Parking Lot Surveillance

Abstract

A group of linked cameras survey a parking lot and take images of the parked cars and their license plates. The images of the cars and their license plates are provided to an image processor, which identifies the license plate numbers and designates each parked car with its license plate number and its parked location. This information is then provided and available on a website, where a driver can check on her car by viewing the image of her parked car on the website. The image processor can further transmit a text message or an email to a subscriber associated with a designated car when an updated image of the designated parking space shows an insitu displacement of the parked car, in case of an accident affecting the parked car, or absence of the parked car, in case of an unauthorized movement of the parked car.

1 - A method, comprising:
 using a plurality of linked cameras,   surveying a parking lot,   taking images of a plurality of parked cars and their license plates,   providing the images of the parked cars and their license plates to an image processor,   the image processor identifying a plurality of license plate numbers and designating each of the parked cars with its license plate number and its parked location, and   providing the image of the parked car, its license plate number and its parked location on a website.   
     
     
         2 - Method of  claim 1 , where the surveillance camera is configured to zoom in on the license plate of each of the parked cars. 
     
     
         3 - Method of  claim 1 , where a user can access the website and check upon her parked car. 
     
     
         4 - Method of  claim 1 , where the image of the parked car, its license plate number and its parked location on the website is a real time image with a timestamp. 
     
     
         5 - Method of  claim 1 , where the image of the parked car, its license plate number, its parked location and a timestamp on the website is updated periodically. 
     
     
         6 - Method of  claim 1 , where the image processor is configured to detect an absence of the parked car, or an insitu displacement of the parked car in consecutive images, and
 initiate a warning email or a text message to a user who is registered with the website and is associated with the designated parked car.   
     
     
         7 - Method of  claim 6 , where the absence of the parked car indicates an unauthorized movement of the parked car, and
 the insitu displacement of the parked car indicates an accident affecting the parked car.   
     
     
         8 - A method, comprising:
 using a plurality of linked cameras,   surveying a parking lot,   taking images of a plurality of parked cars and their license plates,   providing the images of the parked cars and their license plates to an image processor,   the image processor identifying a plurality of license plate numbers and designating each of the parked cars with its license plate number and its parked location,   the image processor saving the images of each designated parked car with its license plate number and its parked location and a timestamp on a database,   the image processor periodically updating the saved images on the database,   the image processor detecting an absence or an insitu displacement of the parked car in consecutive images, and   the image processor initiating a warning email or a text message to a user who is registered with a web site and is associated with the designated parked car.   
     
     
         9 - Method of  claim 8 , where the surveillance camera is configured to zoom in on the license plate of each of the parked cars. 
     
     
         10 - Method of  claim 8 , where the absence of the parked car indicates an unauthorized movement of the parked car, and
 the insitu displacement of the parked car indicates an accident affecting the parked car.   
     
     
         11 - A business method, comprising:
 Providing a registered user, where the user is registered with a website linked to a database on a computing platform server, a real time image or a periodically updated image of a user parked car in a parking lot, on the website.   
     
     
         12 - Business method of  claim 11 , where the user parked car is designated by a license plate number of the user parked car. 
     
     
         13 - Business method of  claim 11 , where the real time image or the periodically updated image is provided by a plurality of linked cameras surveying the parking lot, through an image processor, to the website linked to the database on the computing platform server. 
     
     
         14 - Business method of  claim 13 , where the surveillance camera is configured to zoom in on the license plate of each of the parked cars. 
     
     
         15 - Business method of  claim 13 , where the image processor is further configured to detect an absence of the user parked car or an insitu displacement of the user parked car, in consecutive images of the user parked car. 
     
     
         16 - Business method of  claim 15 , where the image processor, upon detection of the absence of the user parked car or the insitu displacement of the user parked car, initiates a warning email or a text message to the user. 
     
     
         17 - Business method of  claim 15 , where the absence of the user parked car indicates an unauthorized movement of the user parked car, and
 the insitu displacement of the user parked car indicates an accident affecting the user parked car.