JPH09282590A - Automatic car number plate reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To watch the image of a specified vehicle detected by an automatic car number plate reader. SOLUTION: By providing a vehicle detection part 101, an image pickup part 103, a recognition part 102, an image transmission part 105 and an image recording/display part 106 at a collation part, number plate information and the still picture of a number plate are recorded, together with the date and time information and spot information and displayed on a monitor TV, as needed by interposing an operator. Since the number late information visually judged by image processing is compared with the real number plate on the still picture of the number plate, certainty for the tracking investigation of the vehicle is improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention reads a number plate of a vehicle traveling on a road and collates the read result with number plate information registered in advance to detect a specific vehicle. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a conventional automatic vehicle number reading device disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-90800, in which 101 is a vehicle detection unit.
102 is a recognition unit, 103 is an imaging unit, and 104 is a collation unit.

In the vehicle number automatic reading apparatus having the above structure, the vehicle detection unit 101 detects that the vehicle traveling on the road has reached a predetermined position and outputs a vehicle detection signal to the recognition unit 102. To do. Upon receiving the vehicle detection signal, the recognition unit 102 prepares to capture an image,
An imaging command is output to the imaging unit 103. The image capturing unit 103 that has received the image capturing command releases a shutter (not shown), captures the number plate of the traveling vehicle as a still image, and outputs a video signal to the recognition unit 102. The recognition unit 102 executes image processing on the still image, reads the number plate information of the vehicle, and outputs the read result to the matching unit 104. The collation unit 104 collates the read result with the number plate information registered in advance and detects a specific vehicle.

[0004]

Since the conventional automatic vehicle number automatic reading device is constructed as described above, the number plate of the vehicle is judged from the picked-up still image by the image processing, and it is judged by the image processing. Since the process of outputting only the number plate information as the reading result to the collation unit 104 is repeatedly performed, the picked-up still images are overwritten one after another, and the still image which is the basis of the number plate reading is discarded. The captured still image has variations in the image pickup brightness and the image resolution due to environmental factors such as weather and time at the time of image pickup, so that the vehicle number plate is erroneously recognized by the image processing. Therefore, it is necessary to compare and verify the number plate determined by image processing and the vehicle number plate on the still image actually captured, but since the captured still image is discarded, comparison and verification are required. In order to do so, there was a problem that it was necessary to actually follow up the vehicle having the number plate judged by the image processing.
Further, in order to increase the evidence, there is a problem that the image of the number plate is required to be stored and the image data capable of visually identifying the vehicle information such as the vehicle type and color of the vehicle having the number plate information is required.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to be able to confirm a detected vehicle as an image.

[0006]

An automatic vehicle number reading apparatus according to the present invention is provided with an image transmission section and an image recording / display section in addition to a vehicle detection section, a recognition section, an image pickup section and a collation section for detection. The number plate image of the specified vehicle is recorded / displayed.

The present invention also includes a vehicle image pickup section for picking up an image of the entire vehicle.

The present invention comprises a composite input type image recording / display unit for receiving number plate information and images from a plurality of image transmitting units.

Further, the present invention comprises a composite input type image transmission section for centrally managing the number plate information from a plurality of image pickup sections and the recognition section and the image.

The present invention includes a composite input / output type image transmission section for integrally managing number plate information and images from a plurality of image pickup sections and a recognition section and outputting information to a plurality of image recording / display sections. It is a thing.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 101, 102, 103 and 104
Is exactly the same as the conventional device. Reference numeral 105 denotes an image transmission device that stores a plurality of still images in association with number plate information and outputs the number plate information and still images when the number plate information of a specific vehicle is received. Reference numeral 106 denotes an image transmission device. The image recording / display unit records the number plate information and the still image received from 105 together with date and time information and spot information, and displays these information as necessary.

Next, the operation of the vehicle number automatic reading apparatus according to the present invention will be described. The vehicle detection unit 101 detects a traveling vehicle at a fixed position and outputs a vehicle detection signal to the recognition unit 102. Recognition unit 102 that has received the vehicle detection signal
Prepares to capture an image and outputs an image capturing command to the image capturing unit 103. The image capturing unit 103 that has received the image capturing command releases a shutter (not shown), captures the number plate of the traveling vehicle as a still image, and outputs a video signal to the recognizing unit 102 and the image transmitting unit 105. The recognition unit 102 executes image processing on the still image, reads the number plate information of the vehicle, and outputs the read result to the collation unit 104 and the image transmission unit 105. The image transmission unit 105 stores the read result in association with the image. The collation unit 104 collates the read result with the number plate information registered in advance and detects a specific vehicle. When the specific vehicle is detected, the matching unit 104 recognizes the recognition unit 1.
The number plate information detected for 02 is output.
The image transmission unit 105 receives the number plate information from the collation unit 104 via the recognition unit 102, searches for an image corresponding to this number plate information, and outputs the number plate information and the image to the image recording / display unit 106. To do. The image recording / display unit 106 transmits the information to the image transmission device 1
The point information indicating the installation point of 05 and the date and time information are added and recorded, and the information can be displayed on the monitor TV with the intervention of the operator as necessary to visually confirm the vehicle body.

Embodiment 2 FIG. FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. By adding the vehicle image pickup unit 107 for picking up the whole image of the vehicle to the one of the first embodiment, the operator's intervention of the license plate information of the specific vehicle and the whole image of the vehicle detected in the first embodiment, if necessary. The vehicle type of the specific vehicle can be visually confirmed by displaying it on the monitor TV.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. Vehicle detection unit 101, recognition unit 10
2. Vehicle license plate information from a plurality of image transmitters including the image pickup unit 103 and the image transmitter 105 is collated with pre-registered license plate information to detect a specific vehicle, and when a specific vehicle is detected, , A composite input / output type collation unit 108 for outputting the license plate information detected to each recognition unit 102, and a composite input type image recording / recording device capable of receiving the license plate information and images from a plurality of image transmission units. By providing the display unit 109, the license plate information and the image of the detected specific vehicle in the plurality of lanes can be centrally managed. It goes without saying that the present invention is provided with the vehicle image pickup unit 107 of the second embodiment to similarly manage the entire image of the vehicle.

Embodiment 4 FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The license plate information and images from the plurality of image capturing units 103 according to the third embodiment are recorded, the image corresponding to the license plate information output from each recognition unit 102 is searched, and the license plate information and images are displayed. By providing the composite input type image transmission unit 110 for outputting to the recording / display unit 106, the license plate information and the image of the specific vehicle detected can be centrally managed. It goes without saying that the present invention is provided with the vehicle image pickup unit 107 according to the second embodiment to similarly manage the entire image of the vehicle.

Embodiment 5 FIG. 5 is a view showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention. By providing the composite input type image transmission unit 110 of the fourth embodiment with the composite input / output type image transmission unit 111 in which the function of selecting the license plate information and the output destination of the image from the installation point information is added,
From the display unit 106, the composite input / output type image transmission unit 108 of the output source can be selected as needed. It goes without saying that the present invention includes the vehicle image pickup unit 107 of the second embodiment and similarly selects the entire vehicle image.

[0017]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects.

By providing an image transmission unit and an image recording / display unit in the vehicle detection unit, the image pickup unit, the recognition unit and the collation unit, the number plate information and the number plate still image are recorded together with date and time information and spot information, If necessary, it can be displayed on a monitor TV with the intervention of an operator, and the number plate information visually determined by image processing can be compared with the actual number plate on the number plate still image, so the follow-up investigation of the vehicle is certain. Can be increased.

Further, by providing the vehicle image pickup unit, a still image of the detected whole image of the vehicle is displayed on the monitor TV with the intervention of the operator, whereby the vehicle type and color of the vehicle having the detected number plate information are displayed. It is possible to provide a device capable of visually confirming information such as a driver.

An apparatus capable of unifying management of number plate information and images from a plurality of vehicle detection units, image pickup units, recognition units, and image transmission units by providing a complex input / output type collation unit and a complex input type image transmission / display unit. Can be provided.

Further, by providing the composite input type image transmission section, it is possible to provide an apparatus for centrally managing the number plate information and the image and reducing the cost by reducing the number of image transmission sections.

Further, by providing the composite input / output type image transmission section, the number plate information and the output destination of the image are selected from the image recording / display sections installed at a plurality of points based on the detected vehicle point information. You can choose.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automobile number automatic reading device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automobile number automatic reading device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of an automobile number automatic reading device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of an automobile number automatic reading device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automobile number automatic reading device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional automobile number automatic reading device.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 vehicle detection unit, 102 recognition unit, 103 imaging unit, 104 collation unit, 105 image transmission unit, 106 image recording / display unit, 107 vehicle imaging unit, 108 composite input / output collation unit, 109 composite input image recording / display Part, 1
10 composite input type image transmission unit, 111 composite input / output type image transmission unit.

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Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle detection unit which detects a traveling vehicle and outputs a detection signal, an image pickup unit which receives a detection signal from the vehicle detection unit and picks up a moving vehicle as a still image, and an image pickup unit which picks up an image. A recognition unit that extracts and reads the number plate of the vehicle from the image, a collation unit that collates the result read by this recognition unit with pre-registered number plate information, and transmits the collation result to the recognition unit if they match, An image transmission unit that stores a plurality of images from the image pickup unit together with a reading result, selects a corresponding vehicle image in response to the matching result from the matching unit, and outputs point information, a reading result, and an image, The image information received from this image transmission unit is displayed and recorded together with the date and time, spot information and the reading result,
An automobile number automatic reading device comprising an image recording / display unit for displaying the image as required. 2. A vehicle image pickup unit for picking up the entire image of the vehicle, and displaying the number plate information of the specific vehicle detected by the recognition unit and the collation unit and the whole image of the specific vehicle imaged by the vehicle image pickup unit. 2. The automatic vehicle number reading device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle type of the specific vehicle can be confirmed. 3. A composite input type image recording / display unit capable of receiving image information from a plurality of image transmitting units, and license plate information preliminarily registered with vehicle license plate information from the plurality of image transmitting units. The automatic vehicle number reading device according to claim 1, further comprising: a composite input / output type collating unit that collates and transmits the collating result to the recognizing unit if the two collate. 4. The automatic vehicle number reading device according to claim 1, further comprising a composite input type image transmission unit for storing and outputting images from a plurality of image pickup units. 5. A vehicle number automatic reading system according to claim 1, further comprising a composite input / output type image transmission unit for storing images from a plurality of image pickup units and outputting them to a plurality of image recording / display units. apparatus.