Methods and systems for networked camera control

• US 8,004,561 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2007
• Issued: 08/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smiths Detection (Smiths Group International Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Smiths Detection (Smiths Group International Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Mottur, Peter A., Zimmer, Ethan Z
• Primary Examiner(s): RAO, ANAND SHASHIKANT
• Application Number:
  US11/730,539
• Publication Number:
  US 20070183768A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,604 Days
• Field of Search: 348142-160
• US Class Current: 348/143
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/21 Server components or server architectures
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2187 Live feed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23 Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/62 Control of parameters via user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/632 for displaying or modifying preview images prior to image capturing, e.g. variety of image resolutions or capturing parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/66 Remote control of cameras or camera parts, e.g. by remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Methods and systems for providing fluid real-time camera control of at least one camera to at least one network user via a network including the internet. A control pad or area can be provided to camera users via an application or applet that can be calibrated to provide fluid camera control. Compressed or uncompressed analog, digital, or streaming video and audio data can also be provided to the users to allow real-time low latency continuous audio/visual feedback. Multiple camera users can obtain control of a camera using a dynamic queuing technique that can allow single user camera control for certain time intervals. An administrator can establish user camera control parameters including camera control intervals for subscriber users versus non-subscriber users, camera usurping by an administrator, elimination of camera control privileges for a user, and denial of camera control requests by a user.

Claims

1. A method for providing control of at least one camera to at least one network user, comprising:

providing at least one network link between the at least one camera and the at least one network user;

providing at least one interface having a cursor and a control area to the at least one network user, the at least one interface generating variable speed camera control commands based on the cursor position within the control area; and

,

providing the variable speed camera control commands to the at least one camera.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising providing the at least one network user with at least one of compressed analog, uncompressed analog, digital, and streaming audio and visual data, based on the at least one camera;

where providing at least one network link between the at least one camera and the at least one network user includes providing at least one network link based on supporting at least one of fiber optic, infrared, satellite, Radio Frequency (RF), microwave, cable, and Internet Protocol (IP) communications;

where providing at least one interface to the at least one user includes providing at least one of at least one applet, at least one application, at least one graphical user interface, at least one database interface, at least one scripting interface, at least one menu driven interface, and at least one text-based interface;

where providing at least one interface includes providing the cursor with an active state and an inactive state;

where generating variable speed camera control commands includes determining a distance of a cursor from an origin; and

where providing the variable speed camera control commands to the at least one camera includes transmitting the camera control commands using the at least one network link.

3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the action of moving the cursor from an origin to generate the variable speed camera control commands to obtain fluid camera positional movement in pan tilt directions.

4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the action of moving the cursor in an x direction along an x-axis origin to obtain camera panning with increased speed as a distance from the origin increases.

5. A method according to claim 4, further comprising providing a grid to the user where distance of the cursor from the origin is measured based on the grid position.

6. A method according to claim 1, where generating variable speed camera control commands includes determining whether a cursor is active or inactive.

7. A method according to claim 1, where generating variable speed camera control commands includes computing at least one of pan, tilt, focus, zoom, and camera preset commands based on the interface data.

8. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the action of the user dragging the cursor to a position, with respect to an origin, one unit in an x-direction, and greater than one unit in a y-direction, wherein the camera moves in a tilt direction faster than the camera moves in a pan direction.

9. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the action of deactivating the cursor by releasing a computer mouse button, wherein upon deactivation , the cursor returns to an origin and thus ceases transmission of control commands to the camera.

10. A method according to claim 1, further including selecting one of the at least one network users from which to provide control of the at least one camera.

11. A method according to claim 1, further including providing a queue for control of the at least one camera amongst the at least one network users.

61. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the action of moving the cursor away from an origin, wherein the further a distance of the cursor is moved from the origin, the greater a magnitude of the camera control commands.

62. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the action of moving the cursor so as to obtain movement of the camera, wherein, based on a position of the cursor, a greater magnitude of cursor movement corresponds to a more rapid camera movement.

63. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the action of moving the cursor faster in a first time period relative to cursor movement in a second time period equal to the first time period so as to obtain a faster movement of the camera during the first time period than during the second time period.

12. A graphical user interface (GUI) for providing control of at least one camera by at least one network user, the at least one network user and the at least one camera being connected by at least one communicative network link, the GUI comprising:

a control area; and

a cursor confined within the control area,

where variable speed camera control commands are generated based on the cursor position within the control area.

13. A GUI according to claim 12, further including:

an origin designation within the control area, and where the variable speed control command is based on the cursor distance from the origin designation;

at least one focus button for increasing and decreasing camera focus;

at least one zoom button for increasing and decreasing camera zoom;

at least one control for camera presets; and

at least one location preset designation for directing the camera to a fixed location,

where the cursor includes an active mode and an inactive mode, and where the control area includes a coordinate system for mapping cursor position to variable speed camera control commands.

14. A GUI according to claim 12, wherein the GUI is configured such that movement of the cursor from an origin to generate the variable speed camera control commands to obtain fluid camera positional movement in pan tilt directions.

15. A GUI according to claim 12, wherein the GUI is configured such that movement of the cursor in an x direction along an x-axis origin to obtain camera panning with increased speed as a distance from the origin increases.

16. A GUI according to claim 12, wherein the GUI is configured such that dragging the cursor to a position, with respect to an origin, one unit in an x-direction, and greater than one unit in a y-direction, moves the camera in a tilt direction faster than the camera moves in a pan direction.

17. A GUI according to claim 12, wherein the GUI is configured such that the cursor may be deactivated by releasing a computer mouse button, wherein upon deactivation, the cursor returns to an origin and thus ceases transmission of control commands to the camera.

18. A GUI according to claim 12, where the control area includes a coordinate system for mapping cursor position to pan and tilt variable speed camera control commands.

21. A GUI according to claim 12, wherein the GUI is configured such that when the cursor is moved from an origin, the further a distance of the cursor is moved from the origin, the greater a magnitude of the camera control commands.

22. A GUI according to claim 12, wherein the GUI is configured such that the action of moving the cursor results in movement of the camera, wherein, based on a position of the cursor, a greater magnitude of cursor movement corresponds to a more rapid camera movement.

25. A GUI according to claim 12, wherein the GUI is configured such that movement of the cursor faster in a first time period relative to cursor movement in a second time period equal to the first time period results in faster movement of the camera during the first time period than during the second time period.

19. A method for administering control of at least one camera to at least one network user, comprising:

associating at least one queue with the at least one camera;

receiving a request from one of the at least one network users for control of the at least one camera;

associating the request with one of the at least one camera; and

conditionally placing the at least one network user in the at least one queue associated with the request.

20. A method according to claim 19, where conditionally placing the at least one network user in the at least one queue associated with the request includes determining that the at least one network user is authorized to request control of the at least one camera, and where conditionally placing the at least one network user in the at least one queue associated with the request includes determining whether the at least one requesting user is a subscriber user or a non-subscriber user.

23. A method according to claim 19, further including associating a camera control time interval with the request.

24. A method according to claim 19, further including providing an indication to assume camera control to the at least one network user, where providing an indication includes at least one of sending a message via a network for display to at least one network user, and causing an audio sound to be provided to at least one network user.

26. A system for providing remote control of at least one camera by at least one network user, comprising:

at least one initiating device for providing access to the at least one network user over a network, the initiating device having a display for displaying, an interface having a cursor and a control area, the interface providing variable speed camera control commands based on the cursor position within the control area, and, video data received from the at least one camera,

at least one server to receive the variable speed camera control commands from the at least one initiating device, to provide the variable speed camera control commands to the at least one camera, to receive at least one of audio and video data from the at least one camera, and to provide at least one of the audio and video data to the at least one network user, and

instructions for translating the variable speed camera control commands to instructions for moving the at least one camera.

27. A system according to claim 26, where the at least one initiating device includes at least one processor.

28. A system according to claim 26, further including at least one queue associated with the at least one camera.

29. A system according to claim 26, where the interface includes at least one of a graphical user interface (GUI), a database interface, a scripting interface, a menu driven interface, and a text-based interface.

30. A system according to claim 26, further comprising:

the control area having an origin,

the cursor having an active state and an inactive state, and

whereby the variable speed control commands are based on the distance between the cursor in the active state and the origin.

31. A system according to claim 30, where the cursor is at least one of visible and non-visible.

32. A system according to claim 30, where the control area includes a grid, the grid being at least one of visible and non visible.

33. A system according to claim 30, where the variable speed control commands are constant when the cursor is maintained in the same position.

34. A system according to claim 30, where the cursor remains at the origin when in the inactive state.

35. A computer product for providing control of at least one camera to at least one network user, the computer product disposed on a computer readable medium and having instructions for causing a processor to:

provide at least one network link between the at least one camera and the at least one network user;

provide at least one interface to the at least one network user, the at least one interface having a cursor and a control area;

generate variable speed camera control commands based on interface data generated from the position of the cursor within the control area of the at least one interface;

provide the variable speed camera control commands to the at least one camera; and

utilize the at least one network link to provide the at least one network user with data based on the at least one camera.

36. A computer product according to claim 35, where instructions to provide at least one network link between the at least one camera and the at least one network user include instructions to provide at least one network link based on supporting at least one of fiber optic, infrared, satellite, Radio Frequency (RF), microwave, cable, and Internet Protocol (IP) communications.

37. A computer product according to claim 35, where instructions to provide at least one interface to the at least one user include instructions to provide at least one of at least one applet, at least one application, at least one graphical user interface, at least one database interface, at least one scripting interface, at least one menu driven interface, and at least one text-based interface.

38. A computer product according to claim 35, where instructions to provide at least one interface include instructions to provide the cursor with an active state and an inactive state.

39. A computer product according to claim 35, where instructions to generate variable speed camera control commands includes instructions to determine a distance of a cursor from an origin.

40. A computer product according to claim 35, where instructions to generate variable speed camera control commands includes instructions to determine whether a cursor is in the active state or inactive state.

41. A computer product according to claim 35, where instructions to generate variable speed camera control commands includes instructions to compute at least one of pan, tilt, focus, zoom, and camera preset commands based on the interface data.

42. A computer product according to claim 35, further including instructions to select one of the at least one network users from which to provide control of the at least one camera.

43. A computer product according to claim 35, further including instructions to provide a queue for providing control of the at least one camera amongst the at least one network users.

44. A computer for administering control of at least one camera to at least one network user, the computer product disposed on a computer readable medium and having instructions for causing a processor to:

provide at least one queue for association with the at least one camera;

receive a request from one of the at least one network users for control of the at least one camera;

associate the request with one of the at least one cameras; and

conditionally place the at least one network user in the at least one queue associated with the request.

45. A computer product according to claim 44, where the instructions to conditionally place the at least one network user in the at least one queue associated with the request includes instructions to determine that the at least one network user is authorized to request control of the at least one camera.

46. A computer product according to claim 44, where the instructions to conditionally place the at least one network user in the at least one queue associated with the request includes instructions to determine whether the at least one requesting user is a subscriber user or a non-subscriber user.

47. A computer product according to claim 44, wherein the computer product is configured such that when the cursor is moved from an origin, the further a distance of the cursor is moved from the origin, the greater a magnitude of the camera control commands.

48. A computer product according to claim 44, wherein the computer product is configured such that the action of moving the cursor results in movement of the camera, wherein, based on a position of the cursor, a greater magnitude of cursor movement corresponds to a more rapid camera movement.

49. A computer product according to claim 44, wherein the computer product is configured such that movement of the cursor from an origin to generate the variable speed camera control commands to obtain fluid camera positional movement in pan tilt directions.

50. A computer product according to claim 44, wherein the computer product is configured such that movement of the cursor in an x direction along an x-axis origin to obtain camera panning with increased speed as a distance from the origin increases.

51. A computer product according to claim 44, wherein the computer product is configured such that dragging the cursor to a position, with respect to an origin, one unit in an x-direction, and greater than one unit in a y-direction, moves the camera in a tilt direction faster than the camera moves in a pan direction.

64. A computer product according to claim 44, wherein the computer product is configured such that the cursor may be deactivated by releasing a computer mouse button, wherein upon deactivation , the cursor returns to an origin and thus ceasing transmission of control commands to the camera.

65. A computer product according to claim 44, wherein the computer product is configured such that the action of moving the cursor results in movement of the camera, wherein, based on a position of the cursor, a greater magnitude of cursor movement corresponds to a more rapid camera movement.

66. A computer product according to claim 44, wherein the computer product is configured such that movement of the cursor faster in a first time period relative to cursor movement in a second time period equal to the first time period results in faster movement of the camera during the first time period than during the second time period.

52. A system for providing remote control of at least one camera by at least one network user, comprising:

means for providing access for at least one network user to a network, the means for providing access having a display for displaying,

an interface having a cursor and a control area, the interface providing variable speed camera control commands based on the position of the cursor within the control area, and,

video data from the at least one camera,

processor means to receive the variable speed camera control commands from the at least one initiating device, to provide the variable speed camera control commands to the at least one camera, to receive at least one of audio and video data from the at least one camera, and to provide at least one of the audio and video data to the at least one network user, and

instructions for translating the variable speed camera control commands to instructions for moving the at least one camera.

53. A system according to claim 52, where the means for providing access includes at least one processor.

54. A system according to claim 52, further including at least one queue associated with the at least one camera.

55. A system according to claim 52, where the interface includes at least one of a graphical user interface (GUI), a database interface, a scripting interface, a menu driven interface, and a text-based interface.

56. A system according to claim 52, further comprising:

the control area having an origin,

the cursor having an active and an inactive state,

where the variable speed control commands are based on the distance between the cursor in the active state and the origin.

57. A system according to claim 56, where the cursor is at least one of:

visible and non-visible.

58. A system according to claim 56, where the control area includes a grid, the grid being at least one of visible and non-visible.

59. A system according to claim 56, where the variable speed control commands are constant when the cursor is maintained in the same position.

60. A system according to claim 56, where the cursor remains at the origin when in the inactive state.