Method and system for determining the availability of a lane for a guided vehicle
First Claim
1. A system for determining track availability and configured to be fitted to a guided vehicle liable to move downstream, the system comprising:
- at least one camera able to capture at least one image of a downstream section of a track, the downstream section being a track portion extending from a first point of the track disposed downstream of the guided vehicle to a second point of the track disposed downstream of the guided vehicle, a distance separating said camera from the second point being greater than a distance separating said camera from the first point; and
at least one image processing and analysis device able to analyze each image taken by said camera, to locate said downstream section therein, to determine a downstream safety distance, and an availability state of the track between the first point and the second point, said image processing and analysis device is configured for using known and invariable dimensional features of the track for locating the downstream section in relation to said camera and for determining a distance between the downstream section and said camera.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and a system determine track availability. The system is configured to be fitted to a guided vehicle liable to move downstream on a track. The system contains at least one camera able to capture images of a downstream section of track. The downstream section being a track portion extending from a first point of the track located downstream of the guided vehicle to a second point of the track located downstream of the guided vehicle. The distance separating the camera from the second point is being greater than the distance separating it from the first point. At least one image processing and analysis device is provided and is able to analyze each image taken by each camera, to locate the downstream section therein, to determine first a downstream safety distance, and second an availability state of the track between the first point and the second point.
20 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A system for determining track availability and configured to be fitted to a guided vehicle liable to move downstream, the system comprising:
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at least one camera able to capture at least one image of a downstream section of a track, the downstream section being a track portion extending from a first point of the track disposed downstream of the guided vehicle to a second point of the track disposed downstream of the guided vehicle, a distance separating said camera from the second point being greater than a distance separating said camera from the first point; and at least one image processing and analysis device able to analyze each image taken by said camera, to locate said downstream section therein, to determine a downstream safety distance, and an availability state of the track between the first point and the second point, said image processing and analysis device is configured for using known and invariable dimensional features of the track for locating the downstream section in relation to said camera and for determining a distance between the downstream section and said camera. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A guided vehicle, comprising:
a system for determining track availability and configured to be fitted to a guided vehicle liable to move downstream, the system containing; at least one camera able to capture at least one image of a downstream section of a track, the downstream section being a track portion extending from a first point of the track disposed downstream of the guided vehicle to a second point of the track disposed downstream of the guided vehicle, a distance separating said camera from the second point being greater than a distance separating said camera from the first point; and at least one image processing and analysis device able to analyze each image taken by said camera, to locate said downstream section therein, to determine a downstream safety distance, and an availability state of the track between the first point and the second point, said image processing and analysis device is configured for using known and invariable dimensional features of the track for locating the downstream section in relation to said camera and for determining a distance between the downstream section and said camera.
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13. A distance-measurement system comprising:
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a distance-measurement sign for assisting in determining track availability and having a sign body; a system for determining the track availability and configured to be fitted to a guided vehicle liable to move downstream, said system containing; at least one camera able to capture at least one image of said distance-measurement sign; and at least one image processing and analysis device able to analyze each image taken by said camera, to locate said distance-measurement sign, to determine a downstream safety distance, and an availability state of a track between a first point and a second point; said sign body configured to be attached to a supporting element of a surface of another guided vehicle or beside the track, said sign body having a geometric shape dimensioned to enable the system for determining track availability to determine a distance between the distance-measurement sign and the guided vehicle.
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14. A method for determining track availability and determining availability of a track for a guided vehicle liable to be moving downstream, which comprises the steps of:
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capturing at least one image by a camera of a downstream section of a track, the downstream section being a portion of track extending from a first point of the track disposed downstream of the guided vehicle to a second point of the track disposed downstream of the guided vehicle, a distance separating the camera from the second point being greater than a distance separating the camera from the first point; and automatically processing and analyzing each image captured in order to locate the track in each image captured, to determine a downstream safety distance and an availability state of the track between the first point and the second point, wherein known and invariable dimensional features of the track are used for locating the downstream section in relation to the camera and for determining a distance between the downstream section and the camera. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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Specification