JP3259027B2 - Wide area monitoring device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wide area monitoring device for monitoring a large area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional wide-area monitoring apparatus, there is a distributed monitoring system described in the 1993 IEICE Autumn Meeting D-157. FIG. 8 shows the configuration of this device. FIG. 8 shows only two subsystems, but the subsystems can be added, and their operations are common. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 801 denotes a main system;
Reference numeral 3 denotes a subsystem, which has a hierarchical structure in which the main system is an upper layer and the subsystem is a lower layer.

[0003] The operation of the wide area monitoring device configured as described above will be described below. Each subsystem 80
2,803 divides the monitoring area in charge of each system into multiple overlapping areas and combines the monitoring information obtained in each area, using the results of monitoring target extraction and its characteristics. It autonomously creates a recognition parameter describing an image feature called an antibody and distributes it to another subsystem. The delivered antibody is registered as tracking data in each subsystem, and an object having similar characteristics is searched in the monitoring area of each subsystem. If the target exists, the detection information is transferred to the main system 801 which is the upper layer, and a request to confirm the target is made. The main system 801 confirms the target based on the request of the subsystem, and fetches antibodies and image information from the subsystem as necessary,
Track, search, and identify objects. Also, the main system 80
1 monitors and controls the entire system.

[0004] As a conventional small monitoring device, there is a distributed monitoring system described in the 1995 IEICE General Conference D-413. FIG. 9 shows the configuration of this device. Hereinafter, the operation will be described.

[0005] A moving region extracting unit 902 extracts a moving region from an image input from the camera 901 by using an inter-frame difference. The labeling unit 903 labels the moving area extracted by the moving area extracting unit 902. The label shaping unit 904 removes the specular reflection image included in the moving area labeled by the labeling unit 903. Camera 911, moving area extraction unit 912,
The labeling unit 913 and the label shaping unit 914 operate similarly.
The integration unit 905 obtains the correspondence of the target area input from each of the label shaping units 904 and 914, calculates the real space position of the target, and obtains the motion trajectory.

[0006]

In a hierarchical system in which a higher system and a lower system are combined, an increase in the number of lower systems directly leads to an increase in the load on the higher system. In addition, the backup of the upper system is required, and it is difficult to change the lower system and the upper system independently, and the system lacks expandability and flexibility.

In monitoring with a single camera, a part of the object may not be photographed due to the presence of an obstacle or a plurality of objects approaching each other. In this case, it becomes difficult to detect and track the target object, and the reliability of the monitoring result decreases.
In monitoring with a plurality of cameras, the installation positions of the cameras can be variously combined, and the monitoring accuracy greatly depends on the installation positions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to realize a wide-area monitoring apparatus with a simple configuration in which a monitoring area can be easily expanded or a function changed. In addition, by installing a plurality of cameras at appropriate positions, a wide area monitoring device that stably extracts and tracks an object even when an obstacle is present or the objects are close to each other is realized. The purpose is also.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has taken the following means. The invention according to claim 1 is a wide area monitoring device for monitoring a large area, wherein the monitoring area is divided into a plurality of small monitoring areas, and a plurality of small monitoring apparatuses for monitoring each small monitoring area independently. A plurality of management devices that collectively manage the monitoring results of the plurality of small monitoring devices, and a management device that further collects the management results of the plurality of management devices and dynamically assigns the small monitoring device that is in charge of the management device according to the load of each of the management devices. A high-level management device for managing the small monitoring device, wherein the small monitoring device extracts and tracks an attribute of a target in the responsible small monitoring region and a small monitoring device that monitors an adjacent small monitoring region based on information from the small monitoring device. And an inter-small-monitoring-area correspondence device that associates attributes of a target extracted by the target monitoring device with attributes of a target that has entered from an adjacent small-monitoring region.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, all the small monitoring devices, all the management devices, and the upper management device are connected by a single network, and the upper management device The present invention is characterized in that a small monitoring device to be in charge is dynamically allocated and managed according to the load of each management device.

[0011] The invention described in claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the invention described in the above, the small surveillance device, a plurality of cameras arranged so that the surveillance area is always within the shooting area of two or more cameras, to extract the monitoring target for each camera, identification,
A target monitoring device that monitors the target by tracking, etc., an integrated processing device that obtains the final monitoring result by integrating the monitoring results of a plurality of target monitoring devices that overlap in the monitoring area, and another neighboring small device. Based on the information from the small monitoring device in charge of the monitoring area, a device to be monitored in the monitoring area in question and an inter-small monitoring area correspondence device for associating a target intruding from an adjacent small monitoring area with the target. It is characterized by having.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the invention, four cameras are provided, and two cameras are provided so as to face each other forward and backward of the road.
Cameras facing the same direction have almost the same shooting area,
Cameras are installed so as to have overlapping imaging areas so as to face each other, monitor results are integrated for each camera facing the same direction, and two sets of results are integrated.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the wide area monitoring apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 111, 112, 113, and 114 are small monitoring devices, 101 and 102 are management devices, 121 is a higher-level management device, and 130 is a network.
The monitoring area is divided into a plurality of small monitoring areas, and one small monitoring device monitors one small monitoring area. In FIG. 1, the monitoring area is divided into four small monitoring areas, and monitoring is performed by four small monitoring devices.

Each of the small monitoring devices functions independently, and monitors the assigned small monitoring area by extracting and tracking a monitoring target. In each of the small monitoring devices, for example, an image of the inside of the monitoring area is captured by a camera, an object is extracted by an inter-frame difference, a background difference, or the like, and the extracted object is tracked by position prediction, template matching, or the like. The management device sends the number and attributes of the target to the
Obtained through 130 and displays the monitoring result of an arbitrary small monitoring device, or displays the monitoring results of a plurality of small monitoring devices collectively.

If the number of small monitoring devices is large, a higher-level management device 121 is provided.
The management device 102 manages the results of 1 and 112, and the management device 102
The small monitoring devices to be managed by each management device are set in advance, for example, when the results of steps 114 and 114 are managed. Thus, the higher-level management device 121 does not directly obtain the monitoring result from the small monitoring device 111, for example, but
Get 11 monitoring results. The small monitoring device, the management device, and the higher-level management device are handled in exactly the same manner on the network, and communication between the devices is realized by an appropriate communication protocol.

Although FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which there are four small monitoring devices, two management devices, and one higher-level management device, the number of these devices can be changed. Also, instead of setting in advance the small monitoring device to be assigned to the management device, the upper management device may dynamically assign the small monitoring device to be assigned to an appropriate management device while checking the load of each management device.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a small monitoring device used in the wide area monitoring device of the present invention. The target monitoring device 202 monitors the inside of the small monitoring area in charge with a sensor such as a camera, extracts and tracks the target, and simultaneously obtains the attribute of the target. The small inter-monitoring area correspondence apparatus 201 obtains, through the network 130, an attribute of an object that intrudes into the small sub-monitoring area in charge from an adjacent sub-monitoring area. When there is a target that has intruded into the responsible small monitoring area, the small monitoring area inter-correspondence apparatus 201 determines the adjacent small monitoring area based on the target attribute obtained through the network 130 and the target attribute input from the target monitoring apparatus 202. Correlate the objects grasped in the area with the objects grasped in the small monitoring area in charge. In other words, the management device
By obtaining this response result through 0, it is possible to track the target moving between the small monitoring areas.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a management device used in the wide area monitoring system of the present invention. The situation grasping apparatus 301 determines data necessary for realizing the situation from a user's request such as tracking of a specific object or grasping the situation in a specific area, and notifies the situation transfer apparatus 302 of the data. The status transfer device 302 transmits necessary data notified from the status grasping device 301 to the network 13 from an appropriate small monitoring device.
Obtained through 0 and transferred to the status grasping device 301. The situation grasping device 301 realizes the user's request using the data obtained from the situation transfer device 302, and displays it on a display, for example. For example, when grasping the situation in a specific monitoring area, the situation grasping device 301 includes the small monitoring apparatus in charge of the monitoring area to be grasped, the attributes such as the number of existing monitoring targets and their positions, and the like. The status transfer device 302 is notified of necessary data, such as the result of the response in step (1). Status transfer device 3
02 transfers data from an appropriate small monitoring device based on the content notified from the status
Output to 1. The situation grasping apparatus 301 writes, for example, a current target position extracted from a data transferred from the situation transfer apparatus 302 on a map of a monitoring area created in advance and a movement locus thereof, and displays it on a display.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the small monitoring apparatus according to the present invention. Cameras 401 and 411 are arranged so that the entire small monitoring area can be photographed by any camera. 402 and 412 are target monitoring devices, which are cameras 401 and 4 respectively.
Using the image input from 11, for example, the target is monitored by extracting and tracking the target by inter-frame difference and template matching, and outputs the result to the integrated processing device 421. In the integrated processing device 421, the target monitoring device 40
The monitoring results input from 2,412, for example, attributes such as the number of objects and their positions are integrated by comparing, repairing, etc., and the final monitoring result is obtained. Device 422 between small monitoring areas
Means that if there is an intruder from an adjacent small monitoring area,
Attributes of the subject obtained through the network 130,
Based on the attribute of the object obtained by the integrated processing device 421, the object grasped by the other small monitoring device is associated with the object grasped now. In FIG. 4, one camera and one target monitoring device are used as one set, and a total of two sets are used. However, this set can be increased. In addition, by installing the cameras facing each other along the road as shown in FIG.
By using the similarity between the two triangles △ ABD and △ ACE, the height of the target can be estimated.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the small monitoring apparatus according to the present invention. Both cameras 501 and 511 are installed so as to face the same direction along the road and have substantially the same shooting range. The cameras 521 and 531 are also installed so as to face the same direction along the road and have substantially the same shooting range.

The cameras 501 and 511 and the cameras 521 and 531
Are facing each other, and the facing cameras are installed so as to have overlapping shooting ranges. This is shown in FIG. 7b. Reference numerals 502 and 512 denote target monitoring devices, for example, using images input from the cameras 501 and 511, for example,
The target is monitored by extracting and tracking the target using the inter-frame difference and the template matching, and outputs the result to the primary integrated processing device 503. Reference numerals 522 and 532 denote target monitoring devices, which monitor the target using images input from the cameras 521 and 531 and output the results to the primary integrated processing device 523.

The primary integration processing devices 503 and 504 integrate the monitoring results input from the two target monitoring devices respectively in charge, for example, attributes such as the number of objects and their positions, and convert the results to the secondary. Output to the integrated processing device 504. 2
The next integrated processing device 504 integrates the monitoring results input from the primary integrated processing devices 503 and 523 to obtain a final monitoring result. When there is a target that intrudes from an adjacent small monitoring area, the inter-sub-monitoring area correspondence device 505 determines, based on the attribute of the target obtained through the network 130 and the attribute of the target obtained by the secondary integrated processing device 504, other information. The target grasped by the small monitoring device is associated with the subject currently grasped. By installing a plurality of the small monitoring devices so that the monitoring areas are adjacent to each other, an arbitrary section on a road can be monitored.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the template processing apparatus of the present invention. Camera 601 and camera 602 are installed such that the monitoring areas overlap. Object extraction device
Reference numeral 602 denotes a monitoring target in an image input from the camera 601,
For example, extraction is performed based on the inter-frame difference, and the result is output to the single template generation device 603. The single template generation device 603 generates a target template extracted by the target extraction device 602 using the image input from the camera 601, and outputs the template to the multi-viewpoint template processing device 621. The target extraction device 612 extracts a monitoring target in the image input from the camera 611, and outputs the result to the single template generation device 613.

The single template generation device 613 is provided with the camera 6
Using the image input from 11, a template of the target extracted by the target extraction device 612 is generated and output to the multi-viewpoint template processing device 621. The multi-viewpoint template processing device 621 includes a single template generation device 602,
A plurality of templates generated for the same target, such as matching the template input from 612 with each template and tracking the target by combining results using the same target template into one. Are processed collectively.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is easy to expand a monitoring range and change functions, and it is possible to realize a large-scale monitoring system with a simple configuration. Also,
Even if an obstacle is present or objects are close to each other, a system for stably detecting and tracking the object can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a wide area monitoring device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a first embodiment of a small monitoring device used in the wide area monitoring device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a management device used in the wide area monitoring system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a small monitoring device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the small monitoring device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a template processing device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a camera layout diagram in a second embodiment of the small monitoring device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a conventional wide area monitoring device.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a conventional small monitoring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 management device 102 management device 111 small monitoring device 112 small monitoring device 113 small monitoring device 114 small monitoring device 130 network 200 small monitoring device 201 small monitoring area correspondence device 202 target monitoring device 300 management device 301 status grasping device 302 status transfer device 401 Camera 402 Target monitoring device 411 Camera 412 Target monitoring device 421 Integrated processing device 422 Device between small monitoring areas 501 Camera 502 Target monitoring device 503 Primary integrated processing device 504 Secondary integrated processing device 505 Device between small monitoring areas 511 Camera 512 Target monitoring device 521 Camera 522 Target monitoring device 523 Primary integrated processing device 531 Camera 532 Target monitoring device 601 Camera 602 Target extraction device 603 Single template generation device 611 Camera 612 Target extraction device 613 Single template generation device 614 Multi-view template processing Apparatus 801 Main system 802 Subsystem 803 Subsystem 901 Camera 902 Moving area extraction unit 903 Ring portion 904 label shaping unit 905 integrating unit 911 the camera 912 motion region extraction unit 913 labeling unit 914 labels shaping unit

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tomonori Narioka 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Inside Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-8-251573 (JP, A) JP-A-8-315287 (JP, A) JP-A-9-83996 (JP, A) JP-A-10-105690 (JP, A) Kaihei 11-265496 (JP, A)

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A wide area monitoring device for monitoring a large area, wherein the monitoring area is divided into a plurality of small monitoring areas, a plurality of small monitoring apparatuses for independently monitoring each small monitoring area, and the plurality of small monitoring apparatuses A plurality of management devices that collectively manage the monitoring results of the devices, and a higher-level management device that collectively manages the management results of the plurality of management devices and allocates and manages the small monitoring devices that are dynamically assigned according to the load of each of the management devices. A small monitoring device that extracts and tracks attributes of a target in the assigned small monitoring region, and the target monitoring device that monitors an adjacent small monitoring region. What is claimed is: 1. A wide-area monitoring apparatus, comprising: an inter-small-monitoring-area correspondence device that associates an attribute of a target extracted by a monitoring device with an attribute of a target that has entered from an adjacent small-monitoring area. 2. A small monitoring device in which all the small monitoring devices, all the management devices, and the higher management device are connected by a single network, and are dynamically assigned by the higher management device according to the load of each management device. 2. The wide area monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wide area monitoring apparatus allocates and manages the information. 3. The small monitoring device includes a plurality of cameras arranged such that a monitoring area is always within a shooting area of two or more cameras, and extracts, identifies, and tracks a monitoring target for each camera. In charge of the target monitoring device that monitors the target, the integrated processing device that obtains the final monitoring result by integrating the monitoring results of multiple target monitoring devices with overlapping monitoring areas, and another adjacent small monitoring area Based on the information from the small monitoring device that performs the monitoring, and the inter-small monitoring area correspondence device that associates the target monitored in the monitoring area in charge with the target that has invaded from the adjacent small monitoring region. The wide area monitoring device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. Four cameras, two cameras facing each other toward the front and rear of the road, and the cameras facing the same direction facing each other so as to have substantially the same photographing area. 4. The wide area surveillance according to claim 3, wherein the cameras are installed so as to have overlapping photographing areas, monitoring results are integrated for each camera facing in the same direction, and two sets of results are integrated and processed. apparatus.