JPH0756556B2 - Light receiving device for automatic camera platform - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a light receiving device provided in an automatic camera platform used for a camera for taking photographs, a video camera and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 13 shows a camera platform that is already on the market. The camera platform 10 is mounted on a base 11 fixed to a tripod such that an L-shaped rotating body 12 is horizontally rotated. Further, a camera mounting plate 13 is vertically attached to the rotating body 12 (in the direction of an arrow in the figure). It is provided to rotate. The camera is fixed to the camera mounting plate 13 by screwing a mounting screw 14 into the tripod screw hole.

Both the rotating body 12 and the camera mounting plate 13 are movable.
It is rotationally driven by the drive mechanism. FIG. 14 shows the rotating body 1.
The motor drive circuit of No. 2 is shown, and the motor 16 is fed by the output of the differential amplifier 15. The rotational position of the rotating body 12 is determined by selecting the selection resistors 17a, 17b, 17c. That is, the differential amplifier 15
Is a selection switch 18 for selecting resistors 17a, 17b, 17c
The motor 16 is supplied with electric power by the difference voltage between the operation setting voltage input by the input and the detection voltage input by the potentiometer 19 which is interlocked with the rotation of the rotating body 12. The camera mounting plate 13 is rotationally driven by a motor drive circuit similar to that shown in FIG.

As described above, since the camera platform 10 has a structure in which the photographing direction of the camera is operated and set by the changeover switch 18, it is necessary to re-operate each time the subject position changes, and in particular, a moving subject is followed. I can't. Further, in the case where the person who shoots becomes a subject or joins the subject, each time the subject position changes, the camera platform 10 is approached again and the operation is performed again, which makes the shooting operation troublesome.

[0005]

In order to solve such a problem, the inventors of the present patent application have developed an automatic pan head capable of automatically following the photographing direction of a camera with a subject. Patent application has already been filed as Japanese Patent Application No. 53495.

[0006] The newly developed automatic platform has a structure in which a recursive reflecting mirror is arranged on the subject side to optically capture the subject. That is, the automatic platform is provided with a light source and a light receiver, the irradiation light from this light source is reflected by the reflecting mirror, and the reflected light is received by the light receiver. And
According to the light receiving state of the light receiver, the electric drive mechanism is driven according to the photoelectric conversion signal to rotate the automatic platform toward the subject. If the shooting direction of the camera is toward the subject, the light receiver enters a predetermined light receiving state, the electric drive mechanism stops according to the output of the light receiver at this time, and the automatic pan head turns when the camera captures the subject. Stop. It is an object of the present invention to develop a light receiving device suitable for such an automatic platform.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the present invention, a photoreceiver for receiving light from the subject side, a horizontal turning mechanism and a vertical drive mechanism driven according to the light receiving state of the photoreceiver are provided. In a camera automatic pan / tilt head equipped with a turning mechanism, a photodetector comprising a photoelectric sensor in which first to fourth light receiving sensitivity parts are arranged in a square shape in a square shape and an objective lens provided in front of the photoelectric sensor. This light receiver is provided on the left and right sides, and outputs of two pairs of light receiving sensitivity sections that form a pair are added for each group, and the addition output of the right group and the addition output of the left group are in opposite directions. In addition to generating two systems of horizontal drive outputs, the outputs of two pairs of photosensitivity sections located above and below each pair are added together, and the addition output of the upper set and the addition output of the lower set are contradictory. It is configured to generate two vertical drive outputs that are In addition, the horizontal rotation mechanism is driven by the sum signal of the horizontal drive outputs of the two systems described above and the vertical rotation mechanism is driven by the sum signal of the vertical drive outputs of the two systems until each light receiving sensitivity section becomes an equivalent output. Therefore, we propose a light receiving device for an automatic camera platform.
Further, in the present invention, four photoelectric conversion elements provided with an objective lens may be combined, and the light receiving sensitivity section may be arranged in a square shape in a square shape.

[0008]

When the camera does not capture the subject, the light on the subject side passes through the objective lens and strikes one of the photosensitivity portions of the photoelectric sensor. Therefore, the light receiving sensitivity section outputs a photoelectric conversion signal, and this output is divided into a horizontal drive output and a vertical drive output. As a result, the horizontal turning mechanism and the vertical turning mechanism are driven by these drive outputs, and the automatic pan head turns toward the subject.

Further, when the automatic camera platform turns, the position of the light spot which hits the light receiving sensitivity portion moves, and as the turn of the automatic camera platform progresses, the position of the light spot moves between the respective light receiving sensitivity portions (a square mark). The center). Then, when the shooting direction of the camera is properly directed to the subject, the light passing through the objective lens moves to the center of the four-direction arrangement of the light receiving sensitivity section, the outputs of each light receiving sensitivity section become equivalent, and the horizontal turning mechanism and the vertical The turning mechanism stops and the automatic pan head stops turning.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2, the automatic platform 20 includes a box-shaped base 21 and a box-shaped rotating body 22 as well.
And a U-shaped support member 23, and a camera is placed on the support member 23 and a fixing screw 24 is screwed into a tripod screw hole and fixed.

A plurality of batteries 25 are housed in the base 21. The base 21 may be provided with AC power supply circuit components such as a transformer and a rectifier. A spur gear 26 is fixed to the center of the upper side of the base 21, and a lead wire is inserted into the hollow shaft of the spur gear 26. The gear portion of the spur gear 26 is the rotating body 22.
It is inserted inside and is connected to a motor 30 via an idle gear 27 and a pinion gear 28. The rotating body 22 rotates in the horizontal direction around the spur gear 26 by the normal rotation or the reverse rotation of the motor 30. The rotational movement amount of the rotating body 22 in the horizontal direction is detected by the potentiometer 31.

On both sides of the rotary body 22, a rotary shaft 32 and a wheel gear 33 provided on the support body 23 are provided so as to serve as supporting shafts, and the wheel gear 33 is mounted on the worm gear 3.
4. The reduction gears 35 and 36 are connected to a motor 37 having a pinion gear. When the motor 37 rotates forward or backward, the driving force of the motor 37 is reduced by the reduction gear 35,
Is transmitted to the worm gear 34 via 36, and the support 23
The wheel gear 33 and the rotary shaft 32 can be rotated in the vertical direction as a support shaft. The amount of vertical rotational movement of the support 23 is detected by the potentiometer 38.

A printed circuit board 39 is provided in the support member 23, and various electronic circuits 4 are mounted on the printed circuit board 39.
0 is mounted, and the light receiver 41 and LE as a light source are installed.
D42 and D43 are mounted. The LEDs 42 and 43 are arranged with the light receiver 41 in between, and emit light to the front area of the camera. Further, the light receiver 41 is adapted to receive light from the subject side of the camera.

The light from the LEDs 42 and 43 is received by the light receiver 41.
In this embodiment, the reflecting mirror 44 is arranged on a part of the subject in order to reflect the light to the subject. The reflecting mirror 44 is a mirror having a recursive property, and is, for example, one in which a large number of conic cube prisms are arranged on a plane, or one in which a glass bead sphere is applied.

In such a reflecting mirror 44, the distance between the light receiver 41 and the reflecting mirror 44 is L, and the distance between the optical axis of the objective lens 45 provided in the light receiver 41 and the center line of the LED 43 is D. , These relationships are L >> D, so each LED4
The reflected light of the light of 2, 43 is incident on the objective lens 45 close to these LEDs.

The photoelectric sensor 4 is provided on the back side of the objective lens 45.
6 are arranged, and the light receiving sensitivity portions of the photoelectric sensor 46 are arranged in a square shape adjacent to each other in the shape of a square. As shown in FIG. 4, the first to fourth light receiving sensitivity portions 47 to 50 are arranged. To 4
It is divided. The photoelectric conversion signals output from the first to fourth light receiving sensitivity units 47 to 50 are amplifiers 51, 52 and 5, respectively.
After being amplified by 3, 54, it is divided into a horizontal drive signal and a vertical drive signal as follows.

That is, the output of the amplifier 51 is the resistor R1,
It is supplied to the amplifiers 55 and 56 via R2, and the amplifier 52
Is supplied to the amplifiers 56 and 57 via resistors R3 and R4, the output of the amplifier 53 is supplied to the amplifiers 57 and 58 via resistors R5 and R6, and the output of the amplifier 54 is connected to the resistor R.
It is supplied to the amplifiers 58 and 55 via R7 and R8. As a result, the vertical drive signal is output to the output terminal Y of the amplifier 55, the horizontal drive signal is output to the output terminal X of the amplifier 56, and the vertical drive signal is output to the output terminal -Y of the amplifier 57 as described above. The horizontal drive signal is output to the output terminal -X of the amplifier 58 in the same manner as above.

When light is incident only on the first light receiving sensitivity section 47, this photoelectric conversion signal is amplified by the amplifier 51 and then again by the amplifiers 55 and 56, respectively. Converted to vertical drive signal. When light is incident on the light receiving sensitivity sections 47 and 48, the photoelectric conversion signals become the horizontal drive signal of the X terminal, the vertical drive signal of the Y terminal, and the vertical drive signal of the -Y terminal.

Therefore, when the signal is Y> -Y, it is a vertical drive signal for normal rotation, when it is a signal of Y <-Y, it is a vertical drive signal for reverse rotation, and when it is a signal of X> -X, it is a horizontal drive signal for normal rotation. When the driving signal is a signal of X <-X, the horizontal driving signal for reverse rotation is used. Then, the motor 30 is rotationally driven by the horizontal drive signal, the motor 37 is rotationally driven by the vertical drive signal, and the drive of these motors 30, 37 is controlled by the signal from the light receiving circuit shown in FIG. It has become so.

FIG. 5 shows a specific configuration of a horizontal drive circuit and a vertical drive circuit for controlling the drive of each motor 30, 37.
It is shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the vertical drive circuit includes potentiometers 38 and 59, an adder 60, and an analog switch 6.
1, 62, inverter 63, differential amplifier 64, transistors 65 and 66, diodes 67 and 68, resistors R9 to R
17, the drive of the motor 37 is controlled by the operation of the transistors 65 and 66.

The horizontal drive circuit is, as shown in FIG. 6, potentiometers 31, 69, an adder 70, and an analog switch 7.
1, 72, inverter 73, differential amplifier 74, transistors 75 and 76, diodes 77 and 78, resistors R18 to
R26 is provided, and the driving of the motor 30 is controlled by the operation of the transistors 75 and 76.

The operation completion signal is not input to the terminals S1 and S2 of each drive circuit until the camera captures the subject and completes a certain operation. That is, Lo is applied to the terminals S1 and S2.
When the signal of w is input, the analog switch 6
Since both 2 and 72 are ON, when the levels of the terminals Y and X are High and -Y and -X are Low, the outputs of the differential amplifiers 64 and 74 become the difference between the input signals, and this difference voltage causes The transistors 65 and 75 are turned on, and the motors 30 and 37 are both driven in the normal direction.

Contrary to the above, when the levels of the terminals -Y and -X are High and the levels of the terminals Y and X are Low, the transistors 66 and 76 are turned on so that the motors 30 and 37 are driven in reverse. It has become.

When the levels of the terminals Y, -Y, X, -X become the same, that is, the reflected light of the reflecting mirror 44 is reflected by the photoelectric sensor 46 (first to fourth light receiving sensitivity sections 47 to 50). The drive of the motors 30 and 37 is stopped when the light enters the center of the motor.

When the photographing operation of the camera is completed, the terminal S
When a High signal is input to S1 and S2 as an operation completion signal, both of the analog switches 61 and 71 are turned on, and the potentiometers 31 and 38 for returning the automatic platform 20 to the home position are operated. Signal is adder 6
It is supplied from 0, 70 to the transistors 65, 66, 75, 76 through the analog switches 61, 71. Therefore, the voltage corresponding to the positions of the potentiometers 31 and 38 and the potentiometers 59 and 69 for manual is added by the adder 6.
0 and 70 are added, and each motor 3 is added according to the added value.
The rotations of 0 and 37 are controlled, and the turning position of the automatic platform 20 is returned to the designated position, for example, the start position.

In FIG. 7, the light reflected from the reflecting mirror 44 is received by the light receiver 4.
1 is a circuit for outputting a capture signal when it is incident on the central portion of the photoelectric sensor 46 and the camera correctly captures an object. This circuit is an OR gate 79, a buffer 80,
Wind comparators 81, 82, AND gate 83,
The delay circuit is composed of a resistor R and a capacitor C. The OR gate 79 has terminals Y, -Y, X, -X.
The signal from is input and the window comparators 81, 8
Signals from terminals A and B of the horizontal drive circuit and the vertical drive circuit are input to 2.

When a signal from any of the terminals is input to the OR gate 79, this signal is sent to the delay circuit and the buffer 80.
Is input to the AND gate 83 via. At this time, the signals from the terminals A and B are input to the AND gate 83 via the window comparators 81 and 82, and when the condition of the logical product is satisfied, the AND gate 83 outputs a capture signal.

This capture signal illuminates a capture indicator lamp 84 (FIG. 1) which indicates that the camera has properly captured the subject. The captured signal may be supplied to the camera through the connection terminal 85 (FIG. 1) as a camera release signal.

In the wind comparators 81 and 82, the input voltage at the terminals A and B is at a zero level, and the motors 30 and 37 cannot be driven to rotate in both forward and reverse directions. It is set to the driving voltage range.

FIG. 8 is a circuit for preventing the influence of the reflected light on the back side of the reflecting mirror 44 when the distance between the light receiver 41 and the reflecting mirror 44 is short and there is a reflecting object on the back side of the reflecting mirror 44. Is. In other words, this is a circuit for preventing it from being impossible to determine whether the reflected light from the LEDs 42, 43 is the light from the reflecting mirror 44 or the light from a reflector, and the resistor R
27 to R32, an adder 86, and a current adjusting circuit 87.

Signals from terminals Y, -Y, X, and -X are input to the adder 86 via resistors R27 to R30, and the addition values of the signals input from the respective terminals are input via the adder 86. Is input to the current adjusting circuit 87, and the LEDs 42, 43
The current of is adjusted. That is, when the photoelectric conversion current of the photoelectric sensor 46 of the light receiver 41 increases,
The LEDs 42 and 43 are darkened so that the amplifier is not saturated, and the position of the reflecting mirror 44 can be easily detected.

In the above structure, when the camera is fixed to the support 23 and the light from the LEDs 42 and 43 is projected, L
The light from the EDs 42 and 43 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 44, and this reflected light enters the light receiver 41. The incident light is incident on one of the light receiving sensitivity sections of the photoelectric sensor 46. At this time,
When incident on the first photosensitivity section 47, terminals X and Y
A horizontal drive signal and a vertical drive signal are output by a photoelectric conversion signal from the motors 30 and 37, and both the motors 30 and 37 are normally driven.
The rotating body 22 rotates in the horizontal direction and the supporting body 23 rotates in the vertical direction.

The rotation of the motors 30 and 37 causes the automatic pan head 20 to rotate, so that the photographing direction of the camera faces the subject, and the reflected light from the reflecting mirror 44 is reflected by the photoelectric sensor 46 (first
~ When incident on the central portion of the fourth light receiving sensitivity section 47 to 50),
The outputs of the terminals Y, -Y, X, -X are all at the same level, and the driving of the motors 30, 37 is stopped.

At this time, the capture display lamp 84 is turned on by the capture signal from the AND gate 83. As described above, when the capture signal is supplied to the camera as a release signal, the camera inputs the release signal and performs a photographing operation.

When the camera fixed to the support member 23 is a camera with a remote control, it is convenient to use the operation tool 88 as shown in FIG. The operation tool 88 includes a reflection mirror section 89 similar to the reflection mirror 44, and a signal generation section 9 that generates a control signal by pressing the operation button 90.
1 and 1.

This operation tool 88 is arranged on the subject side, reflects the light from the LEDs 42 and 43 of the automatic pan head 20, and turns the automatic pan head 20 as described above. Then, after confirming that the capturing direction of the camera is toward the subject and the capture display lamp 84 is turned on, the operation button 90 is pressed to issue a remote control signal and the camera is released.

If the camera fixed to the support 22 does not have a remote control, the optical pulse signal is emitted from the operation tool 88.
Then, a light receiver for receiving the light pulse signal is provided on the automatic platform 20, and a release signal corresponding to the output of the light receiver is supplied to the camera through the connection terminal 85.

The above-described automatic platform 20 can be used for a code reading camera (image analysis device) of the code plate 100 as shown in FIG. This code board 100 is
For example, it is for controlling the entry and exit of the truck to and from a predetermined place, and is attached to the truck together with the reflecting mirror 44. The code plate 100 is binary data in which the shaded portion is black and the other portions are white.

Since the automatic platform 20 turns according to the light reflected by the reflecting mirror 44, the code reading camera is directed to follow the running and stopping of the truck, and the code reading of the code board 100 is performed. To do.

FIG. 11 shows another example of a code plate used in the same manner as described above. The code plate 101 has a code plate portion 100a in the middle thereof and a reflecting mirror 44a in the periphery thereof. The plate and the reflector are integrated.

On the other hand, the automatic platform 20 described above can be turned by projecting light from the subject side, as shown in FIG. That is, a light projector 111 including a light source 111 such as an LED, an operation switch 112, an oscillation circuit 113, and the like is provided, and the light projector 110 is used to project light from the subject side toward the automatic platform 20. The light projected in this manner is received by the light receiver 41, and the automatic pan head 20 turns around as described above.

As can be seen from the above-described embodiments, the automatic pan / tilt head according to the present invention is not limited to an ordinary pan / tilt head for a camera, but also for the management of the entrance and exit of vehicles such as trucks, the operation management, the automatic sorting of luggage, and the belt conveyor. Can be used as a camera platform used for product management and quality control, input device for image analysis of moving images, and display of OA equipment.
It can be used as an automatic platform as a support for adjusting the orientation of the surface.

Further, in carrying out the present invention, the light receiving sensitivity portion is not limited to a light receiving device constituted by a photoelectric sensor in which the light receiving sensitivity portion is divided into four in a square shape and one objective lens, and a photoelectric conversion element provided with an objective lens may be used. It is also possible to combine them into a square-shaped light receiver.

[0045]

As described above, in the light receiving device according to the present invention, the photoelectric sensor in which the light receiving sensitivity portions are arranged in the shape of a square is made to receive the light from the subject side through the objective lens, and each light receiving sensitivity portion is received. Since the automatic pan head is rotated by the horizontal drive signal and the vertical drive signal output by, the light spot hitting the photoelectric sensor moves linearly toward the center as the automatic pan turns, and the light spot moves photoelectrically. When it moves to the center of the sensor, the turn of the automatic platform stops and the camera captures the subject. As a result, since the light receiving device has a quick response, it is possible to provide an automatic camera platform that shortens the time until the camera captures the subject.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic pan head showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal mechanism of the automatic platform shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between a reflecting mirror and a light receiver.

FIG. 4 is a light receiving circuit diagram for outputting a drive signal.

FIG. 5 is a vertical drive circuit diagram.

FIG. 6 is a horizontal drive circuit diagram.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of a capture signal generation circuit for a subject.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram for adjusting a current of an LED.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an operating tool having a reflecting mirror and a function of transmitting a remote control signal of the camera.

FIG. 10 is a simplified front view of a reflecting mirror and a code plate which are separately configured.

FIG. 11 is a simplified front view of a code plate integrally configured with a reflecting mirror.

FIG. 12 is a simplified diagram showing a state in which the automatic pan head is turned by the projection of the projector.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a conventional camera platform.

FIG. 14 is a drive circuit diagram of a conventional camera platform.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 Base 22 Rotating Body 23 Supporting Body 30, 37 Motor 41 Light Receiver 42, 43 LED 44 Reflecting Mirror 46 Photoelectric Sensor 47, 48, 49, 50 Light Sensing Sensitive Section 84 Capture Display Lamp

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A light receiver for receiving light from the subject side,
In an automatic camera platform having a horizontal turning mechanism and a vertical turning mechanism driven according to the light receiving state of the light receiver, a photoelectric sensor in which first to fourth light receiving sensitivity parts are arranged in a square shape in a square shape. And an objective lens provided in front of this photoelectric sensor, and this receiver is positioned on the left and right, adds the outputs of two pairs of light receiving sensitivity units, and adds the outputs for each group to the right side. The two sets of horizontal drive outputs that are in opposite directions are generated by the addition output of the pair and the addition output of the left side pair, and the outputs of the two pairs of photosensitivity sections located above and below each pair are added for each pair. However, the configuration is such that two systems of vertical drive outputs that are in opposite directions are generated by the upper group addition output and the lower group addition output. Based on the sum signal of the horizontal drive output, Two systems receiving device for an automatic panhead camera, wherein each that has a structure to be driven in the vertical turning mechanism by the sum signal of the vertical drive output. 2. An automatic pan head for a camera according to claim 1, further comprising a photoreceiver in which four photoelectric conversion elements each having an objective lens are combined, and a photosensitivity section is arranged in a square shape in a square shape. Light receiving device.