METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY TRACKING A MOVING OBJECT

An apparatus and method for automatically tracking an object is provided. The apparatus for performing the method includes a camera having a zoom lens, an automatic focus lens, and a charge coupled device for converting an image of an object input via the lens into electrical signals. The camera is mounted on a camera supporter to rotate the camera around a first axis and the axis perpendicular to the first axis. The supporter includes holes and sensors for detecting the rotational limit of the camera in the horizontal and vertical directions. A pan/tilt controller detects a motion vector of the object, and controls the camera to move in the direction and degree corresponding to the detected motion vector. A zoom focus controller performs a zooming operation to expand an object search region of the camera whenever the camera reaches the limit of the rotational range in at least one direction, and adjusts an automatic focusing lens. A system controller connected to the pan/tilt controller and zoom/focus controller initializes a camera in order to automatically track a moving object and controls the operations sequence of each functional block.