JPH06237463A - Picture storage system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stop storage of a picture with a prescribed time lag when a shock exerted to an object exceeds a prescribed value in the picture storage system. CONSTITUTION:The system is provided at least with a solid-state image pickup device 2, a storage device 10 storing a picture signal sent from the solid-state image pickup device 2, and a sensor 12 sensing a shock. The storage device 10 stops recording of the picture signal in a lapse of a prescribed time after a shock sensed by the sensor 12 exceeds a preset value.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image storage system having means for detecting an impact and stopping recording an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, banks and stores operating late at night have installed monitoring devices using video cameras and video tape recorders. These monitoring devices record images continuously or almost continuously during business hours, and can be said to be a kind of image storage system.

As for aircraft, a so-called voice recorder is installed to record the captain's conversation.
When an accident occurs, this voice recorder is collected and the recorded contents are analyzed to presume the cause of the accident.

On the other hand, in the modern car society, the number of car accidents has increased with the increase in the number of cars, which has become a major social problem. It goes without saying that preventing the occurrence of traffic accidents is a matter of course, but in order to do so, it is necessary to identify the cause of the accident and take countermeasures.
Currently, experts are put in and it takes a considerable amount of time to estimate the cause of the accident based on the uncertain explanation of the situation by the parties concerned.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, the monitoring device installed in a bank or a store operating at midnight is large in size and records unnecessary images for a long time. It has a problem that it is not suitable for in-vehicle use, etc., and the voice recorder installed in an aircraft only records voice, and it is very expensive. It was

The present invention relates to an image storage system that stops image storage after a lapse of a predetermined time lag when the impact applied to a target object exceeds a certain value.

[0007]

To achieve this object, an image storage system according to the present invention comprises at least an image pickup means, a storage means for storing an image signal sent from the image pickup means, and a detection means for detecting an impact. The storage means stops the recording of the image signal after a predetermined time elapses after the impact detected by the detection means exceeds a preset constant value.

That is, taking a traffic accident due to an automobile as an example, in order to accurately grasp the situation for several minutes before and after the occurrence of the traffic accident, at least a means for storing an image having the same field of view as the driver is necessary. To realize this, stable and robust image pickup means and storage device are required. For example, by configuring the image storage system of the present invention with image pickup means such as a solid-state image pickup device, image storage means including a semiconductor storage device, and detection means such as an acceleration sensor, a mechanical shock applied to a vehicle at the time of a traffic accident occurs. It is possible to instantly freeze the image detected by the acceleration sensor and stored in real time after a predetermined time lag, and to save the image before and after the accident.

In this way, by constructing the main part of the semiconductor device, a robust and inexpensive image storage system can be realized.

[0010]

With this configuration, image storage is stopped after a certain time lag when the impact applied to the target object exceeds a preset constant value, so the situation before and after the impact is recorded as an image. To be done.

For example, if the image storage system according to the present invention is installed in an automobile, objective verification can be facilitated when an accident is encountered, which is useful for verifying the cause of the accident. By analyzing, it is possible to obtain useful peripheral information for preventing traffic accidents.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An image storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing an example of a system which is mounted on an automobile to capture a pattern outside the vehicle and stores it as image data. As shown in FIG. 1, the image incident through the optical system 1 is imaged on the solid-state imaging device 2. A fish-eye lens having a large viewing angle is suitable for the optical system 1, and a charge coupled device system (CCD) system is suitable for the solid-state imaging device 2. The correlated double sampling (CDS) circuit 3 removes noise from the video signal obtained from the solid-state imaging device 2, and the signal processing circuit 4 performs signal amplification and signal processing suitable for the system. The video signal from the signal processing circuit 4 is sent to the electronic viewfinder (EVF) 6 via the drive circuit 5 for displaying the image when it is necessary to confirm the content of the video. A liquid crystal display element can be used for the EVF 6, for example. Also, this video signal is converted into an analog / digital (A / D) converter 7
Are converted into digital signals by. The switch 8 is used for switching the video signal. That is, when the solid-state image pickup device 2 is normally operated, 30 signals can be obtained on the screen in 1 second, but the video signal is intermittently switched to the screen by the switch 8 to compress the signal band, for example, 10 images / sec. Perform processing. The same process can be performed by using the intermittent operation or slow scan of the solid-state imaging device 2 without using the switch 8. A digital signal processor (digital signal processor, abbreviated as DSP hereinafter) 9 encodes a video signal and further performs band compression of the video signal.
That is, the DSP 9 performs band compression to, for example, 1/20 without significantly degrading the content of the video signal. Switch 8, DS
P9 performs band compression of signals by different methods, but depends on the storage capacity of the storage device 10, and the storage capacity is sufficiently large so that all desired video signals can be obtained without band compression of the signals. If you can remember it, you don't have to install it. The switch 11 functions to instantaneously suspend the storage of the video signal by the signal from the sensor 12. When the switch 11 is turned off, the input signal to the storage device 10 is cut off and the storage operation is interrupted. As a result, the stored video signal is nondestructively frozen in the storage device 10.

In the case of a vehicle, the sensor 12 is a sensor for detecting an abnormal situation of a vehicle equipped with the present system, and for example, an acceleration sensor or a sensor for detecting a braking operation can be used. It is also possible to operate by the sum of the combined sensors. The switch 11 has a function of setting a predetermined value, a function of determining whether the signal from the sensor 12 exceeds a set value, and a function of cutting off the image signal after a predetermined time lag has passed after the set value was exceeded. It is desirable to add it.

The storage device 10 is composed of a non-volatile semiconductor memory such as flash memory, FRAM, SRAM and the like.

The control system of this system comprises a synchronization signal generator (SSG) 13, a system controller 14 for generating various timing signals, and a time display generator 15 for displaying time.

Although not described in this embodiment, this control system is used to store not only the time display but also information such as the operating speed, the number of engine revolutions, and the traveling distance in the storage device 10 at the same time. It is also possible to set it.

The operation when the image storage system having the above-described structure according to the embodiment of the present invention is installed in an automobile will be described.

The image storage system mounted on the front surface of the automobile starts its operation at the same time as the engine of the automobile is started, and always captures images in the storage device 10 in real time. When the storage capacity of the storage device 10 is full,
Erase from the oldest video signal in order. Instead of such a sequential storage method, an image may be stored for a desired period (for example, several minutes), and when the desired period elapses, the images may be sequentially erased, the image may be written again, and the memory retention may be repeated.

If an automobile collides, a large shock is applied, but this shock is detected by the acceleration sensor and the signal is used to interrupt the capturing of the image in the memory device 10, or after a certain time from this signal, the memory device 10 is stopped. May be interrupted.

Next, the storage capacity of the storage device 10 will be described. The number of pixels of the solid-state imaging device 2 is 300 horizontal and 300 vertical.
To be individual. Also, the compression ratio of the switch 8 is 1/3, and the DSP 9
When the compression ratio of 1 is set to 1/20 and the image contrast is displayed in 6 bits, the storage capacity is 300 × 300 × 6 × 3.
0 ÷ 3 ÷ 20 = 0.27 Mbit / sec is required. For example, 0.27 * 6 to store video information for 1 minute before the accident
It is sufficient to have a capacity of 0 = 16.2 Mbits.
Therefore, if there is one chip of non-volatile memory having a capacity of 16 Mbits, it is possible to record for one minute immediately before the accident.

Next, a reproducing apparatus for the video information stored in the storage device 10 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the image reproducing device. As shown in FIG. 2, the signal retrieved from the storage device 10 is decoded by the decoder 21.
The decoded signal is stored in the field memory 22, and the signal intermittently operated by the switch 8 is restored to a continuous signal. Next, a digital-analog converter (D / A converter) 23 converts the signal into an analog signal, and an image is displayed on a monitor television receiver 25 via a signal processing device 24. The control of this image reproducing device is performed by the SSG 26 and the system controller 27 that generates the signals necessary for the control.
Done by

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the image reproducing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 3, the television monitor receiver 30 displays video information 31 and simultaneously displays character / graphic information 32 on a part of the screen. When the image storage system shown in FIG. 1 is installed in an automobile, the date and time, the operating state of the automobile, etc. are displayed as the character / graphic information 32.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, at least the image pickup means, the storage means for storing the image signal sent from the image pickup means, the detection means for detecting the impact, and the impact detected by the detection means are preset. The storage means has a configuration to stop the recording of the image signal after a lapse of a fixed time after the stored fixed value is exceeded, and the signal of the detection means may interrupt the capturing of the image signal and freeze the stored image data. Thus, it is possible to realize an image storage system that can be used.

Since such an image storage system can be made compact, inexpensive and robust by utilizing a semiconductor device, if it is installed in an automobile, train, small boat, etc., an accident may occur. However, the situation of the accident can be accurately grasped, the cause of the accident can be easily analyzed, and appropriate accident recurrence prevention measures can be taken.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an image reproducing device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of an image reproducing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Solid-state imaging device (imaging means) 10 Storage device (storage means) 12 Sensor (detection means)

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Takami Satonaka 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electronics Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. At least an image pickup means, a storage means for storing an image signal sent from the image pickup means, a detection means for detecting a shock, and a shock detected by the detection means exceeds a preset constant value. An image storage system in which the storage means stops recording an image signal after a predetermined time has elapsed. 2. The image storage system according to claim 1, wherein the detection means is installed on any of the image pickup means, the storage means, and a gantry on which they are mounted, and detects a mechanical shock. 3. The image pickup means is a solid-state image pickup device.
The image storage system described. 4. The image according to claim 1, wherein the storage means is a semiconductor storage device, and when an input exceeding the storage capacity is input, a new image signal is stored in real time while the old image signal is erased in time. Storage system. 5. The image recording system according to claim 1, further comprising signal processing means for intermittently sending the image signal from the image pickup means to the storage means. 6. The image recording system according to claim 1, further comprising band compression means for band-compressing the image signal from the imaging means.