SMARTPHONE AUGMENTED VIDEO-BASED ON-STREET PARKING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• US 20130265426A1
• Filed: 05/01/2012
• Published: 10/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Conduent Business Services, LLC (Conduent, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Fan, Zhigang, Wang, Yao Rong
• Granted Patent: US 9,367,966 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/148
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/54 of traffic, e.g. cars on the road, trains or boats
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/02 taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems G07B15/06 takes precedence; taximeters G07B13/00; parking meters per se G07F17/24; car rental systems per se G07B15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A method and a system for automating parking payment includes receiving video data in a sequence of frames provided by a video capture device observing a parking area. The method includes detecting a vehicle in the parking area using the video data. The method further includes receiving information of a vehicle in the parking area provided by a user device. The method includes comparing the characteristics of the detected vehicle with the information from the user device. In response to the characteristics of the detected vehicle being a match to the information sent from the user device, the method includes tracking the detected vehicle across the sequence of frames. The method includes computing a duration that the detected vehicle remains stationary using the tracking. The method includes computing an amount for charging the associated user device based on the duration.

Claims

1. A method for automating parking payment, the method comprising:

receiving video data in a sequence of frames provided by an associated video capture device observing a parking area;

detecting a vehicle in the parking area using the video data;

receiving information from a user device;

comparing the characteristics of the detected vehicle with the information from the user device;

in response to matching characteristics of the detected vehicle with those from the user device, computing a duration that the detected vehicle remains stationary using the tracking; and

,

computing an amount for charging the associated user device based on the duration.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

tracking the detected vehicle across the sequence of frames for detecting a time instant when the detected vehicle leaves the parking area.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

in response to detecting the vehicle, initiating a timer for measuring the duration.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting is performed by one of background subtraction, temporal difference, optical flow and an initialization process.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the associated user device is a hand-held computer device with camera capabilities.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

associating the user device with an account.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

deducting the charge amount from the account.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing the user device with a statement.

9. A computer program product comprising tangible media which encodes instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

10. A system for determining a parking violation comprising:

a detection device comprising memory which stores instructions for performing the method of claim 1 and a processor, in communication with the memory for executing the instructions.

12. The system of claim 11, The method of claim 1 further comprising a vehicle tracking module adapted to:

track the detected vehicle across the sequence of frames for detecting a time instant when the detected vehicle leaves the parking area.

11. A system for automating parking payment, the system comprising:

a video buffering module adapted to receive video data in a sequence of frames provided by an associated video capture device observing a parking area;

a vehicle detection module adapted to detect a vehicle in the parking area using the video data;

an image buffering module adapted to receive information of a vehicle in the parking area provided by an associated user device;

a vehicle characteristics matching module adapted to compare the detected vehicle with the information from the user device;

a timing module adapted to compute a duration that the detected vehicle remains stationary in response to the vehicle detection module detecting the vehicle;

a fee calculation module adapted to compute an amount for charging the associated user device based on the duration; and

,

a processor adapted to implement the modules.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the timer module is adapted to:

in response to the vehicle detection module detecting the vehicle, initiate a timer for measuring the duration.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the vehicle detection module is adapted to perform one of background subtraction, temporal difference, optical flow and an initialization process.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the associated user device is a hand-held computer device with camera capabilities.

16. The system of claim 11 further comprising a collection module adapted to:

associate the user device with an account.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the collection module is further adapted to:

deduct the charge amount from the account.

18. The system of claim 11 further comprising a collection module adapted to:

provide the user device with a statement.