Multi-camera programmable pan-and-tilt apparatus

摘要

A multi-camera programmable pan-and-tilt apparatus comprising a base and a camera mechanism having a first camera and a second camera, with the second camera including a zoom mechanism for varying the zoom magnification of the second camera. The apparatus further has a pan-and-tilt mechanism for moving the cameras with respect to the base, and a video switch receiving the video outputs of the cameras and selecting one for view. The first camera is viewed while the camera mechanism is moved from one scene to another and the second camera is viewed while the camera mechanism is not moving and is paused for observation of a scene. A programmable controller controls the camera mechanism and the pan-and-tilt mechanism, and, while the camera mechanism is moving from one scene to another and the output of the first camera is being viewed, causes the zoom magnification and focus of the second camera to become set to the desired zoom magnification and focus for the next scene position. The second camera may also have a motion sensor alarm for detecting viewed motion while the camera mechanism is paused at a given scene, and the detection of such motion can cause the camera mechanism to pause an additional time at the given scene and to alert the operator. A microphone may detect motion noise of the pan and tilt and cause the viewed video to switch from camera to camera in response to the motion noise.