Camera-linked surveillance system

• US 7,336,297 B2
• Filed: 04/21/2004
• Issued: 02/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Okada, Susumu, Maruya, Kensuke, Ishigami, Tomohide
• Primary Examiner(s): RAO, ANAND SHASHIKANT
• Application Number:
  US10/828,499
• Publication Number:
  US 20040263625A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,406 Days
• Field of Search: 348142-161
• US Class Current: 348/143
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19608 Tracking movement of a target, e.g. by detecting an object predefined as a target, using target direction and or velocity to predict its new position
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19628 of wide angled cameras and camera groups, e.g. omni-directional cameras, fish eye, single units having multiple cameras achieving a wide angle view
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1963 Arrangements allowing camera rotation to change view, e.g. pivoting camera, pan-tilt and zoom [PTZ]
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19641 Multiple cameras having overlapping views on a single scene
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19695 Arrangements wherein non-video detectors start video recording or forwarding but do not generate an alarm themselves
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

The surveillance system is configured of multi-camera including rotating cameras controllable for panning, tilting and zooming in and out, intruding object recognizing means for processing image signals from the rotating cameras and keeping track of a position of the intruding object, camera function determining means for allocating a tracking function to a first camera whose field of view is in a predetermined direction of the object of monitoring according to a state of the object of monitoring and allocating a wide angle shooting function for shooting a monitored space in a wide angle to a second camera, and camera control means for controlling the multi-camera according to actions of the camera function determining means.

Claims

1. A surveillance system comprising:

a plurality of cameras including at least two rotating cameras configured to perform a tracking/shooting function and a wide angle shooting function;

intruding object recognizing means for identifying a coordinate information of an object of monitoring on a coordinate space by analyzing image signals entered from said cameras;

camera function determining means, which when an information that there is an intruding object is obtained from said intruding object recognizing means, allocates, according to the coordinate information of an object of monitoring on a coordinate space, to a first camera said tracking/shooting function whose field of view is a predetermined direction of said object of monitoring and to a second camera a wide angle shooting function, and further, the camera function determining means, when an information that there is no intruding object is obtained from said intruding object recognizing means, allocates to a plurality of cameras a wide angle shooting function; and

camera control means for controlling said plurality of cameras according to the allocation of functions by the camera function determining means.

2. The surveillance system according to claim 1, further provided with image accumulating means for accumulating images of the object of monitoring in advance and image recognizing means for comparing said accumulated images of the object of monitoring with an image of the object of monitoring entered from the first camera, wherein the camera function determining means allocate to a third camera a tracking function according to a result of comparison by said image recognizing means and the coordinate information of the object of monitoring on a coordinate space.

3. The surveillance system according to claim 1, wherein the camera function determining means choose a camera whose field of view is in the predetermined direction of the object of monitoring, and allocate a tracking/shooting function to the cameras in a preferential order with priority assigned to a camera nearest said object of monitoring.

4. The surveillance system according to claim 1, wherein the camera function determining means choose a camera whose field of view is in the predetermined direction of the object of monitoring, and allocate the tracking/shooting function to the cameras in a preferential order with priority assigned to a camera farthest from said object of monitoring.

5. The surveillance system according to claim 1, wherein the camera function determining means choose a camera whose field of view is in the predetermined direction of the object of monitoring, and allocate the wide angle shooting function to the cameras in a preferential order with priority assigned to the camera farthest from said object of monitoring.

6. The surveillance system according to claim 2, wherein the camera function determining means choose a camera whose field of view is in the predetermined direction of the object of monitoring, and allocate a tracking/shooting function to the cameras in a preferential order with priority assigned to a camera nearest said object of monitoring.

7. The surveillance system according to claim 2, wherein the camera function determining means choose a camera whose field of view is in the predetermined direction of the object of monitoring, and allocate the tracking/shooting function to the cameras in a preferential order with priority assigned to a camera farthest from said object of monitoring.

8. The surveillance system according to claim 2, wherein the camera function determining means choose a camera whose field of view is in the predetermined direction of the object of monitoring, and allocate the wide angle shooting function to the cameras in a preferential order with priority assigned to the camera farthest from said object of monitoring.

9. The surveillance system according to any one of claim 1-8, wherein the camera function determining means memorize states of the plurality of cameras, and allocate the tracking/shooting function or the wide angle shooting function to said plurality of cameras according to the states of said plurality of cameras and the coordinate information of the object of monitoring on a coordinate space.

10. The surveillance system according to claim 9, wherein the camera function determining means, when any camera is added or removed or any camera is in trouble, update memorized states of the plurality of cameras.

11. The surveillance system according to any one of claim 1-8, wherein the camera function determining means memorize a state of a monitored area, and allocate the tracking/shooting function or the wide angle shooting function to the cameras according to the state of said monitored area and the coordinate information of the object of monitoring on a coordinate space.

12. The surveillance system according to claim 11, wherein the camera function determining means, when any obstacle in the monitored area prevents shooting of the object of monitoring, update the memorized states of the plurality of cameras.

13. The surveillance system according to claim 2, wherein the image accumulating means hold in advance facial image data picked up in many different directions, and the image recognizing means compare said facial image data with a facial image of the object of monitoring entered from any camera.