JPH11316894A - Vehicle measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a reliable vehicle measuring instrument which has high image pickup accuracy by calculating an approximate straight line of time serial data about a distance before a reflection point changes and calculating a timing at which a vehicle is picked up according to the approximate straight line. SOLUTION: Distance data 12 and speed data 13 which are time sequentially outputted from a radar 1 are transmitted to an approximate linear operating means 21 and a linear inclination deciding means 22. The means 21 linearizes the data 12 to a time from moment to moment. The part 22 continuously calculates the ratio of temporally adjacent data and when its inclination becomes a certain value or more, it decides that the reflection point of radio waves changes and transmits a reflection point change timing pulse 23 to the means 21. An approximate straight line at the point of time of receiving the pulse 23 is transmitted as distance data 19 after correction together with the data 13 to a vehicle pass deciding means 14. The means 14 transmits a pass timing pulse to a shutter timing generating means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sensor for transmitting an electromagnetic wave to a vehicle such as an automobile or a motorcycle traveling on a road, and measuring a distance to the vehicle by a reflected wave from the vehicle, and a measurement result of the sensor. The present invention relates to an improvement of a vehicle measuring device provided with a license plate of the vehicle and imaging means for photographing a driver.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Devices for measuring and recording vehicle speed must provide sufficient and reliable data to warn of speeding violations. When performed by unmanned equipment that is not operated by police officers, one of the means of obtaining sufficient evidence is to take a picture of an over-speeding car with its driver and license plate. This is to identify the offender. By the way, such a system is disclosed in JP-B-53-18.
888, a device for photographing a driver in a car through a windshield of a car is widely known, and many other proposals have been made.

FIG. 11 is an operation diagram showing the configuration and arrangement of a conventional vehicle measuring device. 1 is a radar for measuring the distance to the car and the speed of the car, 2 is a camera for imaging the license plate of the car and the driver, 3 is a radar 1, and the speed of the car output from the radar 1 connected to the camera 2 And a controller that outputs to the camera 2 the timing at which the shutter is released based on data on the distance to the vehicle. A radar 4 and a camera 2 for measuring the distance to the vehicle and the speed of the vehicle are provided. A pole is several meters high from the road surface. Reference numeral 5 denotes an automobile, and 6 denotes a road surface. The arrow indicates the traveling direction of the car 5. FIG. 12 shows the configuration of a conventional vehicle speed measuring device, wherein 1 to 6 are the same as in FIG. 11, 7 is a transmitted wave transmitted from the radar 1, 8 is a reflected wave from the car 5, and 9 is a number. Plates 10 and 11 are straight lines indicating the imaging range of the camera 2. The arrow indicates the traveling direction of the car 5.

Next, the operation of the conventional apparatus will be described. When a radio wave 7 is transmitted from the radar 1 for measuring the distance to the car 5 and the speed of the car 5, the radio wave 8 is reflected from the car 5 and received by the radar 1 for measuring the distance to the car 5 and the speed of the car 5. Since the reflected wave 8 has a frequency shifted by an amount proportional to the speed of the vehicle 5 to be measured and has a frequency proportional to the distance, the radar 1 for measuring the distance and speed to the vehicle 5 uses the speed of the vehicle 5 and the speed of the vehicle. 5 can be measured, and the time series (for example, 50 ms)
Each time, the speed of the car 5 and the distance to the car 5 are sent to the controller 3. The controller 3 calculates a signal for operating the shutter of the camera 2 based on the measured values of the time series data of the distance and the speed, outputs the signal to the camera 2, and outputs the license plate 9 of the automobile 5 to be measured by the camera 2. Then, a photograph of the driver's face is taken.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the controller 3. First, distance data 12 from the radar 1 to the car 5
And the speed data 13 of the car 5 are received in time series,
It is determined by the vehicle passage determining means 14 that the vehicle has passed a certain distance (for example, 50 m: the position of the left car 5 in FIG. 12) based on the time series data of the distance. It is sent to the shutter timing generator 16. The shutter timing generating means 16 calculates the timing of releasing the shutter of the camera 2 at a certain point (for example, 40 m: the position of the right car 5 in FIG. 13) using the passing timing pulse 15 and the speed data 13, and the speed is limited. If the speed is higher than the speed, a shutter timing pulse 15 is output to the camera 2 and the license plate 9 of the automobile 5 to be measured by the camera 2 is output.
Then, a photograph of the driver's face is taken. By this operation, an automobile at or above the speed limit can be detected and used as a vehicle speed measuring device.

[0006]

The vehicle measuring apparatus constructed as shown in FIG. 12 has the following problems. FIG.
4 is a diagram showing time-series data of the distance to the vehicle 5 measured by the radar 1 for measuring the distance to the vehicle 5 and the speed of the vehicle 5, wherein the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents distance. Each point indicates distance data for each time, and is transmitted from the radar 1 to the controller 3 at certain fixed intervals (for example, every 50 ms). In FIG. 14, as shown by a portion A surrounded by an ellipse, the positional reflection point of the radio wave is moving. This means that while the car 5 is far away, the top of the car 5 is the main reflection point of the radio wave, but as the car 5 approaches, the main reflection point of the radio wave shifts from the top of the car 5 to the rear of the car 5. This is a phenomenon that has occurred because it has moved.

FIG. 15 illustrates this phenomenon.
5, 6, 7, and 8 are the same as those in FIG. When the car 5 is far away (t = τ1), the head of the car 5 is the main reflection point of the radio wave as indicated by arrows 7 and 8, but when the car 5 is nearby (t = τ2), As shown by arrows 7 and 8, the main reflection point of the radio wave is shifted rearward from the head of the automobile 5. For this reason, the vehicle passage determination means 14 of FIG.
When the passing timing pulse 15 transmitted to the shutter timing generating means 16 from the vehicle 5 is not accurately transmitted at a point in time when the vehicle has passed the distance at the head of the vehicle 5, the vehicle 5
Sent when the rear of the vehicle has passed a certain distance. This is shown at time t = a1 at the point where the straight line indicating the distance of 50 m and the distance time-series data intersect in FIG. Therefore, the shutter timing generation means 16 sends the camera 2
A phenomenon occurs in which the shutter timing pulse 17 sent to the camera is shifted from the timing of imaging the head of the automobile 5. As a result, the license plate 9 at the head of the automobile 5 and the photograph of the driver's face cannot be reliably captured, and there has been a problem that the vehicle measuring device cannot be used as, for example, a speed control device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has as its object to obtain a vehicle measuring device with high imaging accuracy and certainty.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle measuring device for transmitting an electromagnetic wave to a vehicle and measuring a distance to the vehicle by a reflected wave from the vehicle, and a license plate of the vehicle. And imaging means for imaging the driver, and based on time-series data on the distance between the vehicle and the sensor output from the sensor, the time at which the positional reflection point of the electromagnetic wave reflected from the vehicle changes, the distance Detecting means for detecting by means of time-series data relating to, calculating means for obtaining an approximate straight line of time-series data relating to the distance before the reflection point changes, and a license plate and driver of the vehicle by an approximate straight line obtained by the calculating means. And a controller having means for calculating the timing of imaging.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle measuring device for transmitting an electromagnetic wave to a vehicle, measuring a distance to the vehicle and a speed of the vehicle by a reflected wave from the vehicle, a license plate of the vehicle and driving Imaging means for imaging the person, based on time-series data on the distance between the vehicle and the sensor and the speed of the vehicle output from the sensor, based on the time at which the positional reflection point of the electromagnetic wave reflected from the vehicle changes, Detecting means for detecting the time-series data related to the distance, calculating means for obtaining an approximate straight line of the time-series data related to the distance before the reflection point changes, and driving the license plate of the vehicle with the approximate straight line obtained by the calculating means And a controller having means for calculating the timing of imaging the person.

A vehicle measuring device according to a third aspect of the present invention transmits an electromagnetic wave to a vehicle, and measures a distance to the vehicle by a reflected wave from the vehicle, and images a license plate and a driver of the vehicle. A distance between the sensor and the vehicle output from the sensor and the imaging unit, based on time-series data on the reception intensity of the vehicle, a detection unit that detects a point in time at which a positional reflection point of the electromagnetic wave reflected from the vehicle changes; A controller having a calculating means for obtaining an approximate straight line of the time-series data related to the distance before the point at which the reflection point changes, and a means for calculating the timing of capturing the license plate and the driver of the vehicle by the calculating means; It is provided with.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle measuring apparatus for transmitting an electromagnetic wave to a vehicle, measuring a distance to the vehicle and a speed of a moving body by a reflected wave from the vehicle, a license plate of the vehicle, Imaging means for imaging the driver, a distance between the vehicle and the sensor output from the sensor,
Detecting means for detecting a time point at which a positional reflection point of an electromagnetic wave reflected from the vehicle changes based on time-series data relating to the speed and reception intensity of the vehicle, a time series relating to a distance before the time point at which the reflection point changes The control device includes a calculating means for obtaining an approximate straight line of the data, and a means for calculating a license plate of the vehicle and a timing for capturing an image of the driver by the calculating means.

A vehicle measuring device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention comprises:
In the invention according to the first aspect, an image pickup means for picking up an image of the license plate from the front, the rear or both sides of the vehicle is provided.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 The radar 1 outputs data of the distance to the vehicle 5 to be measured and the speed of the vehicle 5 to the controller 3 from time to time, and the controller 3 can take an image at a certain point (40 m in one example) based on the data. Thus, the timing pulse for releasing the shutter is output to the camera. However, since the data varies as shown in FIG. 14, the leading position of the automobile 5 cannot be detected accurately, and as a result, the timing of image capturing varies, and the license plate and the driver's photograph cannot be captured accurately. ing. In FIG. 14, it is observed that the strong reflection point of the radio wave is shifted from the head of the car 5 and the data greatly changes.
Conventionally, it is considered that this occurs because the reflection from the head of the car 5 is dominant at a long distance, while the strong reflection point shifts from the head of the car 5 to another point as the vehicle approaches. As explained in the example.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, in the controller 3, a point in time when the time series data of the distance greatly changes (t =
a2), and ignores the time series data of the distance thereafter and averages the previous data to obtain an approximate straight line, and predicts the reflection from the head of the car 5 (the part predicted in FIG. 1). Is indicated by a broken line). Then, at the time when the predicted approximate straight line intersects with the distance of 50 m (indicated by t = a3), the passing timing pulse 1
By outputting 5, the timing pulse 15 for releasing the shutter can be output to the camera 2 so that the image can be captured reliably. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the controller of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, ignoring data after a large change by the arithmetic means 18 and averaging previous data to obtain an approximate straight line, as shown in FIG. And perform calculations to eliminate data variations,
The corrected distance data 19 is sent to the vehicle passage determination means 14. After that, in the same operation as in the conventional example, a timing pulse 17 for releasing the shutter is supplied to the camera 2 to reliably capture an image.
Output to

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the arithmetic means 18. As shown in FIG. 3, the calculating means 18 includes a memory 20,
An approximate straight line calculating means 21 and a straight line inclination determining means 22 are provided. The operation flow of the approximate straight line calculation means 21 is shown in FIG.
FIG. 8 shows an operation flow of the straight-line inclination determining means 22.

In FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8, signals are transmitted in time series from the radar 1 (for example, every 50 ms).
The distance data 12 and the speed data 13 are temporarily stored in the memory 20 and sent to the approximate straight line calculating means 21 and the straight line inclination determining means 22. The approximate straight line calculating means 21 linearizes the distance data, which is transmitted in time series, with respect to time by the least squares method every moment (step 101). This is shown in the oblique straight line portion in FIG. Further, the straight-line inclination determining means 22 continues to calculate the ratio of the temporally adjacent data in the continuously transmitted distance data (step 104). Is determined to have changed (step 10).
5) At that time, the reflection point change timing pulse 23 is sent to the approximate straight line calculation means 21 (step 106, time t = a2 in FIG. 1). The approximate straight line calculating means 21 receiving the reflection point change timing pulse 23 stops the calculation for obtaining the approximate straight line of the distance data by the least square method at that time, and thereafter, the approximation at the time when the timing pulse 23 is received. Extend the straight line in time (Fig. 1
(Dashed line portion) and sends the corrected distance data 19 together with the speed data 13 to the vehicle passage determination means 14. The vehicle passage determination means 14 sends a passage timing pulse 15 to the shutter timing generation means 16 at a time when the vehicle has passed a certain distance (for example, 50 m) (time t = a3 in FIG. 1). Thereafter, as shown in the conventional example, a timing pulse 17 for releasing the shutter is supplied to the camera 2 so as to reliably capture an image.
, And the problem of the conventional example can be solved.

Embodiment 2 FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing time-series data of the reception intensity of the radar. This data is also radar 1
4 to the controller 3, and according to FIG. 4, the reception level is greatly reduced at a certain time (t = a4). This is the same as that described in the first embodiment. The positional reflection point of the radio wave shifts from the head of the car 5 and changes,
Time when the distance data greatly varies (t = a1)
It corresponds to. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the controller 3 detects the point in time when the reflection point deviates from the data in FIG. 4 and, as shown in FIG. The timing pulse 17 for releasing the shutter can be output to the camera 2 so as to reliably capture an image by calculating a straight line and performing an operation for eliminating data variations.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the controller 3 of the present embodiment. The receiving means 24 sent from the radar 1 detects the point at which the reflection point deviates from the data of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, ignoring the subsequent data, averaging with the previous data to obtain an approximate straight line, performing an operation to eliminate the variation in the data, and
The corrected distance data 19 is sent to the CPU. Thereafter, a timing pulse 17 for releasing the shutter can be output to the camera 2 by an operation similar to that of the conventional example so that an image can be reliably captured.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the calculating means 18 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG.
0, an approximate straight line calculation means 21 and a reception strength judgment means 25. The distance data 12, the speed data 13, and the reception intensity data 24 transmitted in time series (for example, every 50 ms) from the radar 1 are temporarily stored in the memory 20, and the distance data 1 is stored in the approximate straight line calculation means 21.
2. The speed data 13 and the reception intensity data 24 are sent to the reception intensity determination means 25. The operation flow of the approximate straight line calculation means 21 is shown in FIG.
9 is shown in FIG. The approximate straight line calculation means 21 transmits the data in a time series. The distance data is linearized every moment with respect to time by the least squares method (step 10).
1). This is shown in the oblique straight line portion in FIG. Further, the reception intensity determination means 25 calculates the ratio of adjacent reception intensity data in the reception intensity data 24 continuously transmitted (step 107), and determines that the ratio (indicated by B in FIG. 4) is equal to or greater than a certain value. When this happens, it is determined that the reflection point of the radio wave has changed (step 108), and at that time the reflection point change timing pulse 23 is sent to the approximate straight line calculation means 21 (step 109, time t = a2 in FIG. 1). . Upon receiving the reflection point change timing pulse 23, the approximate straight line calculating means 21 stops the calculation for obtaining the approximate straight line of the distance data by the least square method at that time (step 1).
02) After that, the approximate straight line at the time of receiving the timing pulse 23 is temporally extended as it is (broken line portion in FIG. 1), and the speed data 13 as the corrected distance data 19 is obtained.
(Step 1)
03). The vehicle passage determination means 14 sends a passage timing pulse 15 to the shutter timing generation means 16 at a time when the vehicle has passed a certain distance (for example, 50 m) (time t = a3 in FIG. 1). Thereafter, as shown in the conventional example, the timing pulse 17 for turning off the shirt is provided so that the image can be reliably taken.
Can be output to the camera 2, and the problem of the conventional example can be solved.

In the above embodiment, the speed and distance of the vehicle are measured using radio waves, but the vehicle may be measured using both light waves, radio waves, and light waves.

Embodiment 3 FIG. In the first and second embodiments, the camera 2 and the radar 1 are installed on the same pole as shown in FIG. 11, but the camera 2 is opposed to the sensor 1 on another pole with the automobile 5 interposed therebetween. Can be installed on the side. The configuration is shown in FIG. 1 to 6 are the same as in FIG.
This is another pole installed on the opposite side of the pole 4 with the car 5 interposed. In this case, the license plate behind the vehicle can be imaged, but the driver's face cannot be imaged, so it is difficult to use it as an unmanned control device. I am satisfied with the function of measuring which point was running at which speed. Of course, it is possible to set up two cameras in front and back of the vehicle with the car interposed therebetween and to image a license plate in front and rear of the vehicle. In this case, it is expected that the accuracy of data is improved.

[0023]

According to the first, second, and fifth aspects of the present invention, of the time series data of distance, data before the reflection point of the electromagnetic wave is changed is adopted, and the distance is estimated by linear approximation. Eliminating the variation in the series data has the effect of enabling high-accuracy imaging and solving the problems of the conventional example.

According to the third, fourth and fifth aspects of the invention,
By detecting the time point at which the time series data of the received power intensity changes significantly, of the time series data of the distance, the data before the reflection point of the beam is changed is adopted, and the distance is estimated by linear approximation. Eliminating the dispersion of the series data enables high-accuracy imaging, and has the effect of solving the problems of the conventional example.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining that a point in time at which a reflection point of a radio wave changes is detected, data after that point is ignored, and linear approximation is performed to eliminate data variations;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a controller according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a calculation unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing time-series data of reception intensity.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a controller according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a calculating unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation flow of the approximate straight line calculation means 21.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the operation flow of the straight-line inclination determining means 22.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the operation flow of the reception strength determination means 25.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration and an arrangement of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration and an arrangement of a vehicle measurement device using a conventional radar.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of a conventional vehicle measurement device.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional controller.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing time-series data of distance.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a reflection point of a radio wave in an automobile.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 radar, 2 cameras, 3 controllers, 4 poles, 5
Car, 6 road surface, 7 transmitted wave, 8 reflected wave, 9
License plate, 10 Straight line 1 indicating the imaging range of the camera, 11 Straight line 2 indicating the imaging range of the camera, 12 Distance data, 13 Speed data, 14 Vehicle passage determination means, 1
5 passing timing pulse, 16 shutter timing generating means, 17 shutter timing pulse, 18
Calculation means, 19 corrected distance data, 20 memories,
21 approximate straight line calculating means, 22 straight line inclination determining means, 2
3 Reflection point change timing pulse, 24 reception intensity data, 25 reception intensity judgment means, 26 another pole.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification symbol FI // G03B 9/08 H04N 5/232 Z H04N 5/232 G01S 13/92

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sensor for transmitting an electromagnetic wave to a vehicle and measuring a distance to the vehicle by a reflected wave from the vehicle, an imaging unit for imaging a license plate of the vehicle and a driver, and an output from the sensor. Based on time-series data related to the distance between the vehicle and the sensor, based on the time-series data related to the distance, the time when the position of the reflection point of the electromagnetic wave reflected from the vehicle changes,
Calculating means for obtaining an approximate straight line of time-series data related to the distance before the reflection point changes; and calculating means for calculating a timing for capturing an image of a license plate and a driver of the vehicle using the approximate straight line obtained by the arithmetic means. A vehicle measuring device comprising a controller. 2. A sensor for transmitting an electromagnetic wave to a vehicle and measuring a distance to the vehicle and a speed of the vehicle by a reflected wave from the vehicle, an imaging unit for imaging a license plate of the vehicle and a driver, Based on the time-series data on the distance between the vehicle and the sensor and the speed of the vehicle output from the sensor, a point in time at which the position of the reflection point of the electromagnetic wave reflected from the vehicle changes is detected by the time-series data on the distance. Detecting means, calculating means for obtaining an approximate straight line of time-series data relating to the distance before the reflection point changes, means for calculating the timing of imaging the license plate of the vehicle and the driver using the approximate straight line obtained by the calculating means. And a controller having the following. 3. A sensor for transmitting an electromagnetic wave to a vehicle and measuring a distance to the vehicle based on a reflected wave from the vehicle, an imaging unit for imaging a license plate of the vehicle and a driver, and output from the sensor. Based on the distance between the vehicle and the sensor,
A detecting means for detecting a time point at which a positional reflection point of the electromagnetic wave reflected from the vehicle changes, a calculating means for obtaining an approximate straight line of time-series data relating to a distance before the time point at which the reflecting point changes, and the calculating means A vehicle measuring device, comprising: a controller having a license plate of the vehicle and means for calculating a timing of capturing an image of a driver. 4. A sensor for transmitting an electromagnetic wave to a vehicle and measuring a distance to the vehicle and a speed of a moving body by a reflected wave from the vehicle, and an imaging unit for imaging a license plate of the vehicle and a driver. Detecting means for detecting a time point at which a positional reflection point of an electromagnetic wave reflected from the vehicle changes, based on time-series data on the distance between the vehicle and the sensor output from the sensor, the speed of the vehicle, and the reception intensity; A control unit having an arithmetic unit that obtains an approximate straight line of time-series data related to a distance before the time point at which the reflection point changes, and a control unit that has a unit that calculates a timing at which the license plate of the vehicle and the driver are imaged by the arithmetic unit. A vehicle measuring device comprising: 5. The vehicle measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the image capturing unit captures an image of the license plate from the front, the rear, or both of the vehicle.