ES2373284B1 - IMPROVEMENTS INTRODUCED IN THE INVENTION PATENT WITH APPLICATION NUMBER P200803569 "ARTIFICIAL VISION SYSTEM FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF FREE AND OCCUPIED PLACES AND FOR INTEGRAL SAFETY IN CAR PARKS FOR VEHICLES". - Google Patents

Abstract

Improvements introduced in the Invention Patent with application number P200803569? Artificial vision system for the management of free and occupied spaces and for the integral security in car parks for vehicles? by the incorporation of a vehicle identification system for each of the places that allows to detect the specific location of all the vehicles parked in the parking lot or garage. Each camera (3) obtains images corresponding to one or several parking spaces. The system installed in the central computers (6) processes the images obtained by the cameras (3) and distributed by a bus-type cabling system (4), by means of character and license plate recognition systems, with a prior knowledge of the geometry and parking or garage distribution. The license plate identifier identifies the vehicle so that its location within the parking lot is stored in the data storage system (7).

Description

of all vehicles parked in the car park

Improvements introduced in the Patent of Invention with nº P 200803569: "Artificial vision system for the management of free and occupied spaces and for the integral security in car parks". Technical sector

The present invention is framed in the sector of the management systems of free and occupied parking spaces or garages for vehicles, as well as the security and video surveillance systems that are installed in them. State of the art

So far, to measure the state of a parking space, there are individual presence sensors, usually ultrasound, whose functionality only allows to establish the difference between free and occupied by distance measurements. The use of these systems also implies the need to install as many sensors as there are parking spaces.

If a video surveillance system is also required, it is necessary to add a series of additional cameras whose function only includes the capture of images and their subsequent display on one or more monitors.

In the patent with application number P200803569, as well as in the US patent 6107942 a system based on image processing is presented where each square is monitored by a camera to determine whether said square is occupied or not. However, this system does not allow to identify the exact vehicle that is parked in each square.

In US 7791501 B2, a vehicle identification and tracking system based on images is presented. However, this patent is very generic and does not specify the specific technology that can achieve the achievement of the objective of vehicle identification. Proof of this is that currently these systems have not been physically installed in any car park in the world or have been made, it has been very residual. Explanation of the invention.

The improvements introduced in the present application of Addition to the Patent with application number P200803569 “Artificial vision system for the management of free and occupied places and for the integral security in parking for vehicles”, will be applied in the same cases specified in the Main Patent The improvements that are introduced in this Addendum are due to the incorporation of a vehicle identification system applied to each specific place that allows knowing, not only if the place is empty or occupied, but, in case it is occupied, the specific vehicle that is parked in it. This system is applied to each digital camera (3) being able to recognize the state, empty or occupied, and the exact vehicle that is parked, in the case of occupied seats, of all the places monitored by each camera.

The system that is the subject of this Addendum will work inside parking lots or garages (1) where each vehicle that enters the enclosure can park in any available parking space, since these spaces do not necessarily have to be nominative. The functionality of the system is to identify which vehicle is parked at any time in each of the spaces of said apartment or garage.

By vehicle identi fi cation means: the ability of the system to recognize the license plate that every vehicle exhibits in its front and rear. By registration means: a plate, usually metallic, containing an alphanumeric code that is unique to each vehicle. The term "recognize the license plate" means: the ability of the system to transform the alphanumeric characters of the license plate into the equivalent machine code that can be "understood" by a computer.

In the main patent, the teams in charge of processing the images (6) of the distributed network of cameras (3), determine if the square is occupied or empty, based on arti fi cial vision techniques. The main improvement introduced in the current Addition Patent application focuses on the incorporation of a new system based on character and license plate recognizers installed in the central computers (6) responsible for image processing. Each camera (3) obtains images corresponding to one or several parking spaces. All parking spaces are monitored by at least one camera. The system installed in the computers (6) processes the images by means of character and license plate recognition systems with a prior knowledge of the geometry and distribution of the car park or garage. The license plate identifier identifies the vehicle, so that its location inside the car park is stored in the data storage system (7).

The occupancy information is very useful for the managers of parking lots and garages. However, the identification and location of each and every one of the vehicles that access the parking lot is much more useful since user assistance systems can be incorporated into payment machines with information regarding the location of your vehicle, as well as the best way to get to this one. Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows a general scheme of the invention in which its constituent elements can be observed. The global system is installed in an example of parking (1), not limiting the invention, and comprises: (2) luminous indicators of installable state of state in each parking space; (3) a distributed network of digital cameras capable of capturing information from several parking spaces per camera; (4) a bus-type cabling system for the interconnection and supply of all system elements; (5) one or more central monitors for viewing all the images captured by the cameras; (6) a set of central computers that are responsible for processing the images and generate the activation signals of the other elements of the system; (7) a data storage system for storing images with movement; (8) information panels with variable messages that can be installed in the parking areas. Embodiment

A possible realization of the proposed improvement would be made up of an artificial vision system for license plate recognition installed in the central computers (6) responsible for processing the images captured by the digital cameras

3 EN 2373284A1 4

(3) and distributed by the bus type wiring system (4). Optical license plate recognizers perform adaptive image segmentation to obtain a binary image. This binary image is analyzed to find areas of interest in which the license plate may be located. Each area of interest is processed by an optical character recognition system, which allows the alphanumeric characters of the license plates to be identified. By means of a high-level syntax analyzer, the vehicle identification plate is obtained. This system runs on the central computers (6) and is applied to each and every one of the digital cameras (3) distributed by the parking lot (1) so that all parking spaces are monitored. This implies having the identification and location of all the vehicles parked inside the parking lot or garage (1). This system can be reinforced to improve the detection rate of license plate recognizers by means of an artificial vision algorithm that takes as input the images from the entire network of cameras (3) installed in the car park.

(1) and carry out a “vehicle tracking” determining the zones or aisles through which said vehicle is moving at all times.

5 EN 2373284A1 6

Claims (2)

1. Improvements introduced in the Invention Patent with application number P200803569 "Artificial vision system for the management of free and occupied spaces and for the integral security in car parks" characterized by a vehicle identification system for each of the spaces that allow the specific location of all vehicles parked in the car park or garage to be detected (1). Each camera (3) obtains images corresponding to one or several parking spaces. All parking spaces are monitored by at least one camera. The system installed in the central computers (6) processes the images obtained by the digital cameras (3) and distributed by a bus-type cabling system (4), by means of character and license plate recognition systems, with a prior knowledge of the geometry and distribution of squares and digital cameras through the parking lot or garage. The license plate identifier identifies the vehicle so that its location within the parking lot is stored in the data storage system (7). The execution of the vehicle identification system in all cameras provides information on the location of all vehicles parked in the parking lot or garage.  ES 2 373 284 A1   SPANISH OFFICE OF THE PATENTS AND BRAND Application no .: 201000635 SPAIN Date of submission of the application: 04.06.2010 Priority Date: REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE 51 Int. Cl.: G08G1 / 14 (2006.01) RELEVANT DOCUMENTS

Category

56 Documents cited Claims Affected

Y

US 6107942 A (YOO et al.) 22.08.2000, column 2, lines 48-50; column 2, line 66 - column 3, line 3; column 3, lines 19-22; column 3, lines 35-46; Figures 6-7. one

Y

WO 2009 117755 A2 (SOFTWARE SYSTEM SOLUTIONS FC-LLC) 01.10.2009, page 9, lines 18-30; page 10, lines 15-21,30-31. one

Category of the documents cited X: of particular relevance Y: of particular relevance combined with other / s of the same category A: reflects the state of the art O: refers to unwritten disclosure P: published between the priority date and the date of priority submission of the application E: previous document, but published after the date of submission of the application

This report has been prepared • for all claims • for claims no:

Date of realization of the report 19.01.2012

Examiner M. L. Alvarez Moreno Page 1/4

REPORT OF THE STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE Application number: 201000635 Minimum documentation searched (classification system followed by classification symbols) G08G Electronic databases consulted during the search (name of the database and, if possible, terms of search used) INVENES, EPODOC, WPI State of the Art Report Page 2/4  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 201000635 Date of Written Opinion: 19.01.2012 Statement

Novelty (Art. 6.1 LP 11/1986)

Claims Claims one IF NOT

Inventive activity (Art. 8.1 LP11 / 1986)

Claims Claims one IF NOT

The application is considered to comply with the industrial application requirement. This requirement was evaluated during the formal and technical examination phase of the application (Article 31.2 Law 11/1986).  Opinion Base.- This opinion has been made on the basis of the patent application as published. State of the Art Report Page 3/4  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 201000635 1. Documents considered.- The documents belonging to the state of the art taken into consideration for the realization of this opinion are listed below.

Document

Publication or Identification Number publication date

D01

US 6107942 A (YOO et al.) 22.08.2000

D02

WO 2009117755 A2 (SOFTWARE SYSTEM SOLUTIONS FC-LLC) 01.10.2009

2. Statement motivated according to articles 29.6 and 29.7 of the Regulations for the execution of Law 11/1986, of March 20, on Patents on novelty and inventive activity; quotes and explanations in support of this statement Document D01 (already cited in the report on the state of the art of the main application P200803569) shows a system for parking management. The system consists of a network [figures 6 and 7] that interconnects all its elements. It also has a distributed network of digital cameras capable of capturing information from several places per camera [column 2, lines 48-50; column 2, line 66 - column 3, line 3]. There is a possibility that the acquired images [column 3, lines 35-46] will be processed in a central computer, located in a security center, where they can be used for any purpose, eg surveillance. There is the possibility of storing [monitored column 3, lines 1922] the monitored information. Document D01, as its main objective is to detect free or occupied places, does not expressly indicate the subsequent image processing that can be applied to the images captured by the cameras. Document D02 shows an equivalent system, you can have cameras [page 9, lines 18-30] that take pictures of parking spaces when vehicles are introduced or leave the square. The cameras capture [page 10, lines 15-21] the license plate image, transfer the image to a processing system that identifies which vehicle (license plate) is parked in each square. Images can be stored [page 10, lines 30-31]. Document D02 shows a system that has all the additional features identified in claim 1 (detecting and storing the specific location of each vehicle by network cameras and a license plate processing system). In view of documents D01 and D02, claim 1 lacks inventive activity according to article 8 of the Patent Law. State of the Art Report Page 4/4