System and method for automated camera guard tour operation
View Patent ↗A system and method for automated operation of a camera system is disclosed. A positioning system moves the camera system to a field of view to search for objects or events of interest to track. If objects or events of interest are detected prior to the expiration of a dwell timer, the dwell timer is interrupted and tracking of the objects or events of interest is initiated. To prevent the security camera from being distracted indefinitely by unimportant objects, the positioning system changes the field of view of the security system upon expiration of a track timer. Alternatively, if the security camera does not identify an object to track prior to expiration of a dwell timer, then the positioning system changes the field of view of the camera system to search for other objects or events of interest.
1. A method of automated operation of a camera system, the method comprising:
programming the set points into the camera system, wherein the set points correspond to different fields of view of the camera system that correspond to areas of activity including doorways and hallways;
moving the camera system to a set point, and if objects of interest are not detected within a dwell time, then moving the camera system to another set point to search for objects of interest;
if objects of interest are detected within the dwell time, tracking the objects of interest by controlling a positioning system of the camera system and prioritizing objects of interest when multiple objects of interest are detected and tracking the object of interest with the highest priority;
after the objects of interest have been tracked for a track time, suspending tracking of the objects of interest, wherein the track time is a predefined length of time that the camera system will track an object or event of interest before breaking off the tracking of the object; and
then controlling the positioning system to change the field of view of the camera system to another set point and then searching for new objects of interest to track and if new objects of interest are detected, tracking the new objects of interest, and controlling the positioning system of the camera system to chance the field of view of the camera system.
2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining the next field of view of the camera system by retrieving another set point from a series of stored set points.
3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining the next field of view of the camera system based on a current field of view of the camera system after suspending tracking of a current object of interest.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the tracking of the objects of interest further includes adjusting the positioning system and a zoom actuator of the lens system to ensure that the objects of interest are zoomed and centered in the field of view of the camera system.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein detecting the objects of interest includes analyzing the objects of interest based on motion, biometric information, and/or license plate information of vehicles.
6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising programming the set points into the camera system, wherein the set points correspond to different fields of view of the camera system.
7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a system controller providing instructions to multiple security camera systems to indicate which objects of interest should be tracked by each of the camera systems to prevent the camera systems from focusing on the same object of interest.
8. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising determining the next set point of the camera system based on the current position of the camera system by choosing another set point which corresponds to a most diametrically opposed field of view.
9. A security camera system, comprising:
a camera controller that sends positioning commands;
a positioning system that receives the positioning commands from the camera controller and in response moves the camera system to different set points that define fields of view of the camera system, wherein the set points are programmed into the camera system and correspond to different fields of view of the camera system that correspond to areas of activity including doorways and hallways;
a lens system and imaging sensor that generate images of the field of view of the camera system; and
a video analysis system that detects objects of interest within the images,
wherein if the video analysis system does not detect objects of interest within a dwell time, the positioning system moves the camera system to a new set point to search for objects of interest and if the video analysis system does detect objects of interest within the dwell time, the video analysis system tracks the objects of interest, and prioritizes objects of interest when multiple objects of interest are detected and tracking the object of interest with the highest priority, and after the objects of interest have been tracked for a track time, wherein the track time is a predefined length of time that the camera system will track an object or event of interest before breaking off the tracking of the object, then suspends the tracking to search for new objects of interest to track after the positioning system changes the field of view of the camera system to a new set point and if new objects of interest are detected, tracking the new objects of interest, and controlling the positioning system of the camera system to change the field of view of the camera system.
10. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the video analysis system is implemented internally on the security camera system.
11. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the video analysis system is implemented on an external system that accesses images stored to a network video recorder system.
12. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the positioning system adjusts the field of view of the camera system and a zoom actuator adjusts a zoom position of the lens system to ensure that the objects of interest are zoomed and centered in the field of view of the camera system.
13. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the video analysis system detects the objects of interest by analyzing the images based on motion, biometric information, and/or license plate information of vehicles.
14. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the video analysis system uses a series of the set points that correspond to different fields of view of the camera system and the positioning system then moves the camera system through the set points in the search for new objects of interest to track.
15. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the video analysis system stores a series of the set points that define fields of view to which the positioning system moves the camera system.
16. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the set points define fields of view that are associated with potential areas of activity including doorways, desks, and/or hallways.
17. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the set points define fields of view corresponding to lens orientations and zoom levels of the camera system.
18. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the positioning system moves the camera system through the set points in a predefined order during the search for new objects of interest to track.
19. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the positioning system moves the camera system through the set points in a random order during the search for new objects of interest to track.