REINFORCEMENT LEARNING APPROACH TO CHARACTER LEVEL SEGMENTATION OF LICENSE PLATE IMAGES
First Claim
1. A license plate character segmentation method, said method comprising:
- initializing a segmentation agent in association with a starting location to identify a segmentation path in a license plate image by said segmentation agent during a training phase;
automatically learning an association between a current state and a sensory input with a preferred action by said segmentation agent at an end of said training phase; and
traversing from a top to a bottom of said license plate image by said segmentation agent at runtime utilizing said association learned during said training phase to improve a robustness of license plate character segmentation and an operational latitude of an automatic license plate recognition unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for achieving accurate segmentation of characters with respect to a license plate image utilizing a reinforcement learning approach. A vehicle image can be captured by an image capturing unit and processed utilizing an ALPR (Automatic License Plate Recognition) unit. The reinforcement learning (RL) approach can be configured to initialize a segmentation agent with a starting location. A proper segmentation path (cuts) from top to bottom and from a darker to lighter area in a cropped license plate image can be identified by the segmentation agent during a training phase. Rewards can be provided based on a number of good and bad moves. The association between a current state and a sensory input with a preferred action can be learned by the segmentation agent at the end of the training phase.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A license plate character segmentation method, said method comprising:
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initializing a segmentation agent in association with a starting location to identify a segmentation path in a license plate image by said segmentation agent during a training phase; automatically learning an association between a current state and a sensory input with a preferred action by said segmentation agent at an end of said training phase; and traversing from a top to a bottom of said license plate image by said segmentation agent at runtime utilizing said association learned during said training phase to improve a robustness of license plate character segmentation and an operational latitude of an automatic license plate recognition unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A license plate character segmentation system, said system comprising:
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a processor; and a computer-usable medium embodying computer program code, said computer-usable medium capable of communicating with said processor, said computer program code comprising instructions executable by said processor and configured for; initializing a segmentation agent in association with a starting location to identify a segmentation path in a license plate image by said segmentation agent during a training phase; automatically learning an association between a current state and a sensory input with a preferred action by said segmentation agent at an end of said training phase; and traversing from a top to a bottom of said license plate image by said segmentation agent at runtime utilizing said association learned during said training phase to improve a robustness of license plate character segmentation and an operational latitude of an automatic license plate recognition unit. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to cause a process for character segmentation, said code comprising code to:
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initialize a segmentation agent in association with a starting location to identify a segmentation path in a license plate image by said segmentation agent during a training phase; automatically learn an association between a current state and a sensory input with a preferred action by said segmentation agent at an end of said training phase; and traverse from a top to a bottom of said license plate image by said segmentation agent at runtime utilizing said association learned during said training phase to improve a robustness of license plate character segmentation and an operational latitude of an automatic license plate recognition unit. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification