KR102001748B1 - Vehicle discrimination device, rate-charging facility, vehicle type discrimination method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

The vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A comprises a plurality of light projecting units S1 for projecting light beams, a plurality of light receiving units S2 arranged corresponding to the plurality of light projecting units S1 and capable of receiving light beams P, Receiving a detection signal indicative of whether or not the light beam P is received by the plurality of light receiving portions S2 and receiving a detection signal indicating a light receiving portion S2 corresponding to the light beam P that is shielded among the regions in which the plurality of light receiving portions S2 are disposed And a vehicle body silhouette, which is two-dimensional information capable of obtaining a plurality of shading areas acquired at different times on a time axis, is acquired, and the vehicle body silhouette and the vehicle type classification And a vehicle type discriminating section 111 for discriminating the vehicle type to which the vehicle belongs based on the classified reference patterns.

Description

 Vehicle discrimination device, rate-charging facility, vehicle type discrimination method and program

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle type discriminating apparatus, a charge receiving apparatus, a vehicle type discriminating method and a program.

The present application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-038849 filed on February 27, 2015, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The fare handling facility (entrance, exit toll station, etc.) that can be used for toll roads such as expressways, etc., is charged automatically to accept bills, coins, etc. from users and make payment of change money And a vehicle type discriminating device for discriminating between the automatic watercraft and the vehicle type of the vehicle to be driven.

In this case, the charge automatic water purifier collects the charge of the amount based on the vehicle type discriminated by the vehicle discrimination device from the user.

The above vehicle discriminating apparatus is provided with a vehicle detector capable of detecting the passage of a vehicle one by one and a tread capable of detecting the pressure by the tire of the vehicle running (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

A typical vehicle detector is constituted by a plurality of pairs of a light-projecting portion for projecting a light beam and a light-receiving portion for receiving the light beam. According to such a vehicle detector, when a vehicle enters between a pair of the light projecting portion and the light receiving portion, a light beam connecting between the light projecting portion and the light receiving portion is shielded by the vehicle body. Therefore, the passage of the vehicle can be detected based on the detection signal from the light-receiving unit corresponding to the light-shielded light.

The vehicle discrimination device is generally one of the information for discrimination of the vehicle class, and uses the " axle number " of the vehicle. The vehicle type discrimination device can specify the number of axles of the vehicle by detecting the number of times the tread has been stepped on while detecting the passage of one vehicle in the vehicle detector.

According to the above-described structure, however, the vehicle discrimination device can not specify the number of axles of the vehicle unless all of the vehicle body passes through the vehicle detector. Therefore, in a conventional fare-setting facility installed on a highway or the like, in consideration of the maximum vehicle length (for example, 18 m) of a running vehicle for the purpose of specifying the number of axles for all the vehicles running, The distance between the vehicle discriminating device and the automatic water purifier is set to be equal to or larger than the maximum capacity.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-235487

However, depending on the location conditions of the fare-charging facility in the expressway or the like, it may be difficult to secure a space for setting the interval between the vehicle-type determining device and the charge-automatic-watercorder to the maximum capacity or more. In such a case, it is impossible to acquire the number of axles, which is the information necessary for discriminating the type of the vehicle, in the fare handling facility, and the vehicle type classification of the traveling vehicle can not be discriminated in detail. Therefore, it is not possible to set the fare according to the vehicle class that is sufficiently subdivided with respect to the user.

 The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle discriminating apparatus, a fare refund facility, a vehicle type discriminating method and a program which can be installed in a place where a sufficient installation space can not be ensured, .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle discrimination apparatus 1A comprises a light projecting unit S1 arranged in parallel to a plurality of the light projecting units in a height direction and projecting a light beam P, A plurality of light receiving portions S2 capable of receiving reflected light of the light beam and a detection signal indicating whether or not the light rays are received by the plurality of light receiving portions are received to determine whether the light beams are shielded or reflected (110) for acquiring a predetermined region (C) occupied by a light receiving portion corresponding to a light shielding or reflecting light in a region in which a plurality of the light receiving portions are arranged, and a region acquiring portion Which is two-dimensional information that can be obtained in parallel on the time axis, and acquires the body silhouette and the reference pattern (Dref, Dref ' And a vehicle type discriminating section 111 for discriminating the vehicle class to which the vehicle A belongs.

By doing so, the vehicle type discrimination device can grasp the projection (the body silhouette) indicating the shape of the body of the vehicle to be driven. The vehicle type discriminating apparatus can discriminate the vehicle type discrimination in detail without using the information that can not be acquired unless the entire vehicle passes through, because this projection has sufficient information amount to accurately discriminate the vehicle type of the vehicle. Therefore, the vehicle discrimination device can be installed in a place where a sufficient installation space can not be secured, and the vehicle type discrimination can be discriminated in detail.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in the above-described vehicle type discrimination apparatus, the vehicle type discrimination section performs normalization processing for removing the variation component corresponding to the running speed of the vehicle with respect to the obtained body silhouette, Based on the comparison result of the normalized vehicle body silhouette (Da ') subjected to the processing and the reference pattern.

By doing so, the vehicle type discrimination apparatus can obtain the normalized body silhouette from which the fluctuation component corresponding to the traveling speed is removed. Therefore, the deviation of the discrimination result due to the difference of the traveling speed can be suppressed, and the discrimination accuracy can be improved.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the above-described vehicle type discrimination apparatus comprises a tire silhouette extraction section (113a) for extracting a tire silhouette (Dt) representing an area corresponding to a tire of the vehicle among the acquired body silhouettes, Further comprising an aspect ratio calculating section (113b) for calculating an aspect ratio in a case where the time axis of the tire silhouette is in the lateral direction, and the vehicle type discriminating section performs the normalizing process by multiplying the time axis by the calculated aspect ratio .

This makes it possible to acquire the information (aspect ratio) necessary for the normalization processing based on the tire silhouette extracted from the body silhouette, so that it is not necessary to newly install the measurement means for the normalization processing. Therefore, the overall cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, in the above-described vehicle type discrimination apparatus, the vehicle type discrimination section discriminates the vehicle body silhouette and a reference for towing discrimination defined in correspondence with the vehicle towing the trailer vehicle as the reference pattern Based on the pattern Dref ', the vehicle class to which the vehicle belongs.

By doing so, the vehicle type discriminating device can discriminate whether the vehicle is towing the trailer precisely, and can properly discriminate the vehicle type according to the presence or absence of the trailer.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the above-described vehicle type discriminating apparatus further comprises a tire size obtaining section 114A for obtaining the tire size of the vehicle, and the vehicle type discriminating section discriminates the vehicle body silhouette, And determines the type of the vehicle to which the vehicle belongs based on the obtained tire size.

By doing so, even when the vehicle type can not be discriminated by a single body silhouette and the reference pattern alone, the vehicle type can be discriminated in detail by further using the tire size of the vehicle as the discrimination information of the vehicle type classification.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the above-described vehicle type discriminating apparatus further comprises a traveling speed obtaining section (114B) for obtaining the traveling speed of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle type discriminating section discriminates the vehicle body silhouette and the reference pattern And based on the acquired traveling speed, discriminates the type of the vehicle to which the vehicle belongs.

By doing this, even when the vehicle type classification can not be discriminated by the vehicle body silhouette and the reference pattern alone, the vehicle type can be discriminated in detail by further using the running speed of the vehicle as the discrimination information of the vehicle type classification.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in the above-described vehicle type discriminating apparatus, the vehicle type discriminating section discriminates whether or not the statistical data (F) for each vehicle class of the traveling speed acquired by the traveling speed acquiring section, Based on the vehicle speed, the vehicle class to which the vehicle belongs.

This makes it possible to improve the discrimination accuracy of the type of vehicle based on the difference in the traveling speed because the vehicle type classification of the vehicle is discriminated based on the actual statistical data of the vehicle traveling on the fare-collecting facility.

The vehicle type discriminating apparatus may further include a vehicle automatic transmission device disposed on the downstream side of the vehicle type discriminating device in the lane direction and adapted to automatically carry out a charge automatic shut- And a water handler 1B.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle type discriminating method, comprising: a transparent portion disposed in parallel in a height direction so as to project a light beam; and a plurality of light transmitting portions arranged corresponding to each of the plurality of transparent portions, A vehicle class discrimination method for discriminating a class of a vehicle to which a vehicle running in a lane belongs by using a plurality of light-receiving units, characterized by comprising the steps of: accepting input of a detection signal indicative of the presence or absence of light reception of the light ray or the reflected light in the plurality of light- A step of determining whether or not a light beam is shielded or reflected and acquiring a predetermined area occupied by a light-receiving unit corresponding to a light-shielded or reflected light in a region in which the plurality of light-receiving units are disposed; The body silhouette, which is two-dimensional information constituted by arranging the regions on the time axis, is acquired, And discriminating a vehicle class to which the vehicle belongs based on a reference pattern classified by the body silhouette and the vehicle class.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to function as a program, comprising: a transparent portion disposed in parallel to a plurality of A computer for discriminating a vehicle class to which a vehicle traveling in a lane belongs is received by using a light receiving unit and an input of a detection signal indicating whether or not light is received by the light rays or the reflected light in the plurality of light receiving units is received, Receiving means for acquiring a predetermined region occupied by the light-receiving unit corresponding to the light-shielded or reflected light among the regions in which the plurality of light-receiving units are arranged, a plurality of the predetermined regions acquired at different times, The vehicle body silhouette, which is two-dimensional information configured in parallel on the vehicle body, And functions as a vehicle type discrimination means for discriminating the vehicle type to which the vehicle belongs based on the reference pattern classified by the type of the vehicle and the type of the vehicle.

According to the vehicle discrimination device, the fare receiving facility, the vehicle discrimination method, and the program described above, the vehicle can be installed in a place where a sufficient installation space can not be secured, and the vehicle class can be discriminated in detail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a charge and repair facility according to a first embodiment; FIG.
2 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the vehicle type discrimination apparatus according to the first embodiment.
Fig. 3A is a first diagram for explaining the functions of the light-shielded area obtaining section and the body silhouette acquisition section according to the first embodiment. Fig.
Fig. 3B is a second diagram for explaining the functions of the light-shielded area acquisition section and the body silhouette acquisition section according to the first embodiment; Fig.
Fig. 4A is a third diagram for explaining the functions of the light-shielded area acquisition section and the body silhouette acquisition section according to the first embodiment; Fig.
Fig. 4B is a fourth diagram for explaining the functions of the light-shielded area acquisition section and the body silhouette acquisition section according to the first embodiment; Fig.
5 is a first diagram for explaining the function of the normalization processing unit according to the first embodiment.
6A is a second diagram for explaining the function of the normalization processing unit according to the first embodiment.
6B is a third diagram for explaining the function of the normalization processing unit according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 7A is a first diagram for explaining the function of the determination processing unit according to the first embodiment. FIG.
Fig. 7B is a second diagram for explaining the function of the determination processing unit according to the first embodiment.
Fig. 7C is a third diagram illustrating the function of the determination processing unit according to the first embodiment.
8 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the vehicle discriminating apparatus according to the second embodiment.
9 is a diagram for explaining the function of the determination processing unit according to the second embodiment.

≪ First Embodiment >

The vehicle discriminating apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described below with reference to Figs. 1 to 7C.

(Total configuration)

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a charge and repair facility according to a first embodiment; FIG.

In the present embodiment, the fare receiving equipment 1 is installed at a tollgate at the exit of a highway, which is a toll road, and receives a payment of the amount of money according to the vehicle type of the vehicle A on which the user rides by the user of the highway Equipment.

In the following description, the expressway side (+ X direction side in Fig. 1) is also referred to as " upstream side " or " ahead direction of lane " The general road side (the -X direction side in Fig. 1) is also described as the " downstream side " or the " inward traveling direction " of the lane L.

As shown in Fig. 1, the fare-charging facility 1 is provided with a vehicle-type discriminating apparatus 1A and a charge automatic water purifier 1B.

The vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A is provided on the road side of the lane L or the like to discriminate the vehicle type of the vehicle A that runs the lane L. [

The automatic fee billing machine 1B automatically performs reception processing of bills, coins, etc., and payment processing of change money from the user (such as the driver of the vehicle A). The automatic water purifier 1B is provided on the road side of the lane L on the downstream side of the vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A and corresponds to the vehicle type discrimination of the vehicle A discriminated by the vehicle discriminating apparatus 1A We collect charge of one amount from user.

As shown in Fig. 1, the vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A has a vehicle detector 10 and a main control section 11. As shown in Fig.

The vehicle detector (10) has a light projecting tower (101) and a reception tower (102). The light transmitting tower 101 and the light receiving tower 102 of the vehicle detector 10 are located at the same position in the lane direction of the lane L in the lane direction (+ - X direction) The Y direction side or the -Y direction side). The light projecting tower 101 and the light receiving tower 102 are formed so as to extend in the height direction (占 z direction) from the road surface and have mutually facing surfaces.

A light transmitting portion S1 for transmitting a light beam P (for example, an infrared light beam) having a predetermined wavelength toward the receiving end 102 is provided on the surface of the light transmitting tower 101, which faces the light receiving top 102, Are arranged at equal intervals.

On the other hand, a plurality of light receiving portions S2 for receiving the light beams P projected by the light projecting portion S1 are arranged at equal intervals in the height direction on the surface of the light receiving top 102 opposed to the light transmission tower 101 . Each of the light receiving portions S2 is disposed so as to correspond one-to-one with each of the light transmitting portions S1 so that the corresponding light transmitting portion S1 can receive the light rays P projected therefrom. Each light receiving section S2 always outputs a detection signal in accordance with whether the light beam P projected from the corresponding light projecting section S1 is received (non-shielding state) or not (light shielding state).

According to the vehicle detector 10 having the above configuration, when the vehicle A travels and enters the same position as the light transmitting tower 101 and the light receiving tower 102 in the lane direction, the light projecting unit S1 Since the vehicle body of the vehicle A is disposed between the light receiving portions S2, several rays P covering a predetermined range corresponding to the vehicle body in the height direction are shielded (see Fig. 1).

The main control part 11 discriminates the vehicle type of the vehicle A that is traveling on the basis of the detection signal from the vehicle detector 10 (light receiving part S2), and outputs the result of the discrimination to the automatic teller 1B ). In the present embodiment, the vehicle classification is classified into five categories, for example, "light vehicle", "ordinary vehicle", "medium vehicle", "large vehicle", and "extra large vehicle".

 In the present embodiment, the distance in the lane direction from the position where the vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A (vehicle detector 10) is arranged to the position where the automatic lending machine 1B is disposed is, for example, about 6 meters.

(Functional configuration of vehicle discrimination device)

2 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the vehicle type discrimination apparatus according to the first embodiment.

As shown in Fig. 2, the vehicle discrimination apparatus 1A is provided with a vehicle detector 10 and a main control section 11. As shown in Fig. The vehicle detector 10 has a light transmission tower 101 and a reception tower 102 and outputs a detection signal depending on the presence or absence of light reception of the light beam P as described above.

As shown in Fig. 2, the main control section 11 includes a light-shielded area obtaining section 110 (area obtaining section) and a vehicle type discriminating section 111. Fig.

The light-shielded area acquisition unit 110 receives input of a detection signal indicating the light reception state of the light P in each of the light-receiving units S2 from the plurality of light-receiving units S2 and determines whether or not the light P is blocked . The light-shielding area acquisition unit 110 acquires the light-shielding area C (light-shielding area), which is a predetermined area occupied by the light-receiving unit S2 corresponding to the light beam P being shaded out of the entire area of the plurality of light- (See FIG. 3A).

The vehicle type discriminating section 111 acquires the body silhouette Da (see Fig. 3B) representing the projection of the vehicle A on the basis of the plurality of shading areas C acquired by the shading area acquiring section 110. [ The vehicle type discriminating section 111 discriminates the vehicle class to which the vehicle A belongs based on the body silhouette Da and the reference pattern Dref (see Figs. 7A to 7C) classified for each vehicle class. In addition, the vehicle type discriminating section 111 outputs the discrimination result of the vehicle type discrimination to the automatic teller machine 1B. Thereby, the automatic toll collection device 1B can perform the toll processing of the amount of money according to the type of the vehicle of the vehicle A that is traveling.

More specifically, the vehicle type discriminating section 111 includes a body silhouette obtaining section 112, a normalization processing section 113, a tire size obtaining section 114A, and a discrimination processing section 115.

The vehicle body silhouette obtaining section 112 carries the vehicle detector 10 (between the light projecting tower 101 and the light receiving tower 102) by arranging a plurality of light shielding regions C obtained at different times on a predetermined time axis And obtains the body silhouette Da, which is two-dimensional information about the vehicle A that is to be executed.

The normalization processing unit 113 performs normalization processing on the body silhouette Da to obtain the normalized body silhouette Da '. Specifically, the normalization processing section 113 removes the variation component corresponding to the traveling speed from the body silhouette Da varying according to the traveling speed of the vehicle A running on the vehicle detector 10, and does not depend on the traveling speed The normalized body silhouette Da '(see Fig. 6B) is acquired. The normalization processing unit 113 has a tire silhouette extraction unit 113a and an aspect ratio calculation unit 113b. Details of these various functional units will be described later.

The tire size obtaining section 114A obtains the size (tire size) of the tire A of the vehicle A with reference to the body silhouette Da (or the normalized body silhouette Da ').

The discrimination processing unit 115 discriminates the type of the vehicle A ("light car", "ordinary car", "medium car", "large car") based on the normalized vehicle body silhouette Da ' &Quot;, " oversized car "). More specifically, the reference pattern Dref suitable for the normalized body silhouette Da 'is specified by comparing the normalized body silhouette Da' with a plurality of reference patterns Dref recorded in advance on the recording medium 116 Processing is performed. The reference patterns Dref are classified in advance for each type of vehicle and recorded in the recording medium 116.

Hereinafter, various functional configurations of the vehicle discrimination apparatus 1A will be described in detail.

(Function of the light-shielded area obtaining unit, the body silhouette obtaining unit)

Figs. 3A and 3B are a first drawing and a second drawing for explaining the functions of the light-shielded area obtaining section and the body silhouette acquisition section according to the first embodiment, respectively.

4A and 4B are a third drawing and a fourth drawing for explaining the functions of the light-shielded area obtaining section and the body silhouette obtaining section according to the first embodiment, respectively.

3A shows a state in which a vehicle A belonging to the " normal car " is positioned between the light transmission tower 101 and the reception tower 102 on the lane L. Fig. In this case, as shown in Fig. 3A, the vehicle body of the vehicle A shields the light beam P (Fig. 1) over a predetermined range in the height direction. The light-shielded area acquiring unit 110 receives input of a detection signal indicating whether or not the light beam P is received from all the light-receiving units S2, and determines whether or not each light beam P is shielded. Then, the light-shielded area acquisition unit 110 acquires one-dimensional information about the height direction in which the light-receiving units S2 are arranged, as the axis, on the basis of the respective detection signals. This one-dimensional information is information indicating a light-shielding region C occupied by the light-receiving portion S2 corresponding to the light-shielded light P among the plurality of light-receiving portions S2 arranged in the height direction. 3A, the light shielding region C shown in the one-dimensional image information corresponds to a range in which the vehicle body of the vehicle A passing through the vehicle detector 10 exists in the height direction.

The shade area acquiring unit 110 continuously acquires one-dimensional information indicating the shading area C for every prescribed sampling time (several milliseconds).

Fig. 3B shows the body silhouette Da acquired by the body silhouette acquisition unit 112. Fig.

The body silhouette acquisition unit 112 generates the body silhouette Da as two-dimensional information by arranging the one-dimensional information acquired by the light shielding region acquisition unit 110 on the time axis for each acquisition time. As shown in Fig. 3B, the vehicle body silhouette Da has a vertical axis in the height direction in which the light-receiving units S2 are arranged as a vertical axis, and two-dimensional information having a horizontal axis indicating a time axis indicating the acquisition time at which each one- to be. The vehicle body silhouette Da is projected on the side surface of the vehicle body A passing through the vehicle detector 10 viewed from one side (the + Y side).

4A shows a state in which a vehicle A belonging to a "large car" (a large truck or the like) is positioned between the light transmission tower 101 and the reception tower 102 on the lane L. 3A, the light-shielded area acquiring unit 110 receives input of a detection signal indicating whether or not the light ray P is received from all of the light-receiving units S2, And obtains one-dimensional information representing the light-shielding region C according to the shape.

However, it is assumed that the vehicle length (length in the lane direction) of the vehicle A, which is a " large vehicle ", is greater than 6 meters. 4A, even when the driver's seat (the front side (+ X direction side) of the vehicle body) of the large-sized vehicle A reaches the automatic lending machine 1B in the lane direction, A part of the rear side (-X direction side) of the vehicle body of the light receiving section A does not pass between the light transmitting tower 101 and the light receiving tower 102.

Therefore, in this case, as shown in Fig. 4B, the body silhouette acquisition unit 112 acquires the body silhouette Da corresponding to the projection of only the portion of the entire body of the vehicle A that has passed through the vehicle detector 10 . That is, in the vehicle body silhouette Da in this case, only the portion of about six meters in front of the entire vehicle body of the vehicle A appears.

3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B, the body silhouette Da is two-dimensional information indicating the projections of the entire vehicle body or a part of the vehicle A passing therethrough. However, as described above, the vehicle body silhouette Da varies according to the traveling speed when the vehicle A passes through the vehicle detector 10 because it is the information that catches the time axis on the abscissa.

For example, when the running speed of the vehicle A is relatively low, since the time during which the vehicle A is passing through the vehicle detector 10 becomes long, The actual projection is enlarged in the horizontal axis (time axis) direction. Conversely, when the running speed of the vehicle A is relatively high, the time during passage of the vehicle A through the vehicle detector 10 is shortened, so that the actual projection is compressed in the horizontal axis (time axis) do.

(The function of the normalization processing unit)

5 is a first diagram for explaining the function of the normalization processing unit according to the first embodiment.

The normalization processing section 113 according to the present embodiment carries out processing for normalizing the body silhouette Da varying in the time axis direction according to the traveling speed by removing the variation component corresponding to the traveling speed. Hereinafter, the specific function of the normalization processing unit 113 will be described.

5, the tire silhouette extraction unit 113a of the normalization processing unit 113 extracts the tire silhouette Da from the vehicle body silhouette Da acquired by the body silhouette acquisition unit 112, The silhouette (Dt) is extracted.

Specifically, the tire silhouette extraction unit 113a first extracts the tire boundary pattern E from the boundary (edge) of the body silhouette Da. The tire boundary pattern E is a portion corresponding to the projection of the tire among the boundaries of the body silhouette Da. Here, all the vehicles A are only in contact with the road surface of the lane L with a circular tire. Therefore, the tire boundary pattern E can be extracted by discriminating the boundary extending from the lowermost side in the space axis (vertical axis) in the height direction of the body silhouette Da.

Next, the tire-silhouette extracting unit 113a performs a pattern matching process for fitting the tire boundary pattern E to an elliptic shape (a circle in the case of b = a) of the long side a and the short side b. Specifically, the tire silhouette extracting unit 113a compares shapes of a plurality of ellipses to which a plurality of combinations of the tire boundary pattern E, the long side (a), and the short side (b) are applied, and calculates the match degree. The degree of agreement may be calculated based on, for example, a general least squares method or the like. The tire silhouette extracting unit 113a specifies the ellipse having the highest degree of matching with the tire boundary pattern E as the tire silhouette Dt.

The tire-silhouette extracting unit 113a according to the other embodiments is configured to calculate the coordinates (x, y) on the body-silhouette Da of the tire boundary pattern E (the time axis is x and the space axis is y) May be substituted into the elliptic equation "(x2 / a2) + (y2 / b2) = 1 ", and parameters a and b whose errors become minimum based on the analysis means such as a least squares method may be obtained.

The aspect ratio calculation unit 113b of the normalization processing unit 113 calculates the aspect ratio of the extracted tire silhouette Dt when the time axis is in the horizontal direction. Specifically, the aspect ratio calculation unit 113b calculates the aspect ratio b / a by referring to the long side a and the short side b of the extracted tire silhouette Dt (ellipse) as shown in Fig.

6A and 6B are a second diagram and a third diagram for explaining the function of the normalization processor according to the first embodiment, respectively.

Next, the aspect ratio calculating section 113b performs a process of multiplying the time axis of the tire silhouette Dt by the calculated aspect ratio b / a.

Here, Fig. 6A shows an example of the body silhouette Da acquired when the running speed of the vehicle A is relatively "low ". That is, the vehicle body silhouette Da is a state in which the entire vehicle body of the vehicle A is expanded in the time axis direction. The aspect ratio calculating section 113b calculates the aspect ratio b / a (b / a <1) based on the long side a and the short side b (b <a) of the tire silhouette Dt extracted from the body silhouette Da. .

Fig. 6B shows the normalized body silhouette Da 'obtained by normalizing the body silhouette Da shown in Fig. 6A. More specifically, the aspect ratio calculation unit 113b multiplies the time axis by the calculated aspect ratio b / a (b / a <1). Then, the body silhouette Da is compressed at a rate of b / a over the entire time axis, and the place corresponding to the tire silhouette Dt becomes a true circle.

Here, in the tire silhouette Dt shown in Fig. 6A, "a / b" is set in the lateral direction (time axis direction) by the fluctuation component in the time axis direction corresponding to the traveling speed of the vehicle A, Only an enlarged ellipse appears. That is, the body silhouette Da can be regarded as the actual projection of the vehicle body of the vehicle A is enlarged in the horizontal direction (time axis direction) at a ratio of "a / b". Thus, by multiplying the aspect ratio b / a, it is possible to obtain the normalized vehicle body silhouette Da 'which is the projection of the actual vehicle body.

5, 6A, and 6B, the normalization processing unit 113 removes the variation component corresponding to the traveling speed to obtain the normalized normalized body silhouette Da '. The normalized vehicle body silhouette Da 'subjected to the normalization process always shows the same projective image regardless of the fact that the same vehicle A passes through the vehicle detector 10 at a certain traveling speed.

(Function of Tire Size Acquisition Unit)

The tire size obtaining section 114A obtains the tire diameter (tire size) of the vehicle A with reference to the normalized body silhouette Da 'indicating the actual projection of the vehicle body of the vehicle A. In the present embodiment, the tire size acquiring section 114A simply acquires the normalized diameter (corresponding to the short side b in this embodiment) of the tire silhouette Dt extracted by the tire silhouette extracting section 113a .

(Function of the discrimination processing section)

7A to 7C are first to third views for explaining the function of the discrimination processing section according to the first embodiment.

As described above, the determination processing unit 115 according to the present embodiment obtains the body-silhouette Da and the normalized body silhouette Da 'obtained through the normalization processing with the reference pattern prepared in advance, ) Of the vehicle type.

Here, a plurality of reference patterns Dref as exemplified in Figs. 7A to 7C are previously stored in the recording medium 116 provided in the main control section 11. Fig. The reference patterns Dref shown in Figs. 7A to 7C are classified according to the type of the vehicle, and classified into corresponding vehicle classes.

For example, the reference pattern Dref shown in Fig. 7A is a reference pattern Dref classified into a vehicle type of &quot; ordinary car &quot;. The reference pattern Dref shown in Fig. 7B is a reference pattern Dref classified into a vehicle class of a &quot; large car &quot;

7A and 7B, the reference pattern Dref is two-dimensional information having the same size as the normalized body silhouette Da ', and is a non-overlapping pattern for dividing a predetermined region of the normalized body silhouette Da' Dref1 and the overlapping pattern Dref2. The non-overlapping pattern Dref1 and the overlapping pattern Dref2 are previously defined so as to divide different regions according to the corresponding vehicle classification.

The non-overlapping pattern Dref1 defines, for a vehicle belonging to a vehicle classification, an area in which the projection of the vehicle body is not always included (does not overlap when overlapped). For example, when the normalized body silhouette Da 'of the vehicle A belonging to the &quot; normal car &quot; is superimposed on the non-overlapping area Dref1 classified into the vehicle class of the &quot; normal car &quot;, the normalized body silhouette Da ') do not overlap in this non-overlapping area Dref1 (see Fig. 7A).

Similarly, the overlapping pattern Dref2 defines, for a vehicle belonging to a certain vehicle classification, an area always included in the projection of the vehicle body (overlapped when overlapped). For example, when the normalized body silhouette Da 'of the vehicle A belonging to the &quot; normal car &quot; is superimposed on the overlapping area Dref2 classified as the &quot; normal car &quot;, the normalized body silhouette Da' Overlap to include all of the non-overlapping regions Dre2 (see Fig. 7A).

Likewise, when the normalized body silhouette Da 'of the vehicle A belonging to the "large car" is superimposed on the non-overlapping area Dref1 classified as the vehicle class of the "large car", the normalized body silhouette Da 'Do not overlap the non-overlapping area Dref1 (see FIG. 7B).

When the normalized vehicle body silhouette Da 'of the vehicle A belonging to the "large vehicle" is superimposed on the overlapping area Dref2 classified into the vehicle class of the "large vehicle", the normalized vehicle body silhouette Da' Overlap to include all the non-overlapping areas Dre2 (see FIG. 7B).

On the other hand, when the normalized body silhouette Da 'of the vehicle A belonging to the "large car" is superimposed on the non-overlapping area Dref1 (FIG. 7a) for the "normal vehicle", the normalized body silhouette Da' Overlaps with the non-overlapping area Dref1 for the &quot; normal car &quot;. Therefore, in this case, it can be determined that the vehicle A is not the &quot; ordinary vehicle &quot;.

When the normalized body silhouette Da 'of the vehicle A belonging to the "normal car" is superimposed on the overlapping area Dref2 (FIG. 7b) for the "large vehicle", the normalized body silhouette Da' Large-sized vehicle &quot; Dref2. Therefore, in this case, it is possible to discriminate that the vehicle A is not a &quot; large-sized vehicle &quot;.

As described above, the determination processing unit 115 determines whether or not the normalized vehicle body silhouette Da 'is overlapped with the reference pattern Dref (the non-overlapping pattern Dref1 and the overlapping pattern Dref2) It is specified which normalized vehicle body silhouette Da 'is suitable for the reference pattern Dref classified into which vehicle category. Thereby, the discrimination processing unit 115 can discriminate the vehicle type of the vehicle A. [

The reference pattern Dref shown in Fig. 7C is a reference pattern Dref 'for determining the towing vehicle defined in correspondence with the vehicle A (towing vehicle) towing the trailer. 7C is used to determine whether the vehicle A belonging to, for example, the &quot; ordinary car &quot; is pulling the trailer.

The reference pattern Dref 'for towing discrimination is added to the area corresponding to the projections of the vehicle A belonging to the &quot; ordinary car &quot; (i.e., the non-overlapping areas Dref1 and Dref2 equivalent to those in FIG. A non-overlapping region Dref1 and an overlapping region Dref2 are defined according to the projection of the dog and the connecting member. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 7C, the non-overlapping region Dref1 of the reference pattern Dref 'for discriminating the towing vehicle corresponds to the region in which the trajectory of the trailer and the connecting member are assumed to be arranged, Is narrower than the non-overlapping area Dref1 (Fig. 7A).

Here, when the vehicle A belonging to the &quot; normal car &quot; has trailed the trailer, the normalized vehicle body silhouette Da 'has the sign of the connecting member located on the rear side of the vehicle A and the trajectory of the body of the trailer (See FIG. 7C). Therefore, in this case, the normalized body silhouette Da 'of the vehicle A is not suitable for the reference pattern Dref (Fig. 7A) corresponding to the &quot; normal vehicle &quot; Pattern (Dref ') (Fig. 7C).

By doing so, the determination processing unit 115 can determine the presence or absence of traction for an arbitrary vehicle A belonging to the &quot; ordinary vehicle &quot;. If the vehicle A determines that the vehicle A is the "towing vehicle", the determination processing unit 115 determines that the vehicle A is in the " Middle class car "on the first rank of" normal car ".

It is also possible to discriminate, for example, whether the vehicle A that is traveling is a trailer that belongs to the "oversized car" (pulls the cargo) or only the trailer head that does not pull the cargo. That is, the determination processing unit 115 determines whether or not the normalized body silhouette Da 'is suitable for the "trailer head discrimination reference pattern" corresponding to the trajectory of the trailer head that has not pulled the drop. This makes it possible to discriminate whether the vehicle A is a large trailer (towing the cargo) or only a trailer head (not towing the cargo). The discrimination processing unit 115 judges that the vehicle A is the "trailer head only" as a result of comparison between the normalized body silhouette Da 'and the trailer head discrimination reference pattern, for example, Middle class "as the classification.

The reference pattern Dref (and the reference pattern Dref 'for tow discrimination) corresponding to &quot; light vehicles &quot;, &quot; midsize vehicles &quot; and the like are stored in the recording medium 116 in addition to the reference patterns Dref shown in Figs. 7A to 7C. Are recorded in advance.

The discrimination processing unit 115 may also discriminate the vehicle type classification of the vehicle A by referring to the tire size acquired by the tire size acquisition unit 114A.

Specifically, when the determination processing unit 115 determines that the vehicle A belongs to any of the &quot; normal vehicle &quot; and the &quot; medium vehicle &quot; as a result of comparison between the normalized vehicle body silhouette Da 'and the reference pattern Dref, Further, the tire size (the diameter after normalization of the tire silhouette Dt) acquired by the tire size acquiring section 114A is referred to. When the tire size of the vehicle A is equal to or smaller than the predetermined threshold value, the discrimination processing unit 115 judges that the vehicle A is the &quot; ordinary vehicle &quot;, and if the tire size exceeds the predetermined threshold value , It is determined that the vehicle A is a &quot; medium-sized car &quot;.

As described above, in the case where it is difficult to discriminate a clearly distinguished vehicle type based on the normalized body silhouette Da ', the discrimination processing unit 115 further judges whether or not the vehicle can be obtained from the normalized vehicle body silhouette Da' (A) is discriminated in more detail.

(Action effect)

As described above, according to the vehicle discrimination apparatus 1A of the first embodiment, the vehicle-type discriminating section 111 can detect the two-dimensional information (i.e., the vehicle body silhouette) that can obtain the light- (Da). The vehicle type discriminating section 111 discriminates the type of the vehicle to which the vehicle A belongs based on the body silhouette Da (normalized body silhouette Da ') and the reference pattern Dref classified for each vehicle type.

By doing so, the vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A can grasp the projection (the body silhouette Da) indicating the shape of the vehicle body of the vehicle A. The vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A can use the information (such as the number of axles) that can not be acquired if the entire vehicle does not pass through, because the projectiles have sufficient information amount to accurately discriminate the vehicle type classification of the vehicle A It is possible to discriminate the type of the vehicle in detail. Therefore, the vehicle discriminating apparatus 1A can be installed in a place where a sufficient installation space can not be secured, and the vehicle type discrimination can be discriminated in detail.

According to the vehicle discriminating apparatus 1A of the first embodiment, the tire silhouette extracting unit 113a extracts the tire silhouette Dt from the body silhouette Da. The aspect ratio calculation unit 113b calculates the aspect ratio b / a of the extracted tire silhouette Dt and performs the normalization processing by multiplying the time axis by the calculated aspect ratio for the acquired body silhouette Da.

By doing so, it is possible to obtain the normalized body silhouette Da 'from which the fluctuation component corresponding to the traveling speed is removed. Therefore, the deviation of the discrimination result caused by the difference of the traveling speed can be suppressed, and the discrimination accuracy can be improved.

Since the information (aspect ratio b / a) necessary for the normalization processing can be obtained based on the tire silhouette Dt extracted from the body silhouette Da, the measurement means (speedometer, tread, etc.) There is no need to install. Therefore, the cost can be reduced.

In the vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment, the vehicle type discriminating section 111 discriminates the vehicle type A from the normalized body silhouette Da 'and the reference pattern for towing discrimination (Dref ') based on the result of the comparison with the vehicle model (Dref').

By doing so, it is possible to discriminate whether the vehicle A is pulling the trailer precisely with high precision, and discriminate the vehicle type according to the presence or absence of the trailer.

The vehicle type discrimination apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment further includes a tire size acquisition section 114A for acquiring the tire size of the vehicle A and the vehicle type discrimination section 111 discriminates the normalized body silhouette Da (A) belongs to the tire size of the vehicle (A) acquired by the tire size acquisition section 114A in addition to the comparison result of the reference pattern (Dref) and the reference pattern (Dref).

In this way, even when the vehicle type classification can not be uniquely determined only by the comparison result of the normalized body silhouette Da 'and the reference pattern Dref, the tire size of the vehicle A can be further discriminated as the discrimination information of the vehicle type classification The vehicle type can be distinguished in detail.

(Modification of First Embodiment)

As described above, the vehicle discriminating apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment has been described in detail, but specific modes of the vehicle discriminating apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment are not limited to those described above, It is possible to apply various design changes and the like.

For example, in the vehicle discrimination apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment, the discrimination processing unit 115 includes the normalized body silhouette Da ', the non-overlapping pattern Dref1 and the overlapping pattern Dref2 7c in the present embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment in the other embodiments.

The determination processing unit 115 according to the other embodiments calculates the degree of overlap between the normalized body silhouette Da 'and the non-overlapping pattern Dref1 (overlapping pattern Dref2), and calculates the overlap degree between the normalized body silhouette Da' The matching degree of the reference pattern Dref is numerically expressed. Then, the determination processing unit 115 specifies the reference pattern Dref having the highest degree of match among the plurality of reference patterns Dref classified by the vehicle type.

By doing so, it is possible to suppress misidentification of the type of vehicle by presence or absence of fine overlapping due to the projection of an antenna or the like attached to the vehicle body, for example.

The discrimination processing unit 115 judges whether or not the normalized body silhouette Da 'of the reference pattern Dref does not belong to any of the overlapping regions Dref1 and Dref2 (Hereinafter referred to as &quot; blank area &quot;)) and the normalized vehicle body silhouette Da '.

Specifically, first, the discrimination processing section 115 selects a reference pattern Dref that satisfies the condition of the presence or absence of overlapping of the normalized body silhouette Da 'with each of the non-overlapping pattern Dref1 and the overlapping pattern Dref2 . When two or more reference patterns Dref are selected, the determination processing unit 115 further calculates the degree of redundancy (blank area overlap degree) between the margin area and the body silhouette Da '. Then, a reference pattern Dref having the largest blank area overlap degree among the plurality of selected reference patterns Dref is specified.

Here, the normalized body silhouette Da 'of the vehicle A belonging to the "normal car" and not the towing vehicle is divided into the reference pattern Dref (FIG. 7A) for the "normal vehicle" and the reference pattern Dref' (Fig. 7C), it can not be discriminated that the vehicle A is not a towing vehicle at this time.

However, the marginal area is largely defined by the portion corresponding to the projection of the body of the trailer, such as the main body of the trailer, compared to the reference pattern Dref (Fig. 7A). Therefore, the blank area overlap degree calculated by the contrast between the normalized body silhouette Da 'of the vehicle A and the reference pattern Dref, which is not a towing vehicle, is determined by comparison with the reference pattern Dref' The degree of redundancy of the margin area calculated becomes higher. Therefore, the determination processing unit 115 can correctly identify the vehicle A as a &quot; normal vehicle "rather than a " tow vehicle &quot; by specifying the reference pattern Dref having the largest margin redundancy.

In the vehicle type discrimination apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment, the normalization processing section 113 determines the vehicle body type discrimination device based on the aspect ratio b / a of the tire silhouette Dt (FIGS. 5, 6A and 6B) The normalization process for the silhouette Da has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment in the other embodiments.

For example, the vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A is provided with a speed measuring means capable of separately acquiring the traveling speed of the vehicle A, and based on the traveling speed detected by the speed measuring means, The normalization process may be performed. In this case, the normalization processing unit 113 can acquire the normalized body silhouette Da 'by performing a process of multiplying the time axis of the body silhouette Da by a correction coefficient corresponding to the detected speed of travel.

The speed measuring means may be, for example, a Doppler speed meter provided on the road side of the lane L or a tread provided on the road surface of the lane L. The detection time difference of the vehicle A by the plurality of vehicle detectors 10 provided at predetermined intervals in the lane of the lane L may be used.

In the vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment, the tire size acquiring unit 114A acquires the tire silhouette Dt (long side a, short side b) extracted by the tire silhouette extracting unit 113a, , The tire size of the vehicle A is obtained. However, the present invention is not limited to this aspect in the other embodiments.

For example, the tire size obtaining section 114A refers to the image of the vehicle A illuminated by the photographing apparatus (camera or the like) installed on the road side, performs predetermined image processing (tire extraction processing) on the obtained image, May be performed to specify the tire size.

In the vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment, the vehicle type discriminating section 111 carries out the normalization processing on the body silhouette Da, and carries out the normalization processing on the vehicle body silhouette Da so that the variation component corresponding to the running speed of the vehicle A is excluded The normalized body silhouette Da 'is acquired and the normalized body silhouette Da' is compared with the reference pattern Dref.

For example, the vehicle type discriminating section 111 may compare the body silhouette Da acquired by the body silhouette obtaining section 112 directly with the reference pattern Dref . In this case, the vehicle type discriminating section 111 may further include a plurality of reference patterns Dref corresponding to the running speed of the vehicle A for each vehicle category.

6A, the normalization processing section 113 (aspect ratio computing section 113b) according to the first embodiment is configured so that the aspect ratio b / a of the tire of the "front wheel" of the vehicle A in the tire silhouette Dt ), The normalization process is performed on the body silhouette Da, but the other embodiments are not limited to this embodiment.

For example, in the case where a plurality of tire silhouettes Dt corresponding to a plurality of axles (front wheels and rear wheels) of the vehicle A are obtained, the aspect ratio calculating unit 113b according to the other embodiments acquires the plurality of tire silhouettes The aspect ratio b / a of each of the aspect ratios dt may be calculated and the average value or the like of each aspect ratio b / a may be applied in the normalization process.

The aspect ratio calculator 113b calculates the aspect ratios of the plurality of tires disposed at the respective positions of the body silhouette Da and determines that these aspect ratios are continuously changed in the time axis direction and that the applied aspect ratio is extrapolated The normalization process of the entire body silhouette Da may be performed. By doing so, even when the vehicle speed of the vehicle A is smoothly changed during the passage of the vehicle detector 10, the normalized body silhouette Da 'can be obtained with high accuracy.

In the first embodiment, the vehicle type discrimination of the automatic toll collection machine 1B has been described. In another embodiment, the automatic toll collection machine 1B is replaced with the automatic toll booth, Vehicle type discrimination may be targeted.

&Lt; Second Embodiment >

The vehicle discriminating apparatus according to the second embodiment will now be described with reference to Figs. 8 and 9. Fig.

(Functional configuration of vehicle discrimination device)

8 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the vehicle discriminating apparatus according to the second embodiment.

Among the various functional configurations of the vehicle discriminating apparatus 1A according to the second embodiment, the same functional configurations as those of the vehicle discriminating apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in Fig. 8, the vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A (vehicle type discriminating section 111) according to the second embodiment includes a traveling speed obtaining section 114B.

The running speed acquiring section 114B acquires the running speed of the vehicle A passing through the vehicle detector 10. Specifically, the running speed obtaining section 114B refers to the long side (a) and the short side (b) of the tire silhouette Dt (Figs. 5 and 6A) extracted by the tire silhouette extracting section 113a, A is calculated. Since the abscissa of the tire silhouette Dt is the time axis and the ordinate of the tire silhouette Dt is the space axis in the height direction, the width of the abscissa [s] of the tire silhouette Dt (for example, A [m / s] is calculated on the basis of the width (short side b) of the vertical axis [m] and the width (short side b) of the vertical axis [m]

(Function of the discrimination processing section)

9 is a diagram for explaining the function of the determination processing unit according to the second embodiment.

The determination processing unit 115 according to the second embodiment refers to the statistical data F of each vehicle type classification of the traveling speed acquired by the traveling speed acquisition unit 114B to calculate the traveling speed Based on the type of the vehicle A to which the vehicle A belongs.

Here, the statistical data F is information recorded in advance on the recording medium 116 and is statistical data of the traveling speeds of a plurality of vehicles A running on the fare collecting facility 1 (Fig. 1). The statistical data F is generated based on the running speed of the vehicle A that the running speed obtaining section 114B sequentially obtains.

In the statistical data (F), a probability distribution function of the traveling speed classified by the type of the vehicle is recorded. For example, as shown in Fig. 9, the statistical data F includes a probability distribution function f1 of the traveling speed for the &quot; large vehicle &quot; and a probability distribution function f2 of the traveling speed for the &quot; .

The probability distribution function f1 is a probability distribution function specified from the statistical data F of the running speed for the vehicle A belonging to the &quot; large car &quot;. Likewise, the probability distribution function f2 is a probability distribution function specified from the statistical data F of the running speed for the vehicle A belonging to the &quot; oversize &quot;.

Generally, the weight of the cargo to be towed by the vehicle belonging to the &quot; oversize car &quot; is larger than that of the car belonging to the &quot; Therefore, according to the law of inertia, the load required for the deceleration of the vehicle A belonging to the &quot; oversized car &quot; increases, making it difficult to stop quickly and steeply.

On the other hand, all the vehicles A passing through the vehicle detector 10 need to stop at the automatic toll collection machine 1B disposed downstream of the vehicle detector 10 in order to perform the toll processing. Then, in order to stop at the automatic bill collector 1B, the vehicle A belonging to the " oversized car " needs to start the deceleration at a stage earlier than the vehicle A belonging to the &quot; large vehicle &quot;. Therefore, the running speed at the time when the vehicle passes through the vehicle detector 10 is statistically "slower" than the "oversized car" (see FIG. 9).

Here, first, as in the first embodiment, the discrimination processing section 115 judges whether or not the vehicle ((a), (b)) based on the comparison result of the normalized body silhouette Da ' A) is discriminated. However, as described above, there is a case where it is difficult to discriminate whether the vehicle A belongs to the &quot; large car &quot; or whether it belongs to the &quot; oversized car &quot; .

Thus, when the discrimination processing unit 115 determines whether the vehicle A belongs to the "large vehicle" or the "oversize vehicle" based on the contrast between the normalized body silhouette Da 'and the reference pattern Dref, The vehicle classification of the vehicle A is discriminated by referring to the running speed of the vehicle A acquired by the running speed obtaining section 114B and the statistical data F recorded in the recording medium 116. [

Specifically, the determination processing unit 115 assigns the obtained traveling speed to each of the probability distribution functions f1 and f2, and specifies the vehicle class with the highest probability of occurrence of the traveling speed, so that the vehicle A is " Large car "or" super large car ".

(Action effect)

As described above, according to the vehicle discrimination apparatus 1A of the second embodiment, the travel speed acquiring section 114B acquires the traveling speed of the vehicle A, and the discrimination processing section 115 receives the normalized body silhouette Da ' In addition to the result of comparison with the reference pattern Dref, the vehicle class to which the vehicle A belongs is discriminated on the basis of the further acquired traveling speed.

In this way, even when the vehicle type classification can not be uniquely determined only by the comparison result of the normalized body silhouette Da 'and the reference pattern Dref, the running speed of the vehicle A can be further discriminated as the discrimination information of the vehicle type classification The vehicle type can be discriminated in detail.

According to the vehicle discrimination apparatus 1A according to the second embodiment, by referring to the statistical data F for each vehicle type classification of the traveling speed acquired in the past in the fare collecting facility 1, the newly acquired vehicle ( A based on the traveling speed of the vehicle A to which the vehicle A belongs.

Here, the traveling speeds of the vehicles traveling at the tollgates installed at the respective places on the highway are largely different depending on the location conditions (for example, the presence of the slopes or curves) of the fare receiving facility 1 even if the vehicles belong to the same vehicle class. However, by doing the above, the vehicle type classification of the vehicle A is discriminated based on the actual statistical data F of the vehicle running on the fare-providing facility 1. Therefore, the discrimination accuracy of the vehicle classification based on the difference in the traveling speed Can be improved.

(Modification of Second Embodiment)

The specific embodiment of the vehicle discriminating apparatus 1A according to the second embodiment is not limited to the above description, and various design changes and the like can be applied within a range not deviating from the subject matter.

In the vehicle type discriminating apparatus 1A according to the second embodiment, the running speed obtaining section 114B refers to the tire silhouette Dt extracted by the tire silhouette extracting section 113a, The speed is calculated. However, the present invention is not limited to this mode in the other embodiments.

For example, the running speed obtaining section 114B may obtain the running speed of the vehicle A through a Doppler speed meter or the like provided separately on the road side of the lane L.

In each of the embodiments described above, the vehicle detector 10 determines whether or not the light-receiving unit S2 receives the light beam P projected from the opposed transparent portion S1 (whether it is shielded by a vehicle body or the like) Transmission type " vehicle detector that detects the presence of the vehicle A based on the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment in the other embodiments.

For example, in the vehicle detector 10 according to the other embodiment, the light projecting unit S1 and the light receiving unit S2 are provided on the same island I, and the light receiving unit S2 is provided on the light projecting unit S1. (The light ray P is reflected by a vehicle body or the like) of the light beam P projected by the light source.

In this case, the main control section 11 of the vehicle discriminating apparatus 1A is replaced with the light-shielded area obtaining section 110 according to each of the above-described embodiments, and a "reflection area obtaining section" is provided.

Here, the reflection area obtaining section (area obtaining section) receives input of a detection signal indicating the presence or absence of light reception of the reflected light in the plurality of light receiving sections S2, and judges whether or not the light P is reflected Quot; reflection region "which is a predetermined region occupied by the light-receiving unit S2 corresponding to the light beam P being reflected in the entire region where the plurality of light-receiving units S2 are arranged side by side in the height direction.

The vehicle type discriminating section 111 according to the other embodiment further includes a body silhouette Da representing the projection of the vehicle A by arranging a plurality of "reflection areas" acquired by the reflection area acquiring section on the time axis, (See FIG. 3B).

As described above, the vehicle detector 10 may be a "reflection type" vehicle detector that detects the presence of the vehicle A by detecting the presence or absence of light rays P (reflected light) reflected by the vehicle body or the like.

In each of the above-described embodiments, a program for realizing various functions of the main control unit 11 of the vehicle discrimination apparatus 1A is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is transferred to a computer system And performs various processes by reading and executing them. Here, the processes of various processes of the main control unit 11 are stored in a computer-readable recording medium in the form of a program, and the computer performs the various processes by reading the program. The computer-readable recording medium refers to a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a semiconductor memory, or the like. Further, the computer program may be transmitted to the computer by a communication line, and the computer receiving the transmission may execute the program.

Further, the main control unit 11 is not limited to the mode in which the main control unit 11 is constituted by a single device, but may be an aspect in which various functional configurations of the main control unit 11 are provided over a plurality of apparatuses connected by a network.

While the present invention has been described with reference to several embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are provided by way of illustration, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and alterations can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are intended to be within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims and equivalents thereof as well as the scope and spirit of the invention.

Industrial availability

According to the above-described vehicle type discriminating apparatus, vehicle type discriminating method, and program, it is possible to install the vehicle in a place where a sufficient installation space can not be ensured, and to distinguish the vehicle type of the vehicle with high precision.

1: Fee handling facility
1A: Vehicle discrimination device
1B: Automatic fee collection machine
10: Vehicle detector
101: Floodlight tower
102: Receiver tower
11:
110: Shading area acquisition section (area acquisition section)
111:
112: Body silhouette acquisition unit
113: Normalization processor
113a: Tire silhouette extracting unit
113b: aspect ratio arithmetic unit
114A: tire size obtaining section
114B: Driving speed obtaining section
115:
116: recording medium
S1:
S2:
P: ray
C: Shading area
Da: Body silhouette
Dt: Tire Silhouette
Dref: reference pattern
Dref1: Non-overlapping pattern
Dref2: Duplicate pattern
E: Tire boundary pattern
F: Statistical data
f1, f2: probability distribution function

Claims (12)

A plurality of light projecting portions arranged side by side in the height direction to project light beams,
A plurality of light-receiving portions disposed corresponding to the plurality of light-projecting portions and capable of receiving reflected light of the light rays or the light rays,
Receiving a detection signal indicative of the presence or absence of light of the light beam or the reflected light in the plurality of light receiving portions to determine whether or not the light beam is shielded or reflected, An area acquiring section for acquiring a predetermined area occupied by the light-receiving section corresponding to the light beam being received,
Acquiring a body silhouette that is two-dimensional information capable of obtaining a plurality of the predetermined regions obtained at different times on a time axis, and discriminating a vehicle class to which the vehicle belongs based on the body silhouette and a reference pattern classified for each vehicle class The vehicle-
And,
The reference pattern is defined in correspondence with only a part of the vehicle body passing through the light-receiving unit and a part of the vehicle body shape lower than the predetermined height at the stage when the driver's seat of the vehicle reaches the water handler on the downstream side of the light-
Vehicle discrimination device. The method according to claim 1,
The vehicle model discriminating section performs a normalizing process on the obtained body silhouette to remove a variation component corresponding to the running speed of the vehicle and also calculates a difference between the normalized vehicle body silhouette subjected to the normalization process and the reference pattern And discriminates the type of the vehicle to which the vehicle belongs
Vehicle discrimination device. 3. The method of claim 2,
A tire silhouette extracting unit for extracting a tire silhouette representing an area corresponding to the tire of the vehicle among the acquired body silhouettes;
An aspect ratio calculating unit for calculating an aspect ratio of the extracted tire silhouette in a case where the time axis is in the lateral direction,
Respectively,
The vehicle model discrimination section performs the normalization process by multiplying the time axis by the calculated aspect ratio
Vehicle discrimination device. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The vehicle type discrimination section discriminates the vehicle type classification to which the vehicle belongs based on the vehicle body silhouette and the reference pattern for discriminating the towing vehicle defined in correspondence with the vehicle towing the trailer vehicle as the reference pattern
Vehicle discrimination device. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Further comprising a tire size obtaining section for obtaining the tire size of the vehicle,
The vehicle type discrimination unit discriminates the vehicle type classification to which the vehicle belongs based on the body silhouette, the reference pattern and the obtained tire size
Vehicle discrimination device. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Further comprising a traveling speed acquiring unit for acquiring a traveling speed of the vehicle,
The vehicle type discrimination section discriminates a vehicle class to which the vehicle belongs based on the body silhouette, the reference pattern and the obtained traveling speed
Vehicle discrimination device. The method according to claim 6,
The vehicle-
Based on the statistical data for each vehicle type of the traveling speed acquired by the traveling speed acquiring unit and the newly obtained traveling speed, discriminates the class of the vehicle to which the vehicle belongs
Vehicle discrimination device. A vehicle discrimination device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
And a control unit that is disposed on the downstream side of the vehicle type discriminating apparatus in the lane lane and carries out a fare according to the vehicle class discriminated between the vehicle and the vehicle,
. A plurality of light projecting portions arranged side by side in the height direction and projecting light beams and a plurality of light receiving portions disposed corresponding to each of the plurality of light projecting portions and capable of receiving reflected light of the light rays or the light rays, As a vehicle type discrimination method for discriminating a vehicle type,
Receiving a detection signal indicative of the presence or absence of light of the light beam or the reflected light in the plurality of light receiving portions and determining whether or not the light beam is shielded or reflected, Acquiring a predetermined area occupied by the light-receiving unit corresponding to the light beam being irradiated;
Acquiring a body silhouette, which is two-dimensional information constituted by arranging a plurality of the predetermined areas obtained at different times on a time axis, and discriminating a vehicle class to which the vehicle belongs based on the body silhouette and a reference pattern classified for each vehicle class
/ RTI &gt;
The reference pattern is defined in correspondence with only a part of the vehicle body passing through the light-receiving unit and a part of the vehicle body shape lower than the predetermined height at the stage when the driver's seat of the vehicle reaches the water handler on the downstream side of the light-
How to identify the vehicle type. A plurality of light projecting portions arranged side by side in the height direction and projecting light beams and a plurality of light receiving portions arranged corresponding to each of the plurality of light projecting portions and capable of receiving reflected light of the light rays or the light rays, A computer for discriminating the type of vehicle,
Receiving a detection signal indicative of the presence or absence of light of the light beam or the reflected light in the plurality of light receiving portions and determining whether or not the light beam is shielded or reflected, A region acquiring means for acquiring a predetermined region occupied by the light-receiving unit corresponding to the light beam being irradiated,
A vehicle body silhouette, which is two-dimensional information constituted by arranging a plurality of the predetermined areas obtained at different times on a time axis, is acquired, and based on the reference pattern classified by the vehicle body silhouette and the vehicle type classification, Discriminating means
Respectively,
The reference pattern is defined in correspondence with only a part of the vehicle body passing through the light-receiving unit and a part of the vehicle body shape lower than the predetermined height at the stage when the driver's seat of the vehicle reaches the water handler on the downstream side of the light-
A computer readable medium having stored thereon a program. A plurality of light projecting portions arranged side by side in the height direction to project light beams,
A plurality of light-receiving portions disposed corresponding to the plurality of light-projecting portions and capable of receiving reflected light of the light rays or the light rays,
Receiving a detection signal indicative of the presence or absence of light of the light beam or the reflected light in the plurality of light receiving portions to determine whether or not the light beam is shielded or reflected, An area acquiring section for acquiring a predetermined area occupied by the light-receiving section corresponding to the light beam being received,
Acquiring a body silhouette that is two-dimensional information capable of obtaining a plurality of the predetermined regions obtained at different times on a time axis, and discriminating a vehicle class to which the vehicle belongs based on the body silhouette and a reference pattern classified for each vehicle class Vehicle type discrimination unit,
A tire silhouette extracting unit for extracting a tire silhouette representing an area corresponding to the tire of the vehicle among the acquired body silhouettes;
An aspect ratio calculating unit for calculating an aspect ratio of the extracted tire silhouette in a case where the time axis is in the lateral direction,
And,
The vehicle model discrimination section carries out a normalization process for removing the variation component corresponding to the running speed of the vehicle with respect to the vehicle body silhouette obtained by multiplying the time axis by the calculated aspect ratio, Based on a result of comparison between the silhouette and the reference pattern, discriminates the type of the vehicle to which the vehicle belongs
Vehicle discrimination device. A plurality of light projecting portions arranged side by side in the height direction to project light beams,
A plurality of light-receiving portions disposed corresponding to the plurality of light-projecting portions and capable of receiving reflected light of the light rays or the light rays,
Receiving a detection signal indicative of the presence or absence of light of the light beam or the reflected light in the plurality of light receiving portions to determine whether or not the light beam is shielded or reflected, An area acquiring section for acquiring a predetermined area occupied by the light-receiving section corresponding to the light beam being received,
Acquiring a body silhouette that is two-dimensional information capable of obtaining a plurality of the predetermined regions obtained at different times on a time axis, and discriminating a vehicle class to which the vehicle belongs based on the body silhouette and a reference pattern classified for each vehicle class Vehicle type discrimination unit,
And a traveling speed acquiring unit for acquiring a traveling speed of the vehicle,
The vehicle-
Based on the vehicle body silhouette, the reference pattern, and the obtained traveling speed, discriminates a vehicle class to which the vehicle belongs,
Based on the statistical data for each vehicle type of the traveling speed acquired by the traveling speed acquiring unit and the newly obtained traveling speed, discriminates the class of the vehicle to which the vehicle belongs
Vehicle discrimination device.

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