US20040047624A1 - Automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus and related photographing method - Google Patents
Automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus and related photographing method Download PDFInfo
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- US20040047624A1 US20040047624A1 US10/382,238 US38223803A US2004047624A1 US 20040047624 A1 US20040047624 A1 US 20040047624A1 US 38223803 A US38223803 A US 38223803A US 2004047624 A1 US2004047624 A1 US 2004047624A1
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- camera
- turntable
- controller
- photographing apparatus
- automatic motion
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03B—APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
- G03B17/00—Details of cameras or camera bodies; Accessories therefor
Definitions
- the present invention relates to an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus and related photographing method suitable for photographing interiors of underground structures such as a manhole and a hand hole.
- Maintenance and management data are prepared for the purpose of confirming the current cable statuses, or conducting study for a capability of a subsequent cable to be accommodated and conducting study for inspection and repair of the underground structure.
- the related material 1 is directed to a private camera with a structure in which a camera rotation control mechanism 52 , as shown in FIG. 1 of the related material 1 , and a controller 61 , as shown in FIG. 2 of the related material 1 , are preliminarily assembled.
- a related material 2 is directed to a special camera in which a camera 1 and a tripod 2 are unitarily formed in a manner as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 of the related material 2 .
- the present invention has an object to provide an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus and related photographing method wherein, not only in an area where a person can enter but also even in an area inside an underground structure in a narrow space or in an area with an oxygen deficiency, enables a commercially available camera to be used to provide photographs accurately grasping interior statuses based on which maintenance and facility management data can be prepared.
- the present invention provides an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus, comprising: a vertically extending and retracting tripod having a mount section; a controller fixedly supported on the mount section; a turntable rotatably supported on an upper surface of a box of the controller; and a camera detachably supported on an upper surface of the turntable; wherein the controller includes a turntable drive circuit operative to rotate at least the turntable at a given rotational angle that is determined at an arbitrary angle, and a shutter drive circuit operative to turn on a shutter of the camera supported on the turntable via a non-contact signal relay at a time instant when rotation of the turntable at the given angle has been terminated.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus according to the present invention with a camera being shown in a removed state.
- FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a whole of the automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus.
- FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus having a camera mount member on which a camera is adapted to be mounted in a standard mount position.
- FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a controller.
- FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a whole of an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus of a second embodiment according to the present invention.
- FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a status to show how a first stopper member is mounted.
- FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on line VII-VII of FIG. 6.
- FIG. 8 is a schematic view illustrating an elevator shaft divided into a plurality of pieces along a longitudinal length of the shaft.
- FIG. 9A is a schematic view illustrating a first modified form of the first stopper member.
- FIG. 9B is a schematic view illustrating a second modified form of the first stopper member.
- FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus 1 with a camera 9 remaining in a removed state
- FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a whole structure of the automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus 1
- the automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus 1 is comprised of a tripod 3 , a controller 5 , a turntable 7 and the camera 9 .
- the tripod 3 , the controller 5 and the turntable 7 are unitarily configured in a unit structure to be independent from the camera 9 .
- the tripod 3 and the controller 5 are provided as a separable structure, whereby it is possible to use a camera on the market for the camera 9 of the apparatus 1 .
- the tripod 3 is comprised of three expanding and contracting telescopic leg arms 15 , each composed of an outer sleeve 11 and an inner sleeve 13 , and an elevator arm 19 equipped with a mount section 17 .
- the collapsable three telescopic leg arms are supported by a mount bracket 21 , thereby forming a three-leg structure that enables the leg arms to be individually and freely set at respective different angles.
- the telescopic leg arms 15 may include four pieces of leg arms.
- the elevator arm 19 vertically extends through a central area of the mount bracket 21 such that rotating an operating handle 23 , fixed to the mount bracket 21 for fine adjustment capabilities, rightward or leftward causes the elevator arm 9 to move upward or downward by means of a usual rack and pinion mechanism (not shown).
- Positioning of the elevator arm 19 is carried out by rotating a fixing handle 25 to cause a distal end (not shown) of a screw strut of the fixing handle 25 to be strongly brought into pressured contact with a circumferential periphery of the elevator arm 19 , thereby enabling the elevator arm 19 to be kept in a fixedly retained condition. Also, releasing the fixing handle 25 from the pressured contact condition can carry out vertical movement of the elevator arm 19 .
- the mount section 17 of the elevator arm 19 has its upper surface mounted with a box 27 encompassing the controller 5 and has a spirit level 29 , enabled to view in a vertical direction at a horizontal angle, and a plurality of operation levers 31 , 32 , 33 .
- the plurality of operation levers 31 , 32 , 33 form control levers that control fore and aft inclined angles and right and left inclined angles of the mount section 17 , and adjusting the inclined angle of the mount section 17 while looking at the spirit level 29 enables the mount section 17 to be fixed in a horizontally correct condition.
- the controller 5 includes a turntable drive circuit 35 , a shutter drive circuit 37 and a mode display drive circuit 39 , and is applied with a direct current electric power by connecting a terminating connection terminal 43 a of a power cable 43 extending from a portable battery 41 to an input terminal of the box 27 as shown in FIG. 2.
- the mode display drive circuit 39 is applied with various conditions such as a rotational angle, serving as a picture angle, of the turntable 7 to be set, information indicative of how many number of photographs are taken, and a command for setting the number of photographs to be taken to provide displays indicative of input contents, that have been set, over a display window (structured with a liquid crystal display) 45 of the box 27 .
- the turntable drive circuit 35 responds to a rotational angle setting mode of the turntable 7 set by the mode display drive circuit 39 and applies a given-time-interval electric current signal to a driver motor 47 for driving the turntable 7 .
- a driver motor 47 for driving the turntable 7 .
- the drive motor 47 enables the rotational angle to be controlled depending on the number of pulse signals and, so, applying prescribed number of the pulse signals intermittently to the stepping motor enables the turntable 7 to be quantitatively rotated in repetitive movements such that, when the turntable 7 rotates at a given rotational angle, rotation of the turntable 7 is terminated once and, when the turntable 7 further rotates again at another given rotational angle, rotation of the turntable 7 is further terminated.
- the rotational angle at which the turntable 7 rotates is configured to be set at a suitable angle to allow the photograph image to be taken at an arbitrarily desired picture angle.
- the shutter drive circuit 37 has a function to turn on a shutter 51 of the camera 9 via a non-contact signal relay 49 in response to an input signal generated when the turntable 17 is caused to rotate and terminated in rotation at a given angle.
- the shutter drive circuit 37 is arranged to operate in two modes in response to the input signals generated when rotation of the turntable 7 is terminated at the given, i.e., a first mode in which the shutter 51 is concurrently turned on when rotation of the turntable 7 is terminated at the given angle and a second mode in which the shutter 51 is turned on after a certain time interval (in the order of seconds) has elapsed when rotation of the turntable 7 is terminated at the given angle.
- the turntable 7 is disposed on an upper surface of the box 27 .
- a table shaft 55 of the turntable 7 is internally hollow and is supported for rotational movements by means of a pair of bearings 57 .
- An outer periphery of the turntable 7 engages a timing belt 59 , extending from a motor pulley 47 a of the drive motor 47 , through which a rotational drive power of the drive motor 47 is transferred to the turntable 7 .
- the non-contact signal relay 49 includes an infrared interface which is comprised of an infrared LED 61 electrically connected to the controller 5 and an infrared receptor 63 electrically connected to the camera 9 .
- the infrared LED 61 and the infrared receptor 63 are vertically disposed in opposition to one another via the hollow table shaft 55 , that forms a rotational axis, to enable delivery of signals without an interference between the camera 9 on the rotating turntable 7 and the controller 5 which is held under a fixed condition.
- the interface of the non-contact signal relay 49 has been described as using the infrared ray, it is of course to be noted that another expedient other than the infrared ray may be employed.
- the camera 9 is fixedly mounted on the turntable 7 by means of a camera mount unit 65 .
- the camera 9 has various functions, required for usual cameras, such as a flush 66 , a shutter 51 , an exposure meter and shutter speed, etc. and the commercially available digital camera of an auto-focus type that allows the photograph image to be transferred to a personal computer for digital processing.
- the flush 66 is configured to operate in a flush setting mode or a flush-release setting mode that is changed over by manipulating an operational unit (not shown).
- the shutter 51 is not manually operated and structured to receive the signal, such that the shutter 51 is turned on, inputted from the infrared receptor 63 via a control cable 68 .
- the camera 9 is not intended to be limited to such a digital camera and may include a camera of an optical system.
- the camera mount unit 65 is comprised of a first mount section 57 and a second mount section 69 , with the first mount section 67 being comprised of a pair of vertical segments 67 a and a horizontal segment 67 b connected thereto and formed in an oppositely oriented U-shaped configuration while the vertical segments 67 a are unitarily and fixedly supported on an upper surface of the turntable 7 by some suitable fixture means such as screws.
- a thread portion 71 a of a first mount screw 71 protrudes upward from the underside at a central area of the horizontal segment 67 b and is allowed to be screwed into an associated thread bore (not shown) formed at a bottom of the camera 9 , thereby enabling the camera 9 to be mounted in a standard mount position to allow a length of the photograph image to be aligned in a transverse direction.
- the photograph in one frame serves to widely cover an interior of an underground structure in a lateral direction.
- the second mount section 69 is comprised of a horizontal segment 69 a and an upright segment 69 b that are formed in an independent angle shape and serves as an attachment to allow the camera 9 to be mounted in a longitudinally oriented position.
- the horizontal segment 69 a of the second mount section 69 has a structure in which a thread bore 73 is formed and engages the threaded portion 71 a of the first mount screw 71 to allow the second mount section 69 to be assembled onto the first mount section 67 .
- a second mount screw 75 is provided at an upper area of the upright segment 69 b of the second mount section 69 such that a thread portion 75 b protrudes inward from outside, and the thread portion 75 b is allowed to be screwed into the associated thread bore (not shown) formed at the bottom of the camera 9 , thereby enabling the camera 9 to be mounted in a longitudinally oriented position to allow the length of the photograph image to be aligned in a longitudinal direction as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
- the camera 9 When mounting the camera 9 in such a longitudinally oriented position, since the photograph in one frame is enabled to widely cover the interior of the underground structure in a vertical direction, it is preferable for the camera to be normally used in such a longitudinally oriented position so as to avoid misalignment in photographing in which a portion of the photograph image in the vertical direction is lacked when photographing.
- the longitudinally oriented mount position of the camera 9 has a capability of photographing in an area at an angle of 360 degrees and, hence, the camera 9 is enabled to cover an undesired situation, without troubles, by adjusting the rotational angle of the camera 9 at fine angles of rotation and increasing the number of photographing operations.
- reference numeral 77 designates a monitor camera which is adapted to be mounted for installation and removal capabilities to allow the monitor camera 77 to be removed in nonuse.
- the automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus 1 with such a structure is allowed to enter an interior of a manhole, where a person is able to enter, and the tripod 3 are opened and located, whereupon the camera 9 is set at a given position (height). Also, when setting the camera at that position, the position of the camera 9 can be confirmed permitting a monitor image taken by the monitor camera 77 to be reflected over the operation controller at hand (not shown). This enables the camera 9 to be reliably set to the given position.
- Operating a start button S to activate the controller 5 allows the turntable drive circuit 35 to output the signal upon which the turntable 7 , on which the camera 9 has been set, is quantitatively rotated at a given rotational angle.
- the shutter 51 is turned on in response to the signal from the shutter drive circuit 37 , thereby enabling accurate photograph images covering a range of 360 degrees to be obtained with no deviation in frames to be caused one by one.
- the signal is delivered between the rotatable camera 9 and the controller 5 remaining at the fixed position via the non-contact signal relay 49 without interference, and it is possible for the stitch editing work, that joins the respective photograph images photographing the interior of the underground structure, to be easily performed.
- the photograph images, which have been taken by the camera include images that are photographed at certain time intervals and at the same height, the stitch editing work can be performed in the shorter time period than that required in the related art practice.
- the commercially available camera can be used as the relevant camera 9 , and the photograph images provide a capability of preparing the same maintenance and facilities management data as that obtained in an on-site operation field.
- the current photographing apparatus 1 may also be used inside a tunnel or a building, or may be used for the purpose of photographing a usual scenery.
- FIGS. 5 to 8 show an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus 1 , of a second embodiment according to the present invention, which is enabled to be used not only in an area where a person cannot enter but also in an underground structure with the danger of oxygen deficiency or harmful gases.
- a tripod 79 of the automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus 1 is formed in a structure that includes three leg arms 83 which are able to assume a folding condition and leg-opened condition with respect to a support plate 81 .
- Each of the leg arms 83 is comprised of a fixed arm portion 81 a supported on the support plate 81 and a movable arm portion 81 b that is slidable for extending and contracting capabilities with respect to the fixed arm 81 a , and tightening a fixing screw 85 provided at the fixed arm portion 81 a allows the movable arm portion 81 b to be fixedly secured in a recess 81 c of the fixed arm portion 81 a at a desired position.
- a central area of the support plate 81 has a vertically penetrating opening aperture (not shown) along a central axis of which a retainer sleeve section 89 is disposed to support a longitudinally extending elevator shaft 87 for elevating capabilities.
- the retainer sleeve section 89 which has a vertically penetrating internal space, is fixedly supported on the support plate 81 at an upper area of the opening portion thereof by means of a mount control member 91 such that a central axis line of the internal space of the retainer sleeve section 89 is aligned with a central axis line of the opening portion of the support plate 81 .
- the retainer sleeve section 89 has guide rollers 93 located in the internal space 92 as shown in FIG. 7 to serve as guide portions for supporting an outer periphery of the elevator shaft 87 at four engaging points, and a shaft fixing screw 95 serving as a fixing and supporting means that allows the elevator shaft 87 to be coupled or uncoupled.
- the guide rollers 93 are located at four circumferentially spaced positions (with one guide roller being not shown) angled at 90 degrees, with three sets of four guide rollers 93 , located at the circumferentially spaced positions, being disposed in a structure at three mount positions displaced in a vertical direction.
- the elevator shaft 87 is supported at its outer periphery at the four points with respect to the circumferential periphery and also supported at three support areas in the vertical direction and, thus, the elevator shaft 87 is enabled to be correctly guided in a vertical direction along the central axis line without deviation.
- Tightening the shaft fixing screw 95 through the use of an operator segment 95 a causes a contact plate 97 , located at a distal end of the screw, to be brought into strongly pressured contact with the outer circumferential periphery of the elevator shaft in a surface contact condition for thereby ensuring a fixed state of the elevator shaft 87 . Also, loosening the tightened state of the operator segment 95 a allows the contact plate 97 to be separated from the elevator shaft 87 for thereby enabling an uncoupled state of the elevator shaft 87 to be obtained.
- the mount control member 91 includes a first lever 98 , a second lever 99 and a third lever 101 and, additionally, a spirit level 103 enabled to view in a vertical direction at a horizontal angle. Operating the first, second and third levers 98 , 99 , 101 while viewing through the spirit level 103 enables an inclination of the retainer sleeve section 89 to be adjusted in fore and aft and lateral directions such that the retainer sleeve section 89 can be set at a correct position.
- the elevator shaft 87 is made from aluminum material in a cylindrical shape to provide a light weight and is comprised of a plurality of cylindrical components 89 that are separated in a longitudinal direction for easy delivery. This allows the elevator shaft 87 to be easily carried.
- the cylindrical component 89 has one end formed with a thread bore 105 and the other end formed with a thread screw 107 adapted to engage the thread bore 105 of another cylindrical component 89 .
- the screw portion 107 of one cylindrical component 89 to the thread bore 105 of another cylindrical component 89 , the plural cylindrical components 89 are sequentially extended to allow a vertically elongated elevator shaft 87 , that is longitudinally contiguous, to be obtained.
- the elevator shaft 87 has a first stopper member 109 and a second stopper member 111 to avoid the fall of the elevator shaft 87 .
- the first stopper member 109 is formed in a ring shape that includes two removable coupling segments 109 a , 109 a located above the retainer sleeve section 89 as shown in FIG. 6.
- the first stopper member 109 has a structure to be unitarily and fixedly supported by the outer circumferential wall of the elevator shaft 87 by tightening the coupling segments 109 a , 109 a by means of coupling screws 113 whereas upon loosening the coupling screws 113 allows a stopper position to be freely set. Accordingly, causing the first stopper member 109 to be held in abutting engagement with an upper terminal edge of the retainer sleeve section 89 enables the elevator shaft 87 to be avoided from falling to the extent than required.
- the first stopper member 109 may not need to take the form of a shape that is movable, but may take the form of an annular flange, unitarily formed at the outer circumferential periphery of the elevator shaft 87 as shown in FIG. 9A, or a retractable protruding structure that downwardly protrudes from the elevator shaft 87 , as shown in FIG. 9B, to be brought into abutting engagement with an upper terminal edge of the retainer sleeve section 89 whereas, when upwardly moving the retainer sleeve section 89 , the protruding structure is retracted into the elevator shaft 87 due to a tapered surface 109 b.
- the second stopper member 111 takes the form of a coil spring 115 disposed on the elevator shaft 87 so as to surround the outer circumferential periphery thereof in an area beneath the support plate 81 .
- the coil spring 115 has one end linked to the support plate 81 and the other end linked to an engagement aperture 117 of the elevator shaft 87 at the lowermost end thereof that supports the box 27 .
- the elevator shaft 87 is prevented from further lowering downward for thereby precluding the box 27 from being interfered with a bottom surface, and thus the second stopper member 111 cooperates with the first stopper member 109 to provide a double-safeguard function.
- the elevator shaft 87 remains in a lowered condition, the elevator shaft 87 is urged to be returned to the original position by the elastic force of the extended coil spring 115 and, thus, is enabled to be easily raised.
- the box 27 engages the thread portion 107 formed on one of the elevator shaft 87 such that the box 27 is fixedly supported to be turned upside down.
- the turntable 7 , the monitor camera 119 and the camera 9 are mounted to the box 27 .
- the monitor camera 119 includes a CCD camera that is comprised of a synchronizing signal generator, an image signal generating unit and a transmitter, and an image signal generated by the image signal generating unit and transmitted from an antenna 121 is received at an antenna (not shown) of a receiver, located in an on-hand operation controller 123 , to allow the image signal to be displayed over a display section 125 of the on-hand operation controller 123 on the ground.
- the on-hand operation controller 123 includes, in addition to the display section 125 for a monitor display, a power supply 41 , such as a battery, to supply an electric power to the controller 5 , and control operation switches 127 , with command signals outputted by the control operation switches 127 and the electric power delivered by the power supply 41 being inputted to the controller 5 via a cable 129 .
- a power supply 41 such as a battery
- the controller 5 , the turntable 7 and the camera have the same component parts as those of the first embodiment except for the structure in that the camera 9 is mounted to the lower end of the elevator shaft 87 to be turned upside down and, so, the same component parts bear the same reference numerals as those of the first embodiment to omit redundant detailed description.
- the vertically elongated elevator shaft 87 when traveling to a photographing site with the automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus 1 , the vertically elongated elevator shaft 87 can be divided into plural pieces, providing an ease of carrying the elevator shaft 87 .
- the tripod 79 when using the automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus 1 in the underground structure such as the hand hole, as shown in FIG. 5, the tripod 79 are opened and set at a position to straddle over the ground surface around an entrance 131 of the hand hole and, then, the elevator shaft 87 is lowered to move the camera 9 downward within the manhole 131 .
- the camera 9 By confirming a lowering status of the camera 9 while viewing the monitor image, of the monitor camera 119 , provided over the display section 125 of the on-hand operation controller 123 and subsequently fixing the elevator shaft 87 by the shaft fixing screw 95 that serves as the fixing support means, the camera 9 is set at a desired position (depth) where the camera is turned upside down.
- the camera 9 located at the desired position is exerted with quantitative rotational movements to rotate at an incremental given angle in response to the signal delivered from the turntable drive circuit 35 .
- the shutter 51 is turned on in response to the signal delivered from the shutter drive circuit 37 , thereby obtaining photograph images in a series of frames at 360 degrees.
- the non-contact signal relay 49 enables the signal to be delivered between the rotatable camera 9 and the controller 5 remaining in the fixed condition without interference and, in the underground structure such as the hand hole where the person cannot enter or the manhole with the danger of oxygen deficiency or harmful gases, it is possible to obtain the accurate photograph images of the interiors under a safety condition without carrying out a ventilating operation for the interiors.
- the photograph images are photographed in an inversed status
- the stitch editing work for permitting the photograph images in respective frames to be joined with no interference.
- the stitch editing work can be completed in a short time period. Further, by using the photograph images, it becomes possible to prepare the same maintenance and facility management data as those of the on-site field.
Abstract
Description
- 1. Field of the Invention
- The present invention relates to an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus and related photographing method suitable for photographing interiors of underground structures such as a manhole and a hand hole.
- 2. Description of the Related Art
- In general, due to the presence of various cables located in and extending through interiors of underground structures such as a manhole and a hand hole, there is a need for managing installed statuses of the cables accommodated in the underground structure and managing facilities installed in a body of the underground structure.
- It has been a usual practice for a person to directly enter the underground structure such as the manhole or the hand hole and make sketches of the same, with the sketches describing the positions of the cables to prepare maintenance and facility management data.
- Maintenance and management data are prepared for the purpose of confirming the current cable statuses, or conducting study for a capability of a subsequent cable to be accommodated and conducting study for inspection and repair of the underground structure.
- When preparing maintenance and management data using photographs, the interior of the underground, such as the manhole, must be photographed at an angle of 360 degrees. In this case, an attempt has been made to provide a means, disclosed in a related material1 (Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. H6-167760), which allows a scenery, that is not the underground structure, to be photographed at the angle of 360 degrees in place of a technology for the person to take a camera to photograph the interior of the underground at the angle of 360 degrees.
- The
related material 1 is directed to a private camera with a structure in which a camera rotation control mechanism 52, as shown in FIG. 1 of therelated material 1, and acontroller 61, as shown in FIG. 2 of therelated material 1, are preliminarily assembled. - A
related material 2 is directed to a special camera in which acamera 1 and atripod 2 are unitarily formed in a manner as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 of therelated material 2. - However, when making the sketches by hands during preparation of maintenance and management data, the presence of work that needs a considerable length of time and is labor intensive and the occurrence of factors overlooked by the worker result in a discrepancy between actual conditions in the field and data that are prepared to cause an inaccuracy in maintenance and management data to be prepared, thereby exhibiting an issue in which the field occasionally needs to be inspected again.
- On the other hand, when preparing maintenance and management data, since the photographs show images indicative of partial areas, respectively, of the interior of the underground structure one by one, there is a need for taking a stitch editing work to allow the respective photographs to be joined in order to obtain an entire image.
- Related art technologies, needed for the person to enter the underground structure while carrying the camera to photograph the interior at the angle of 360 degrees, require the persons to be skilled in obtaining a series of accurate photograph images without omission.
- While photographing at the angle of 360 degrees can be performed by utilizing the
related materials - To address such an issue, the present invention has an object to provide an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus and related photographing method wherein, not only in an area where a person can enter but also even in an area inside an underground structure in a narrow space or in an area with an oxygen deficiency, enables a commercially available camera to be used to provide photographs accurately grasping interior statuses based on which maintenance and facility management data can be prepared.
- To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus, comprising: a vertically extending and retracting tripod having a mount section; a controller fixedly supported on the mount section; a turntable rotatably supported on an upper surface of a box of the controller; and a camera detachably supported on an upper surface of the turntable; wherein the controller includes a turntable drive circuit operative to rotate at least the turntable at a given rotational angle that is determined at an arbitrary angle, and a shutter drive circuit operative to turn on a shutter of the camera supported on the turntable via a non-contact signal relay at a time instant when rotation of the turntable at the given angle has been terminated.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus according to the present invention with a camera being shown in a removed state.
- FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a whole of the automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus.
- FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus having a camera mount member on which a camera is adapted to be mounted in a standard mount position.
- FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a controller.
- FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a whole of an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus of a second embodiment according to the present invention.
- FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a status to show how a first stopper member is mounted.
- FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on line VII-VII of FIG. 6.
- FIG. 8 is a schematic view illustrating an elevator shaft divided into a plurality of pieces along a longitudinal length of the shaft.
- FIG. 9A is a schematic view illustrating a first modified form of the first stopper member.
- FIG. 9B is a schematic view illustrating a second modified form of the first stopper member.
- A detailed description is given below to a first embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS.1 to 4.
- FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an automatic motion-controlled
photographing apparatus 1 with acamera 9 remaining in a removed state, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a whole structure of the automatic motion-controlledphotographing apparatus 1. The automatic motion-controlledphotographing apparatus 1 is comprised of atripod 3, acontroller 5, aturntable 7 and thecamera 9. Thetripod 3, thecontroller 5 and theturntable 7 are unitarily configured in a unit structure to be independent from thecamera 9. Thetripod 3 and thecontroller 5 are provided as a separable structure, whereby it is possible to use a camera on the market for thecamera 9 of theapparatus 1. - The
tripod 3 is comprised of three expanding and contractingtelescopic leg arms 15, each composed of anouter sleeve 11 and aninner sleeve 13, and anelevator arm 19 equipped with amount section 17. - The collapsable three telescopic leg arms are supported by a
mount bracket 21, thereby forming a three-leg structure that enables the leg arms to be individually and freely set at respective different angles. In an alternative case, thetelescopic leg arms 15 may include four pieces of leg arms. - The
elevator arm 19 vertically extends through a central area of themount bracket 21 such that rotating anoperating handle 23, fixed to themount bracket 21 for fine adjustment capabilities, rightward or leftward causes theelevator arm 9 to move upward or downward by means of a usual rack and pinion mechanism (not shown). - Positioning of the
elevator arm 19 is carried out by rotating afixing handle 25 to cause a distal end (not shown) of a screw strut of thefixing handle 25 to be strongly brought into pressured contact with a circumferential periphery of theelevator arm 19, thereby enabling theelevator arm 19 to be kept in a fixedly retained condition. Also, releasing thefixing handle 25 from the pressured contact condition can carry out vertical movement of theelevator arm 19. - The
mount section 17 of theelevator arm 19 has its upper surface mounted with abox 27 encompassing thecontroller 5 and has aspirit level 29, enabled to view in a vertical direction at a horizontal angle, and a plurality of operation levers 31, 32, 33. The plurality of operation levers 31, 32, 33 form control levers that control fore and aft inclined angles and right and left inclined angles of themount section 17, and adjusting the inclined angle of themount section 17 while looking at thespirit level 29 enables themount section 17 to be fixed in a horizontally correct condition. - As shown in FIG. 4, the
controller 5 includes aturntable drive circuit 35, ashutter drive circuit 37 and a modedisplay drive circuit 39, and is applied with a direct current electric power by connecting a terminatingconnection terminal 43 a of apower cable 43 extending from aportable battery 41 to an input terminal of thebox 27 as shown in FIG. 2. - The mode
display drive circuit 39 is applied with various conditions such as a rotational angle, serving as a picture angle, of theturntable 7 to be set, information indicative of how many number of photographs are taken, and a command for setting the number of photographs to be taken to provide displays indicative of input contents, that have been set, over a display window (structured with a liquid crystal display) 45 of thebox 27. - The
turntable drive circuit 35 responds to a rotational angle setting mode of theturntable 7 set by the modedisplay drive circuit 39 and applies a given-time-interval electric current signal to adriver motor 47 for driving theturntable 7. In particular, using a stepping motor, which incrementally rotates in response to pulse signals, as thedrive motor 47 enables the rotational angle to be controlled depending on the number of pulse signals and, so, applying prescribed number of the pulse signals intermittently to the stepping motor enables theturntable 7 to be quantitatively rotated in repetitive movements such that, when theturntable 7 rotates at a given rotational angle, rotation of theturntable 7 is terminated once and, when theturntable 7 further rotates again at another given rotational angle, rotation of theturntable 7 is further terminated. - The rotational angle at which the
turntable 7 rotates is configured to be set at a suitable angle to allow the photograph image to be taken at an arbitrarily desired picture angle. In this case, it is preferable for the rotational angle to be selected in a range of approximately 20 to 25 degrees. This is because of the fact that, even when using the commercially available camera, the camera suffices to take photograph images in a minimum number of frames in order to photograph at 360 degrees while the photograph images have given amounts of margins to be trimmed to provide an ease of stitch editing work such that adjacent photograph images can be appropriately connected. - The
shutter drive circuit 37 has a function to turn on ashutter 51 of thecamera 9 via anon-contact signal relay 49 in response to an input signal generated when theturntable 17 is caused to rotate and terminated in rotation at a given angle. - In this case, in order for the photographing apparatus to comply with a variety of commercially available cameras, the
shutter drive circuit 37 is arranged to operate in two modes in response to the input signals generated when rotation of theturntable 7 is terminated at the given, i.e., a first mode in which theshutter 51 is concurrently turned on when rotation of theturntable 7 is terminated at the given angle and a second mode in which theshutter 51 is turned on after a certain time interval (in the order of seconds) has elapsed when rotation of theturntable 7 is terminated at the given angle. - The
turntable 7 is disposed on an upper surface of thebox 27. Atable shaft 55 of theturntable 7 is internally hollow and is supported for rotational movements by means of a pair ofbearings 57. An outer periphery of theturntable 7 engages atiming belt 59, extending from amotor pulley 47 a of thedrive motor 47, through which a rotational drive power of thedrive motor 47 is transferred to theturntable 7. - The
non-contact signal relay 49 includes an infrared interface which is comprised of aninfrared LED 61 electrically connected to thecontroller 5 and aninfrared receptor 63 electrically connected to thecamera 9. - The
infrared LED 61 and theinfrared receptor 63 are vertically disposed in opposition to one another via thehollow table shaft 55, that forms a rotational axis, to enable delivery of signals without an interference between thecamera 9 on the rotatingturntable 7 and thecontroller 5 which is held under a fixed condition. - Also, while, in this embodiment, the interface of the
non-contact signal relay 49 has been described as using the infrared ray, it is of course to be noted that another expedient other than the infrared ray may be employed. - The
camera 9 is fixedly mounted on theturntable 7 by means of acamera mount unit 65. - The
camera 9 has various functions, required for usual cameras, such as a flush 66, ashutter 51, an exposure meter and shutter speed, etc. and the commercially available digital camera of an auto-focus type that allows the photograph image to be transferred to a personal computer for digital processing. - Between the
shutter 51 and the flush 66, the flush 66 is configured to operate in a flush setting mode or a flush-release setting mode that is changed over by manipulating an operational unit (not shown). - The
shutter 51 is not manually operated and structured to receive the signal, such that theshutter 51 is turned on, inputted from theinfrared receptor 63 via acontrol cable 68. - Further, the
camera 9 is not intended to be limited to such a digital camera and may include a camera of an optical system. - The
camera mount unit 65 is comprised of afirst mount section 57 and asecond mount section 69, with thefirst mount section 67 being comprised of a pair ofvertical segments 67 a and ahorizontal segment 67 b connected thereto and formed in an oppositely oriented U-shaped configuration while thevertical segments 67 a are unitarily and fixedly supported on an upper surface of theturntable 7 by some suitable fixture means such as screws. - A
thread portion 71 a of afirst mount screw 71 protrudes upward from the underside at a central area of thehorizontal segment 67 b and is allowed to be screwed into an associated thread bore (not shown) formed at a bottom of thecamera 9, thereby enabling thecamera 9 to be mounted in a standard mount position to allow a length of the photograph image to be aligned in a transverse direction. When mounting thecamera 9 in such a standard mount position, the photograph in one frame serves to widely cover an interior of an underground structure in a lateral direction. - The
second mount section 69 is comprised of ahorizontal segment 69 a and anupright segment 69 b that are formed in an independent angle shape and serves as an attachment to allow thecamera 9 to be mounted in a longitudinally oriented position. Thehorizontal segment 69 a of thesecond mount section 69 has a structure in which a thread bore 73 is formed and engages the threadedportion 71 a of thefirst mount screw 71 to allow thesecond mount section 69 to be assembled onto thefirst mount section 67. - A
second mount screw 75 is provided at an upper area of theupright segment 69 b of thesecond mount section 69 such that athread portion 75 b protrudes inward from outside, and thethread portion 75 b is allowed to be screwed into the associated thread bore (not shown) formed at the bottom of thecamera 9, thereby enabling thecamera 9 to be mounted in a longitudinally oriented position to allow the length of the photograph image to be aligned in a longitudinal direction as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. - When mounting the
camera 9 in such a longitudinally oriented position, since the photograph in one frame is enabled to widely cover the interior of the underground structure in a vertical direction, it is preferable for the camera to be normally used in such a longitudinally oriented position so as to avoid misalignment in photographing in which a portion of the photograph image in the vertical direction is lacked when photographing. - In this case, although a lateral width of the photograph image in one frame becomes narrower than that of the photograph image taken by the
camera 9 mounted in the standard mount position, the longitudinally oriented mount position of thecamera 9 has a capability of photographing in an area at an angle of 360 degrees and, hence, thecamera 9 is enabled to cover an undesired situation, without troubles, by adjusting the rotational angle of thecamera 9 at fine angles of rotation and increasing the number of photographing operations. - Also, in FIG. 1,
reference numeral 77 designates a monitor camera which is adapted to be mounted for installation and removal capabilities to allow themonitor camera 77 to be removed in nonuse. - The automatic motion-controlled photographing
apparatus 1 with such a structure is allowed to enter an interior of a manhole, where a person is able to enter, and thetripod 3 are opened and located, whereupon thecamera 9 is set at a given position (height). Also, when setting the camera at that position, the position of thecamera 9 can be confirmed permitting a monitor image taken by themonitor camera 77 to be reflected over the operation controller at hand (not shown). This enables thecamera 9 to be reliably set to the given position. Operating a start button S to activate thecontroller 5 allows theturntable drive circuit 35 to output the signal upon which theturntable 7, on which thecamera 9 has been set, is quantitatively rotated at a given rotational angle. Simultaneously, each time theturntable 7 rotates at the given incremental angle, theshutter 51 is turned on in response to the signal from theshutter drive circuit 37, thereby enabling accurate photograph images covering a range of 360 degrees to be obtained with no deviation in frames to be caused one by one. - During such photographing operation, the signal is delivered between the
rotatable camera 9 and thecontroller 5 remaining at the fixed position via thenon-contact signal relay 49 without interference, and it is possible for the stitch editing work, that joins the respective photograph images photographing the interior of the underground structure, to be easily performed. Also, the photograph images, which have been taken by the camera, include images that are photographed at certain time intervals and at the same height, the stitch editing work can be performed in the shorter time period than that required in the related art practice. - Further, the commercially available camera can be used as the
relevant camera 9, and the photograph images provide a capability of preparing the same maintenance and facilities management data as that obtained in an on-site operation field. - Also, while this embodiment has been described with reference to a case where the current photographing
apparatus 1 is used in the underground structure such as the manhole, the current photographingapparatus 1 may also be used inside a tunnel or a building, or may be used for the purpose of photographing a usual scenery. - FIGS.5 to 8 show an automatic motion-controlled photographing
apparatus 1, of a second embodiment according to the present invention, which is enabled to be used not only in an area where a person cannot enter but also in an underground structure with the danger of oxygen deficiency or harmful gases. - Also, the same component parts bear the same reference numerals as those used in the first embodiment.
- A
tripod 79 of the automatic motion-controlled photographingapparatus 1 is formed in a structure that includes threeleg arms 83 which are able to assume a folding condition and leg-opened condition with respect to asupport plate 81. Each of theleg arms 83 is comprised of a fixedarm portion 81 a supported on thesupport plate 81 and amovable arm portion 81 b that is slidable for extending and contracting capabilities with respect to the fixedarm 81 a, and tightening a fixingscrew 85 provided at the fixedarm portion 81 a allows themovable arm portion 81 b to be fixedly secured in arecess 81 c of the fixedarm portion 81 a at a desired position. - A central area of the
support plate 81 has a vertically penetrating opening aperture (not shown) along a central axis of which aretainer sleeve section 89 is disposed to support a longitudinally extendingelevator shaft 87 for elevating capabilities. - The
retainer sleeve section 89, which has a vertically penetrating internal space, is fixedly supported on thesupport plate 81 at an upper area of the opening portion thereof by means of amount control member 91 such that a central axis line of the internal space of theretainer sleeve section 89 is aligned with a central axis line of the opening portion of thesupport plate 81. - The
retainer sleeve section 89 hasguide rollers 93 located in theinternal space 92 as shown in FIG. 7 to serve as guide portions for supporting an outer periphery of theelevator shaft 87 at four engaging points, and ashaft fixing screw 95 serving as a fixing and supporting means that allows theelevator shaft 87 to be coupled or uncoupled. Theguide rollers 93 are located at four circumferentially spaced positions (with one guide roller being not shown) angled at 90 degrees, with three sets of fourguide rollers 93, located at the circumferentially spaced positions, being disposed in a structure at three mount positions displaced in a vertical direction. Accordingly, theelevator shaft 87 is supported at its outer periphery at the four points with respect to the circumferential periphery and also supported at three support areas in the vertical direction and, thus, theelevator shaft 87 is enabled to be correctly guided in a vertical direction along the central axis line without deviation. - Tightening the
shaft fixing screw 95 through the use of anoperator segment 95 a causes acontact plate 97, located at a distal end of the screw, to be brought into strongly pressured contact with the outer circumferential periphery of the elevator shaft in a surface contact condition for thereby ensuring a fixed state of theelevator shaft 87. Also, loosening the tightened state of theoperator segment 95 a allows thecontact plate 97 to be separated from theelevator shaft 87 for thereby enabling an uncoupled state of theelevator shaft 87 to be obtained. - The
mount control member 91 includes afirst lever 98, asecond lever 99 and athird lever 101 and, additionally, aspirit level 103 enabled to view in a vertical direction at a horizontal angle. Operating the first, second andthird levers spirit level 103 enables an inclination of theretainer sleeve section 89 to be adjusted in fore and aft and lateral directions such that theretainer sleeve section 89 can be set at a correct position. - The
elevator shaft 87 is made from aluminum material in a cylindrical shape to provide a light weight and is comprised of a plurality ofcylindrical components 89 that are separated in a longitudinal direction for easy delivery. This allows theelevator shaft 87 to be easily carried. - More particularly, as shown in FIG. 8, the
cylindrical component 89 has one end formed with athread bore 105 and the other end formed with athread screw 107 adapted to engage the thread bore 105 of anothercylindrical component 89. Thus, by tightening thescrew portion 107 of onecylindrical component 89 to the thread bore 105 of anothercylindrical component 89, the pluralcylindrical components 89 are sequentially extended to allow a vertically elongatedelevator shaft 87, that is longitudinally contiguous, to be obtained. - The
elevator shaft 87 has afirst stopper member 109 and asecond stopper member 111 to avoid the fall of theelevator shaft 87. - The
first stopper member 109 is formed in a ring shape that includes tworemovable coupling segments retainer sleeve section 89 as shown in FIG. 6. Thefirst stopper member 109 has a structure to be unitarily and fixedly supported by the outer circumferential wall of theelevator shaft 87 by tightening thecoupling segments coupling screws 113 whereas upon loosening the coupling screws 113 allows a stopper position to be freely set. Accordingly, causing thefirst stopper member 109 to be held in abutting engagement with an upper terminal edge of theretainer sleeve section 89 enables theelevator shaft 87 to be avoided from falling to the extent than required. - In this case, the
first stopper member 109 may not need to take the form of a shape that is movable, but may take the form of an annular flange, unitarily formed at the outer circumferential periphery of theelevator shaft 87 as shown in FIG. 9A, or a retractable protruding structure that downwardly protrudes from theelevator shaft 87, as shown in FIG. 9B, to be brought into abutting engagement with an upper terminal edge of theretainer sleeve section 89 whereas, when upwardly moving theretainer sleeve section 89, the protruding structure is retracted into theelevator shaft 87 due to atapered surface 109 b. - The
second stopper member 111 takes the form of acoil spring 115 disposed on theelevator shaft 87 so as to surround the outer circumferential periphery thereof in an area beneath thesupport plate 81. Thecoil spring 115 has one end linked to thesupport plate 81 and the other end linked to anengagement aperture 117 of theelevator shaft 87 at the lowermost end thereof that supports thebox 27. When thecoil spring 115 is fully extended, theelevator shaft 87 is prevented from further lowering downward for thereby precluding thebox 27 from being interfered with a bottom surface, and thus thesecond stopper member 111 cooperates with thefirst stopper member 109 to provide a double-safeguard function. Also, when theelevator shaft 87 remains in a lowered condition, theelevator shaft 87 is urged to be returned to the original position by the elastic force of theextended coil spring 115 and, thus, is enabled to be easily raised. - The
box 27 engages thethread portion 107 formed on one of theelevator shaft 87 such that thebox 27 is fixedly supported to be turned upside down. - The
turntable 7, themonitor camera 119 and thecamera 9 are mounted to thebox 27. - The
monitor camera 119 includes a CCD camera that is comprised of a synchronizing signal generator, an image signal generating unit and a transmitter, and an image signal generated by the image signal generating unit and transmitted from anantenna 121 is received at an antenna (not shown) of a receiver, located in an on-hand operation controller 123, to allow the image signal to be displayed over adisplay section 125 of the on-hand operation controller 123 on the ground. - The on-
hand operation controller 123 includes, in addition to thedisplay section 125 for a monitor display, apower supply 41, such as a battery, to supply an electric power to thecontroller 5, and control operation switches 127, with command signals outputted by the control operation switches 127 and the electric power delivered by thepower supply 41 being inputted to thecontroller 5 via acable 129. - The
controller 5, theturntable 7 and the camera have the same component parts as those of the first embodiment except for the structure in that thecamera 9 is mounted to the lower end of theelevator shaft 87 to be turned upside down and, so, the same component parts bear the same reference numerals as those of the first embodiment to omit redundant detailed description. - Consequently, with the structure of the second embodiment, when traveling to a photographing site with the automatic motion-controlled photographing
apparatus 1, the vertically elongatedelevator shaft 87 can be divided into plural pieces, providing an ease of carrying theelevator shaft 87. On the other hand, when using the automatic motion-controlled photographingapparatus 1 in the underground structure such as the hand hole, as shown in FIG. 5, thetripod 79 are opened and set at a position to straddle over the ground surface around anentrance 131 of the hand hole and, then, theelevator shaft 87 is lowered to move thecamera 9 downward within themanhole 131. By confirming a lowering status of thecamera 9 while viewing the monitor image, of themonitor camera 119, provided over thedisplay section 125 of the on-hand operation controller 123 and subsequently fixing theelevator shaft 87 by theshaft fixing screw 95 that serves as the fixing support means, thecamera 9 is set at a desired position (depth) where the camera is turned upside down. Upon receipt of the command signal delivered from the on-hand operation controller 123, thecamera 9 located at the desired position is exerted with quantitative rotational movements to rotate at an incremental given angle in response to the signal delivered from theturntable drive circuit 35. Concurrently, each time thecamera 9 rotates at the given angle, theshutter 51 is turned on in response to the signal delivered from theshutter drive circuit 37, thereby obtaining photograph images in a series of frames at 360 degrees. In this case, thenon-contact signal relay 49 enables the signal to be delivered between therotatable camera 9 and thecontroller 5 remaining in the fixed condition without interference and, in the underground structure such as the hand hole where the person cannot enter or the manhole with the danger of oxygen deficiency or harmful gases, it is possible to obtain the accurate photograph images of the interiors under a safety condition without carrying out a ventilating operation for the interiors. While, in this instance, the photograph images are photographed in an inversed status, it is possible to easily perform the stitch editing work for permitting the photograph images in respective frames to be joined with no interference. Also, the stitch editing work can be completed in a short time period. Further, by using the photograph images, it becomes possible to prepare the same maintenance and facility management data as those of the on-site field. - The entire content of a Japanese Patent Application No. P2002-261930 with a filing date of Sep. 6, 2002 is herein incorporated by reference.
- Although the invention has been described above by reference to certain embodiments of the present invention, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and will occur to those skilled in the art, in light of the teachings. The scope of the invention is defined with reference to the following claims.
Claims (8)
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP2002261930A JP3825380B2 (en) | 2002-09-06 | 2002-09-06 | Automatic motion control imaging device |
JPP2002-261930 | 2002-09-06 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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US20040047624A1 true US20040047624A1 (en) | 2004-03-11 |
US6714729B1 US6714729B1 (en) | 2004-03-30 |
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ID=31986393
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Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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US10/382,238 Expired - Fee Related US6714729B1 (en) | 2002-09-06 | 2003-03-05 | Automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus and related photographing method |
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US (1) | US6714729B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP3825380B2 (en) |
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US20070058075A1 (en) * | 2005-09-09 | 2007-03-15 | Anton/Bauer, Inc. | Camera system and power supply for optical recording devices |
US20100166412A1 (en) * | 2008-12-31 | 2010-07-01 | John Fred Rix | Rapid deployment surveillance system |
US7864244B2 (en) | 2005-09-09 | 2011-01-04 | Anton/Bauer, Inc. | Camera system and power supply for optical recording devices |
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US8301022B1 (en) | 2010-12-10 | 2012-10-30 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Image capture device with booth |
US8462206B1 (en) | 2010-02-25 | 2013-06-11 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Image acquisition system |
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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JP2004101762A (en) | 2004-04-02 |
JP3825380B2 (en) | 2006-09-27 |
US6714729B1 (en) | 2004-03-30 |
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