JP2001209887A - Vehicle monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To speedily and easily read a number plate for specifying a traveling vehicle in the display part of a central device by transmitting number plate information on the photographed traveling vehicle preferentially in the case of transmitting the traveling vehicle photographed by a vehicle velocity monitoring device to the central device. SOLUTION: It can be selected whether the photographed picture of the traveling vehicle is transmitted from the upper end of the picture or the lower end of it. A controller segments a number plate part from the photographed picture and transmits the segmented number plate picture to the central device to display it on the number plate display part of the central device. In addition, the controller recognizes the characters of the number plate and transmits the result of the character recognition to the central device to display it on the character recognition information display part of the central device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle monitoring device mainly installed on a road for monitoring vehicles traveling on the road. For convenience of explanation, a vehicle speed monitoring device that monitors the speed of a vehicle, captures an image of a vehicle traveling at a certain speed or higher, and prints out the captured image will be described below.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional central device of a vehicle speed monitoring apparatus, a photographed image is received and displayed on a photographed image display section sequentially from the upper end of the image.

FIG. 9 is an overall view showing an installation state of a conventional vehicle speed monitoring device and a configuration of a central device. In the figure, 1 is a speed measuring device, 2 is a camera, 3 is a lighting device, 4
Is a control cable, 5 is a control unit, 6 is a traveling vehicle in the first lane, 7 is a line, 9 is a transmission / reception unit for receiving a photographed image or the like sent from the control unit 5, 10 is a control unit, and 11 is a photographed image. A display unit 12, an operation unit 12, a storage unit 13 for storing captured images, a printer 14 for printing and outputting captured images,
Reference numeral 8 denotes a central device composed of 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an image taken by the vehicle speed monitoring device shown in FIG. In the figure, 15 is a photographed image, 16 is a superimpose, 17 is a traveling vehicle,
Reference numeral 18 denotes a driver, and 19 denotes a number plate.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example in which an image captured by the vehicle speed monitoring device shown in FIG. 9 is transmitted from the controller to the central device, and the transmitted image is displayed on the central device. In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes a received image sequentially received by the central device and displayed on the display unit 11 in FIG.
It is a received image display area of the display unit.

Next, the operation of the conventional vehicle speed monitoring device will be described. In FIG. 9, the electromagnetic wave emitted from the speed measuring device 1 in the direction of the traveling vehicle 6 in the first lane is the traveling vehicle 6.
Is irradiated. The electromagnetic wave reflected by the traveling vehicle 6 returns to the speed measurement device 1 after receiving a shift of the Doppler frequency corresponding to the speed of the traveling vehicle 6, and is mixed with its own local signal to detect a video signal. The video signal is sent to the controller 5 via the control cable 4 to measure the speed of the traveling vehicle. If the measured speed exceeds a certain speed, an imaging command is sent from the controller 5 to the camera 2 via the control cable 4, and the camera 2 receiving the command issues a light emission command to the lighting device 3 and The shutter is released to photograph the traveling vehicle 6 in the first lane.

After the photographing, the controller 5 automatically sends the photographed image to the central device 8 via the line 7. The captured image sent to the central device 8 is transmitted and received by the transmitting / receiving unit 9 and the control unit 10.
Is automatically stored in the storage unit 13 as a database. The display unit 11 sequentially displays the currently-received captured images in the order of the received data. The captured image is displayed on the display unit 11 in response to an instruction to select a specified captured image from the storage unit 13 via the operation unit 12 via the control unit 10. The image displayed on the display unit 11 is printed out to the printer 14 in accordance with a print instruction from the operation unit 12.

[0008]

As described above, the conventional vehicle speed monitoring apparatus sequentially receives and displays the photographed images 15 from the upper end of the photographed images as shown in FIG. There is a problem that it takes time until the number plate 19 for specifying is displayed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to enable a number plate for identifying a photographed vehicle to be read quickly and easily.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle speed monitoring apparatus comprising: a photographing means for photographing a vehicle including a license plate; and a photographed image photographed by the photographing means being transmitted preferentially from the license plate image. And transmission means for performing the transmission.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle speed monitoring apparatus for photographing a vehicle including a license plate, control means for transmitting a photographed image photographed by the photographing means to a central unit, and transmission of the photographed image. Image transmission selecting means for selecting whether to transmit from the upper end or the lower end of the image, and display means for displaying the photographed image transmitted from the control means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle speed monitoring apparatus provided in the control means, the number plate cutting section for cutting a number plate portion from the photographed image, and a number provided in the display means for displaying a number plate image. And a plate display unit.

A vehicle speed monitoring device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention
A character recognition unit provided in the control unit and performing character recognition of a number plate from a captured image; and a character recognition information display unit provided in the display unit and displaying character recognition information recognized by the character recognition unit. It is provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle speed monitoring apparatus comprising:
An image transmission switching unit is provided in the control unit for switching whether the transmission of the photographed image is transmitted from the upper end or the lower end of the image based on a selection result of the image selecting unit.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle speed monitoring apparatus wherein the image transmission selecting means and the display means are provided in a central device.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and is an overall view showing a relation between a vehicle speed monitoring device and a lane and a situation where the vehicle is installed in the lane, and a block diagram showing a configuration of a central device. 2 in the figure
Reference numeral 3 denotes an image transmission switching unit provided in the controller 5, and reference numeral 22 denotes an image transmission selection unit provided in the central device 8.

The speed measuring device 1 irradiates an electromagnetic wave to a vehicle 6 traveling in a lane, and the electromagnetic wave reflected by the vehicle 6
In response to the shift of the Doppler frequency corresponding to the traveling speed, the flow returns to the speed measuring device 1 again, and the video signal is detected by mixing the local signal with the local signal. The video signal is sent to the controller 5 via the control cable 4 and the speed of the traveling vehicle 6 is measured. If the measured speed exceeds a certain speed, the camera 5
Camera 2 receives the imaging command, and the camera 2 receives the imaging command.
At the same time as issuing a light emission command, the shutter is released to photograph the traveling vehicle 6 in the first lane. After the photographing, the controller 5 automatically sends the photographed image data to the central device 8 via the line 7.

The image transmission switching section 23 can switch between transmitting the image from the upper end and transmitting the image from the lower end. Data sent to the central device 8 is automatically stored as a database in the storage unit 13 via the transmission / reception unit 9 and the control unit 10. The display unit 11 sequentially displays the currently-received captured images in the order of the received data. The image transmission selection unit 22 can select whether to transmit the captured image from the upper end or the lower end of the image. The captured image is displayed on the display unit 11 in response to an instruction to select a specified captured image from the storage unit 13 from the operation unit 12 via the control unit 10 by the vehicle speed monitoring device shown in FIG. The image displayed on the display unit 11 is transmitted to the printer 1 by a print instruction from the operation unit 12.
4 is printed out. The image transmission switching unit 23
Depending on the selection result of the image transmission selection unit 22 of the central device 8, the transmission of the image may be switched from the upper end or from the lower end, or may be switched independently (for example, manually, in conjunction with vehicle photographing). May be.

FIG. 2 shows an image transmission selecting section 2 so that an image photographed by the vehicle speed monitoring apparatus shown in FIG.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a transmission image on the central device display unit 11 when 2 is selected. As can be seen from this figure, according to the present invention, the license plate can be quickly read by transmitting the license plate image preferentially from the vehicle image.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing Embodiment 2 of the present invention, and is an overall view showing a relationship between a vehicle speed monitoring device and a lane and a situation where the vehicle is installed in the lane, and a block diagram showing a configuration of a central device. In the figure, an electromagnetic wave is emitted from a speed measuring device 1 to a vehicle traveling in a lane, and the electromagnetic wave reflected by the vehicle returns to the speed measuring device 1 after receiving a shift of the Doppler frequency corresponding to the running speed and returns to itself. The video signal is detected by mixing with the local signal possessed by. The video signal is sent to the controller 5 via the control cable 4, and the speed of the traveling vehicle is measured. If the measured speed exceeds a certain speed, an imaging command is sent from the controller 5 to the camera 2 via the control cable 4, and the camera 2 receiving the command issues a light emission command to the lighting device 3 and The shutter is released to photograph the traveling vehicle 6 in the first lane.

After the photographing, the controller 5 cuts out the number plate portion by software for performing the processing shown in FIG. 4 in the number plate cutout section 24, and automatically converts the cutout image and the entire photographed image data before the number plate cutout. It is sent to the central device 8 via the line 7. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the number plate cutout unit 24 of the controller 5 inputs a vehicle photographed image photographed by the camera 2 (FIG. 4A) and differentiates the input image (FIG. 4A).
(B)) After a run length is created based on the differentiated image (FIG. 4C), a process of cutting out a license plate image is performed as shown in FIG. 4D.

The photographed image transmission switching unit 23 can switch between transmitting the image from the upper end and transmitting the image from the lower end. Data sent to the central device 8 is automatically stored as a database in the storage unit 13 via the transmission / reception unit 9 and the control unit 10. The display unit 11 sequentially displays the currently-received captured images in the order of the received data. The image transmission selection unit 22 can select whether to transmit the captured image from the upper end or the lower end of the image.

The operation unit 12 is provided by the vehicle speed monitoring device shown in FIG.
The control unit 10 displays the captured image on the display unit 11 according to an instruction to select a specified captured image from the storage unit 13 via the control unit 10. The image displayed on the display unit 11 is printed out to the printer 14 in accordance with a print instruction from the operation unit 12.

By transmitting the number plate cut-out image preferentially from the controller 5 to the central unit 8, the central unit 8 can discriminate the number plate more quickly. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of how a captured image and a license plate clipped image sent to the central device 8 in FIG. 3 are displayed on the display unit 11.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing Embodiment 3 of the present invention, and is an overall view showing a relationship between a vehicle speed monitoring device and a lane and a situation where the vehicle is installed in the lane, and a block diagram showing a configuration of a central device. In the figure, the speed measuring device 1 emits electromagnetic waves to a vehicle traveling in a lane, and the electromagnetic waves reflected by the vehicle return to the speed measuring device 1 again after receiving a shift in Doppler frequency corresponding to the running speed. The video signal is detected by mixing with the local signal possessed by. The video signal is sent to the controller 5 via the control cable 4, and the speed of the traveling vehicle is measured. If the measured speed exceeds a certain speed, an imaging command is sent from the controller 5 to the camera 2 via the control cable 4, and the camera 2 receiving the command issues a light emission command to the lighting device 3 and The shutter is released to photograph the traveling vehicle 6 in the first lane.

After the photographing, the controller 5 operates the character recognition unit 26
The software for performing the processing shown in FIG. 7 performs character recognition of the license plate from the captured image, and automatically sends the character recognition result to the central device 8 via the line 7.

7 (a) to 7 (d) correspond to FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (d), and FIG. 7 (e) shows a binary image obtained by binarizing a number plate image. FIG.
(F) shows the result of recognizing the character of the number plate from the binarized image.

Further, the controller 5 cuts out the number plate portion in the number plate cutout section 24, and automatically outputs the cutout image and the entire photographed image data before the number plate cutout to the central device 8 via the line 7. send.
The image transmission switching unit 23 can switch between transmitting the image from the upper end and transmitting the image from the lower end. Data sent to the central device 8 is automatically stored as a database in the storage unit 13 via the transmission / reception unit 9 and the control unit 10. The display unit 11 sequentially displays the currently-received captured images in the order of the received data. The image transmission selection unit 22 can select whether to transmit the captured image from the upper end or the lower end of the image.

The operation unit 12 is provided by the vehicle speed monitoring device shown in FIG.
The control unit 10 displays the captured image on the display unit 11 according to an instruction to select a specified captured image from the storage unit 13 via the control unit 10. The image displayed on the display unit 11 is printed out to the printer 14 according to a print instruction from the operation unit 12.

By preferentially transmitting the character recognition result of the number plate and the number plate cut-out image from the controller 5 to the central unit 8, the central unit 8 can discriminate the number plate more quickly.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of how the captured image data, the license plate cutout image, and the license plate character recognition result displayed on the display unit 11 are sent to the central device 8.

In the above embodiment, the vehicle speed is detected,
Although the device for photographing the vehicle including the license plate when the vehicle speed exceeds a certain speed has been described,
The present invention can also be applied to an apparatus for photographing vehicles such as parking violation vehicles and noise vehicles.

[0033]

According to the present invention, when transmitting the photographed image of the vehicle to the central device, the license plate image can be preferentially transmitted, and the license plate for specifying the vehicle can be read quickly and easily.

Further, by cutting out the license plate from the photographed image and transmitting it to the central device, the license plate can be read quickly and easily.

Further, character recognition of the number plate is performed from the photographed image, and the character recognition result is transmitted to the central device, so that the number plate can be read quickly and easily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a vehicle speed monitoring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing how a captured image is displayed on a central device according to the first embodiment of the vehicle speed monitoring device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating Embodiment 2 of a vehicle speed monitoring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a method of cutting out a license plate from a captured image configured in a second embodiment of the vehicle speed monitoring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a method of displaying a captured image and a license plate clipped image on a central device according to a second embodiment of the vehicle speed monitoring device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a third embodiment of the vehicle speed monitoring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a method for character recognition of a number plate from a captured image according to the third embodiment of the vehicle speed monitoring device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method of displaying a captured image, a license plate cut-out image, and a license plate character recognition result in a central device according to a third embodiment of the vehicle speed monitoring device of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional vehicle speed monitoring device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an image captured by a conventional vehicle speed monitoring device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing how a captured image is displayed on a central device in a conventional vehicle speed monitoring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 speed measuring device, 2 camera, 3 lighting device, 4 control cable, 5 controller, 6 running vehicle, 7 lines, 8
Central device, 9 transmitting / receiving unit, 10 control unit, 11 display unit, 12 operation unit, 13 storage unit, 14 printer, 1
7 traveling vehicle, 19 number plate, 22 image transmission selection unit, 23 image transmission switching unit, 24 number plate cutout unit, 25 number plate display unit, 26
Character recognition unit, 27 Character recognition information display unit.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A photographing device for photographing a vehicle including a license plate, and a transmission device for preferentially transmitting a photographed image photographed by the photographing device from a license plate image. 2. A photographing means for photographing a vehicle including a license plate, a control means for transmitting a photographed image photographed by the photographing means to a central device, and transmitting the photographed image from an upper end of the image. A vehicle monitoring apparatus comprising: an image transmission selection unit that selects whether to transmit from a lower end; and a display unit that displays a captured image transmitted from the control unit. 3. A number plate cutout unit provided in the control unit for cutting a number plate portion from the photographed image, and a number plate display unit provided in the display unit and displaying a number plate image. The vehicle monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein: 4. A character recognition means provided in the control means for performing character recognition of a number plate from a photographed image, and a character recognition means provided in the display means for displaying character recognition information recognized by the character recognition means. The vehicle monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising an information display unit. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit includes an image transmission switching unit configured to switch whether to transmit the captured image from the upper end or the lower end of the image based on a selection result of the image selecting unit. The vehicle monitoring device according to claim 1. 6. The vehicle monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the central device includes the image transmission selection unit and a display unit.