Monitoring System with Privacy Image Generation for Sensor Inspection
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Solution Overview
Problem
In area monitoring systems, workers risk personal identification when appearing in camera images displayed for checking sensor installation status, particularly in environments with many workers, such as factories.
Innovation Solution
A monitoring system with an intrusion detecting section, camera, detail check image generation, privacy image generation, and display image selection, allowing for either high-quality detail check images or lower-quality privacy images to be displayed, reducing personal identification by matching picture quality and focusing on specific monitoring regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If camera images are displayed for checking sensor installation status, then installation checking is facilitated, but worker personal identification occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a focused monitoring region with higher picture quality for installation checking while reducing picture quality in other regions where workers may appear. This allows the system to provide detailed views where needed (sensor installation areas) while protecting worker privacy in regions where they are present, thus resolving the contradiction between facilitation of installation checking and prevention of personal identification.
2Measurement precision
If high picture quality is maintained throughout the image, then detail checking is improved, but worker identification risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by differentiating picture quality across different regions of the image. The focused monitoring region maintains high picture quality for detailed inspection of sensor installation, while other regions have reduced picture quality that prevents worker identification. This spatial variation in quality resolves the contradiction between maintaining measurement precision and reducing harmful identification effects.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the image into distinct regions: a focused monitoring region with high picture quality and other regions with reduced picture quality. This segmentation allows the system to provide detailed viewing capability where necessary for installation checking while simultaneously protecting worker privacy in other areas, thus resolving the contradiction between detail checking capability and worker identification prevention.
3Measurement precision
If the entire image is processed for detail checking, then checking accuracy is improved, but processing time and data volume increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and processes only the focused monitoring region at high picture quality, while other regions are processed at reduced quality or not processed in detail. This extraction of the critical monitoring area from the entire image allows the system to maintain high checking accuracy for the important region while significantly reducing overall processing time and data volume, thus resolving the contradiction between checking accuracy and processing efficiency.
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
Facilitates checking of sensor installation status while minimizing worker identification, even when workers appear in camera images, by using privacy images with lower quality than detail check images and matching picture quality within focused monitoring regions.
Implementation Method 1
a light projection part that generates detection light, a scanning part that performs a scan with the detection light in a circumferential direction about a rotational axis, and a light reception part that receives the detection light reflected by a target
Implementation Method 2
a distance measuring section for obtaining a distance to the target based on the detection signal
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a monitoring system capable of facilitating checking of an installation status of a sensor body, and also capable of reducing personal identification of a worker even in the case of displaying a camera image with the worker appearing therein. The monitoring system is configured of: an intrusion detecting section for detecting an intruding object in a monitoring area, to generate a stop signal for stopping an operation of an external device; a camera for photographing the monitoring area; a detail check image generating section for generating a detail check image for display based on a camera image photographed by the camera; a privacy image generating section for generating a privacy image with lower picture quality than picture quality of the detail check image based on the camera image.