Methods for identifying a vehicle from captured image data
First Claim
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1. A vehicle identification process for use with a vehicle service system, comprising:
- monitoring an observation area through which a vehicle will pass to detect the presence of said vehicle by acquiring measurements representative of a distance to a surface within said monitored observation area, said distance measurements acquired along a measurement axis which is intersected by the presence of a vehicle within said monitored observation area, whereby said measured distance is decreased when said vehicle is present, indicating a detection of said vehicle;
responsive to a detection of said vehicle within said monitored observation area, acquiring at least one image of a surface of the vehicle on which a license plate is expected;
processing said at least one acquired image to detect the presence of a license plate on the vehicle and to extract identifying data from said image, said identifying data associated with said detected license plate; and
associating said extracted identifying data with at least one item of vehicle-specific data.
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Abstract
An imaging sensor observes a field of view through which a vehicle passes, at an orientation and position suitable for acquisition of license plate data from a surface of the vehicle. Responsive to the vehicle position, at least one image of a surface of the vehicle including a license plate is acquired and evaluated to extract license plate data. The position of the vehicle for acquisition of the image is established by a trigger in a fixed relationship with the imaging sensor.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A vehicle identification process for use with a vehicle service system, comprising:
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monitoring an observation area through which a vehicle will pass to detect the presence of said vehicle by acquiring measurements representative of a distance to a surface within said monitored observation area, said distance measurements acquired along a measurement axis which is intersected by the presence of a vehicle within said monitored observation area, whereby said measured distance is decreased when said vehicle is present, indicating a detection of said vehicle; responsive to a detection of said vehicle within said monitored observation area, acquiring at least one image of a surface of the vehicle on which a license plate is expected; processing said at least one acquired image to detect the presence of a license plate on the vehicle and to extract identifying data from said image, said identifying data associated with said detected license plate; and associating said extracted identifying data with at least one item of vehicle-specific data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A vehicle identification process for use with a vehicle service system, comprising:
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monitoring an observation area through which a vehicle will pass to detect the presence of said vehicle; responsive to a detection of said vehicle within said monitored observation area, acquiring at least one image of a surface of the vehicle on which a license plate is expected; processing said at least one acquired image to detect the presence of a license plate on the vehicle and to extract identifying data from said image, said identifying data associated with said detected license plate; associating said extracted identifying data with at least one item of vehicle-specific data; and wherein said step of monitoring includes; a. establishing an optical target feature within said monitored observation area, said optical target feature established in a fixed position which is obscured from a field of view of an imaging sensor monitoring said observation area by a presence of said vehicle within said monitored observation area; b. acquiring a sequence of images of said field of view; c. evaluating each of said images to detect a presence or an absence of said optical target feature within each of said images; d. detecting a presence of said vehicle in response to an observed presence of said optical target feature in an image occurring prior to an observed absence of said optical target feature in a subsequent image; and e. detecting a departure of said vehicle in response to an observed presence of said optical target feature in an image occurring subsequent to an observed absence of said optical target feature in a preceding image. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A vehicle identification method for use with a vehicle inspection system, comprising:
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monitoring an observation area through which a vehicle undergoing inspection will pass to detect a presence of said vehicle by acquiring measurements, each representative of a distance to a surface within said monitored area, along a common axis intersected by a passage of said vehicle through said monitored area, whereby said vehicle is detected in response to said measurements decreasing during said passage of said vehicle; responsive to subsequent detection of said vehicle within said monitored observation area, acquiring at least one image of a surface of said vehicle on which a license plate is present; processing said at least one acquired image to extract identifying license plate data; and associating said extracted identifying license plate data with at least one item of vehicle-specific data; and responsive to said measurements returning to a baseline distance following a detected passage of said vehicle, indicating said departure of said detected vehicle from said monitored area. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A vehicle identification system configured to automatically identify a vehicle present in a vehicle service area, comprising:
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an imaging system disposed to acquire at least one image of a surface on a vehicle present within said vehicle service area; a processing system configured to receive said acquired images from said imaging system, said processing system further configured to evaluate said acquired images to detect the presence of a license plate on the vehicle surface and to extract identifying data associated with said detected license plate from said image; wherein said processing system is further configured to associate said extracted identifying data with at least one item of vehicle specific data; wherein said processing system is further configured to receive a signal from a vehicle measurement system, said signal indicating the presence of a vehicle within said vehicle service area; and wherein said processing system is configured to signal said imaging system to acquire said at least one image of a vehicle surface in response to said signal from said vehicle measurement system. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification