Vehicle inspection system and method with vehicle reference image retrieval and comparison function

• US 10,007,020 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2015
• Issued: 06/26/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nuctech Company Limited (Tsinghua Tongfang Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Nuctech Company Limited (Tsinghua Tongfang Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Li, Jianmin, Li, Ying, Li, Yulan, Gu, Jianping, Li, Yuanjing, Chen, Zhiqiang
• Primary Examiner(s): Lu, Tom Y
• Application Number:
  US14/970,679
• Publication Number:
  US 20160178790A1
• Time in Patent Office: 923 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2223/639 material in a container
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 23/04 and forming images of the material
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 5/20 Detecting prohibited goods, e.g. weapons, explosives, hazardous substances, contraband or smuggled objects
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 5/22 Active interrogation, i.e. by irradiating objects or goods using external radiation sources, e.g. using gamma rays or cosmic rays
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/22 Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10116 X-ray image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30112 Baggage; Luggage; Suitcase
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30248 Vehicle exterior or interior
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30268 Vehicle interior
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/001 using an image reference approach
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/60 Analysis of geometric attributes
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/74 involving reference images or patches
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/00 Scenes; Scene-specific elements control of digital cameras H04N23/60
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/05 Recognition of patterns representing particular kinds of hidden objects, e.g. weapons, explosives, drugs
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/08 Detecting or categorising vehicles

Abstract

A vehicle inspection method is disclosed, comprising steps of: implementing a ray scanning inspection on an inspected vehicle, so as to obtain a ray scanning inspection image of the inspected vehicle; extracting vehicle characteristic information; comparing the vehicle characteristic information of the inspected vehicle to vehicle reference characteristics stored in a database, selecting a closest vehicle reference characteristic which is closest to the vehicle characteristic information, and finding out a closest ray transmission reference image on the basis of a corresponding relationship between the vehicle reference characteristics and ray transmission reference images stored in the storage unit; determining a first distinguishing area of the ray scanning inspection image from the closest ray transmission reference image by comparing the ray scanning inspection image of the inspected vehicle to the closest ray transmission reference image. A vehicle inspection system is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A vehicle inspection method, comprising steps of:

implementing a ray scanning inspection on an inspected vehicle, so as to obtain a ray scanning inspection image of the inspected vehicle;

extracting vehicle characteristic information;

comparing the vehicle characteristic information of the inspected vehicle to vehicle reference characteristics stored in a storage, selecting a vehicle reference characteristic which is closest to the vehicle characteristic information, and finding out a closest ray transmission reference image on the basis of a corresponding relationship between the vehicle reference characteristics and ray transmission reference images stored in the storage;

determining a first distinguishing area of the ray scanning inspection image from the closest ray transmission reference image by comparing the ray scanning inspection image of the inspected vehicle to the closest ray transmission reference image; and

wherein the step of finding out the closest ray transmission reference image comprises steps of;

firstly selecting a plurality of closer ray transmission reference images after comparing the vehicle characteristic information of the inspected vehicle to the vehicle reference characteristics stored in a storage, and then selecting the closest ray transmission reference image from the plurality of closer ray transmission reference images.

2. The vehicle inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle characteristic information is extracted from the ray scanning inspection image of the inspected vehicle.

3. The vehicle inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle characteristic information is extracted from a vehicle picture captured by an optical method using a wave which has a wavelength greater than X-ray.

4. The vehicle inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle characteristic information is obtained by a sensor.

5. The vehicle inspection method according to claim 1, further comprising steps of:

highlighting the first distinguishing area for a user in the ray scanning inspection image; and

/or

identifying a preset contraband item in the first distinguishing area.

6. The vehicle inspection method according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle characteristic information is chosen from at least one of the following characteristics:

a length, a width or a height of the vehicle;

a relative position of an interior part, an external part, an interior marker or an external marker of the vehicle;

contents of the interior marker or the external marker of the vehicle.

7. The vehicle inspection method according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle characteristic information is chosen from at least one of the following characteristics:

a length, a width or a height of the vehicle;

a relative position of an external part or an external marker of the vehicle;

contents of the external marker of the vehicle.

8. The vehicle inspection method according to claim 1, wherein selecting the closest ray transmission reference image from the plurality of closer ray transmission reference images is performed by a manual and/or machine algorithm.

9. The vehicle inspection method according to claim 1, wherein a history inspection database in the storage is automatically updated according to the ray scanning inspection image obtained during each scanning.

10. The vehicle inspection method according to claim 1, wherein a vehicle type image library is stored in the storage;

and

the method further comprises steps of;

selecting a corresponding vehicle type image from the vehicle type image library based on the vehicle characteristic information; and

determining a second distinguishing area of the ray scanning inspection image from the selected vehicle type image by comparing the ray scanning inspection image of the inspected vehicle to the selected vehicle type image.

11. A vehicle inspection system, comprising:

a ray scanning unit comprising a radiation source and a detector, which is configured for scanning an inspected vehicle so as to obtain a ray scanning inspection image;

an image processor configured to extract vehicle characteristic information from the ray scanning inspection image;

a storage;

a processor configured to compare the extracted vehicle characteristic information to vehicle reference characteristics stored in the storage so as to find out a closest ray transmission reference image stored in the storage and in correspondence with the vehicle reference characteristics, and configured to compare the ray scanning inspection image of the inspected vehicle to the closest ray transmission reference image so as to determine a first distinguishing area of the ray scanning inspection image from the closest ray transmission reference image; and

wherein the processor is configured to find out the closest ray transmission reference image by firstly selecting a plurality of closer ray transmission reference images after comparing the vehicle characteristic information of the inspected vehicle to the vehicle reference characteristics stored in a storage, and then selecting the closest ray transmission reference image from the plurality of closer ray transmission reference images.

13. The vehicle inspection system according to claim 11, further comprising a camera unit configured to capture a vehicle picture, and wherein the image processor is configured to extract vehicle characteristic information from the vehicle picture.

14. The vehicle inspection system according to claim 11, further comprising:

a display unit configured to highlight the first distinguishing area for a user in the ray scanning inspection image.

15. The vehicle inspection system according to claim 11, wherein the storage comprises a vehicle type database module and a history inspection database module.

12. A vehicle inspection system, comprising:

a ray scanning unit comprising a radiation source and a detector, which is configured for scanning an inspected vehicle so as to obtain a ray scanning inspection image;

a sensor unit configured to extract vehicle characteristic information;

a storage;

a processor configured to compare the extracted vehicle characteristic information to vehicle reference characteristics stored in the storage so as to find out a closest ray transmission reference image stored in the storage and in correspondence with the vehicle reference characteristics, and configured to compare the ray scanning inspection image of the inspected vehicle to the closest ray transmission reference image so as to determine a first distinguishing area of the ray scanning inspection image from the closest ray transmission reference image; and

wherein the processor is configured to find out the closest ray transmission reference image by firstly selecting a plurality of closer ray transmission reference images after comparing the vehicle characteristic information of the inspected vehicle to the vehicle reference characteristics stored in a storage, and then selecting the closest ray transmission reference image from the plurality of closer ray transmission reference images.

16. The vehicle inspection system according to claim 12, further comprising:

a display unit configured to highlight the first distinguishing area for a user in the ray scanning inspection image.

17. The vehicle inspection system according to claim 12, wherein the storage comprises a vehicle type database module and a history inspection database module.