Equipment control device and method, utilizing basal metabolism data calculated from estimated characteristics of a person based on detected visible light image data and corresponding thermal image data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing equipment control systems face challenges in accurately calculating basal metabolism and require significant computational resources and memory, particularly in systems that rely on thermal imaging and multiple cameras for person detection and feature analysis.
Innovation Solution
An equipment control device and method that combines thermal and visible light imaging to detect person regions and calculate basal metabolism, reducing computational load and memory requirements by using a person region detector and feature detector to process thermal images and visible light images simultaneously.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If thermal imaging and multiple cameras are used for person detection and feature analysis, then detection accuracy is improved, but computational resources and memory usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the person detection task into two distinct processing streams: thermal image processing for detecting person regions and visible light image processing for detecting facial features. This segmentation allows each stream to be optimized independently, reducing overall computational complexity while maintaining high detection accuracy through multi-modal fusion.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device integrates multiple detection functions into a single system that processes both thermal and visible light images simultaneously. The device uses thermal imaging for person region detection and visible light imaging for facial feature detection, combining these functions to achieve comprehensive person identification with reduced total computational load compared to using multiple separate systems.
2Measurement precision
If thermal imaging and multiple cameras are used for person detection and feature analysis, then detection accuracy is improved, but memory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and processes only the essential features from each image type: person regions from thermal images and facial features from visible light images. By extracting only the necessary information from each modality rather than processing entire images, the system reduces memory requirements while maintaining detection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the person detection task into two distinct processing streams: thermal image processing for detecting person regions and visible light image processing for detecting facial features. This segmentation allows each stream to be optimized independently, reducing overall computational complexity while maintaining high detection accuracy through multi-modal fusion.
3Ease of manufacture
If basal metabolism is calculated based exclusively on body weight, then calculation simplicity is improved, but calculation accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters used for basal metabolism calculation from relying exclusively on body weight to incorporating multiple parameters including body weight, height, age, and sex. This parameter expansion significantly improves calculation accuracy while maintaining reasonable computational simplicity through the use of standardized metabolic calculation formulas.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances detection accuracy while minimizing computational resources and memory usage, enabling efficient equipment control with reduced calculation and storage needs.
Implementation Method 1
a thermal image camera that captures an object to be measured by means of thermal radiation and generates a thermal image
Data Source
AI summary
An equipment control device includes a person region detector that receives a thermal image corresponding to an object of image capture and detects a person region that is a region occupied by a person in the thermal image, a person feature detector that calculates basal metabolism of the person, based on a thermal image part of the person region in the thermal image, and an equipment controller that controls equipment, based on the basal metabolism of the person detected by the person feature detector.