecting unit as an input;

a position and orientation detection section that recognizes a combined mark captured by the image input section using as input a detection result of the mark detection section and information read out from the non-contact ID tag by the non-contact ID reading section, and detects a position and orientation of the image input section with respect to the combined mark;

a related information generating unit that generates related information by inputting the position and orientation of the image input unit detected by the position and orientation detecting unit and the recognition result of the combination mark;

an overlapped image generating section that overlaps the image captured by the image input section and the related information generated by the related information generating section.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the front and back of a combination sign according to a first embodiment of the invention;

fig. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of an information presentation apparatus serving as a combination flag information acquisition apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3A is a diagram showing that an information acquisition area, which is an information area that can receive information from a non-contact ID tag, completely surrounds a capture area of a camera of an image input section;

fig. 3B is a diagram showing that a capture area and an information acquisition area correspond to each other;

fig. 3C is a diagram showing that the capture area completely surrounds the information acquisition area;

fig. 3D is a diagram showing a part of the capture area surrounding the information acquisition area;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the operation of an information presentation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5A is a diagram showing an object placed in a real space;

fig. 5B is a diagram showing the related information stored in the related information storage portion;

fig. 5C is a diagram showing a display example;

fig. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of an information presentation apparatus serving as a combination flag information acquisition apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the operation of an information presentation device according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is an operation flowchart of an information presentation apparatus serving as a combination flag information acquisition apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a front view of the front and back of a combination sign according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10A is a diagram showing a state in which two arrows (which serve as symbols for indicating the known offset positions or directions of the antennas) are displayed in a superimposed manner on a display screen of the display portion at the time of the marker detection;

fig. 10B is a diagram showing a state in which two arrows (which serve as symbols for indicating the known offset positions or directions of the antennas) are displayed in a superimposed manner on the display screen of the display portion at the time of the marker detection;

fig. 10C is a diagram showing a state in which a dashed circle (which serves as a symbol for indicating the position of the antenna) is displayed on the display screen of the display portion in a superimposed manner;

FIG. 11 is a front view of the front and back of a combination sign according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; and

fig. 12 is a front view of the front and back of a composite sign according to a modification of the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[ first embodiment ]

As shown in fig. 1, a composite marker 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention is formed by integrating a marker 11, which is a symbol containing encoded information, with a non-contact ID tag 12.

The logo 11 is placed on the front face of the combination logo 10. The mark 11 is composed of a frame 11A having a predetermined shape and a symbol or pattern 11B containing characters in the frame 11A. That is, the marker 11 has three or more characteristic points that can be optically distinguished, and the 3D arrangement of these characteristic points must be known. According to this structure, the combined marker information acquiring apparatus can specify the position and posture of the marker 11 with respect to the camera based on the image including these feature points captured by the camera that captured the image.

The non-contact ID tag 12 is placed on the back surface of the sign (or inside the sign). In the first embodiment, the noncontact ID tag 12 is configured as an RFID tag that includes: an antenna 12A having a function of receiving electric power and transmitting/receiving data; an IC chip 12B including an electronic element; and a storage section 12C for storing information. Although the IC chip 12B and the memory section 12C are separately formed in fig. 1, they may be formed on a single chip. Further, although fig. 1 shows an example in which the IC chip 12B and the storage section 12C are rectangular and a dipole antenna is connected to the IC chip 12B as the antenna 12A, the shapes of the IC chip 12B, the storage section 12C, and the antenna 12A may be changed as appropriate.

In the RFID tag as the contactless ID tag 12, an IC chip 12B including a transmission/reception circuit receives external data transmitted on a carrier wave through an antenna 12A and generates required electric power using the carrier wave, the IC chip 12B performs data reading/writing on a storage section 12C using the electric power and performs data transmission using the antenna 12A to transmit information to an external device.

The storage section 12C stores information relating to the marker 11 or information relating to an object fixed to the composite marker 10 having the marker 11 in advance. In the present invention, the term "fixed" includes not only "directly fixed (to an article, etc.)" but also "indirectly fixed". That is, it covers the case where the composite marker 10 is set in a state in which a predetermined position and posture relationship with respect to the object are maintained. The information to be stored in the storage section 12C includes information on the area where the combination flag 10 is located. For example, when the combination flag 10 is located in a 5-story building (entire area), the entire area is divided into a plurality of segment areas (for example, by a floor number), and information (that is, the floor number) different for each segment area is written in the storage unit 12C as area information. In this case, there will be a plurality of identical symbols or patterns 11B, for example, a symbol indicating "50", between these segmented regions.

As shown in fig. 2, an information presentation apparatus 20 (which uses the composite marker 10 described above) serving as a composite marker information acquisition apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes: an image input unit 21, a marker detection unit 22, an RFID reading unit 23, a position and orientation detection unit 24, a marker information storage unit 25, a related information generation unit 26, a related information storage unit 27, a superimposed image generation unit 28, and a display unit 29. The information presentation device 20 is constituted as a mobile terminal such as a PDA with a camera or a mobile phone with a camera. In this case, all of the components may be disposed in the mobile terminal, or a part of the components may be disposed on a server accessible by the mobile terminal through a network. However, the mobile terminal needs to be equipped with at least the image input section 21, the RFID reading section 23, and the display section 29.

The image input section 21 captures the composite marker 10 fixed directly or indirectly to an object (article) using a camera having a given capture area. The image obtained by the imaging operation is input to the mark detection section 22. The marker detection section 22 detects the marker 11 of the composite marker 10 included in the image from the image input section 21, and supplies the detection result to the RFID reading section 23 and the position and orientation detection section 24.

Upon receiving the marker detection result from the marker detection section 22, the RFID reading section 23 reads information from the non-contact ID tag 12 (which is the RFID tag of the combination marker 10). More specifically, the RFID reading unit 23 transmits a data reading instruction on a carrier wave. In response to the command, the non-contact ID tag 12 transmits information to the RFID reading unit 23. The RFID reading section 23 receives the information and supplies it to the position and orientation detecting section 24.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the RFID reading section 23 performs the above information reading operation only when the information acquisition area (the information area that can receive information from the non-contact ID tag 12) is located within the capturing area of the camera of the image input section 21. This suppresses power consumption of a battery (not shown) in the information presentation apparatus 20.

As shown in fig. 3A to 3D, it is only necessary that at least a part of the information acquisition area 23A is located in the capture area 21A of the camera. However, as shown in fig. 3A and 3B, when the capturing area 21A completely surrounds the information acquiring area 23A, the information can be received more reliably. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the marker detection section 22 detects the marker 11, and, based on the detection result, the RFID readout section 23 starts reading information when the marker 11 enters the capture area 21A of the camera (i.e., when it is estimated that the camera has reached a predetermined position and orientation with respect to the marker 11). The predetermined position and posture of the camera are generally set to the position and posture that the camera has when it completely faces the marker 11 (i.e., the antenna 12A of the non-contact ID tag 12).

The position and orientation detecting section 24 identifies the corresponding marker from the information stored in the marker information storing section 25, using the information included in the non-contact ID tag 12 input from the RFID reading section 23 and the marker information input from the marker detecting section 22. Then, the position and orientation detecting section 24 detects the position and orientation of the camera of the image input section 21 with respect to the marker by using a known technique as disclosed in US 6724930B 1, US 6577249B 1, or the like, and supplies the detection result to the associated information generating section 26. the marker information storing section 25 stores information associated with the marker, such as a template image of the marker, area information indicating an area to which the marker belongs, and position and orientation information of the marker.

The related information generating section 26 extracts information set in advance from the related information storage section 27 based on the position and orientation of the camera of the image input section 21 and the detection result supplied from the position and orientation detecting section 24 to generate related information and supplies it to the superimposed image generating section 28. The related information storage unit 27 stores information such as position and orientation information, shape information, and attribute information of a model provided on a model space.

The superimposed image generating section 28 superimposes the related information generated by the related information generating section 26 on the image from the image input section 21, and supplies the obtained image to the display section 29. The display unit 29 displays the superimposed image generated by the superimposed image generating unit 28.

According to the flowchart shown in fig. 4, the information presentation apparatus 20 having the above-described structure first captures the article 30 to which the composite marker 10 is fixed as shown in fig. 5A using the camera of the image input section 21, and inputs the captured image to the marker detection section 22 to detect the marker 11 (step S1). The mark detection section 22 first detects a predetermined shape (a rectangular frame 11A in the case of the first embodiment) of the mark 11 placed on the front face of the combination mark 10 from the captured image. A method for detecting a rectangular frame is a known image processing method, and a description thereof is omitted here. Then, the marker detecting unit 22 detects the coordinates of the four corners of the detected frame 11A (rectangular frame) within the entire image, extracts the region within the rectangular frame, and applies affine transformation to the extracted region. Then, the mark detection section 22 performs pattern matching between the image obtained after the affine transformation and the template image of the mark registered in advance in the mark information storage section 25 to identify the mark 11. In the example of fig. 5A, the mark detection section 22 recognizes the symbol or pattern 11B as the mark "50". At this time, however, it is impossible to specify the area indicated by the flag "50" due to the lack of area information. When the image obtained after the affine transformation does not match any of the template images of the marker, the marker detecting section 22 does not perform the detection process (step S2), and the flow returns to step S1.

After the marker 11 has been detected, the RFID reading section 23 reads out the area information from the non-contact ID tag 12 (step S3). This operation is started when the RFID reading section 23 transmits a data reading instruction on a carrier wave. More specifically, the noncontact ID tag 12 generates required electric power using the carrier wave received by the antenna 12A, and then the IC chip 12B reads out the information stored in the storage section 12C using the generated electric power and transmits the information through the antenna 12A. The RFID reading section 23 receives the information transmitted from the non-contact ID tag 12, and determines whether or not the received information is area information (step S4). When the received information is not the area information, the flow returns to step S3, and the RFID reading section 23 reads out the information from the non-contact ID tag 12 again at step S3. On the other hand, when the received information is area information (for example, area information indicating "area 1"), the flow proceeds to the subsequent step.

The position and orientation detecting section 24 recognizes the combined mark 10 captured by the camera of the image input section 21 (as the mark "50" of "area 1") based on the mark information (the mark "50") detected by the mark detecting section 22 and the area information ("area 1") detected by the RFID reading section 23 (step S5).

After the recognition of the marker is realized as described above, the corresponding spatial position information (position and orientation information of the marker) may be acquired from the marker information storage portion 25. This allows the position and orientation detecting section 24 to detect the position and orientation of the camera of the image input section 21 based on the coordinates of the four corners of the marker 11 within the image (step S6). Then, the related information generating part 26 extracts information corresponding to the marker recognized by the position and orientation detecting part 24 from the related information storing part 27, and generates related information corresponding to the position and orientation of the camera detected by the position and orientation detecting part 24 based on the extracted information (step S7).

As shown in fig. 5B, for the mark "50" of the "area 1", the related information storage unit 27 stores, as predetermined information, a 3D model 27A corresponding to the object 30 and comment information ("high temperature care") 27B located below the combination mark 10 in the model space of the 3D model 27A, and the related information generation unit 26 generates such related information: wherein the position and orientation of the predetermined information (the 3D model 27A and the comment information 27B) correspond to the position and orientation of the camera detected by the position and orientation detecting section 24.

Then, the superimposed image generating unit 28 superimposes the image from the image input unit 21 and the related information generated by the related information generating unit 26, and displays the superimposed image on the display screen 29A of the display unit 29 as shown in fig. 5C (step S8).

When the area information and the sign information of the combination sign 10 are detected and the position and the posture of the camera are detected as described above, the superimposed image is displayed on the display screen 29A.

[ second embodiment ]

The second embodiment of the present invention shows a case where the area ID is stored in the RFID tag, which is the noncontact ID tag 12. That is, in the second embodiment, in the storage section 12C of the non-contact ID tag 12, the area information itself described in the first embodiment is not stored, but an ID corresponding to the area is stored.

As shown in fig. 6, the information presentation apparatus 20 serving as a combination flag information acquisition apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes an area information storage section 40 that stores area information corresponding to an area ID. The RFID reading unit 23 extracts area information corresponding to the area ID read from the non-contact ID tag 12 from the area information storage unit 40.

The non-contact ID tag 12 may store a unique ID of a tag (in this case, the area information storage section 40 holds a table in which unique IDs have been registered) or spatial position information (latitude and longitude, etc.).

According to the flowchart shown in fig. 7, as in the case of the first embodiment, the information presentation apparatus 20 according to the second embodiment first captures the article 30 to which the composite marker 10 is fixed using the camera of the image input section 21 and inputs the captured image to the marker detecting section 22, thereby detecting the marker 11 (step S1).

After the marker 11 is detected (step S2), the RFID reading section 23 reads out the ID information from the non-contact ID tag 12 (step S11). This operation is started when the RFID reading section 23 transmits a data reading instruction on a carrier wave. More specifically, the noncontact ID tag 12 generates required electric power using the carrier wave received by the antenna 12A, and then the IC chip 12B reads out the information stored in the storage section 12C using the generated electric power and transmits the information through the antenna 12A. The RFID reading section 23 receives the information transmitted from the non-contact ID tag 12, and determines whether or not the received information is ID information (area ID) (step S12). When the received information is not ID information, the flow returns to step S11, and the RFID reading section 23 reads out the information from the non-contact ID tag 12 again at step S11. On the other hand, when the received information is ID information, the RFID reading section 23 extracts area information corresponding to the ID information from the area information storage section 40 to identify an area and supplies the area information to the position and orientation detecting section 24 (step S13).

Then, as in the case of the first embodiment, the position and orientation detecting section 24 identifies the combined mark 10 captured by the camera of the image input section 21 based on the mark information and the area information (step S5); the position and orientation detecting unit 24 detects the position and orientation of the camera of the image input unit 21 (step S6); and the related information generating unit 26 generates related information corresponding to the position and orientation of the camera (step S7). Finally, the superimposed image generating unit 28 superimposes the image from the image input unit 21 and the generated related information, and displays the superimposed image on the display screen 29A of the display unit 29 (step S8).

[ third embodiment ]

The third embodiment of the present invention detects the tag 11 using the combined tag 10 and information presentation device 20 having the structure as described in the first embodiment, detects the ID information from the RFID tag, which is the noncontact ID tag 12, and identifies the tag based on the detected ID information.

That is, in the above first embodiment, the marker information is acquired based on the plurality of kinds of symbols or patterns 11B (such as "50" or "51") prepared for the marker 11 of the composite marker 10, and the marker is identified based on the marker information and the ID information read out from the non-contact ID tag 12. In the third embodiment, only one kind of symbol or pattern 11B (e.g., "50" only) is prepared for each marker 11 of the composite marker 10 regardless of the area, and the unique ID information for identifying the composite marker 10 is stored in the storage section 12C of the non-contact ID tag 12 of each composite marker 10.

According to the flowchart shown in fig. 8, as in the case of the first embodiment, the information presentation apparatus 20 serving as a composite marker information acquisition apparatus that uses such a composite marker 10 first captures the article 30 to which the composite marker 10 is fixed using the camera of the image input section 21 and inputs the captured image to the marker detection section 22, thereby detecting the marker 11 (step S1).

After the marker 11 has been detected (step S2), the RFID reading section 23 reads out the ID information from the non-contact ID tag 12 (step S11). This operation is started when the RFID reading section 23 transmits a data reading instruction on a carrier wave. More specifically, the noncontact ID tag 12 generates required electric power using the carrier wave received by the antenna 12A, and then the IC chip 12B reads out the information stored in the storage section 12C using the generated electric power and transmits the information through the antenna 12A. The RFID reading section 23 receives the information transmitted from the non-contact ID tag 12, and determines whether or not the received information is ID information (step S12). When the received information is not ID information, the flow returns to step S11, and the RFID reading section 23 reads out the information from the non-contact ID tag 12 again at step S11.

On the other hand, when the received information is ID information, the position and orientation detecting section 24 identifies the combined mark 10 captured by the camera of the image input section 21 based on the read ID information (step S21).

Then, as in the case of the first embodiment, the position and orientation detecting section 24 detects the position and orientation of the camera of the image input section 21 (step S6), and then the associated information generating section 26 generates associated information corresponding to the position and orientation of the camera (step S7). Finally, the superimposed image generating unit 28 superimposes the image from the image input unit 21 and the generated related information, and displays the superimposed image on the display screen 29A of the display unit 29 (step S8).

In step S21, the position and orientation detecting portion 24 can easily identify the composite marker 10 from the ID information by using the ID information that can specify the position area, based on the known information that has been registered in the marker information storing portion 25. For example, the ID information may include position information (latitude, longitude, altitude) in a real-world coordinate system.

[ fourth embodiment ]

As shown in fig. 9, a combination mark 10 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention has the following structure: here, the position of the antenna 12A of the RFID tag as the non-contact ID tag 12 is shifted upward, for example, to a position outside the frame 11A of the flag 11.

In the composite marker 10 according to the first to third embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the antenna 12A is disposed at the center of the composite marker 10. In this case, in order to capture the entire image of the object to which the composite marker 10 is fixed, it is necessary to fix the composite marker 10 near the center of the object so as to be located at the center of the capture area 21A. Otherwise, the information cannot be reliably read from the non-contact ID tag 12. On the other hand, in the present fourth embodiment, the position of the antenna 12A is shifted upward as described above. In this case, even if the composite marker 10 is fixed to the lower side of the object, the antenna 12A is located at the center of the capturing area 21A when the object is captured. Therefore, reading out of information can be reliably performed.

Furthermore, there may be situations where only information needs to be presented to a particular person. In this case, the composite marker 10 is fixed at the center of the object, and the offset position of the antenna 12A is made known to a specific person in advance. Persons who are not notified of the offset position of the antenna 12A cannot capture the antenna 12A located at the center of the capturing area 21A, so that they cannot read out information from the non-contact ID tag 12.

Although fig. 9 shows only the case where the antenna 12A is shifted upward, the shifting direction of the antenna 12A is not limited to the upward direction.

In detecting the marker 11, a symbol such as an arrow indicating a known offset position or direction of the antenna 12A may be displayed in a superimposed manner on the display screen 29A of the display section 29.

Fig. 10A to 10C are diagrams each illustrating a state in which a symbol such as an arrow indicating a known offset position or direction of the antenna 12A is displayed on the display screen 29A of the display section 29 in a superimposed manner at the time of detection of the marker. Fig. 10A and 10B are diagrams each showing a state in which two arrows (29B and 29C) serving as symbols for indicating the position of the antenna 12A are displayed on the display screen 29A of the display portion 29 in a superimposed manner. Fig. 10C is a diagram showing a state in which a dashed circle 29D (which serves as a symbol for indicating the position of the antenna 12A) is displayed on the display screen 29A of the display section 29 in a superimposed manner.

If the operator adjusts the relative position between the information presentation device 20 serving as the composite marker information acquisition device and the antenna 12A according to the symbol displayed in the superimposed manner, the optimum relative position for performing information acquisition can be maintained. That is, by using the above symbols, the image input section 21 can be guided or directed to the optimum position by the operator, so that the relative position between the combination mark information acquisition device (information presentation device 20) and the antenna 12A has a more appropriate positional relationship in which correct information acquisition can be expected when acquiring information from the non-contact ID tag 12.

[ fifth embodiment ]

The combination marker 10 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention shows the following case: here, the position of the antenna 12A of the RFID tag as the noncontact ID tag 12 is shifted upward as in the case of the fourth embodiment, and a line 13 representing the position of the antenna 12A is drawn on the surface of the composite marker 10 as shown in fig. 11.

That is, in the fourth embodiment, unless the operator knows the position of the antenna 12A of the composite marker 10 in advance, reading out information from the non-contact ID tag 12 fails. However, in the fifth embodiment, the camera of the image input section 21 is directed so that the line 13 indicating the antenna position is located at the center of the capture area, which makes it possible to read out information from the non-contact ID tag 12 more reliably.

When the position of the antenna 12A of the non-contact ID tag 12 is shifted downward, the front and back of the combination mark 10 are as shown in fig. 12.

The indication portion for indicating the antenna position is not limited to the line 13. For example, an image such as a 2D barcode may be used as the indicating portion.

Although a plurality of exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, the present invention is not limited to the above plurality of embodiments, but various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

For example, for symbols representing encoded information, the following optical markers are exemplified: which has three or more feature points that can be optically distinguished, the 3D arrangement of which is known, and the position and posture of the optical marker with respect to the camera can be specified based on an image captured by the camera that captures an image including these feature points. However, any type of marker may be used as long as its 3D position and posture can be specified.

The contactless ID tag 12 is not limited to an RFID tag, but any type of contactless tag may be used as long as it can transmit a signal in a contactless manner using, for example, infrared rays.

Although the area information, the area ID, or the ID information is stored in the storage section 12C of the non-contact ID tag 12 in the above embodiment, information on the symbol or pattern 11B in the marker 11 of the composite marker 10 may be stored in the storage section 12C, for example, if position information by which the relative position of the symbol or pattern 11B can be specified is stored in the storage section 12C of the non-contact ID tag 12, the position and posture of the marker 11 can be estimated without storing the position and posture information of the marker in the marker information storage section 25.

As described above, the composite marker 10 is configured to transmit the position information of the marker 11, so that a plurality of composite markers having the same marker can be distinguished from each other. As a result, the number of types of the mark to be used can be significantly reduced, contributing to reduction of misrecognition.

Further, a desired circuit is formed as an IC chip, so that the thickness of the combination mark can be reduced.

Since the information on the optical characteristics of the marker 11 is stored in the storage section 12C, the apparatus for acquiring information from the combined marker can estimate the position of the marker 11 even if there is no known information. In this case, the information stored in the storage section 12C includes position information by which the relative position of the optical characteristic point of the marker can be specified, so that the apparatus for acquiring information from the composite marker can easily specify the relative position of the optical characteristic point of the marker 11 based on the position information. The device for obtaining information from the combined marker may directly detect the position of the marker 11 if the position information comprises a position in a real world coordinate system.

Alternatively, if the position information to be stored in the storage section 12C includes an ID by which a position area can be specified based on known information, the apparatus for acquiring information from the composite marker can easily specify the position area of the composite marker based on the ID and the known information.

Since the entire region in which the combined marker is located includes a plurality of segmented regions, even if a plurality of markers 11 having the same feature point are used, no problem occurs unless they are located within the same segmented region. In this case, if a plurality of composite markers that can be optically distinguished from each other are located in the same segment region, this means that there is no composite marker having markers 11 including the same feature point, and therefore the composite marker 11 can be reliably identified. Further, if the position information to be stored in the storage section 12C is made different for each segment region, each segment region can be identified based on the position information.

Further, the composite marker 10 transmits specific information of the marker 11 by which each composite marker can be specified among a plurality of composite markers having markers 11 including the same feature point. Therefore, a plurality of combined marks having the same mark 11 can be distinguished from each other. As a result, the number of types of the mark to be used can be significantly reduced, contributing to reduction of misrecognition.

Further, if the specific information includes coordinates in a real world coordinate system, the apparatus for acquiring information from the composite marker may specify the composite marker and may directly detect the position of the composite marker.

Alternatively, the specific information may include an ID by which a location area can be specified based on known information. In this way, the apparatus for acquiring information from the composite marker can easily specify the composite marker based on these ID and known information, and can detect the position of the composite marker.

Further, since the marker 11 can be specified by the specific information, no problem occurs even if a plurality of markers 11 having the same feature point are used. This significantly reduces the number of types of flags.

In the combination sign, the antenna 12A is fixed at a predetermined position with respect to the sign 11. That is, the position of the antenna 12A is determined with respect to the marker 11. Therefore, it is possible to easily set the information acquisition device to a predetermined position with respect to the marker 11, thereby more reliably reading out the information relating to the marker 11 and the non-contact ID tag 12.

In this case, the antenna 12A is located within the marker region of the marker 11. Therefore, if the information acquisition device is set to a position at which the acquisition area of the device surrounds the marker 11, the device can reliably receive the information transmitted from the antenna 12A.

If the antenna 12A is offset outside the marker region of the antenna 11, only certain personnel who know the location of the antenna 12A may be allowed to read the information of the marker 11.

Further, by setting the line 13 indicating the position of the antenna 12A on the marker 11 as the encoded information by which the relative position of the antenna 12A can be specified, the information acquisition device can be set at a position at which the information of the marker 11 can be reliably read out from the line 13.

Further, based only on the captured image of the mark 11, it is possible to determine whether or not the information of the mark 11 can be read out. This prevents the information acquisition apparatus from performing an unnecessary reading operation in a case where the apparatus is placed at a position where the antenna 12A falls outside the capture area.

The RFID reading section 23 performs information acquisition based on an image that has been captured by the image input section 21 having a predetermined capture area 21A. Thereby, the combined-flag-information acquiring apparatus can read out the information of the flag 11 (symbol containing encoded information) and the noncontact ID tag 12 at an appropriate time.

Even if a part of the information acquisition area 23A (non-contact ID tag readout area) is located within the capture area 21A, information can be acquired from the non-contact ID tag 12. In this case, if the capturing area 21A completely surrounds the information acquiring area 23A, information can be acquired from the non-contact ID tag 12 more reliably.

The flag detecting section 22 detects the flag 11 entering the capturing area 21A, so that the time at which the RFID reading section 23 performs the information acquisition operation can be easily determined.

The RFID reading section 23 processes the image being captured by the image input section 21, and starts performing an information acquisition operation when it is estimated that the image input section 21 has reached a predetermined position and orientation with respect to the marker. Therefore, it is possible to determine appropriate timing at which information can be reliably acquired. In this case, the predetermined position and posture are generally set to the position and posture that the image input section 21 has when it completely faces the marker. Alternatively, the predetermined position and posture are set to the position and posture that the image input section 21 has when completely facing the antenna 12A of the non-contact ID tag 12.

The mark detection section 22 displays an indication section indicating a position and/or a direction on the display section 29, so that it is easy to guide the image input section 21 to a predetermined position and posture. Therefore, the image input section 21 can be guided or guided to the optimum position by the operator, so that the relative position between the information acquisition device and the marker has a more appropriate positional relationship in which correct information acquisition can be expected.

Claims (7)

1. A combination mark information acquisition apparatus for acquiring information corresponding to a combination mark having a 1 st mark and a non-contact ID tag, the 1 st mark having an optical characteristic, the apparatus comprising:

an image input section having a predetermined capture area (21A) and for capturing the composite marker (11) fixed to an object (30) located within the capture area;

a marker detecting section that detects the 1 st marker from the image captured by the image input section as an input;

a non-contact ID reading unit that reads information from the non-contact ID tag, with a detection result of the marker detecting unit as an input;

a position and orientation detection section that recognizes a combined mark captured by the image input section using as input a detection result of the mark detection section and information read out from the non-contact ID tag by the non-contact ID reading section, and detects a position and orientation of the image input section with respect to the combined mark;

a related information generating unit that generates related information by inputting the position and orientation of the image input unit detected by the position and orientation detecting unit and the recognition result of the combination mark;

an overlapped image generating section that overlaps the image captured by the image input section and the related information generated by the related information generating section.

2. The combination mark information acquisition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a range in which information of the non-contact ID tag can be acquired is located within the capture area of the image input section.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the non-contact ID reading section reads out information from the non-contact ID tag when the composite marker enters the predetermined capture area of the image input section.

4. The combination mark information acquisition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the non-contact ID reading section reads out information from the non-contact ID tag when processing the image captured by the image input section and estimating that the image input section has reached a predetermined position and orientation with respect to the combination mark.

5. The composite marker information acquisition apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined position and posture are normally set to a position and posture that the image input section has when fully facing the composite marker.

6. The combination mark information acquisition apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined position and posture are set to a position and posture that the image input section has when it completely faces the antenna (12A) of the non-contact ID tag.

7. The combination mark information acquisition apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the apparatus further comprises a display section (29), and

the superimposed image generating section displays at least one of the position or the direction on the display section so that the image input section is easily guided to the predetermined position and posture.