VEHICLE MONITORING APPARATUS AND VEHICLE MONITORING METHOD

• US 20160171312A1
• Filed: 01/20/2016
• Published: 06/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: AOKI, Yasuhiro, SATO, Toshio, YOKOI, Kentaro, SUZUKI, Yoshihiko, KIMIYAMA, Kenji, NAKAMURA, Junichi, YAMAMOTO, Masahiro
• Granted Patent: US 9,875,413 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30236 Traffic on road, railway or crossing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30242 Counting objects in image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/20 Analysis of motion motion estimation for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/43, H04N19/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/54 of traffic, e.g. cars on the road, trains or boats
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/625 License plates
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/63 Scene text, e.g. street names
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/015 with provision for distinguishing between two or more types of vehicles, e.g. between motor-cars and cycles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0175 by photographing vehicles, e.g. when violating traffic rules
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/04 using optical or ultrasonic detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/052 with provision for determining speed or overspeed speed measuring in general G01P
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/056 with provision for distinguishing direction of travel
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/065 by counting the vehicles in a section of the road or in a parking area, i.e. comparing incoming count with outgoing count
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

An embodiment of a vehicle monitoring apparatus has a determiner and a reader. The determiner determines whether or not a specific site of a vehicle exists at least in an area of an image, the image imaged by an imager, the area being one of multiple areas into which the image is divided by dividing line that are substantially orthogonal to a direction of travel of the vehicle. The reader reads information on a license plate mounted to the vehicle from the area in case that the determiner determines the specific site of the vehicle is determined to exist in the area.

Claims

1. A vehicle monitoring apparatus comprising:

a determiner that determines whether or not a specific site of a vehicle exists at least in an area of an image, the image imaged by an imager mounted to a location for imaging an image of the vehicle, the area being one of multiple areas into which the image is divided by one or more dividing lines that are substantially orthogonal to a direction of travel of the vehicle; and

a reader that reads information on a license plate mounted to the vehicle from the area in case that the determiner determines the specific site of the vehicle is determined to exist in the area.

2. The vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specific site is a front end portion or a rear end portion.

3. The vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a vehicle type determiner that determines a type of vehicle shown in an image imaged by the imager;

wherein the reader determines a scanning area for scanning the license plate from the area, based on the type of vehicle determined by the vehicle type determiner.

4. The vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a vehicle state classifier that classifies a vehicle state in at least one of the multiple areas imaged by the imager, based on a pattern of a portion of a vehicle existing in each of the multiple areas in an image imaged by the imager; and

a measurer that measures the number of vehicles passing through based on changes in vehicle states classified by the vehicle state classifier.

5. The vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the imager comprises;

a first imager that images an image of a front of a vehicle approaching a predefined location; and

a second imager that images an image of a rear of a vehicle moving away from the predefined location, the second imager being directed to a direction same to the traveling of a vehicle

wherein the vehicle monitoring apparatus further comprises a combiner that combines information based on an image imaged by the first imager and information based on an image imaged by the second imager.

6. The vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

a provider that provides an imaging parameter to the second imager using information based on an image imaged by the first imager.

7. A method of monitoring a vehicle, comprising:

determining whether or not a specific site of a vehicle exists at least in an area of an image, the image imaged by an imager mounted to a location for imaging an image of the vehicle, the area being one of multiple areas into which the image is divided by one or more dividing lines that are substantially orthogonal to a direction of travel of the vehicle; and

reading information described on a license plate mounted to the vehicle from the area, in a case that the specific site of the vehicle is determined to exist in the area.

8. The method of monitoring a vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the specific site is a front end portion or a rear end portion.

9. The method of monitoring a vehicle according to claim 7, further comprising:

determining a type of vehicle shown in an image imaged by the imager,

wherein, reading the information comprises;

determining a scanning area for scanning the license plate from the area, based on the type of vehicle determined by the vehicle type determiner.

10. The method of monitoring a vehicle according to claim 7, further comprising:

classifying a vehicle state in at least one of the multiple areas imaged by the imager, based on a pattern of a portion of a vehicle existing in each of the multiple areas in an image imaged by the imager; and

measuring the number of vehicles passing through based on changes in vehicle states classified by classifying the vehicle state.

11. The method of monitoring a vehicle according to claim 7, further comprising:

combining information based on an image imaged by the first imager and information based on an image imaged by the second imager, the first imager and the second imager are included by the imager, the first imager images an image of a front of a vehicle approaching a predefined location, and the second imager images an image of a rear of a vehicle moving away from the predefined location.

12. The method of monitoring a vehicle according to claim 11, further comprising:

providing an imaging parameter to the second imager using information based on an image imaged by the first imager.

13. A vehicle monitoring apparatus comprising:

a vehicle state classifier that classifies a vehicle state in at least one of multiple areas in an image imaged by an imager mounted to a location for imaging an image of the vehicle, based on a pattern of a portion of a vehicle existing in the at least one of the multiple areas, the image is divided into the areas at least by one or more dividing lines that are substantially orthogonal to a direction of travel of the vehicle; and

a measurer that measures the number of vehicles passing through based on changes in vehicle states classified by the vehicle state classifier.

14. The vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the specific site is a front end portion or a rear end portion.

15. A vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising:

a vehicle type determiner that determines a type of vehicle shown in an image imaged by the imager;

a reader that reads information on a license plate mounted to the vehicle from the area, the reader determines a scanning area for scanning the license plate from the area, based on the type of vehicle determined by the vehicle type determiner.

16. A vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 13, wherein:

the imager comprises;

a first imager that images an image of a front of a vehicle approaching a predefined location, the first imager being directed to a direction opposite to the traveling of a vehicle; and

a second imager that images an image of a rear of a vehicle moving away from the predefined location, the second imager being directed to a direction same to the traveling of a vehicle; and

wherein the vehicle monitoring apparatus further comprises a combiner that combines information based on an image imaged by the first imager and information based on an image imaged by the second imager.

17. The vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising:

a provider that provides an imaging parameter to the second imager using information based on an image imaged by the first imager.