JP2019012332A - Toll collection system and lane monitoring method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a toll collection system and a lane monitoring method that can decrease the number of cameras to photograph a lane.SOLUTION: According to an embodiment, a toll collection system has a camera, a video storage device and an illegality monitoring part. The camera photographs front video including an image in the front of a vehicle entering the lane and rear video including an image behind a vehicle exiting from the lane. The video storage device stores the front video and the rear video that the camera photographs. The illegality monitoring part stores, when a vehicle illegally passing through the lane is detected, stores illegality information including front video of the illegally passing vehicle and rear video of the illegally passing vehicle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a toll collection system and a lane monitoring method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a toll collection system installed at a tollgate on a toll expressway has a plurality of cameras installed to monitor the state of vehicles and lanes that pass through. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a toll collection system having a first camera that captures an image in front of a passing vehicle and a second camera that captures an image in the rear of the vehicle. In addition, in a toll collection system that is generally operated, a plurality of cameras may be installed according to various purposes such as lane monitoring, fraud monitoring, vehicle type discrimination, etc. in addition to cameras that capture the front and rear of the vehicle. Many.

JP 2009-151379 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-77888 JP 2004-318199 A

As described above, in the conventional fee collection system, a plurality of cameras are installed according to various purposes. However, on a city highway or the like, a space where cameras can be installed is limited, and it may be difficult to install a large number of cameras. In addition, when a large number of cameras are installed, there is a problem that the cost increases. For this reason, the toll collection system is required to reduce the number of cameras installed.
The present invention solves the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a toll collection system and a lane monitoring method that can reduce the number of cameras that photograph lanes.

  According to the embodiment, the fee collection system includes a camera, a video storage device, and a fraud monitoring unit. The camera captures a front video including an image in front of the vehicle entering the lane and a rear video including an image behind the vehicle exiting from the lane. The video storage device stores the front video and the rear video taken by the camera. The fraud monitoring unit stores fraud information including a front video of the illegally passing vehicle and a rear video of the illegally passing vehicle when a vehicle illegally passing the lane is detected.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a configuration example of a fee collection system according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a control system of the fee collection system according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a camera in the fee collection system according to the embodiment. FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are diagrams illustrating examples of images captured by the camera in the fee collection system according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an installation example of a plurality of cameras in a conventional fee collection system. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the central camera control unit in the fee collection system according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of fraud monitoring processing in the fee collection system according to the embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.
The toll collection system according to this embodiment is a system that collects tolls while controlling traffic of vehicles at toll gates on toll roads. For example, the toll collection system collects tolls by wireless communication with an on-board device mounted on a vehicle passing through a lane of a toll gate on a toll road. In addition, the toll collection system controls the passage of the vehicle by opening / closing a bar provided in the lane through which the vehicle passes and a guidance display by a roadside indicator provided beside the lane.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration example in a toll booth where a toll collection system according to the embodiment is installed. FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of each device constituting a toll collection system arranged for one lane 1 in a toll gate. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of connection between devices in the fee collection system according to the embodiment.

  Lane 1 is formed by islands 2 and 3 and is designed so that the vehicle passes in a predetermined direction. Lane 1 is an ETC / general vehicle in which a vehicle (referred to as an ETC vehicle) that settles a fee by wireless communication with a vehicle-mounted device mounted thereon and a vehicle (referred to as a general vehicle) that settles a fee by human operation. Is a mixed operation. The toll gate may have a plurality of lanes. Each lane installed at the toll booth may be an ETC-dedicated lane in which either one or both allow passage of ETC vehicles only.

  In the example shown in FIG. 1, the lane 1 includes vehicle detectors S1, S2, S4, a start controller 5, a roadside indicator 6, an interface (I / F) consolidating unit 7, a booth 8, a wireless device 9, and a camera 10. Such devices are arranged. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, vehicle detectors S1, S2, S4, start controller 5, roadside indicator 6, wireless device 9, camera 10, and devices arranged in booth 8 (for example, display in booth) Each device such as the device 12) is communicatively connected to the lane control device 20 via the interface aggregation unit 7.

  Vehicle detectors S1, S2, and S4 detect vehicles in lane 1. The vehicle detector S1 detects a vehicle that has entered the lane (lane). The vehicle detector S2 detects the timing for determining whether the vehicle that has entered the lane can be handled as an ETC vehicle that can perform toll collection processing by wireless communication. In addition, you may make it issue a pass ticket with the ticket issuing apparatus with respect to the vehicle which was not recognized as an ETC vehicle by the vehicle detector S2. When a pass ticket is issued for a vehicle that has not been recognized as an ETC vehicle, the driver of the vehicle receives the pass ticket and collects the toll at the exit toll gate using the pass ticket. The vehicle detector S4 detects a vehicle leaving the lane 1.

  The start controller 5 opens and closes a bar 5a installed on the exit side of the lane 1 (for example, near the detection position of the vehicle detector S4). The start controller 5 controls the passage of the lane 1 (the exit from the lane 1) by opening and closing the bar 5a according to a control signal from the lane control device 20. The bar 5a physically blocks the passage of the vehicle in the closed state and permits the passage of the vehicle in the opened state.

  The roadside indicator 6 displays information such as guidance for a person riding in a vehicle in the lane 1. The roadside display 6 displays information on the result of toll collection or whether or not traffic is allowed for vehicles in the lane 1. Further, the roadside indicator 6 may guide (display) traveling guidance such as slowing down, stopping, and starting to the driver of the vehicle traveling on the lane.

  The I / F consolidating unit 7 is an interface for communication between each roadside device corresponding to the lane 1 and the lane control device (lane server) 4. For example, the I / F aggregation unit 7 is arranged on the island 2 and aggregates interfaces for communicating with the corresponding devices for the lane 1.

  The booth 8 is provided with equipment for collecting tolls by an operation (manual operation) by a staff member or a vehicle occupant. In the configuration example shown in FIG. 1, a booth 8 is provided with a toll collector (tollgate device) that is provided for lane 1 and collects tolls by manual operation. In the booth 8, devices such as an in-booth display 12, a monitoring control panel, a receiver, and a card reader / writer are arranged. The devices in these booths 8 are also communicatively connected to the lane control device 20 via the I / F aggregation unit 7. When lane 1 is an ETC-dedicated lane, booth 8 need not be provided.

  The wireless device 9 includes a communication control unit, a communication antenna, and the like, and performs wireless communication with the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle. The wireless device 9 communicates wirelessly with the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle in the installed lane. The wireless device 9 is configured not to communicate with an on-vehicle device of a vehicle passing through another lane by wireless communication using narrow area wireless communication (DSRC) in which only the corresponding lane is within a communication range.

  The camera 10 captures an image in the lane 1. The camera 10 shoots an image including a front image in which a vehicle entering the lane 1 is imaged from the front and a rear image in which the vehicle leaving the lane 1 is imaged from the rear. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, a region where the camera 10 captures a front image is referred to as a first imaging region R1, and a region where the camera 10 captures a rear image is referred to as a second imaging region R2. In other words, the camera 10 is configured to be able to shoot a first shooting area R1 and a second shooting area R2 as shown in FIG.

  For example, the first imaging region R1 is a region including the detection position of the vehicle detector S1, and the camera 10 includes a license plate installed on the front side of the vehicle M passing through the detection position of the vehicle detector S1. It is set so that video can be taken. In the camera 10, the second imaging area is an area including the detection position of the vehicle detector S4, and the camera 10 is a number installed on the rear side of the vehicle M that passes the detection position of the vehicle detector S4. It is set so that a rear image including the plate can be taken.

  The collective camera control unit 11 processes a video (a video including a front video and a rear video) taken by the camera 10. The collective camera control unit 11 includes a video control unit 30, a fraud monitoring unit 40, a license plate reading unit 50, and a vehicle type determination unit 60. The video control unit 30 distributes video captured by the camera 10 to each unit. The video control unit 30 also has a function of sequentially storing videos taken by the camera 10 in a recording device.

  The fraud monitoring unit 40 stores fraud information regarding a vehicle determined to be fraudulent. The fraud monitoring unit 40 mainly stores information related to a fraudulent vehicle obtained from video captured by the camera 10 as fraud information. The NP reading unit 50 reads information on a license plate installed in the vehicle from an image captured by the camera 10. The NP reading unit 50 reads the information of the license plate installed on the front side of the vehicle from the front video among the images photographed by the camera 10, and reads the information of the license plate installed on the rear side of the vehicle from the rear video. Moreover, the vehicle type discrimination | determination part 60 discriminate | determines the vehicle type of a vehicle. For example, the vehicle type discriminating unit 60 discriminates the vehicle type of the vehicle from the information on the license plate of the vehicle read by the NP reading unit 50. A configuration example of each unit in the aggregate camera control unit 11 will be described in detail later.

  The lane 1 is also provided with a guidance display board 13 and the like. The guidance display board 13 displays the operation status of the lane 1 (for ETC only, general, or a mixture of ETC and general). The guidance display board 13 is installed in the upper part of the lane 1, for example, and is installed so that the person who gets on the vehicle which approaches the toll gate 1 can confirm the display content.

  The lane control device 20 performs processing such as traffic control for vehicles passing through the lane and toll collection by wireless communication. For example, the lane control device 20 is provided for each lane. The lane control device 20 controls each device on the road side arranged for the lane 1. In this case, the lane control device 20 may be connected to each device for the lane 1 through the interface aggregation unit 7 and may be installed at a location away from the lane 1 or installed on the island. Also good.

  For example, in the toll collection process, the lane control device 20 creates entrance information, exit information, traffic history information, and the like, and sends them to the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle M passing through the lane 1 via the wireless device 9. Further, the lane control device 20 performs toll collection based on information such as vehicle-mounted device information and entrance information received from the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle M via the wireless device 9. Further, the lane control device 20 performs traffic control such as opening / closing of the bar 5a and guidance display by the roadside display 6 according to the vehicle detection results and the toll collection results by the vehicle detectors S1, S2, and S4.

  Note that an IC card (information recording medium) called an ETC card for toll collection processing is set in the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle M. In the ETC card, for example, OBE information (vehicle number as vehicle management information, vehicle type information, OBE number as OBE specific information, etc.), entrance information, exit information, billing information, etc. are recorded in the memory. When the vehicle-mounted device starts wireless communication with the wireless device 9, the vehicle-mounted device transmits information to be read from the ETC card to the wireless device 9.

  Further, the toll collection system includes a toll gate server 21, a lane monitoring control device 22, a central device 23, and the like as shown in FIG. The toll gate server 21 and the lane monitoring and control device 22 are installed for each toll gate and are connected to the lane control device 20 in the toll gate by communication. When the toll booth has a plurality of lanes, the toll booth server 21 and the lane monitoring control device 22 are communicatively connected to each lane control device 20 corresponding to each lane. Central device 23 is connected to toll gate server 21 and lane control device 20 of each toll gate. The toll booth server 21 manages the processing data in the toll booth and exchanges various data with the central device 23. The lane monitoring control device 22 is a device for an attendant (acquisition person) to monitor the system.

Next, the camera 10 in the fee collection system according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of the camera 10 in the fee collection system according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a mirror 25 as an optical member is installed in a part of the imaging region of the camera 10. The camera 10 captures an image (front image) of the first imaging region R1 in a region where the mirror 25 is not applied, and captures an image (rear image) of the second imaging region R2 in which the region applied to the mirror 25 is reflected on the mirror 25. To be installed. According to the example shown in FIG. 1, the first imaging region R1 images a vehicle entering the lane 1 (a vehicle detected by the vehicle detector S1) from the front of the vehicle, and the second imaging region is a lane. The vehicle exiting from 1 (the vehicle detected by the vehicle detector S4) is set to be photographed from the rear of the vehicle. For this reason, the camera 10 is installed toward the entrance of the lane 1 (near the detection position of the vehicle detector S1). The mirror 25 is arranged at a position over the lower region of the shooting range by the camera 10. The direction of the mirror 25 is adjusted so that the image shown on the mirror 25 viewed from the camera 10 becomes an image (rear image) in the direction of the exit of lane 1 (near the detection position of the vehicle detector S4).

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are diagrams showing examples of images taken by the camera 10.
According to the configuration as described above, the image captured by the camera 10 is an image in which the image in the upper region D1 is captured in the first imaging region R1, as shown in FIG. 4A or 4B. (Front image), and the image of the lower region D2 is an image (rear image) obtained by capturing the second image-capturing region R2 reflected in the mirror 25. That is, in the configuration shown in FIG. 3, by adjusting the arrangement of the camera 10 and the mirror 25, the camera 10 can shoot the video of each part in the entire lane 1 including the front video and the rear video of the passing vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example in which a plurality of cameras are installed for a plurality of purposes for one lane.
In the example shown in FIG. 5, five cameras are installed for one lane. These cameras are used to shoot a license plate on the front side of the vehicle, a camera to shoot a license plate on the rear side of the vehicle, a camera for discriminating vehicles, a camera for fraud monitoring, and a lane monitoring camera. It is a camera.

  The camera 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 takes a plurality of videos for various purposes taken by a plurality of cameras as shown in FIG. For example, a front image captured by the camera 10 is used as an image for monitoring a vehicle entering the lane 1 and used as an image for recognizing a license plate on the front side of the vehicle. Further, the front image captured by the camera 10 can be used as an image for determining the type of vehicle. The rear image is used as an image for monitoring the vehicle leaving the lane 1 and also as an image for recognizing the license plate on the rear side of the vehicle. Furthermore, the rear image captured by the camera 10 can also be used as an image capturing unauthorized traffic such as an illegally passing vehicle and a bar.

  However, the toll collection system needs to recognize the information on the license plates before and after the vehicle while monitoring the entire lane 1 based on the video taken by the camera 10. For this reason, as the camera 10, a camera having a performance in consideration of each purpose such as lane monitoring, fraud monitoring and license plate recognition is used. For example, the camera 10 is configured by a camera that can shoot the entire lane 1 and shoot a high-resolution video that can recognize information on the license plate.

  The camera 10 may be any camera that captures a video including a video that captures a vehicle entering the lane 1 from the front (front video) and a video that captures the vehicle that exits the lane from the rear (rear video). For example, the optical member may be configured such that the camera 10 captures an image including a front image and a rear image by disposing a prism instead of a mirror.

  Moreover, the camera 10 is not limited to the structure which has arrange | positioned the optical member. For example, the camera 10 may be an omnidirectional camera capable of shooting an image of a region including a front image and a rear image. Further, the camera 10 may be a camera provided with two sets of image pickup units facing forward and backward. Further, the camera 10 may be a camera including an ultra-wide-angle lens that can capture an image of a region including a front image and a rear image.

Next, the configuration of the aggregate camera control unit 11 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the aggregate camera control unit 11.
As shown in FIG. 6, the collective camera control unit 11 includes a video control unit 30, a fraud monitoring unit 40, a license plate (NP) reading unit 50, and a vehicle type determination unit 60.

  The video control unit 30 distributes the video captured by the camera 10 to each unit. Further, the video control unit 30 sequentially stores videos taken by the camera 10. The fraud monitoring unit 40 stores fraud information including a video image of the illegal vehicle when the lane control device 20 detects the illegal vehicle. The NP reading unit 50 recognizes information on the license plate of the vehicle from the video taken by the camera 10. The vehicle type discriminating unit 60 discriminates the vehicle type of the vehicle photographed by the camera 10.

The video control unit 30 includes a video distributor 31, a video converter 32, and a video storage device 33. The video distributor 31 distributes video captured by the camera 10 to the fraud monitoring unit 40, the NP reading unit 50, and the video converter 32 in the video control unit 30.
The video converter 32 converts the video captured by the camera 10 supplied from the video distributor 31 into video data for recording. For example, the video converter 32 compresses the video supplied from the video distributor 31 and transfers the compressed video to the video storage device 33 in order to reduce the data capacity of the video to be sequentially recorded. The video data generated by the video converter 32 also includes information such as information indicating the shooting date and time.

  The video storage device 33 stores video data for recording (for example, compressed video) generated by the video converter 32. The video storage device 33 constantly records video data and stores the recorded video for a specific period. For example, the search is based on information indicating the shooting date and time included in the video data stored in the video storage device 33, and the video data of the specified shooting date and time can be output.

  The fraud monitoring unit 40 includes a fraud monitoring control unit 41 and a fraud information storage unit 42. The fraud monitoring control unit 41 performs control to record information (unauthorized information) related to unauthorized traffic when an unauthorized vehicle (unauthorized vehicle) is detected. The unauthorized information storage unit 42 stores unauthorized information in accordance with the control by the unauthorized monitoring control unit 41.

  The fraud monitoring control unit 41 is communicatively connected to the lane control device 20. For example, the unauthorized monitoring control unit 41 receives a signal indicating that unauthorized traffic (illegal vehicle) has been detected from the lane control device 20. Upon receiving a signal indicating that unauthorized traffic has been detected from the lane control device 20, the fraud monitoring control unit 41 obtains an image including an image obtained by capturing an unauthorized vehicle from the video control unit 30. The fraud monitoring control unit 41 generates fraud information in which video acquired from the video control unit 30 is time stamped and associated with predetermined information (for example, license plate information of a fraudulent vehicle). The fraud information storage unit 42 stores the fraud information generated by the fraud monitoring control unit 41.

  The fraud monitoring control unit 41 includes a timer 41a. The fraud monitoring control unit 41 starts timing by the timer 41a when the vehicle enters the lane 1. When unauthorized traffic is detected, the unauthorized monitoring control unit 41 uses the timer 41a to specify the elapsed time from when the unauthorized vehicle enters the lane 1 until now. The fraud monitoring control unit 41 acquires from the video control unit 30 past videos (past videos taken by the camera 10) for the elapsed time stored in the video storage device 33. The fraud monitoring control unit 41 acquires the past video for the elapsed time and the video from the present until the illegal vehicle exits from the video control unit 30, and stores them in the fraud information storage unit 42 as fraud information.

  The NP reading unit 50 includes an NP recognition unit 51 and an NP information storage unit 52. The NP recognition unit 51 recognizes information on the license plate included in the video captured by the camera 10. For example, the NP recognition unit 51 acquires the video distributed from the video distributor 31. The NP recognition unit 51 detects the license plate of the vehicle in the video acquired from the video distributor 31 and recognizes the information (number plate information) indicated by the detected license plate.

  The NP information storage unit 52 stores information on the license plate recognized by the NP recognition unit 51. In the fee collection system according to the present embodiment, the camera 10 captures an image including a front image and a rear image. For this reason, the NP recognition unit 51 acquires information on the front NP by recognizing a license plate (front NP) installed in front of the vehicle from the front video included in the video captured by the camera 10.

  In addition, the NP recognition unit 51 acquires information on the rear NP by recognizing a license plate (rear NP) installed at the rear of the vehicle from a rear video included in a video photographed by the camera 10. The NP storage unit 52 stores the front NP information and the rear NP information acquired by the NP recognition unit 51, respectively. The NP recognizing unit 51 associates the front NP information and the rear NP information of the same vehicle according to the vehicle passing situation based on the detection results of the vehicle detectors S1, S2, and S4 from the lane control device 20. Also good. In this case, the NP storage unit 52 stores information that links the front NP information and the rear NP information for each vehicle.

  Further, according to the configuration shown in FIG. 3, the camera 10 captures a video including a front video and a rear video, as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). Therefore, the NP recognition unit 51 recognizes information on the front NP of the vehicle from the front video included in the video acquired from the video control unit 30, and recognizes information on the rear NP of the vehicle from the rear video. That is, since the front image includes an image of the front NP of the vehicle entering the lane 1, the NP recognition unit 51 can recognize information on the front NP of the vehicle that has entered the lane 1 from the front image.

  Further, since the rear video includes an image of the rear NP of the vehicle leaving the lane 1, the NP recognition unit 51 can recognize the information of the rear NP of the vehicle leaving the lane 1 from the rear video. However, in the configuration shown in FIG. 3, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the rear video is a mirrored video with the left and right reversed. For this reason, the NP recognizing unit 51 executes the license plate information recognition process after performing the process of reversing the image of the rear video. Further, the NP recognition unit 51 may recognize the information of the license plate by using a character whose left and right are reversed as a dictionary for the rear video.

  The vehicle type discrimination unit 60 includes a discrimination unit 61. The discriminating unit 61 discriminates the type of vehicle passing through the lane 1. The determination unit 61 transmits information indicating the determined vehicle type to another device such as a receiver. For example, the determination unit 61 determines the vehicle type based on the information on the license plate recognized by the NP reading unit 50. Note that the determination unit 61 may determine the type of vehicle by acquiring images taken by the camera 10 or information from other sensors.

Next, fraud monitoring processing (lane monitoring processing) in the fee collection system will be described.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining fraud monitoring processing by the fee collection system.
When a vehicle enters lane 1, vehicle detector S1 detects the vehicle (ST10). When the vehicle detector S1 detects the vehicle, the vehicle detector S1 notifies the lane control device 20 of information indicating that the vehicle has been detected. The lane control device 20 determines that the vehicle has entered the lane 1 based on information indicating that the vehicle has been detected from the vehicle detector S1. When it is determined that the vehicle has entered the lane 1, the lane control device 20 notifies the fraud monitoring unit 40 and the NP reading unit 50 that the vehicle has entered the lane 1.

  When the fraud monitoring unit 40 receives a signal indicating that the vehicle has entered the lane 1 from the lane control device 20 (the vehicle detector S1 has detected the vehicle), the fraud monitoring control unit 41 causes the timer 41a to set the time. Time measurement is started (ST11).

  When the vehicle enters lane 1, the NP reader 50 reads the license plate (front NP) installed on the front side of the vehicle from the front image included in the image captured by the camera 10 by the NP recognition unit 51. Information is recognized (ST12). When the NP recognition unit 51 recognizes information on the front NP, the NP storage unit 52 stores information on the front NP as a recognition result by the NP recognition unit 51. Further, the NP recognition unit 51 transmits information on the license plate as the recognition result of the front NP to the vehicle type determination unit 60. The vehicle type discriminating unit 60 discriminates the vehicle type of the vehicle based on the license plate information by the discriminating unit 61 (ST13).

  Furthermore, the NP reading unit 50 recognizes information on the number plate (rear side NP) installed on the rear side of the vehicle from the rear video included in the video captured by the camera 10 by the NP recognition unit 51 (ST14). Information on the rear NP recognized by the NP recognition unit 51 from the rear video is also stored in the NP storage unit 52. Further, the NP storage unit 52 stores the information on the front NP acquired by the recognition process for the front image by the NP recognition unit 51 and the information on the rear NP acquired by the recognition process for the rear image.

  Further, the lane control device 20 monitors the unauthorized traffic of the vehicle on the lane 1 based on information from each roadside device. For example, the lane control device 20 detects unauthorized traffic of the vehicle by receiving a signal indicating the release of the bar due to the forced breakthrough from the start controller 5. When the lane control device 20 detects unauthorized traffic (illegal vehicle) of the vehicle, the lane control device 20 notifies the unauthorized monitoring unit 40 of a signal indicating that the unauthorized vehicle has been detected.

  The fraud monitoring control unit 41 of the fraud monitoring unit 40 determines the presence / absence of an unauthorized vehicle based on the presence / absence of information indicating unauthorized traffic from the lane control device 20 (ST15). If there is no notification of information indicating unauthorized traffic from the lane control device 20 (NO in ST15), the fraud monitoring control unit 41 of the fraud monitoring unit 40 checks whether the vehicle has left within the valid time (ST16). For example, the fraud monitoring control unit 41 confirms that the vehicle has been processed normally and has exited by receiving a signal indicating the exit of the vehicle from the lane control device 20. If it is confirmed that there is no unauthorized traffic and the vehicle has left within the effective time (ST16, YES), the unauthorized monitoring control unit 41 of the unauthorized monitoring unit 40 ends the time counting by the timer 41a (ST17), and End monitoring of the vehicle.

  Further, when the fraud monitoring control unit 41 of the fraud monitoring unit 40 receives information indicating unauthorized traffic from the lane control device 20, the fraud monitoring control unit 41 determines that an unauthorized vehicle has been detected (ST15, YES). In this case, the fraud monitoring control unit 41 counts the elapsed time (time that has elapsed since the vehicle detector S1 detected the vehicle (illegal vehicle), that is, the time counted by the timer 41a until the time when the signal indicating illegal traffic was received, that is, (Elapsed time since the unauthorized vehicle entered Lane 1) is identified (ST18). When the elapsed time is specified, the unauthorized information storage unit 42 stores the video up to the present by going back the elapsed time (ST19). For example, the fraud monitoring control unit 41 acquires the video for the elapsed time that is also stored in the video storage device 33 from the video control unit 30 and stores the acquired video in the fraud information storage unit 42.

  When an unauthorized vehicle is detected, the unauthorized monitoring control unit 41 of the unauthorized monitoring unit 40 stores the information on the license plate of the unauthorized vehicle by the unauthorized information storage unit 42 as unauthorized information (ST20). For example, the fraud monitoring control unit 41 acquires information on the license plate of the unauthorized vehicle from the NP reading unit 50, and stores the acquired license plate information in the storage unit 42 as part of the fraud information.

  Furthermore, when an unauthorized vehicle is detected, the unauthorized monitoring control unit 41 of the unauthorized monitoring unit 40 stores video captured by the camera 10 in the unauthorized information storage unit 42 until the unauthorized vehicle exits (ST21). In this case, the fraud monitoring control unit 41 attaches a time stamp to the video taken by the camera 10 and stores it in the fraud information storage unit 42. The fraud monitoring control unit 41 stores video captured by the camera 10 until it is confirmed that the illegal vehicle has left.

When it is confirmed that the unauthorized vehicle has left, the unauthorized monitoring control unit 41 stops storing the video (ST23) and stops the time counting by the timer 41a (ST17). Through the process of ST19-23, the fraud monitoring unit 40 stores the video after entering the lane, the NP information, the video with a time stamp, and the like as fraud information.
By repeatedly executing the processing of ST10-23 described above, in the toll collection system, as the lane monitoring (injustice monitoring in the lane), the unauthorized monitoring that records the unauthorized information including the forward video and the backward video of the unauthorized vehicle photographed by the camera. Processing can be executed.

  As described above, the toll collection system according to the present embodiment shoots a video including a front video that images the front of the vehicle entering the lane and a rear video that images the rear of the vehicle that exits the lane. Install the camera. The toll collection system stores the front video and the rear video captured by the camera in the video storage device, and the illegal information including the front video and the rear video of the vehicle illegally passing when the vehicle illegally passing the lane is detected. Remember. As a result, the toll collection system can perform fraud monitoring by using images before and after the vehicle passing through the lane photographed by one camera.

  In addition, the toll collection system according to the present embodiment recognizes the license plate on the front side of the vehicle from the front image captured by the camera, and recognizes the license plate on the rear side of the vehicle from the rear image. Furthermore, the toll collection system uses a video including a front video and a rear video captured by the camera for lane monitoring and vehicle discrimination. Thereby, according to the toll collection system according to the present embodiment, it is possible to realize a single camera that captures videos used for a plurality of purposes. As a result, the number of cameras installed in the lane can be reduced, the space for installing the equipment can be saved, and the cost of the equipment installed can be reduced.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  S1, S2, S4 ... vehicle detector, 9 ... wireless device, 10 ... camera, 11 ... aggregation camera control unit, 20 ... lane control device, 25 ... mirror (optical member), 30 ... video control unit, 40 ... fraud monitoring , 50... License plate reading unit, 60.

Claims (6)

In the toll collection system that collects tolls from vehicles traveling in the lane,
A camera that shoots a front image including a front image of a vehicle entering the lane and a rear image including a rear image of the vehicle exiting the lane;
A video storage device for storing the front video and the rear video captured by the camera;
When a vehicle that illegally passes the lane is detected, a fraud monitoring unit that stores fraud information including a front video of the vehicle that illegally passes and a rear video of the vehicle that passes illegally;
Toll collection system. Recognizing information of the license plate installed on the front side of the vehicle from the front image, and having a license plate reading unit for recognizing information of the license plate installed on the rear side of the vehicle from the rear image,
The fraud monitoring unit stores fraud information including information on a license plate recognized by the license plate reading unit from a front image and a rear image obtained by photographing the vehicle passing the fraud.
The fee collection system according to claim 1. The fraud monitoring unit starts timing by a timer when a vehicle enters the lane, and the vehicle passing the fraud is based on the time counted by the timer when the vehicle passing the fraud is detected. The elapsed time from the time of entering the camera is specified, the past video for the elapsed time taken by the camera is acquired from the video storage device, and the acquired illegal information including the past video for the elapsed time is stored. To
The fee collection system according to claim 1 or 2. An optical member disposed in a part of the shooting range of the camera;
The camera shoots an image incident through an optical member as a rear image, and shoots other images as a front image,
The fee collection system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The optical member is a mirror that displays a rear image including an image of the rear of the vehicle exiting the lane.
The fee collection system according to claim 4. A lane monitoring method used in a toll collection system that collects tolls from a vehicle traveling in a lane,
Obtaining the front video and the rear video from one camera that captures a front video including a front image of the vehicle entering the lane and a rear video including a rear image of the vehicle exiting the lane;
Storing the front video and the rear video acquired from the camera in a video storage device;
When a vehicle that illegally passes through the lane is detected, illegal information including a front image of the vehicle that illegally passes and a rear image of the vehicle that illegally passes is stored in an unauthorized information storage unit.
A lane monitoring method.