Vehicle Identification, Tracking and Parking Enforcement System

• US 20080231470A1
• Filed: 06/02/2008
• Published: 09/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Edward D. Ioli Trust
• Inventors: Ioli, Edward D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,791,501 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/932.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/30 Transportation; Communications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/00 Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points handling coins or valuable papers, e.g. banknotes, G07D; apparatus for vending or hiring articles or services activated by coins, credit cards, paper currency or the like G07F7/00, G07F17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0175 by photographing vehicles, e.g. when violating traffic rules
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/207 with respect to certain areas, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas with possible alerting when inside or outside boundaries

Abstract

A system for monitoring and tracking vehicles in parking locations, public roadways and highway entrances and exits and other public vehicle access areas is provided, such as to monitor and track vehicles in parking spaces, public roadways and highways without the need for parking or traffic personnel. The system includes a meter system that generates image data of a vehicle in a parking space, public roadway and highway entrances and exits such as by creating an array of pixel data in a predetermined field of view that includes a vehicle identification tag and facial imaging. An enforcement and tracking system receives the image data and generates a vehicle license number, vehicle tag identification number and facial image from the image data, such as by analyzing the image data to identify the vehicle license number, vehicle tag identification number and facial image based on the expected location of the license tag, identification tag and field of view image data characteristics of the license tag, facial image or other suitable data. From the image data acquired, monitoring of parking spaces is performed and violation citations or notices are generated for errant vehicles in parking locations as well as notification to law enforcement and homeland security agencies of vehicles and facial images identified as being on a watch list.

Claims

1-20. -20. (canceled)

21. A method for monitoring suspicious vehicular activity comprising:

receiving one set of image data of a plurality of vehicles;

extracting identifying feature data from the image data;

transmitting the identifying feature data and first location data to a tracking system;

determining whether the identifying feature data matches identifying feature data obtained from a second location; and

generating an alert if the identifying feature data matches the identifying feature data obtained from the second location.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein extracting the identifying feature data from the image data comprises extracting license tag data.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the first location and the second location are different.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein determining whether the identifying feature data matches the identifying feature data obtained from the second location is performed manually.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein the set of image data of the plurality of vehicles is obtained at an intersection.

26. The method of claim 21 wherein generating the alert if the identifying feature data matches the identifying feature data obtained from the second location comprises generating a notification for law enforcement agency review.

27. The method of claim 26 further comprising generating a citation.

28. A system for identifying vehicles by monitoring traffic comprising:

a monitoring system for receiving a single set of image data of a plurality of vehicles at a location and generating vehicle feature data from the image data; and

a watch list system for receiving the vehicle feature data, storing the vehicle feature data and associated location data, and determining whether the vehicle feature data matches stored vehicle feature data.

29. The system of claim 28 further comprising a jurisdiction system for generating jurisdiction notification data if the vehicle feature data matches the stored vehicle feature data.

30. The system of claim 28 further comprising a violation system for generating a citation.

31. The system of claim 28 further comprising a billing system for assessing a charge.

32. The system of claim 28 wherein the monitoring system comprises a video data system.

33. The system of claim 28 wherein the watch list system is for providing notification data to authorities.

34. A method for monitoring suspicious vehicular activity comprising:

identifying a set of locations for monitoring;

receiving one set of image data of a plurality of vehicles, each at a first associated position;

extracting identifying feature data from the image data of the plurality of vehicles;

receiving one set of image data of the plurality of vehicles, each at a second associated position;

determining whether the identifying feature data matches stored identifying feature data;

generating an alert if the identifying feature data matches stored identifying feature data; and

storing the identifying feature data in a list.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein extracting the identifying feature data from the image data for each of the plurality of vehicles comprises extracting facial image data.

36. The method of claim 34 wherein extracting the identifying feature data from the image data for each of the plurality of vehicles comprises extracting license tag data.

37. The method of claim 34 wherein determining whether the identifying feature data matches the stored identifying feature data comprises determining whether the identifying feature data matches the stored identifying feature data in the watch list.

38. The method of claim 34 wherein generating the alert if the identifying feature data matches the stored identifying feature data comprises:

activating a plurality of monitoring stations in a vicinity of the location of the vehicle associated with the identifying feature data; and

determining whether the identifying feature data has been detected at one of the monitoring stations.

39. The method of claim 38 further comprising:

determining a jurisdiction system associated with the monitoring station where the identifying feature data has been detected; and

generating notification data for the associated jurisdiction system.

40. The method of claim 38 further comprising:

determining whether the identifying feature data has been detected at one or more of the monitoring stations; and

determining an estimated direction of travel based on one or more of a location from where the set of image data associated with the identifying feature was received and a location of each of the one or more monitoring stations where the identifying feature data has been detected.