Sensor system for conference room occupation detection

Abstract

The invention discloses a sensor system for conference room occupancy detection. The sensor system comprises a sensor and a data processing unit, the sensor comprises a camera module, a micro-control unit and a communication unit, the camera module is used for collecting conference room images and transmitting the conference room images to the micro-control unit; the micro-control unit is used for identifying a plurality of human body contours in the conference room image and determining first position information of each person in the conference room image according to each human body contour; the micro-control unit is used for identifying object contours of a plurality of objects in the conference room image and determining second position information of each object in the conference room image according to each object contour; the micro-control unit is used for transmitting all the first position information and the second position information to the data processing unit through the communication unit; and the data processing unit is used for determining the personnel occupation condition and the object occupation condition in the conference room according to the first position information and the second position information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of occupancy detection, and in particular to a sensor system for conference room occupancy detection. Background Art

[0002] In the contemporary office environment, conference rooms are important places for communication, decision-making and collaboration. In order to meet the needs of modern office, conference rooms need to be managed automatically and intelligently, including automatic reservation of conference rooms, automatic release of conference rooms, and automatic opening and closing of various devices in conference rooms. Such intelligent management can improve the efficiency of conference room use, reduce the waste of human resources, and improve work efficiency and employee experience.

[0003] In the process of realizing the automated management of conference rooms, it is crucial to understand the occupancy of conference rooms. Only by accurately perceiving the usage of conference rooms can reasonable resource allocation and conference room usage planning be carried out. The existing method of realizing conference room occupancy detection is to capture images of the conference room through a camera installed in the conference room, and directly transmit the captured images to an external display device so that users can define the monitoring area to determine the occupancy of the conference room, but the transmission of images is prone to image privacy leakage. In addition, various sensors on the market have different shortcomings and limitations. The technical invention of this article aims to build a more comprehensive sensor with low cost and wide application range, which can provide real-time conference room occupancy status and headcount information, and can solve privacy concerns. Summary of the invention

[0004] The embodiment of the present invention provides a sensor system for conference room occupancy detection, which can effectively solve the image privacy leakage problem caused by direct transmission of images to external devices in the prior art, and improve the privacy protection of collected images.

[0005] An embodiment of the present invention provides a sensor system for conference room occupancy detection, comprising: a sensor and a data processing unit;

[0006] The sensor includes: a camera module, a micro control unit and a communication unit;

[0007] The camera module is used to collect the conference room image and transmit the conference room image to the micro control unit;

[0008] The micro control unit is used to identify a plurality of human body contours in the conference room image, and determine the first position information of each person in the conference room image according to each of the human body contours; the micro control unit is used to identify the object contours of a plurality of objects in the conference room image, and determine the second position information of each object in the conference room image according to each of the object contours; the micro control unit is used to transmit all the first position information and the second position information in the conference room image to the data processing unit through the communication unit;

[0009] The data processing unit is used to determine the occupation status of people and objects in the conference room according to the first position information and the second position information.

[0010] Furthermore, the micro control unit is also used for:

[0011] Determine the total number of people in the conference room image according to each of the human body contours, and transmit the total number of people to the data processing unit through the communication unit;

[0012] The data processing unit is further used to determine the number of people using the conference room according to the total number of people.

[0013] Further, the communication unit adopts a narrowband transmission protocol during data transmission;

[0014] The communication unit adopts a narrowband transmission protocol during data transmission;

[0015] The narrowband transmission protocol includes any one of the following: Bluetooth low energy transmission and ZigBee transmission.

[0016] Further, it also includes: configuring the host;

[0017] The configuration host is connected to the communication unit;

[0018] The configuration host is used to send an instruction for indicating a sensor detection area to the micro control unit through the communication unit, so that the micro control unit parses the instruction, determines the detection area, and controls the camera module to collect the conference room image within the detection area.

[0019] Furthermore, the micro control unit is also used for:

[0020] Transmitting all first position information in the conference room image to the configuration host via the communication unit;

[0021] The configuration host further includes: a display unit;

[0022] The configuration host is further used to determine the movement trajectory of the person in the conference room according to the first position information, and visualize the movement trajectory on the display unit.

[0023] Furthermore, the micro control unit is also used for:

[0024] Transmitting all second position information in the conference room image to the configuration host via the communication unit;

[0025] The configuration host is further used to determine the occupied position of the object in the conference room according to the second position information, and generate a visual image of the object's occupancy in the conference room in the display unit.

[0026] Furthermore, the display unit is also used to display the detection area.

[0027] The following beneficial effects are achieved by implementing the present invention:

[0028] The present invention provides a sensor system for conference room occupancy detection, comprising: a sensor and a data processing unit; the sensor comprises: a camera module, a micro control unit and a communication unit; the camera module in the sensor collects the conference room image, and the micro control unit in the sensor recognizes the conference room image to determine the position information of the personnel and the position information of the objects in the conference room image, and the position information of the personnel and the position information of the objects after the image extraction is transmitted to the data processing unit outside the sensor through the communication unit in the sensor, so that the data processing unit determines the occupation status of the personnel and the object in the conference room according to the position information of the personnel and the position information of the objects. By encapsulating the camera module, the micro control unit and the communication unit into the sensor, the sensor completes the data extraction of the image inside the device while performing image acquisition, and then transmits the extracted data to the external device, thereby avoiding the image privacy leakage problem caused by the direct transmission of the image to the external device, and improving the privacy protection of the collected image. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a sensor system for conference room occupancy detection provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a visualization interface of a person's motion trajectory provided by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0032] In order to better understand the technical effects that can be achieved by the embodiments of the present invention, it needs to be explained that: in order to realize conference room occupancy detection and headcount counting, the conference room occupancy sensor technology used in the prior art mainly includes: camera solution, thermal imaging solution, TOF sensor solution, millimeter wave sensor solution, PIR infrared solution and ultrasonic solution.

[0033] (1) Camera solution: This is a common and affordable solution. It can detect the number of people and determine the occupancy status by taking images of the conference room and using image processing and computer vision algorithms. Cameras have the advantages of low cost and wide range, and can capture the situation in the conference room in real time. However, the camera solution may involve privacy issues, and the collection and processing of personal information needs to be properly handled to avoid the risk of privacy leakage.

[0034] (2) Thermal imaging solution: The thermal imaging solution detects the heat distribution on the surface of an object to achieve headcount and occupancy status detection. Compared with the camera solution, the thermal imaging solution does not have privacy issues because it does not need to directly obtain individual image information. Thermal imaging sensors can detect the heat distribution on the surface of an object through infrared radiation, and then extract the heat information of the human body to achieve headcount and occupancy status judgment. However, the thermal imaging solution is expensive and easily interfered by other heat sources, and requires optimized design and layout to ensure accuracy.

[0035] (3) TOF sensor solution: TOF sensors (time of flight sensors) achieve crowd counting and occupancy status detection by measuring the time required for emitted light and reflected back from an object, with high accuracy and low energy consumption. TOF sensors are relatively expensive, but due to the characteristics of their working principle, there are no privacy issues. TOF sensors can calculate the distance between the human body and the sensor by measuring the flight time of light, thereby achieving crowd counting and occupancy status judgment. However, the range of TOF sensors is relatively small, and the layout and location of the sensors need to be considered to cover the entire conference room.

[0036] (4) Millimeter wave sensor solution: The millimeter wave sensor solution uses millimeter wave signals for detection and ranging, which can be used for people counting and occupancy status detection. Compared with other solutions, millimeter wave sensors have higher accuracy and anti-interference capabilities. Millimeter wave sensors are more expensive and have a relatively small range, requiring careful planning in layout and location.

[0037] (5) PIR infrared solution: PIR (Passive Infrared) infrared solution is a common and low-cost option. It detects the occupancy status of the conference room by detecting infrared radiation to determine whether there is someone in the conference room. PIR sensors are suitable for detecting the thermal radiation of the human body and send a signal when someone enters or leaves the conference room. However, the accuracy of PIR infrared solution is relatively low and it cannot provide accurate headcount information. Therefore, in scenarios where accurate headcount is required, PIR infrared solution may not be the most ideal choice.

[0038] (6) Ultrasonic solution: The ultrasonic solution is another low-cost option. It detects human bodies and determines occupancy status by emitting ultrasonic waves and receiving their reflections. Ultrasonic sensors can calculate the distance between the human body and the sensor to determine whether there are people in the meeting room. Compared with other solutions, the ultrasonic solution does not have privacy concerns and can detect human bodies without involving personal images. However, compared with thermal imaging, TOF sensors, and millimeter wave sensors, the ultrasonic solution has relatively low accuracy and cannot provide accurate headcount information.

[0039] According to the above six prior art solutions, the analysis results shown in the following table can be obtained:

[0040]

[0041] From the above analysis, it can be seen that the existing sensor solutions all have different shortcomings and limitations. In order to solve the problems existing in the above sensor solutions, the present invention proposes the following solutions:

[0042] like Figure 1 As shown, a sensor system for conference room occupancy detection provided by an embodiment of the present invention includes: a sensor and a data processing unit;

[0043] The sensor includes: a camera module, a micro control unit and a communication unit;

[0044] The camera module is used to collect the conference room image and transmit the conference room image to the micro control unit;

[0045] The micro control unit is used to identify a plurality of human body contours in the conference room image, and determine the first position information of each person in the conference room image according to each of the human body contours; the micro control unit is used to identify the object contours of a plurality of objects in the conference room image, and determine the second position information of each object in the conference room image according to each of the object contours; the micro control unit is used to transmit all the first position information and the second position information in the conference room image to the data processing unit through the communication unit;

[0046] The data processing unit is used to determine the occupation status of people and objects in the conference room according to the first position information and the second position information.

[0047] Specifically, the camera module, the microcontroller unit (MCU) and the communication unit are integrated into the sensor.

[0048] The camera module is used to collect real-time images of the conference room. The camera in the selected camera module should have an appropriate resolution and frame rate to ensure the clarity and smoothness of the collected conference room images. The camera module can be an independent hardware component or integrated on the sensor mainboard.

[0049] The microcontroller unit (MCU) is a core component in the sensor, which integrates an AI image algorithm for image processing and detection of the conference room image collected by the camera module. Preferably, the AI ​​image algorithm is a target detection algorithm and a target tracking algorithm. When the microcontroller unit (MCU) receives the conference room image transmitted by the camera module, it identifies the human body contour in the conference room image through the AI ​​image algorithm, and determines the position information of the personnel in the conference room image (i.e., the above-mentioned first position information) through the detected human body contour. The object contour in the conference room image is identified by the AI ​​image algorithm, and the placement position of each object in the conference room image in the conference room is determined by the detected object contour (i.e., the above-mentioned second position information). The position information of the personnel in the detected conference room image and the placement position of each object in the conference room image in the conference room are transmitted to the data processing unit connected to the sensor through the communication unit, so that the data processing unit determines the coordinates of the personnel in the conference room according to the position information of the personnel in the received conference room image, and determines the occupation of the conference room by the user. The occupation of the conference room by equipment and other items in the conference room is determined according to the placement position of each object in the conference room image in the conference room.

[0050] Through the above embodiment, the collected conference room image is processed inside the sensor, and only the position information of the people in the processed conference room image and the placement position of each object in the conference room image are transmitted to the sensor external device, ensuring that the process of collecting and processing the image is processed inside the sensor, and only the position information of the people and the position information of the objects are transmitted to the outside, and the image cannot be restored through the position information of the people and the position information of the objects, so that the privacy of the image transmission process is guaranteed.

[0051] In a preferred embodiment, the microcontroller unit is further used to: determine the total number of people in the conference room image based on each of the human body contours, and transmit the total number of people to the data processing unit through the communication unit; the data processing unit is also used to: determine the number of people using the conference room based on the total number of people.

[0052] Specifically, when the microcontroller unit (MCU) detects a human body outline, it determines the total number of people in the conference room image according to the ratio of the number of heads and shoulders of the human body in the detected human body outline. For example, if the number of heads detected is 5 and the number of shoulders is 5, then according to the human body outline that constitutes each person, one head and one shoulder are required, and it can be determined that the total number of people in the conference room captured in the conference room image is 5. The determined total number of people is then transmitted to the data processing unit, so that the data processing unit determines the number of people occupying the detected conference room according to the determined total number of people.

[0053] The communication unit is responsible for the communication between the microcontroller unit MCU and the sensor external device. It can use different communication protocols and technologies, such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth low energy transmission (BLE), Zigbee transmission, etc., to realize the data interaction between the sensor and the sensor external device. The communication unit transmits the processed data, such as the location coordinates of personnel, the counting results of the number of people, etc., to the sensor external device through the selected communication method.

[0054] In a preferred embodiment, the communication unit adopts a narrowband transmission protocol during data transmission; wherein the narrowband transmission protocol includes any one of the following: Bluetooth low energy transmission and ZigBee transmission.

[0055] Specifically, in order to enhance the privacy of data transmission, narrowband transmission solutions such as Bluetooth low energy transmission (BLE) and Zigbee transmission are preferred. By adopting low-bandwidth communication to ensure that the amount of transmitted data is limited, dynamic images cannot be directly transmitted, but low-volume data such as personnel location coordinates and headcount results can be transmitted, thereby further protecting the privacy of users from being leaked. Furthermore, the bandwidth and storage resources required by the narrowband transmission protocol are greatly reduced, and the complexity and cost of the system are also reduced.

[0056] In a preferred embodiment, it also includes: a configuration host; the configuration host is connected to the communication unit; the configuration host is used to send an instruction for indicating the sensor detection area to the micro control unit through the communication unit, so that the micro control unit parses the instruction, determines the detection area, and controls the camera module to collect the conference room image within the detection area.

[0057] Specifically, the configuration host is connected to the communication unit in the sensor through a wireless communication protocol to realize data interaction between the configuration host and the sensor. The configuration host can be a personal computer or a mobile phone terminal, which can access the configuration page generated by the sensor in the configuration host by means of a software program installed in the host or by protocols such as HTTP. By modifying the configuration parameters of the sensor on the configuration page, the configuration host generates a configuration instruction based on the modified configuration parameters of the sensor and transmits it to the micro control unit (MCU) of the sensor, so that the micro control unit (MCU) parses the corresponding received configuration instruction to modify the parameters of the sensor so that the sensor can meet specific needs and scenarios. In addition, the user can also set the detection area of ​​the sensor in the configuration host, so that the configuration host sends instructions to the micro control unit (MCU) through the communication unit. After the micro control unit (MCU) receives the instruction, it parses the instruction to determine the detection area of ​​the sensor, and controls the camera module to collect the conference room image within the determined detection area. The user can also set the working parameters such as the sensitivity of the sensor in the configuration host, so that the sensor can adapt to more scenarios and have better applicability.

[0058] After receiving the data sent by the sensor, the data processing unit can further process, store and analyze the data. In the system of the present invention, the data processing unit can be a gateway or a server. Preferably, the configuration host and the data processing unit can be integrated in the same device.

[0059] In a preferred embodiment, the microcontroller unit is further used to: transmit all first position information in the conference room image to the configuration host through the communication unit; the configuration host also includes: a display unit; the configuration host is further used to: determine the movement trajectory of people in the conference room based on the first position information, and visualize the movement trajectory on the display unit.

[0060] In another preferred embodiment, the microcontroller unit is further used to: transmit all second position information in the conference room image to the configuration host through the communication unit; the configuration host is further used to: determine the occupied position of the object in the conference room based on the second position information, and generate a visual image of the object occupancy in the conference room in the display unit.

[0061] In a preferred embodiment, the display unit is also used to display the detection area.

[0062] Specifically, the system of the present invention can realize motion trajectory detection and object recognition of conference room users within the detection area by configuring the detection area of ​​the sensor on the configuration host.

[0063] When detecting the motion trajectory of a person, the following steps are included:

[0064] Step S1: establishing a communication connection between the configuration host and the communication unit in the sensor;

[0065] Step S2: The microcontroller unit (MCU) in the sensor detects the human body contour of each frame of the conference room image collected in real time by the camera module in the sensor through the AI ​​image algorithm, and recognizes the location information of the person through the human body contour;

[0066] Step S3: the sensor transmits the detected personnel position information to the configuration host in real time, so that the configuration host drives the configuration software loaded in the configuration host to draw the movement trajectory of the conference room personnel;

[0067] Step S4: The configuration software in the configuration host visualizes the motion trajectory of the drawn person on the display unit of the configuration host, generating a Figure 2 The visual interface shown enables users to determine the location of people in the meeting room by their movement trajectories;

[0068] Step S5: The user can draw the conference room range to be detected on the generated image for further analysis and status monitoring. Preferably, according to the movement trajectory of the personnel, the software can also directly and intelligently determine and generate the area to be monitored without the user having to draw it manually.

[0069] Step S6: The user further configures other parameters of the sensor, such as sensitivity, detection frequency, etc., and can set the gateway or data processing unit that needs to be transmitted;

[0070] Step S7: The sensor starts to transmit data normally to the designated gateway or data processing unit.

[0071] It should be noted that the configuration software can be an App running on different operating systems such as Android, IOS, Wi ndows, and Linux; or the sensor can have a built-in Web server and be configured by accessing the Web server; or the sensor can be equipped with a dedicated controller or a matching gateway, server, or other equipment to configure the sensor.

[0072] When performing object recognition detection of personnel, the following steps are included:

[0073] Step S101: establishing a communication connection between the configuration host and the communication unit in the sensor;

[0074] Step S201: The microcontroller unit (MCU) in the sensor detects the contour of the object in each frame of the conference room image captured in real time by the camera module in the sensor through an AI image algorithm, for example, the contour of objects such as a TV, conference table, doors and windows in the image, and identifies the location information of the object through the contour of the object;

[0075] Step S301: The sensor transmits the position information of the detected object to the configuration host in real time, so that the configuration host drives the configuration software loaded in the configuration host to generate a simulated conference room image including objects such as a television, a conference table, doors and windows in the display unit according to the position information of the object, so as to help the user determine the position of objects such as the door and television in the conference room;

[0076] Step S401: The user can draw the range of the conference room to be detected on the generated image for further analysis and status monitoring; preferably, based on the intelligent recognition of objects such as conference tables, the software can also directly and intelligently determine and generate the area to be monitored without the user having to draw it manually;

[0077] Step S501: The user further configures other parameters of the sensor, such as sensitivity, detection frequency, etc., and can set the gateway or data processing unit that needs to be transmitted;

[0078] Step S601: The sensor starts to transmit data normally to a designated gateway or data processing unit.

[0079] It should be noted that the characteristic objects in the conference room may be common items in the conference room, such as doors, windows, tables, chairs, and televisions, or they may be an object specially designed to meet the needs of sensor recognition, so that the sensor can better and quickly identify and establish a coordinate system.

[0080] By implementing the above solution, it is possible to visually monitor the usage of the conference room by people and their movement trajectories, as well as the occupancy of various devices and objects in the conference room, so that the occupancy of the conference room can be detected more conveniently and intuitively.

[0081] It should be noted that the device embodiments described above are merely schematic, wherein the units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the scheme of this embodiment. In addition, in the accompanying drawings of the device embodiments provided by the present invention, the connection relationship between the modules indicates that there is a communication connection between them, which may be specifically implemented as one or more communication buses or signal lines. A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand and implement it without paying any creative effort.

[0082] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working process of the device described above can refer to the corresponding process in the aforementioned method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0083] The above is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that a person skilled in the art can make several improvements and modifications without departing from the principle of the present invention. These improvements and modifications are also considered to be within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A sensor system for conference room occupancy detection, characterized in that: include: Sensors and data processing units; The sensor includes: a camera module, a micro control unit and a communication unit; The camera module is used to collect the conference room image and transmit the conference room image to the micro control unit; The micro control unit is used to identify a plurality of human body contours in the conference room image, and determine the first position information of each person in the conference room image according to each of the human body contours; the micro control unit is used to identify the object contours of a plurality of objects in the conference room image, and determine the second position information of each object in the conference room image according to each of the object contours; the micro control unit is used to transmit all the first position information and the second position information in the conference room image to the data processing unit through the communication unit; The data processing unit is used to determine the occupation status of people and objects in the conference room according to the first position information and the second position information.

2. A sensor system for conference room occupancy detection as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The micro control unit is also used for: Determine the total number of people in the conference room image according to each of the human body contours, and transmit the total number of people to the data processing unit through the communication unit; The data processing unit is further used to determine the number of people using the conference room according to the total number of people.

3. A sensor system for conference room occupancy detection as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The communication unit adopts a narrowband transmission protocol during data transmission; The narrowband transmission protocol includes any one of the following: Bluetooth low energy transmission and ZigBee transmission.

4. A sensor system for conference room occupancy detection as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: Configure the host; The configuration host is connected to the communication unit; The configuration host is used to send an instruction for indicating a sensor detection area to the micro control unit through the communication unit, so that the micro control unit parses the instruction, determines the detection area, and controls the camera module to collect the conference room image within the detection area.

5. A sensor system for conference room occupancy detection as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that: The micro control unit is also used for: Transmitting all first position information in the conference room image to the configuration host via the communication unit; The configuration host further includes: a display unit; The configuration host is further used to determine the movement trajectory of the person in the conference room according to the first position information, and visualize the movement trajectory on the display unit.

6. A sensor system for conference room occupancy detection as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that: The micro control unit is also used for: Transmitting all second position information in the conference room image to the configuration host via the communication unit; The configuration host is further used to determine the occupied position of the object in the conference room according to the second position information, and generate a visual image of the object's occupancy in the conference room in the display unit.

7. A sensor system for conference room occupancy detection as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that: The display unit is also used to display the detection area.

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