Method and system for infraction detection based on vehicle traffic flow data

• US 8,031,084 B2
• Filed: 10/19/2010
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Contiguity LLC (Jeffrey M. Gross)
• Original Assignee: Ariel Inventions, LLC
• Inventors: Rothschild, Leigh M.
• Primary Examiner(s): La; Anh V
• Application Number:
  US12/907,702
• Publication Number:
  US 20110032120A1
• Time in Patent Office: 350 Days
• Field of Search: 340/933, 340/995.1, 340/905, 340/936, 340/937, 701/301, 701/1, 701/23, 701/20
• US Class Current: 340/936
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/017 identifying vehicles G08G1/015, G08G1/054 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/04 using optical or ultrasonic detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/091 Traffic information broadcasting broadcasting communication H04H

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for vehicle speed acquisition and citation. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, multiple different imaging systems can be placed individually at different locations along a route of travel, such as a highway, byway or waterway. Images of different vehicles can be captured at each of the locations and different ones of the different vehicles can be image-recognized. A time of travel between pairs of the locations can be determined for selected ones of the different vehicles in order to compute a rate of travel for the selected ones of the different vehicles. A citation signal is generated when a speed of a vehicle exceeds a predetermined speed limit such that the vehicle owner may be automatically cited for speeding.

Claims

1. A method of infraction detection based on vehicle traffic flow data, the method comprising:

acquiring first imagery of a plurality of vehicles at a first location at a first time;

acquiring second imagery of a plurality of vehicles at a second location at a second time;

identifying a first vehicle from the acquired first imagery and the acquired second imagery;

determining a speed of the first vehicle;

generating a citation signal when the speed of the first vehicle exceeds a predetermined speed; and

attempting to transmit the citation signal to a device of a person associated with the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the citation signal is communicated to a law enforcement agency.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein at least a portion of at least one of the acquired first and second imagery is communicated to the law enforcement agency.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the citation signal includes a license tag of the first vehicle and a location of the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the speed of the vehicle is determined based on a difference between the first time and the second time and a distance between the first location and the second location.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the citation signal includes a difference between the speed of the first vehicle and the predetermined speed.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the device is a mobile phone of the person associated with the vehicle.

8. An apparatus for determining a vehicle speeding infraction, the system comprising:

memory to store image data from a plurality of video capture devices spaced a known distance apart; and

a processor in communication with the memory, the processor;

recognizing a vehicle appearing in a first image captured by a first one of the plurality of video capture devices at a first time and appearing in a second image captured by a second one of the plurality of video capture devices at a second time;

computing a speed of the recognized vehicle based on the first time, the second time, and the known distance;

generating a citation signal when the computed speed exceeds a predetermined speed; and

attempting to communicate the citation signal to a device of a person associated with the vehicle.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the citation signal includes the speed, location, and identity of the vehicle.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the citation signal and the second image is transmitted to a law enforcement agency.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein recognizing the vehicle comprises:

applying an image recognition algorithm to the first image to produce a first result;

applying the image recognition algorithm to the second image to produce a second result; and

comparing the first and second results.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the image recognition algorithm detects a make and model of the vehicle.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the image recognition algorithm detects at least one of a license tag number of the vehicle, and a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of the vehicle.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the device is an on board navigation system of the vehicle.

15. A system of determining a speeding violation by a vehicle, the system comprising:

a first image capture device at a first location, having a first processor to perform an image recognition algorithm to detect the vehicle in a first image captured by the first image capture device and to determine a first time at which the vehicle passes in proximity to the first location;

a second image capture device at a second location having a second processor to perform an image recognition algorithm to detect the vehicle in a second image captured by the second image capture device and to determine a second time at which the vehicle passes in proximity to the second location; and

a third processor to;

compute a speed of the vehicle based on a known distance between the images captured by the first and second image capture devices and based on the first and second times;

generate a citation signal when the speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined speed; and

attempting to transmit the citation signal to a device of a person associated with the vehicle.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a third processor to:

receive an image of the vehicle from at least one of the first and second processor;

compute a speed of the vehicle; and

communicate the image of the vehicle and the speed of the vehicle to a law enforcement officer.