JP2003157455A - Parking lot management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manage a plurality of parking spaces by means of a single/plurality of photographing means in a parking lot. SOLUTION: In the parking spaces P1-P7, vehicle locking devices R1-R7 are arranged individually. The respective parking spaces P1-P7 are always imaged by an imaging means 3, and the image data are outputted to a management center in a real time. The management center processes the image data to determine presence/absence of a vehicle in each parking space, an illegally parked vehicle, an illegally leaving vehicle, and the like, and in accordance with the determination, transmits a command signal for adjusting a parking fee, imaging a licence plate of a vehicle committing illicit operation, and the like to a fee adjusting means 7, an auxiliary imaging means 4, and the like in the parking lot 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a parking lot management system, and more particularly to a parking lot management system capable of managing one or more parking lots from a remote location based on image information from an image pickup device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many hourly parking lots are installed mainly in urban areas. In many cases, parking lots of this kind are unmanned and labor-saving because parking is managed and parking fees are settled by an automatic device.

For example, in a lock type parking device, confirmation of entry of a vehicle into a parking space, measurement of parking time, calculation of a parking charge based on the measured time, clearing, etc. are automated, and parking is possible even if there are no people. The parking fee can be settled.

[0004]

In the lock-type parking device, the vehicle lock device is arranged in each parking space, and the magnetic change by the loop coil embedded in the ground as means for detecting the vehicle is caused. Various vehicle detection sensors, such as a vehicle detection system and a vehicle detection system using infrared rays, are arranged in each parking space. In addition to the individual clearing means arranged for each parking space, recently, not a few clearing means for clearing the charges for the vehicles in one parking lot have been installed.

In any case, in a conventional parking lot, much labor and cost are required for installing a vehicle detection device. In addition, in unmanned parking lots, there are a lot of illegal acts that illegally leave the vehicle without clearing the parking fee, but at the present time, prevention of illegal acts is also
Also, it is almost impossible to collect evidence of illegal activities.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is constructed in view of the above problems, and image data of a parking lot and centralized management of the image data at another place apart from the parking lot. It is a parking lot management system consisting of

That is, in the parking lot, one or a plurality of image pickup means such as a television camera for picking up an image of a vehicle entering or leaving the parking lot are arranged according to the size of the parking lot, and one or more parking lots are centrally managed. The management center is provided with means for detecting the parking state of the vehicle from the image information output from each of these parking lots, means for calculating the parking charge, and means for activating the vehicle lock device. Is a centralized management system for a parking lot, which is configured to be centrally managed in a management center based on image information output from each parking lot.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Image pickup means capable of picking up an image of each parking space is provided in each parking lot. The image information captured by this image capturing means is output to the management center. In the management center, the image information output from each image pickup unit is divided into individual frames by image processing to make a comparative judgment, and the presence / absence of a vehicle in each parking space is detected from the presence / absence of an image change in each frame.

When it is determined from the image information that the vehicle is parked in the predetermined parking space, the lock device for the parking space determined to be parked is operated to lock the parked vehicle. After that, the parking state of each parking space is detected by processing the image information sequentially sent from the parking lot.

When the driver clears the parking charge by the clearing machine, the clearing machine outputs the clearing information to the management center, and the management center calculates the parking charge of the vehicle and clears this information at the parking lot. Output to the machine. The driver puts the displayed amount into the clearing machine for clearing, and when the clearing is completed, this information is output to the management center.
Based on this information, the management center unlocks the lock device of the parking space in which the liquidation has been completed, and enables the parking of the vehicle parked in the parking space.

The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a parking lot managed by a centralized management system according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a management center that centrally manages one or more parking lots, and in the case of the drawing, shows a relationship with one parking lot 2. Further, the parking lot 2 and the management center 1 are located at geographically distant locations from each other, and are connected to each other by a communication means such as a digital communication line. Centrally managed by 1. However, it is also possible to configure so that a part of this centrally managed object is managed in the parking lot.

In the parking lot 2, reference numerals P1 to P7 indicate parking spaces in which the individual vehicles are parked. Each of these parking spaces P1
Locking devices R1 to R7 for locking or unlocking the vehicle are respectively provided on to P7 through P7.

Further, in the illustrated locking devices R1 to R7, when a weight of a certain value or more is applied to the standing flap plate, a weight sensor R1a for detecting the weight is applied.
Through R7a are provided.

Next, reference numeral 3 is each parking space P1 to P7.
It is an image pickup means such as a television camera for picking up an image, and one or more units are installed depending on the size of the parking lot. The imaging means 3 constantly images each parking space, and this imaging data is output to the management center in real time. Four
Is an auxiliary image pickup means, for example, when an illegal exit of a parked vehicle occurs, an entire image of the vehicle (for identifying a vehicle type), a moving state of the vehicle, a portrait of a driver of the vehicle, and It is an imaging means for imaging at least the pick-up plate of the vehicle among the license plates. However, if the image pickup means 3 has a functional margin, the auxiliary image pickup means 4 need not necessarily be installed.

Next, reference numeral 5 denotes an illuminating device, which is turned on when an image of the license plate is taken, for example, so that the image of the license plate can be surely taken.
Further, reference numeral 6 is an alarm device for issuing an alarm sound, and 7 is a clearing machine for clearing the parking fee. The parking lot 2 having these configurations is centrally managed by the management center 1.

FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the management center 1 and the parking lot 2 more concretely. In the management center 1,
Reference numeral 8 is an image processing unit, 9 is a central processing unit, 10 is a timer,
Reference numeral 11 is a charge settlement database used when calculating the parking charge.

From the image pickup means 3 of the parking lot 2, image data obtained by picking up images of the respective parking space spaces P1 to P7 is output to the image processing section 8 in real time. Image information is
For example, the image processing unit 8 creates a new frame every 0.5 seconds.
Is output to. That is, in the illustrated configuration, for convenience of description, the first frame F1, the second frame F2, and the third frame F3.
.. are displayed in parallel like the nth frame Fn, but in reality, each frame is continuously output to the image processing unit as described above.

Each of the continuously output frames is compared with the frame immediately before each frame in the comparator 12, and the presence or absence of the vehicle or the parking condition in each parking space is shown in the flow described later. The central processing unit 9 outputs the monitoring result. Based on this monitoring result, the central processing unit 9 issues a command signal to the parking lots such as a parking fee settlement, a license plate photographing instruction for an illegally leaving vehicle, and the like. When the parking lot 2 is newly opened, an image in which no vehicle is present in the parking lot 2 is set as the basic image FB, and the image frame is replaced based on the basic image FB, whereby the image processing is performed. Detect the presence of a vehicle.

FIG. 3 shows an example of management in the management center 1. In the parking lot 2, each of the parking spaces P1 to P7 is imaged by the imaging unit 3, and the image processing unit 8 in the management center 1 monitors the parking spaces P1 to P7 for each parking space. Is done. It is also possible to output an image for each individual parking space by scanning the image pickup means 3. However, in this method, the output interval of the image frame for each specific parking space becomes long, which is appropriate. Monitoring can be difficult.

By the above method, the image processing unit 8 detects the presence or absence of a vehicle in each parking space (Sa1). When the vehicle is detected, it is determined whether the detected vehicle is located in the parking space (Sa2). In this case, when the vehicle enters a predetermined position in the parking space, the parking mode is set to an appropriate parking mode and the monitoring of the parking space is continued.

On the other hand, when the vehicle has entered the parking space but is not located at the predetermined position, the timer 10 is set, and after an elapse of a preset time, an alarm is issued as illegal parking. For example, if a vehicle such as a light vehicle has a short overall length, it may be possible to park without straddling the lock device. If such illegal parking is performed, it is possible to exit without paying the parking fee regardless of whether the lock device is operated.

In the above case, after a preset time has elapsed (Sa3), a voice warning such as "Please put the car in the correct parking position" is given (Sa4), and a certain time (for example, 30) Second to 1 minute) A grace time is set and the movement of the vehicle is monitored (Sa5). If the vehicle has not moved even after the set time has elapsed, it is determined that the vehicle is parked at an illegal position and the auxiliary imaging means 4 is zoomed up (Sa6) to image the illegal parking state and the license plate of the vehicle. Then, the image data is output to the management center 1. In response to this, the management center 1 takes a predetermined action such as rushing the patrol vehicle to the site.

On the other hand, when the vehicle is parked at a predetermined position in the parking space (which will be described below as an example of the parking space P2), a predetermined time elapses (Sa.
8), the management center 1 issues a flap plate erection signal to the lock device R2 of the parking space P2 to raise the flap plate of the lock device R2 (Sa9) to lock the parked vehicle and measure the parking time. Therefore, the timer 10 is activated (Sa10), and the parking ticket can be issued by the clearing machine 7, for example.

When leaving a parked vehicle, the driver or fellow passenger of the vehicle accesses the clearing machine 7 for clearing, such as inserting the parking ticket into the clearing machine 7 in the parking lot 2. (SA11). This access information is output to the management center 1 in real time, and the management center 1 uses the timer 10 for parking time information and the fee clearing database 1
The parking charge is calculated based on the charge information of No. 1 and the charge data is output to the clearing machine 7 of the parking lot 2 to display the amount of money (Sa12).

When a predetermined amount of money is input and the settlement is completed (Sa13), this information is output to the management center 1 again, and the management center issues a flap plate down signal to the predetermined locking device R2 to lower the flap plate. (Sa14),
The vehicle parked in the parking space P1 exits (Sa
15).

In addition to the management of all the parked vehicles by the management center 1 as described above, the management performed by the management center 1 such as the calculation of the parking charge corresponding to the parking time at the clearing machine 7 of the parking lot 2. It is of course possible to carry out some of the steps on the parking lot side equipment.

FIG. 4 shows the steps for monitoring the illegal leaving of a parked vehicle. The lock device is configured to physically block the leaving of the vehicle by raising the flap plate on the lower surface of the parked vehicle. However, in recent four-wheel drive vehicles, etc., because they have very high running performance on uneven surfaces, it is possible to get over the flap plate while standing up if you want to illicitly leave, The fact is that this kind of fraudulent warehousing is occurring at a considerable frequency.

The image processing unit of the management center 1 also monitors the parked vehicle by the image frames sequentially replaced (Sb1). At this stage of monitoring, the change in the position of the vehicle located in the parking space is monitored, and if the position has changed, it is confirmed whether or not the parking fee has been cleared (Sb2), and the settlement is completed. If it is, enter the exit step shown in FIG. 3 and lower the flap plate (Sa1
4) Allowing the vehicle to leave (Sa15).

On the other hand, if the liquidation has not been completed,
Warnings such as "Please move the vehicle after clearing" are issued (Sb3) and the lights of the lighting device are turned on (Sb3).
b4), the auxiliary imaging means 4 is zoomed up (Sb5)
Then, the vehicle and its license plate are imaged (Sb
6) Then manage the image information in real time 1
And an alarm sound is emitted (Sb7). It should be noted that the illegal leaving is performed in an extremely short time, and therefore the time for watching the situation like the illegal parking is not set.

Of course, the change in the position of the vehicle is monitored during this step. If a driver mistakenly attempts to exit the vehicle before the liquidation, the flaps will cause the wheels to get caught and the driver will notice his mistake. In this case, the vehicle will be stopped as a matter of course, so that the processing is thereafter performed in the steps of the normal shipping mode on condition that the stopped state of the vehicle is monitored and the clearing machine is accessed.

FIG. 5 shows steps for detecting the above-mentioned illegal shipping earlier and more accurately. In some cases, it may not be possible to capture an image of the unauthorized shipping site that is performed in a very short time only by image processing. Hereinafter, the parking space P2 will be described again as an example. When a vehicle parked in the parking space P2 illegally leaves the vehicle, the load sensor R2a provided in the lock device R2 detects an abnormal load (Sc1). At this time, the presence or absence of the movement of the vehicle is detected in parallel based on the image information (Sc2), and if the movement of the vehicle is stopped, the normal clearing mode step is executed assuming that the vehicle is erroneously leaving as described above. .

On the other hand, when it is judged from the image information that the vehicle is moving even at the time of detecting the abnormal load, the light is turned on (Sc3), the auxiliary image pickup means 4 is zoomed up (Sc4), the vehicle and the pick-up plate. Is imaged (Sc5) and an alarm is issued from the alarm device 6 (Sc6). If the replacement of each image frame is, for example, 0.5 seconds, the abnormal load detection to the image pickup of the vehicle and the pick-up plate can be executed within, for example, 2 seconds, and it is possible to sufficiently cope with the illegal leaving.

For convenience of explanation, the case of managing one parking lot has been described above as an example. However, in the present invention, there are usually a plurality of management centers, for example, 10 or more, although depending on the data processing capacity of the management center. It is possible to centrally manage dozens of parking lots. Further, if the image pickup means has a sufficient margin, it is naturally possible to configure not only the image pickup of the parked vehicle but also the image pickup of the license plate of the vehicle performing the illegal act by one unit.

[0034]

As described above in detail with reference to the embodiments of the present invention, the present invention can monitor the parking states of a plurality of parking spaces with a single image pickup means. The detection device for the parked vehicle that was installed in each parking space is not required, and the configuration of the device in the parking lot can be simplified, and there is less possibility that the device will be damaged due to mischief, etc. Can be managed safely.

Further, the image information obtained by the image pickup means is centrally managed by the management center, and the parking condition can be accurately monitored by a device having a high degree of analysis which cannot be installed in each parking lot. It will be possible.

Further, since it is possible to identify a vehicle that has committed illegal activities such as illegal parking and illegal leaving by imaging the vehicle and the license plate by the imaging means, even if it is not time to execute the illegal activity, this image can be obtained. It is also possible to pursue civil liability such as damage compensation or criminal liability such as damage to property such as destruction of lock device by using information as evidence. Further, since such evidence collection is possible, it can be expected that the fraudulent activity itself will be reduced in the parking lot having the imaging means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration state of a parking lot showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a parking lot and a management center.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of an implementation state of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of an operating state of the present invention, which corresponds to an illegal leaving of a parked vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing another example of the operating state of the present invention, which corresponds to the illegal leaving of a parked vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Management Center 2 Parking Lot 3 Imaging Device 4 Auxiliary Imaging Device 5 Illumination Device 6 Warning Device 7 Clearing Machine 8 Image Processing Unit 9 Central Processing Unit 10 Timer 11 Fee Clearing Database 12 Comparators P1 to P7 Parking spaces R1 to R7 Lock device R1a to R7a Load sensor

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A parking lot management system for centrally managing one or more parking lots, wherein a plurality of parking spaces are provided, and a locking device for locking a parked vehicle is provided in each parking space. Image information output from the imaging means of each parking lot is output to the management center that centrally manages each parking lot, and the management center uses the image information. A parking lot management system characterized by managing individual parking lots. 2. The management center that centrally manages each parking lot corresponds to an image processing unit that monitors each parking space based on the image information output from each imaging unit, and a monitoring result of this image processing unit. Of the lock device operation signal, the clearing machine operation signal, and the command signal for imaging the predetermined vehicle pick-up plate, at least the command for imaging the lock device operation signal and the predetermined vehicle license plate The parking lot management system according to claim 1, wherein the parking lot management system is configured to emit a signal. 3. The image processing unit of the management center processes the image information output from the image pickup means of the parking lot for each frame, detects the position of the vehicle by the change of the frame of each image, and performs proper parking and illegal parking. The parking lot management system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the parking lot management system is configured to determine an illegal delivery. 4. The management center is configured to issue a command signal for capturing an image of a license plate of a vehicle when it is determined that the vehicle is illegally parked or the vehicle is illegally parked due to the image processing in the image processing unit and the elapse of a set time. The parking lot management system according to claim 1. 5. When it is determined that the vehicle is illegally parked or the vehicle is illegally evacuated, the image capturing device captures at least one of the license plate, an image of the entire vehicle, a moving state of the vehicle, and a person who drives the vehicle. The parking lot management system according to claim 4, which is characterized in that. 6. The vehicle license plate is received when the control center receives an overload signal for the flap plate output from the lock device in the parking lot and detects that the vehicle continues to move by image processing. 2. A command signal for picking up an image of
The parking lot management system according to any one of 1 to 3. 7. The management center is provided with a fee clearing database and a timer for measuring the parking time, the management center calculates the parking fee based on the parking confirmation in the image processing section, and the parking lot is cleared by the clearing machine. The device according to claim 1, which is configured to output charge data.
Parking lot management system described. 8. When the parking is confirmed by image processing in the management center, the liquidator at the parking lot calculates the parking fee based on its own timer based on the confirmation data. Parking lot management system described in 1. 9. In a parking lot, in addition to an image pickup means for monitoring each parking space, a vehicle and a license plate of the vehicle,
The auxiliary image pickup means capable of picking up an image of at least the license plate of the vehicle among the entire image of the vehicle, the moving state of the vehicle, and the person driving the vehicle is provided. Parking management system. 10. The parking lot is provided with a warning device for issuing a warning of a predetermined content by voice, a warning device for issuing a warning by voice or light, and an illumination device for emitting auxiliary light for facilitating imaging of a license plate. At least one is installed, The parking lot management system in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 9 characterized by the above-mentioned.