JPH0740750B2 - Control method for stereoscopic camera - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote image monitoring method, and more particularly to a stereoscopic camera control method suitable for an interactive remote image monitoring apparatus that employs twin-lens stereoscopic vision for image display. Regarding

[Background of the Invention]

In the conventional stereoscopic remote image monitoring device, Scott Fisher, "Viewpoint dependent imaging: Uninteractive stereoscopic display," Proceeding SP I 367 August 1984 (Scott Fischer, "Vie
wpointdependent imaging: an interactive stereoscopi
c display ", Proc.SPIE vol.367, Aug.1984), the line of sight is moved by moving the table for fixing the TV camera horizontally and vertically so as to face the object to be photographed. On the other hand, in the case of a person, the line of sight can be moved only by the movement of both eyes while the head is still stationary, which makes it impossible to capture a realistic stereoscopic image as seen by the person.

Also, when shooting with different scales,
Since the distance between the cameras is fixed, even if the focal length of the cameras is changed according to the magnification, an image having the best stereoscopic effect at that magnification cannot be obtained.

[Object of the Invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a stereoscopic camera control method capable of capturing a realistic stereoscopic image that is closer to the image that a person sees, and changing the shooting magnification while maintaining the stereoscopic effect. To provide.

[Outline of Invention]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the postures and the focus of two cameras with respect to the camera fixing base are calculated from the direction and distance of the photographing target with respect to the camera fixing base, and the two cameras are controlled separately, and the respective photographing targets are taken. Point the camera in the direction of and focus on it to shoot. By the above operation, the stereoscopic image of the photographing target in the designated direction and distance is photographed without moving the camera fixing base, and a more realistic stereoscopic image is obtained.

In addition, by changing the distance between the two cameras and the focal length of the cameras so as to be proportional to the change in the photographing magnification, the stereoscopic image photographing at the variable magnification can be performed while maintaining the stereoscopic effect. to enable.

Example of Invention

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. Two TV cameras with remote control of focal length and focus 11,1
2 is attached to the camera fixed base 13 toward the object 114 to be photographed, and can be independently rotated in both horizontal and vertical directions with respect to this fixed base. The camera base itself can also be rotated both horizontally and vertically. The control devices 14 and 15 of the cameras 11 and 12 control the focus, focal length, and posture of the cameras 11 and 12 with respect to the camera fixing base 13, respectively. Further, the camera fixing base control device 16 controls the distance between the two cameras and the attitude of the camera fixing base itself. The photographing direction, photographing distance, and photographing magnification instructing devices 18, 19, 110 for the camera fixing base correspond to interactive input devices such as a track ball and a joystick, and are connected to the camera / camera fixing base control amount calculation device 17. Image display device for stereoscopic vision 11
1, the operator 112 is placed on the fixed base 113.

2 and 3 show a rectangular coordinate system and a polar coordinate system which are defined by being fixed to the camera fixing base 13. In both cases, the origin is set at the center 21 of the camera fixing base. The Cartesian coordinate system has a vertical direction in the y direction, a horizontal direction in the -z direction, and a horizontal direction in the x direction with respect to the camera fixed base. Two cameras 11,12
The coordinates of this rectangular coordinate system are (Δ, 0,0) and (−Δ, 0,0), respectively. When the coordinates of the imaged object 114 are (x, y, z),
The coordinates (θ _y , θ _x , R) in the polar coordinate system are It is obtained by the relational expression, and conversely from (θ _y , θ _x , R) to (x, y,
z) is Can be obtained by the relational expression.

The operator 112 inputs this direction (θ _y , θ _x ) to the camera / camera fixed base control amount calculation device 17 via the photographing direction instruction device 18 and the distance R via the photographing distance instruction device 19. Reference numeral 22 in FIGS. 2 and 3 represents the line of sight corresponding to the direction (θ _y , θ _x ). In the device 17, the input (θ _y , θ _x ,
The rectangular coordinates (x, y, z) of the object 114 to be photographed are calculated from (R) according to the equation (2). The coordinates of the two cameras 11 and 12 in this Cartesian coordinate system are (Δ, 0,0) and (−Δ, 0,0), respectively. The positions are (x-Δ, y, z) and (x + Δ, y, z), respectively. Furthermore, by using equation (1), the direction and distance (θ _1y , θ _1x , R ₁ ), (Θ _2y , θ _2x , R ₂ ) are calculated. These polar coordinate values are sent to the camera control devices 14 and 15, respectively, and the camera control device directs the cameras 11 and 12 toward the object to be photographed according to these values (angle of depression, azimuth, distance). Adjust the focus. Of Figure 2
24 and 23 show the line of sight of each camera after adjustment. The two images captured by the two cameras whose posture and focus are adjusted in this manner are input to the stereoscopic image display device 111, and the operator 112 views the target to stereoscopically view the target 114. ..
As an image display method for stereoscopic vision, many known examples other than the two-color type, the polarization type, the time division type, are introduced in the document “Image Display”, Corona Publishing Co., Ltd., p.303-306, published in October, 1975. ing. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the operator views the stereoscopic image display device to perform stereoscopic viewing while designating the shooting direction and shooting distance.
A more realistic stereoscopic image of the target 114 to be monitored can be captured without moving 13. In the present embodiment, the camera base controller 16 also inputs the rotation angle of the operator 112 and the fixed base 113 of the stereoscopic image display device 111 so that the camera base 13 itself can be rotated.

Also, if you want to change the magnification of the shooting,
A camera 112 instructs the camera / carrera mount control amount calculation device 17 via the photographing magnification instruction device 110 about the magnification S. The camera / camera base control amount calculation device calculates the focal length f of the camera from S and the distance Δ between the center 21 of the camera base and each of the cameras 11 and 12 as follows.

f = sf ₀ , Δ = sΔ ₀ (3) Here, f ₀ and Δ ₀ are values at the reference magnification (S = 1), respectively. The camera base controller 16 inputs Δ calculated by the equation (3), and moves each camera to a point where the distance from the camera base center 21 is Δ (points 41 and 42 in FIG. 4). In addition, the camera / camera base control amount calculation device 17
The polar coordinates (θ _1y , θ _1x , R ₁ ) and (θ _2y , θ _2x , R ₂ ) of the target 114 viewed from each camera are calculated using apparatus
Send to 14,15. Each camera control device adjusts the posture, focus and focal length of the camera from these values. Figure 4 shows line 4
3,44 shows the line of sight of each camera after adjustment. By keeping the ratio of f and Δ constant as in the expression (3), it is possible to shoot a stereoscopic image having a constant stereoscopic effect regardless of the shooting magnification. In the present embodiment, the operator selects this photographing magnification interactively while looking at the stereoscopic image display device.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, the two cameras are separately controlled without moving the camera fixing base, and the two cameras are directed toward the object to be photographed in the designated direction and distance, and the focus is adjusted to adjust the stereoscopic image of the target. Since it is possible to take a picture, there is also an effect that a stereoscopic image having a realistic stereoscopic effect closer to that seen by a person can be obtained.

Further, since the focal length of the cameras and the distance between the cameras can be changed while keeping the ratio thereof constant, there is also an effect that it is possible to perform photographing at a variable magnification while keeping the stereoscopic effect constant.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the definition of a rectangular coordinate system with the center of the camera base as the origin in the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a rectangular coordinate system of FIG. Fig. 4 shows the relationship between the image and polar coordinate system.
It is a figure which shows the mode of a change of the attitude | position of a single camera.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A control device for controlling the posture, focus, and focal length of two TV cameras and each camera, a calculation device for calculating the control amount of the posture, focus, and a shooting direction, a shooting distance, and a shooting magnification. A stereoscopic camera control method using a pointing device and a stereoscopic image display device, wherein a distance between two cameras and a focal length of the cameras are changed in accordance with an instructed photographing magnification. The posture and focus of each camera with respect to the shooting target are calculated separately from the shooting direction and shooting distance,
A stereoscopic camera control method for controlling a posture / focus of each camera based on the calculated posture / focus to photograph a stereoscopic image of a photographing target. 2. The stereoscopic camera according to claim 1, wherein the moving process is to move the two cameras so that the inter-camera distance changes in proportion to the photographing magnification. Control method.