KR20160089580A - Method And System For Parking Management Using Unmanned Ground Vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and a method to manage parked vehicles by using an unmanned ground vehicle and, more specifically, to a system and a method to manage parked vehicles by using an unmanned ground vehicle, capable of managing parked vehicles by easily obtaining information about numbers and positions of multiple vehicles through the unmanned ground vehicle photographing a number plate of each of the vehicles while moving along parking zones. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the system, which manages information and positions of parked vehicles in a parking place dividing a parking space into multiple parking zones, includes: the unmanned ground vehicle photographing a number plate of a vehicle in each of the parking zones while moving along the parking zones; a server receiving position information and a number plate image, photographed by the ground vehicle, and then extracting a vehicle number from the image to store the number with the position information; and a user terminal enabling a user to access the server to obtain an image and position information of a specific parked vehicle.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an unmanned ground vehicle,

The present invention relates to a parking vehicle management system and method using an unmanned ground vehicle, and more particularly, to a parking vehicle management system and method using a unmanned ground vehicle, And more particularly, to a parking vehicle management system and method using an unmanned ground vehicle capable of acquiring information and managing a parking vehicle.

With the development of industry, explosive increase in the number of supply of automobiles has resulted in a large number of large parking lots at airports, large shopping centers, and large-scale amusement facilities. In the case of a large parking lot having a large number of accessing vehicles and many parked vehicles, it is difficult to find an empty parking lot for a vehicle to be parked, so that a considerable amount of time is wasted in searching for a parking lot.

On the other hand, a person who has finished his / her work in a large parking lot frequently experiences difficulty in finding his / her vehicle. Therefore, a driver using such a large parking lot may remember the number of the parking area of the vehicle or make a separate note and see his / her work, but it may happen that the user can not remember the number or lose the note, It is not easy to find the parking position of the vehicle.

As a result, many parking agents have been mobilized to provide guidance and help to such users, resulting in an increase in personnel expenses. In order to solve such a problem, landowners who intend to manage parking vehicles and provide services to the parking lot customers accordingly have introduced automatic vehicle guidance systems.

For example, a vehicle identification number camera is fixedly installed every 1-2 parking spaces in a parking lot, a photographed image is stored in a memory, a license plate number of the parked vehicle is recognized, There is a system for inquiring the parked position by inputting the car number or the like from the parking position inquiry apparatus, that is, the KIOSK or the unmanned calculator, by recognizing the parking space, confirming the stored image, and recognizing the license plate of the parked vehicle.

Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-0054623 discloses a camera unit that continuously photographs a parking surface, and compares parking information in a preset tolerance state and image information photographed by the camera unit to detect whether or not the vehicle is parked A vehicle type detecting unit for comparing the pattern information of the preset vehicles and the image information photographed by the camera to discriminate the vehicle type and identifying the color of the vehicle; An image compressing unit for compressing the image information photographed by the camera; an image compressing unit installed at a position opposite to the camera unit, for detecting a vehicle's license plate, And a display section for displaying a parking state, a tolerance state, or a parking induction state of the vehicle, This state park or a state or tolerance to detect and also in addition to the recognition of license plates of parked vehicles parked state detection, and vehicle license plate recognition system has been proposed.

However, in Korean Patent Publication No. 2008-0054623, a high-resolution camera must be used to recognize the number of a vehicle parked on one or two parking lots by a single camera, so that the construction cost required for each parking lot is high.

In the case of Korea Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-0136056, it is necessary to photograph a license plate of a plurality of vehicles using a single camera. However, since it is difficult to recognize an accurate vehicle number when the angle at which the license plate is photographed is incorrect, There is no actual case applied because there is a low problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a car navigation system which can easily carry out a plurality of vehicle numbers and position information by using an unmanned ground vehicle The present invention provides a parking vehicle management system and method using an unmanned ground vehicle capable of acquiring a parking lot and managing the parking lot.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a camera for detecting a parking vehicle on each parking surface by having one camera in the unmanned ground vehicle, The present invention provides a parking vehicle management system and method using an unmanned ground vehicle, which enables a user to easily receive parking information for a user remotely through an application of a mobile phone or the like.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing the position and information of a parking vehicle in a parking lot in which a parking space is divided into a plurality of parking surfaces, An unmanned ground vehicle for photographing a parking license plate on each parking surface; A server receiving the number plate image and the position information taken by the unmanned ground vehicle and extracting the vehicle number from the image and storing the number together with the position information; And a user terminal connected to the server through which the user can receive location information and an image of the specific parking vehicle. The present invention also provides a parking vehicle management system using the unmanned ground vehicle.

The unmanned ground vehicle moves along a guide line formed on one side of the parking space dividing line, and can take a license plate when the parking lot is present on each parking surface.

The above-mentioned unmanned ground vehicle includes: a sensor unit including a light and shade recognition sensor for recognizing the guide line on the floor; and an ultrasonic sensor for recognizing presence or absence of the parking vehicle on each parking surface; A driver for moving the unmanned ground vehicle along the guide line recognized by the sensor unit; A camera for photographing the number plate of the parking vehicle when the sensor unit recognizes that the parking space exists on the parking surface; A memory for storing the license plate image photographed by the camera; A communication unit for transmitting the license plate image to the server; And a control unit for controlling the operation of the driving unit, the camera, and the communication unit according to the recognition result of the sensor unit, and calculating the position information of the unmanned ground vehicle.

The sensor unit may further include a direction sensor for preventing the unmanned ground vehicle from deviating from the path. The communication unit may be a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Bluetooth (Blue Tooth), a UWB (Ultra Wide Band) , Home RF, and Zigbee.

In addition, the guide line may be formed with a stop guide indicator in the vicinity of the center of each parking surface, and the guide line may be formed parallel to the parking surface dividing line at a distance of 0.7 to 1.1 meters.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for managing the position and information of a parking vehicle in a parking lot in which a parking space is divided into a plurality of parking spaces, Photographing a parking license plate on each parking surface while moving along the parking surface; Transmitting the license plate image and the position information of the parking vehicle to the server by the unmanned ground vehicle; Extracting a car number from the image at the server and storing the car number together with the location information; The user accessing the server through the user terminal and requesting parking information of the specific parking vehicle; And providing the location information and the image of the parking vehicle from the server to the user terminal. The present invention provides a method of managing a parking vehicle using the unmanned ground vehicle.

Herein, the step of photographing the parking lot number plate of each parking surface while the unmanned ground vehicle with the camera is moved along the parking surface is performed by preliminarily arranging the unmanned ground vehicle on the one side near the parking space dividing line through the darkness recognition sensor Recognizing a guide line; Moving the unmanned ground vehicle along the guide line and stopping at a center of each parking surface; Recognizing the presence or absence of the parking vehicle on the parking surface of the unmanned ground vehicle through the ultrasonic sensor; Capturing a number plate of the parked vehicle through the camera when recognizing that the parked vehicle exists; And continuing the movement of the unmanned ground vehicle after the absence of the parking vehicle or after photographing the license plate.

In the step of stopping the unmanned ground vehicle along the guide line and stopping near the center of each parking surface, the unmanned ground vehicle recognizes the stop guide mark formed around the center of each parking surface on the guide line and stops .

The step of the user accessing the server through the user terminal and requesting the parking information of the specific parking vehicle may comprise the steps of remotely accessing the server through an application provided in advance in the user's mobile phone, As shown in FIG.

According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to recognize the numbers of a plurality of vehicles by using one camera provided in the unmanned ground vehicle, and to construct a low-cost vehicle position confirmation system, It is possible to prevent the vehicle position confirmation error by recognizing the vehicle number, and it is possible to provide an accurate parking vehicle management system.

Even if the user can not memorize his / her car parking position, the user can easily locate the location, and the administrator can minimize the time and cost consumed in the management of the parking vehicle. There is an economical effect that a more accurate and quick work can be performed.

1 is a configuration diagram of a parking vehicle management system using an unmanned ground vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a configuration diagram of an unmanned ground vehicle in a parking vehicle management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram of a server in a parking vehicle management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of a method of photographing a license plate of a parking vehicle using an unmanned ground vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart of a method for managing a parking vehicle using an unmanned ground vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a diagram illustrating an example of extracting and storing a vehicle number from a license plate image in a server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an exemplary view illustrating a step in which a user requests parking information of a parking vehicle through a user terminal and receives information through the user terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted that like elements in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals whenever possible. It should be understood, however, that the terminology or words of the present specification and claims should not be construed in an ordinary sense or a literal sense, and that the inventors shall not be limited to the concept of a term It should be construed in accordance with the meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be properly defined. Therefore, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the technical ideas of the present invention are described. Therefore, It is to be understood that equivalents and modifications are possible.

1 is a configuration diagram of a parking vehicle management system using an unmanned ground vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a parking vehicle management system using an unmanned ground vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention is a system for managing the position and information of a parking vehicle in a parking lot where a parking space is divided into a plurality of parking surfaces, A terrestrial vehicle 100, a server 200, and a user terminal 300.

The unmanned ground vehicle 100 moves along the parking surface and photographs the parking license plates on each parking surface. In general, the vehicle travels along a guide line formed parallel to one side of a parking space dividing line drawn long as a date. Only when there is a parking vehicle on each parking surface, it is detected and the license plate is photographed by the camera 130. It is preferable that the guide line is formed parallel to the parking plane dividing line with a distance of 0.7 to 1.1 meters in consideration of the photographing range and the resolution for accurate photographing of the license plate.

The server 200 receives the picked-up license plate image and the position information on which the license plate is photographed, extracts the license number from the license plate image, and stores the license number together with the position information in the DB. The method of receiving license plate image and position information from the unmanned ground vehicle 100 can be realized in real time by having a communication module capable of wireless communication.

The user terminal 300 can access the server 200 and request and receive location information and images of the specific parking vehicle. The user terminal 300 may be a mobile phone capable of installing related applications, or a general PC or other terminal capable of web access.

2 is a configuration diagram of the unmanned ground vehicle 100 in the parking vehicle management system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

2, in the parking vehicle management system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the unmanned land vehicle 100 includes a sensor unit 110, a driving unit 120, a camera 130, a memory 140, a communication unit 150 And a control unit 160. [0033]

The sensor unit 110 includes a light and shade recognition sensor 111 for recognizing a guide line at the floor, an ultrasonic sensor 112 for recognizing presence or absence of a parking vehicle on each parking surface, a direction for preventing a deviation of the path of the unmanned ground vehicle 100 A sensor 113 may be included.

The contrast recognition sensor 111 distinguishes the color of the floor from the color of the paint on the bottom of the parking lot through the brightness value of the guide line formed separately from the parking surface dividing line. For this purpose, it is preferable that the color of the guide line is provided considering the color of the floor of the parking lot, and the guide line is prepared for the bottom of the gray system and the white system for the green system.

The ultrasonic sensor 112 recognizes whether or not the vehicle is parked on each parking surface. The unmanned ground vehicle 100 is stopped at one side of each parking surface, and the parking vehicle is detected through ultrasonic waves. Accordingly, the unmanned ground vehicle 100 can take other actions when there is a parking vehicle or not.

The direction sensor 113 prevents the unmanned terrestrial vehicle 100 from moving along the path through the compass module or the like. In general, due to the characteristics of a lot of straight motion, it is relatively easy to correct the deviation of the path of the unmanned ground vehicle 100 and to keep the movement in the correct direction.

The driving unit 120 moves the unmanned ground vehicle 100 along the guide line recognized by the light intensity recognition sensor 111 of the sensor unit 110. [ The structure of a general RC car (radio-controlled car) can be used, and the motor can be rotated to enable movement by rotating the wheel. As a matter of course, the front wheel can be turned to the left and right so that the unmanned ground vehicle 100 can be freely changed in direction as in a general vehicle.

When the ultrasonic sensor 112 of the sensor unit 110 recognizes that there is a parking vehicle on the parking surface, the camera 130 photographs the license plate of the parking vehicle. Since the position, height and angle of each license plate are different for each vehicle parked on the parking lot, photographs should be taken to include all possible ranges of license plates. Therefore, it is preferable to perform shooting at a position at least 0.7 m away from the rear surface or the front surface of the vehicle.

The memory 140 may directly store a license plate image photographed by the camera 130 through an SD memory card or the like and the communication unit 150 transmits the license plate image to the server 200. [ The communication unit 150 may be any one of communication modules selected from a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Blue Tooth, an Ultra Wide Band (UWB), a Home RF, The image is transferred in the environment where the image data is stored, and if the image data is not stored in the memory 140, complementary utilization is possible.

For example, when a system for transmitting license plate image information from the unmanned terrestrial vehicle 100 to the server 200 through a Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi) connection is established, the Wi-Fi signal strength is weak, When the image is unstable, the image may be stored in the memory 140 and then transmitted to the server 200 at a position where the Wi-Fi signal is well received.

The control unit 160 controls the operation of the driving unit 120, the camera 130 and the communication unit 150 according to the recognition result of the sensor unit 110 and calculates the position information of the unmanned ground vehicle 100. The controller 160 causes the unmanned ground vehicle 100 to move along the guide line through the driving unit 120. When the unmanned land vehicle 100 stops on one side of the parked surface, The camera 130 is operated to photograph the license plate and transmit the license plate to the server 200 via the communication unit 150. The control unit 160 also determines how many times the unmanned ground vehicle 100 is parked based on previously entered data and calculates the position information of the corresponding parking vehicle.

3 is a block diagram of a server 200 in a parking vehicle management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3, the server 200 in the parking vehicle management system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a communication module 210, an analysis module 220, a search module 230, and a DB 240 have.

The analysis module 220 can communicate between the unmanned ground vehicle 100 and the server 200 or between the server 200 and the user terminal 300 through the communication module 210. In the analysis module 220, And extracts the vehicle number from the license plate image photographed by the vehicle. The search module 230 searches the information on the parking vehicle requested by the user through the user terminal 300 and stores various information of the parking vehicle received from the unmanned ground vehicle 100 in the DB 240.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating an operation example of a method of photographing a license plate of a parked vehicle using an unmanned ground vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart of the method.

4 and 5, a method for managing a parking vehicle using an unmanned ground vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention includes moving the unmanned ground vehicle 100 equipped with the camera 130 along the parking surface P (S10) of photographing the number plate of the parking vehicle (V) on each parking surface (P), transmitting the license plate image photographed by the unmanned ground vehicle (100) and the position information of the parking vehicle In operation S30, the server 200 extracts the vehicle number from the image and stores the extracted vehicle number together with the location information in operation S30. The user accesses the server 200 through the user terminal 300, (S40) of requesting parking information of the parking vehicle (V) and a step S50 of providing the location information and the image of the parking vehicle (V) to the user terminal (300) in the server (200).

More specifically, the step S10 of photographing the number plate of the parking vehicle V of each parking surface P while the unmanned ground vehicle 100 having the camera 130 is moved along the parking surface P, The step S10-1 of recognizing the guide line L previously provided on the one side of the parking space division line PL through the darkness recognition sensor 111 by the unmanned ground vehicle 100, (S10-2) of moving along the guide line L and stopping near the center of each parking surface P, stopping the parking of the unmanned land vehicle 100 via the ultrasonic sensor 112 (S10-3) of recognizing the presence or absence of the parked vehicle V in the step S10-4 (step S10-4) of photographing the number plate of the parked vehicle V through the camera 130 when recognizing that the parked vehicle V is present And the step S10-5 in which the unmanned land vehicle 100 continues to move after the parking lot V is absent or the license plate is photographed.

As shown in Fig. 4, the unmanned ground vehicle 100 starts to move along the guide line L. As shown in Fig. The guide line L may be formed separately for each of the centers of the parking surfaces P and may be detected by the unmanned ground vehicle 100 and stopped thereafter.

(A) The unmanned ground vehicle 100, which has stopped on the parking surface first, operates the ultrasonic sensor 112 toward the parking plane P, but determines that the parking vehicle V is not present. The unmanned terrestrial vehicle 100 continues to move (B) and stops again at a position where the stop guide mark M on the parking surface side is present. The unmanned ground vehicle 100 judging that the parking vehicle V is present by operating the ultrasonic sensor 112 toward the parking plane P side uses the camera 130 to determine the parking lot number of the parked vehicle I shoot.

The image of the license plate is transmitted to the server 200, and the image is once stored in the memory 140 of the unmanned terrestrial vehicle 100, confirming that the Wi-Fi signal is weak and the communication is not smooth. After that, the license plate image is photographed for the two parking vehicles V from the parking space (C) to the parking space (F), and then the license plate (F) The unmanned terrestrial vehicle 100 transmits the image of the license plate stored in the memory 140 and the position information of the corresponding parking vehicle V to the server 200 because the Wi-Fi signal is strongly captured.

Thereafter, the unmanned underground vehicle 100 continues to move along the guide line L extending to the opposite side of the parking plane P, and repeats the same operation as described above to pass the parking plane P of the corresponding floor Will be. In addition, the server 200 can collectively collect and store parking information of all the parking vehicles (V).

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view illustrating a step of extracting and storing a vehicle number from a license plate image in the server 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, in step S30, a server 200 extracts a vehicle number from a license plate image and stores the extracted vehicle number. In operation S30-1, A step S30-3 of extracting a contour line from the image, a step S30-4 of extracting a rectangle from the contour line, a step S30-5 of labeling the extracted rectangular image, Step S30-6 of thinning the number, step S30-7 of comparing the thinned image with the existing number image, and step S30-8 of storing the result.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a step in which a user requests parking information of a parking vehicle through a user terminal 300 and receives information from the user through the user terminal 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, a step S40 of accessing the server 200 through the user terminal 300 and requesting parking information of a specific parking vehicle may be performed by the server 200 through an application And the user can input the vehicle number of the parking vehicle directly by remote connection. When the vehicle number is inputted, the vehicle number information stored in the server 200 is retrieved and the license plate image and position information are provided together.

On the other hand, in some cases, the number plate may be partially damaged for each parking vehicle, and when the parking angle or the parking lot lighting can not maintain the normal condition, all numbers may not be normally extracted from the license plate image captured by the unmanned ground vehicle 100 . In this case, it is possible to allow the user to search for information about his / her vehicle through the license plate image by providing information that the user considers to be the same as the car number requested by the user.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, it is possible to make various modifications and variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the appended claims should include all such modifications and changes as fall within the scope of the present invention.

100: Unmanned ground vehicle
110: Sensor part 111: Contrast recognition sensor
112: ultrasonic sensor 113: direction sensor
120: driving unit 130: camera
140: memory 150:
160:
200: Server
210: communication module 220: analysis module
230: Search module 240: DB
300: user terminal
L: Guide wire M: Stop guide display
P: Parking area PL: Parking area dividing line
V: Parking Vehicle W: Communication Hub

Claims (11)

A system for managing the position and information of a parking vehicle in a parking lot in which a parking space is divided into a plurality of parking spaces,
An unmanned ground vehicle moving along the parking surface and photographing a parking license plate of each parking surface;
A server receiving the number plate image and the position information taken by the unmanned ground vehicle and extracting the vehicle number from the image and storing the number together with the position information; And
And a user terminal connected to the server through which the user can receive location information and images of the specific parking vehicle.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the unmanned ground vehicle moves along a guide line formed on one side of the parking space dividing line and photographs a license plate when the parking vehicle is present on each parking surface.
3. The method of claim 2,
The unmanned ground vehicle (1)
A sensor unit including a contrast recognition sensor for recognizing the guide line on the floor and an ultrasonic sensor for recognizing presence or absence of the parking vehicle on each parking surface;
A driver for moving the unmanned ground vehicle along the guide line recognized by the sensor unit;
A camera for photographing the number plate of the parking vehicle when the sensor unit recognizes that the parking space exists on the parking surface;
A memory for storing the license plate image photographed by the camera;
A communication unit for transmitting the license plate image to the server; And
And a control unit for controlling the operation of the driving unit, the camera, and the communication unit according to recognition results of the sensor unit and calculating the position information of the unmanned ground vehicle.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the sensor unit further comprises a direction sensor for preventing a deviation of the path of the unmanned ground vehicle.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the communication unit comprises any one communication module selected from a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Bluetooth (Blue Tooth), a UWB (Ultra Wide Band), a Home RF, and a Zigbee. system.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the guide line is formed with a stop guide display around the center of each parking surface.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the guide line is formed parallel to the parking plane dividing line at a distance of 0.7 to 1.1 meters.
A method for managing the position and information of a parking vehicle in a parking lot in which a parking space is divided into a plurality of parking surfaces,
A step of photographing a parking license plate of each parking surface by moving the unmanned ground vehicle equipped with a camera along the parking surface;
Transmitting the license plate image and the position information of the parking vehicle to the server by the unmanned ground vehicle;
Extracting a car number from the image at the server and storing the car number together with the location information;
The user accessing the server through the user terminal and requesting parking information of the specific parking vehicle; And
And providing the location information and the image of the parking vehicle from the server to the user terminal.
9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the step of photographing the parking license plate of each parking surface moves the unmanned ground vehicle equipped with the camera along the parking surface,
Recognizing a guide line previously provided on one side of the parking space dividing line through the darkness recognition sensor of the unmanned ground vehicle;
Moving the unmanned ground vehicle along the guide line and stopping at a center of each parking surface;
Recognizing the presence or absence of the parking vehicle on the parking surface of the unmanned ground vehicle through the ultrasonic sensor;
Capturing a number plate of the parked vehicle through the camera when recognizing that the parked vehicle exists; And
Further comprising the step of: continuing the movement of the unmanned ground vehicle after the absence of the parking vehicle or after photographing the license plate.
10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the step of moving the unmanned ground vehicle along the guide line and stopping in the vicinity of the center of each parking surface
Wherein the unmanned ground vehicle recognizes and stops the stop guide display formed around the center of each parking surface on the guide line.
9. The method of claim 8,
The step of the user accessing the server through the user terminal and requesting the parking information of the specific parking vehicle
A method for managing a parking vehicle using an unmanned ground vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: remotely accessing the server through an application provided in advance in a user's mobile phone;

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