Method and system for detecting suspicious persons at boarding areas

Abstract

It can accurately detect suspicious individuals at boarding areas, thus enabling crime prevention. [Solution] A car door camera detects the physical characteristics and behavior of passengers at the landing. Based on the image information, it analyzes whether all passengers have boarded the car. If there are passengers who do not board the car and do not immediately register for a call, they are recorded as persons under surveillance. After all car calls have been answered, if service is available from other elevators excluding the one in question, the elevator is separated from the group management and goes directly to the floor where the passenger who did not board the car is located and waits with the doors open. If a person under surveillance is detected again, the elevator continues to wait with the doors open for a predetermined time. If the person under surveillance does not board the car, the arrival of the elevator is announced to encourage boarding.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method and apparatus for detecting suspicious persons in a landing area.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, in elevators installed in condominiums, many have a landing monitor that notifies the situation inside the elevator by video in the elevator hall (landing area) for the purpose of crime prevention inside the car. However, by continuously checking this monitor for a long time, it becomes possible to predict the behavior patterns of residents, such as whether they are away or when they will go out. Also, even when there is no landing monitor, the elevator hall, where it is not easy to be suspected even if staying for a long time when looking for targets of crime such as children and women, is a favorable place for criminals.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, a conventional system for detecting suspicious persons in the landing area reports to the outside of the car when it detects that a person has continued to stay inside the car for a long time. Also, registered users with attribute information such as children and the elderly take measures such as avoiding riding with suspicious persons by closing the door operation on the car operation panel.

[0005] Thus, conventionally, the system has centered around the car system and has not been aimed at detecting suspicious persons in the landing area.

[0006] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a method and device for detecting suspicious persons at boarding areas that can accurately detect suspicious persons at boarding areas and enable crime prevention. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An embodiment to achieve the above objectives involves using a car door camera to detect the physical characteristics and behavior of users at the landing, and analyzing whether all users have boarded the car based on the image information. If there are users who do not board the car and do not immediately register their request, they are recorded as persons under surveillance. After all car calls have been answered, if service is available on other elevators excluding the elevator in question, the elevator in question is separated from group management and proceeds directly to the floor where the users who did not board the car are located, and waits with the doors open. If persons under surveillance are detected again, the elevator continues to wait with the doors open for a predetermined period of time, and if the persons under surveillance do not board the car, the elevator's arrival is announced to encourage boarding. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] An explanatory diagram showing the process for detecting suspicious persons or children at a boarding area in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] A block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator landing suspicious person detection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3A] A flowchart illustrating the processing procedure of an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3B] A flowchart illustrating the processing procedure of an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] An explanatory diagram showing the time required to sound the arrival chime for each condition of the person to be monitored in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] An explanatory diagram showing the selection criteria for persons to be monitored in an embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] 《Configuration of the Embodiment》 As shown in Figure 1, the elevator car 1 of the elevator 100 is equipped with a car door camera 2, an in-car control panel 3, and an in-car speaker 4. The car door camera 2 is installed on the car apron and captures images of the area around the landing 5 when the doors are open. The in-car control panel 3 has a car call button for registering car calls. The in-car speaker 4 broadcasts guidance voice messages to users inside the car 1.

[0010] Landing 5 is equipped with a landing control panel 6, a landing display 7, and a landing speaker 8. The landing control panel 6 has a landing call button for registering landing calls from users 11, 12, ... who are at the landing. The landing display 7 and landing speaker 8 provide guidance videos and audio to users 11, 12, ... at landing 5. The landing speaker 8 also outputs a chime sound to inform users 11, 12, ... that the elevator car has arrived. In Figure 1, users 11 and 12 are also persons under surveillance, with person under surveillance (user) 11 being assumed to be a suspicious person and person under surveillance (user) 12 being assumed to be a child.

[0011] Figure 2 shows the configuration of the boarding area suspicious person detection system according to the embodiment.

[0012] As shown in Figure 2, the elevator control device 20 that controls the elevator 100 includes a call registration unit 21, a call assignment unit 22, a travel control unit 23, a user information analysis unit 24, and an alarm generation unit 25.

[0013] The call registration unit 21 registers car calls from the in-car control panel 3 and landing calls from the landing control panel 6.

[0014] The call assignment unit 22 assigns elevator numbers based on registered elevator calls and landing calls.

[0015] In addition to normal driving control, the driving control unit 23, if it determines from the results of the call analysis that the person is a person requiring security, will drive to the floor where the person requiring security is located or wait for the doors to open.

[0016] The user information analysis unit 24 inputs the image information captured by the car door camera 2 that captures the area near the landing 5, analyzes the input image information, and analyzes whether the users 11, 12 present at the landing 5 are target persons who may issue a warning for preventing staying. Specifically, based on the staying time, height, and physical characteristics of the users at the landing 5, it determines whether to register them as target persons, and identifies whether the users present at the landing are suspicious persons 11, children 12 who have no intention of using the elevator 100, or suspicious persons.

[0017] When the target person does not move even after a predetermined time has elapsed after the door opening standby, the reporting unit 25 announces through the speaker installed in the security guard room 30 that a suspicious person or a child who is not using the elevator is staying at the landing 5. Also, when a child stays at the landing for a long time, it announces through the landing speaker 8 not to stop in front of the elevator.

[0018] 《Processing procedure of the embodiment》 FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing of the elevator landing suspicious person detection system in the embodiment.

[0019] While the elevator 100 is stopped at the landing 5 and the door is opening or in the door opening standby state, the user information analysis unit 24 acquires the image information including the users 11, 12,... present at the landing 5 by the car door camera 2 (S1). It analyzes the acquired image information to determine whether all the users 11, 12,... present at the landing have boarded the car 1 (S2).

[0020] If there are users who have not boarded the car 1 among the users 11, 12,... present at the landing 5 (S2 NO), it determines whether the number of users who have not boarded is one (S3).

[0021] If there are multiple users who have not boarded the car 1 (S3 YES), next, it determines whether a landing call is made within a predetermined time (within 5 seconds) after the car door is closed (S4).

[0022] If a landing call is not made within a specified time (within 5 seconds) after the elevator car doors are closed (S4NO), the users 11 and 12 who did not board are recorded as persons under surveillance (S5), and then elevator 100 is driven to respond to all car calls (S6).

[0023] Next, it is determined whether it is possible to provide sufficient service from other units (S7), and if it is not possible to provide service from other units, group management is continued (S8).

[0024] If service is available from another elevator unit, that elevator unit is disconnected from the group control and proceeds directly to the floor where passengers 11 and 12 who did not board elevator car 1 are located, and waits at landing 5 with the doors open (S9).

[0025] While the door is in standby mode, it is determined whether other units can provide sufficient service (S10). If other units cannot provide sufficient service, the system returns to group control (S11).

[0026] If sufficient service can be provided by other units (S10YES), it is determined whether the person under surveillance has been photographed again while the door is in standby mode (S12).

[0027] Even if the door-open waiting period continues, the system will again determine from the camera image whether or not the person under surveillance has boarded the elevator (S13). If the person under surveillance has not boarded the elevator after the predetermined time shown in Figure 4 has continued with the door-open waiting period, the alarm unit 25 will sound the elevator arrival chime via the landing speaker 8 (S14).

[0028] As shown in Figure 4, the time until the arrival chime is sounded is set according to the number of persons under surveillance and whether the height of those persons is 150 cm or taller. For example, if there is one person under surveillance and their height is 150 cm or taller, the time until the arrival chime is sounded is 1 minute; if their height is less than 150 cm, the time until the arrival chime is sounded is 2 minutes. If there are two persons under surveillance and their height is 150 cm or taller, the time until the arrival chime is sounded is 2 minutes; if their height is less than 150 cm, the time until the arrival chime is sounded is 3 minutes.

[0029] After a predetermined time has elapsed, it is determined whether the person under surveillance has boarded basket 1 (S15). If the person under surveillance has not boarded basket 1 after the predetermined time has elapsed, it is determined whether the person under surveillance is taller than the predetermined size (150 cm) (S16).

[0030] If the person under surveillance is taller than the specified height (150 cm), it is determined whether or not they meet the specified alarm conditions shown in Figure 5 (S17). For example, if behaviors such as "hiding their face when they make eye contact with the camera," "hiding their face with a hood or mask," or "constantly looking down" are confirmed as alarm conditions, an alert is sent to the security guard room 30 that there is a suspicious person 11 on the platform (S18).

[0031] On the other hand, if the person under surveillance is determined to be a child (12) and is under a specified height (150 cm), an announcement will be made instructing them not to stop in front of elevator 100 (S19).

[0032] Next, after waiting with the door open for a predetermined time, it is determined whether or not the child 12 has boarded the elevator car 1 (S20). If the child does not board the elevator car 1 after waiting with the door open for a predetermined time (S20NO), an alert is sent to the security guard room 30 that the child 12 is lingering at the landing (S21).

[0033] Thus, according to this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the prediction of residents' behavior patterns due to suspicious individuals loitering at the boarding area, and to prevent the deterioration of driving efficiency due to children loitering at the boarding area.

[0034] Furthermore, if other units are unable to provide sufficient operational efficiency, group management will continue until they can, thus preventing crime from occurring without compromising service quality.

[0035] Other embodiments It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be implemented with various modifications without departing from its spirit. For example, if multiple elevators (let's call them elevators A and B) 100 are located at the same landing 5, the car door camera 2 of elevator A may detect a person under surveillance who does not board when the door opens, and then the person under surveillance may move to the entrance of elevator B. If both elevators A and B detect that the person has not boarded with a time difference, the time it takes to send an alert to the security room 30 may be shortened.

[0036] Furthermore, if a suspicious person is detected, the alarm can be broadcast not only to the security guard room 30 but also to the elevator car 1 via the in-car speaker 4, and the elevator car 1 may be kept on standby without opening its doors, or the elevator car may be stopped on a floor where there is no suspicious person and passengers may disembark. Also, since cases such as apartment buildings where there is no 24-hour on-site manager are anticipated, instead of broadcasting to the security guard room 30, the alarm can be broadcast to a remote monitoring center (security company or elevator maintenance company) 40, or announcements can be made via speakers installed in the building.

[0037] Furthermore, if facial recognition of employees and residents is performed in advance, users who do not board the elevator car may be excluded from the list of individuals to be monitored if they have already undergone facial recognition. In addition, to prevent a decrease in elevator operation efficiency, the system may be operated only during times when burglaries are common (for example, weekdays from 10am to 2pm, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department) to detect suspicious individuals at the elevator landing.

[0038] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments are presented as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as in the claims of the invention and its equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] 100...Elevator, 1...Car, 2...Car door camera, 3...In-car control panel, 4...In-car speaker, 5...Landing, 6...Landing control panel, 7...Landing display, 8...Landing speaker, 11...User (suspicious person), 12...User (child), 20...Elevator control device, 21...Call registration unit, 22...Call assignment unit, 23...Travel control unit, 24...User information analysis unit, 25...Alert unit, 30...Security guard room, 40...Remote monitoring center

Claims

1. A method for detecting a suspicious person in the landing of an elevator with multiple elevator units, When the elevator doors open or while waiting to open, the car door camera detects the physical characteristics and behavior of users in the landing area. Based on the image information from the elevator car door camera, the system analyzes whether all passengers have boarded the elevator car. If any of the detected passengers do not board the car and do not immediately register their arrival, those passengers are recorded as persons under surveillance. After responding to all elevator calls, if service is available on other elevators excluding the affected elevator, the affected elevator will be disconnected from the group control and proceed directly to the floor where the passengers who did not board the elevator are located, where it will be kept on standby with the doors open. If the person under surveillance is detected again, the system will continue to wait with the door open for a predetermined period of time. A method for detecting suspicious individuals at bus stops that, if the person under suspicion does not board the bus, notifies the bus of its arrival to encourage boarding.

2. If the person under surveillance does not respond to the notification of the arrival of the elevator car and does not board the car after a predetermined time has elapsed, and if the person under surveillance is above a certain height, they will be judged to be a suspicious person and an alert will be sent to the security room. If the person under surveillance is below the specified height, they will be considered a child, and an announcement will be made to stop them from waiting at the boarding area. The method for detecting a suspicious person at a boarding area according to claim 1, wherein if the person remains there afterward, an alert is sent to the security guard's room.

3. The method for detecting suspicious persons at a bus stop according to claim 2, wherein the time until the arrival of the bus stop is reported is changed depending on the number or height of the persons under surveillance.

4. The elevator landing suspicious person detection method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein, when multiple elevators are located at the same landing, if a user who has been determined to be a person under suspicion moves to another elevator, the determination of the user as a person under suspicion is carried over and the user is determined to be a suspicious person.

5. The method for detecting a suspicious person at an elevator landing according to claim 2 or 3, wherein when a security officer is notified that a suspicious person is at the landing, an announcement is made to the passengers inside the elevator car via the speaker inside the car, and the elevator car is kept closed and the passengers are allowed to disembark, or the elevator car is stopped on a floor where there is no suspicious person and the passengers are allowed to get off.

6. A method for detecting a suspicious person on an elevator landing, according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when an alert is sent to the security guard's room that a suspicious person is on the landing, an alert is also sent to the security company and the elevator maintenance company, and the information is also disseminated via speakers inside the building.

7. The method for detecting suspicious persons at boarding areas, as described in item 1 to 6, determines whether to register a person as a person requiring attention, and if the user has already been identified by facial recognition as an employee or resident, they will not be registered as a person requiring attention.

8. A landing suspicious person detection system for elevators with multiple elevator units, A camera installed on the elevator car panel detects the physical characteristics and behavior of passengers at the landing, A method for detecting a suspicious person in the landing of an elevator with multiple elevator units, The system includes at least a user information analysis unit that analyzes the physical characteristics and behavior of users based on image information from the car door camera when the elevator doors are open or while the doors are waiting to open, The aforementioned user information analysis unit, Based on the image information from the elevator car door camera, the system analyzes whether all passengers have boarded the elevator car. If any of the detected passengers do not board the car and do not immediately register their arrival, those passengers are recorded as persons under surveillance. After responding to all elevator calls, if service is available on other elevators excluding the affected elevator, the affected elevator will be disconnected from the group control and proceed directly to the floor where the passengers who did not board the elevator are located, where it will be kept on standby with the doors open. If the person under surveillance is detected again, the system will continue to wait with the door open for a predetermined period of time. This system detects suspicious individuals at the bus stop and prompts them to board the bus if the person under suspicion does not get into the bus.

9. The aforementioned user information analysis unit, If the person under surveillance does not respond to the notification of the arrival of the elevator car and does not board the car after a predetermined time has elapsed, and if the person under surveillance is above a certain height, they will be judged to be a suspicious person and an alert will be sent to the security room. If the person under surveillance is below the specified height, they will be considered a child, and an announcement will be made to stop them from waiting at the boarding area. The boarding area suspicious person detection system according to claim 8, wherein if the person remains in the area thereafter, an alert is sent to the security guard's room.

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