DETECTION OF VEHICLES IN IMAGES OF A NIGHT TIME SCENE
First Claim
1. A method of detecting a vehicle represented in an image of a night time scene, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) identifying a candidate pair of headlights in an image based on luminance of points in the image;
(b) identifying a sub-image of the image sized to include a candidate vehicle having the pair of candidate headlights; and
(c) determining whether the candidate vehicle is a vehicle represented in the image by testing the sub-image for the presence of predetermined features of a vehicle other than the headlights.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention concerns the detection of vehicles in images of a night time scene. In particular, but not limited to, the invention concerns a traffic surveillance system that is used to detect and track vehicles to determine information about the detected and tracked vehicles. Candidate pair of headlights are identified 900 in an image based on luminance of points in the image. These candidates are then verified 902 by identifying 400i a sub-image of the image sized to include a candidate vehicle having the pair of candidate headlights; and determining whether the candidate vehicle is a vehicle represented in the image by testing 400k the sub-image for the presence of predetermined features of a vehicle other than the headlights. Aspects of the invention include a method, software and computer hardware.
28 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of detecting a vehicle represented in an image of a night time scene, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) identifying a candidate pair of headlights in an image based on luminance of points in the image; (b) identifying a sub-image of the image sized to include a candidate vehicle having the pair of candidate headlights; and (c) determining whether the candidate vehicle is a vehicle represented in the image by testing the sub-image for the presence of predetermined features of a vehicle other than the headlights. - View Dependent Claims (2, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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3-4. -4. (canceled)
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6-8. -8. (canceled)
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14. (canceled)
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26. (canceled)
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27. A computer for detecting a vehicle represented in an image of a night time scene, the computer comprising:
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input means to receive the image of the night time scene; a processor to (a) identify a candidate pair of headlights in the image based on luminance of points in the image, (b) identify a sub-image of the image sized to include a candidate vehicle having the pair of candidate headlights, and (c) to determine whether the candidate vehicle is a vehicle represented in the image by testing the sub-image for the presence of predetermined features of a vehicle other than the headlights; and output means to indicate whether a vehicle has been detected in the image.
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Specification