Automated site security, monitoring and access control system
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring and controlling access of vehicles as the vehicles seek access to and travel within a secure facility, the system comprising:
- one or more vehicle databases for storing first license plate characters associated with a vehicle located within the secure facility, first location coordinates corresponding to a first location at which the first license plate characters were captured in a first image, and a first timestamp corresponding to a first time at which the first license plate characters were captured in the first image;
one or more mobile monitoring stations distributed within the secure facility, each mobile monitoring station comprising;
a video imaging device for capturing a second images of indicia on vehicles located within the facility;
a location determination device for determining second location coordinates of the mobile monitoring station positioned at a second location; and
a video image processing system in communication with the video imaging device for operating on the second images of the indicia to identify second license plate characters therein, the video image processing system for wirelessly transmitting the second license plate characters, the second location coordinates, and a second timestamp indicating a second time at which the second image was captured;
one or more processors in communication with one or more of the video imaging processing systems of the one or more mobile monitoring stations and in communication with the one or more vehicle databases, the one or more processors forreceiving the second license plate characters, the second location coordinates and the second timestamp,accessing the one or more vehicle databases to determine whether the second license plate characters match the first license plate characters, andwhen the second license plate characters match the first license plate characters, processing the first and second location coordinates to determine information indicative of movement of the vehicle during an elapsed time between the first time and the second time, and generating an output based on the information indicative of movement of the vehicle during the elapsed time; and
a communication network for providing communication between the processors, the mobile monitoring stations, and the vehicle databases.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides for automatic monitoring and control of the ingress and egress of vehicles to and from various areas within a secure facility. A plurality of cameras, such as infrared-sensitive cameras, capture images of license plates and/or optically readable passive tags on vehicles traveling into and within the facility. A video image processing system detects and extracts a vehicle license plate number (LPN) or other such identifying characters within the captured image of the license plate. Based at least in part on the location of the camera that captured the LPN, the processor stores the LPN with a time-stamp in one or more vehicle databases, such as a site LPN database, an in-transit database, an employee database, an expected visitor database, a “blacklist” database, a loiterer database, a speeder database, a high-security database, a high-security parking lot database, a normal security parking lot database and a visitor parking lot database. Also, depending at least in part on the location of the camera that captured the LPN and whether the vehicle'"'"'s LPN is listed in one or more of the above-listed databases, the processor controls the actuation of various barriers or like devices to allow ingress to and egress from various restricted areas within the facility. The processor also preferably controls information posted on various terminals in the site, such as a Security Portal terminal and a parking lot pay booth terminal, and on variable messaging signs at various locations within the facility.
219 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring and controlling access of vehicles as the vehicles seek access to and travel within a secure facility, the system comprising:
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one or more vehicle databases for storing first license plate characters associated with a vehicle located within the secure facility, first location coordinates corresponding to a first location at which the first license plate characters were captured in a first image, and a first timestamp corresponding to a first time at which the first license plate characters were captured in the first image; one or more mobile monitoring stations distributed within the secure facility, each mobile monitoring station comprising; a video imaging device for capturing a second images of indicia on vehicles located within the facility; a location determination device for determining second location coordinates of the mobile monitoring station positioned at a second location; and a video image processing system in communication with the video imaging device for operating on the second images of the indicia to identify second license plate characters therein, the video image processing system for wirelessly transmitting the second license plate characters, the second location coordinates, and a second timestamp indicating a second time at which the second image was captured; one or more processors in communication with one or more of the video imaging processing systems of the one or more mobile monitoring stations and in communication with the one or more vehicle databases, the one or more processors for receiving the second license plate characters, the second location coordinates and the second timestamp, accessing the one or more vehicle databases to determine whether the second license plate characters match the first license plate characters, and when the second license plate characters match the first license plate characters, processing the first and second location coordinates to determine information indicative of movement of the vehicle during an elapsed time between the first time and the second time, and generating an output based on the information indicative of movement of the vehicle during the elapsed time; and a communication network for providing communication between the processors, the mobile monitoring stations, and the vehicle databases. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for monitoring and controlling access of vehicles as the vehicles seek access to or travel within a secure facility, the method comprising:
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(a) storing first license plate character information associated with a vehicles traveling within the secure facility; (b) storing first location coordinates corresponding to a first location at which the first license plate characters were captured in a first image; (c) capturing a second images of indicia on a vehicle traveling within the secure facility or seeking access to an area of the secure facility; (d) determining second location coordinates of a second location at which the second image of the vehicle was captured; (e) operating on the second images to determine second license plate character information there from; (f) comparing the second license plate character information to the first license plate character information; and (g) when the first license plate character information matches the second license plate character information, processing the first and second location coordinates to determine information indicative of movement of the vehicle within the secure facility. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A apparatus for monitoring and controlling access of vehicles as the vehicles seek access to or travel within a secure facility, the apparatus comprising:
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means for storing first license plate character information associated with a vehicles traveling within the secure facility and for storing first location coordinates corresponding to a first location at which the first license late characters information was captured in a first image; means for capturing a second image of indicia on a vehicle traveling within the secure facility or seeking access to one of the areas of the secure facility; means for determining second location coordinates of a second location at which the second image of the vehicle was captured; means for operating on the second images to determine second license plate character information there from; means for comparing the second license plate character information to the first license plate character information; and means for processing the first and second location coordinates to determine information indicative of movement of the vehicle within the secure facility.
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Specification