Image capture device, image capture device control method, and program

Abstract

To provide a technology capable of appropriately acquiring information on a PT operating state of a universal head.SOLUTION: An imaging apparatus connected to a universal head in a communicable state, includes: imaging means for capturing an image; acquisition means for sequentially acquiring a current position in at least any one of a panning direction and a tilting direction of the universal head; first determination means for comparing each of differences in positions acquired at pieces of successive timing with a first threshold with regard to positions sequentially acquired by the acquisition means, and determining whether a state of being less than the first threshold continues for a set number of times; and second determination means for determining whether a difference between each position acquired by the acquisition means at certain timing and each position successively acquired by the acquisition means over a predetermined time from the certain timing is less than a second threshold.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for controlling an imaging device. [Background technology]

[0002] Among the accessory units for imaging devices is an adapter called a camera platform that allows the imaging direction of the imaging device to be freely adjusted. There are two main types of camera platform control methods: position specification control, which specifies the pan angle and tilt angle and controls the imaging direction to achieve the specified pan and tilt positions, and direction specification control, which specifies the direction of imaging direction movement. By attaching a camera platform to an imaging device that does not have a drive unit for changing the imaging direction, it becomes possible to adjust the imaging direction of the imaging device.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses that an imaging device is attached to a pan head, and the imaging direction is controlled by controlling the pan head. Patent Document 1 also discloses a technology that drives the device to stop when the difference between the current PTZ position and the preset position is equal to or less than a threshold. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-186096 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In a use case where a camera platform is controlled so that the imaging direction reaches a target position, there is a demand for obtaining information on the PT operation status of the camera platform in the pan and tilt directions. When controlling the camera platform so that the imaging direction reaches a target position, Patent Document 1 has a problem in that it is not possible to determine whether the control of the imaging direction by the camera platform has stopped normally or because an abnormality has occurred.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technology that can appropriately acquire information about the PT operation state of the camera platform. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problem, the imaging device of the present invention comprises, for example, the following configuration: an imaging device connected in a communicable state to a camera platform, comprising: an imaging means for capturing an image; an acquisition means for sequentially acquiring a current position in at least one of a pan direction and a tilt direction of the camera platform; a first determination means for comparing, with a first threshold value, each of differences between positions acquired at successive times for the positions sequentially acquired by the acquisition means, and a first threshold value, and determining whether a state in which the position is less than the first threshold value continues for a set number of times; Among the sequentially acquired positions, A position acquired at a certain timing, Among the sequentially acquired positions, At that particular time Place Regular hours Between and second determining means for determining whether the difference between each of the acquired positions is less than a second threshold value. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately acquire information on the PT operation state of the camera platform. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system configuration. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is an example of an external view of an imaging device. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing functional blocks of the imaging device and the camera platform. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a process for determining the operational state of the camera platform. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing information relating to a stop determination process. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating information on threshold values used for abnormal stop determination. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a process for determining the operational state of the camera platform. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of each device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the configurations shown in the following embodiments are merely examples and are not limited to the configurations shown in the drawings.

[0011] (Embodiment 1) 1 is a diagram showing the system configuration of this embodiment, which includes an image capturing device 1000, a camera platform 2000, a client device 3000, and a network 4000.

[0012] The imaging device 1000 and the client device 3000 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a network 4000. The network 4000 is realized by a plurality of routers, switches, cables, etc. that comply with a communication standard such as ETHERNET (registered trademark).

[0013] The network 4000 may be realized by the Internet, a wired LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless LAN, a WAN (Wide Area Network), or the like.

[0014] In response to a request from the client device 3000, the imaging device 1000 can transmit captured image data and the like to the client device 3000 via the network 4000. The imaging device 1000 may also actively transmit image data and the like to the client device 3000 to which it is connected in advance. Here, the client device 3000 is an information processing device configured by a general terminal device such as a personal computer (PC), a smartphone, or a tablet PC. The client device 3000 controls the imaging direction and image quality of the imaging device 1000. The client device 3000 may also directly control the imaging direction of the camera platform 2000. The client device 3000 may also be a dedicated controller device for operating the imaging device 1000 and the camera platform 2000. Additionally, the client device 3000 may be a control device that controls settings and controls of the imaging device 1000, such as focus and white balance, and controls the camera platform 2000.

[0015] The camera platform 2000 is a device that controls the pan and tilt of the imaging device 1000 via the imaging device 1000 in response to a request from the client device 3000. Communication between the imaging device 1000 and the camera platform 2000 may be realized using EIA (Electronic Industries Association) communication standards such as RS-232C, RS-422A, and RS-485, or other communication standards.

[0016] 2 and 3, the imaging device 1000 and the camera platform 2000 will be described. FIG. 2 is an example of an external view of the imaging device 1000 and the camera platform 2000 in this embodiment. The imaging device 1000 is a device that captures images, and can change the zoom value by controlling a lens driver 1001. The camera platform 2000 in this embodiment can change the imaging direction of the imaging device 1000 to a pan direction (horizontal direction) 2003 and a tilt direction (vertical direction) 2004 by controlling a pan driver 2001 and a tilt driver 2002.

[0017] Next, the functions of the imaging device 1000 and the camera platform 2000 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Of the functional blocks of the imaging device 1000 according to this embodiment, the functions of the image processing unit 1012, lens control unit 1013, storage unit 1014, communication unit 1015, system control unit 1016, etc. are realized as follows: That is, the functions are realized by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 800 of the imaging device 1000 executing a computer program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 820 of the imaging device 1000, which will be described later with reference to Fig. 8.

[0018] The imaging unit 1011 is composed of an imaging element (not shown), such as a CCD (charge coupled device) sensor or a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) sensor. The imaging unit 1011 photoelectrically converts an object image formed through a lens to generate an electrical signal. The image processing unit 1012 performs image processing, such as converting the electrical signal photoelectrically converted by the imaging unit 1011 into a digital signal and compression encoding, to generate image data. Note that the number of image data generated is not limited to one; multiple image data sets with different resolutions and video qualities may be generated simultaneously. The generated image data is also transmitted to the system control unit 1016. The lens driving unit 1001 is composed of a driving system for a focus lens and a zoom lens, and its operation is controlled by the lens control unit 1013. The lens control unit 1013 controls the lens driving unit 1001 based on instructions transmitted from the system control unit 1016. The image processing unit 1012 also transmits focus movement information and zoom movement information to the system control unit 1016.

[0019] The storage unit 1014 stores various setting information, etc. The system control unit 1016 analyzes the transmitted camera control command and performs processing according to the command. For example, the system control unit 1016 instructs the image processing unit 1012 to adjust image quality and instructs the lens control unit 1013 to control zoom and focus, according to the acquired camera control command. The system control unit 1016 also acquires image data generated by the image processing unit 1012 and transmits it to the communication unit 1015. Furthermore, the system control unit 1016 converts the pan / tilt control command received by the communication unit 1015 into a camera head control command and transmits it to the communication unit 1015.

[0020] The communication unit 1015 transmits image data transmitted from the system control unit 1016 to the client device 3000. It also receives various setting commands and camera control commands transmitted from the client device 3000 and transmits them to the system control unit 1016. It also transmits responses of the imaging device 1000 to commands transmitted from the client device 3000 to the client device 3000. It also transmits pan head control commands transmitted from the system control unit 1016 to the communication unit 2012 of the pan head 2000.

[0021] Next, a description will be given of the functional blocks of the pan head 2000. Note that the functions of the functional blocks of the pan head 2000 according to this embodiment are realized as follows: That is, the functions are realized by the CPU 800 of the pan head 2000 executing a computer program stored in the ROM 820 of the pan head 2000, which will be described later with reference to FIG.

[0022] The pan drive unit 2001 of the camera platform 2000 is composed of a mechanical drive system that performs panning and a motor that serves as a drive source, and drives to control rotational drive for rotating the imaging direction of the imaging device 1000 in a pan direction 2003. The operation of the pan drive unit 2001 is controlled by a system control unit 2011. The tilt drive unit 2002 is composed of a mechanical drive system that performs tilting and a motor that serves as a drive source, and drives to control rotational drive for rotating the imaging direction of the imaging device 1000 in a tilt direction 2004. The operation of the tilt drive unit 2002 is controlled by the system control unit 2011.

[0023] The system control unit 2011 analyzes the transmitted camera head control command and issues pan and tilt operation instructions to the pan driving unit 2001 and tilt driving unit 2002. It also obtains current position data of the pan driving unit 2001 and tilt driving unit 2002 and transmits it to the communication unit 2012.

[0024] The communication unit 2012 transmits a camera head control command transmitted from the communication unit 1015 of the imaging device 1000 to the system control unit 2011. The communication unit 2012 also receives current position data of the pan driving unit 2001 and the tilt driving unit 2002 transmitted from the system control unit 2011 and transmits the data to the communication unit 1015 of the imaging device 1000.

[0025] There are two main types of control methods for the camera platform: position specification control, which specifies the pan angle and tilt angle and controls the imaging direction to achieve the specified pan and tilt positions, and direction specification control, which specifies the direction of imaging movement.

[0026] Next, the process of determining the operational state of the camera platform according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 4 to 6. The flow shown in Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the determination process for determining the operational state of the camera platform when the camera platform is controlled by position specification control. Note that the process of the flow shown in Figure 4 is executed by the functional blocks shown in Figure 3, which are realized by the CPU 800 of the imaging device 1000 executing a computer program stored in the ROM 820 of the imaging device 1000, for example.

[0027] First, in S4001, the system control unit 1016 of the imaging device 1000 acquires a PT movement command requesting position designation control from the client device 3000 via the communication unit 1015. The command includes coordinates of the target position.

[0028] Next, in S4002, the system control unit 1016 transmits a position designation command to the camera platform 2000 via the communication units 1015 and 2012 to execute position designation control (S4002). The position designation command includes a command for PT movement of the camera platform 2000 using position designation control and the coordinates of the target position. The system control unit 2011 of the camera platform 2000 then instructs the pan driver 2001 and tilt driver 2002 to perform pan and tilt operations, thereby starting PT control of the camera platform from the current PT position toward the target position (target PT position) using position designation control. The system control unit 1016 then changes the operating status of the camera platform to "moving" and stores this in the memory unit 1014. The PT position includes a position in the pan direction 2003 and a position in the tilt direction 2004.

[0029] Next, in S4003, when the operating state of the pan head is during PT movement, the system control unit 1016 of the imaging device 1000 periodically transmits a current position acquisition command requesting the current PT position to the pan head 2000 via the communication units 1015 and 2012. Upon receiving the current position acquisition command, the system control unit 2011 of the pan head 2000 transmits information on the current PT position acquired from the pan driving unit 2001 and tilt driving unit 2002 to the system control unit 1016 via the communication units 2012 and 1015. In this way, the system control unit 1016 of the imaging device 1000 acquires the current positions in the pan direction 2003 and tilt direction 2004.

[0030] Next, in S4004, the system control unit 1016 acquires information about the current PT position and then executes stop determination processing. The stop determination processing in S4004 will now be described with reference to FIG. 5. Threshold information 500 shown in FIG. 5(a) and comparison information 550 shown in FIG. 5(b) are information related to the stop determination processing in S4004. The threshold information 500 shown in FIG. 5(a) is information indicating a threshold for the stop determination processing. Here, a difference threshold 501 (first threshold) is 0.1 degrees, and a set number of times 502 is 2. The threshold information 500 is assumed to be stored in advance in the storage unit 1014 and can be set in accordance with a user instruction in the client 3000. In this embodiment, the system control unit 1016 performs the stop determination processing by comparing each difference between PT positions acquired at successive times with a first threshold and determining whether the difference remains less than the first threshold for a set number of times. In the example shown in FIG. 5(a), the set number of times is two, and the first threshold is 0.1 degrees. Therefore, according to the threshold information 500 shown in the example of FIG. 5(a), the system control unit 1016 compares each of the differences between the PT positions acquired at successive times with 0.1 degrees for the sequentially acquired current PT position. The system control unit 1016 then determines whether a comparison result of less than 0.1 degrees occurs twice in a row. The PT position differences are the difference in the pan direction 2003 and the difference in the tilt direction 2004. Therefore, the system control unit 1016 performs the following process for the sequentially acquired current PT position. That is, the system control unit 1016 compares each of the position differences in the pan direction 2003 acquired at successive times with the first threshold, and similarly compares each of the position differences in the tilt direction 2004 acquired at successive times with the first threshold.

[0031] Comparison information 550 shown in Fig. 5(b) shows information on the results of the stop determination process when threshold information 500 shown in Fig. 5(a) is used. Comparison information 550 includes a determination count 551, a current pan position 552 indicating the position of the current pan direction 2003, a difference 553 indicating the difference between the pan direction 2003 and the previous one, a current tilt position 554 indicating the position of the current tilt direction 2004, a difference 555 indicating the difference between the tilt direction 2004 and the previous one, and a determination result 556 indicating the result of the comparison.

[0032] In the first determination 551, the current pan position 552 is 3.28 degrees, there is no difference 553 from the pan position obtained one time previously, the current tilt position 554 is 3.4 degrees, there is no difference 555 from the tilt position obtained one time previously, and the determination result 556 is “moving.”

[0033] Thereafter, up to the third determination count 551, pan direction difference 553 and tilt direction difference 555 are each equal to or greater than 0.1 degrees, which is the difference threshold 501 (first threshold), and therefore determination result 556 is "moving." When the determination count 551 is the fourth, pan direction difference 553 and tilt direction difference 555 are each less than difference threshold 501 (first threshold), but since this is the first time that the difference has been less than difference threshold 501 and this is less than the set number 502, it is determined that the object is still moving. Then, when the determination count 551 is the fifth, the state in which the difference has been less than difference threshold 501 (first threshold) is equal to or greater than the set number 502, and therefore determination result 556 is "stopped." Thus, in the stop determination process of S4004, the system control unit 1016 determines the difference between the current position in pan direction 2003 sequentially acquired through the process of S4003 and the position in pan direction 2003 acquired at the immediately previous timing, and compares this difference with the first threshold. Similarly, the system control unit 1016 determines the difference between the current position in the tilt direction 2004, which is sequentially obtained through the processing of S4003, and the position in the tilt direction 2004 obtained at the immediately previous timing, and compares the difference with a first threshold. The system control unit 1016 then determines whether the determined difference in each of the pan direction 2003 and tilt direction 2004 remains less than the first threshold for a set number of times, and if it determines that this continues for the set number of times, it determines that the operating state of the camera platform 2000 is "stopped." If it determines that this does not continue for the set number of times, it determines that the operating state of the camera platform 2000 is "moving."

[0034] If the operation state of the camera platform 2000 is determined to be moving after the stop determination process in S4004 (No in S4004), the process transitions to S4003, where the system control unit 1016 acquires the current PT position and transitions to S4004 to execute the stop determination process again. On the other hand, if the operation state of the camera platform 2000 is determined to be stopped after the stop determination process in S4004 (Yes in S4004), the process transitions to S4005. In S4005, the system control unit 1016 executes target determination process to determine whether the target position has been reached. The target determination process will now be described. A threshold value for the difference from the target position is stored in advance in the storage unit 1014. The difference threshold value 501 in FIG. 5 may be used as the threshold value for the difference from the target position. Then, if the difference between the current position acquired from the camera platform 2000 and the target position received from the client 3000 in S4001 is equal to or less than the threshold value for the difference from the target position, it is determined that the target position has been reached. The target position includes a position in the pan direction 2003 (target pan position) and a position in the tilt direction 2004 (target tilt position). Then, in S4005, the system control unit 1016 determines the difference between the current position in the pan direction 2003 and the target pan position, and the difference between the current position in the tilt direction 2004 and the target tilt position, and determines whether each difference is less than a threshold. If the system control unit 1016 determines that each of the determined differences is less than the threshold, it determines that the target position has been reached (Yes in S4005) and transitions to S4006. On the other hand, if the system control unit 1016 determines that each of the determined differences is equal to or greater than the threshold, it determines that the target position has not been reached (No in S4005) and transitions to S4007.

[0035] In S4006, the system control unit 1016 determines the operating status of the camera platform 2000 as "normal stop" and records information about the determined operating status in the storage unit 1014. The system control unit 1016 may further transmit information indicating that the camera platform 2000 has stopped normally to the client 3000.

[0036] In S4007, the system control unit 1016 executes an abnormal stop determination to determine whether an abnormal stop has occurred. The abnormal stop determination will now be described with reference to FIG. 6. The threshold information 500 shown in FIG. 5(a) is threshold information used in the abnormal stop determination. Here, a difference threshold 601 (second threshold) is 0.1 degrees, and a set time 602 is 5 seconds. The threshold information 600 is assumed to be stored in advance in the storage unit 1014 and can be set according to a user instruction in the client 3000. To determine whether an abnormal stop has occurred, the system control unit 1016 determines whether the difference between a PT position acquired at a certain timing and each of the positions acquired sequentially over the set time 602 from the certain timing is less than the second threshold. Note that the certain timing corresponds to the timing identified as "stop" in the stop determination process. That is, the system control unit 1016 uses, for the abnormal stop determination, the PT position acquired at the timing at which it is determined in the stop determination process that the state in which the PT position difference is less than the first threshold has continued for a set number of times. 5(b), the number of determinations 551 is the fifth, and it is determined that the state where the value is less than the first threshold has continued for a set number of times. As the PT positions acquired at this timing, the current pan position 552 "12.83" and the current tilt position "4.58" are set as the reference PT positions for abnormal stop determination. Then, in S4007, the system control unit 1016 determines whether the difference between the PT position acquired at that timing (reference PT position) and each of the PT positions acquired sequentially over a set time 602 from that timing is less than a difference threshold 601 (second threshold). At this time, the system control unit 1016 identifies the difference between the pan position of the reference PT position acquired at that timing and each of the positions in the pan direction 2003 acquired sequentially over a predetermined time from that timing, and compares this difference with the difference threshold 601. Similarly, the system control unit 1016 determines the difference between the tilt position of the reference PT position acquired at the certain timing and each of the positions of the tilt direction 2004 acquired sequentially over a predetermined time period from the certain timing, and compares the difference with the difference threshold 601.If it is determined that the difference identified in each of the pan direction 2003 and the tilt direction 2004 is less than the difference threshold 601 over the set time 602, it is determined that an abnormal stop has occurred (Yes in S4007), and the process proceeds to S4008. If it is determined that the difference identified in each of the pan direction 2003 and the tilt direction 2004 is not less than the difference threshold 601 over the set time 602 (No in S4007), the process proceeds to S4003.

[0037] In S4008, the system control unit 1016 determines that the pan head has stopped abnormally, changes the operation state of the pan head 2000 to stopped, and records this in the storage unit 1016. At this time, the system control unit 1016 may also send a stop command to stop the PT control of the pan head 2000. By doing so, if the pan head 2000 has been stopped by some kind of obstacle, it is possible to prevent the pan head 2000 from operating unintentionally when the obstacle is removed. Furthermore, the system control unit 1016 may record information about the abnormal stop as a log in the storage unit 1014.

[0038] In the above description, the acquisition of the current position in S4003, the stop determination process in S4004, the target determination process in S4005, and the abnormal stop determination in S4007 are executed for each of the pan direction 2003 and the tilt direction 2004, but this is not limited to this. For example, if the camera platform 2000 can only control the pan direction 2003, S4003 to S4007 may be executed only for the pan direction 2003. Similarly, if the camera platform 2000 can only control the tilt direction 2004, S4003 to S4007 may be executed only for the tilt direction 2004.

[0039] As described above, according to this embodiment, when controlling the pan / tilt head 2000 so that the imaging direction reaches the target position, the operating status of the pan / tilt head 2000 can be appropriately determined, such as whether it has stopped normally or whether an abnormal stop has occurred.

[0040] (Embodiment 2) In the first embodiment, a determination as to whether to stop PT movement by position designation control was shown. In this embodiment, a determination as to whether to stop PT movement by direction designation control is shown. Note that differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and components and processes that are the same as or equivalent to those in the first embodiment will be given the same reference numerals, and duplicated descriptions will be omitted.

[0041] Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a determination as to whether to stop PT movement by direction specification control. Note that the processing of the flow shown in Fig. 7 is executed by the functional blocks shown in Fig. 3 which are realized by the CPU 800 of the imaging device 1000 executing a computer program stored in the ROM 820 of the imaging device 1000, for example.

[0042] First, in S7001, the system control unit 1016 of the imaging device 1000 receives a PT movement command requesting direction specification control from the client device 3000 via the communication unit 1015. Next, in S7002, the system control unit 1016 transmits the direction specification command to the camera platform 2000 via the communication units 1015 and 2012 (S7002). The system control unit 2011 of the camera platform 2000 then instructs the pan driver 2001 and tilt driver 2002 to perform pan and tilt operations, thereby starting PT movement of the camera platform under direction specification control. The system control unit 1016 then changes the operating state of the camera platform to "moving" and stores this in the memory unit 1014.

[0043] In S7003, the system control unit 1016 determines whether or not a stop command has been received from the client device 3000 via the communication unit 1015 after performing PT movement of the camera platform using direction specification control. If it is determined in S7003 that a stop command has been received (Yes in S7003), the process proceeds to S7004, where the system control unit 1016 transmits a stop command to the camera platform 2000 via the communication units 1015 and 2012. The system control unit 2011 of the camera platform 2000 then issues a pan / tilt stop command to the pan drive unit 2001 and tilt drive unit 2002, thereby executing a PT stop of the camera platform. However, depending on the state of the camera platform 2000, the camera platform may not stop immediately. For this reason, a stop determination is required.

[0044] Therefore, in S7005, the system control unit 1016 transmits a current position acquisition command to the camera platform 2000 via the communication units 1015 and 2012. When the system control unit 2011 of the camera platform 2000 receives the current position acquisition command from the communication unit 2012, it transmits the current position information acquired from the pan driving unit 2001 and tilt driving unit 2002 to the system control unit 1016 via the communication units 2012 and 1015.

[0045] Then, in S7006, the system control unit 1016 executes stop determination processing upon acquiring the current position information. The stop determination processing here is the same as that described in the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted. Note that the parameters of the difference threshold value 501 and the set number of times 502 shown in FIG. 5(a) may be different between the stop determination processing in the position designation control in the first embodiment and the stop determination processing in the direction designation control in this embodiment.

[0046] If it is determined in S7006 that the camera is moving (No in S7006), the process transitions to S7005, and the processes of S7005 and S7006 are executed again. If it is determined in S7006 that the camera is stopped (Yes in S7006), the process transitions to S7007, and the system control unit 1016 determines that the camera head has stopped normally, changes the operation status of the camera head to stopped, and saves this in the memory unit 1015.

[0047] If it is determined in S7003 that a stop command has not been received (No in S7003), the pan head 2000 is continuing to move in a specified direction, so it is necessary to check whether the pan head 2000 has stopped abnormally. Therefore, in S7008, the system control unit 1016 transmits a current position acquisition command to the pan head 2000 via the communication units 1015 and 2012. Upon receiving the current position acquisition command, the system control unit 2011 of the pan head 2000 transmits current position information acquired from the pan driving unit 2001 and tilt driving unit 2002 to the system control unit 1016 of the imaging device 1000.

[0048] Then, in S7009, the system control unit 1016 executes a stop determination process based on the acquired current position information. The stop determination process here is similar to the content described in the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted. If the stop determination process does not determine that the robot is stopped (No in S7009), the process proceeds to S7003, where it is again determined whether a stop command has been received from the client device 3000. On the other hand, if the stop determination process determines that the robot is stopped (Yes in S7009), the system control unit 1016 executes an abnormal stop determination (S7010) because it is unclear whether the determined stop is an abnormal stop or simply a slow movement. The abnormal stop determination here is similar to that described in the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted. Note that the parameters of the difference threshold value 601 and the set time 602 shown in FIG. 6 may be different between the abnormal stop determination in the position specification control in the first embodiment and the abnormal stop determination in the direction specification control in this embodiment.

[0049] If it is determined in S7010 that the stop did not occur due to an abnormality (No in S7010), the process returns to S7003, where it is again determined whether a stop command has been received from the client device 3000. On the other hand, if it is determined that the stop occurred due to an abnormality (Yes in S7010), the process proceeds to S7011, where the system control unit 1016 changes the state of the camera platform to stopped and records this in the storage unit 1015. The system control unit 1016 may then send a stop command to the camera platform 2000 via, for example, the communication unit 1015. This prevents the camera platform 2000 from unintentionally operating when the obstacle is removed if the camera platform 2000 has been stopped due to an obstacle or the like. The system control unit 1016 may also record information about the abnormal stop as a log in the storage unit 1014.

[0050] As described above, according to this embodiment, when a PT movement of the pan head 2000 is performed by specifying a direction, the operating state of the pan head 2000 can be appropriately determined, such as whether the pan head 2000 has stopped normally or whether an abnormal stop has occurred.

[0051] (Other embodiments) Next, the hardware configuration of the imaging device 1000 for realizing each function of each embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Note that, although the hardware configuration of the imaging device 1000 will be described in the following explanation, it is assumed that the camera platform 2000 and the client device 3000 are also realized by the same hardware configuration.

[0052] The imaging device 1000 in this embodiment includes a CPU 800 , a RAM 810 , a ROM 820 , an HDD 830 , and an I / F 840 .

[0053] The CPU 800 is a central processing unit that controls the imaging device 1000. The RAM 810 temporarily stores computer programs executed by the CPU 800. The RAM 810 also provides a work area used when the CPU 800 executes processing. The RAM 810 also functions as, for example, a frame memory or a buffer memory.

[0054] The ROM 820 stores programs and the like that are used by the CPU 800 to control the imaging device 1000. The HDD 830 is a storage device that records image data and the like.

[0055] The I / F 810 communicates with external devices via the network 4000 in accordance with TCP / IP, HTTP, or the like.

[0056] In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the CPU 800 executes the processing is described, but at least a part of the processing by the CPU 800 may be executed by dedicated hardware. For example, the processing of reading program code from the ROM 820 and loading it into the RAM 810 may be executed by a DMA (Direct Memory Access) that functions as a transfer device.

[0057] The present invention can also be realized by a process in which one or more processors read and execute a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments. The program may be supplied to a system or device having a processor via a network or a storage medium. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., an ASIC) that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments. Each unit of the imaging device 1000 may be realized by hardware shown in FIG. 8, or by software.

[0058] Note that one or more functions of the imaging device 1000 according to the above-described embodiment may be implemented by another device. For example, one or more functions of the imaging device 1000 according to the embodiment may be implemented by another device.

[0059] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments, the above embodiments merely illustrate specific examples of how the present invention can be implemented, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by these embodiments. In other words, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical concept or main features of the present invention. For example, combinations of the embodiments are also included in the disclosure of this specification. [Explanation of symbols]

[0060] 1000 Imaging Device 1016 System control unit 2000 Panhead 2011 System Control Unit 3000 client devices 4000 Network

Claims

1. An imaging device that is connected to a camera platform in a communicable state, an imaging means for capturing an image; an acquisition means for sequentially acquiring a current position of at least one of the pan direction and tilt direction of the camera platform; a first determination means for comparing each of the differences between positions sequentially acquired by the acquisition means at successive timings with a first threshold value and determining whether a state in which the difference is less than the first threshold value continues for a set number of times; and a second determination means for determining whether a difference between a position acquired at a certain timing among the sequentially acquired positions and each of the positions acquired within a predetermined time period from the certain timing among the sequentially acquired positions is less than a second threshold value.

2. The imaging device described in claim 1, characterized in that the certain timing corresponds to the timing at which the first determination means determines that, for each of the positions sequentially acquired by the acquisition means, the difference between the positions acquired at successive times before and after the acquisition means is less than the first threshold value for the set number of times.

3. 3. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition means successively acquires the current position of the camera platform in each of the pan direction and the tilt direction.

4. The first determination means The imaging device described in claim 3, characterized in that for positions sequentially acquired in the pan direction and the tilt direction by the acquisition means, each difference in position in the pan direction acquired at successive times is compared with the first threshold, each difference in position in the tilt direction acquired at successive times is compared with the first threshold, and it is determined whether the state in which the position in the pan direction and the tilt direction is less than the first threshold continues for the set number of times.

5. The second determination means The imaging device described in claim 3 or 4, characterized in that it determines whether the difference between the pan direction position acquired by the acquisition means at the certain timing and each of the pan direction positions acquired during the predetermined time from the certain timing, and the difference between the tilt direction position acquired by the acquisition means at the certain timing and each of the tilt direction positions acquired during the predetermined time from the certain timing, are less than the second threshold value.

6. 6. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the second determination unit determines whether the image quality is less than the first threshold value after the first determination unit determines whether the image quality is less than the first threshold value.

7. The imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a transmitting means for transmitting a position designation command to the camera head to perform position designation control for controlling the camera head so that the imaging direction of the imaging means reaches a target position.

8. The imaging device described in claim 7, characterized in that when the camera platform is controlled so that the imaging direction reaches the target position in accordance with the position specification command, it further has a third judgment means for judging whether the target position has been reached based on the position information acquired by the acquisition means and the target position information.

9. 9. The imaging device according to claim 8, further comprising a fourth determination means for determining an operating state of the camera platform.

10. The imaging device described in claim 9, characterized in that the fourth judgment means judges that the camera head has stopped normally when the first judgment means judges that the camera head is less than the first threshold value and the third judgment means judges that the camera head has reached the target position.

11. The imaging device described in claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the fourth judgment means judges that an abnormal stop has occurred in the camera head if the first judgment means judges that the value is less than the first threshold, the second judgment means judges that the value is less than the second threshold, and the third judgment means judges that the target position has not been reached.

12. The imaging device according to claim 11, wherein the transmitting means transmits a stop command to stop control to the camera platform when the fourth determining means determines that an abnormal stop has occurred.

13. 13. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the set number of times can be set based on a user's specification.

14. 14. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined time can be set based on a user's specification.

15. A control method for an imaging device connected to a camera platform in a communicable state, comprising: an acquisition step of sequentially acquiring a current position of at least one of a pan direction and a tilt direction of the camera platform; a first determination step of comparing each of the differences between positions sequentially acquired in the acquisition step and positions acquired at successive timings with a first threshold value and determining whether a state in which the difference is less than the first threshold value continues for a set number of times; A control method characterized by having a second determination step of determining whether the difference between a position acquired at a certain timing among the positions acquired sequentially in the acquisition step and each of the positions acquired within a predetermined time from the certain timing among the positions acquired sequentially is less than a second threshold value.

16. A computer program that causes a computer to function as each of the means of the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

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