JPH09119863A - Human body detection method and human body detection device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a human body detection method and a human body detection device that eliminates the influence of various noises and has higher reliability and accuracy. The object position detecting means 11 detects position information of an object in an unmanned state, and specifies a human body possible region based on the object position information in the unmanned state. Then, by comparing the object position information detected during the human body measurement with the position information in the unmanned state, the human body 12, noise 31,
32 images are obtained. Further, the human body 12 is caused by the human body, noise 3
1, 32 are determined to be noise.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a human body detecting method and a human body detecting apparatus for detecting the number, positions, etc. of human bodies in a measurement space such as a living room by using ultrasonic waves or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to ensure safety for human bodies or to realize comfortable living, in the fields of security, air conditioning, lighting, etc., the number and position of human bodies in a room are detected without contact. There is an increasing need for a human body detection device that does.

For example, Japanese Patent Application No. 1-271 discloses a method of determining a human body based on information from an infrared array sensor and an ultrasonic sensor.
266.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned invention, after the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the ultrasonic wave transmitter hit the human body, the ultrasonic waves are reflected by the side wall or rear wall of the human body. There is a problem that the detection accuracy of the human body is lowered due to a virtual image generated by being received by the receiver of the sound wave sensor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the conventional human body detecting apparatus, and an object of the present invention is to provide a human body detecting method and a human body detecting apparatus with higher reliability and accuracy.

[0006]

According to the present invention of claim 1, the human body existence possible region is specified based on the position information of the object in the measurement space which has been investigated in advance, and the specified human body existence possible region is specified at the time of the human body measurement. The object is a human body detection method for detecting the presence of a human body in a measurement space.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the object position detecting means for detecting the position of the object in the measurement space and the existence of the human body for specifying the human body existence possible area based on the position information of the object in the measurement space investigated in advance. A human body detection device comprising a feasible area specifying means and a human body detecting means for detecting the existence of a human body in a measurement space, targeting a specified human body existence possible area when measuring a human body by an object position detecting means.

In the present invention, for example, the position of an object in the measurement space in an unmanned state is detected by the object position detecting means, the human body existence possible area is specified based on the detected position information of the object, and the specified area is specified. The presence of a human body in the measurement space is detected by the object position detection means for the human body possible area.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings showing an embodiment. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a measurement space in a human body detecting method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
An example of the measurement space is shown. Further, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing object position information by the object position detection means 11 in the unmanned state where the human body 12 does not exist. That is, in the unmanned state, the object position detection means 11 detects the object position in the measurement space, and as a result, the position information of the furniture 13 and the wall 14 is obtained. At this time, various noises generated during measurement can be canceled by averaging the measurement results of several times. Here, as the object position detecting means 11, for example, one that emits an ultrasonic wave and rotationally scans an ultrasonic sensor that receives the reflected wave may be used. Although not shown in the figure, the object position detecting means 11 includes a human body possible area specifying means for specifying a human body possible area based on the detected object position information, and a human body possible area for the human body existing area. Human body detection means for detecting the presence is connected.

Next, the object position detecting means 11 obtains the object position information when the human body 12 is present, and the unattended object position information of FIG. 2 is subtracted from the detection result, as shown in FIG. Object position information is obtained. At this time, the images of the furniture 13 and the wall 14 can be erased by subtracting the information in the unmanned state, but various noises 31 and 32 appear as shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, a noise 31 is a virtual image generated because a reflected wave that has hit the human body 12 does not directly enter the object position detection means 11 but is reflected again by the wall 14, and the noise 32 is hung on the wall. It is thought that this is due to the shaking of the curtain 15.

Such noise generally appears in object position detection, but since the human body normally makes some movement, it is difficult to take measures such as taking an average of several times to cancel the noise. In order to remove this noise, a region in which a human body can exist or a region in which a human body cannot exist is specified based on the object position information in an unmanned state, and the specified region is taken into consideration for determination. For example, in the present embodiment, the presence of the human body based on the object position information in the unmanned state (FIG. 2) is limited to the area surrounded by the wall 14 and the furniture 13. Therefore, the noise 31 appearing at the position of the furniture 13
The noise 32 appearing at the position of the wall 14 can be judged not to be a human body, and the accuracy can be improved. (Embodiment 2) FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a measurement space in a human body detecting method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
In general, various images including noise appear in the result measured by the object position detecting means depending on the situation of the measurement space, but it is difficult to determine which of them is a human body. However, if a place where the human body existence probability is large or a place where the human body existence probability is small is investigated in advance, it is possible to easily judge whether or not the detected image is a human body by using the result of the investigation.

In FIG. 4, a bag 44 is newly carried by the human body 42. By comparing the signal in the unmanned state with the signal that can be placed during human body measurement, the background object can be erased, and the pattern shown in FIG. 5 is obtained. Human body 4
2 and bag 44 also appear in patterns 51 and 52,
It is impossible to judge whether or not it is the human body 42 only with this.

In order to deal with such a problem, the situation of the measurement space is investigated in advance and a place where the appearance probability of the human body is large or a place where the appearance probability is small is grasped. This preliminary investigation is, for example, a place where a person has a high probability of appearance of a human body in the measurement space in advance (or a human body possible area),
Alternatively, it is possible to determine a location having a low appearance probability and input it, or to accumulate past human body detection data and have the human body detection means automatically learn from the information. When the past human body detection data is used, that is, it corresponds to preliminarily investigating the position information of the object including the human body in the measurement space.

In FIG. 5, a sofa 43 is placed at the place where the image 51 appears, which is one of the places where the human body 42 frequently appears. Therefore, the image 51 may be determined to be the human body 42. On the other hand, a table is placed at the place of the image 52, and a human body is rarely present at this place. Therefore, it can be determined that the image 52 is not a human body. In this way, the determination accuracy could be improved by investigating the positions where the appearance frequency of the human body is high or low in advance.

Here, a place where a human body has a high probability of existence is a place where a floor without furniture is placed, a chair, a sofa, etc., and a place where a probability is low is a place where a table or furniture is placed. Etc.

Of course, it is also possible to further improve the detection accuracy of the human body by using infrared detecting means in combination. (Embodiment 3) FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a measurement space in a human body detection apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
The ultrasonic wave transmitted from the wave transmitting unit of the ultrasonic wave detecting device 61 as the object position detecting means is reflected by the object, the reflected wave is detected by the wave receiving unit of the ultrasonic wave detecting device 61, and the signal is the human body determination. Sent to the means 64. The human body judging means 64 reconstructs the signal sent from the ultrasonic detecting device 61 as an echo pattern, and judges whether or not each of the extracted images is a human body. Here, the human body determination means 64
The storage device 65 constitutes a human body existence possible area specifying unit and a human body detecting unit.

The echo pattern in the measurement space in the unmanned state is measured in advance, and the pattern is stored in the storage device 65 connected to the human body judging means 64. A new carried-in object can be detected by comparing the pattern at the time of measurement with the pattern in the unmanned state. The echo pattern in the measurement space of FIG. 6 thus obtained is as shown in FIG. Ultrasonic detector 61
As seen from the above, a virtual image 71 is formed behind the human body 62, which causes an erroneous determination. This is because a part of the ultrasonic waves that hit the human body 62 does not enter the detector directly but is reflected by the side wall and then detected.

In order to deal with such a problem, as shown in the first embodiment, it is possible to determine whether the presence of a human body is possible or not by measuring the arrangement state of, for example, a wall or furniture in an unmanned state in advance. It is possible to improve the determination accuracy by investigating the area and ignoring the image even if it appears in such a place.
It is of course possible to automatically carry out this preliminary survey when the unmanned state is measured. In the measurement space of FIG. 6, the position of the virtual image 71 is the place where the furniture 63 is arranged,
It can be determined that the virtual image 71 is not a human body.

Further, the position where the appearance frequency of the human body is high or the position where the appearance frequency of the human body is low can be specified from the data accumulated in the storage device 65 by conducting such an investigation continuously or by a preliminary investigation. As a result, as shown in the second embodiment, it is possible to determine that the image appearing at the position where the appearance frequency of the human body is high is the human body and the image appearing at the small position is not the human body, and the accuracy can be improved.

In the third embodiment, the ultrasonic wave detecting device is used as the object position detecting means, but instead of this, for example, a means for detecting the reflection of electromagnetic waves may be used.

It is also possible to increase the detection accuracy of the human body by detecting a hot object by using infrared detecting means in combination. (Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a measurement space in a human body detecting apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
In the present embodiment, as the object position detecting means, an ultrasonic sensor 81 for transmitting an ultrasonic wave and receiving a reflected wave is mounted, and an object position detecting device having a sensor rotating means for continuously rotating the detection direction thereof. 82 is used. The signal obtained by the object position detecting device 82 is sent to the human body judging means 83, and an ultrasonic echo pattern is obtained. As described in the third embodiment, the echo pattern thus obtained is determined by taking into consideration the region in which the human body can exist and the position where the human body frequently appears, thereby making It was possible to improve the accuracy of human body judgment as compared with the above method.

At this time, the determination results of the number of persons in the room and the position where the human body exists are sequentially stored in the storage device 84, and are used to specify the position where the frequency of appearance of the human body is high and the position where the frequency of appearance of the human body is low. Referred to.

In the fourth embodiment, a sensor using ultrasonic waves is used as the object position detecting device, but instead of this, a distance sensor for transmitting electromagnetic waves and receiving reflected waves is mounted. Alternatively, a device having a means for rotating it to scan horizontally or vertically may be used.

In each of the above embodiments, the object position detecting means has been described as a system in which the sensor is rotationally scanned. However, instead of this, a plurality of ultrasonic sensors or distance sensors are one-dimensionally or An array sensor arranged two-dimensionally may be used to detect the object position in the measurement space.

In each of the above embodiments, the human-body-existing-region-identifying means and the human-body-detecting means are configured by dedicated hardware, but instead of this, similar functions are implemented by software using a computer. May be realized.

[0026]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention specifies the human body existence possible region based on the position information of the object in the measurement space which has been investigated in advance, and specifies the human body existence possible region at the time of human body measurement. Since the presence of a human body in the measurement space is detected for the target object, there is an advantage that reliability and accuracy in human body detection can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a measurement space in a human body detection method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing object position information in an unmanned state in the measurement space of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a result obtained by subtracting unmanned position information from object position information when a human body exists in the measurement space of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a measurement space in the human body detection method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram showing an ultrasonic echo pattern in the measurement space of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a measurement space in a human body detection device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a diagram showing an ultrasonic echo pattern in the measurement space of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a measurement space in the human body detection device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Object Position Detection Means 12, 42, 62 Human Body 13, 63 Furniture 41, 61 Ultrasonic Detection Device 64, 83 Human Body Determination Means 65, 84 Storage Device 81 Ultrasonic Sensor 82 Object Position Detection Device

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Internal reference number FI Technical indication location G06M 11/00 G06F 15/62 380 (72) Inventor Mariko Kawaguri 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Nobuyuki Yoshiike 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A human body possible region is specified based on position information of an object in a measurement space that has been surveyed in advance, and at the time of human body measurement,
A human body detection method, wherein the presence of a human body in the measurement space is detected by targeting the specified human body possible region. 2. The position information of the object in the measurement space, which has been preliminarily investigated, is the frequency of presence of a human body obtained by using a past human body detection result, or the position information of the object in the measurement space detected in an unmanned state. The human body detection method according to claim 1, wherein 3. An object position detection means for detecting the position of an object in the measurement space, and a human body existence possible area specifying means for specifying a human body existence possible area based on the position information of the object in the measurement space investigated in advance. A human body detection device, comprising: a human body detection unit that detects the presence of a human body in the specified measurement space, when the human body is measured by the object position detection unit, in the specified human body existence possible region. 4. The position information of the object in the measurement space, which has been investigated in advance, is the human body presence frequency obtained by using a past human body detection result, or the measurement space detected by the object position detecting means in an unmanned state. The human body detection device according to claim 3, wherein the human body detection information is position information of an object inside. 5. A two-dimensional thermal image detecting means for detecting temperature information of an object in the measurement space is further provided, and the human body possible area specifying means is detected by the two-dimensional thermal image detecting means in an unmanned state. Considering the temperature information of the object,
The human body detection device according to claim 3, wherein the human body existence possible area is specified. 6. The object position detecting means has an ultrasonic sensor for transmitting an ultrasonic wave and receiving a reflected wave, and a sensor rotating means for continuously rotating the detecting direction of the ultrasonic sensor. The human body detection device according to claim 3. 7. The human body detecting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the object position detecting means is a distance measuring means for obtaining the position of the object by transmitting an electromagnetic wave and receiving a reflected wave.