Adaptive character segmentation method and system for automated license plate recognition
First Claim
1. A method for adaptive character segmentation in an automatic license plate recognition application, said method comprising:
- identifying via at least one processor a region of interest in an image of a license plate acquired via an automatic license plate recognition engine that communicates with said at least one processor;
segmenting via said at least one processor said characters in said image with respect to said region of interest using a histogram projection associated with particular segmentation threshold parameters;
iteratively validating said characters in said image via said at least one processor if a minimum number of valid characters is determined based on said histogram projection and said particular segmentation threshold parameters to produce character images sufficient to identify said license plate; and
increasing said particular segmentation threshold parameters in small steps to avoid over-segmentation.
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Abstract
Methods, systems and processor-readable media for adaptive character segmentation in an automatic license plate recognition application. A region of interest can be identified in an image of a license plate acquired via an automatic license plate recognition engine. Characters in the image with respect to the region of interest can be segmented using a histogram projection associated with particular segmentation threshold parameters. The characters in the image can be iteratively validated if a minimum number of valid characters is determined based on the histogram projection and the particular segmentation threshold parameters to produce character images sufficient to identify the license plate.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for adaptive character segmentation in an automatic license plate recognition application, said method comprising:
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identifying via at least one processor a region of interest in an image of a license plate acquired via an automatic license plate recognition engine that communicates with said at least one processor; segmenting via said at least one processor said characters in said image with respect to said region of interest using a histogram projection associated with particular segmentation threshold parameters; iteratively validating said characters in said image via said at least one processor if a minimum number of valid characters is determined based on said histogram projection and said particular segmentation threshold parameters to produce character images sufficient to identify said license plate; and increasing said particular segmentation threshold parameters in small steps to avoid over-segmentation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system for adaptive character segmentation in an automatic license plate recognition application, said system comprising:
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at least one processor; a data bus coupled to said at least one processor; and a computer-usable medium embodying computer program code, said computer-usable medium being coupled to said data bus, said computer program code comprising instructions executable by said at least one processor and configured for; identifying a region of interest in an image of a license plate acquired via an automatic license plate recognition engine that communicates with said at least one processor; segmenting said characters in said image with respect to said region of interest using a histogram projection associated with particular segmentation threshold parameters; iteratively validating said characters in said image if a minimum number of valid characters is determined based on said histogram projection and said particular segmentation threshold parameters to produce character images sufficient to identify said license plate; and increasing said particular segmentation threshold parameters in small steps to avoid over-segmentation. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A processor-readable medium storing computer code representing instructions to cause a process for adaptive character segmentation in an automatic license plate recognition application, said computer code comprising computer code to:
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identify a region of interest in an image of a license plate acquired via an automatic license plate recognition engine; segment said characters in said image with respect to said region of interest using a histogram projection associated with particular segmentation threshold parameters; iteratively validate said characters in said image if a minimum number of valid characters is determined based on said histogram projection and said particular segmentation threshold parameters to produce character images sufficient to identify said license plate; and increase said articular segmentation threshold parameters in small steps to avoid over-segmentation. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification