Ambient light self-adaptive intelligent camera equipment

Abstract

The utility model discloses an ambient light self-adaptive intelligent camera device, and relates to the technical field of camera devices. The intelligent camera device and a camera are fixedly arranged on a shell; the circuit board is fixedly arranged in the shell, and an image sensor module, a light supplementing device, an ambient light sensor and a main control module are arranged on the circuit board; wherein the image sensor module is connected with the camera so as to monitor a predetermined monitoring area through the camera, the ambient light sensor is used for detecting the brightness of ambient light, the main control module is electrically connected with the image sensor module, the ambient light sensor and the light supplementing device, and the main control module is used for adjusting the brightness of the ambient light according to the brightness of the ambient light detected by the ambient light sensor. And adjusting the working parameters of the image sensor module, and adjusting the working parameters of the light supplementing device according to the adjusted working parameters of the image sensor module. According to the invention, the adaptive capability of the camera device in a complex ambient light scene is improved, so that the quality of an image output by the camera device is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of camera equipment technology, and more particularly to an ambient light adaptive intelligent camera device. Background Technology

[0002] Traditional cameras typically come with supplementary lighting devices to enhance the illumination of the scene being captured. However, these supplementary lighting devices usually operate at a fixed illuminance level. That is, they turn on at a fixed illuminance level when the ambient light is low, or they simply adjust the intensity of the supplementary light linearly according to the ambient light. In some more complex ambient light scenarios, the final output image quality is still poor, as they cannot adaptively and intelligently adjust the intensity of the supplementary light to improve the output image quality. Utility Model Content

[0003] The purpose of this application is to at least solve one of the technical problems existing in the prior art, and to provide an ambient light adaptive intelligent camera device, which aims to improve the adaptive capability of the camera device in complex ambient light scenes, thereby improving the image quality output by the camera device.

[0004] This application provides an ambient light adaptive smart camera device, including: a housing, a camera, and a circuit board;

[0005] The shell is hollow inside;

[0006] The camera is fixedly mounted on the housing;

[0007] The circuit board is fixedly installed inside the housing, and the circuit board is equipped with an image sensor module, a supplementary lighting device, an ambient light sensor and a main control module;

[0008] The image sensor module is connected to the camera to monitor a predetermined monitoring area. The ambient light sensor is used to detect ambient light brightness. The main control module is electrically connected to the image sensor module, the ambient light sensor, and the supplementary lighting device. The main control module is used to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module according to the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor, and to adjust the operating parameters of the supplementary lighting device according to the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module.

[0009] According to the technical solution of the embodiments of this application, at least the following beneficial effects are achieved: the ambient light sensor is used to detect the ambient light brightness. When the ambient light sensor detects different ambient light brightness, the main control module can adjust the working parameters of the image sensor module according to the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor. Then, the image sensor module controls and adjusts the exposure and gain parameters of the camera. Since the supplementary lighting device mainly improves the shooting scene effect of the camera under different ambient light by different supplementary lighting intensities, that is, the supplementary lighting device is an auxiliary improvement device. Therefore, adjusting the working parameters of the image sensor module first can improve the basic conditions for camera shooting. Then, based on the improved basic conditions for camera shooting, the working parameters of the supplementary lighting device are adjusted accordingly according to the adjusted working parameters of the image sensor module. This realizes the correlation adjustment between the camera and the supplementary lighting device, thereby further improving the adaptive capability of the camera device in complex ambient light scenes, and thus improving the image quality output by the camera device.

[0010] According to some embodiments of this application, the main control module includes a main control chip, a first control module, and a second control module, wherein the main control chip is connected to the first control module and the second control module respectively through different interfaces;

[0011] The main control chip is used to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module through the first control module according to the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor, and to adjust the operating parameters of the supplementary lighting device through the second control module according to the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module.

[0012] According to some embodiments of this application, the image sensor module includes a visible light image sensor and an infrared image sensor;

[0013] The main control module is used to control the visible light image sensor to turn on or off, and to control the infrared image sensor to turn on or off, based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor.

[0014] According to some embodiments of this application, the supplementary lighting device includes a first supplementary lighting module and a second supplementary lighting module;

[0015] The main control module is used to control the first supplementary lighting module to turn on or off according to the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor, and to adjust the operating parameters of the second supplementary lighting module according to the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module.

[0016] According to some embodiments of this application, the second supplementary lighting module includes a plurality of second supplementary lights;

[0017] The main control module is used to adjust the operating parameters of multiple second fill lights according to the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module.

[0018] According to some embodiments of this application, the main control module is further configured to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor and the image captured by the camera.

[0019] According to some embodiments of this application, the main control module is further configured to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor and the illumination intensity of different areas in the image captured by the camera.

[0020] According to some embodiments of this application, the main control module is further configured to adjust the image captured by the camera based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor and the illumination intensity of different areas in the image captured by the camera, and adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module based on the adjusted image captured by the camera.

[0021] According to some embodiments of this application, the image sensor module includes a high dynamic range image sensor and a global shutter.

[0022] According to some embodiments of this application, a Wi-Fi module is also included, which is electrically connected to the main control module and is used to transmit the images captured by the camera to a user terminal that is communicatively connected to the smart camera device.

[0023] Other features and advantages of this application will be set forth in the description which follows, and will be apparent in part from the description, or may be learned by practicing the application. The objectives and other advantages of this application may be realized and obtained by means of the structures particularly pointed out in the description, claims and drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0024] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the technical solutions of this application and constitute a part of the specification. They are used together with the embodiments of this application to explain the technical solutions of this application and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions of this application.

[0025] The present application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments;

[0026] Figure 1 This is a schematic block diagram of the structure of an intelligent camera device provided in one embodiment of this application;

[0027] Figure 2 This is a circuit diagram of an intelligent camera device provided in one embodiment of this application;

[0028] Figure 3 This is a schematic block diagram of the structure of an intelligent camera device provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0029] Figure 4 This is a schematic block diagram of the structure of an intelligent camera device provided in another embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0030] This section will describe in detail the specific embodiments of this application. Preferred embodiments of this application are shown in the accompanying drawings. The purpose of the drawings is to supplement the textual description with graphics, so that people can intuitively and vividly understand each technical feature and the overall technical solution of this application, but they should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of this application.

[0031] In the description of this application, it should be understood that the orientation descriptions, such as up, down, front, back, left, right, etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this application.

[0032] In the description of this application, "several" means one or more, "more than" means two or more, "greater than," "less than," and "exceeding" are understood to exclude the stated number, while "above," "below," and "within" are understood to include the stated number. If the terms "first" and "second" are used, they are merely for distinguishing technical features and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance, or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features, or implicitly indicating the order of the indicated technical features.

[0033] In the description of this application, unless otherwise expressly defined, terms such as "setup," "installation," and "connection" should be interpreted broadly, and those skilled in the art can reasonably determine the specific meaning of the above terms in this application in conjunction with the specific content of the technical solution.

[0034] The present application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0035] One embodiment of this application provides an ambient light adaptive intelligent camera device, such as... Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 This is a schematic block diagram of the structure of an intelligent camera device provided in one embodiment of this application. The intelligent camera device includes a housing, a camera, and a circuit board.

[0036] The shell is hollow inside;

[0037] The camera is fixedly mounted on the housing.

[0038] The circuit board is fixedly installed inside the housing, and the circuit board is equipped with an image sensor module, a supplementary lighting device, an ambient light sensor, and a main control module;

[0039] The image sensor module is connected to the camera to monitor a predetermined monitoring area. The ambient light sensor is used to detect the ambient light intensity. The main control module is electrically connected to the image sensor module, the ambient light sensor, and the supplementary lighting device. The main control module is used to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module according to the ambient light intensity detected by the ambient light sensor, and to adjust the operating parameters of the supplementary lighting device according to the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module.

[0040] It is understood that the intelligent camera device provided in this application embodiment can be modularly designed. That is, the camera, image sensor module, supplementary lighting device, ambient light sensor and main control module of the intelligent camera device can adopt different models of instruments to adapt to different application needs, so that the intelligent camera device can be used in different scenarios. For example, when the intelligent camera device is set in a low light environment, a high-sensitivity camera and a strong illumination supplementary lighting device can be selected to ensure image clarity, while in a well-lit outdoor scene, a wide-angle camera and a low-power supplementary lighting device and main control module can be used to ensure low energy efficiency.

[0041] In addition, smart camera devices can be equipped with different devices. For example, on factory production lines, high-resolution cameras can be used, and infrared sensors can be added to achieve precise quality inspection. In home environments, compact camera modules can be used, and biometric recognition modules and artificial intelligence algorithm modules can be added to achieve facial recognition access control functions.

[0042] Understandably, since smart camera devices can be used as surveillance cameras, they need to be able to adapt to different lighting conditions to ensure that they can provide clear and stable images in various environments.

[0043] For example, intelligent camera devices can employ wide dynamic range or high dynamic range imaging technology to avoid overexposure or underexposure of images due to backlighting or high-contrast scenes in strong daylight conditions. In addition, they can use high-sensitivity image sensors and intelligent noise reduction algorithms, combined with infrared illumination or full-color night vision functions, to ensure that the monitoring images retain usable details even at night or in low-light environments. Furthermore, intelligent camera devices can adjust exposure parameters in real time through ambient light sensors, thereby avoiding temporary image failure due to sudden changes in light in scenes with rapidly changing light, such as tunnel entrances or areas illuminated by vehicle headlights at night.

[0044] In one embodiment, the intelligent camera device is used as a surveillance camera device. It is understood that, compared with cameras in other application fields, surveillance cameras need to have stronger environmental adaptability and stability to ensure reliable operation over a long period of time. Therefore, the intelligent camera device supports all-weather operation, can maintain performance in extreme temperature, humid or dusty environments, and has a rugged housing that is resistant to damage. In addition, the surveillance camera can also have intelligent motion detection, face or license plate recognition and other analysis functions, and can record and store video for a long time and transmit it over the network.

[0045] In one embodiment, the camera of the intelligent camera device can be a camera of various structural types, such as a fixed bullet camera, a pan-tilt camera, a dome camera, or a panoramic camera.

[0046] In addition, it should be understood that the camera refers to a complete optical acquisition device mounted on a housing, including an optical lens group, a focusing mechanism, and necessary mechanical support structures. The camera is used to capture and focus optical images, while the image sensor module refers to a circuit module with an image sensor chip (e.g., a CCD or CMOS chip) and integrates related signal processing circuits, power management circuits, and interface circuits to convert optical signals into electronic signals.

[0047] It should be understood that the main control module can send control commands to the image sensor module through a specific interface to adjust its operating parameters (e.g., exposure time, gain, white balance, etc.). The image sensor module itself usually does not directly adjust the optical parts of the camera (e.g., lens aperture, focusing motor, etc.), but it can affect the final imaging effect by adjusting its own electronic parameters (e.g., analog gain, digital gain, exposure time).

[0048] Understandably, supplementary lighting devices are used to ensure that intelligent camera devices can still produce clear images in low-light or nighttime environments. These devices can be infrared supplementary lights, white light supplementary lights, laser supplementary lights, or intelligent hybrid supplementary lighting systems. Infrared supplementary lights provide illumination to the camera by emitting infrared light with wavelengths invisible to the human eye at 850nm or 940nm, thus avoiding light pollution. White light supplementary lights typically use LED arrays to provide visible light illumination, enabling the Shudie camera to capture color images at night. Laser supplementary lights emit high-intensity directional beams through laser diodes, providing long-distance illumination. Intelligent hybrid supplementary lighting systems combine multiple supplementary lighting technologies and can automatically switch between infrared, white light, or laser modes according to ambient light and monitoring needs to achieve optimal imaging results. In this embodiment, an infrared fill light, a white light fill light, or an intelligent hybrid fill light system can be used as the fill light device, and the fill light device is adjustable; in this embodiment, the fill light device is electrically connected to the main control module, and the fill light device can receive instructions from the main control module to achieve synchronous dimming; in another embodiment, the main control module can perform PWM dimming and the fill light device supports PWM dimming.

[0049] In some embodiments, the position of the supplementary lighting device can be set by considering the camera range, the light coverage angle, and the synergistic effect with the camera. For example, for fixed bullet or dome cameras, the supplementary lighting device can be directly integrated around the camera housing and installed in a coaxial or paraxial manner to ensure that the light matches the field of view of the camera lens and avoid vignetting. For example, infrared supplementary lights can be distributed in a ring around the outer edge of the camera lens or arranged symmetrically on both sides. White light supplementary lights can be installed on the top or bottom of the camera to reduce direct glare. The supplementary lighting device of a gimbal camera needs to support dynamic rotation. Therefore, it can be installed on a gimbal bracket, rotate synchronously with the camera, and have a wide-angle scattering lens to cover different fields of view during zooming.

[0050] Understandably, ambient light sensors are used to detect the light intensity of the environment surrounding intelligent camera devices. Ambient light sensors can be of various types, such as photodiode, phototransistor, and integrated digital sensor. Among them, photodiode sensors are based on the photoelectric effect of semiconductor PN junctions, converting light signals into current signals to achieve light detection; phototransistors add amplification to the photodiode type, resulting in a stronger output signal and making them suitable for low-light environments; integrated digital sensors directly output digital illuminance values ​​through built-in ADC and I2C interfaces.

[0051] In some embodiments, the installation location of the ambient light sensor can comprehensively consider environmental representativeness, interference resistance, and physical coordination with the camera, and can reflect the overall lighting conditions of the monitored area, avoiding misjudgments caused by local shadows or reflections. For example, for a fixed camera, the ambient light sensor can be embedded in the side or top of the camera housing, avoiding direct contact with the lens to prevent obstruction of the field of view, and also away from the direct path of the supplementary lighting device to prevent its own supplementary lighting from interfering with detection. For instance, for a dome camera, the ambient light sensor can be installed on the lower edge of the dome camera, receiving ambient light evenly through a diffuser; for a PTZ camera, a location unobstructed by mechanical structures during PTZ rotation can be selected, such as a non-rotating part of the support base. In one embodiment, the ambient light sensor can periodically collect lighting data.

[0052] In one embodiment, the illumination data detected by the ambient light sensor can be provided to the main control module or used to directly control the supplementary lighting device to achieve a fast response. For example, when a sudden change in illumination is detected, the supplementary lighting device can be directly controlled to reduce the intensity of the supplementary light to avoid overexposure.

[0053] It is understood that the main control module is used to process image data and control the image sensor module and the supplementary lighting device. The main control module may include a main control chip and an MCU. The main control chip may be an ARM-based SoC or a dedicated image processor, integrating a multi-core CPU, GPU, NPU, and dedicated ISP for video encoding, data processing and analysis from the ambient light sensor, etc. The MCU may be an STM32, ESP32, or Renesas RA series, etc., used for dimming the supplementary lighting device, data acquisition from the ambient light sensor, and abnormal status monitoring. In this embodiment, the image sensor module can be connected to the main control chip via a MIPI CSI-2 serial interface; the main control chip can be connected to the ambient light sensor via an I2C or SPI interface; and the supplementary lighting device is connected to the MCU via a GPIO port.

[0054] refer to Figure 2 In this embodiment, the image sensor module U1 includes an image sensor chip of model GC4663. The image sensor module U1 is connected to the main control module U2 through an image data transmission circuit (MIPI interface (CLKP / CLKN differential pair)) to send image data to the main control module U2. In addition, the image sensor module U1 is connected to the main control module U2 through an I2C communication circuit (SMB0_SCK / SDA) so that the main control module U2 can configure the operating parameters of the image sensor module U1 through the I2C communication circuit.

[0055] In this embodiment, the main control module adjusts the operating parameters of the image sensor module based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor. When the ambient light sensor starts working, it continuously collects ambient light brightness data of the surrounding environment. The main control module first preprocesses this data, including moving average filtering to eliminate instantaneous interference and temperature compensation calibration. Based on the processed ambient light brightness data, when the ambient light is below a preset first threshold, the analog gain of the image sensor module can be gradually increased, while a digital noise reduction algorithm is used to suppress noise introduced by high gain. When the ambient light is below a preset second threshold, i.e., when the night vision mode trigger threshold is reached, the main control module can control the image sensor module to switch to black and white imaging mode. When the ambient light is above the preset first threshold, the exposure parameters can be calculated by dividing the image into zones, increasing the gain separately for dark areas of the image, while using a nonlinear compression algorithm to prevent overexposure in bright areas.

[0056] In some embodiments, the main control module can also adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module in combination with historical illumination data. For example, when the ambient light sensor detects that the ambient light brightness data fluctuates drastically in a short period of time, the main control module can not adjust the exposure with each brightness change, but instead use a short exposure time combined with high gain to freeze the moving image, and at the same time use the HDR algorithm to process multiple frames of images simultaneously to preserve the details of the bright and dark areas.

[0057] In another embodiment, if the smart camera device is battery powered, the main control module can dynamically adjust the detection frequency according to the ambient light intensity. For example, the sampling rate can be reduced to 1Hz during the day when the light is stable, and increased to 10Hz during the twilight transition period.

[0058] In this embodiment, the main control module is also used to adjust the operating parameters of the supplementary lighting device according to the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module. For example, after the main control module completes the adjustment of parameters such as the gain and exposure time of the image sensor module, it can first analyze the current signal-to-noise ratio level of the image sensor module and the brightness histogram distribution of the key area. Combined with the ambient light brightness data detected by the ambient light sensor, it can calculate the light flux gap that needs to be supplemented by the supplementary lighting device. For example, in a nighttime monitoring scenario, if the image sensor module has already increased the gain to the maximum but still cannot reach the minimum imaging signal-to-noise ratio requirement, the main control module can send a multi-dimensional control dimming command including light intensity, illumination angle and spectral characteristics to the supplementary lighting device. In another embodiment, the supplementary lighting range of the supplementary lighting device can also be adjusted according to the current focal length parameters of the camera. That is, when the camera zooms in to observe a distant target, the supplementary lighting device can be controlled to narrow the beam angle and increase the center light intensity accordingly. When the camera switches to wide-angle mode, the supplementary lighting device can be controlled to diffuse the beam to cover the entire field of view to avoid edge vignetting.

[0059] In one embodiment, when the supplementary lighting device is activated, the main control module monitors the output signal of the camera in real time to obtain the brightness changes of each area of ​​the image. If local overexposure is detected after supplementary lighting, the main control module can control the reduction of the supplementary lighting intensity in the corresponding area and adjust the exposure compensation parameters of the image sensor module. If an infrared supplementary light is used as the supplementary lighting device, the main control module can also match the emission spectrum of the supplementary lighting device according to the infrared response curve of the camera switched to black and white mode. For example, when the image sensor module uses a sensor that is more sensitive to 850nm infrared light, the output of the 940nm band in the supplementary lighting device can be suppressed.

[0060] It is foreseeable that intelligent camera devices can be applied to video camera equipment such as network cameras (IPC), dashcams, and video conferencing systems.

[0061] refer to Figure 2 In this embodiment, the circuit board is also equipped with an image sensor module power supply, which is connected to the image sensor module and is used to provide working power for the image sensor module; the circuit board is also equipped with an ambient light sensor external power supply, which is connected to the ambient light sensor U3 and is used to provide working power for the ambient light sensor U3; the ambient light sensor U3 uses a TSL2560 sensor, and the main control module U2 is connected to the ambient light sensor U3 through an I2C communication circuit.

[0062] In some embodiments of the intelligent camera device provided in this application, such as Figure 3 As shown, Figure 3 This is a schematic block diagram of the structure of an intelligent camera device provided in another embodiment of this application. The main control module includes a main control chip, a first control module, and a second control module. The main control chip is connected to the first control module and the second control module through different interfaces.

[0063] The main control chip is used to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module through the first control module based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor, and then adjust the operating parameters of the supplementary lighting device through the second control module based on the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module.

[0064] Understandably, the main control module can adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor. Furthermore, it can also adjust the operating parameters of the supplementary lighting device based on the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module. In other words, the main control module has the hardware configuration and corresponding software algorithm for adjusting the image sensor module, as well as the hardware configuration and corresponding software algorithm for adjusting the supplementary lighting device.

[0065] In this embodiment, the main control module includes a main control chip, a first control module, and a second control module. The first control module is used to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module, and the second control module is used to adjust the operating parameters of the supplementary lighting device.

[0066] The first control module may include an image signal analysis module and supporting peripheral circuits, connected to the image sensor module via a MIPI CSI-2 interface. The image signal analysis module incorporates programmable exposure control, white balance control, and gain control engines, as well as adaptive exposure algorithms. The second control module may include an MCU or a PWM adjustment circuit including a PWM controller and power drive circuit. The second control module may include a light intensity closed-loop control algorithm, which dynamically adjusts the PWM duty cycle using PID control theory based on real-time sampling of the current feedback from the supplementary lighting device and compensation signals from the ambient light sensor. In another embodiment, the second control module may embed an FPGA-based parallel computing unit to handle the regional supplementary lighting requirements of the first control module. For example, when the camera switches to telephoto mode, the FPGA calculates the focusing curve of the supplementary light beam in real time and synchronously adjusts the drive current of multiple supplementary lighting units. In one embodiment, the supplementary lighting requirements generated by the first control module through image analysis can be transmitted to the instruction queue of the second control module, and the actual supplementary lighting effect data of the second control module can also be fed back to the first control module.

[0067] In some embodiments of the intelligent camera device provided in this application, the image sensor module includes a visible light image sensor and an infrared image sensor;

[0068] The main control module is used to control the visible light image sensor to turn on or off, and to control the infrared image sensor to turn on or off, based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor.

[0069] Understandably, in order to enable the intelligent camera device to adapt to different lighting scenarios, in this embodiment, the image sensor module includes a visible light image sensor and an infrared image sensor. The visible light image sensor can be a high dynamic range CMOS sensor that can capture the visible spectrum in the 400nm-700nm band. The infrared image sensor can use a photosensitive element optimized for near-infrared light (700-1100nm) to generate clear images even in low-light or completely dark environments.

[0070] The main control module is used to control the visible light image sensor to turn on or off, and to control the infrared image sensor to turn on or off, based on the ambient light intensity detected by the ambient light sensor.

[0071] For example, when the detected light intensity is higher than 50 lux, the main control module can control the visible light image sensor to turn on and the infrared image sensor to turn off, for example, by blocking infrared light from entering through an infrared cut-off filter; when the ambient light is lower than 50 lux, the main control module can activate a hybrid mode, controlling the visible light sensor to start working while simultaneously controlling the infrared image sensor to turn on and gradually increasing the gain of the infrared image sensor; when the ambient light is lower than 5 lux, the main control module can control the visible light image sensor to turn off and the infrared image sensor to turn on.

[0072] In one embodiment, in order to further improve the imaging quality under different lighting conditions, the main control module may include a dual-sensor data intelligent fusion algorithm. That is, when controlling the visible light image sensor and the infrared image sensor to work simultaneously, the feature points of the visible light and infrared images can be aligned in real time, and the feature points can be fused through a deep learning algorithm. In this way, the color information of visible light can be preserved while absorbing the detail of infrared light in dark areas, generating a synthetic image with more information content than a single sensor.

[0073] In some embodiments of the intelligent camera device provided in this application, such as Figure 4 As shown, Figure 4 This is a schematic block diagram of the structure of an intelligent camera device provided in another embodiment of this application. The supplementary lighting device includes a first supplementary lighting module and a second supplementary lighting module.

[0074] The main control module is used to control the first supplementary lighting module to turn on or off according to the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor, and to adjust the working parameters of the second supplementary lighting module according to the adjusted working parameters of the image sensor module.

[0075] Understandably, in order to enable the intelligent camera device to adapt to different lighting scenarios, in this embodiment, the supplementary lighting device includes a first supplementary lighting module and a second supplementary lighting module. The main control module is used to control the first supplementary lighting module to turn on or off according to the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor, and to adjust the operating parameters of the second supplementary lighting module according to the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module. It is foreseeable that the first supplementary lighting module is a supplementary lighting module that is automatically turned on in nighttime environments or when the ambient light is low, while the second supplementary lighting module is a supplementary lighting module that is used to provide dynamically adjustable auxiliary lighting to improve the image quality output by the intelligent camera device. Therefore, the main control module is used to control the first supplementary lighting module to turn on or off and to adjust the operating parameters of the second supplementary lighting module.

[0076] The main control module continuously monitors changes in ambient brightness using an ambient light sensor. When the ambient light intensity is detected to be below the nighttime operating threshold, it immediately activates the infrared illumination function of the first supplementary lighting module. A constant current drive circuit provides a stable current to the LED array, creating a uniform infrared light coverage field. Simultaneously, the main control module dynamically adjusts the operating parameters of the second supplementary lighting module, including white light intensity, color temperature, and illumination angle, based on real-time image analysis data from the image sensor module. For example, when the intelligent analysis algorithm identifies a target area requiring special attention (such as a face or license plate), the main control module precisely controls the second supplementary lighting module to locally enhance the illumination of that area while maintaining the supplementary lighting intensity of other areas at a basic level. This differentiated supplementary lighting strategy ensures clear capture of key information while effectively avoiding energy waste and light pollution caused by over-illumination.

[0077] In one embodiment, the activation and deactivation of the first supplementary lighting module mainly depends on the overall intensity of the ambient light, employing a relatively fixed operating mode. The second supplementary lighting module, however, is associated with the specific operating state of the image sensor module. The main control module adjusts various parameters of the second supplementary lighting module in real time based on the current focal length, exposure parameters, and image content of the image sensor module. For example, when the camera is in wide-angle monitoring mode, the beam angle of the second supplementary lighting module can be widened to match the field of view. When the camera zooms in on a specific area, the beam angle of the second supplementary lighting module can be narrowed accordingly, and the center light intensity can be enhanced. Furthermore, when reflection or overexposure is detected in a certain area of ​​the image, the supplementary lighting intensity in the corresponding direction of the second supplementary lighting module can be reduced accordingly, while the supplementary lighting in low-contrast areas can be appropriately enhanced.

[0078] In some embodiments of the intelligent camera device provided in this application, the second supplementary lighting module includes a plurality of second supplementary lights;

[0079] The main control module is used to adjust the operating parameters of multiple second fill lights according to the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module.

[0080] In this embodiment, the second supplementary lighting module includes multiple independently controllable second supplementary lights. The second supplementary lights can be distributed in an array around the camera. Each second supplementary light can have an independent driving circuit and optical lens system, which can achieve regional supplementary lighting.

[0081] In one embodiment, the main control module can analyze and adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module, such as focal length, viewing angle, and exposure parameters, to adjust the appropriate operating parameters for each second fill light. For example, when the camera is in wide-angle monitoring mode, the main control module can uniformly activate all second fill lights and adjust the illumination angle of each light so that their beams overlap, forming a wide and uniform illumination field. When the camera zooms in on a specific area, the main control module can use a spatial positioning algorithm to calculate the location of the area requiring focused illumination, and then activate only a few second fill lights pointing towards that area, while simultaneously increasing the power of these lights and narrowing their beam angles to achieve enhanced illumination of the key area.

[0082] In another embodiment, the main control module can analyze the image captured by the camera in real time to identify the brightness distribution in different areas of the image, and then set an appropriate brightness level for each second fill light. For example, in a backlit environment, the main control module can control the second fill lights facing the dark areas to increase their output power, while the second fill lights facing the bright areas to reduce their power or turn off completely. In addition, when a moving target is detected in the image, the main control module can also activate a tracking fill light mode, dynamically adjusting the illumination direction of multiple second fill lights so that the beam always follows the moving target. In one embodiment, the brightness adjustment of each second fill light uses PWM control.

[0083] In some embodiments of the intelligent camera device provided in this application, the main control module is also used to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor and the image captured by the camera.

[0084] It is understandable that, due to limitations in the installation angle and detection range of the ambient light sensor, the ambient light brightness data detected by the sensor may not accurately reflect the true ambient light brightness around the camera. Therefore, the ambient light brightness data detected by the sensor can be combined with the image data captured by the camera for analysis to accurately determine the current ambient light brightness around the camera. In this embodiment, the image data captured by the camera is in RAW format. Before combining the ambient light brightness data detected by the sensor with the image data captured by the camera for analysis, the RAW format image data can be processed by denoising, de-mosaicing, temperature drift compensation, and time-series filtering to eliminate transient interference.

[0085] In one embodiment, real-time images captured by a camera can be analyzed to extract optical feature parameters, including the overall brightness histogram distribution, the contrast between highlight and shadow areas, and the trend of color saturation changes. These data are then spatiotemporally aligned and correlated. For example, when the ambient light sensor detects a sudden drop in brightness while the highlight areas of the image remain bright, it can be determined that there is a local strong light source rather than the overall environment darkening. In addition, by establishing a lighting feature model, ambient light brightness data and image feature information can be cross-validated. For example, in rainy weather, the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor may represent moderate brightness, but the image features of the image captured by the camera include significantly reduced color saturation and abnormal contrast. In this case, it can be determined that the current environment is low-light.

[0086] In some embodiments of the intelligent camera device provided in this application, the main control module is also used to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor and the illumination intensity of different areas in the image captured by the camera.

[0087] In this embodiment, the main control module can determine the lighting scene type of different areas in the image captured by the camera based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor and the illumination intensity of different areas in the image captured by the camera. For example, backlight, low light, strong light, and other lighting scene types. In this way, the operating parameters of the image sensor module can be adjusted by comprehensively considering the different lighting scene types in the image captured by the camera.

[0088] For example, the image captured by the camera can be divided into several logical blocks. For each block, its average brightness, contrast, color saturation, and highlight overflow ratio are calculated independently. The optical characteristics of each block are then compared and analyzed with the brightness data from the ambient light sensor. When the brightness in the central area of ​​the image is significantly lower than the surrounding area and there is a clear difference from the ambient light sensor data, it can be determined to be a backlight scene. The main control module can then activate a zoned exposure control strategy for backlight scenes to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module. For low-light scene recognition, the absolute brightness value of the ambient light sensor, as well as the noise level, color fidelity, and dynamic range attenuation in the image can be considered. When multiple indicators are simultaneously below a threshold, it can be determined to be a low-light environment, and the noise reduction intensity, infrared fill power, and black-and-white mode switching parameters of the image sensor module can be adjusted. When the ambient light sensor detects a high brightness value and image analysis shows that a large area of ​​pixels has reached saturation, it can be determined to be a strong light scene. The main control module can then activate a multi-exposure synthesis technology for strong light scenes, intelligently fusing the highlight details captured by short exposures with the dark information retained by long exposures.

[0089] In some embodiments of the intelligent camera device provided in this application, the main control module is also used to adjust the image captured by the camera based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor and the illumination of different areas in the image captured by the camera, and adjust the working parameters of the image sensor module based on the adjusted image captured by the camera.

[0090] In this embodiment, the main control module can determine the lighting scene type of different areas in the image captured by the camera, including backlight, low light, and strong light. For low light scenes, AI super-resolution can be used to enhance details in the low light areas of the image captured by the camera, followed by 3D noise reduction. For backlight scenes, subject detection (such as faces or license plates) can be performed in the backlight areas of the image captured by the camera, and the local brightness of the corresponding subject can be increased. For strong light scenes, multi-frame dynamic HDR fusion can be performed in the strong light areas of the image captured by the camera, followed by ghosting removal and dynamic range compression.

[0091] After adjusting the image captured by the camera, the operating parameters of the image sensor module are adjusted based on the adjusted image. In one embodiment, the adjustment data of the image captured by the camera can be comprehensively analyzed, and the operating parameters of the image sensor module can be adjusted through a PID algorithm.

[0092] In one embodiment, when the ambient light in the monitored area changes, the ambient light sensor collects environmental variables and transmits the environmental variable information to the main control module via an I2C or SPI interface. The main control module analyzes and calculates the environmental variable information and determines the lighting scene type of different areas in the image captured by the camera. Subsequently, based on the lighting scene type of different areas in the image captured by the camera, the operating parameters of the image sensor module are adjusted. The main control module then controls the brightness of the supplementary lighting device via PWM based on the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module. Subsequently, the current frame image captured by the camera can be analyzed again, and the operating parameters of the image sensor module can be continuously updated. The main control module then continues to adjust the brightness of the supplementary lighting device via PWM, repeating this process until the optimal brightness is achieved, resulting in the best image quality.

[0093] In some embodiments of the intelligent camera device provided in this application, the image sensor module includes a high dynamic range image sensor and a global shutter.

[0094] Understandably, high dynamic range image sensors support a wide dynamic range (such as above 120dB), which can avoid overexposure or underexposure, and global shutter can reduce motion blur, making them suitable for scenes with rapid changes in lighting. Therefore, the image sensor module adopts high dynamic range image sensors and global shutter technology to further improve the image quality output by the camera device.

[0095] In some embodiments of this application, the intelligent camera device also includes a Wi-Fi module, which is electrically connected to the main control module and is used to transmit images captured by the camera to a user terminal that is communicatively connected to the intelligent camera device.

[0096] In this embodiment, the intelligent camera device also includes a Wi-Fi module, which is electrically connected to the main control module. Through the Wi-Fi module, the intelligent camera device can transmit images captured by the camera to the user terminal that is communicatively connected to the intelligent camera device. At the same time, the Wi-Fi module can also feed back the received control commands from the user terminal to the main control module.

[0097] In one embodiment, after adjusting the operating parameters of the image sensor module and the supplementary lighting device, the image sensor module acquires image data. The main control module can encode and compress the image data video acquired by the image sensor module, for example, H.265 or H.264, and then transmit the data packet directly to the physical layer processing unit of the Wi-Fi module via DMA. The Wi-Fi module then transmits the image captured by the camera to the user terminal that is connected to the smart camera device.

[0098] The embodiments of this application have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this application is not limited to the above embodiments. Within the scope of knowledge possessed by those skilled in the art, various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of this application.

[0099] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, instruments, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the instrument embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the shown or discussed mutual couplings, direct couplings, or communication connections may be through some interfaces; indirect couplings or communication connections between instruments or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms. Units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and components shown as units may or may not be physical units, i.e., they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0100] It should also be understood that the various implementation methods provided in this application can be combined arbitrarily to achieve different technical effects.

[0101] The embodiments of this application have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this application is not limited to the above embodiments. Within the scope of knowledge possessed by those skilled in the art, various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of this application.

Claims

1. An ambient light adaptive intelligent camera device, characterized in that, include: A housing, wherein the interior of the housing is hollow; The camera is fixedly mounted on the housing; A circuit board is fixedly installed inside the housing, and the circuit board is equipped with an image sensor module, a supplementary lighting device, an ambient light sensor, and a main control module; The image sensor module is connected to the camera to monitor a predetermined monitoring area. The ambient light sensor is used to detect ambient light brightness. The main control module is electrically connected to the image sensor module, the ambient light sensor, and the supplementary lighting device. The main control module is used to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module according to the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor, and to adjust the operating parameters of the supplementary lighting device according to the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module.

2. The intelligent camera device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The main control module includes a main control chip, a first control module, and a second control module. The main control chip is connected to the first control module and the second control module through different interfaces. The main control chip is used to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module through the first control module according to the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor, and to adjust the operating parameters of the supplementary lighting device through the second control module according to the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module.

3. The intelligent camera device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The image sensor module includes a visible light image sensor and an infrared image sensor; The main control module is used to control the visible light image sensor to turn on or off, and to control the infrared image sensor to turn on or off, based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor.

4. The intelligent camera device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The supplementary lighting device includes a first supplementary lighting module and a second supplementary lighting module; The main control module is used to control the first supplementary lighting module to turn on or off according to the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor, and to adjust the operating parameters of the second supplementary lighting module according to the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module.

5. The intelligent camera device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The second supplementary lighting module includes multiple second supplementary lights; The main control module is used to adjust the operating parameters of multiple second fill lights according to the adjusted operating parameters of the image sensor module.

6. The intelligent camera device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The main control module is also used to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor and the image captured by the camera.

7. The intelligent camera device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The main control module is also used to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor and the brightness of different areas in the image captured by the camera.

8. The intelligent camera device according to claim 7, characterized in that, The main control module is also used to adjust the image captured by the camera based on the ambient light brightness detected by the ambient light sensor and the brightness of different areas in the image captured by the camera, and to adjust the operating parameters of the image sensor module based on the adjusted image captured by the camera.

9. The intelligent camera device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The image sensor module includes a high dynamic range image sensor and a global shutter.

10. The intelligent camera device according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a Wi-Fi module, which is electrically connected to the main control module. The Wi-Fi module is used to transmit the images captured by the camera to the user terminal that is communicatively connected to the smart camera device.

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