ITFI20120009A1 - "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING INFRINGEMENT OF ROAD CIRCULATION RULES" - Google Patents

Description

â € œSYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTION OF INFRINGEMENTS TO THE RULES ON ROAD CIRCULATIONâ €

Description

Technical field

The present invention relates to improvements to the systems and methods for detecting infringements of the traffic regulations. More particularly, the present invention relates to improvements to systems for determining infringements relating to exceeding the speed limits with calculation of the average speed on extended routes.

State of the art

Various systems have been implemented to increase road safety, particularly on high-speed roads, expressways and motorways. Initially, systems and devices were created for determining the precise speed of a vehicle in transit in front of a detection equipment. The equipment is configured to take an image of the vehicle in transit when it exceeds the speed limit. Some devices of this kind use optical beams, and more particularly laser beams. Two parallel and horizontal laser beams, directed parallel to the road surface and orthogonally to the vehicle's travel path, allow, on the basis of the calculation of the time elapsing between the interception of the first and second beam, to determine the speed of the vehicle in transit and to command the possible acquisition of an image of the vehicle through a camera or video camera. Examples of apparatus of this type are described in EP 0305345 and EP 0104437.

These speed detection systems for sanctioning purposes and in order to increase road safety have proved to be very effective. However, they have a limitation which is that they can only detect point speed. The driver who does not comply with traffic regulations can therefore brake at the instantaneous speed detection device and, after passing the detection position, accelerate again until reaching speeds higher than the permitted one, without this giving rise to a detection of infringement and consequent sanctioning.

Systems were therefore developed, known for example as â € œsafety tutorâ €, which are able to determine the average transit speed of a vehicle along a stretch of road. These systems are frequently used on highways. They provide that at the entrance and exit of a stretch of carriageway, vehicle transit detection means are arranged, capable of detecting the passage of a vehicle entering and exiting and consequently calculating the average speed of transit on the basis of the time elapsing between the first and second detection of the passage of the vehicle respectively at the entrance and exit of the monitored section.

These systems provide a video camera or video camera for each lane of the guarded carriageway at the entrance to the monitored section. Each video camera or video camera, normally installed on a portal or other support structure that extends horizontally above the carriageway, is associated with a magnetic loop incorporated into the road surface. The latter detects the passage of the vehicle and controls the activation of the video camera both to detect an image of the vehicle in order to acquire the image of the vehicle entering the monitored section. A similar arrangement is envisaged at the exit so that each vehicle in transit can be detected at the entrance and exit of the guarded section. Based on the transit time between entry and exit, the average speed is calculated and if this exceeds the imposed limit, the data collected are processed to apply a penalty, tracing back to the driver of the vehicle through the license plate number detected by the image acquisition system .

The system is equipped with suitable means to recognize the vehicles in transit, so that it is possible to determine for each vehicle the passage through the entrance area and the exit area of the monitored section. These means are based primarily on the processing of the vehicle registration plate image via software.

The systems described above are particularly effective for increasing traffic safety in even long stretches of roads and motorways which, for example due to the nature of the route, the prevailing atmospheric conditions or for any other reason, are particularly dangerous.

However, these systems have some drawbacks linked above all to the need to use magnetic loops that must be installed under the surface of the bituminous surface of the roadway. This requires invasive intervention not only during the first installation, but also for maintenance or replacement. The intervention on the bituminous mantle frequently creates discontinuities on the same mantle with the risk of the formation of puddles of water, dangerous for the circulation. Furthermore, the installation, maintenance or repair work involves the closure of one or more lanes of the carriageway for even a long time, with consequent inconvenience to vehicular traffic.

Summary of the invention

In order to solve all or part of one or more of the drawbacks of the prior art, it is envisaged to combine the vehicle recognition system at the entrance and exit of the monitored section with laser beam speed detection devices, arranged at the above the carriageway. The passage of the vehicle intercepts the laser beams and controls the shooting of images and the procedures for calculating point and average speeds. The use of optical transit and speed detection devices placed above the road surface makes it possible to avoid the intervention of planting the coils in the road surface, required by current technology.

Basically, according to some embodiments, a surveillance and detection system for infringements of the traffic regulations is therefore provided, comprising: a stretch of carriageway delimited by an entrance section and an exit section and provided with at least one lane of gear; a first support structure at the entrance section of said carriageway section, and a second support structure at the exit section of said carriageway section, said support structures preferably extending transversely to said carriageway and above it; on the first support structure and on the second support structure, for each lane, a respective image acquisition device and a respective device for detecting the passage of a vehicle in transit through said entry section and said exit section. Characteristically, each detection device comprises emitters and detectors of at least two optical beams substantially parallel and spaced apart in the direction of said lane, oriented towards the road surface.

According to a different aspect, a method of surveillance and detection of infringements to the rules on vehicular traffic is provided, through a system of the aforementioned type, in which the transit of a vehicle entering a stretch of carriageway and leaving it is determined by interception of at least one pair of optical beams generated by a respective detection device.

Further advantageous characteristics and embodiments of the system and of the method according to the invention are indicated in the dependent claims, which form an integral part of the present description and will be illustrated in greater detail with reference to an embodiment of the invention.

The device for detecting the passage of a vehicle can only be used to start and end (at the entrance and at the exit, respectively) the procedure for detecting the average speed of transit. In other embodiments, the input device and / or the output device can be used to carry out a measurement of the precise speed of the vehicle in transit. In advantageous embodiments, the detection device is also used to perform a measurement of the length of the vehicle. This data can be used to assign the vehicle to a specific category, according to its length, to each category corresponding to a different speed limit. In this way the system can automatically assign the relevant speed limit to each vehicle and compare it with the speed (average and / or punctual) detected.

The measurement of the precise speed of the vehicle through the device for detecting the passage of the vehicle entering and / or exiting the monitored section can be used to control the timing of the image acquisition device. In fact, the position of the image acquisition device is fixed and the delay between the detection of the passage of the vehicle in front of the detection device and the instant of acquisition of the image can be made a function of the detected speed, so that the image is taken with the vehicle at a distance as constant as possible from the image acquisition device, regardless of the forward speed. In practice, the activation of the image acquisition device takes place after a time from the detection of the passage of the vehicle which is a function of the precise speed detected by the detection device of the passage of the vehicle. This allows you to correctly acquire the image even of a vehicle traveling at a speed much higher or much lower than an average speed.

Characteristics and embodiments are described below and further defined in the attached claims, which form an integral part of the present description. The above short description identifies characteristics of the various embodiments of the present invention so that the following detailed description can be better understood and so that the present contributions to the art can be better appreciated. There are, of course, other features of the invention which will be described later and which will be set out in the attached claims. With reference to this, before illustrating various embodiments of the invention in detail, it must be understood that the various embodiments of the invention are not limited in their application to the construction details and component arrangements described in the following description. or illustrated in the drawings. The invention can be practiced in other embodiments and practiced and practiced in various ways. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for descriptive purposes only and should not be regarded as limiting.

Those skilled in the art will therefore understand that the concept upon which the disclosure is based can readily be used as a basis for designing other structures, methods and / or other systems for carrying out the various purposes of the present invention. It is therefore important that the claims be considered as including those equivalent constructions which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Brief description of the drawings

The present invention will be better understood by following the description and the accompanying drawing, which shows a practical non-limiting embodiment of the invention. More specifically, in the drawing they show; there

Fig. 1 shows a schematic plan view of a portion or a stretch of a carriageway, for example of a motorway, in which a system according to the invention is installed; there

Fig. 2 shows a schematic perspective view of the entrance to the monitored section; and the

Fig.3 schematically shows a speed detection device and relative video camera.

Detailed description of an embodiment

The following detailed description of exemplary embodiments refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals in different drawings identify the same or similar elements. Furthermore, the drawings are not necessarily to scale. Again, the detailed description which follows does not limit the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

Reference throughout the description to `` one embodiment '' or `` the embodiment '' or `` some embodiment '' means that a particular feature, structure or element described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the described object. Therefore the phrase â € œin one embodimentâ € or â € œin some embodimentâ € or â € œin some embodimentâ € at various points along the description does not necessarily refer to the same or the same embodiments. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or elements can be combined in any suitable way in one or more embodiments.

With initial reference to Fig. 1, 1 generically indicates a carriageway, for example the carriageway of a motorway, on which the surveillance system is installed. A 3 indicates a section of carriageway subject to surveillance. The carriageway section 3 is delimited by an entrance section 5 and an exit section 7. In the example of embodiment, carriageway 1 comprises four lanes 9A, 9B, 9C and 9D. A possible emergency lane is indicated by 10. It must be understood that the number of lanes indicated is purely illustrative and that the system can be used with advantage even in carriageways with a number of lanes different from that schematically represented in the drawing.

In the illustrated embodiment, a support structure 11 is provided in the inlet section 5, see in particular Fig. 2. The support structure 11 has, in this embodiment, a portal conformation with two lateral uprights 11A, 11B and a horizontal crosspiece 11C. In other embodiments, for example when the section of carriageway under surveillance has a smaller width and a smaller number of lanes, the support structure can comprise a single upright and a substantially horizontal cross member carried cantilevered by the upright itself.

For each lane 9A-9D of the carriageway 1, the support structure 11 has a camera 13A, 13B, 13C and 13D. A respective device for detecting the instantaneous speed of the vehicle is associated with the camera 13A-13D of each lane 9A-9D. The instantaneous speed sensing device is indicated with 15A, 15B, 15C and 15D for each of the four lanes 9A-9D.

The device 15 can be made in a manner known per se, for example as indicated in the publications cited in the introduction. Devices of this type are commercially available from the company Sodi Scientifica S.p.A., in Calenzano (FI), Italy and marketed under the name â € œAutoveloxâ €. The configuration of the 15A-15D devices and their operation are known per se and do not require a detailed description here. It is sufficient to note, with particular reference to the diagram of Fig. 3, that these devices have two emitter / receiver systems of an optical beam and more particularly a laser beam. In the diagram of Fig. 3 with 17 the casing that contains the electronics and the optics of the device is schematically indicated. F1 and F2 indicate the two parallel laser beams that are emitted by the device 15. In some embodiments the laser beams can be more than two. In the diagram of Fig. 3, 19 and 21 schematically indicate two functional blocks which represent the emitter / receiver devices for the beams F1 and F2 respectively. The functional block 23 indicates a central control unit which is connected to the devices 19 and 21 and to the respective video camera or video camera, generally indicated with 13, associated with the particular device 15.

As can be seen in Fig. 2 and also in the diagram of Fig. 3, contrary to what happens in the normal use of an optical beam speed detection device, in this application the device 15 is mounted in such a way that the optical or laser beams F1, F2 are oriented vertically and orthogonally to the road surface, ie to the surface of the carriageway 1. The orientation of the beams F1, F2 is an example. In other embodiments, different orientations can be provided, for example inclined at an angle other than 90 ° with respect to the road surface. In general, however, the beams are oriented towards the street level.

When a vehicle passes under the support structure 11 along one of the lanes 9A-9D, it sequentially intercepts the two laser beams F1 and F2 with the front edge. The central unit 23 is able to determine, on the basis of the signals received from the receivers of the devices 19, 21 both the passage of the vehicle and its speed, calculating the time elapsing between the interception of the F1 beam and the € ™ interception of the F2 beam. Furthermore, again on the basis of the optical signals received by the devices 19, 21, the central unit 23 is able to determine the length of the vehicle. Based on this data, it is possible to perform a series of operations.

In the first place it is possible, by means of a command coming from the central unit 23, to activate the video camera 13 so that it acquires an image of the vehicle in transit, allowing it to be memorized. If the punctual speed, i.e. the instantaneous speed, detected by the device 15 exceeds the limit imposed by law, it is already possible at this stage to associate the image taken by the video camera 13 with information relating to the violation of the rules. on traffic and therefore initiate a sanctioning procedure. The images acquired by the camera can be transmitted to a computer or a server. In some advantageous embodiments, the device 15 is used to detect the size, in particular the length, of the vehicle. Using this information, it is possible to assign a category to which the vehicle belongs, to which category corresponds a certain speed limit. The device thus makes it possible to compare the speed of the vehicle with a variable limit according to the type of vehicle (vehicle length) in transit. Similarly, the average speed determined by the system can also be compared with a maximum speed limit which varies according to the category to which the vehicle belongs.

Regardless of any timely exceeding of the speed limit, the system is able to memorize the image detected by the video camera 13 activated by the passage of the vehicle through beams F1 and F2 and keep the image in memory until it the same alley, passes through the exit section 7 of the road section 3 placed under surveillance. The methods for recognizing the transit of the same vehicle in and out are known per se and do not need to be described here. As mentioned, recognition can take place in particular using (also) the image of the license plate, which can be suitably processed by an image processing and optical recognition system of alphanumeric characters.

An arrangement similar to that illustrated in Figs can be provided on the outlet section 7. 2 and 3 for the inlet section. It is therefore possible to carry out a second speed check, punctual or instantaneous, as well as acquire the image of the vehicle in transit at the exit and then calculate the average speed of the vehicle along the entire section 3 under surveillance.

In some embodiments it can also be provided that the detection of the punctual or instantaneous speed is performed only at the input or only at the output.

As noted, the use of the laser devices 15 also makes it possible to determine the length of the vehicle and therefore to attribute to each vehicle a different speed limit according to its length.

In the example illustrated, only one detection device 15 was provided for each lane with the beams perpendicular to the road surface. For example, to increase the likelihood of vehicle interception, other arrangements can also be used, possibly using more devices per lane and / or arranging the beams at an angle to the road surface. In one embodiment, two devices can be provided, i.e. a device with two adjacent pairs of laser beams. The beams of the two pairs can be placed in such a way as to intersect or cross at half height of the supporting structure. In other embodiments the detection device can be mounted on a roadside pole.

The embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings have been discussed in detail as embodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications, variations, additions and omissions are possible, without departing from the principles, concepts and teachings of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. Therefore, the scope of the invention must be determined solely on the basis of the broadest interpretation of the attached claims, including such modifications, variations, additions and omissions. The terms â € œunderstandâ € and its derivatives do not exclude the presence of additional elements or phases in addition to those specifically listed in a particular claim. The term â € œunâ € or â € œaâ € that precedes an element, means or characteristic of a claim does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements, means or characteristics. When a device claim lists a plurality of "media", some or all of these "media" may be implemented by a single component, organ or structure. The statement of certain elements, characteristics or means in separate dependent claims does not exclude the possibility of combining said elements, characteristics or means. When a method claim lists a sequence of steps, the sequence in which those steps are listed is not binding, and may be changed, if the particular sequence is not indicated as binding. The presence of any reference numbers in the attached claims has the purpose of facilitating the reading of the claims with reference to the description and the drawing, and does not limit the scope of protection represented by the claims.

Claims (18)

â € œSYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTION OF INFRINGEMENTS TO THE RULES ON ROAD CIRCULATIONâ € Claims 1. A system for monitoring and detecting infringements of traffic regulations, including: - a stretch of carriageway delimited by an entrance section and an exit section and provided with at least one driving lane; - a first support structure at the entrance section of said carriageway section, and a second support structure at the exit section of said carriageway section; - on the first support structure and on the second support structure, for each driving lane, a respective image acquisition device and a respective device for detecting the passage of a vehicle in; characterized in that each detection device comprises emitters and detectors of at least two optical beams substantially parallel and spaced apart in the direction of said lane, oriented towards the road surface. 2. System as per claim 1, characterized in that each of said devices for detecting the passage of a vehicle in at least one of said entry and exit sections is made to determine the instantaneous speed of a vehicle in transit. 3. System as per claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each of said devices for detecting the passage of a vehicle both in the entry section and in the exit section is designed to determine the instantaneous speed of a vehicle in transit. 4. System as per claim 1 or 2 or 3, characterized in that said optical beams are laser beams. 5. System according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said optical beams are oriented orthogonally to the underlying driving lane with which the instantaneous speed detection device is associated. 6. System according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that each image acquisition device comprises a video camera or video camera. 7. System according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that each detection device is connected to the corresponding image acquisition device to selectively acquire images of vehicles in transit, the passage of which is detected by said detection device. 8. System as per one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that each detection device in at least one of said input and output sections is made and controlled to determine, on the basis of the interception of said optical beams, to be part of a vehicle, the length of the vehicle. 9. System as per claim 8, characterized in that it is made to identify the category to which a vehicle in transit belongs according to the measured length and to compare the speed detected with a speed limit which is a function of the category to which the vehicle belongs. 10. System according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said image acquisition device is timed according to the instantaneous speed detected by the detection device. 11. System as per one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a central processing unit programmed to determine the average speed of a vehicle in transit along said stretch of carriageway, based on data acquired at the entrance and at the exit of said stretch of carriageway. 12. System according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said support structures extend transversely to said carriageway and above it 13. A method of surveillance and detection of infringements to the rules on vehicular traffic, through a system according to one or more of the preceding claims, in which the transit of a vehicle entering and exiting a stretch of carriageway is determined by interception of at least one pair of optical beams generated by a respective detection device. 14. Method as per claim 13, comprising the step of determining the instantaneous speed of a vehicle in transit at the entrance and / or exit of said stretch of carriageway based on the interception, by the vehicle, of the optical beams of one of said detection devices. 15. Method as per claim 13 or 14, comprising the step of determining the category of a vehicle in transit on the basis of its length determined by the interception, by the vehicle, of said optical beams of at least one of said devices detection. 16. Method according to claim 15, comprising the step of comparing the instantaneous speed of the vehicle in transit with a maximum speed limit defined as a function of the vehicle category. 17. Method according to one or more of claims 13 to 16, comprising the step of determining the average speed of a vehicle along said stretch of carriageway and of comparing the average speed with a maximum speed limit. 18. Method according to claims 15 and 17, comprising the step of defining said maximum speed limit based on the category of said vehicle.