Abstract: A camera system comprises a CCD imaging device, an infrared illumination source, and a power modulator for amplitude modulating the infrared illumination, e.g., with a 7-kHz tone. A beam splitter is set in front of the CCD imaging device, and a photo-diode array is attached to the beam splitter to detect modulated infrared light returning from the same field of vision as the CCD imaging device Various tone filters, and triggers connected to the tone filters, will cause the CCD imaging device to take a digital picture when the returning modulated infrared light exceeds some threshold and comes from right areas of a picture frame. Such digital pictures will most probably include an image of a vehicle license plate that can be processed, and the results used to extract the registration data from a database.

Abstract: The present invention relates to, for example, an image pickup system having a structure capable of imaging a subject at a low power consumption and a low cost even when the subject may be dark. The image pickup system comprises an image pickup device, a peak position detecting section, a partial image acquiring section, and a partial image operating section. The image pickup device outputs image data that represents the two-dimensional intensity distribution of light incident on a photodetecting section, and outputs light intensity profile data that represents the one-dimensional intensity distribution of the incident light in each of first and second directions in the photodetecting section. The peak position detecting section detects a light intensity peak position in the two-dimensional intensity distribution of the light incident on the photodetecting section in the image pickup device, based on the light intensity profile data outputted from the image pickup device.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for recording a traffic violation in which a vehicle is involved, by detecting the violation, making a record of the violation, and searching for and reading from the record a license plate of the vehicle involved in the violation. During making of the record position information of the vehicle is herein recorded, and on the basis of this information a search is made for the license plate in only a part of the record. The recorded position information can comprise the travel direction of the vehicle, or the lane in which the vehicle is located. The record can be a picture record wherein a search for the license plate is made, on the basis of the recorded travel direction, only in a left or right-hand half or, on the basis of the recorded position information, only in a narrow strip. The invention also relates to a system for performing the method.

Abstract: A license plate recognition apparatus includes a detection unit configured to detect a plurality of quadrangles of license plate region candidates from input images, a character recognition unit configured to execute character recognition of a character region included in the license plate region candidate detected, and an output unit configured to select a license plate region candidate to be output from among the plurality of license plate candidates detected by the detection unit based on the character recognition result and information of the quadrangle of the respective license plate region candidates and output information relating to the license plate region candidates selected.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system and method for automatically recognizing a license plate number of a subject vehicle in use of a surveillance vehicle, which mounts automatic license plate number recognition equipment including a camera to a vehicle such as police patrol car, security company car, taxi, and so on, recognizes the license plate of a different vehicle on the run or in parking or stopping through the camera, verifying whether the vehicle is stolen, in search, or has a forged license plate, and can deal with the vehicle early when the vehicle is in question.

Abstract: An HOV enforcement system comprises roadside imaging units connected over a network to a central processing center. The roadside imaging units include Ethernet cameras with integrated vehicle detectors, night-time lighting, and image servers. The central processing center includes a central server with license plate reading and vehicle matching software, storage and databases, and review staff to issue bills and citations.

Abstract: A system includes an interface that receives an image, which includes a motor vehicle and background, and a processing device that performs a method for object recognition on the received image. The method includes the steps of: determining motion information corresponding to at least one of the moving vehicle and the background; detecting the moving vehicle in the image using the motion information; detecting an object of interest on the moving vehicle; and performing an object recognition process on the object of interest. The system may be part of a license plate recognition system.

Abstract: A system for monitoring and tracking vehicles in parking locations, public roadways and highway entrances and exits and other public vehicle access areas and to monitor and track vehicles in parking spaces, public roadways and highways without the need for parking or traffic personnel. The system includes a meter system that generates image data of a vehicle in a parking space, public roadway and highway entrances and exits such as by creating an array of pixel data in a predetermined field of view that includes a vehicle identification tag and facial imaging. An enforcement and tracking system receives the image data to identify the vehicle license number, vehicle tag identification number and facial image based on the expected location of the license tag, identification tag and field of view image data characteristics of the license tag, facial image or other suitable data. From the image data acquired, monitoring of parking spaces is performed and violation citations or notices are generated.

Abstract: A parking violation recording system capable of recording violations based on the location of a violating vehicle, is provided. The system includes at least one camera located on a mass transit vehicle, oriented so that it is capable of viewing a violating vehicle and recording an image containing violating vehicle information of the violating vehicle; at least one locator provided on said mass transit vehicle and capable of providing data for determining the geographic position of the mass transit vehicle; and a data processing sub-system, coupled to the at least on camera and the at least one locator for recording both the violating vehicle information and the geographic data in a violation data record. In another aspect, the invention is directed to a method of enforcing bus zone regulations.

Abstract: A method for reading a license plate disposed on a vehicle includes determining whether a license plate image is required, automatically processing the license plate image in response to determining that the license plate image is required, providing at least one verified image, and determining whether to manually read the license plate image by matching the license plate image with the at least one verified image.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for automated detection of mobile telephone usage by drivers of vehicles is provided. The apparatus may include a detection system comprising at least one mobile phone signal receiving device, at least one image capturing device, and at least one computer. The mobile phone signal receiving device is operative to detect a mobile phone signal transmitted from a vehicle. The at least one image capturing device is operative to capture at least one image of the vehicle. The at least one computer is operative to store in a storage device, information associated with at least one of the mobile phone signal transmitted from the vehicle; and the at least one image of the vehicle. The information stored in the storage device may be used to determine if a person associated with the vehicle should be prosecuted for illegal use of a mobile phone while driving the vehicle.

Abstract: In order to improve an identification accuracy of a backlit number plate in a vehicle identification method and device which recognize a vehicle number from a number plate of a vehicle whose image is taken, an image frame of a vehicle is taken by an interlace method, irradiation is performed in an odd field and an even field composing the image frame with light of light quantities different from each other, images of the odd field and the even field are captured, and character recognition processing, only when character recognition processing of a number plate area extracted from an image of one field has ended in failure, of a number plate area extracted from an image of the other field is performed.

Abstract: A character recognition method is provided, in which the method includes the steps of: picking up images in a motion picture by changing brightness for each image; extracting a character area from each image; recognizing at least one character in the character area by performing a matching process between the character area and dictionary images for each image, and determining a character recognition result for each image; and selecting a final character recognition result of which the matching degree is the highest from the character recognition results of the images. Accordingly, even when a character is too dark to recognize due to shadows in the daytime or a character is too bright to recognize due to irradiation in the nighttime, the character can be recognized by using images having differing brightness.

Abstract: This invention provides an infrared illuminator and camera system for imaging of auto vehicle license plates. The system works in ambient light conditions, ranging from bright sunlight, to dim light, to dark, to zero ambient light. It yields high-contrast imaging of the letters and numbers on retro-reflective license plates. The images of the license letter and number combinations can be read manually by a remote operator. They can be converted to text format with optical character recognition computer hardware and software. The text data can then be compared to data files listing license numbers to provide further data about the owner of a licensed vehicle. A decision can be made quickly about whether to allow a vehicle to proceed through a gate, or whether to take other action.

Abstract: An innovative method of automatic container number recognition is described, the container number recognition work is carried out respectively with reference to three component color red(R), green(G), and blue(B) grey level pixel maps, and then the identified results are reorganized. Since the synthesized three component color R, G, B grey level pixel map is obtained by mixing R, G, B color component according to a definite proportion (for example dividing the sum of three components by 3), hence among the three component color grey level pixel maps, there must be at least one (R, or G, or B) whose contrast is better than that of the synthesized one. This most confidential one is picked out as the final result of the container number recognition.

Abstract: An innovative method of automatic vehicle licence plate recognition is described, the vehicle licence plate recognition procedure is carried out respectively with reference to three component color red(R), green(G), and blue(B) grey level pixel maps, and then the results are reorganized. Sine the synthesized three component color R, G, B grey level pixel map is obtained by mixing R, G, B color component according to a definite proportion (for example dividing the sum of three component by 3), hence among the three component color grey level pixel maps, there must be at least one (R, or G, or B) whose contrast is better than that of the synthesized one. This most confidential one is picked out as the final result of the licence plate recognition.

Abstract: The present invention relates to system for automatic recognizing license number of other vehicles on observation vehicles and method thereof. After being loaded the system for automatic recognizing with the camera on the police patrol cars, guard cars and taxis, then the licence number of driving or parked vehicles is identified by the camera. Finally, after certificating whether those numbers are forgery or not, etc., settle them if there are said problems about the vehicles. According to the present invention, the required sum which is occurred from missing or wanted vehicles can be lowered, and it is helpful to preventing from crimes not by inspecting vehicles, but by grasping the problems of the being observed vehicles directly.

Abstract: An apparatus for the automatic inspection of a motor vehicle has an identification and psychological profiling zone, an automatic inspection zone and a manual inspection zone. A biometric and heart rate detection station and an attached console are located in zone one. Undercarriage scanning equipment and an explosives detection portal are located in zone two. The apparatus also has one or more fixed cameras, an alarm or other alerting mechanisms and a physical barrier. A vehicle detection mechanism detects the entry of a vehicle into zone two and captures an image of the vehicle number plate. When the captured biometric data and number plate data indicate that the driver is authorized to drive the particular vehicle into the secured zone, and if no abnormalities or foreign objects in the undercarriage image are detected, the driver is allowed to proceed.

Abstract: A ticket issuing system for facilitating processing and printing of citations. The ticket issuing system includes a housing being designed for being held in a hand of a user. An information assembly is positioned in the housing. The information assembly is designed for gathering information about a vehicle and the violation. A printing assembly designed for printing the citation to be issued to the motorist. The printing assembly is operationally coupled to the information assembly whereby the printing assembly gathers information from the information assembly to print the citation.

Abstract: The present invention is embodied in a system and process for automatically learning a reliable tracking system. The tracking system is learned by using information produced by an initial object model in combination with an initial tracking function, and a data acquisition function for gathering observations about each image. The initial tracking function probabilistically determines the configuration of one or more target objects in a temporal sequence of images. The observations gathered by the data acquisition function include information that is relevant to parameters desired for a final object model. These relevant observations may include information such as the color, shape, or size of a tracked object, and depend on the parameters necessary to support the final tracking function.

Abstract: A running vehicle is photographed at a predetermined frame period by an image pickup unit (TV camera) provided at a position above a road. Two images of a present frame image and a previous frame image which were photographed are successively stored in an image storing unit. A vehicle detecting unit detects a motion of a license plate in a head portion of the running vehicle on the basis of the present frame image and the previous frame image stored in the image storing unit. A character recognizing unit recognizes all of the characters on the license plate on the basis of a dictionary in which character images of all of the characters used for the license plate have been registered and an image in a license plate area detected by the vehicle detecting unit by collating with the character images registered in the dictionary.

Abstract: In a vehicle time-of-entry and time-of-exit system, the passing of a vehicle through an entrance generates a “trigger-t0” signal. An entrance video camera provides realtime images of entering vehicles. The trigger-t0 signal causes one video frame of the image of vehicle to be stored or “frame-grabbed” in an entrance subsystem. A time-of-entry clock-time signal is used to time-stamp the image which is then forwarded on a connection to a matcher. The passing of a vehicle through an exit generates a “trigger-t1” signal. An exit video camera 116 provides realtime images of exiting vehicles. The trigger-t1 signal causes one video frame of the image of vehicle to be stored or “frame-grabbed” in an exit subsystem. A clock-time signal is used to time-stamp the image which is then forwarded on a connection to the matcher. A output automatically provides a length-of-stay for each exiting vehicle according to its time-of-entry.

Abstract: A vehicle video imaging system comprises a white-light LED array for illuminating retro-reflective painted parts of a vehicle's license plate, a powerful flash with a visual spectrum cutout filter and a polarizing filter for illuminating any non-retro-reflective license plate paint and the vehicle itself. A video camera with a polarizing filter turned 90° relative to the one in front of the flash receives the illuminated image of the vehicle and its license plate. The retro-reflective paint of a license plate will return polarized light as it is received, so the white-light LED array will provide all the illumination needed by the camera to get a good high-contrast picture of the license plate. The polarizing filters will combine to block out most of the light from the flash that was returned still-polarized by the retro-reflective-paint license plate.

Abstract: This invention provides an infrared illuminator and camera system for imaging of auto vehicle license plates. The system works in ambient light conditions, ranging from bright sunlight, to dim light, to dark, to zero ambient light. It yields high-contrast imaging of the letters and numbers on retro-reflective license plates. The images of the license letter and number combinations can be read manually by a remote operator. They can be converted to text format with optical character recognition computer hardware and software. The text data can then be compared to data files listing license numbers to provide further data about the owner of a licensed vehicle. A decision can be made quickly about whether to allow a vehicle to proceed through a gate, or whether to take other action.

Abstract: Provided is an apparatus for identifying license plates, and includes camera means for generating a video signal corresponding to an observed scene, the camera means being mounted in a mobile vehicle and oriented so as to observe license plates of other vehicles. Processing means processes the video signal so as to obtain textual representations of vehicle license plate numbers in the video signal, and storage means stores a list of target vehicle license plate numbers. Comparison means compares the textual representations of vehicle license plate numbers in the video signal against the list of target vehicle license plate numbers to determine if there is a match, and then output means notifies a user of the match.

Abstract: An embodiment of the invention is directed to a method of building an electronic file, using an electronic camera such as a digital camera, that captures 3-dimensional objects. A number of image data tiles that represent the images are generated by the camera. A number of text data tiles each containing text recognized in a corresponding one of the image data tiles is generated. The method includes searching for overlapping text in the text tiles, and pasting the text tiles in proper alignment into an electronic file.

Abstract: An intelligent camera system and method for recognizing license plates, in accordance with the invention, includes a camera adapted to independently capture a license plate image and recognize the license plate image. The camera includes a processor for managing image data and executing a license plate recognition program device. The license plate recognition program device includes a program for detecting orientation, position, illumination conditions and blurring of the image and accounting for the orientations, position, illumination conditions and blurring of the image to obtain a baseline image of the license plate. A segmenting program for segmenting characters depicted in the baseline image by employing a projection along a horizontal axis of the baseline image to identify positions of the characters. A statistical classifier is adapted for classifying the characters. The classifier recognizes the characters and returns a confidence score based on the probability of properly identifying each character.

Abstract: A method for segmenting and recognizing license plates, in accordance with the present invention includes capturing an image of a license plate and preprocessing the image to prepare the image for segmentation and recognition. Forward splitting regions of the license plate image into suspected characters regions, the suspected character regions are recognized in the license plate image and a confidence score is provided based on a probability of a correct match. If the suspected characters have a confidence score below a threshold value, backward merging is employed which merges adjacent suspected character regions. The backward merged suspected character regions in the license plate are recognized. If the backward merged suspected character regions have a confidence score below the threshold value, the backward merging and recognizing steps are repeated to improve the confidence score.

Abstract: Segmentation of a character-containing image, made by placing a dark mark against a light background, is accomplished by establishing a vertical pixel projection for each pixel column in the image. For more exact segmentation, the image is horizontally scanned in each row of the image after detecting edges of characters. The scanned results and thresholds are compared to verify whether edges and spaces of the scanned row are noise or discontinuous edges. The thresholds correlate with neighboring row data of the image. According to the results of the comparison, the discontinuous edges are connected and the noise is eliminated. Thereby, the character-containing image can be segmented into each character without segmentation errors.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a plurality of imaging devices located at respective prescribed positions; at least one optical device for receiving light and projecting an image of the received light to the imaging devices; and an image processing section for processing respective images obtained by the imaging devices, wherein the imaging devices and the optical section form a single unit.

Abstract: In a license plate information reader device (A) for motor vehicles, a CCD camera (1) is provided to produce video image data (11) involving a license plate obtained by photographing a front and rear portion of a motor vehicle. An A/D converter (3) produces a digital multivalue image data (31) by A/D converting the video image data (11). A license plate extracting device (4) is provided to produce a digital multivalue image data (41) corresponding to an area in which the license plate occupies. A literal region extracting device (5) extracts a literal positional region of a letter sequence of the license plate based on the image obtained from the license plate extracting device (4). A literal recognition device (6) is provided to recognize a letter from a literal image (571) of the literal positional region obtained from the literal region extracting device (5).

Abstract: A method and system for recognizing the characters on surfaces where alphanumeric identification code (“ID” for short) may be present such as a license plate. The present system is particularly adapted for situations where visual distortions can occur, and utilizes a highly robust method for recognizing the characters of an ID. Multiple character recovery schemes are applied to account for a variety of conditions to ensure high accuracy in identifying the ID. Accuracy is greatly enhanced by taking a comprehensive approach where multiple criteria are taken into consideration before any conclusions are drawn. Special considerations are given to recognizing the ID as a whole and not just the individual characters.

Abstract: In a positional detector device for a license plate of a motor vehicle, a camera is provided to photograph a front and rear portion of a motor vehicle so as to produce an image signal. An A/D converter converts the image signal into a digital image. A positional detector detects a position of a lisence plate of a motor vehicle based on the digital image. A cut-off treatment device cuts off a specified region from an original image photographed by the camera while scanning the original image when the motor vehicle approaches the camera member within a predetermined distance. An edge refining treatment device emphasizes a contour of a pattern represented by the specified region cut off from the original image. A contraction treatment device contracts an image size of the specified region which was treated with the edge refining treatment device. A calculation treatment device feeds the contracted pattern to a learned neural network so as to calculate an output value for a positional detection neural network.

Abstract: A method of processing digital image information, including pixel intensity information, includes the steps of identifying a region of the image in which pixel intensities are similar to each other, but the median pixel intensity differs significantly from the median pixel intensity of other parts of the image; and modifying pixel intensities in the identified region so that the median for the region is closer to the median for the other parts of the image. A related method of processing digital image information involves modifying pixel intensities according to a non-linear algorithm, with the result that one or more regions of the image have their median pixel intensities adjusted to a level which is closer to the median pixel intensity for other parts of the image.

Abstract: A character recognition method for recognizing characters on an article having multiple character-bearing areas, such as a license plate, first involves obtaining image data from an image of the article. The method then assigns at least one parameter to a selected character-bearing area on the article. The method then attempts to obtain a correct frame which expresses the correct positional relationship between the selected character-bearing area on the article with other character-bearing areas of the article, and then uses that correct frame to perform character recognition with respect to each of the character-bearing areas of the article. To obtain the correct frame, the invention compares the image data of the article with plural candidate frames. The plural candidate frames are calculated using the predetermined positional correlation between (1) the selected character-bearing area [as represented by the at least one parameter] and (2) other character-bearing areas of the article.

Abstract: An automated license plate locator and reader (10) which provides novel methods for 1) correcting for perspective distortion (16), 2) locating the license plate (20), 3) reading the license plate (22) and 4) improving the confidence rating of the output signal (228). The novel method for accommodating a wide range of viewing geometries involves warping the image to eliminate perspective distortion of the plate resulting from roadside camera placement. The novel method for locating plates involves correlating an "idealized" edge template of a license plate with an edge-enhanced version of the image. Edge enhancement and shadow reduction is achieved by applying a Laplacian operator over the input image. Performance is further improved by filtering out distracting edges within the resulting correlation surface and then locating the highest peaks within this filtered correlation surface. The location of the highest peaks provides the location of the plate.

Abstract: An automatic identification system for a car-plate which comprises a photographing apparatus and an image-processing CPU. The system disclosed in the present invention can be mounted in a car for automatically identifying a car-plate that is under a still or moving condition. The photographing apparatus is used for taking the image of a car-plate, and the image is then transmitted into the image-processing CPU, which accurately extracts the characters of a car-plate using a "Fuzzy inference" technique, and identifies the characters through a character structure analysis neural network. With the automatic identification system of the present invention, an incorrect identification can be avoided in the event the image of a car-plate is blurred, and the characters is deformed or smeared.