Parking regulation enforcement system

• US 6,081,206 A
• Filed: 03/06/1998
• Issued: 06/27/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/1997
• Status: Expired

• Current Assignee: AutoVu Technologies Incorporated (Noritsu Koki Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Visionary Technology Limited
• Inventors: Kielland, Peter J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Crosland, Donnie L.
• Application Number:
  US09/036,159
• Time in Patent Office: 844 Days
• Field of Search: 340/937, 340/932.2, 340/425.5, 340/565, 340/556, 382/105, 382/104, 348/148, 348/149, 348/135, 348/143, 348/159, 235/384, 705/13, 705/418, 194/902, 194/900, 194/207
• US Class Current: 340/937
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0284 Time or distance, e.g. usage of parking meters or taximeters
• 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: G07B 15/04 comprising devices to free a barrier, turnstile, or the like turnstiles with registering means G07C9/10; coin-freed aspects G07F17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0891 Video recorder in combination with video camera
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 194/902 Check-operated device for controlling parking lot

Abstract

A video camera mounted on a parking enforcement patrol vehicle and connected to a computer near the operator. The system is driven along a patrol route where parked vehicles are governed by a posted time limit. The system enforces the local parking regulation by automatically determining whether or not each parked car has been parked longer than the posted time limit. Violations are detected by applying a License Plate Recognition algorithm to the images. Each license plate number is time-tagged, geo-referenced and entered into a local database. When the patrol vehicle re-traces the patrol route after the posted parking time limit has expired, the database is searched to flag vehicles that were observed at the same location during the previous circuit and therefore in violation of the parking regulations. When the system detects a parking violation, it prints a parking citation that the operator affixes to the offending parked vehicle.

Claims

1. A parking regulation enforcement system for monitoring a parked vehicle, the system comprising:

a camera capturing a first image of the parked vehicle at a first observation time and a second image of the vehicle at a second observation time;

a data processing sub-system coupled to the camera, the data processing sub-system extracting an identifier of the parked vehicle from the first image and the second image;

means, within the data processing sub-system, for determining a first position of a predetermined measurement point at the first observation time and a second position of the measurement point at the second observation time, the means comprising a global positioning system;

a memory within the data processing sub-system, the memory storing a first data record, the first data record comprising the identifier, the first observation time, and the first position of the measurement point; and

means, within the data processing sub-system, for comparing the first data record to a second data record, the second data record including the identifier, the second observation time, and the second position of the measurement point, and for generating an output.

2. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a proximity sensor coupled to the data processing sub-system, the sensor measuring a distance between the parked vehicle and the measurement point;

means for triggering the camera to capture the first and second images when the measured distance is equal to a predetermined value.

3. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a metal detector coupled to the camera;

means for triggering the camera to capture the first and second images when the metal detector detects a predetermined amount of metal.

4. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 1, wherein the identifier is a license plate number of the parked vehicle.

5. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 4, wherein the sub-system uses a pattern-matching license plate recognition algorithm to extract the license plate number from the first image and the second image.

6. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 4, wherein the sub-system uses a full recognition mode license plate recognition algorithm to extract the license plate number from the first image and the second image.

7. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 4, wherein the sub-system uses a pattern matching license plate recognition algorithm and a full recognition mode license plate algorithm to extract the license plate number from the first image and the second image.

8. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 1, further comprising a radio frequency transponder coupled to the parked vehicle, the transponder broadcasting the identifier when interrogated.

9. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 1, further comprising a display coupled to the camera, the display showing the first image and the second image.

10. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 1, wherein the camera is mounted on a second vehicle.

11. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 10, wherein the measurement point is a location on the second vehicle.

12. A system for locating a lost vehicle comprising;

a sensor capturing an image of the lost vehicle at an observation time;

a sub-system, within a data processing system coupled to the sensor, the sub-system extracting an identifier of the lost vehicle from the image;

a positioning system, coupled to the data processing system, for determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the observation time;

a concatenation system for concatenating the identifier, the observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record;

a display device coupled to the data processing system for displaying a location of the lost vehicle on the display device;

a database coupled to the data processing system, the database storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier, the observation time, and a vehicle position; and

a search engine coupled to the database for enabling a user to traverse the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the lost vehicle, to assist in identifying the lost vehicle.

13. A parking regulation enforcement system for monitoring a parked vehicle, the system comprising:

a camera capturing an image of a vehicle at a first observation time;

a data processing sub-system coupled to the camera, the data processing sub-system extracting an identifier of the vehicle from the image;

means, within the data processing sub-system, for determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the first observation time;

means for concatenating the identifier, the first observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record;

a database coupled to the data processing sub-system, the database storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier, an observation time and a vehicle position;

means for traversing the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the vehicle; and

a computerized billing system for receiving data, and for creating an output.

14. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

first means for comparing the observation time in the first data record to the observation time of the second data record; and

second means for comparing the position in the first data record to the position in the second data record.

15. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 14, further comprising third means for comparing a difference between the observation time in the first data record and the observation time of the second data record to a predetermined parking time limit.

16. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 15, further comprising the computerized billing system, the billing system receiving data from the first and second comparing means.

17. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 16, wherein the computerized billing system measures an overall parking time of the vehicle over a predetermined period of time.

18. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 16, wherein the computerized billing system initializes a virtual parking meter in the database, the virtual parking meter comparing a plurality of data records for a particular vehicle.

19. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 16, wherein the computerized billing system charges a fee to an owner of the vehicle based upon a fee structure.

20. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 19, wherein the fee structure is based on a changing hourly rate.

21. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

a parking facility system for determining a parking fee within a parking facility, the system determining a parking fee by comparing the observation time in the first data record to the observation time in the second data record.

22. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 21, further comprising an automated gate coupled to the parking facility system that blocks movement of the vehicle based upon data received from the parking facility system.

23. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 13, further comprising a second database storing geographically referenced information.

24. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 23, further comprising:

a navigation system that records and updates a plurality of citations for vehicles based on the plurality of stored data records;

means for estimating a time for patrolling a route based on the plurality of citations and geographic information to estimate the time.

25. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 24, further comprising a display displaying information stored in the second database.

26. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 13, further comprising a clock within the data processing sub-system.

27. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 13, wherein the identifier is a license plate number of the vehicle.

28. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 27, wherein the sub-system uses a license plate recognition algorithm to extract the license plate number from the image.

29. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 28, further comprising means for comparing a result of the license plate recognition algorithm to a predetermined threshold.

30. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 28, wherein the vehicle data record further includes the raster image.

31. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 13, further comprising means for estimating an error in the position of the vehicle, the estimated error being stored in the vehicle data record.

32. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

a second database storing a plurality of vehicle identifiers;

means for traversing the second database to locate one of the vehicle identifiers matching the identifier in the vehicle data record;

means for notifying a user of a located match between the vehicle identifier and the identifier in the vehicle data record.

33. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 13, further comprising means for encrypting the vehicle data record.

34. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 13, wherein the camera captures a plurality of successive images of the vehicle.

35. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in claim 13, further comprising a second camera capturing an image of a second vehicle.

36. A system for locating a lost vehicle comprising;

a camera capturing an image of the lost vehicle at an observation time;

a sub-system, within a data processing system coupled to the camera, the sub-system extracting an identifier of the lost vehicle from the image;

means, coupled to the data processing system, for determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the observation time;

means for concatenating the identifier, the observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record;

a database coupled to the data processing system, the database storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier, the observation time, and a vehicle position; and

means for enabling a user to traverse the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the lost vehicle, to assist in identifying the lost vehicle.

37. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in claim 36, further comprising:

a display device coupled to the data processing system; and

means for plotting a location of the lost vehicle on the display device.

38. The system for locating a lost vehicle, as recited in claim 36, wherein the enabling means is mobile.

39. A method for enforcing parking regulations comprising:

capturing an image of a parked vehicle at a first observation time;

extracting an identifier of the parked vehicle from the image;

determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the first observation time;

concatenating the identifier, the first observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record;

storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier, an observation time, and a vehicle position;

traversing the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the parked vehicle; and

billing a customer based upon a billing criteria and the stored data records.

40. The method for enforcing parking regulations, as recited in claim 39, further comprising the steps of:

comparing the observation time in the first data record to the observation time of the second data record; and

comparing the position in the first data record to the position in the second data record.

41. A parking regulation enforcement system for monitoring a parked vehicle, the system comprising:

a sensor for capturing a first image of the parked vehicle at a first observation time and a second image of the vehicle at a second observation time;

a data processing sub-system coupled to the sensor, the data processing sub-system extracting an identifier of the parked vehicle from the first image and the second image;

a global positioning system within the data processing sub-system, for determining a first position of a predetermined measurement point at the first observation time and a second position of the measurement point at the second observation time;

a memory within the data processing sub-system, the memory storing a first data record, the first data record comprising the identifier, the first observation time, and the first position of the measurement point; and

a comparator within the data processing sub-system, for comparing the first data record to a second data record, the second data record including the identifier, the second observation time, and the second position of the measurement point, and for generating an output.

42. A parking regulation enforcement system for monitoring a parked vehicle, the system comprising:

a sensor for capturing an image of a vehicle at a first observation time;

a data processing sub-system coupled to the sensor, the data processing sub-system extracting an identifier of the vehicle from the image;

a positioning sub-system, within the data processing sub-system, for determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the first observation time;

a concatenation system for concatenating the identifier, the first observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record;

a database coupled to the data processing sub-system, the database storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier, an observation time and a vehicle position;

a search engine coupled to the database for traversing the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the vehicle; and

a computerized billing system for receiving data, and for creating an output.