Method and system for reliably identifying and providing a video feed of a detected incident in a video surveillance system
A video surveillance system and method for a facility includes multiple video cameras mounted at locations with corresponding coordinates. Each camera has a Field of View (FOV) extending to cover a FOV range defined by coordinates that define a FOV volume. A controller receives incident location coordinates and determines which cameras have FOV volumes that encompass the incident location. The system automatically displays video from cameras covering the incident while excluding video from cameras not covering the incident. In some cases, the system supports Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras with preset positions, automatically moving PTZ cameras to positions that cover an incident location. The system can handle incidents spanning location ranges and can identify blind spots not covered by any camera's FOV.
1 . A video surveillance system for a facility, comprising:
a plurality of video cameras each mounted at a respective camera location in the facility, wherein each of the respective camera locations correspond to respective camera location coordinates, each of the plurality of video cameras has a Field of View (FOV) that extends out from the respective video camera to cover a respective FOV range, wherein the respective FOV range is defined by a plurality of respective FOV range coordinates, wherein the respective camera location coordinates and the respective plurality of FOV range coordinates define a respective FOV volume for the respective video camera;
a controller operatively coupled to the plurality of video cameras, the controller configured to:
receive an incident location of an incident in the facility, wherein the incident location is identified by incident location coordinates;
compare the incident location coordinates to the FOV volume for each of the plurality of video cameras to determine which of the plurality of video cameras have a respective FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident; and
automatically display on a display of an operator console a video captured by one or more of the plurality of video cameras that are determined to have a FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident while not displaying a video captured by one or more of the plurality of video cameras that are not determined to have a FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the camera location coordinates, the FOV range coordinates and the incident location coordinates are expressed in a common coordinate system.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the FOV range of each of the plurality of video cameras is based at least in part on one or more camera parameters associated with the respective video camera.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the one or more camera parameters comprises one or more of focal length, aperture size and sensor size.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of FOV range coordinates for each of the plurality of video cameras are dependent on one or more of:
a vertical tilt angle of the respective video camera; and
a horizontal pointing direction of the respective camera.
6 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a memory accessible by the controller that stores:
the respective camera location coordinates for each of the plurality of video cameras; and
the respective FOV range coordinates for each of the plurality of video cameras.
7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein one or more of the plurality of video cameras is a Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) video camera having a plurality of PTZ camera positions, wherein the memory stores:
the respective camera location coordinates for each of the one or more PTZ video cameras; and
the respective FOV range coordinates for each of the plurality of PTZ camera positions for each of the one or more PTZ video cameras.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of PTZ camera positions stored in the memory for each of the one or more PTZ video cameras corresponds to a respective PTZ preset position, and wherein the controller is configured to:
compare the incident location coordinates to the FOV volume of each of the one or more PTZ video cameras defined by the respective camera location coordinates and the respective plurality of FOV range coordinates of each of the plurality of PTZ preset positions to determine which of the one or more PTZ video cameras at which of the PTZ preset positions have a respective FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident;
automatically control the one or more PTZ video cameras that have a PTZ preset position that has a FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident to move to the respective PTZ preset position; and
display a video captured by one or more of the one or more PTZ video cameras that have a PTZ preset position that has a respective FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident on the display after the respective PTZ video camera has been automatically controlled to move to the respective PTZ preset position.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the incident location includes a range of locations in the facility.
10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to determine which of the plurality of video cameras have a respective FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the range of locations in the facility that correspond to the incident location.
11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to determine one or more blind spot regions in the range of locations in the facility that are determined not to be covered by the FOV volume of any of the plurality of video cameras.
12 . A method for operating a surveillance system of a facility, wherein the surveillance system includes a plurality of video cameras each mounted at a respective camera location in the facility, wherein each of the respective camera locations correspond to respective camera location coordinates, each of the plurality of video cameras has a Field of View (FOV) that extends out from the respective video camera to cover a respective FOV range, wherein the respective FOV range is defined by a plurality of respective FOV range coordinates, wherein the respective camera location coordinates and the respective plurality of FOV range coordinates define a respective FOV volume for the respective video camera, the method comprising:
receiving an incident location of an incident in the facility, wherein the incident location is identified by incident location coordinates;
comparing the incident location coordinates to the FOV volume for each of the plurality of video cameras and determining which of the plurality of video cameras have a respective FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident; and
switching to display on a display of an operator console a video captured by one or more of the plurality of video cameras that are determined to have a FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the incident location includes a range of locations in the facility.
14 . The method of claim 13 , comprising determining which of the plurality of video cameras have a respective FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the range of locations in the facility that correspond to the incident location.
15 . The method of claim 13 , comprising determining one or more blind spot regions in the range of locations in the facility that are determined not to be covered by the FOV volume of any of the plurality of video cameras.
16 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:
store for each of a plurality of video cameras of a facility:
camera location coordinates;
FOV range coordinates, wherein the camera location coordinates and the FOV range coordinates define a FOV volume for the respective video camera;
receive an incident location of an incident in the facility, wherein the incident location is identified by incident location coordinates;
compare the incident location coordinates to the FOV volume for each of the plurality of video cameras to determine which of the plurality of video cameras have a respective FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident; and
automatically display on a display a video captured by one or more of the plurality of video cameras that are determined to have a FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident while not displaying a video captured by one or more of the plurality of video cameras that are not determined to have a FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident.
17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the incident location includes a range of locations in the facility.
18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine which of the plurality of video cameras have a respective FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the range of locations in the facility that correspond to the incident location.
19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine one or more blind spot regions in the range of locations in the facility that are determined not to be covered by the FOV volume of any of the plurality of video cameras.
20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein one or more of the plurality of video cameras is a Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) video camera having a plurality of PTZ preset positions, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
store for each of the one or more PTZ video cameras:
camera location coordinates;
FOV range coordinates for each of the plurality of PTZ camera positions for the respective PTZ video camera;
compare the incident location coordinates to the FOV volume of each of the one or more PTZ video cameras defined by the respective camera location coordinates and the respective plurality of FOV range coordinates of each of the plurality of PTZ preset positions to determine which of the one or more PTZ video cameras at which of the PTZ preset positions have a respective FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident;
automatically control the one or more PTZ video cameras that have a PTZ preset position that has a FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident to move to the respective PTZ preset position; and
display a video captured by one or more of the one or more PTZ video cameras that have a PTZ preset position that has a respective FOV volume that encompasses at least part of the incident location coordinates of the incident on the display after the respective PTZ video camera has been automatically controlled to move to the respective PTZ preset position.