System and method for detecting traffic anomalies
First Claim
1. A traffic monitoring system monitoring traffic flow on a specific roadway section comprising:
- an active fixed position sensor obtaining measurements of passive, non-sensor bearing-vehicles moving over a roadway; and
, a processor co-located with said sensor and processing said measurements in accordance with an algorithm which takes into account traffic volume, traffic speed, roadway occupancy, and vehicle headway to determine, in accordance with an established set of temporal and spatial evaluation criteria if the traffic condition on the roadway, at any given time, is normal or abnormal, an abnormal condition signifying a traffic incident has occurred, said algorithm employing fuzzy logic to determine whether or not traffic conditions are normal or abnormal, the fuzzy logic employed evaluating at least the day of the week, the time of the day, the season of the year, and the specialness, if any, of the day, the preceding day, or the following day.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A traffic incident detection system (10) includes both the collection and analysis of traffic data and employs a time-indexed traffic anomaly detection algorithm which partitions time into categories of “type of day,” and “time of day”. Using this partition, a fuzzy neuromorphic, unsupervised learning algorithm calibrates fuzzy sets as “normal” and “abnormal” for a plurality of traffic descriptors. Fuzzy composition techniques are used, on a per traffic lane basis, to combine multiple traffic descriptors in order to determine membership in a “normal” or “abnormal” lane status. Each lane status is then combined to determine the overall status of a road segment. Initial training of the algorithm occurs during the first few weeks after a sensor (12) is installed. On-line background training continues thereafter to continually tune and track seasonal changes affecting system performance.
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Citations
62 Claims
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1. A traffic monitoring system monitoring traffic flow on a specific roadway section comprising:
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an active fixed position sensor obtaining measurements of passive, non-sensor bearing-vehicles moving over a roadway; and
,a processor co-located with said sensor and processing said measurements in accordance with an algorithm which takes into account traffic volume, traffic speed, roadway occupancy, and vehicle headway to determine, in accordance with an established set of temporal and spatial evaluation criteria if the traffic condition on the roadway, at any given time, is normal or abnormal, an abnormal condition signifying a traffic incident has occurred, said algorithm employing fuzzy logic to determine whether or not traffic conditions are normal or abnormal, the fuzzy logic employed evaluating at least the day of the week, the time of the day, the season of the year, and the specialness, if any, of the day, the preceding day, or the following day. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of detecting traffic incidents occurring on a roadway comprising:
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sensing the presence and movement of passive, non-signal-transmitting vehicular traffic moving over the roadway, the presence and movement being treated as data; and
,processing said data in-situ to determine if traffic conditions on the roadway are normal or abnormal, processing a measurement including evaluating a local traffic related factor in conjunction with at least one time factor, and further in accordance with an established set of evaluation criteria as a result of which an a-priori traffic related factor which is present at one time may indicate traffic conditions on the roadway are normal, but at another time abnormal, an abnormal condition signifying a traffic incident has occurred, said processing including the use of fuzzy logic to determine whether or not traffic conditions are normal or abnormal, the fuzzy logic employed evaluating at least the day of the week, the time of the day, the season of the year, and the specialness, if any, of the day, the preceding day, or the following day. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of evaluating a segment of roadway and traffic moving thereover to determine if traffic flow over the roadway is normal, or if an incident affecting traffic flow has occurred, comprising:
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obtaining an image of the roadway segment and the traffic moving thereover;
processing said image in-situ and deriving therefrom at least one factor relating to movement of traffic over the roadway;
classifying the time at which the image is obtained in accordance with a predetermined set of criteria; and
evaluating said traffic factor in conjunction with said time classification to determine if traffic conditions are normal or abnormal, an abnormal determination signifying a traffic incident has occurred, evaluating said traffic factor including the use of fuzzy logic to determine whether or not traffic conditions are normal or abnormal, the fuzzy logic employed evaluating at least the day of the week, the time of the day, the season of the year, and the specialness, if any, of the day, the preceding day, or the following day. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system for detecting road traffic flow anomalies comprising:
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an active, fixed position sensor mounted as to sense the presence and movement of passive, non-sensor-bearing vehicles and collecting this information as data;
a processor, co-located with said sensor, for computing traffic flow parameter values from traffic flow data; and
,a method for categorizing traffic flow from said traffic flow parameter values, said method including the use of fuzzy logic to determine whether or not traffic conditions are normal or abnormal, the fuzzy logic employed evaluating at least the day of the week, the time of the day, the season of the year, and the specialness, if any, of the day, the preceding day, or the following day. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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Specification