Dustproof device for observation device

Abstract

To provide a dustproof device that provides dustproof measures to an observation device while enabling the observation device to observe a desired area.SOLUTION: A dustproof device 10 comprises a mounting portion 11 for an observation device 1, a rotating portion 12 rotatably provided around the mounting portion 11, and a control section 13 that controls the rotation of the rotating portion 12 and processes observation signals output from the observation device 1. The rotating portion 12 includes a cover 19 that closes a space around the observation device 1, the mounting portion 11 has a gas supply port 14, and the cover 19 has an opening 21 that serves as both an observation window for the observation device 1 and a gas outlet.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a dust prevention device for an observation device. [Background technology]

[0002] When installing observation devices such as monitoring sensors and cameras, a cover is generally attached to protect the observation devices. Patent Document 1 discloses a protective cover structure that can be fixed to the object to be installed without reducing the strength of the object. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-35695 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In a dusty environment, dust easily adheres to the cover, which can easily interfere with monitoring by the observation device.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a dustproof device that implements dustproof measures for an observation device while enabling the observation device to observe a desired area. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A dustproof device for an observation device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a mounting section on which the observation device is placed, a rotating section rotatably arranged around the mounting section, and a control section that controls the rotation of the rotating section and processes observation signals output from the observation device, wherein the rotating section includes a cover that closes the surrounding space of the observation device, the mounting section has a gas supply port, and the cover has an opening that serves as both an observation window for the observation device and an exhaust port for the gas.

[0007] The control unit may execute a process of combining multiple regions observed through the opening while the rotating unit is rotating. The opening may include a pair of edges spaced apart in the rotation direction of the rotating unit and extending in a direction perpendicular to the rotation direction. The opening may be configured so that its width along the rotation direction of the rotating unit is adjustable. The cover may be composed of a first sub-cover including one of the pair of edges and a second sub-cover including the other of the pair of edges. In this case, one of the first sub-cover and the second sub-cover may be rotatable relative to the other about the rotation central axis of the rotating unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a dustproof device that implements dustproof measures for an observation device while enabling the observation device to observe a desired area. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a dust prevention device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control unit according to the present embodiment. [Figure 3] 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the dust prevention device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining image acquisition and image synthesis shown in FIG. 3. [Figure 5A] FIG. 10 is a top view of a cover according to a modified example of the embodiment. [Figure 5B] FIG. 10 is a top view of a cover according to a modified example of the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. Note that common parts in each drawing are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted. For convenience of explanation, the Z-axis is defined as the central axis of rotation of the rotating unit 12 (see FIG. 1). The Z-axis is, for example, parallel to the vertical direction.

[0011] The dustproof device according to this embodiment protects an observation device from flying particles such as dust while enabling the observation device to observe a desired area. The observation device is an optical device with a predetermined field of view, such as a digital imaging device such as a still camera or video camera, or a so-called LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) device that performs light detection and ranging.

[0012] The dust control device according to this embodiment is intended to be installed in an environment where there is a lot of flying matter such as dust. For example, the dust control device according to this embodiment is installed inside a tunnel during tunnel construction and used to monitor the position and amount of concrete being sprayed onto the excavation surface. If the amount of concrete that bounces back during concrete spraying is excessively large, concrete and compressed gas used for spraying the concrete will be wasted. The dust control device according to this embodiment is used to suppress such wasteful consumption.

[0013] In the following explanation, an example is given in which a LIDAR device having a viewing angle of 360° (i.e., in all directions) on the horizontal plane and an elevation angle of −7° to +50° relative to the horizontal plane is used as the observation device 1. However, the values of the azimuth angle and viewing angle are arbitrary as long as they have a certain width (range).

[0014] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a dust prevention device 10 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the dust prevention device 10 includes a mounting unit 11, a rotating unit 12, and a control unit 13. The mounting unit 11 is a stage on which the observation device 1 is mounted. The mounting unit 11 is formed, for example, in the shape of a disk centered on the Z axis. The observation device 1 is held on the mounting unit 11 by a well-known holding device.

[0015] The mounting part 11 has at least one gas supply port 14. The supply port 14 is a gas flow path that passes through the mounting part 11. A pipe 16 that connects to a gas supply device 15 is connected to the supply port 14. The gas supply device 15 supplies gas to a space (ambient space) 17 around the observation device 1 via the supply port 14. The gas supply device 15 may be any device such as a compressor, gas cylinder, or blower, as long as it can supply a sufficient flow rate of gas to the space 17.

[0016] The rotating unit 12 is rotatably provided around the mounting unit 11. Specifically, for example, the rotating unit 12 is rotatably provided around the Z axis. The rotating unit 12 has a rotating stage 18 and a cover 19. The rotating stage 18 is an annular plate member provided on the outer periphery of the mounting unit 11. The rotating stage 18 is rotatably supported by well-known bearings or the like. The rotating unit 12 is rotated by a rotation drive device 20 such as a motor.

[0017] The cover 19 is placed on the rotation stage 18 and closes the space 17 around the observation device 1. The cover 19 is fixed to the rotation stage 18 using a threaded part such as a screw. Alternatively, the cover 19 may be supported on the rotation stage 18 via a hinge (not shown) and locked to the rotation stage 18 by a well-known locking device. A sealing member (not shown) for maintaining airtightness may be provided between the cover 19 and the rotation stage 18. The sealing member is, for example, an annular elastic member such as an O-ring.

[0018] The cover 19 has a curved wall that forms a shape symmetrical about the Z axis, and defines a space 17 therein. For example, the cover 19 has a curved wall that forms a hollow hemisphere or semi-elliptical sphere. Alternatively, the cover 19 may have a hollow cylindrical wall that has a predetermined length about the Z axis and is centered on the Z axis, and a lid wall that closes the internal space of the cylindrical wall. However, in either case, while forming the space 17, the shape of the cover 19 does not interfere with observation of the area based on the field of view of the observation device 1. Furthermore, because the cover 19 rotates about the Z axis, it is desirable that the shape of the cover 19 be symmetrical about the Z axis.

[0019] The material of the cover 19 is, for example, a transparent resin. However, if the observation device 1 is an imaging device that observes visible light, the material of the cover 19 may be opaque or translucent. In this case, in the image processing described below, it becomes easy to distinguish between the area observed through the opening 21 and the area observed through the cover 19.

[0020] The cover 19 has an opening 21 that serves as both an observation window for the observation device 1 and a gas outlet. The space 17 surrounding the observation device 1 is in communication with the space outside the cover 19 via the opening 21. The opening 21 has a shape that allows the observation device 1 to pass through the entire area observable by the observation device 1 when the rotating unit 12 rotates. For example, the opening 21 has a rectangular or trapezoidal shape with a length (height) corresponding to the elevation angle of the field of view of the observation device 1 and a predetermined width along the rotation direction TD.

[0021] The opening area of the opening 21 is set to a value that causes the internal pressure of the cover 19 to increase due to the gas supplied into the cover 19. In other words, the opening area is set to a value that causes the gas supplied into the cover 19 to flow out as a jet flow when it flows out from the opening 21.

[0022] The opening 21 may include a pair of edges 21a, 21a spaced apart in the rotation direction TD and extending in a direction perpendicular to the rotation direction TD. In this case, the shape of the overlapping portions when combining point cloud data or images (see FIG. 4) of multiple regions Fn (n is a positive integer) at different positions is unified into a rectangle, thereby reducing the load on image processing.

[0023] 1, control unit 13 functionally includes rotation control unit 13a, supply control unit 13b, and image processing unit 13c. Rotation control unit 13a controls the rotation of rotation unit 12 by controlling rotation drive device 20. Supply control unit 13b adjusts the opening and closing of valve 22 installed in piping 16 or the flow rate of gas.

[0024] The image processing unit 13c processes the observation signal output from the observation device 1. Specifically, the image processing unit 13c executes a process of combining multiple regions of interest (ROIs) observed through the opening 21 while the rotating unit 12 is rotating, and generates one composite data Rf including the entire area of the multiple regions (see FIG. 4).

[0025] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit 13. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 13 is, for example, a general-purpose computer. The computer serving as the control unit 13 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit, processor) 13d, a memory 13e, a storage 13f (HDD: Hard Disk Drive, SSD: Solid State Drive), a communication unit 13g, an input unit 13h, and an output unit 13i. The memory 13e and the storage 13f are storage devices. The rotation drive device 20, the observation device 1, and the valve 22 are connected to the input unit 13h and the output unit 13i. The CPU 13d executes a predetermined program loaded on the memory 13e, thereby performing various operations of the dust prevention device 10. These operations include, for example, starting and stopping the rotation of the rotation unit 12, starting and stopping observation by the observation device 1, acquiring images during observation, combining images, outputting a combined image, opening and closing the valve 22, or adjusting the flow rate of gas supplied to the space 17.

[0026] The program executed by the control unit 13 may be stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a CD (Compact Disc), or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or may be distributed to the control unit 13 via a network. The computer-readable recording medium is, for example, a non-transitory recording medium.

[0027] Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the dust prevention device 10. Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining the image acquisition (step S40) and image synthesis (step S50) shown in Fig. 3. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the dust prevention device 10 is installed inside a tunnel under construction. An observation device 1 is attached to the dust prevention device 10 in advance. The dust prevention device 10 is installed in a location inside the tunnel where it can observe the excavation surface onto which concrete will be sprayed.

[0028] Before spraying concrete, valve 22 is opened and a predetermined amount of gas is supplied from gas supply device 15 to dust prevention device 10 (step S10). The gas flows into space 17 within cover 19 through supply port 14. As a result, the pressure within cover 19 increases, and gas flows out (ejects) from opening 21.

[0029] Next, rotation of the rotating unit 12 is started by the rotary drive device 20 (step S20), and then observation by the observation device 1 is started (step S30). The rotation speed of the rotating unit 12 is set to a value such that when the regions Fn sequentially observed through the opening 21 are arranged in the rotation direction TD (i.e., in time series), they partially overlap and are shifted in the rotation direction TD. This rotation speed can be determined based on the frame rate of the observation device 1 and the width of the opening 21 along the rotation direction TD.

[0030] The order of the three processes from step S10 to step S30 is not limited to the above order. That is, one of the processes of steps S10, S20, and S30 is executed as the first process, one of the remaining two is executed as the second process, and the remaining one is executed as the third process.

[0031] After the processes of steps S10, S20, and S30 are executed, spraying of concrete begins. Thereafter, the observation device 1 acquires point cloud data of the observed area and outputs it to the control unit 13 (step S40). For example, at time T=tn (n is a positive integer), the observation device 1 acquires point cloud data of area Rn and outputs it to the control unit 13.

[0032] The observation device 1, which is a LIDAR device, observes the excavation surface onto which concrete is sprayed and outputs three-dimensional point cloud data to the control unit 13. The point cloud data indicates at least the positions of the excavation surface and the surface of the concrete attached to the excavation surface. Changes in the position of the concrete surface can be converted into changes in the thickness of the concrete attached (deposited) to the excavation surface.

[0033] The control unit 13 generates point cloud data, which is synthetic data Rf for the entire region R, using the point cloud data for the region Rn output one after another from the observation device 1 (step S50). As described above, observation by the observation device 1 is performed while the rotating unit 12 (cover 19) is rotating. At this time, observation is performed through the opening 21 of the cover 19. In other words, of the region Rn indicated by the point cloud data, only the region Fn observed through the opening 21 of the cover 19 becomes valid data. Furthermore, this region Fn gradually shifts slightly in the rotation direction TD according to time T due to the rotation of the rotating unit 12 (cover 19).

[0034] The control unit 13 cuts out (extracts) only the portion representing the region Fn from the acquired point cloud data of the region Rn. Furthermore, the control unit 13 combines the multiple regions Fn arranged in chronological order so that the degree of coincidence of the point cloud data of the overlapping portions becomes the highest, and finally generates point cloud data that is composite data Rf of the entire region R.

[0035] The generated point cloud data for the entire region R is displayed on a display unit (not shown), such as a monitor. From the displayed point cloud data, the positions where the concrete is sprayed, the thickness of the concrete, and any changes therein can be ascertained. The regions Fn may be combined all at once after a sufficient number of regions Fn to occupy the entire region R have been obtained, or may be combined continuously once at least two regions Fn have been obtained.

[0036] While the observation device 1 is performing an observation, the cover 19 protects the observation device 1 from flying particles such as dust by providing a physical barrier for the cover 19. Furthermore, an opening 21, which serves as a path for the flying particles to enter, is provided in a portion (i.e., locally) of the cover 19. Moreover, gas supplied into the cover 19 is ejected from the opening 21, thereby preventing the entry of flying particles.

[0037] In this embodiment, observation is performed through an opening 21 provided locally in the cover 19. That is, the opening 21 limits the area for which valid observation data is available. However, the cover 19 rotates during observation. Areas for which valid observation data will be available are acquired while shifting, and these areas are ultimately combined, so that observation data for the entire desired area can be obtained without worrying about the observation area being limited by the opening 21. In other words, according to this embodiment, it is possible to perform observation of a desired area using the observation device 1 while taking measures to protect the observation device 1 from dust.

[0038] As mentioned above, the observation device 1 may be an imaging device. In this case, the acquired data is image data instead of point cloud data. Even with image data, it is possible to obtain an observation image of the entire desired area by using well-known image combination processing that employs edge detection and shape recognition.

[0039] 5A and 5B are top views of cover 19 according to a modified example of this embodiment. As illustrated in Fig. 5A and 5B, opening 21 may be configured so that the width along rotation direction TD is adjustable.

[0040] The observation device 1 may be installed in an environment where dust prevention measures can be relaxed. In this case, the possibility of debris entering the cover 19 is reduced, and observation with a relatively narrow opening area of the opening 21 would excessively increase the load of image processing by the control unit 13. That is, in an environment where dust prevention measures are required, the width (opening area) of the opening 21 along the rotation direction TD may be narrowed as shown in FIG. 5A. In an environment where dust prevention measures are relaxed, the width (opening area) of the opening 21 along the rotation direction TD may be widened as shown in FIG. 5B. An example of such a situation would be, in the case of the tunnel construction mentioned above, a situation where observation of the concrete spraying site is performed at a location sufficiently far from the site.

[0041] To vary the width of the opening 21, the cover 19 may be composed of a first sub-cover 19a and a second sub-cover 19b. In this case, the first sub-cover 19a includes one of a pair of edge portions 21a, 21a, and the second sub-cover 19b includes the other of the pair of edge portions 21a, 21a. One of the first sub-cover 19a and the second sub-cover 19b is provided rotatably about the Z axis relative to the other. A driving device (not shown) that rotates one of the first sub-cover 19a and the second sub-cover 19b relative to the other is provided on the rotation stage 18, for example. This driving device (not shown) is controlled by the control unit 13. In other words, the width of the opening 21 can be controlled by the control unit 13.

[0042] 5A and 5B, the first sub-cover 19a and the second sub-cover 19b have portions of curved walls symmetrical with respect to the Z axis, similar to the cover 19 shown in FIG. 1. For example, the first sub-cover 19a is provided as a sector of a hemisphere having an opening angle θ1 with respect to the Z axis so that the width of the opening 21 can be varied as desired. Similarly, the second sub-cover 19b is provided as a sector of a hemisphere having an opening angle θ2 with respect to the Z axis. In the example shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, both opening angles θ1 and θ2 are set to 180°.

[0043] When the first sub-cover 19a and the second sub-cover 19b have similar shapes, one of them has slightly smaller dimensions than the other. That is, both the first sub-cover 19a and the second sub-cover 19b have the same center of rotation (i.e., the Z axis), but one of the first sub-cover 19a and the second sub-cover 19b is arranged so that a portion thereof is located inside the other. This allows the first sub-cover 19a and the second sub-cover 19b to protect the observation device 1 in the same way as the cover 19, while also allowing the width of the opening 21 to be adjusted.

[0044] Furthermore, by making the width of opening 21 variable, the width of opening 21 can be narrowed in situations where there is a lot of flying debris. For example, by completely closing opening 21, the flying debris can be blocked and the contamination of observation device 1 can be prevented from progressing. On the other hand, by widening the width of opening 21 in situations where there is little flying debris, the area of each region of interest observed through opening 21 can be expanded and the number of images required to obtain the entire desired region can be reduced. In other words, the excessive burden of image processing can be reduced depending on the installation environment of observation device 1 (dustproof device 10). [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 1...observation device, 10...dustproof device, 11...mounting section, 12...rotating section, 13...control section, 14...supply port, 15...gas supply device, 16...piping, 17...space (surrounding space), 18...rotating stage, 19...cover, 19a...first sub-cover, 19b...second sub-cover, 20...rotation drive device, 21...opening, 21a...edge, 22...valve

Claims

1. a mounting section on which an observation device is mounted; a rotating part rotatably provided around the mounting part; a control unit that controls the rotation of the rotating unit and processes an observation signal output from the observation device; Equipped with the rotating part includes a cover that closes a surrounding space of the observation device, the placement portion has a gas supply port, The cover has an opening that serves as both an observation window for the observation device and an outlet for the gas. Dustproof device for observation equipment.

2. The control unit executes a process of combining a plurality of regions observed through the opening while the rotating unit is rotating. A dustproof device for an observation device according to claim 1.

3. The opening includes a pair of edges spaced apart in the rotation direction of the rotating part and extending in a direction perpendicular to the rotation direction. A dustproof device for an observation device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The opening is configured so that the width along the rotation direction of the rotating part is adjustable. A dustproof device for an observation device according to claim 3.

5. the cover is configured by a first sub-cover including one of the pair of edge portions and a second sub-cover including the other of the pair of edge portions, One of the first sub-cover and the second sub-cover is provided rotatably relative to the other about the rotation central axis of the rotating portion. A dustproof device for an observation device according to claim 4.

Images