Indicator for automated parking systems

• US 9,064,414 B2
• Filed: 02/24/2014
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cloudparc, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cloudparc, Inc.
• Inventors: Nerayoff, Steven David, Wong, Thompson S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dastouri, Mehrdad
• Assistant Examiner(s): ANDERSON II, JAMES M
• Application Number:
  US14/187,964
• Publication Number:
  US 20140172520A1
• Time in Patent Office: 484 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/00 Pattern recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/22 Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0284 Time or distance, e.g. usage of parking meters or taximeters
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/265 Personal security, identity or safety
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10004 Still image; Photographic image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30236 Traffic on road, railway or crossing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30264 Parking
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/20 Analysis of motion motion estimation for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/43, H04N19/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/292 Multi-camera tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/73 using feature-based methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/90 Determination of colour characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/54 of traffic, e.g. cars on the road, trains or boats
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/593 Recognising seat occupancy
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/62 : Text, e.g. of license plates, overlay texts or captions on TV images
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/625 : License plates
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/224 : of printed characters having additional code marks or containing code marks
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/23 : Recognition of whole body movements, e.g. for sport training
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/00 : Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points handling coins or valuable papers, e.g. banknotes, G07D; apparatus for vending or hiring articles or services activated by coins, credit cards, paper currency or the like G07F7/00, G07F17/00
• 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: G07F 17/24 : for parking meters
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/00 : Traffic control systems for road vehicles arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00 ; automatic vehicle control B62D
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/017 : identifying vehicles G08G1/015, G08G1/054 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0175 : by photographing vehicles, e.g. when violating traffic rules
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/052 : with provision for determining speed or overspeed speed measuring in general G01P
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/056 : with provision for distinguishing direction of travel
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/133 : within the vehicle ; Indicators inside the vehicles or at stops
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/14 : indicating individual free spaces in parking areas
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/142 : external to the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/143 : inside the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/144 : on portable or mobile units, e.g. personal digital assistant [PDA]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/146 : where the parking area is a limited parking space, e.g. parking garage, restricted space
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/148 : Management of a network of parking areas
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/62 : Control of parameters via user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/66 : Remote control of cameras or camera parts, e.g. by remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/69 : Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/80 : Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/90 : Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 : Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 : for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

Indicating payment for use of a destination location is disclosed. First, it is determined that a vehicle has approached the destination location. In response, it is determined that that the destination location is associated with automated parking services. In response, a first activation signal is forwarded to an indicator. Next, it is determined that the vehicle is within the destination location at a first time. In response, it is determined that an account associated with the vehicle is configured to make payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location. Then, payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location is activated. Finally, in response, a second activation signal that differs from the first activation signal is forwarded to the indicator.

Claims

1. A method of indicating payment for use of a destination location, the method comprising:

determining that a vehicle is at a first location approaching the destination location at a first time, the first location being outside of the destination location;

determining, in response to the determination that the vehicle is at the first location approaching the destination location, that the destination location is associated with automated parking services;

forwarding, in response to the determination that the destination location is associated with automated parking services, a first activation signal to an indicator, the first activation signal enabling the indicator to output a first sensorial indication indicating that the destination location is associated with automated parking services;

determining that the vehicle is at a second location within the destination location at a second time that is after the first time, the second location being different from the first location;

determining, in response to the determination that the vehicle is at the second location within the destination location, whether an account associated with the vehicle is configured to make payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location;

if the account associated with the vehicle is configured to make payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location;

activating payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location based on the account associated with the vehicle; and

forwarding, in response to the activation of the payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location, a second activation signal to the indicator, the second activation signal enabling the indicator to output a second sensorial indication indicating that the payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location has been activated;

if the account associated with the vehicle is not configured to make payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location;

forwarding a third activation signal to the indicator, the third activation signal enabling the indicator to output a third sensorial indication indicating that automated payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location is unavailable;

determining that the vehicle is at a third location that is outside the destination location at a third time that is after the second time; and

forwarding, in response to determination that the vehicle is at the third location that is outside the destination location at the third time, an inactivation signal to the indicator, the inactivation signal enabling inactivation of the indicator,

wherein the second sensorial indication is different from the first sensorial indication,

wherein the third sensorial indication is different from the first and second sensorial indications, and

wherein the steps of determining, forwarding, and activating are performed by one or more processors.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the vehicle is at a fourth location outside of a region associated with automated parking services at a fourth time that is before the first time,

wherein the indicator is inactivate while the vehicle is at the fourth location outside of the region associated with automated parking services.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

determining that the vehicle is at the first location approaching the destination location comprises receiving an indication that the vehicle is at the first location approaching the destination location; and

determining that the vehicle is at the second location within the destination location comprises receiving an indication that the vehicle is at the second location within the destination location.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

determining that the vehicle is at the first location approaching the destination location comprises receiving the first location of the vehicle from a sensor located within the vehicle; and

determining that the vehicle is at the second location within the destination location comprises receiving the second location of the vehicle from the sensor located within the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the sensor located within the vehicle receives the first location and the second location from a Global Positioning System receiver.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the vehicle is at the first location approaching the destination location comprises receiving a first vehicle image captured by a camera having a first field of view, the first vehicle image showing the vehicle at the first location approaching the destination location.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining a unique identifier of the vehicle based on the first vehicle image.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining a characteristic of the vehicle based on the first vehicle image.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the characteristic of the vehicle is one or more of a vehicle make, a vehicle model, a vehicle year, a vehicle color, a vehicle outline, a vehicle size, and a vehicle dimension.

10. The method of claim 1, receiving a unique identifier of the vehicle based on a sensor located within the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the vehicle is at the second location within the destination location comprises receiving a second vehicle image captured by a camera having a first field of view, the second vehicle image showing the vehicle at the second location within the destination location.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first sensorial indication is the output of a first color light and the second sensorial indication is the output of a second color light, the second color being different from the first color.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first sensorial indication is the output of a first sound and the second sensorial indication is the output of a second sound, the second sound being different from the first sound.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicator is located within the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the indicator is located within a dashboard of the vehicle.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

activating the indicator to output the first sensorial indication indicating that the destination location is associated with automated parking services; and

activating the indicator to output the second sensorial indication indicating that the payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location has been activated.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the vehicle is at the third location that is outside the destination location comprises receiving a third vehicle image captured by a camera having a first field of view, the third vehicle image showing the vehicle at the third location, and the third location being outside of the destination location.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the vehicle is at the third location that is outside the destination location comprises receiving the third location based on a sensor located within the vehicle.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a cost for the vehicle to occupy the destination location from the first time to the third time; and

charging the cost to the account associated with the vehicle.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising installing a retrofit kit in the vehicle, the retrofit kit comprising the indicator and a communications receiver.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the account associated with the vehicle is configured to make payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location comprises:

receiving an indication that the account associated with the vehicle has been updated;

determining, in response to the determination that the account associated with the vehicle has been updated, that the account associated with the vehicle is configured to make payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location; and

activating payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location based on the account associated with the vehicle; and

forwarding, in response to the activation of the payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location, the second activation signal to the indicator.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein activating payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location based on the account associated with the vehicle comprises obtaining payment information for the destination location from a third-party parking payment system, the payment information specifying a period of time for which payment was received by the third-party parking payment system for use of the destination location by the vehicle.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the third-party parking payment system is a third-party pay-by-phone parking payment system, a third-party pay-by-space parking payment system, a third-party pay-and-display parking payment system, a third-party curbside parking meter payment system, or a third-party pay-by-plate parking payment system.

26. The method of claim 7, wherein the unique identifier of the vehicle is a license plate number, a one-dimensional bar code, or a matrix bar code associated with the vehicle.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the first sensorial indication is the output of a first color light and a first sound, the second sensorial indication is the output of a second color light and a second sound, the second color being different from the first color, and the second sound being different from the first sound.

23. A system for indicating payment for use of a destination location, the system comprising one or more processors connected to at least one storage device, the system being configured to:

determine that a vehicle is at a first location approaching the destination location at a first time, the first location being outside of the destination location;

determine, in response to the determination that the vehicle is at the first location approaching the destination location, that the destination location is associated with automated parking services;

forward, in response to the determination that the destination location is associated with automated parking services, a first activation signal to an indicator, the first activation signal enabling the indicator to output a first sensorial indication indicating that the destination location is associated with automated parking services;

determine that the vehicle is at a second location within the destination location at a second time that is after the first time, the second location being different from the first location;

determine, in response to the determination that the vehicle is at the second location within the destination location, whether an account associated with the vehicle is configured to make payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location;

if the account associated with the vehicle is configured to make payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location;

activate payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location based on the account associated with the vehicle; and

forward, in response to the activation of the payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location, a second activation signal to the indicator, the second activation signal enabling the indicator to output a second sensorial indication indicating that the payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location has been activated;

if the account associated with the vehicle is not configured to make payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location;

forward a third activation signal to the indicator, the third activation signal enabling the indicator to output a third sensorial indication indicating that automated payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location is unavailable;

determine that the vehicle is at a third location that is outside the destination location at a third time that is after the second time; and

forward, in response to determination that the vehicle is at the third location that is outside the destination location at the third time, an inactivation signal to the indicator, the inactivation signal enabling inactivation of the indicator,

wherein the second sensorial indication is different from the first sensorial indication, and

wherein the third sensorial indication is different from the first and second sensorial indications.

24. A storage device storing a computer program for indicating payment for use of a destination location, the computer program comprising one or more code segments that, when executed, cause one or more processors to:

determine that a vehicle is at a first location approaching the destination location at a first time, the first location being outside of the destination location;

determine, in response to the determination that the vehicle is at the first location approaching the destination location, that the destination location is associated with automated parking services;

forward, in response to the determination that the destination location is associated with automated parking services, a first activation signal to an indicator, the first activation signal enabling the indicator to output a first sensorial indication indicating that the destination location is associated with automated parking services;

determine that the vehicle is at a second location within the destination location at a second time that is after the first time, the second location being different from the first location;

determine, in response to the determination that the vehicle is at the second location within the destination location, whether an account associated with the vehicle is configured to make payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location;

if the account associated with the vehicle is configured to make payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location;

activate payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location based on the account associated with the vehicle; and

forward, in response to the activation of the payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location, a second activation signal to the indicator, the second activation signal enabling the indicator to output a second sensorial indication indicating that the payment for the parking of the vehicle within the destination location has been activated;

if the account associated with the vehicle is not configured to make payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location;

forward a third activation signal to the indicator, the third activation signal enabling the indicator to output a third sensorial indication indicating that automated payment for parking of the vehicle within the destination location is unavailable;

determine that the vehicle is at a third location that is outside the destination location at a third time that is after the second time; and

forward, in response to determination that the vehicle is at the third location that is outside the destination location at the third time, an inactivation signal to the indicator that is indicating a sensorial indication, the inactivation signal enabling inactivation of the indicator,

wherein the second sensorial indication is different from the first sensorial indication, and

wherein the third sensorial indication is different from the first and second sensorial indications.