Management system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9453766-B2
Application number	US-201514964990-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 10, 2015
Priority date	Dec 19, 2014
Publication date	Sep 27, 2016
Grant date	Sep 27, 2016

Abstract

A management system includes labels disposed on a management target at respective positions different from each other each of the labels including display parts, the display parts changing respective colors depending on different levels of temperature or humidity, the display parts changing coloring positions depending on the level; an image obtaining unit outputting image data indicating an image of the labels captured by the imaging device; an image processing part performing first or second image processing, the first image processing transforming the image data so that a difference in a number of pixels corresponding to each of the labels among the labels in image data after the transformation is less than that before the transformation, the second image processing recognizing an image of the display parts; and a level detector detecting the level of temperature or humidity based on brightness information of pixels corresponding to the display parts.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A management system comprising:
a plurality of labels disposed on a management target at respective positions different from each other in a direction separating from an imaging device, each of the labels including a plurality of display parts, the plurality of display parts being configured to change respective colors depending on different levels of temperature or humidity with each other, the plurality of display parts being arranged so as to change coloring positions depending on level of temperature or humidity;
an imaging device configured to output image data indicating an image of the labels captured by the imaging device;
an image processor configured to perform first image processing or second image processing, the first image processing being configured to transform the image data in a manner such that a difference in a number of pixels corresponding to each of the labels among the labels in image data after the transformation is less than a difference in the number of pixels corresponding to each of the labels among the labels in the image data before the transformation, the second image processing being configured to recognize an image of the plurality of display parts by using information of the number of pixels corresponding to each of the labels in the image data; and
a level detector configured to detect the level of temperature or humidity based on brightness information of pixels corresponding to the display parts, the brightness information obtained by performing the first image processing or the second image processing by the image processor on the image data output from the imaging device.

2. The management system as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein a direction in which the coloring position changes in the plurality of labels is different from the direction separating from the imaging device.

3. The management system as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein each of the plurality of labels further includes a marker indicating a higher level side and a lower level side of temperature or humidity, and
wherein the image processor is configured to perform the first image processing on the image of the plurality of display parts by using the marker.

4. The management system as claimed in claim 3 ,
wherein the marker is constituted of a pair of markers disposed at respective ends of each of the plurality of display parts, and
wherein the image processor is configured to perform the first image processing so that the number of pixels corresponding to each of the plurality of labels becomes equal to each other among the plurality of labels by transforming the image data in a manner that, when comparing the image of the plurality of display parts before the first image processing is performed with the image of the plurality of display parts after the first image processing is performed, not only each distance between each of the pair of markers becomes equal to each other in the image of the plurality of display parts but also a ratio among distances between two pairs of markers of the labels next to each other becomes equal to a ratio among distances between two pairs of markers of the labels next to each other in actual space.

5. The management system as claimed in claim 4 ,
wherein the plurality of display parts are display parts in which color of one or more display parts corresponding to detected level of temperature or humidity changes into color which is different from color of display parts other than the one or more display parts and
wherein the level detector is configured to extract the one or two display parts where color is changed for each of the plurality of labels in the image data, and detect the level of temperature or humidity based on a ratio between a distance between a position of the extracted one or two display parts and a position corresponding one of the pair of markers and a distance between the position of the extracted one or two display parts and a position corresponding other of the pair of markers for each of the plurality of labels in the image data.

6. The management system as claimed in claim 5 ,
wherein the level detector is configured to detect the level of temperature or humidity by detecting distribution or change of the brightness information based on a degree of change in three primary colors of light emitted from the display parts or a degree of change in light emission obtained by gray-scaling the light emission from the display parts.

7. The management system as claimed in claim 4 ,
wherein, the plurality of display parts are display parts which form an intermediate color which is between a first color and a second color, the first color being formed in one or more display parts indicating a higher side of the level of temperature and humidity, the second color being formed in one or more display parts indicating a lower side of the level of temperature and humidity,
wherein the level detector is configured to locate each position of the plurality of display parts where the intermediate color is formed for each of the plurality of labels in the image data, and detect the level of temperature or humidity based on a ratio between a distance between the position of the display parts where the intermediate color is formed and a position corresponding one of the pair of markers and a distance between the position of the display parts where the intermediate color is formed and a position corresponding other of the pair of markers for each of the plurality of labels in the image data.

8. The management system as claimed in claim 7 ,
wherein the level detector is configured to detect the level of temperature or humidity by detecting distribution or change of the brightness information based on a degree of change in three primary colors of light emitted from the display parts where the intermediate color is formed or a degree of change in light emission obtained by gray-scaling the light emission from the display parts where the intermediate color is formed.

9. The management system as claimed in claim 3 , further comprising:
a memory device configured to store the image data of the image of the marker and the plurality of display parts captured by the imaging device;
wherein the level detector is configured to detect the level of temperature or humidity based on a comparison in distribution or change in the brightness information of the image of the plurality of display parts, the image having been identified by performing a pattern matching process on the image of the plurality of display parts and the marker by using the image data stored in the memory device, the image of the plurality of display parts and the marker being an image on which the first image processing or the second image processing has been performed by the image processor.

10. The management system as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein the level detector is configured to obtain luminance of each of the plurality of labels based on brightness information of the corresponding display parts.

11. The management system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
a detector configured to detect a viability status of the living animal by obtaining the image data thereof in time series, in a case where the management target is a living animal.

12. The management system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
a detector configured to detect whether there exists an intruder, in a case where the management target is a crop.

13. The management system as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein the level detector is configured to derive data of temperature or humidity by performing a convolution operation process on the levels of tempe

Assignees

• Fujitsu Ltd

Inventors

• Uno Kazushi
• Takei Fumio
• Kasajima Takeo
• Fukuda Hiroyuki
• Arioka Takahiro

Classifications

• G01N31/222

  for investigating moisture content · CPC title

• G01K11/12

  using changes in colour, translucency or reflectance · CPC title

• G01J5/0025 Primary

  Living bodies (ear thermometers G01J5/0011; detecting, measuring or recording for diagnostic purposes A61B5/00) · CPC title

• G06T2207/10024

  Color image · CPC title

• G06T7/0004

  Industrial image inspection · CPC title