ACCESS CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD USING RADIO-FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION AND IMAGING

• US 20110001606A1
• Filed: 06/29/2010
• Published: 01/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mountain Box Systems
• Original Assignee: Mountain Box Systems
• Inventors: Charych, Harold
• Granted Patent: US 8,674,805 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.7
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/10 Movable barriers with registering means
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence

Abstract

The invention provides an access control system and method for ski areas or similar facilities which uses a combination of RFID enabled tags and video-image derived biometric information to control access through an access gate.

Claims

1. An access gate comprising:

a base;

a first wall and a second wall attached to the base, each wall having an inside surface, an outside surface, a height, an entrance side and an exit side;

a gate space defined by the inside surface of the first wall and the second wall and the base;

at least one access bar mounted to the exit side of the first wall and the second wall, the at least one access bar being moveable between an open position, allowing exit from the gate space, to a closed position in which exit from the gate space is denied;

a radio frequency identification reader for reading RFID enabled tags within the gate space; and

a video camera for capturing images of the gate space.

2. The gate of claim 1, further comprising an entrance ramp with an outer edge attached to a first side of the base and an exit ramp with an outer edge attached to a second side of the base, the entrance ramp and exit ramp each moveable between a first position and a second position.

3. The gate of claim 2, wherein in the first position, the outer edge of the entrance ramp and the outer edge of the exit ramp are in contact with a ground surface.

4. The gate of claim 2, wherein in the second position, the outer edge of the entrance ramp and the outer edge of the exit ramp are rotated inwards towards a center of the gate space, exposing gate legs, wherein when the gate legs are exposed, the gate is slidable on a ground surface.

5. The gate of claim 1, further comprising indicia on the inside surface of at least the first wall or the second wall for determining a height relative to the indicia.

6. The gate of claim 1, further comprising handles removeably attached to the gate.

7. The gate of claim 1, further comprising:

a first sensor mounted at the entrance side of the first wall and the second wall for sensing entrance into the gate space;

a second sensor mounted at the exit side of the first wall and the second wall for sensing exit from the gate space; and

a third sensor mounted on an inside surface of at least one of the first wall and the second wall for sensing a skier centered within the gate space.

8. The gate of claim 1, further comprising a roof connected to the first wall and the second wall.

9. The gate of claim 8, further comprising a range finder mounted adjacent the video camera underneath the roof.

10. The gate of claim 1, wherein the first wall and the second wall further comprise radio frequency shielding.

11. The gate of claim 1, wherein the gate is connectable to another access gate through an interconnection piece.

12. The gate of claim 1, further comprising a computer coupled to the radio frequency identification reader, the video camera and the at least one access bar, programmed such that when a user enters the gate space with an RFID enabled tag, the radio frequency identification reader reads the RFID enabled tag and the video camera records an image of the gate space to derive biometrics of the user, and permits the at least one access bar to move to the open position to allow access through the access gate based upon correspondence between the RFID tag and the biometrics.

13. The gate of claim 1, in which the height of the first wall and the second wall can be adjusted from a folded position for transportation to a full-height position for use.

14. The gate of claim 1, further comprising a barcode reader.

15. An access gate comprising:

a first wall and a second wall each attached to a U-shaped tube, each wall having an inside surface, an outside surface, an entrance side and an exit side;

a gate space defined by the inside surface of the first wall and the second wall;

at least one access bar mounted to the exit side of the first wall and the second wall, the at least one access bar being moveable between an open position, allowing exit from the gate space, to a closed position in which exit from the gate space is denied;

a radio frequency identification reader for reading RFID enabled tags within the gate space; and

a video camera for capturing images of the gate space.

16. The gate of claim 15, further comprising indicia on the inside surface of at least the first wall or the second wall for determining a height relative to the indicia.

17. The gate of claim 15, further comprising:

a first sensor mounted at the entrance side of at least one of the first wall and the second wall for sensing entrance into the gate space;

a second sensor mounted at the exit side of at least one of the first wall and the second wall for sensing exit from the gate space; and

a third sensor mounted on an inside surface of at least one of the first wall and the second wall for sensing a skier centered within the gate space.

18. The gate of claim 15, further comprising a roof connected to the first wall and the second wall.

19. The gate of claim 18, further comprising a range finder mounted adjacent the video camera underneath the roof.

20. The gate of claim 15, wherein the first wall and the second wall further comprise radio frequency shielding.

21. The gate of claim 15, further comprising a computer coupled to the radio frequency identification reader, the video camera and the at least one access bar, programmed such that when a user enters the gate space with an RFID enabled tag, the radio frequency identification reader reads the RFID enabled tag and the video camera records an image of the gate space to derive biometrics of the user, and permits the at least one access bar to move to the open position to allow access through the access gate based upon correspondence between the RFID tag and the biometrics.

22. The gate of claim 15, further comprising a barcode reader.

23. The gate of claim 15, wherein the gate is mounted to a gantry.

24. The gate of claim 23, wherein the gantry is rotatable about a central shaft.

25. The gate of claim 15, further comprising a vertical pole having indicia for measuring snow depth, attached to the U-shaped tube and extending downward therefrom.

26. A method of controlling access to an area using an access gate enclosing a gate space and having at least one access door movable from a closed position to an open position, a radio frequency identification reader for reading RFID enabled tags, and a video camera for capturing images of the gate space, the method comprising:

a) recording an image of a user entering the gate space;

b) reading an identification from an RFID enabled tag in the gate space with the radio frequency identification reader;

c) comparing the identification from the RFID enabled tag to a first database;

d) if the identification from the RFID enabled tag matches identification data present in the first database, determining from data in the first database that the RFID enabled tag is valid for access, then;

i) if the RFID enabled tag is valid for access, deriving a plurality of biometrics of the user from the image;

ii) determining if biometrics is present in a second database associated with the RFID enabled tag;

iii) if there is no biometrics present in the second database, indicating that the RFID enabled tag has not previously entered an access gate, then;

A) storing the biometrics derived in step (ii) in the second database, associated with the identification of the RFID enabled tag;

B) allowing the user to exit through the access gate by allowing the at least one access door to move to the open position;

iv) if biometrics are present in the second database associated with the RFID enabled tag, indicating that the RFID enabled tag has previously entered an access gate, then;

A) comparing the biometrics derived in step (ii) to biometrics stored in the second database;

B) if the comparison of step (iv)(A) indicates that the biometrics derived in step (ii) match the biometrics stored in the second database, allowing the user to exit through the access gate by allowing the at least one access door to move to the open position.

27. The method of claim 26, in which step (a) of recording an image further comprises converting the image to a silhouette.

28. The method of claim 26, in which the access gate further comprises a rangefinder for determining a distance between the camera and the user, and the deriving biometrics of step (d)(i) further comprises using the distance between the camera and the user to determine biometrics comprising a plurality of dimensions of parts of the user'"'"'s body.

29. The method of claim 26, in which the biometrics comprise a shoulder width of the user.

30. The method of claim 26, in which the biometrics comprise a height of the user.

31. The method of claim 26 in which the biometrics comprise a distance measured between a waist and a shoulder joint of the user.

32. The method of claim 26 in which the biometrics comprise a height of the user, and the method further comprises computing a height from a distance from a top of the gate to a shoulder and arm interface and a distance from a top of the gate to the bottom of the boot.

33. The method of claim 32, in which the access gate further comprises a plurality of markings along a vertical dimension of a side wall located such that at least some of the plurality of markings are visible in the image recorded in step (a), and the distance from the top of the gate to the shoulder and the distance from the top of the gate are derived from a comparison in the image recorded in step (a) of the location of at least one of the plurality of markings to the image of the user.

34. The method of claim 26 in which the biometrics comprise a boot size of the user.

35. The method of claim 26, in which the gate further comprises a microphone for recording a voice, and the biometrics further comprise a voice print derived from a voice recorded by the microphone.

36. The method of claim 26, in which the access gate further comprises a barcode reader, and the method further comprises reading a barcode from a tag and substituting identification read from the barcode for the identification read from the RFID enabled tag.

37. The method of claim 26, wherein if, after comparing in step (c), no matching identification is found in the first database, the method further comprises the step of keeping the at least one access door in the closed position, denying the user passage through the access gate.

38. The method of claim 26, wherein if in step (c) it is determined that the RFID enabled tag is not valid for access, the method further comprises the step of keeping the at least one access door in the closed position, denying the user passage through the access gate.

39. The method of claim 26, wherein if after comparing in step (d)(iv)(A) the biometrics derived in step (ii) do not match the biometrics stored in the second database, the method further comprises the step of keeping the at least one access door in the closed position, denying the user passage through the access gate.

40. The method of claim 26, in which the access gate further comprises an entry sensor located to detect a user entering the gate space, and step (a) of recording an image occurs when the entry sensor detects a user.

41. The method of claim 26, in which the access gate further comprises a middle sensor located to detect a user centered in the gate space, and step (b) of reading the identification from the RFID enabled tag occurs when the middle sensor detects a user.

42. The method of claim 26, in which the access gate further comprises a plurality of antennas for receiving transmissions from RFID enabled tags mounted on walls of the gate defining the gate space, and when step (b) of reading the identification from the RFID enabled tag occurs, the method further comprises comparing received signals at the plurality of antennas to confirm that the received signals are from an RFID enabled tag in the gate space.

43. The method of claim 42, in which the method compares signal strength among the plurality of received signals.

44. The method of claim 42, in which the method compares a response delay among the plurality of received signals.

45. The method of claim 42, in which the method compares a phase difference among the plurality of received signals.

46. The method of claim 26, further comprising the step of recording statistics about accesses through the gate of an RFID enabled tag in a database.

47. A method of moving an access gate having a base having an entrance ramp with an outer edge and a side edge attached to a first side of the base and an exit ramp with an outer edge and a side edge attached to a second side of the base, the entrance ramp and exit ramp each moveable between a first position and a second position;

a first wall and a second wall attached to the base, each wall being movable between a full height position for use and a transport position having a reduced height;

a gate space defined by the inside surface of the first wall and the second wall and the base the method comprising;

moving the entrance ramp and exit ramp of the base from a first position in which the outer edge of the entrance ramp and the outer edge of the exit ramp are in contact with a ground surface to a second position in which the outer edge of the entrance ramp and the outer edge of the exit ramp are rotated inwards towards a center of the gate space, exposing gate legs;

collapsing the side walls of the gate into the transport position;

securing the entrance ramp and exit ramp in the second position; and

moving the gate to the second location.

48. The method of claim 47, further comprising attaching handles to the gate, and the step of moving the gate comprises using the handles to move the gate.

49. The method of claim 47, further comprising attaching cables to the gate and to a vehicle or lift, and the step of moving the gate comprises moving the gate by pulling on the cables with the vehicle or lift.