JPH07175910A - Fluid image processing analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the analysis of the flow of fluid which has been difficult by eyesight. CONSTITUTION:An image input means 21 inputs plural images of continuously photographed flow of fluid. By using these images, a motion area extraction means 22 performs a difference processing for two images which are timewisely different and extracts an area where a motion is generated in fluid. A representative part extraction means 23 extracts the center line or the centroid of the area extracted by the motion area extraction means 22. A synthesizing means 4 synthesizes the center line or the centroid extracted by the representative part extraction means 23 with an inputted image and the synthesized image is outputted by an image output means 25.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fluid image processing and analyzing apparatus for analyzing fluid flow such as gas flow in a gas meter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some gas meters, such as those using a fluidic flow meter, have a great influence on the measurement accuracy depending on the mode of gas flow in the gas meter. Therefore, conventionally, there has been a demand for analyzing the gas flow in the gas meter.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view for explaining a conventional method for observing a gas flow in a gas meter. This figure shows an example of observing a gas flow in a gas meter using a fluidic flow meter. As shown in this figure, in the conventional method, the front surface of the gas meter 50 is made of a transparent material such as acrylic so that the inside can be seen. Then, a pipe 5 is provided at the inlet and the outlet of the gas meter 50, respectively.
Connect 1, 52. A pump 53 is connected to the pipe 52. An oil mist generator 55 is connected to the middle of the pipe 51 via a pipe 54. Air 56 is supplied into the gas meter 50 through the pipe 51, and the oil mist 5 is supplied into the pipe 51 through the oil mist generator 55.
Supply 7. Then, as shown in the figure, the oil mist 57 looks like a line. Conventionally, the flow of gas in the gas meter 50 has been confirmed by photographing the flow of the oil mist 57 in the gas meter 50 with a video camera or the like and visually observing the flow.

[0004]

However, according to the conventional method as described above, when the image taken by the video camera or the like is observed on the monitor, it is only possible to confirm that the oil mist 57 is flowing. Gas meter 50
It was almost impossible to analyze the gas flow inside. Also, when the image is stopped, the oil mist 5
The flow of 7 could hardly be confirmed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing / analyzing device for a fluid that enables analysis of a fluid flow that was difficult to visually observe.

[0006]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing and analyzing apparatus for a fluid, comprising: an image inputting means for inputting a plurality of images of a fluid flow continuously captured; A moving region extracting unit that performs a differential process on two temporally different images to extract a region in which the fluid has moved, and a representative portion that extracts a portion representing the region extracted by the moving region extracting unit. And extraction means.

In this fluid image processing and analyzing apparatus, a plurality of images obtained by continuously capturing the fluid flow are input by the image input means. Using this image, the motion region extraction means performs difference processing on two images that are temporally different to extract a region in which the fluid has moved. Then, the representative portion extracting means extracts a portion representing the area extracted by the moving area extracting means.

A fluid image processing and analyzing apparatus according to a second aspect is the fluid image processing and analyzing apparatus according to the first aspect.
Further, the combination extracted by the representative part extraction means is combined with two images which are the images input by the image input means and which are subjected to the difference processing by the motion area extraction means and which are temporally close to each other. It is equipped with means.

In this fluid image processing and analyzing apparatus, the portion extracted by the representative portion extracting means is synthesized with the input image by the synthesizing means.

A fluid image processing / analyzing apparatus according to a third aspect is the fluid image processing / analyzing apparatus according to the second or third aspect, wherein the representative portion extracting means is a center line of the area extracted by the motion area extracting means or The center of gravity is extracted.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the fluid image processing / analysis apparatus according to the first, second or third aspect, wherein the motion region extracting means enhances the difference-processed image. The smoothing process and the binarization process are performed to extract the region where the fluid moves.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 relate to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a fluid image processing / analyzing apparatus (hereinafter, simply referred to as an image processing / analyzing apparatus) of the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the image processing analysis apparatus outputs a video tape recorder (hereinafter, referred to as VTR) 11 for inputting a plurality of images obtained by continuously capturing a fluid flow, and the VTR 11. Analog / digital (hereinafter referred to as A / D) for converting an analog image signal into a digital image signal.
A converter 12, a data bus 13 connected to this A / D converter 12, a computer 14 and an image memory 15 connected to this data bus 13 and functioning as a motion region extracting means, a representative portion extracting means and a synthesizing means. And a digital / analog (hereinafter referred to as D / A) converter 16 which is connected to the data bus 13 and converts a digital image signal after image processing into an analog image signal, and an output of the D / A converter 16. VT for recording image signals on video tape
R17 and.

A plurality of images obtained by continuously photographing the flow of fluid means images obtained by continuously photographing the flow of oil mist in a gas meter by a video camera and recording it on a video tape as described with reference to FIG. Is. VT
R11 reproduces the image recorded on the video tape. A video camera is provided instead of the VTR 11, and an image taken by this video camera is directly
It may be input to the A / D converter 12. Also,
Instead of the VTR 17, a monitor or a floppy disk drive for recording image signals on a floppy disk may be provided.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the functions of the image processing analysis apparatus of this embodiment. As shown in this figure, the image processing analysis apparatus includes an image input unit 21 for inputting a plurality of images of a fluid flow continuously captured, and two temporally different images input by the image input unit 21. And a moving area extracting unit 22 that performs a difference process on the moving area to extract an area where the fluid has moved, and the moving area extracting unit 2.
2 is a representative portion extracting means 23 for extracting a portion representative of the area extracted by 2, and the portion extracted by the representative portion extracting means 23 is an image input by the image input means 21 and is a moving area extracting means. 22 includes a synthesizing unit 24 for synthesizing two images to be subjected to difference processing with an image temporally close to each other, and an image output unit 25 for outputting the image obtained by the synthesizing unit 24.

The motion area extraction means 22 is a difference processing means 26 for performing a difference processing on two images which are temporally different.
An emphasizing means 27 for emphasizing the image after the difference processing by the difference processing means 26, and the emphasizing means 27.
Smoothing means 28 for performing a smoothing process on the image after the enhancement processing by, and binarization for binarizing the image after the smoothing processing by the smoothing means 28 to extract a region where the fluid has moved. And means 29. The enhancement process performed by the enhancement unit 27 is a process of increasing the contrast of the image after the difference process performed by the difference processing unit 26, and is performed multiple times as necessary. The smoothing process performed by the smoothing unit 28 is performed to reduce noise, and is also performed a plurality of times as necessary.

The representative portion extracting means 23 is a moving area extracting means 22 as a portion representative of the area where the fluid has moved.
The center line or center of gravity of the region extracted by is extracted.

In FIG. 2, the image input means 21 is realized by the VTR 11 and the A / D converter 12 shown in FIG.
The image output means 25 is the D / A converter 16 and VT of FIG.
It is realized by R17, and other means is realized by the computer 14 and the image memory 15 of FIG.
The computer 14 performs actual image processing such as difference processing while storing the image in each processing stage in the image memory 15.

Next, the operation of the image processing analysis apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of the image processing analysis apparatus, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an image at each stage of the operation shown in FIG. 3 and the density levels of part of the image.

As shown in FIG. 3, the image processing analysis device is
First, the hardware such as the image memory 15 is initialized (step S101), and then the image memory 15 is set to 256 × 256.
Pixels are set (step S102), and then the image display is set to 2
The non-interlace of 56 × 198 pixels is set (step S103).

Next, the image processing analysis apparatus uses the VTR 11 and the A / D converter 12 (image input means 21) to
The first image is input and stored in the image memory 15 (step S104). At this time, the VTR 11 freezes the image and outputs a still image. Next, the image processing analyzer passes through (discards) the input image until the second image required for the difference processing is input (step S10).
5). It should be noted that this step S105 is not necessary when performing difference processing using two consecutive images. next,
The image processing analysis device inputs the second image required for the difference processing and stores it in the image memory 15 (step S10).
6). At this time, the VTR 11 also freezes the image and outputs the still image. In FIG. 4, (a) shows the first image and (b) shows the second image.

Next, the image processing analysis device performs difference processing on the first and second images by the difference processing means 26 (step S107), and emphasizes means on the image after this difference processing. Emphasis processing is performed by 27 (step S108), and smoothing processing is performed by the smoothing means 28 on the image after this emphasis processing (step S10).
9) The image after the smoothing process is binarized by the binarizing means 29 to extract the region where the fluid moves (step S110). In FIG. 4, (c) is the image after the difference processing, (d) is the density on the line AA ′ in the image of (c), (e) is the image after the emphasis processing, and (f) is the image of (e). The density on the AA 'line in the image, (g) the image after the smoothing process, (h) the density on the AA' line in the image of (g), and (i) the image after the binarization process. , (J) respectively show the densities on the line AA ′ in the image of (i).

Next, in the image processing analysis device, the representative portion extracting means 23 extracts the area extracted by the moving area extracting means 22, that is, the center line or the center of gravity of the binarized image (step S111). Reference numeral 31 or 32 in FIG. 4 (k) is the center line of the binarized image, and FIG.
Reference numeral 33 in each indicates the center of gravity of the binarized image.

As a method of extracting the center line or the center of gravity of the binarized image, for example, a conventionally known method of obtaining the center of gravity of the area by using the moment of the area can be used. That is, as shown in FIG.
An inertia equivalent ellipse 42 having the same moment as that of the binarized image 41 is obtained, and the major axis 43 or the minor axis 44 of the inertia equivalent ellipse 42 is set as the center line of the binarized image 41, and the center 45 of the inertia equivalent ellipse 42 is set to 2. It is the center of gravity of the binarized image 41. Also,
As a method of extracting the center line of the binarized image, other than this,
You may use the process which thins an area | region.

Next, in the image processing analysis device, the center line or the center of gravity extracted by the representative part extraction means 23 is an image input by the image input means 21, and the motion area extraction means 22 performs difference processing. An image that is temporally close to two images is combined (step S11).
2). The input image for combining the center line or the center of gravity may be the first image, the second image, or the image between the first image and the second image.
In FIG. 4, (m) shows the image after the center line of the binarized image is combined with the input image, and (n) shows the image after the center of gravity of the binarized image is combined with the input image. . Next, the image processing analysis device converts the combined image into a D / A converter 16
It is output to the VTR 17 via and is recorded on a video tape (step S113).

Next, the image processing analysis device determines whether or not the processing is to be ended (step S114). If the processing is not to be ended (N), the process returns to step S104 to input the next first image, and the processing is ended. If yes (Y), the operation ends. In addition, for example, when creating a difference image using two images every other frame, first create a difference image using the images of the first frame and the image of the third frame, and then create the difference image of the second frame. A difference image is created using the image and the image of the fourth frame. The image of the second frame is stored in the image memory 15 while the difference image is being created using the image of the first frame and the image of the third frame.

In this way, the image processing analysis apparatus repeats the processing of steps S104 to S114 to sequentially record the combined images on the video tape. Then, this image enables the analysis of the fluid flow. In the analysis, the image recorded on the video tape may be further edited frame by frame.

As described above, the image processing analysis apparatus of this embodiment records an image in which the center line or the center of gravity of the region where the fluid has moved is combined with the input image. As shown in (m) and (n) of FIG. 4, this combined image becomes an image that clearly shows the flow of the fluid by displaying the center line or the center of gravity of the region where the fluid has moved. Therefore, it is possible to surely grasp the flow of the fluid from this image, and to confirm the fine flow of the fluid that could not be visually confirmed, and it is possible to perform a reliable and efficient analysis as compared with the case of visual observation. . In addition, it is possible to grasp the tendency of the fluid flow by using one still image after the composition. In addition,
As shown in (m) of FIG. 4, there are two types of center lines of the region where the fluid moves, but the center line 31 along the direction of the movement of the fluid indicates the direction and amount of the movement. You can
With the center line 32 orthogonal to the direction of fluid movement, the center of the area where the movement has occurred can be grasped. 2
Both the center lines 31 and 32 of the types may be displayed, or only one of them may be displayed. Further, both the center line and the center of gravity may be displayed.

The present invention can be applied not only to gas analysis but also to liquid flow analysis. Further, it can be applied not only to the inside of the gas meter but also to the analysis of the flow of fluid in various fluid passages.

[0030]

As described above, according to the fluid image processing / analysis apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of images obtained by continuously capturing the flow of a fluid are used, and the moving area extracting means temporally differs from each other. The difference processing is performed on the two images to extract the area where the fluid has moved, and the representative portion extracting means extracts the portion representative of the area extracted by the moving area extracting means. The portion representing the region where the occurrence of "" has an effect that the fluid flow can be clearly grasped, and the analysis of the fluid flow, which was difficult by visual observation, becomes possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an image processing analysis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the image processing analysis device in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image processing analysis device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an image and density levels of a part of the image at each stage of the operation shown in FIG.

5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a method of extracting a center line or a center of gravity of a binarized image in the representative portion extracting means of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a conventional method for observing a gas flow in a gas meter.

[Explanation of Codes] 22 Motion Region Extracting Means 23 Representative Part Extracting Means 24 Synthesizing Means 26 Difference Processing Means 27 Emphasizing Means 28 Smoothing Means 29 Binarizing Means

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image inputting means for inputting a plurality of images obtained by continuously photographing a flow of a fluid, and temporally different images input by the image inputting means.
The image processing apparatus includes a moving region extracting unit that performs a difference process on two images to extract a region in which the fluid has moved, and a representative portion extracting unit that extracts a portion representing the region extracted by the moving region extracting unit. An image processing / analyzing device for fluid, characterized by: 2. An image input by the image input unit for the portion extracted by the representative portion extraction unit, which is temporally close to two images for which the motion region extraction unit performs difference processing. The image processing and analyzing apparatus for fluid according to claim 1, further comprising a synthesizing unit for synthesizing the fluid. 3. The fluid image processing and analyzing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the representative portion extracting means extracts a center line or a center of gravity of the area extracted by the moving area extracting means. 4. The motion region extraction means performs enhancement processing, smoothing processing, and binarization processing on the image after the difference processing to extract a region in which the fluid has moved. An image processing and analyzing apparatus for fluid according to claim 1, 2 or 3.