Traffic flow monitor apparatus
First Claim
1. A traffic flow monitor apparatus comprising:
- image-pickup means for photographing a road in an overlooking manner;
means for analyzing a luminance distribution of an image analysis area crossing a road of overlooked road images received every predetermined cycle;
means for performing template registration to a luminance pattern of a part or whole of a vehicle in the image analysis area as a characteristic portion of the vehicle;
tracking means for calculating the degree of similarity between the template and the luminance pattern of the overlooked road image by correlation calculation to track a luminance pattern having a high degree of similarity as a vehicle which is subjected to template registration; and
monitor means for monitoring zigzag running, a sudden change in speed, excessively low-speed running and excessively high-speed running, and on the basis of a change in vehicle position in the overlooked road images received every predetermined cycle.
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Abstract
A traffic flow monitor apparatus which can monitor a traffic flow at high precision over a wide range from the position near a TV camera to the distant position regardless of traffic conditions. An image analysis area crossing a road of an overlooked road image received every predetermined cycle is analyzed, the characteristic portion of the front (rear) portion of the vehicle is registered as a template, the vehicle is tracked by a pattern-matching process while updating the template, and the size of the template is reduced (enlarge) depending on a change in apparent width of a lane during template updating. Since the characteristic portion of the front (rear) portion of the vehicle is registered, and the vehicle is tracked by the pattern-matching process, no reference image of a road portion on which no vehicle exists is required, and influence of approaching or overlapping of another vehicle can be reduced. A traffic flow can be monitored at high precision regardless of deserted traffic or crowded traffic. Since the size is reduced (enlarged) during template updating, a vehicle can be stably tracked by using a template having an appropriate size in the range from the near position to the distant position.
161 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A traffic flow monitor apparatus comprising:
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image-pickup means for photographing a road in an overlooking manner; means for analyzing a luminance distribution of an image analysis area crossing a road of overlooked road images received every predetermined cycle; means for performing template registration to a luminance pattern of a part or whole of a vehicle in the image analysis area as a characteristic portion of the vehicle; tracking means for calculating the degree of similarity between the template and the luminance pattern of the overlooked road image by correlation calculation to track a luminance pattern having a high degree of similarity as a vehicle which is subjected to template registration; and monitor means for monitoring zigzag running, a sudden change in speed, excessively low-speed running and excessively high-speed running, and on the basis of a change in vehicle position in the overlooked road images received every predetermined cycle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12)
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10. A traffic flow monitor apparatus comprising a keyboard, a man-machine interface such as a display unit, a CPU having a main memory, image input means which receives an overlooked road image from image-pickup means under the control of said CPU to convert the image into a digital value, image processing means for processing the converted digital image under the control of said CPU, and an image memory for the digital image,
wherein said image processing means is means for analyzing a luminance distribution in an image analysis area crossing a road of overlooked road images received every predetermined cycle, and said CPU serves as means for performing template registration to a luminance pattern of a part or whole of a vehicle in the image analysis area as a characteristic portion of the vehicle; - tracking means for recognizing at least initial registration coordinates, initial registration time, latest image input time, a vehicle existence position in the latest image, a lane number in the vehicle in the latest image exists, time at which images are input in a plurality of cycles, a position of a vehicle pattern in the image input in the plurality of cycles for each vehicle and calculating the degree of similarity between the template and the luminance pattern of the overlooked road image by correlation calculation to track a luminance pattern having a high degree of similarity as a vehicle which is subjected to template registration; and
monitor means for monitoring abnormal running such as zigzag running, a suddenly change in speed, excessively low-speed running, or excessively high-speed running, on the basis of a change in vehicle position in the overlooked road images received every predetermined cycle, recording time and position of occurrence of abnormal running and contents of the abnormal running, and informing of the time, position, and contents of the abnormal running.
- tracking means for recognizing at least initial registration coordinates, initial registration time, latest image input time, a vehicle existence position in the latest image, a lane number in the vehicle in the latest image exists, time at which images are input in a plurality of cycles, a position of a vehicle pattern in the image input in the plurality of cycles for each vehicle and calculating the degree of similarity between the template and the luminance pattern of the overlooked road image by correlation calculation to track a luminance pattern having a high degree of similarity as a vehicle which is subjected to template registration; and
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13. A traffic flow monitor apparatus comprising:
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means for digitally processing a road image received every predetermined cycle to track passing vehicles; means for measuring an instantaneous speed of the passing vehicles; means for dividing the road image into small areas by lanes and distances and calculating a small-area speed representing average speeds of the passing vehicles for each small area; and means for determining the presence/absence of traffic jam and/or the degree of traffic jam for each small area on the basis of the magnitude of the small-area speed. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A traffic flow monitor apparatus comprising a keyboard, a man-machine interface such as a display unit, a CPU having a main memory, image input means which receives an overlooked road image from image-pickup means under the control of said CPU to convert the image into a digital value, image processing means for processing the converted digital image under the control of said CPU, and an image memory for the digital image,
wherein said image processing means is means for arranging at least one image analysis area crossing a road of the road image received every predetermined cycle, and analyzing a luminance distribution in the image analysis area, and said CPU serves as means for performing template registration to a luminance pattern of a front portion or a rear portion of a vehicle in the image analysis area or a luminance pattern of a part or whole of the vehicle in the image analysis area as a characteristic portion of the vehicle; - passing vehicle tracking means for searching the vehicle pattern from an image received in a next cycle by a pattern matching process by using the template, updating the vehicle pattern as a new template, and recognizing at least initial registration coordinates, initial registration time, latest image input time, a vehicle existence position in the latest image, a lane number in which the vehicle in the latest image exists, time at which images are input in a plurality of cycles, a position of a vehicle pattern in the image input in the plurality of cycles for each vehicle;
instantaneous speed measurement means for calculating an instantaneous speed of each vehicle; and
means for arranging small areas divided by lanes and distances from a camera in the road, smoothing instantaneous speeds of vehicles existing in the small areas within a predetermined period of time by using a filter, calculating a weighted means value of loads which are proportional to the newness of the instantaneous speeds according to measurement time of the instantaneous speeds as small-area speeds of the small areas, and determining the presence/absence of traffic jam in each small area on the basis of the magnitude of the small-area speeds. - View Dependent Claims (25)
- passing vehicle tracking means for searching the vehicle pattern from an image received in a next cycle by a pattern matching process by using the template, updating the vehicle pattern as a new template, and recognizing at least initial registration coordinates, initial registration time, latest image input time, a vehicle existence position in the latest image, a lane number in which the vehicle in the latest image exists, time at which images are input in a plurality of cycles, a position of a vehicle pattern in the image input in the plurality of cycles for each vehicle;
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26. A traffic flow monitor apparatus comprising:
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template registration means for holding a luminance pattern of a front portion or a rear portion of a vehicle existing in road images received by image-pickup means every predetermined cycle as a template of the vehicle; tracking means for performing a pattern matching process to the template and the luminance pattern to track the vehicle; instantaneous speed measurement means for measuring an instantaneous speed of the vehicle on the basis of a reception interval between the road images and a movement distance of the vehicle between the road images; and overlapping measurement correction means for, when at least two vehicles pass, calculating a passing time difference and a speed difference between the two vehicles, determining that different portions of one vehicle are tracked by a plurality of templates when the passing time difference is not larger than a predetermined time difference and when the speed difference is not smaller than a predetermined speed difference, and making only one template related to the vehicle valid and the other templates invalid. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification