Patent Description:
A technique is proposed in which, when a speaker carrying a remote control device for transmitting an infrared signal moves on a stage in a theater, a lecture hall, or the like, the infrared signal is detected so that a moving light illuminates the speaker by tracking the speaker (for example, Patent Literature <NUM>).

<CIT> discloses a lighting remote control system that includes an illuminating device for irradiating illumination light in a changeable direction, a remote controller for irradiating visible light, a direction sensor for detecting an irradiating direction of the visible light based on a posture of the remote controller, and a position sensor for detecting position coordinates of the remote controller. The illuminating device is designed to irradiate the illumination light on a position specified pursuant to the position coordinates of the remote controller detected by the position sensor, the irradiating direction of the visible light detected by the direction sensor and an arbitrarily-set unit length.

If a plurality of speakers each carrying remote control devices are on the stage, it is necessary to distinguish and detect signals from the respective remote control devices. In this regard, a case where signals transmitted by two remote control devices are detected by a CMOS sensor is hereinafter considered.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the CMOS sensor scans from a coordinate (<NUM>, <NUM>) to a coordinate (X, Y) in a direction indicated by an arrow. Here, as illustrated in <FIG>, when the CMOS sensor detects a signal (light source A) from a first remote control device at a coordinate (X1, Y1), a label <NUM> is allocated to the detected signal (light source A), and when the CMOS sensor detects a signal (light source B) from a second remote control device at a coordinate (X2, Y2), a label <NUM> is allocated to the detected signal (light source B). Thereafter, as illustrated in <FIG>, when the light source A is turned off, the CMOS sensor sets the label <NUM> to a dead number. Thereafter, as illustrated in <FIG>, when the light source A is turned on, the CMOS sensor allocates the label <NUM> to the light source A again. In this case, the label <NUM> is constantly allocated to the light source A and the label <NUM> is constantly allocated to the light source B, and thus no problem occurs.

However, in the case illustrated in <FIG> after <FIG>, a problem to be described below occurs.

After <FIG>, as illustrated in <FIG>, when both the light source A and the light source B are turned off, the CMOS sensor sets the labels <NUM> and <NUM> to dead numbers. Thereafter, as illustrated in <FIG>, when the light source B is turned on, the CMOS sensor allocates the label <NUM> to the light source B. In this case, although the label <NUM> is first allocated to the light source B, the label <NUM> is allocated when the light source B is turned off and then is turned on again, and thus the CMOS sensor erroneously detects the light source A in place of the light source B. In other words, the CMOS sensor erroneously detects the first remote control device and the second remote control device as each other.

In view of the above-described problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control device, and a lighting device including a moving light for tracking and illuminating the remote control device for transmitting a light signal having a pulse pattern capable of reducing the possibility of false detection.

The invention provides a lighting device according to claim <NUM>.

In the lighting device according to the present invention, it is preferable that the first ON period and the second ON period be (n + <NUM>) x T and the OFF period be <NUM> T, where T is the sampling time and n is an integer of <NUM> or more.

In the lighting device according to the present invention, it is preferable for the sensor to assume a period including two of the first ON periods and two of the second ON periods to be one cycle.

In the lighting device according to the present invention, it is preferable for the sensor to detect the light signal based on a detected area of a light source or a change rate of a coordinate.

In the lighting device according to the present invention, it is preferable for the moving light to disregard the detected light signal when direction information about a tilt exceeds a predetermined threshold.

<FIG> is a perspective view of a lighting device according to the present invention.

A lighting device <NUM> includes four remote control devices 10a to 10d, a sensor <NUM> which is, for example, a CMOS sensor <NUM>, and a moving light <NUM>. Hereinafter, when the remote control devices 10a to 10d are not particularly distinguished, the remote control devices 10a to 10d are simply referred to as the remote control device <NUM>. A light signal (for example, a pulse signal of light having any wavelength range, such as an infrared signal, a visible light signal, or an ultraviolet light signal) from each remote control device <NUM> is received by the CMOS sensor <NUM>, and the moving light <NUM> is controlled to track and illuminate the remote control device <NUM> that has transmitted the signal.

Herein, a device including the remote control device <NUM> and the CMOS sensor <NUM> is referred to as a communication device.

<FIG> is a block diagram of the remote control device.

The remote control device <NUM> includes a control unit <NUM>, a signal storage unit <NUM> and a signal transmission unit <NUM>. Upon detecting that a user has turned on a power supply of the remote control device <NUM>, the control unit <NUM> transmits a signal as the light signal based on a signal pattern stored in the signal storage unit <NUM> through the signal transmission unit <NUM>. As described below with reference to <FIG>, the signal patterns stored in the signal storage unit <NUM> are unique for each of the remote control devices 10a to 10d (i.e., the signal patterns stored in the signal storage unit <NUM> are different in the respective remote control devices 10a to 10d).

The remote control devices 10a to 10d are used such that, for example, the remote control devices 10a to 10d are held by four users, respectively, with their hands, or are attached to the clothes or the like of the respective users.

<FIG> is a block diagram of the CMOS sensor.

The CMOS sensor <NUM> includes a signal detection unit <NUM> and a control unit <NUM>. The signal detection unit <NUM> detects signals from the remote control devices 10a to 10d. Specifically, as described above with reference to <FIG>, the signal detection unit <NUM> scans from a coordinate (<NUM>, <NUM>) to a coordinate (X, Y). A CMOS sampling time (a time required for scanning from the coordinate (<NUM>, <NUM>) to the coordinate (X, Y)) is, for example, <NUM>, but any time can be set as the sampling time. Here, as illustrated in <FIG>, the CMOS sensor detects the signal (light source A) from the remote control device 10a at a coordinate (X1, Y1) and detects the signal (light source B) from the remote control device 10b at a coordinate (X2, Y2). Note that for simplicity of explanation, the illustration of the signals from the remote control devices 10c and 10d is omitted.

Thereafter, the control unit <NUM> allocates labels to signals detected at each sampling time in the order of scanning. In the case of <FIG>, a label <NUM> is allocated to the signal (light source A) from the remote control device 10a, and a label <NUM> is allocated to the signal (light source B) from the remote control device 10b. The control unit <NUM> transmits label information to the moving light <NUM> by a wired connection or a wireless connection. The label information includes coordinate (position) information of the light sources to which the labels are allocated.

Referring again to <FIG>, the configuration and operation of the moving light will be described.

The moving light <NUM> includes a clockwise/counterclockwise rotation unit <NUM>, an arm <NUM> fixed to a lower side of the clockwise/counterclockwise rotation unit <NUM>, a hood <NUM> held by the arm <NUM> and a lighting appliance <NUM> placed inside the hood <NUM>.

The clockwise/counterclockwise rotation unit <NUM> includes a pan motor Mp and a variable control unit <NUM>. The clockwise/counterclockwise rotation unit <NUM> is connected to a fixing portion of a ceiling and configured to be rotatable clockwise or counterclockwise by the pan motor Mp. Further, the clockwise/counterclockwise rotation unit <NUM> can hold the arm <NUM> and pan an illumination direction L of the lighting appliance <NUM> in a left-right direction by the rotation of the pan motor Mp.

The hood <NUM> is held by the arm <NUM> and configured to be rotatable upward or downward by a tilt motor Mt attached to the arm <NUM>. The illumination direction L of the lighting appliance <NUM> can be tilted up and down by the rotation of the tilt motor Mt. The hood <NUM> is configured to be able to adjust a focal length of the lighting appliance <NUM> using the focus motor Mf and a lens which is not illustrated.

<FIG> is a block diagram of the moving light.

The variable control unit <NUM> includes a communication unit <NUM> for receiving label information from the CMOS sensor <NUM>, a motor control unit <NUM> for controlling the motor, and motor drive circuits 38p, 38t and 38f. The variable control unit <NUM> variably controls the rotational speed of each of the pan motor Mp, the tilt motor Mt and the focus motor Mf. Hereinafter, when the motor drive circuits 38p, 38t and 38f are not particularly distinguished, the motor drive circuits 38p, 38t and 38f are simply referred to as the motor drive circuit <NUM>, and when the pan motor Mp, the tilt motor Mt and the focus motor Mf are not particularly distinguished, the pan motor Mp, the tilt motor Mt and the focus motor Mf are simply referred to as the motor M.

The communication unit <NUM> receives label information from the CMOS sensor <NUM> by a wired connection or a wireless connection, and outputs a reception signal Sm based on the label information. The communication unit <NUM> decodes an ON signal or an OFF signal based on the label information, specifies a target light source to be tracked depending on the decoding result, determines direction information (pan, tilt, focus) and a rotation direction (plus, minus) of the motor, and outputs these signals to the motor control unit <NUM>.

The motor control unit <NUM> generates instruction signals Sp, St and Sf for controlling the rotational speed of any one of the motors M based on the reception signal Sm. Hereinafter, when the instruction signals Sp, St and Sf are not particularly distinguished, the instruction signals Sp, St and Sf are simply referred to as the instruction signal S. The instruction signal S output to the motor drive circuit <NUM> by the motor control unit <NUM> includes an instruction for the rotation direction of the motor M. For example, if the instruction signal S is switched from plus to minus, the rotation direction of the motor M is reversed.

The motor drive circuit 38p drives the pan motor Mp at the rotational speed in response to the instruction signal Sp. The pan motor Mp adjusts the illumination direction L of the lighting appliance <NUM> leftward or rightward.

The motor drive circuit 38t drives the tilt motor Mt at the rotational speed in response to the instruction signal St. The tilt motor Mt adjusts the illumination direction L of the lighting appliance <NUM> upward or downward.

The motor drive circuit 38f drives the focus motor Mf at the rotational speed in response to the instruction signal Sf. The focus motor Mf adjusts the focal length of the lighting appliance <NUM> forward or backward.

Note that the present embodiment illustrates an example where all of pan, tilt and zoom states of the lighting appliance <NUM> are adjusted (controlled), but any one of the pan, tilt and zoom states may be adjusted (controlled). Further, a broadcast appliance such as a monitoring camera or a camera for broadcasting may be used as a control target appliance to adjust (control) states such as pan, tilt and zoom states. Furthermore, a projector as typified by a liquid crystal projector, a DLP projector (R), and the like may be used as a control target appliance to adjust (control) states such as focus and a projection angle on a screen by the motor.

Herein, a device including the communication device (including the remote control device <NUM> and the CMOS sensor <NUM>) and an appliance (a camera, a projector, etc.) whose state varies by tracking the remote control device <NUM> is referred to as a variable device.

<FIG> illustrates pulse patterns of transmission signals from the remote control devices 10a to 10d.

In the remote control device 10a, the pulse pattern includes a first ON period (<NUM>) and a second ON period (<NUM>), which are repeated alternately, and an OFF period (<NUM>) is included between the first ON period and the second ON period. As described above, since a sampling time T of the CMOS sensor <NUM> is <NUM>, the CMOS sensor <NUM> detects the ON signal twice or three times (which indicates that the remote control device 10a is turned on) in the first ON period (<NUM> = <NUM> T). For example, if sampling is performed at <NUM> and <NUM>, the CMOS sensor <NUM> detects the ON signal twice, and if sampling is performed at <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, the CMOS sensor <NUM> detects the ON signal <NUM> times. Further, the CMOS sensor <NUM> detects the ON signal <NUM> times or <NUM> times in the second ON period (<NUM> = <NUM> T) and detects the OFF signal at least once (which indicates that the remote control device 10a is turned off) in the OFF period (<NUM> = <NUM> T).

In the remote control device 10b, the pulse pattern includes the first ON period (<NUM>) and the second ON period (<NUM>), which are repeated alternately. Therefore, the CMOS sensor <NUM> detects the ON signal <NUM> times or <NUM> times in the first ON period (<NUM> = <NUM> T) and detects the ON signal <NUM> times or <NUM> times in the second ON period (<NUM> = <NUM> T).

In the remote control device 10c, the pulse pattern includes the first ON period (<NUM>) and the second ON period (<NUM>), which are repeated alternately. Therefore, the CMOS sensor <NUM> detects the ON signal <NUM> times or <NUM> times in the first ON period (<NUM> = <NUM> T) and detects the ON signal <NUM> times or <NUM> times in the second ON period (<NUM> = <NUM> T).

In the remote control device 10d, the pulse pattern includes the first ON period (<NUM>) and the second ON period (<NUM>), which are repeated alternately. Therefore, the CMOS sensor <NUM> detects the ON signal <NUM> times or <NUM> times in the first ON period (<NUM> = <NUM> T) and detects the ON signal <NUM> times or <NUM> times in the second ON period (<NUM> = <NUM> T).

Since the remote control devices 10a to 10d have the same OFF period of <NUM>, the CMOS sensor <NUM> detects the OFF signal at least once in the OFF period.

As described above, the first ON period and the second ON period are more than twice as long as the sampling time T, and the first ON period and the second ON period are different from each other. Accordingly, the ON signal can be detected twice or more in each of the first ON period and the second ON period. Since the OFF period is longer than the sampling time T, the OFF signal can be detected once or more in the OFF period.

Further, the remote control devices 10a to 10d include respectively different first ON periods and different second ON periods, which makes it possible to reduce the possibility of false detection in the remote control devices 10a to 10d.

Preferably, the first ON period and the second ON period are (n + <NUM>) x T and the OFF period is <NUM> T, where T is the sampling time and n is an integer of <NUM> or more. Through use of these settings, even when the sampling start of the CMOS sensor <NUM> is not synchronized with the pulse pattern of each of the remote control devices 10a to 10d, the CMOS sensor <NUM> can reliably detect the ON signal twice or more in each of the first ON period and the second ON period and can reliably detect the OFF signal once or more in the OFF period.

As long as the first ON period and the second ON period are more than twice as long as the sampling time T and different from each other, the first ON period and the second ON period may be <NUM> T, for example. As long as the OFF period is longer than the sampling time T, the OFF period may be <NUM> T, for example.

It is preferable for the CMOS sensor <NUM> to perform detection, assuming that a period including two first ON periods and two second ON periods is one cycle. In the case of the pulse pattern illustrated in <FIG>, one cycle of each of the remote control devices 10a and 10b is <NUM> and one cycle of each of the remote control devices 10c and 10d is <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates pulse patterns of transmission signals from remote control devices according to a Comparative Example.

In a remote control device 10a', the pulse pattern includes the ON period (<NUM>) and the OFF period (<NUM>), which are repeated alternately. Accordingly, the CMOS sensor <NUM> detects the ON signal <NUM> times or <NUM> times in the ON period (<NUM> = <NUM> T) and detects the OFF signal <NUM> times or <NUM> times in the OFF period (<NUM> = <NUM> T).

In a remote control device 10b', the pulse pattern includes the ON period (<NUM>) and the OFF period (<NUM>), which are repeated alternately. Accordingly, the CMOS sensor <NUM> detects the ON signal <NUM> times or <NUM> times in the ON period (<NUM> = <NUM> T) and detects the OFF signal <NUM> times or <NUM> times in the OFF period (<NUM> = <NUM> T).

A case is assumed: although the remote control device 10b' transmits the above-described pulse pattern, when the user carrying the remote control device 10b' substantially moves or when the signal transmission unit of the remote control device 10b' is hidden, the CMOS sensor <NUM> cannot detect the ON signal in a portion indicated by a dashed circle in <FIG>. In this case, assuming that a period including one ON period and one OFF period is one cycle, the CMOS sensor <NUM> cannot distinguish the remote control devices 10a' and 10b'.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the possibility of false detection in the remote control devices by increasing the complexity of the pulse pattern using two ON signals with different widths as illustrated in <FIG>.

Further, as illustrated in a remote control device 10c', if the OFF period (<NUM>) is longer than the ON period (<NUM>), the problem of false detection due to the replacement as described above is likely to occur.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is preferable that the OFF period be shorter than each of the first ON period and the second ON period.

Note that there is a possibility that false detection may occur due to light signals, such as sunlight, from light sources different from the remote control device <NUM>. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility of false detection by increasing the complexity of the pulse pattern.

The control unit <NUM> of the CMOS sensor <NUM> can allocate labels in consideration of not only the above-described pulse pattern, but also a detected area of a light source or a change rate of a coordinate.

For example, even when the CMOS sensor <NUM> detects a predetermined pattern of the remote control device 10a as illustrated in <FIG>, if the sensor light receiving area where the CMOS sensor <NUM> has received light from the light source greatly varies, or if the coordinate (position) of the light source greatly varies, the label <NUM> cannot be allocated to the detected light source, and it is determined that the light source is not an object to be tracked (the tracked object is lost). This configuration makes it possible to further reduce the possibility of false detection by performing detection with higher accuracy.

Further, on the premise that the remote control device <NUM> is carried by the user and present on the stage or the like and thus not present in the vicinity of the ceiling, if direction information about a tilt exceeds a predetermined threshold, or if the moving light <NUM> receives label information indicating that the vicinity of the ceiling is illuminated, the variable control unit <NUM> of the moving light <NUM> can also disregard the label information. Through use of this configuration, the moving light <NUM> installed on the ceiling can avoid erroneously recognizing a light source of a lighting appliance installed near the same ceiling as the light source of the remote control device <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A lighting device (<NUM>) comprising:
a communication device including a plurality of remote control devices (<NUM>;10a-10d) and a sensor (<NUM>); and
a moving light (<NUM>) for tracking and illuminating the plurality of remote control devices (<NUM>;10a-10d) based on information from the sensor (<NUM>), whereby
each of the plurality of remote control devices (io;ioa-iod) includes a signal storage unit (<NUM>) for storing a plurality of pulse patterns, which are unique for each of the plurality of remote control devices (<NUM>;10a-10d) and is configured for transmitting a light signal having a pulse pattern of the plurality of pulse patterns to be detected by the sensor (<NUM>),
each of the pulse patterns includes a first ON period, a second ON period and an OFF period between the first ON period and the second ON period, the first ON period and the second ON period being repeated alternately,
the first ON period and the second ON period are more than twice as long as a sampling time T of the sensor (<NUM>),
a length of the first ON period and a length of the second ON period are different from each other, and
the OFF period is longer than the sampling time T.