Vehicle speed determination via infrared imaging
First Claim
1. A method for reducing speed error in determining the speed of a motor vehicle in a vehicle speed detection system, the method comprising:
- receiving a plurality of infrared images of a motor vehicle traveling on a road, each of said images being separated in time by a known interval, said infrared images having been captured using a single camera infrared imaging system operating in an infrared wavelength band spectrum range specifically selected such that a contrast of a point of contact between the tires of said vehicle and the road surface is optimized with respect to road material and tire rubber in said images, said infrared imaging system positioned adjacent the road;
determining, for each of at least two of said images, the point of contact where a same tire of said vehicle contacts said road surface, such that a height of each point of contact is zero;
mapping said points of contact to a (x,y) two dimensional coordinate system, such that each point of contact has a (x,y) set of coordinates;
using said coordinates and said time interval separations to calculate a speed at which said vehicle is traveling on said road; and
communicating said vehicle'"'"'s speed to a computer system;
for comparing said vehicle'"'"'s speed to a speed limit established for said road.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method which detects and uses a point of contact between a vehicle'"'"'s tire and the pavement as a reference point to improve the accuracy of vehicle speed detection in a motorized vehicle speed detection system. In one embodiment, a plurality of infrared images of a moving vehicle are received. Each of the images is separated in time by known intervals. The images are captured using an infrared camera which can be a single-band or multi-band camera which operates in an infrared wavelength band selected to enhance a contrast between the vehicle'"'"'s tires and the road surface. For each image, a point of contact is determined where a same tire contacts the road surface. These points and the time interval separations are used to calculate the vehicle'"'"'s speed. An alert signal is initiated to a traffic enforcement authority if the speed exceeds the road'"'"'s speed limit.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for reducing speed error in determining the speed of a motor vehicle in a vehicle speed detection system, the method comprising:
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receiving a plurality of infrared images of a motor vehicle traveling on a road, each of said images being separated in time by a known interval, said infrared images having been captured using a single camera infrared imaging system operating in an infrared wavelength band spectrum range specifically selected such that a contrast of a point of contact between the tires of said vehicle and the road surface is optimized with respect to road material and tire rubber in said images, said infrared imaging system positioned adjacent the road; determining, for each of at least two of said images, the point of contact where a same tire of said vehicle contacts said road surface, such that a height of each point of contact is zero; mapping said points of contact to a (x,y) two dimensional coordinate system, such that each point of contact has a (x,y) set of coordinates; using said coordinates and said time interval separations to calculate a speed at which said vehicle is traveling on said road; and communicating said vehicle'"'"'s speed to a computer system; for comparing said vehicle'"'"'s speed to a speed limit established for said road. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14)
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10. A system for reducing speed error in determining the speed of a motor vehicle in a vehicle speed detection system, the system comprising:
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a single camera infrared imaging system operating in an infrared wavelength band spectrum range specifically selected such that a contrast of a point of contact between tires of said vehicle and a road surface is optimized with respect to road material and tire rubber in said images, said infrared imaging system positioned a processor in communication with said video camera system and a memory, said processor executing machine readable instructions for performing; receiving infrared images captured using said infrared imaging system, each of said infrared images being separated in time by a known interval; determining, for each of at least two of said images, the point of contact where a same tire of said vehicle contacts said road surface, such that a height of each point of contact is zero;
mapping said points of contact to a (x,y) two dimensional coordinate system, such that each point of contact has a set of (x,y) coordinates;
using said coordinates and said time interval separations to calculate a speed at which said vehicle is traveling on said road; andcommunicating said vehicle'"'"'s speed to a computer system; for comparing said vehicle'"'"'s speed to a speed limit established for said road. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer implemented method for reducing speed error in determining the speed of a motor vehicle in a vehicle speed detection system, the method comprising:
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receiving a plurality of infrared images of a moving vehicle, said images captured at known time intervals with each of said images being separated in time by a known interval, said images having been captured using a single camera infrared imaging system operating in an infrared wavelength band spectrum range specifically selected such that a contrast of a point of contact between the tires of said vehicle and the road surface is optimized with respect to road material and tire rubber in said images, said infrared imaging system positioned adjacent the road; determining, for each of at least two of said images, the point of contact where a same tire of said vehicle contacts said road surface, such that a height of each point of contact is zero; mapping said points of contact to a (x,y) two dimensional coordinate system, such that each point of contact has a (x,y) set of coordinates; using said coordinates and said time interval separations to calculate a speed at which said vehicle is traveling on said road; and
communicating said vehicle'"'"'s speed to a computer system;for comparing said vehicle'"'"'s speed to a speed limit established for said road. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification