JP2006345114A - Imaging area adjusting apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a photographing area adjusting device capable of photographing all areas to be photographed regardless of the presence or absence of an obstacle that prevents photographing by a camera.
A plurality of camera terminals 101A to 101C each includes a camera 201 and an area obtained by excluding an area where shooting of the camera 201 is concealed by an obstacle from the shooting area of the camera 201 as a new shooting area. The first imaging area calculation unit 204 to calculate, the communication unit 203, the imaging area of the camera 201 of the own camera terminal, and the other camera terminal that is transmitted and received via the communication unit 203 and updated by the first imaging area calculation unit 204. Based on the shooting area of the camera 201, the area obtained by summing up the shooting areas of the cameras 201 of the plurality of camera terminals 101A to 101C includes an area where shooting of the camera 201 is concealed by an obstacle in the own camera terminal or another camera terminal. An adjustment unit 202 that adjusts the position of the shooting area of the camera 201 of the camera terminal so as to cover the entire shooting target area. The
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging area adjustment apparatus and method for automatically adjusting an imaging area of a camera in a system that acquires image information in real space using a plurality of cameras.

  In recent years, research and development have been actively conducted on apparatuses using a plurality of cameras mainly used for monitoring purposes. For the purpose of use, the apparatus needs to achieve a request to monitor the imaging target area without blind spots with respect to the imaging target area that is the monitoring target area. In response to this requirement, a device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is disclosed as an apparatus that achieves the requirement by automatically adjusting the shooting area of each camera.

A conventional apparatus for automatically adjusting a photographing area shown in Patent Document 1 will be described below.
First, a configuration of a conventional apparatus for automatically adjusting a photographing area shown in Patent Document 1 will be described. FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional apparatus for automatically adjusting a photographing area. In FIG. 24, 1000 is a subject, 1001a and 1001b are cameras, 1002 is an overlapping area where the imaging areas of the cameras 1001a and 1001b overlap, 1003a and 1003b are optical axes of the cameras 1001a and 1001b, 1004a and 1004b are lenses 1, Reference numerals 1005a and 1005b denote lenses 2, and reference numerals 1006a and 1006b denote lenses 3. The zoom ratios (or angles of view) and focal lengths of the cameras 1001a and 1001b are determined by the distances between the lenses 1 and 2 and the lenses 3. 1007a and 1007b are image sensors such as CCDs, 1008a and 1008b are encoders that detect the position of the lens 2 that determines the zoom ratio, 1009a and 1009b are encoders that detect the position of the lens 3 that determines the focal length, 1010a and 1010b are It is an encoder that detects an angle Θa and an angle Θb that are angles of the respective cameras. Hereinafter, the sum of the angle Θa and the angle Θb is referred to as the convergence angle Θ of the camera 1001a and the camera 1001b. 1011a and 1011b are motors that adjust the position of the lens that determines the zoom ratio, 1012a and 1012b are motors that adjust the position of the lens 3 that determines the focal length, and 1013a and 1013b adjust the angles Θa and Θb of the respective cameras. 1021 is a convergence angle correction control unit that adjusts the convergence angle of the camera 1001a and the camera 1001b, 1022 is a correction value calculation unit that calculates the convergence angle, 1023 is an optical parameter storage unit that stores optical parameters, and 1031a. 1031b is an image memory for recording images picked up by the image pickup element 1007a and the image pickup element 1007b, 1032 is an image combining means for combining the images stored in the image memory 1007a and the image memory 1007b, and 1033 is a combination by the image combining means 1032. Display the selected image, etc. Output means, 1034 denotes a recording unit that records an image synthesized by the image synthesizing means 1032.

  Next, the operation of the conventional apparatus for automatically adjusting the photographing area shown in Patent Document 1 will be described. The zoom ratio, focal length, angle Θa, and angle Θb of the camera 1001a and the camera 1001b acquired from the encoder 1008a and encoder 1008b, the encoder 1009a and encoder 1009b, and the encoder 1010a and encoder 1010b are input to the correction value calculation unit 1022. The correction value calculation unit 1022 stores the zoom ratio, focal length, angle Θa and angle Θb of the camera 1001a and the camera 1001b, and the lens 1 1004a of the camera 1001a and the camera 1001b recorded in advance in the optical parameter storage unit 1023. And 1004b, lens 2 1005a and 1005b, and lens 3 1006a and 1006b, based on the optical parameters, the position of the shooting area of camera 1001a and camera 1001b and the distortion of the shape of the shooting area are derived. As described above, the convergence angle Θ is calculated so that the imaging regions of the cameras 1001a and 1001b overlap by a desired amount, and output to the convergence angle correction control unit 1021. The convergence angle correction control unit 1021 controls the motor 1013a and the motor 1013b to adjust the angle Θa of the camera 1001a and the angle Θb of the camera 1001b so that the convergence angle Θ calculated by the correction value calculation unit 1022 is obtained. Also, two images captured by the image sensor 1031a of the camera 1001a and the image sensor 1031b of the camera 1001b are taken into the image memory 1031a and the image memory 1031b, respectively, and the image synthesizing unit 1032 synthesizes these two images. One image is output or recorded in the output means 1033 and the recording means 1034. The operation of the conventional apparatus for automatically adjusting the photographing area is as described above.

Based on the above, using the zoom ratio, focal length, convergence angle Θ, and optical parameters of the camera 1001a and the camera 1001b, the correction value calculation unit 1022 considers the distortion of the shape of the shooting area, and the shooting area is desired. The convergence angle Θ that overlaps by the amount is calculated, and the convergence angle correction control unit 1021 adjusts the convergence angle Θ of the camera 1001a and the camera 1001b. When adjusting the zoom ratio (or focal length) of each camera to a zoom ratio (or focal length) suitable for the distance (or focal length), the images captured by each camera are not spatially discontinuous, It is assumed that a spatially continuous panoramic image in which a desired amount of images captured by each camera overlap with no blind spot area can be captured.
JP-A-6-120549

  However, the conventional apparatus for automatically adjusting an imaging region shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 1 have the following problems. First, the correction value calculation unit 1022 uses the zoom ratio, focal length, convergence angle Θ, and optical parameters of the camera 1001a and the camera 1001b to take into account the distortion of the shape of the imaging area, and the imaging areas overlap by a desired amount. Such a convergence angle Θ is calculated, but this calculation method is not clearly described in Patent Document 1 and is unknown. The convergence angle Θ is an angle obtained by adding the camera angle Θa and the angle Θb, and the correction value calculation unit 1022 calculates the convergence angle Θ. The convergence angle correction control unit 1021 uses the angle Θa and the camera of the camera 1001a. In order to adjust the angle Θb of 1001b, it is necessary to calculate the angle Θa and the angle Θb from the convergence angle Θ, and this point is not clearly shown and is unknown. The combination of the angle Θa and the angle Θb for a certain convergence angle Θ is infinite and cannot be determined.

  As described above, these problems are as follows: 1) No consideration is given to information that serves as an adjustment reference for the position of the shooting area of the camera, such as the position of the subject to be shot and the area to be shot. 2) The area to be shot This is because no consideration is given to which camera from where to where. For this reason, the conventional apparatus for automatically adjusting the imaging area disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not have spatially discontinuous images captured by each camera, that is, there is no blind area, and images are captured. However, it is impossible to monitor the area to be imaged without blind spots.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 25, when there is an obstacle for the area to be photographed by the conventional device for automatically adjusting the photographing area, for example, in photographing at a resort, a signboard, a pillar, a telephone pole, etc. When there is an object that is not intended to be photographed, there is a problem that it is not possible to photograph all areas to be photographed without blind spots.

  Therefore, the present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and when there are no obstacles that hinder the shooting of the camera, and even when there are obstacles, the entire region to be imaged is imaged. An object of the present invention is to provide a photographing area adjusting device and the like that can be used.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, an imaging region adjustment apparatus according to the present invention is configured by a plurality of camera terminals connected via a communication path, and adjusts the imaging regions of the plurality of camera terminals to acquire an imaging target region. A plurality of camera terminals, each of which has a camera capable of adjusting the position of the shooting area, and controls the camera to thereby control the shooting area of the camera. An adjustment means for adjusting the position of the camera, a shooting area calculation means for calculating a shooting area as a new shooting area from a shooting area of the camera excluding an area where the shooting of the camera is hidden by an obstacle, Communication means for transmitting / receiving photographing area information for specifying a photographing area to / from another camera terminal, and the adjusting means includes a camera of the own camera terminal including the adjusting means. And a camera area of the cameras of the plurality of camera terminals based on the camera area of the camera and the camera area of the other camera terminal that is transmitted and received via the communication unit and updated by the camera area calculation unit. Adjusting the position of the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal so as to cover all the shooting target area including the area where shooting of the camera is hidden by an obstacle in the own camera terminal or other camera terminal. Features. As a result, each camera terminal covers the entire area to be imaged with the calculated area excluding the area that is hidden by the obstacle as the area to be imaged, so only the area that is not hidden by the obstacle is captured. Control that covers the entire target area is performed, and the occurrence of blind spots in the imaging target area is avoided regardless of the presence or absence of obstacles.

  Here, as a specific adjustment example of the adjusting means, the overlap area amount, which is the amount of the area where the image capturing area of the camera of the own camera terminal and the image capturing area adjacent to the image capturing area overlap, is a fixed amount of 0 or more. It is preferable to adjust the position of the photographing area of the camera of the own camera terminal so that a certain target amount is obtained. Specifically, the adjustment means selects a shooting area adjacent to the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal from the shooting areas of the cameras of the plurality of camera terminals, and the selected shooting area and the own camera. A step of calculating an overlap area difference amount that is a difference between the overlap area amount with the camera area of the terminal and the target amount, and a position of the camera area of the camera of the camera terminal that brings the overlap area difference amount close to 0 And the position of the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal is adjusted so that the position of the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal becomes the position obtained in the repetition step. As a result, each camera terminal is controlled so that its own shooting area and the shooting area of another camera terminal adjacent to the shooting area are in contact with each other or overlap each other by a certain amount. The entire shooting target area is covered all over.

  In addition, as a specific calculation example of the shooting area calculation unit, a new area is obtained by removing an area where shooting of the camera of the other camera terminal is hidden by an obstacle from the shooting area shot by the camera of the other camera terminal. The shooting area may be calculated as the shooting area of the camera of the other camera terminal, or the shooting of the camera of the other camera terminal and the own camera terminal is concealed by an obstacle from the shooting area shot by the camera of the other camera terminal. The shooting area may be calculated using an area excluding the area to be used as a new shooting area of the camera of the other camera terminal. Generally, in the latter calculation method, control is performed to cover the area to be imaged using the calculated imaging area from which the larger area is excluded, so the overlapping area between the areas actually captured becomes larger and the obstacle The area near the object is included in any shooting area, and the monitoring ability near the obstacle is improved.

  In addition, the imaging region is not limited to the region to be imaged at time T, but may be the region to be imaged during the period TCYCLE when the region to be imaged at time T is periodically changed with the period TCYCLE. As a result, an area scanned within a certain period of time is treated as an imaging area, and thus a larger range of imaging object area is captured with a higher resolution.

  Further, the photographing area may be not only a plane but also a three-dimensional area. This is because, for example, a calculation plane that controls the shooting areas to overlap each other is placed closer to the camera terminal than the actual plane, so that the solid surrounded by the actual plane and the calculation plane is hidden. It is possible to shoot without any problems.

  Further, the imaging area adjusting device further detects and updates an area where the imaging of the camera is concealed by an obstacle based on images captured by a plurality of camera terminals, and the imaging area calculation means includes: The imaging area may be calculated using an area obtained by removing the updated concealment area from the imaging area as a new imaging area. As a result, even if the moving object crosses the imaging target area, each camera terminal can adjust the position of the imaging area so that a blind spot does not always occur while following the movement.

  The photographing area adjusting apparatus further includes a combining unit that acquires images captured by the cameras of the plurality of camera terminals and combines them as spatially continuous images, and a display unit that displays the combined images. Is preferred. As a result, the same image as that obtained by shooting with a single camera having a high resolution and a wide angle can be obtained, and a wide area can be glanced.

  Further, another embodiment of the photographing area adjusting device according to the present invention is configured by a plurality of camera terminals connected via a communication path, and photographing the photographing target area is possible by adjusting the photographing areas of the plurality of camera terminals. The plurality of camera terminals each adjusts the position of the shooting area of the camera by controlling the camera and a camera capable of adjusting the position of the shooting area. Adjusting means, and communication means for transmitting and receiving shooting area information for specifying the shooting area of the camera to and from other camera terminals, the adjusting means including the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal provided with the adjusting means And the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal and the shooting area adjacent to the shooting area based on the shooting area of the camera of the other camera terminal received via the communication means If the overlapping area amount, which is the amount of the overlapping area, is a target amount that is a certain amount greater than or equal to 0 and an obstacle exists, the obstacle exists in the overlapping area. As described above, the position of the photographing region of the camera of the own camera terminal is adjusted. As a result, the shooting areas overlap each other, and the obstacle is shot by two or more camera terminals adjacent to each other, so that the shooting target area is not blinded regardless of the presence or absence of the obstacle. Taken.

  The present invention can be realized not only in a distributed control type configuration in which an adjustment unit is provided in each camera terminal, but also in a centralized control type configuration in which a common adjustment unit for adjusting the shooting area of all camera terminals is provided. Further, the present invention can be realized as an imaging region adjustment method and a program for causing a computer to execute the method. Furthermore, the present invention can be realized as an apparatus that adjusts a detection area of a sensor that can detect a physical quantity such as a temperature sensor, instead of an imaging area that is an area that can be captured by a camera. Needless to say, the program according to the present invention can be distributed via a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a transmission medium such as the Internet.

  According to the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention, when there is no obstacle, and even when there is an obstacle, the area obtained by summing the imaging areas of the cameras of the respective camera terminals covers the predetermined imaging target area. Since the shooting area of the camera of each camera terminal is automatically adjusted so as to cover it, it is possible to perform shooting without a blind spot, which was not possible with conventional devices. That is, when there is no obstacle, and even when there is an obstacle, it is possible to perform imaging that efficiently covers a predetermined imaging target area without blind spots.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, an arbitrary space is photographed without blind spots, and the practical value of the present invention is particularly high as a system for monitoring a suspicious person in a school or a building.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of an imaging area adjusting device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
First, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, regardless of the presence or absence of the obstacle 140, as shown in FIG. 11A, on the real space surface 113, the camera shooting area (camera terminal A An area (a range indicated by a thick solid line in (a) of FIG. 11) obtained by summing the imaging area 120A, the camera terminal B imaging area 120B, and the camera terminal C imaging area 120C) is an area targeted for predetermined imaging (imaging target area). 121 to FIG. 9, a description will be given of a photographing area adjusting device that automatically adjusts the photographing area of the camera of each camera terminal so as to cover all of 121). The obstacle is an object that hinders the photographing of the photographing target area 121 and includes not only an object existing in the photographing target area but also an object existing outside the photographing target area.

First, the configuration of the imaging region adjustment apparatus of the present invention in Embodiment 1 will be described below.
FIG. 1A is a block diagram showing the configuration of the imaging area adjusting apparatus according to the present invention in the first embodiment. This imaging area adjustment is composed of a plurality of camera terminals A to C that are connected via a communication channel (network) and operate autonomously, and is adjusted by adjusting the imaging areas of the plurality of camera terminals A to C. It is a device that enables photographing of an area. In FIG. 1A, reference numerals 101A to 101C denote camera terminals A to C, 102 denotes an operation terminal, and 103 denotes a network used during communication between the camera terminals 101A to 101C and the operation terminal 102. The imaging region adjusting device of the invention is composed of the above elements. In FIG. 1, an X _W axis 110, a Y _W axis 111, and a Z _W axis 112 that are orthogonal to each other are defined in order to express the area and the position of the area. 113 surface in real space the camera terminals 101A~101C exists, for example if the camera terminals 101A~101C is then set down from the ceiling is a surface such as a floor, in the present description, Z _W The surface of the axis 112 = 0 is assumed, and various regions and the positions of the regions are expressed using this surface. On the real space surface 113, 120A is a camera terminal A shooting area shot by the camera terminal A 101A, 120B is a camera terminal B shooting area shot by the camera terminal B 101B, and 120C is a camera terminal C shooting shot by the camera terminal C 101C. Reference numeral 121 denotes a shooting target area that is a shooting target area, 122 denotes a non-shooting area that is an area other than the shooting target area 121, and 140 denotes an obstacle that hinders camera shooting.

FIG. 1B is a diagram showing in detail the position of each shooting area on the real space surface 113 of the shooting area adjusting apparatus of the present invention according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. In the (b) Figure 1, X _W axis 110, Y _W-axis 111, the camera terminal A photographing region 120A, the camera terminal B imaging region 120B, the camera terminal C imaged region 120C, the imaging region 121 and the imaging target area outside 122 This is the same as (a) of FIG. 130AL, 130AR, respectively 130AU and 130AB, left X _AL of the camera terminal A shooting area 120A, the right end X _AR, the upper end Y _AU and the lower end Y _AB position, 130BL, 130BR, respectively 130BU and 130Bb, the camera terminal B imaging area 120B Left end X _BL , right end X _BR , upper end Y _BU and lower end Y _BB position, 130CL, 130CR, 130CU and 130CB are the left end X _CL , right end X _CR , upper end Y _CU and lower end Y _{CB of the} camera terminal C shooting area 120C, respectively. position, 131TL, 131TR, 131TU and 131TB respectively, left X _TL of the imaging region 121, the right end X _TR, upper Y _TU and the lower end Y _TB position, the imaging region _{121, X TL 131TL, X TR 131TR} , Y TU 131 TU and Y _TB 131 _TB are areas that are not subject to shooting Band 122 is X _TL 131TL, X _TR 131TR, regions other than the region surrounded by the Y _TU 131TU and Y _TB 131TB. 150A is a camera terminal A shooting concealment area where the obstacle 140 prevents the camera terminal A 101A from shooting, and 150B is a camera terminal B shooting concealment where the obstacle 140 prevents the camera terminal B 101B from shooting. The areas 160HAL, 160HAR, 160HAU and 160HAB are the left end X _HAL , the right end X _HAR , the upper end Y _HAU and the lower end Y _HAB position, 160HBL, 160HBR, 160HBU and 160HBB of the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A, respectively. This is the left end X _HBL , right end X _HBR , upper end Y _HBU and lower end Y _HBB position of the imaging concealment area 150B.

An area surrounded by X _BL 130BL, X _AR 130AR, Y _BU 130BU, and Y _AB 130AB is an area in which the camera terminal A 101A and the camera terminal B 101B respectively overlap and capture the same area. And X _W axis 110 direction size of the region is X _AR -X _BL. Similarly, the area surrounded by X _CL 130CL, X _BR 130BR, Y _CU 130CU, and Y _BB 130BB is an area where the camera terminal B 101B and the camera terminal C 101C respectively shoot and overlap. Region BC is assumed. X _W axis 110 direction size of the region is X _BR -X _CL. An area surrounded by X _AL 130AL, X _TL 131TL, Y _AU 130AU, and Y _AB 130AB is an area where the imaging area 120A of the camera terminal A 101A and the non-imaging area 122 overlap, and this area is the non-imaging overlap area. AL. X _W axis 110 direction size of the region is X _TL -X _AL. X _TR 131TR, X _CR 130CR, a region surrounded by Y _CU 130CU and Y _CB 130CB is a region imaged region 120B and imaging target outside region 122 of the camera terminal C 101C overlap, imaging target outside overlap region the same area Let CR. X _W axis 110 direction size of the region is X _CR -X _TR. An area surrounded by X _AL 130AL, X _AR 130AR, Y _AU 130AU, and Y _TU 131TU is an area where the imaging area 120A of the camera terminal A 101A and the non-imaging area 122 overlap. AU. Y _W-axis 111 direction size of the region is Y _TU -Y _AU. An area surrounded by X _AL 130AL, X _AR 130AR, Y _TB 131TB, and Y _AB 130AB is an area in which the imaging area 120A of the camera terminal A 101A and the non-imaging area 122 overlap. AB. The size of the region in the direction of the Y _W axis 111 is Y _AB −Y _TB . An area surrounded by X _BL 130BL, X _BR 130BR, Y _BU 130BU, and Y _TU 131TU is an area where the imaging area 120B and the non-imaging area 122 of the camera terminal B 101B overlap. BU. Y _W-axis 111 direction size of the region is Y _TU -Y _BU. An area surrounded by X _BL 130BL, X _BR 130BR, Y _TB 131TB, and Y _BB 130BB is an area where the imaging area 120B and the non-imaging area 122 of the camera terminal B 101B overlap, and is defined as an unexposed overlapping area BB. . The size of the region in the direction of the Y _W axis 111 is Y _BB −Y _TB . An area surrounded by X _CL 130CL, X _CR 130CR, Y _CU 130CU, and Y _TU 131TU is an area where the imaging area 120C of the camera terminal C 101C and the non-imaging area 122 overlap. Let it be CU. The size of the region in the direction of the Y _W axis 111 is X _TU -X _CU . An area surrounded by X _CL 130CL, X _CR 130CR, Y _TB 131TB, and Y _CB 130CB is an area where the imaging area 120C of the camera terminal C 101C and the non-imaging area 122 overlap. CB. The size of the region in the direction of the Y _W axis 111 is X _CB −X _TB .

  FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C in FIG. In FIG. 2, 201 is a camera, 202 is an adjustment unit that adjusts the shooting region position of the camera 201, 203 is a communication unit that communicates the shooting region position of the camera 201 via the network 103, and 204 is a shooting region of another camera terminal. A first imaging area calculation unit 205 for calculating and an imaging concealment area recording unit 205 for recording an imaging concealment area of another camera terminal and an installation position of the camera terminal. Each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C includes at least the camera 201, The adjustment unit 202, the communication unit 203, the first imaging region calculation unit 204, and the imaging concealment region recording unit 205 are configured. More specifically, each of the plurality of camera terminals 101A to 101C includes a camera 201 that can adjust the position of the shooting area, and an adjustment unit that adjusts the position of the shooting area of the camera 201 by controlling the camera 201. 202, a first shooting area calculation unit 204 that calculates a shooting area using a shooting area of the camera 201 as a new shooting area except an area in which shooting of the camera is hidden by an obstacle, and a shooting area of the camera 201. The adjustment unit 202 includes a communication unit 203 that transmits / receives specified shooting region information to / from another camera terminal, and a shooting concealment region recording unit 205 that records a shooting concealment region of the other camera terminal and an installation position of the camera terminal. The other camera which is transmitted / received via the communication unit 203 and updated by the first imaging region calculation unit 204 with the imaging region of the camera of the own camera terminal. Based on the shooting area of the camera of the terminal, the area obtained by summing the shooting areas of the cameras of the plurality of camera terminals 101A to 101C includes the area where the shooting of the camera is hidden by an obstacle in the own camera terminal or other camera terminals The position of the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal is adjusted so as to cover the entire shooting target area.

211 is a lens for forming an image; 212 is an imaging surface such as a CCD that captures an image formed by the lens 211; 213 is an image processing unit that processes an image captured by the imaging surface 212; 214 is a lens 211 and The camera 201 includes a lens 211, an imaging surface 212, an image processing unit 213, and a posture control unit 214. The camera 201 includes a posture control unit that controls the posture of the imaging surface 212 and the distance between the lens 211 and the imaging surface 212. Note that the posture control of the lens 211 and the imaging surface 212 performed by the posture control unit 214 is control generally referred to as panning or tilting, and the lens 211 and the imaging surface 212 are linked to each other with a certain point or axis. Rotated to the center. Further, the control of the distance between the lens 211 and the imaging surface 212 performed by the posture control unit 214 is a control generally referred to as zooming, and the image of the camera 201 is increased or decreased as the distance between the lens 211 and the imaging surface 2 12 increases or decreases. The corner is adjusted.
FIG. 3 is a configuration block diagram of the operation terminal 102 in FIG. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes an input unit for inputting X _TL 131TL, X _TR 131TR, Y _TU 131TU, and Y _TB 131TB, which are the positions of the imaging target area 321, and 302 denotes the position of the imaging target area 121 input from the input unit 301. A storage unit 303 is a communication unit similar to the communication unit 203 in FIG. 2, and communicates the position of the imaging target area 121 recorded in the storage unit 302 via the network 103. The operation terminal 102 includes at least an input unit 301, a storage unit 302, and a communication unit 303. Note that the input unit 301 is not required if the position of the imaging target area 121 is recorded in the storage unit 302 in advance.

  Next, the operation of the imaging area adjustment apparatus of the present invention in Embodiment 1 will be described below. First, the operation of the imaging area adjustment apparatus of the present invention when there is no obstacle that hinders the imaging of the camera. explain. Therefore, in the following description of the operation, it is assumed that the obstacle 140 does not exist and the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A and the camera terminal B shooting concealment area 150B do not exist. In the first embodiment, the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 of each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C records the shooting concealment area of the other camera terminal and the installation position of the camera terminal in advance. To do. However, since the current operation description is for the case where no obstacle exists, nothing is recorded in the imaging concealment area recording unit 205 in the current operation description.

  A camera 201 which is a component of each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C has an internal configuration shown in FIG. In the camera 201, an image formed by the lens 211 is converted into an image signal by the imaging surface 212, and the image processing unit 213 detects a detection target or information from the image signal by a general image processing technique or an image recognition technique. Extraction is done. As described above, the camera 201 performs detection operations such as detection of a detection target and extraction of information using the imaging region determined by the posture of the lens 211 and the imaging surface 212 and their respective intervals as a detection region with respect to the real space. In addition, as a general image processing technique or image recognition technique described above, a widely known background difference method, dynamic difference method, or the like can be given. The detected detection target information is sent to the communication unit 203.

  Further, in the camera 201, the posture control unit 214 controls the posture of the lens 211 and the imaging surface 212 or the distance between the lens 211 and the imaging surface 212, so that the position of the shooting region of the camera 201 is adjusted by the adjustment unit 202. Move to the position of the designated shooting area. In addition, the posture control unit 214 obtains position information of the shooting region of the camera 201 determined from the posture or interval of the lens 211 and the imaging surface 212 and sends it to the adjustment unit 202. In this way, the position of the shooting area of the camera 201 is controlled by the adjustment unit 202, and the position information of the shooting area of the camera 201 is sent to the adjustment unit 202. Note that the position of the shooting area of the camera 201 can be easily calculated by geometric calculation from the posture and interval of the lens 211 and the imaging surface 212 and the installation position of the camera 201. Further, the postures and intervals of the lens 211 and the imaging surface 212 can be changed by using, for example, a stepping motor, and the postures and intervals can also be read.

  The adjustment unit 202 of each camera terminal 101 </ b> A to 101 </ b> C periodically transmits the position information of the shooting area of the camera 201 via the first shooting area calculation unit 204 via the communication unit 203 and the network 103. Send to. Further, the communication unit 303 of the operation terminal 102 periodically sends the position information of the shooting target area 121 to the adjustment unit 202 of each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C via the communication unit 203 and the network 103 via the first shooting area calculation unit 204. Send to.

  As described above, the transmission / reception of the position information of the shooting area of the own camera terminal and the position information of the shooting target area 121 is performed via the first shooting area calculation unit 204. The position information of the photographing area of the own camera terminal sent from the adjustment unit 202 of the own camera terminal is sent to the communication unit 303 without performing anything. Also, the position information of the shooting target area 121 sent from the communication unit 203 is sent to the adjustment unit 202 without performing anything. On the other hand, for the position information of the shooting area of the other camera terminal periodically sent from the communication unit 203, the position of the shooting hidden area of the other camera terminal recorded in the shooting hidden area recording unit 205 and the camera Using the position of the terminal, it is updated by the processing of the step shown in FIG. 7A, and the updated position information is sent to the adjustment unit 202. FIG. 7A is a flowchart showing the operation of the first imaging region calculation unit 204, as will be described later.

  However, the operation description this time is a case where there is no obstacle. For this reason, nothing is recorded in the imaging concealment area recording unit 205. The processing of the step shown in FIG. 7 (a) will be described in detail when explaining the operation when there is an obstacle, but nothing is recorded in the imaging concealment area recording unit 205. No, and the processing of the step shown in FIG. 7A ends without performing any processing on the position information of the imaging area of the other camera terminal periodically sent from the communication unit 203. As described above, when there is no obstacle as described in the current operation, the first imaging region calculation unit 204 also performs the positional information of the imaging region of the other camera terminal periodically transmitted from the communication unit 203. Nothing is done, and the same position information is sent to the adjustment unit 202.

According to the above, in each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C, the adjustment unit 202 periodically acquires the position information of the shooting area and the position information of the shooting target area 121 in the camera 201 of the own camera terminal and the other camera terminal. Thus, in the present description, each adjustment unit 202 is set to X _AL 130AL, X _AR 130AR, Y _AU 130AU and Y _AB 130AB, which are the positions of the shooting area 120A of the camera terminal A 101A, and the shooting area 120B of the camera terminal B 101B. X _BL 130BL, X _BR 130BR, Y _BU 130BU and Y _BB 130BB, which are positions, X _CL 130CL, X _CR 130CR, Y _CU 130CU and Y _CB 130CB, which are positions of the photographing area 120C of the camera terminal C 101C, photographing target area 121 is the position of the X _TL 131TL, X _TR 131TR Periodically acquired via the Y _TU 131TU and Y _TB 131TB communication unit 203 and network 103.

  The adjustment unit 202 further performs the following steps shown in FIG. 4 based on the acquired position information of the shooting area and position information of the shooting target area 121 (which is also position information of the non-shooting area 122). Do.

  First, in step 401, the adjustment unit 202 uses the information indicating the shooting area position of the camera 201 of the own camera terminal and the other camera terminal, and the shooting area or the non-shooting area 122 of the other camera terminal adjacent to the shooting area of the own camera terminal. Select. If there is no adjacent shooting area, the adjacent shooting target area is set as the non-shooting area 122. For this reason, in the camera terminal A 101A, the non-shooting area 122 as the left neighbor, the upper neighbor and the lower neighbor, the camera terminal B shooting area 120B as the right neighbor, and the camera terminal A shooting area as the left neighbor in the camera terminal B 101B In 120A, the non-photographing area 122 as the upper neighbor and the lower neighbor, the camera terminal C photographing area 120C as the right neighbor, and the camera terminal C 101C as the right neighbor, the camera terminal B photographing area 120B as the left neighbor, The non-photographing target area 122 is selected.

Next, in Step 402, the adjustment unit 202 calculates an amount indicating the size of the overlapping area, which is an area where the shooting area selected in Step 401 overlaps the shooting area of the own camera terminal. As shown in FIG. 1B, in the camera terminal A 101A, the amount X _TL -X _AL indicating the size of the non-photographing overlap area AL that is the left adjacent overlap area, and the image capture that is the right adjacent overlap area. A quantity X _AR -X _BL indicating the size of the overlapping area AB, a quantity Y _TU -Y _AU indicating the size of the non-imaging overlapping area AU that is the upper adjacent overlapping area, and an imaging target that is the lower adjacent overlapping area An amount Y _AB −Y _TB indicating the size of the overlapping area AB, and in the camera terminal B 101B, an amount X _AR −X _BL indicating the size of the imaging overlapping area AB that is the adjacent overlapping area on the left side, and the overlapping area on the right side A quantity X _BR -X _CL indicating the size of the imaging overlap area BC, and a quantity Y _TU -Y _BU indicating the size of the non-imaging overlap area BU which is the upper adjacent overlap area, and the lower overlap area the amount Y _BB -Y _TB indicating the size of the imaging target outside overlap region BB, in the camera terminal C 101C, to the left overlap region The amount X _BR -X _CL indicating the size of a photographing overlap region BC, the amount X _CR -X _TR indicating the size of the imaging target outside overlap region CR is overlap region to the right, shooting is overlap region of the upper adjacent An amount Y _TU −Y _CU indicating the size of the non-target overlapping region CR, and an amount Y _CB −Y _TB indicating the size of the non-photographing overlapping region CB which is the lower adjacent overlapping region are calculated.

  Next, in step 403, the adjustment unit 202 adjusts the photographing region position of the own camera terminal so that the amount indicating the size of the overlapping region calculated in step 402 approaches the constant amount C. This adjustment method will be described below. First, the function FA () is defined as an amount indicating the difference between the amount indicating the size of the overlapping region and 0 or a certain amount C equal to or greater than 0. In the first embodiment, the following functions (Equation 1) to (Equation 3) are assumed to be the same function.

（式１）から（式３）はそれぞれ、カメラ端末A １０１Aからカメラ端末C １０１Cに対するものであり、重複領域の大きさを示す量と一定量Ｃとの差の２乗値を、それぞれの差を示す量としている。つぎに、以下の（式４）から（式６）に示すように一般に知られている最急降下法の式を用いて、自カメラ端末の次回の撮影領域位置を算出する。

(Equation 1) to (Equation 3) are for the camera terminal A 101A to the camera terminal C 101C, respectively, and the square value of the difference between the amount indicating the size of the overlapping region and the constant amount C is expressed as each difference. The amount is shown. Next, as shown in the following (Expression 4) to (Expression 6), the next shooting area position of the own camera terminal is calculated using a generally known steepest descent method.

（式４）から（式６）において、Ｘ’_AL、Ｘ’_AR、Y’_AU、Y’_AB、Ｘ’_BL、Ｘ’_BR、Y’_BU、Y’_BB、Ｘ’_CL、Ｘ’_CR、Y’_CU、Y’_CBはそれぞれ、次回のカメラ端末Ａ撮影領域１２０Aからカメラ端末Ｃ撮影領域１２０Cの位置を示し、αは定数である。最後に同撮影領域位置にそれぞれ、カメラ端末A １０１Aからカメラ端末C １０１Cの撮影領域位置を調整する。

In (Expression 4) to (Expression 6), X ′ _AL , X ′ _AR , Y ′ _AU , Y ′ _AB , X ′ _BL , X ′ _BR , Y ′ _BU , Y ′ _BB , X ′ _CL , X ′ _CR , Y ′ _CU , Y ′ _CB indicate the positions of the next camera terminal A shooting area 120A to camera terminal C shooting area 120C, and α is a constant. Finally, the shooting area position of the camera terminal A 101A to the camera terminal C 101C is adjusted to the same shooting area position.

  The adjustment unit 202 sequentially performs the processing of step 401, step 402, and step 403, and returns to the processing of step 401 after the processing of step 403 is completed. Then, the adjustment unit 202 continuously updates the processing from step 401 to step 403, sends the update value calculated by the above formula to the attitude control unit 214, and adjusts the position of the imaging region of the camera 201.

  The operation of the imaging area adjusting apparatus of the present invention when no obstacle is present is as described above. In step 403, the next shooting area position of the own camera terminal is calculated using the steepest descent method so that the amount indicating the size of the overlapping area approaches 0 or a certain amount C of 0 or more. In order to adjust the shooting area position of the camera 201, the camera terminal A shooting area 120A, the camera terminal B shooting area 120B, the camera terminal C shooting area 120C, and the shooting target, which are shooting areas of each camera terminal A 101A to camera terminal C 101C The outer regions 122 overlap each other by a certain amount C of 0 or 0 or more by repeating the processing from step 401 to step 403. As shown in FIG. 1, if the shooting areas of each camera terminal, including the non-shooting area 122, overlap each other with a size of 0 or a certain amount C of 0 or more, the shooting target area 121 becomes the shooting area of each camera terminal. Therefore, when there is no obstacle, the imaging area adjusting device of the present invention can take an image of the imaging target area 121 from the camera terminals A 101A to C 101C without blind spots. it can.

In addition, the adjustment unit 202 repeats the processing from step 401 to step 403, thereby obtaining an effect of shooting the shooting target area 121 without blind spots. The processes of step 402 and step 403 that are repeatedly performed are performed on the shooting area of the other camera adjacent to the shooting area of the own camera terminal selected in step 401 and the non-shooting target area 122. For this reason, even if a change occurs in the position of the shooting area of another camera adjacent to the shooting area of the own camera terminal or the position of the non-shooting target area 122 (also the position of the shooting target area 121) at each time, the change In response to this, it is possible to obtain an effect of photographing the photographing target region 121 without blind spots. As a case where a change occurs in the position of the shooting area or shooting target area 121,
(1) The shooting area of the camera terminal is intentionally changed.
(2) A camera terminal will be newly established.
(3) Some of the camera terminals are removed or break down,
(4) The position of the imaging target area transmitted from the operation terminal is changed.
Is mentioned. Due to these changes, even if a shooting area position transmitted by each camera terminal or a shooting target area position transmitted by the operation terminal changes or is not transmitted, a new shooting area position is transmitted. The apparatus can shoot the shooting target area without blind spots using each camera terminal in accordance with the change of the shooting area position or the shooting target area position.

In the first embodiment, the function FA () indicating the difference between the amount indicating the size of the overlapping region and the fixed amount C equal to or greater than 0 is expressed as (Expression 1) to (Expression 3). Although the square value of the difference between the amount indicating the size of the overlapping region and the constant amount C is used, as shown in FIG. 5, the function FA () is calculated between the amount indicating the size of the overlapping region and the constant amount C. Even if the difference is the fourth power, the sixth power, the tenth power, or the like, or the function FA () is the absolute value of the difference between the amount indicating the size of the overlapping region and the constant amount C, Since these functions FA () have the minimum values when X _AL −X _TL is C, the amount indicating the size of the overlapping region approaches the constant amount C due to the effect of the steepest descent method performed in step 403. Needless to say, an effect can be obtained.

In addition, when the function FA () indicating the difference between the amount indicating the size of the overlapping region and the fixed amount C of 0 or greater than 0 is not the minimum value when X _AL -X _TL is C as shown in FIG. even were the minimum value function FA (), if X _AL -X in the extent possible change in _TL X _AL -X _TL function becomes a minimum value when the C FA (), the same effect It goes without saying that

  In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the adjustment unit 202 is distributed from each camera terminal A 101A to the camera terminal C 101C. However, the adjustment unit 202 is 1 in the imaging region adjustment apparatus. Needless to say, the same effect can be obtained if only one adjustment unit 202 adjusts all the shooting area positions of the cameras 201 of the camera terminals C 101A to 101C from each camera terminal A 101A. Yes.

  In the first embodiment, the camera 201 is handled as a general camera, but the same effect can be obtained even if the camera 201 is a camera that detects invisible light such as infrared light and ultraviolet light. Needless to say, the same effect can be obtained even with a general sensor having a photographing region and a variable photographing region position, such as a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and an atmospheric pressure sensor. . Furthermore, it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained even with a combination of a general camera and these sensors.

  In the first embodiment, the network 103 is handled as a network line used for general communication, but the same effect can be obtained even if the network 103 is a wired or wireless network. Needless to say.

  Further, in the first embodiment, the size of the overlapping area adjacent to the left, right, upper, and lower sides is adjusted to a common fixed amount C. Needless to say, even if the fixed amount C is adjusted separately from A 101A to the camera terminal C 101C, the same effect can be obtained if each fixed amount C is 0 or 0 or more.

  The operation of the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention when there is no obstacle has been described above. Next, the operation of the imaging area adjustment apparatus of the present invention when an obstacle exists will be described. Therefore, in the following description of the operation, it is assumed that the obstacle 140 exists and the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A and the camera terminal B shooting concealment area 150B also exist. Since this obstacle 140 exists, the camera terminal A photographing concealment area 150A and the camera terminal B photographing concealment area 150B exist on the real space surface 113, and the camera terminal A 101A to the camera terminal C 101C exist. In the state shown in FIG. 1 (b), it is not possible to photograph the photographing target area 121 without using blind spots.

In the first embodiment, the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 of each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C records the shooting concealment area of the other camera terminal and the installation position of the camera terminal in advance. did. For this reason, in the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 of the camera terminal A 101A, the left end X _HBL position 160HBL, the right end X _HBR position 160HBR, the upper end Y _HBU position 160HBU, and the lower end Y _HBB are the positions of the camera terminal B photographing concealment area 150B. The position 160HBB and the installation position of the camera terminal B 101B are in the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 of the camera terminal B 101B, which is the position of the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A, left end X _HAL position 160HAL, right end X _HAR position 160 HAR, upper end Y _HAU position 160 _HAU , lower end Y _HAB position 160 _HAB , and the installation position of the camera terminal A 101A are included in the imaging concealment area recording unit 205 of the camera terminal C 101C, the position of the camera terminal A imaging concealment area 150A, the camera The position of the terminal B photographing concealment area 150B, the installation position of the camera terminal A 101A, And installation position of the camera terminal B 101B are recorded.

  As described in the operation of the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention when there is no obstacle, the first imaging area calculation unit 204 of each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C is recorded in the imaging concealment area recording unit 205. Using the position of the shooting concealment area of the camera terminal and the position of the camera terminal, with respect to the position information of the shooting area of the other camera terminal periodically sent from the communication unit 203, the following information shown in FIG. The same position information is updated by the processing of the step.

  First, in step 701, the first imaging area calculation unit 204 determines whether or not there is an unprocessed imaging concealment area for the camera terminal to be processed this time (that is, another camera terminal periodically sent from the communication unit 203). Judging. This is a photographic concealment area of the camera terminal that is the current processing target among the photographic concealment areas of the other camera terminals recorded in the photographic concealment area recording unit 205, and there is an unprocessed process in step 702. Judgment by whether or not. If it does not exist, the process of the first imaging area calculation unit 204 ends. If it exists, the unprocessed shooting concealment area is selected, and the process of step 702 is performed. Note that the processing in step 702 returns to the processing in step 701 when the processing ends. For this reason, the process of step 702 is repeated until there is no unprocessed shooting concealment area of the camera terminal to be processed this time.

  Next, in step 702, the first imaging area calculation unit 204 performs the current processing on the area excluding the imaging concealment area of the camera terminal selected in step 701 from the position of the imaging area of the camera terminal to be processed this time. It is updated as the position of the new shooting area of the target camera terminal. An example of this process will be described with reference to FIG. X1, X2, Y1, Y2 are the positions of the imaging areas before the update of the camera terminal, X3, X4, Y3, Y4 are the positions of the imaging concealment area A of the camera terminal, and X5 are the positions of the imaging concealment area B of the camera terminal. , X6, Y5, Y6, the position of the imaging concealment area C of the camera terminal is X7, X8, Y7, Y8, and the installation position of the camera terminal is X0, Y0.

  First, the left side position of the imaging area after the update of the camera terminal is the camera installation position among the right side position (X4, X6, X8) of each imaging concealment area of the camera terminal and the left side position (X1) of the imaging area of the camera terminal. X0 or less (exists to the left of the camera installation position) and the largest position (updated closest to the camera installation position X0). Next, the right side position of the imaging area after the update of the camera terminal is the camera position of the left side position (X3, X5, X7) of each imaging concealment area of the camera terminal and the right side position (X2) of the imaging area of the camera terminal. It is updated to the position X0 or more (existing to the right of the camera installation position) and the minimum position (the one closest to the camera installation position X0). Next, the upper side position of the shooting area of the camera terminal is equal to or lower than the camera installation position Y0 among the lower side position (Y4, Y6, Y8) of each shooting hidden area of the camera terminal and the upper side position (Y1) of the shooting area of the camera terminal. It is updated to the one having the maximum position (the one closest to the camera installation position Y0). Finally, the lower side position of the imaging area after the update of the camera terminal is the upper side position (Y3, Y5, Y7) of each imaging concealment area of the camera terminal and the lower side position (Y3) of the imaging area of the camera terminal. It is updated to a camera installation position Y0 or more (existing below the camera installation position) and a minimum position (the one closest to the camera installation position Y0). For this reason, the position of the imaging region of the camera terminal is updated to X4, X5, Y6, and Y7.

  The procedure for updating the position of the shooting area of another camera terminal periodically sent from the communication unit 203 performed in the first shooting area calculation unit 204 is as described above.

Therefore, in the camera terminal A 101A, the camera terminal B shooting range 120B is updated due to the presence of the camera terminal B shooting concealment area 150B, but the updated camera terminal B shooting range 120B does not change, and each other camera terminal The position of the shooting area of the camera terminal sent periodically from the camera terminal remains the same as the position of the shooting area of each camera terminal shown in FIG. In addition, in the camera terminal B 101B and the camera terminal C 101C, the camera terminal A shooting range 120A is updated due to the presence of the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A (right end _XAR position 130 _AR → right end X _{AR ′} position 130 _{AR ′} ). The position of the shooting area of the camera terminal periodically sent from each other camera terminal is updated to the position of the shooting area of each camera terminal shown in FIG.

The position of the shooting area of the camera terminal that is updated in the first shooting area calculation unit 204 and periodically sent from the other camera terminal is sent to the adjustment unit 202. The operation of the adjustment unit 202 is the same as the operation of the imaging region adjustment apparatus of the present invention when no obstacle is present, and will be described briefly. However, the operation of the adjustment unit 202 causes the camera terminal B 101B to operate the camera terminal A The left end _XBL position 130 _BL is adjusted so that the width from the right end _{XAR ′} position 130 _{AR ′ of the} imaging area 120A to the left end _XBL position 130 _BL of the camera terminal B imaging area 120B approaches 0 or a certain amount C of 0 or more. Therefore, as a result, the position of the shooting area of each camera terminal shown in FIG. 8B is adjusted. Furthermore, when adjusted to the position of the shooting area of each camera terminal shown in (b) of FIG. 8, in the camera terminal A 101A, as described above, the first shooting area calculation unit 204 performs the shooting of the camera terminal B. Due to the presence of the concealment area 150B, the camera terminal B shooting range 120B is updated (left end _XBL position 130 _BL → left end X _{BL ′} position 130 _{BL ′} ), so that the camera terminal is periodically sent from each other camera terminal. The position of the area is updated to the position of the shooting area of each camera terminal shown in FIG. Therefore, by the operation of the adjustment section 202, the camera terminal A 101A, the width from the rightmost X _AR position 130 _AR of the camera terminal A shooting area 120A left until X _{BL 'position} 130 _BL' of the camera terminal B imaging region 120B is 0 Alternatively, since the right end _XAR position 130 _AR is adjusted so as to approach a certain amount C of 0 or more, as a result, the position is adjusted to the position of the imaging region of each camera terminal shown in FIG.

  The operation of the imaging area adjusting apparatus of the present invention when an obstacle is present is as described above. As shown in FIG. 9B, as with the operation of the imaging area adjustment apparatus of the present invention when no obstacle is present, the camera terminal A imaging area that is an imaging area of each camera terminal A 101A to camera terminal C 101C. 120A, the camera terminal B shooting area 120B, the camera terminal C shooting area 120C, and the non-shooting target area 122 overlap each other. Further, the first shooting area calculation unit 204 sets the position of the shooting area of the camera terminal periodically sent from the other camera terminal, and sets the area excluding the shooting hiding area of the camera from the same area as the shooting area of the camera terminal. In order to update the position, the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A is included in the camera terminal B shooting area 120B, and the camera terminal B shooting concealment area 150B is included in the camera terminal A shooting area 120A. The area where the obstacle exists is included in the overlapping area of the camera terminal A shooting area 120A and the camera terminal B shooting hidden area 150B. That is, since the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A is shot by the camera terminal B 101B and the camera terminal B shooting concealment area 150B is shot by the camera terminal A 101A, the shooting area of the invention can be used even when there is an obstacle. The adjusting device can shoot the shooting target area 121 without blind spots using the camera terminals A 101A to C 101C.

  Since the operation of the adjustment unit 202 is similar to the operation of the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention when there is no obstacle, even when there is an obstacle, it is adjacent to the imaging area of the own camera terminal at each time. Even if there is a change in the position of the shooting area of the other camera or the position of the non-shooting target area 122 (which is also the position of the shooting target area 121), the shooting area adjusting device of the present invention takes a picture in response to the change. Needless to say, the target area 121 can be photographed without blind spots.

  Further, in the photographing area adjusting apparatus of the present invention in the first embodiment, the photographing concealment area recording unit 205 of each camera terminal 101A to 101C previously stores the positions of the photographing concealment areas of the other camera terminals and the positions of the camera terminals. Is recorded, the first imaging area calculation unit 204 of each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C records the imaging concealment area only for the imaging area position information of other camera terminals periodically sent from the communication unit 203. Update processing is performed using the position information recorded in the unit 205 (position information of the shooting area of the own camera terminal sent from the adjustment unit 202 of the own camera terminal and the shooting target area sent from the communication unit 203 No processing is performed on the position information 121). However, it is assumed that the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 of each camera terminal 101A to 101C has recorded in advance the position of the shooting concealment area of the own camera terminal and the position of the own camera terminal. The one shooting area calculation unit 204 uses the position information recorded in the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 only for the position information of the shooting area of the own camera terminal periodically sent from the adjustment unit 202 of the own camera terminal. Even if update processing is performed (no processing is performed on the position information of the shooting area of the other camera terminal sent from the communication unit 203 and the position information of the shooting target area 121 sent from the communication unit 203) ) As a result, there is no difference in the value of the position of the updated shooting area of the other camera terminal sent to the adjustment unit 202 of each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C. It goes without saying that it is possible to pass adjusting device for photographing without blind spots the imaging region 121.

  Further, in the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention in the first embodiment, the position of the imaging concealment area of each camera is assumed to be a fixed value. However, for example, each camera that occurs due to the presence of a moving object is described. Even if the position of the shooting concealment area of each camera is changed at each time, such as the position of the shooting concealment area, the shooting concealment area of each camera recorded in the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 is tracked accordingly. If the position of the camera is to be updated, the first shooting area calculation unit 204 updates the position of the shooting area of each camera based on the position of the shooting concealment area of each camera changed. It goes without saying that the apparatus can shoot the shooting target area 121 without blind spots. In other words, in the present embodiment, the imaging area adjustment device further includes a function of detecting and updating an area where camera imaging is concealed by an obstacle based on images captured by a plurality of camera terminals, and the first imaging The area calculation unit 204 may calculate an area obtained by removing the updated concealment area from the shooting area of the camera as a new shooting area.

  Further, in the photographing area adjusting apparatus of the present invention in the first embodiment, the photographing concealment area recording unit 205 records the positions of the photographing concealment areas of its own and other camera terminals in advance. Even if it is sent from the operation terminal 102 to the photographing concealment region recording unit 205 of each camera terminal via the network 103, the photographing region adjusting apparatus of the present invention can photograph the photographing target region 121 without blind spots. Needless to say.

  Further, in the photographing area adjusting apparatus of the present invention in the first embodiment, the photographing concealment area recording unit 205 records the positions of the photographing concealment areas of its own and other camera terminals in advance. Is detected by the image processing unit 213 of each camera terminal and is recorded in the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 of each camera terminal, the shooting area adjusting device of the present invention takes a picture of the shooting target area 121 without blind spots. It goes without saying that we can do it.

  Further, in the imaging area adjustment apparatus according to the first embodiment, the first imaging area calculation unit 204 newly sets an area excluding an area where the camera imaging is hidden by an obstacle from the imaging area of the camera of another camera terminal. Although the calculation photographing area is calculated as the photographing area, the same effect can be obtained by the following method. Based on (1) the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal and the shooting area of the camera of the other camera terminal received via the communication unit 203, the adjustment unit 202 If the overlap area amount, which is the amount of the area that overlaps the imaging area adjacent to the area, is a target amount that is a certain amount of 0 or more, and (2) if there is an obstacle, the obstacle is overlapped The position of the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal may be adjusted so that it exists in the area to be used. As a result, the shooting areas overlap each other, and the obstacle is shot by two or more camera terminals adjacent to each other, and as a result, the same effect as in the present embodiment, that is, This is because the area to be imaged is imaged without blind spots regardless of the presence or absence of obstacles.

  Next, a method for detecting the position of the shooting concealment area in the image processing unit 213 of each camera terminal will be described below. The imaging region adjustment apparatus of the present invention is composed of a plurality of cameras. However, when there are a plurality of cameras, a camera generated due to the presence of an obstacle 140 or the like due to a difference in images captured by both cameras. It is possible to detect the positions of the terminal A photographing concealment area 150A, the camera terminal B photographing concealment area 150B, and the like.

  For example, first, as a first example, an example shown in FIG. Each of the camera terminals 101A to 101B can specify an identifiable object that can be specified by the image processing unit 213 of each camera terminal using a general image processing method such as pattern matching, for example, with respect to the image captured by the camera terminal 101A to 101B. Assume that 2001 is detected. When a certain camera terminal (camera terminal A 101A in FIG. 10 (a)) detects the identifiable object 2001, the position where the identifiable object 2001 exists is an area in which shooting is not concealed for the camera terminal. Prove. On the other hand, when a certain camera terminal (camera terminal B 101B in FIG. 10A) cannot detect the identifiable object 2001, the position where the identifiable object 2001 exists is the shooting concealment area for the camera terminal. (The position where the identifiable object 2001 is present may be transmitted to the other camera terminals via the network 103 by the camera terminal that detected the identifiable object 2001).

  As a second example, an example shown in FIG. In the first example, the identifiable object 2001 is required, but in this example, the identifiable object 2001 is not necessary. First, adjustment is performed so that the positions of the shooting areas of the camera terminals are the same, that is, the same position is shot. Then, the captured image taken by itself is transmitted to another camera terminal via the network. Furthermore, the image processing unit 213 of each camera terminal compares the image captured by its own camera terminal with the image captured by another camera terminal transmitted via the network 103 (a difference between the two images) Since each camera terminal has a different pan / tilt angle and installation position, before comparing the images, the images taken by each camera terminal are converted to the same pan / tilt angle by geometric conversion based on the pan / tilt angle and installation position. Or convert it to an image taken from the installation position). If the images of both camera terminals match (the difference between the two images is smaller than a certain reference value), it is determined that the imaged area is an area in which shooting is not concealed for both camera terminals. Conversely, if the images of both camera terminals do not match (difference between both images is greater than a certain reference value), the imaged area is captured by either one of the two camera terminals. It turns out to be a hidden area. In this case, it is not clear which of the two camera terminals is the shooting concealment area (in the case of using three camera terminals, which camera terminal depends on the installation position condition of the camera terminal). It is possible to determine whether or not the shooting is concealed), and both the camera terminals may regard the captured area as the imaging concealment area.

  In addition, images captured by the camera terminals 101A to 101C of the imaging region adjusting apparatus of the present invention in the first embodiment are collected at one place via the network 103, and these images are spatially continuous into one image. May be combined and displayed / stored. Note that in order to create a single composite image, the position information of the shooting area of each image is necessary, but these are taken from the camera terminal A shooting area 120A transmitted from each camera terminal 101A to 101C. The position information of the area 120C may be used. That is, the imaging region adjustment apparatus of the present embodiment may further include a function of acquiring images captured by cameras of a plurality of camera terminals, combining them as spatially continuous images, and displaying the combined images. . By doing this, as shown in FIG. 25, a single image taken of the non-shootable area is displayed / accumulated, and the burden on the monitor who monitors the video on the display device is reduced particularly in monitoring applications. It becomes possible.

Further, in the description of the operation of imaging region adjustment device according to the first embodiment, for simplicity of explanation, the shape of the imaging area of the camera terminals consists of sides parallel to X _W axis 110 and Y _W axis 111 It was described as a rectangle. However, due to the installation position and orientation of the camera terminal, the shape of the imaging area of the camera terminal is rarely becomes a square consisting of sides parallel to the X _W axis 110 and Y _W-axis 111. As shown in the imaging area 2401 of FIG. 12, it is often a square consisting sides not parallel to the X _W axis 110 and Y _W-axis 111. Thus, if a square consisting sides the shape of the imaging area of the camera terminals are not parallel to the X _W axis 110 and Y _W-axis 111, as shown imaging area inscribed rectangle 2402 of FIG. 12, the imaging area 2401 a rectangle composed of sides parallel to the X _W axis 110 and Y _W axis 111 inscribed in may be handled as the imaging area. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the shape of the shooting area of each camera terminal. In FIG. 12, a camera 201, a lens 211, and an imaging surface 212 are the same as the configuration block diagram of each camera terminal of the imaging region adjustment apparatus of the present invention in the first embodiment shown in FIG. The X _W axis 110, the Y _W axis 111, and the Z _W axis 112 are the same as those in the imaging area adjusting apparatus of the present invention in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2401 imaging region by the camera 201 is captured, the square comprised of sides parallel to the X _W axis 110 and Y _W axis 111 inscribed in the imaging area 2401 2402, the 2410 from 2413 the four corners of the X _W imaging region 2401 from the position X1 is an axial 110 direction from one position X3,2420 2423 is located Y3 from the four corners of the Y _W-axis 111 in the direction of the position location Y1 of the imaging area 2401. As shown in FIG. 12, the position of the imaging area inscribed rectangle 2402 is easily obtained by the size relationship between positions X1 2410 to X4 2413 and positions Y1 2420 to Y4 2423, which are the positions of the four corners of the imaging area 2401. be able to. Here, although a rectangle composed of sides parallel to the X _W axis 110 and Y _W axis 111 inscribed in the imaging area 2401 has been described as an imaging area, without inscribed in imaging area 2401, the imaging region 2401 in Yes, that the square formed of sides parallel to the X _W axis 110 and Y _W-axis 111 may be imaged region of course.

Further, in the imaging area adjusting apparatus according to the first embodiment, the real space surface 113 is set to Z _W = 0 as shown in FIG. However, as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B and FIG. 14, even when the real space surface 113 is set to Z _W = C, the imaging region adjustment apparatus of the present invention sets the imaging target region 121 to the blind spot. It goes without saying that you can shoot without any problems. Furthermore, as the shooting area taken by each camera terminal moves toward the 0 direction of the Z _W axis 112, the shooting area expands (however, the installation position (X0, Y0, Z0) of the camera terminal corresponds to the shooting target area 121) ( X1, Y1, C) to (X2, Y2, C), it is necessary that X1 ≦ X0 ≦ X2 and Y1 ≦ Y0 ≦ Y2. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 13 (a) and 13 (b) and FIG. 14, the real space surface 113 with Z _W = C, the surface with Z _W = 0, and a solid range determined by the imaging target region 121 It is also possible to shoot without blind spots. Further, in the description of the operation of the imaging area adjusting device in the first embodiment, it is assumed that the obstacle 140 is on the real space surface 113 as shown in FIG. However, as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B and FIG. 14, even if the obstacle 140 is not particularly on the real space surface 113, the imaging region adjusting device of the present invention images the imaging target region 121 without blind spots. It goes without saying that we can do it.

  Moreover, in the imaging area adjustment apparatus in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11A, the imaging area adjustment apparatus of the present invention includes an imaging area of the camera terminal A 101A and an imaging area of the camera terminal B 101B. Finally, the position of the overlapping area is adjusted to the position where the obstacle 140 exists. This is because the presence of the obstacle 140 causes the positions of the camera terminal A photographing concealment area 150A and the camera terminal B photographing concealment area 150B to be substantially centered on the position where the obstacle 140 exists. . For this reason, the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention is an apparatus that images the imaging target area without blind spots by adjusting the position of the overlapping area of the imaging areas of each camera terminal to the position where the obstacle exists. Can be considered.

  Finally, the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention is capable of imaging the imaging target area without blind spots using each camera terminal even when an obstacle exists, but there is one exception. To do. In the case shown in FIG. 15, no matter how the shooting area position is adjusted by adjusting the pan / tilt / angle of view of the camera terminal A 101A and the camera terminal B 101B, the camera terminal A shooting hidden area 150A and the camera It is impossible to capture an area where the terminal B imaging concealment area 150B overlaps (in this example, an imaging area where the bottom surface of the obstacle 140 contacts). This is due to the number and installation position of each camera terminal, the maximum value of parameters to be adjusted such as pan / tilt / viewing angle of each camera terminal, and the shape, position and number of obstacles 140. As described above, the imaging area adjusting device of the present invention is basically unable to take an image for an area that cannot be shot no matter how the shooting area position of each camera terminal is adjusted. Therefore, the same area is not included in the imaging target area, or even if it is included, the same area may not be captured.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, regardless of the presence or absence of the obstacle 140, as shown in FIG. 11B, on the real space surface 113, the camera shooting area (camera terminal A An area (a range indicated by a thick solid line in FIG. 11B) that is obtained by summing up the imaging area 120A, the camera terminal B imaging area 120B, and the camera terminal C imaging area 120C) is an area targeted for predetermined imaging (imaging target area). 121) and a photographing area adjusting device that automatically adjusts the photographing area of the camera of each camera terminal so as to cover the entire surface of the obstacle 140, will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 16 to 19. FIG.

  First, the configuration of the imaging region adjusting apparatus of the present invention in Embodiment 2 will be described below. The imaging area adjustment apparatus in the second embodiment automatically adjusts the imaging area of the camera of each camera terminal so as to cover the entire area including the surface of the obstacle 140 with respect to the imaging area adjustment apparatus in the first embodiment. The point is different. For this reason, the configuration of the imaging region adjustment device of the present invention in the second embodiment differs from the configuration of the imaging region adjustment device of the present invention in the first embodiment in the components of the camera terminals 101A to 101C. Other configurations are the same as those in the imaging region adjusting apparatus of the present invention in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 16 is a block diagram of the configuration of each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C of the photographing area adjusting device of the present invention in the second embodiment. Each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C includes a camera 201, an adjustment unit 202, a communication unit 203, a first shooting area calculation unit 204, a shooting concealment area recording unit 205, and a second shooting area calculation unit 206. In FIG. 16, the camera 201, the adjustment unit 202, the communication unit 203, the first imaging region calculation unit 204, and the imaging concealment region recording unit 205 are the cameras of the imaging region adjustment apparatus according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. This is the same as the configuration block diagram of the terminal. The lens 211, the imaging surface 212, the image processing unit 213, and the attitude control unit 214 are also the same as the configuration block diagram of each camera terminal of the imaging region adjusting apparatus according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. Reference numeral 206 denotes a second imaging area calculation unit that calculates the imaging area of the other camera terminal. The difference from the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention in Embodiment 1 is that this second imaging area calculation unit 206 is added. The first imaging area calculation unit 204 sets a new (calculated) area excluding an area where the shooting of the camera of the other camera terminal is hidden by an obstacle from the imaging area captured by the camera of the other camera terminal. While the shooting area is calculated as the shooting area of the camera of the camera terminal, the second shooting area calculation unit 206 conceals the shooting of the camera of the camera terminal by an obstacle from the shooting area shot by the camera of the other camera terminal. The shooting area is calculated using the area excluding the area to be used as the new shooting area of the camera of the other camera terminal. In the present embodiment, the first shooting area calculation unit 204 excludes the shooting concealment area of the other camera terminal from the position of the shooting area periodically sent from the other camera terminal, and the second shooting area calculation unit 206 further includes Since the process of removing the shooting concealment area of the own camera terminal is performed, as a result, an area where the shooting of the camera of the other camera terminal and the own camera terminal is concealed by an obstacle from the shooting area shot by the camera of the other camera terminal The excluded area is calculated as a new (calculated) shooting area of the camera of the other camera terminal.

  Next, the operation of the imaging area adjustment apparatus of the present invention in Embodiment 2 will be described below. First, the operation of the imaging area adjustment apparatus of the present invention when there are no obstacles that hinder the imaging of the camera. explain. Therefore, in the following description of the operation, it is assumed that the obstacle 140 does not exist and the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A and the camera terminal B shooting concealment area 150B do not exist. Similarly to the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention in Embodiment 1, the imaging concealment area recording unit 205 of each camera terminal 101A to 101C previously stores the imaging concealment area of another camera terminal and the installation position of the camera terminal. Is recorded. In the shooting area adjusting apparatus of the present invention in the second embodiment, the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 of each camera terminal 101A to 101C further includes the shooting concealment area of the own camera terminal and the installation position of the camera terminal in advance. Shall also be recorded. However, since the current operation description is for the case where no obstacle exists, nothing is recorded in the imaging concealment area recording unit 205 in the current operation description.

  The configuration of the imaging area adjustment apparatus of the present invention in the second embodiment is obtained by adding a second imaging area calculation unit 206 to the imaging area adjustment apparatus of the present invention in the first embodiment. With the addition of the second shooting area calculation unit 206, the position information of the shooting area of the own camera terminal and the position information of the shooting target area 121 are calculated not only by the first shooting area calculation unit 204 but also by the second shooting area calculation. The data is also transmitted / received via the unit 206.

  The second shooting area calculation unit 206 does not perform anything on the position information of the shooting area of the own camera terminal sent from the adjustment unit 202 of the own camera terminal, and sends the position information to the communication unit 303. Also, the position information of the shooting target area 121 sent from the communication unit 203 is sent to the adjustment unit 202 without performing anything. The above operation is the same as that of the first imaging area calculation unit 204. However, with respect to the position information of the shooting area of the other camera terminal periodically sent from the communication unit 203, the position of the shooting hidden area of the own camera terminal recorded in the shooting hidden area recording unit 205 and The position of the camera terminal is used to update by the processing of the step shown in FIG. 17, and the updated position information is sent to the first shooting area calculation unit 204 (the first shooting area calculation unit 204 has a shooting hidden area recording unit) The position of the imaging concealment area of the other camera terminal recorded in 205 and the position of the camera terminal were used to update by the processing of the step shown in FIG.

  However, the operation description this time is a case where there is no obstacle. For this reason, nothing is recorded in the imaging concealment area recording unit 205. The processing of the step shown in FIG. 17 will be described in detail when explaining the operation when there is an obstacle, but as described in the first embodiment, nothing is recorded in the imaging concealment area recording unit 205. The determination process in 1101 is No, and the process in the step shown in FIG. 17 is terminated without performing any processing on the position information of the shooting area of the other camera terminal periodically sent from the communication unit 203. As described above, when there is no obstacle as described in the current operation, the second imaging area calculation unit 206 also performs the positional information on the imaging area of the other camera terminal sent from the communication unit 203 periodically. The same position information is sent to the adjustment unit 202 without doing anything. That is, when there is no obstacle, the second imaging area calculation unit 206 does nothing at all.

  For this reason, when there is no obstacle, the imaging region adjusting apparatus of the present invention operates in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and it is obvious that the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

  The operation of the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention when there is no obstacle has been described above. Next, the operation of the imaging area adjustment apparatus of the present invention when an obstacle exists will be described. Therefore, in the following description of the operation, it is assumed that the obstacle 140 exists and the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A and the camera terminal B shooting concealment area 150B also exist. Since this obstacle 140 exists, the camera terminal A photographing concealment area 150A and the camera terminal B photographing concealment area 150B exist on the real space surface 113, and the camera terminal A 101A to the camera terminal C 101C exist. In the state shown in FIG. 1 (b), it is not possible to photograph the photographing target area 121 without using blind spots.

In the second embodiment, the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 of each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C previously stores the shooting concealment area of the other camera terminal, the installation position of the camera terminal, and the own camera terminal. The shooting concealment area and the installation position of the camera terminal are recorded. For this reason, in the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 of the camera terminal A 101A, the left end X _HBL position 160HBL, the right end X _HBR position 160HBR, the upper end Y _HBU position 160HBU, and the lower end Y _HBB are the positions of the camera terminal B photographing concealment area 150B. Position 160HBB, installation position of camera terminal B 101B, and position of camera terminal A photographing concealment area 150A, left end X _HAL position 160HAL, right end X _HAR position 160HAR, upper end Y _HAU position 160HAU, lower end Y _HAB position 160HAB And, the installation position of the camera terminal A 101A is stored in the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 of the camera terminal B 101B, which is the position of the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A, left end X _HAL position 160HAL, right end X _HAR position 160HAR, Upper end Y _HAU position 160HAU, lower end Y _HAB position 160HAB, and The left end X _HBL position 160HBL, the right end X _HBR position 160HBR, the upper end Y _HBU position 160HBU, the lower end Y _HBB position 160HBB, and the camera terminal, which are the installation position of the camera terminal A 101A and the position of the camera terminal B photographing concealment area 150B The installation position of B 101B is set in the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 of the camera terminal C 101C, the position of the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A, the position of the camera terminal B photography concealment area 150B, and the camera terminal A 101A. The installation position and the installation position of the camera terminal B 101B are recorded.

  As described in the operation of the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention when there is no obstacle, the second imaging area calculation unit 206 of each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C is recorded in the imaging concealment area recording unit 205. The following steps shown in FIG. 17 are performed on the position information of the shooting area of the other camera terminal periodically sent from the communication unit 203 using the position of the shooting concealment area of the camera terminal and the position of the camera terminal. To update the same position information.

  First, in step 1101, it is determined whether or not there is an unprocessed shooting concealment area of the own camera terminal. This is determined based on whether or not there is a photographing concealment area of the own camera terminal recorded in the photographing concealment area recording unit 205 and the processing in step 1102 is unprocessed. If it does not exist, the process of the second imaging area calculation unit 206 ends. If it exists, the unprocessed shooting concealment area is selected, and the process of step 1102 is performed. Note that the processing in step 1102 returns to the processing in step 1101 when the processing ends. For this reason, the processing of step 1102 is repeated until there is no unprocessed shooting concealment area of the own camera terminal.

  Next, in step 1102, the shooting concealment area of the own camera terminal selected in step 1101 from the position of the shooting area of the camera terminal to be processed this time (that is, another camera terminal periodically sent from the communication unit 203). The area except for is updated as the position of the new imaging area of the camera terminal to be processed this time. An example of this processing has been described in the first embodiment, and is therefore omitted.

  The procedure for updating the position of the shooting area of the other camera terminal periodically sent from the communication unit 203 performed in the second shooting area calculation unit 206 is as described above.

  For this reason, in the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention in Embodiment 2, the first imaging area calculation unit 204 excludes the imaging concealment area of the camera terminal from the position of the imaging area periodically sent from the other camera terminal. Further, the second shooting area calculation unit 206 performs processing for removing the shooting hiding area of the own camera terminal, and updates it as a shooting area of a new other camera terminal.

As a result, in the camera terminal A 101A, the camera terminal B shooting range 120B is updated due to the presence of the camera terminal A shooting hidden area 150A and the camera terminal B shooting hidden area 150B, but the updated camera terminal B shooting range 120B is updated. There is no change, and the position of the shooting area of the camera terminal periodically sent from each other camera terminal remains the position of the shooting area of each camera terminal shown in FIG. In the camera terminal B 101B and the camera terminal C 101C, the camera terminal A shooting range 120A is updated due to the presence of the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A and the camera terminal B shooting concealment area 150B (right end _XAR position 130 _AR → right end X _{AR ′} position 130 _{AR ′} ), the position of the shooting area of the camera terminal periodically sent from each other camera terminal is updated to the position of the shooting area of each camera terminal shown in FIG.

The position of the shooting area of the camera terminal periodically sent from the other camera terminal and updated by the first shooting area calculation unit 204 and the second shooting area calculation unit 206 is sent to the adjustment unit 202. The operation of the adjustment unit 202 is the same as the operation of the imaging region adjustment apparatus of the present invention when no obstacle is present in the first embodiment, and will be described briefly. However, the operation of the adjustment unit 202 allows the camera terminal B 101B to operate. so as the width from the rightmost X _{AR 'position} 130 _AR' of the camera terminal a shooting area 120A to the left X _BL position 130 _BL of the camera terminal B imaging region 120B approaches zero or zero or more predetermined amount C, left X _BL Since the position 130 _BL is adjusted, as a result, the position is adjusted to the position of the shooting area of each camera terminal shown in FIG. Further, when the camera terminal A 101A is adjusted to the position of the shooting area of each camera terminal shown in FIG. 18B, as described above, the first shooting area calculation unit 204 and the second shooting area calculation unit. 206 updates the camera terminal B shooting range 120B due to the presence of the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A and the camera terminal B shooting concealment area 150B (left end X _BL position 130 _BL → left end X _{BL ′} position 130 _{BL ′} ). The position of the shooting area of the camera terminal periodically sent from each other camera terminal is updated to the position of the shooting area of each camera terminal shown in FIG. Therefore, by the operation of the adjustment section 202, the camera terminal A 101A, the width from the rightmost X _AR position 130 _AR of the camera terminal A shooting area 120A left until X _{BL 'position} 130 _BL' of the camera terminal B imaging region 120B is 0 Alternatively, since the right end _XAR position 130 _AR is adjusted so as to approach a certain amount C of 0 or more, as a result, the position is adjusted to the position of the imaging region of each camera terminal shown in FIG.

  The operation of the imaging area adjusting apparatus of the present invention when an obstacle is present is as described above. As shown in FIG. 19 (b), the camera terminal A shooting area, which is the shooting area of each camera terminal A 101A to camera terminal C 101C, is similar to the operation of the shooting area adjusting apparatus of the present invention when no obstacle is present. 120A, the camera terminal B shooting area 120B, the camera terminal C shooting area 120C, and the non-shooting target area 122 overlap each other. Further, the first shooting area calculation unit 204 sets the position of the shooting area of the camera terminal periodically sent from the other camera terminal, and sets the area excluding the shooting hiding area of the camera from the same area as the shooting area of the camera terminal. In order to update the position, the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A is included in the camera terminal B shooting area 120B, and the camera terminal B shooting concealment area 150B is included in the camera terminal A shooting area 120A. The area where the obstacle exists is included in the overlapping area of the camera terminal A shooting area 120A and the camera terminal B shooting hidden area 150B. That is, since the camera terminal A shooting concealment area 150A is shot by the camera terminal B 101B and the camera terminal B shooting concealment area 150B is shot by the camera terminal A 101A, the shooting area of the invention can be used even when there is an obstacle. The adjusting device can shoot the shooting target area 121 without blind spots using the camera terminals A 101A to C 101C.

  The operation of the adjustment unit 202 is the same as the operation of the imaging region adjustment apparatus according to the present invention when there is no obstacle described in the first embodiment. Even if a change occurs in the position of the shooting area of another camera adjacent to the shooting area of the own camera terminal or the position of the non-shooting target area 122 (which is also the position of the shooting target area 121), Needless to say, the imaging region adjusting apparatus of the present invention can image the imaging target region 121 without blind spots.

  Further, in the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention in the second embodiment, the position of the imaging concealment area of each camera is assumed to be a fixed value. However, for example, each camera generated due to the presence of a moving object is described. Even if the position of the shooting concealment area of each camera is changed at each time like the position of the shooting concealment area, the position of the shooting concealment area of each camera to be recorded in the photographing concealment area recording unit 205 is adjusted accordingly. If updating is performed, the first shooting area calculation unit 204 and the second shooting area calculation unit 206 update the position of the shooting area of each camera based on the position of the shooting concealment area of each camera changed. It goes without saying that the imaging area adjusting device of the invention can image the imaging target area 121 without blind spots.

  Further, in the photographing area adjusting device of the present invention in the second embodiment, the photographing concealment area recording unit 205 records the positions of the photographing concealment areas of the camera terminal and other camera terminals in advance. Even if it is sent from the operation terminal 102 to the photographing concealment region recording unit 205 of each camera terminal via the network 103, the photographing region adjusting apparatus of the present invention can photograph the photographing target region 121 without blind spots. Needless to say.

  Further, in the photographing area adjusting device of the present invention in the second embodiment, the photographing concealment area recording unit 205 records the positions of the photographing concealment areas of the camera terminal and other camera terminals in advance. Is detected by the image processing unit 213 of each camera terminal and is recorded in the shooting concealment area recording unit 205 of each camera terminal, the shooting area adjusting device of the present invention takes a picture of the shooting target area 121 without blind spots. It goes without saying that we can do it.

  In addition, images captured by the camera terminals 101A to 101C of the imaging region adjusting apparatus of the present invention in the second embodiment are collected at one place via the network 103, and these images are spatially continuous into one image. May be combined and displayed / stored. By doing this, as shown in FIG. 25, a single image taken of the non-shootable area is displayed / accumulated, and the burden on the monitor who monitors the video on the display device is reduced particularly in monitoring applications. It becomes possible.

Further, in the description of the operation of imaging region adjustment device according to the second embodiment, in order to simplify the description, the shape of the imaging area of the camera terminals consists of sides parallel to X _W axis 110 and Y _W axis 111 It was described as a rectangle. However, due to the installation position and orientation of the camera terminal, the shape of the imaging area of the camera terminal is rarely becomes a square consisting of sides parallel to the X _W axis 110 and Y _W-axis 111. As shown in the imaging area 2401 of FIG. 12, it is often a square consisting sides not parallel to the X _W axis 110 and Y _W-axis 111. Thus, if a square consisting sides the shape of the imaging area of the camera terminals are not parallel to the X _W axis 110 and Y _W-axis 111, as shown imaging area inscribed rectangle 2402 of FIG. 12, the imaging area 2401 a rectangle composed of sides parallel to the X _W axis 110 and Y _W axis 111 inscribed in may be handled as the imaging area.

Further, in the imaging area adjusting apparatus according to the second embodiment, the real space surface 113 is set to Z _W = 0 as shown in FIG. However, as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B and FIG. 14, even when the real space surface 113 is set to Z _W = C, the imaging region adjustment apparatus of the present invention sets the imaging target region 121 to the blind spot. It goes without saying that you can shoot without any problems. Furthermore, as the shooting area taken by each camera terminal moves toward the 0 direction of the Z _W axis 112, the shooting area expands (however, the installation position (X0, Y0, Z0) of the camera terminal corresponds to the shooting target area 121) ( X1, Y1, C) to (X2, Y2, C), it is necessary that X1 ≦ X0 ≦ X2 and Y1 ≦ Y0 ≦ Y2. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 13 (a) and 13 (b) and FIG. 14, the real space surface 113 with Z _W = C, the surface with Z _W = 0, and a solid range determined by the imaging target region 121 It is also possible to shoot without blind spots. Further, in the description of the operation of the imaging area adjustment device according to the second embodiment, it is assumed that the obstacle 140 is on the real space surface 113 as shown in FIG. However, as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B and FIG. 14, even if the obstacle 140 is not particularly on the real space surface 113, the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention images the imaging target area 121 without blind spots. It goes without saying that we can do it.

  In addition, in the imaging area adjustment apparatus according to the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11A, the imaging area adjustment apparatus of the present invention includes an imaging area of camera terminal A 101A and an imaging area of camera terminal B 101B. Finally, the position of the overlapping area is adjusted to the position where the obstacle 140 exists. This is because the presence of the obstacle 140 causes the positions of the camera terminal A photographing concealment area 150A and the camera terminal B photographing concealment area 150B to be substantially centered on the position where the obstacle 140 exists. . For this reason, the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention is an apparatus that images the imaging target area without blind spots by adjusting the position of the overlapping area of the imaging areas of each camera terminal to the position where the obstacle exists. Can be considered. Further, as shown in FIGS. 11 (a) and 11 (b), the imaging region adjusting device of the present invention in Embodiment 1 ((a) in FIG. 11) does not capture the entire surface of the obstacle 140. The imaging region adjusting device of the present invention in the second embodiment (FIG. 11 (b)) images the entire surface of the obstacle 140. For this reason, when it is necessary to image the imaging target area including the surface of the obstacle without blind spots, the imaging area adjustment apparatus of the present invention in the second embodiment may be used. For example, although a certain room in the home is set as an imaging target area, it is particularly effective for satisfying a demand for imaging including household goods such as a table which is also an obstacle.

  Finally, the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention is capable of imaging the imaging target area without blind spots using each camera terminal even when an obstacle exists, but there is one exception. To do. In the case shown in FIG. 15, no matter how the shooting area position is adjusted by adjusting the pan / tilt / angle of view of the camera terminal A 101A and the camera terminal B 101B, the camera terminal A shooting hidden area 150A and the camera It is impossible to capture an area where terminal B imaging concealment area 150B overlaps. This is due to the number and installation position of each camera terminal, the maximum value of parameters to be adjusted such as pan / tilt / viewing angle of each camera terminal, and the shape, position and number of obstacles 140. As described above, the imaging area adjusting device of the present invention is basically unable to take an image for an area that cannot be shot no matter how the shooting area position of each camera terminal is adjusted. Therefore, the same area is not included in the imaging target area, or even if it is included, the same area may not be captured.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the imaging area adjusting apparatus according to the first and second embodiments, the imaging area of the camera terminal is simply the area that the camera captures, but this is the area that the camera terminal captures at a certain time T (hereinafter, Time T imaging region). On the other hand, in the third embodiment, the imaging area of the camera terminal is an area that is imaged in the period TCYCLE when the area to be imaged at time T is periodically changed with the period TCYCLE (hereinafter, the period T _CYCLE imaging area). The imaging region adjusting apparatus of the present invention in the case of (5) is described with reference to FIGS.

First, the imaging method of the period T _CYCLE imaging area will be described. FIGS. 20A and 20B show the relationship between the time T imaging region and the cycle T _CYCLE imaging region. The time T imaging area 2201 is an area where the camera 201 captures an image at a certain time T. The period T _CYCLE imaging area 2202 is captured by moving (scanning) the time T imaging area 2201 along the time T imaging area moving path 2203 at a certain period T _CYCLE using the pan / tilt operation of the camera 201. It is an area to be done. As described above, the shooting period T _CYCLE imaging region 2202, along with the time T imaging region moving path 2203, it is necessary to move the time T imaging region 2201, the period T _CYCLE imaging region 2202 and It is easy to determine the time T shooting area moving path 2203 as shown in FIG. 20B from the relationship of the horizontal or vertical size of the time T shooting area 2201 (in FIG. 20B, the period T The vertical size of the _CYCLE shooting area 2202 is assumed to be two to three times the vertical size of the time T shooting area 2201). If the time T imaging region moving path 2203 is determined, the position of the time T imaging region 2201 at each time is determined so as to move along the route. For example, if the time T shooting area 2201 moves along the time T shooting area moving path 2203 at a certain movement distance L determined by the pan / tilt speed of the camera terminal at each time, the time T shooting area 2201 at each time The position of 2201 can be easily determined. If the position of the time T shooting area 2201 at each time is determined, the time T shooting area 2201 of the camera terminal may be moved to the same position.

Next, the configuration of the imaging region adjusting apparatus of the present invention in Embodiment 3 will be described below. The shooting area adjustment apparatus in the third embodiment is different from the shooting area adjustment apparatuses in the first and second embodiments in that the shooting area of the camera terminal is not a time T shooting area but a period T _CYCLE shooting area. Is different. For this reason, the configuration of the imaging region adjustment device of the present invention in the third embodiment is different from the configuration of the imaging region adjustment device of the present invention in the first and second embodiments in the configuration of the camera terminals 101A to 101C. The elements are different. Other configurations are the same as those of the imaging region adjusting apparatus of the present invention in the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of the configuration of each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C of the imaging area adjustment device of the present invention when the imaging area of the camera terminal is a period T _CYCLE imaging area. Each of the camera terminals 101A to 101C includes a camera 201a, an adjustment unit 202, a communication unit 203, a first shooting area calculation unit 204, a shooting concealment area recording unit 205, and a second shooting area calculation unit 206. In FIG. 21, the adjustment unit 202, the communication unit 203, the first imaging region calculation unit 204, the imaging concealment region recording unit 205, and the second imaging region calculation unit 206 are the first embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 is the same as the configuration block diagram of each camera terminal of the imaging region adjusting apparatus of the present invention in FIG. However, the detailed configuration of the camera 201a is different from those of the first and second embodiments. In the present embodiment, the camera 201a includes a lens 211, an imaging surface 212, an image processing unit 213, an attitude control unit 214, and a periodic imaging control unit 215. The lens 211, the imaging surface 212, the image processing unit 213, and the attitude control unit 214 are configuration block diagrams of each camera terminal of the imaging region adjustment apparatus according to the first and second embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 and 16. It is the same. The periodic imaging control unit 215 is a control unit that periodically moves the time T imaging region 2201. The difference between the first and second embodiments of the present invention with respect to the imaging region adjustment apparatus is that this periodic imaging control unit 215 is added.

Next, the operation of the camera terminal that captures the period T _CYCLE imaging area will be described. In this case, the adjustment unit 202 adjusts the position of the period T _CYCLE imaging region 2203 instead of the time T imaging region 2202. As described with reference to (a) and (b) of FIG. 20, the periodical imaging control unit 215 periodically shoots the position of the period T _CYCLE imaging area 2202 adjusted by the adjustment unit 202. The position of the time T imaging region 2201 along the movement path 2203 is calculated, and the position is sent to the attitude control unit 214. The attitude control unit 214 adjusts the shooting position of the camera 201a (the position of the time T shooting area 2201) to the same position.

According to the above, in the imaging region adjusting apparatus of the present invention in the third embodiment, each camera terminal 101A to 101C is not a camera terminal that captures the time T imaging region by adding the periodic imaging control unit 215. _Operates as a camera terminal for shooting the period T _CYCLE shooting area. Except for the addition of the periodic imaging control unit 215, the configuration and operation are the same as those of the imaging region adjusting apparatus of the present invention in the first and second embodiments. For this reason, in the imaging area adjusting apparatus of the present invention in Embodiment 3, the imaging area of the camera terminal is the cycle T _CYCLE imaging area and has the effects described in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2. Needless to say.

In FIG. 21, the horizontal / vertical size of the period T _CYCLE imaging region 2202 is a fixed value, but the horizontal / vertical size may be adjusted by the adjustment unit 202. Horizontal / vertical size of the period T _CYCLE imaging region 2202, because it is a value determined by the position of the cycle T _CYCLE imaging region 2202, such as left / right / upper / lower end of the period T _CYCLE imaging region 2202, adjuster 202 cycles It is easy to adjust the horizontal / vertical size of the T _CYCLE imaging area 2202.

  As mentioned above, although the imaging | photography area adjustment apparatus which concerns on this invention was demonstrated based on Embodiment 1-3, this invention is not limited to these Embodiment. Embodiments in which various modifications are made to each embodiment without departing from the gist of the present invention are also included in the present invention. In addition, embodiments realized by appropriately combining the components of each embodiment are also included in the present invention.

  In the above embodiment, the camera terminal is fixed to the ceiling or the like of the building. However, the present invention is not limited to such a fixed camera terminal, but as shown in FIG. It can be realized with a camera terminal. FIG. 22 shows an example in which a movable camera that can move in the horizontal direction (one-dimensional) is installed on the ceiling of the room and monitors the floor surface. However, the movable camera can move two-dimensionally or three-dimensionally. May be. As control for the camera at that time, in addition to panning, tilting, and zooming, or in place of panning and tilting, movement control in the horizontal direction and / or vertical direction may be performed. For example, by fixing the pan angle and performing horizontal (or vertical) movement control instead of pan control, the present invention can be applied to a moving camera without greatly changing the control method in the above embodiment. Can do.

  In the above embodiment, the camera is handled as a general camera, but the same effect can be obtained even if the camera 201 is a camera that detects visible light or invisible light such as infrared light or ultraviolet light. Needless to say, the same applies to a general sensor having a photographing region and a variable photographing region position, such as a fine motion sensor, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, and a sound sensor (microphone). It goes without saying that the effect of can be obtained. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained even with a combination of a general camera and these sensors.

  For example, for a microphone having a directivity characteristic as shown in FIG. 23 (a), as shown in FIG. 23 (b), a direction (area) in which sound can be detected with a certain sensitivity or more can be defined as a detection area. . That is, the present invention can be applied not only to the camera but also to the various sensors described above.

  The correspondence between the claims of the present invention and the components in the embodiment is as follows. That is, the “adjustment means”, “imaging area calculation means”, and “communication means” in the claims are respectively the adjustment section 202, the first and second imaging area calculation sections 204 and 206, and the communication section in the embodiment. 203. In addition, the “combining means”, “display means”, “sensor terminal”, and “sensor” in the claims are not illustrated, but are constituent elements described in the specification. Other constituent elements in the claims correspond to constituent elements in the embodiment having the same name.

  The imaging region adjusting apparatus according to the present invention is a predetermined system without a blind spot, particularly when an obstacle exists, as an imaging system composed of a plurality of camera terminals, a monitoring system, a system for acquiring image information in real space, and the like. For example, it is useful as a monitoring system for a suspicious person in a school, a building, etc.

(a) is a block diagram showing the configuration of the imaging area adjustment apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and (b) is a diagram showing the imaging area position of each camera terminal according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Configuration block diagram of a camera terminal according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention Configuration block diagram of operation terminal in embodiment 1 of the present invention The flowchart which shows the process which the adjustment part in Embodiment 1 of this invention performs. Explanatory drawing which shows function FA () in Embodiment 1 of this invention Explanatory drawing which shows function FA () in Embodiment 1 of this invention (a) is a flowchart showing processing performed by the first imaging region calculation unit according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and (b) illustrates processing performed by the first imaging region calculation unit according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Figure to The figure which shows the adjustment method of the imaging region of each camera terminal in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the adjustment method of the imaging region of each camera terminal in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure explaining the method of detecting a photography concealment area The figure which shows the imaging | photography region position of each camera terminal in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 of this invention The figure explaining the shape of the photography field of a camera terminal The figure explaining the effect of the imaging region adjustment apparatus of this invention with respect to real space surface and the position of an obstruction The figure explaining the effect of the imaging region adjustment apparatus of this invention with respect to real space surface and the position of an obstruction The figure explaining the exception in the imaging region adjustment apparatus of this invention Configuration block diagram of a camera terminal according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention The flowchart which shows the process which the 2nd imaging | photography area calculation part in Embodiment 2 of this invention performs. The figure which shows the adjustment method of the imaging region of each camera terminal in Embodiment 2 of this invention. The figure which shows the adjustment method of the imaging region of each camera terminal in Embodiment 2 of this invention. The figure which shows the relationship between time T imaging _| photography area _| region and period T _CYCLE imaging _| photography area _| region Configuration block diagram of each camera terminal according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, in which the imaging area of the camera terminal is a period T _CYCLE imaging area The figure which shows the imaging region adjustment apparatus comprised from a moving camera The figure explaining the example which applied this invention to the microphone Configuration block diagram of imaging area adjustment device in the prior art The figure explaining the photography field when there is an obstacle in the prior art

Explanation of symbols

101A to 101C Camera terminal A to Camera terminal C
102 Operation terminal 103 Network 110 X _W axis 111 Y _W axis 112 Z _W axis 113 Real space plane 120A Camera terminal A shooting area 120B Camera terminal B shooting area 120C Camera terminal C shooting area 121 Shooting target area 122 Non-shooting target area 140 Failure Object 201, 201a Camera 202 Adjustment unit 203, 303 Communication unit 204 First imaging region calculation unit 205 Imaging concealment region recording unit 206 Second imaging region calculation unit 211 Lens 212 Imaging surface 213 Image processing unit 214 Posture control unit 215 Periodic imaging control Unit 301 input unit 302 storage unit

Claims (14)

A shooting area adjustment device that is configured by a plurality of camera terminals connected via a communication path and that enables shooting for a shooting target area by adjusting shooting areas of the plurality of camera terminals,
Each of the plurality of camera terminals is
A camera capable of adjusting the position of the shooting area;
Adjusting means for adjusting the position of the shooting area of the camera by controlling the camera;
A shooting area calculation means for calculating a shooting area as a new shooting area from a shooting area of the camera excluding an area where camera shooting is hidden by an obstacle; and
Communication means for transmitting and receiving the shooting area information for specifying the shooting area of the camera to and from other camera terminals,
The adjustment means is based on the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal provided with the adjustment means, and the shooting area of the camera of the other camera terminal that is transmitted and received via the communication means and updated by the shooting area calculation means. The area obtained by summing the shooting areas of the cameras of the plurality of camera terminals covers the entire shooting target area including the area where shooting of the camera is hidden by an obstacle in the own camera terminal or other camera terminals. An imaging area adjusting device for adjusting a position of an imaging area of a camera of a camera terminal. The adjusting means is configured to automatically adjust the overlapping area amount, which is an amount of an overlapping area between a shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal and a shooting area adjacent to the shooting area, to a target amount that is a fixed amount of 0 or more. The photographing area adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein the position of the photographing area of the camera of the camera terminal is adjusted. The adjusting means selects a shooting area adjacent to the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal from the shooting areas of the cameras of the plurality of camera terminals, and the shooting of the selected shooting area and the camera of the own camera terminal. A step of calculating an overlap region difference amount that is a difference between the overlap region amount with the region and the target amount, and a step of calculating a position of the photographing region of the camera of the own camera terminal that brings the overlap region difference amount close to zero. The position of the photographing area of the camera of the own camera terminal is adjusted so that the position of the photographing area of the camera of the own camera terminal becomes the position obtained in the repetition step. Area adjustment device. The photographing area adjusting device according to claim 2, wherein the adjusting means adjusts the position of the photographing area of the camera of the own camera terminal so that the area where the obstacle exists is included in the overlapping area. The imaging area calculation means is a new imaging of the camera of the other camera terminal excluding an area where the imaging of the camera of the other camera terminal is hidden by an obstacle from the imaging area captured by the camera of the other camera terminal. The imaging area adjustment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging area is calculated as an area. The shooting area calculation means newly sets an area excluding an area where shooting of the camera of the other camera terminal and the own camera terminal is hidden by an obstacle from a shooting area shot by the camera of the other camera terminal. The imaging area adjustment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging area is calculated as an imaging area of the camera. The imaging area is an area that is imaged at time T, or an area that is imaged during a period TCYCLE when the area captured at time T is periodically changed with a period TCYCLE. Shooting area adjustment device. The imaging region adjustment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging region is a planar or solid region. The imaging area adjustment device further detects and updates an area where the imaging of the camera is concealed by an obstacle based on images captured by a plurality of camera terminals,
The imaging area adjustment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging area calculation unit calculates the imaging area by using an area excluding the updated concealment area as a new imaging area from the imaging area of the camera. . The imaging area adjusting device further includes:
Synthesizing means for acquiring images captured by cameras of the plurality of camera terminals and synthesizing the images as spatially continuous images;
The imaging region adjusting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying the synthesized image. A shooting area adjustment device that is configured by a plurality of camera terminals connected via a communication path and that enables shooting for a shooting target area by adjusting shooting areas of the plurality of camera terminals,
Each of the plurality of camera terminals is
A camera capable of adjusting the position of the shooting area;
Adjusting means for adjusting the position of the shooting area of the camera by controlling the camera;
Communication means for transmitting and receiving the shooting area information for specifying the shooting area of the camera to and from other camera terminals,
The adjusting means is based on a shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal provided with the adjusting means and a shooting area of the camera of the other camera terminal received via the communication means; If the overlap area amount, which is the amount of the area that overlaps the imaging area adjacent to the imaging area, is a target amount that is a fixed amount of 0 or more and there is an obstacle, the obstacle is the overlap. A shooting area adjusting apparatus that adjusts the position of the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal so that the camera area is within the area to be recorded. A detection area adjustment device that is configured by a plurality of sensor terminals connected via a communication path, and that enables detection of a physical quantity with respect to a detection target area by adjusting detection areas of the plurality of sensor terminals,
Each of the plurality of sensor terminals is
A sensor capable of adjusting the position of a detection region for detecting a physical quantity;
Adjusting means for adjusting the position of the detection region of the sensor by controlling the sensor;
The detection area calculation means for calculating the detection area using the area excluding the area where detection by the sensor is concealed from the detection area of the sensor as a new detection area, and detection area information for specifying the detection area of the sensor Communication means for transmitting and receiving to and from the sensor terminal,
The adjustment means is based on the detection area of the sensor of the own sensor terminal provided with the adjustment means, and the detection area of the sensor of the other sensor terminal that is transmitted and received through the communication means and updated by the detection area calculation means. The area obtained by summing the detection areas of the sensors of the plurality of sensor terminals covers the entire detection target area including the area where the detection of the sensor is concealed by an obstacle in the own sensor terminal or another sensor terminal. A detection area adjustment device that adjusts the position of a detection area of a sensor of a sensor terminal. A camera system comprising a plurality of camera terminals having a camera capable of adjusting the position of a shooting area and communication means for transmitting / receiving shooting area information for specifying the shooting area of the camera to / from another camera terminal In the imaging area adjustment method, the imaging area of the plurality of camera terminals can be adjusted to enable imaging for the imaging target area,
An adjustment step of adjusting the position of the imaging region of the camera by controlling the camera;
A shooting area calculation step of calculating a shooting area as a new shooting area except an area where shooting of the camera is hidden by an obstacle from the shooting area of the camera,
In the adjustment step, based on the shooting area of the camera of the own camera terminal and the shooting areas of the cameras of other camera terminals that are transmitted and received via the communication means and updated by the shooting area calculation step, the plurality of camera terminals The area of the camera of the own camera terminal is such that the area obtained by summing the shooting areas of the camera covers the entire area to be photographed including the area where the shooting of the camera is concealed by an obstacle in the own camera terminal or another camera terminal. A method for adjusting a shooting area, characterized by adjusting a position of the shooting area. A camera system comprising a plurality of camera terminals having a camera capable of adjusting the position of a shooting area and communication means for transmitting / receiving shooting area information for specifying the shooting area of the camera to / from another camera terminal A program for enabling photographing with respect to a photographing target region by adjusting photographing regions of the plurality of camera terminals,
A program for causing a computer to execute the steps included in the imaging region adjustment method according to claim 13.

Images