Parking regulation enforcement system

Abstract

A video camera mounted on a parking enforcement patrol vehicle and connected to a computer near the operator. The system is driven along a patrol route where parked vehicles are governed by a posted time limit. The system enforces the local parking regulation by automatically determining whether or not each parked car has been parked longer than the posted time limit. Violations are detected by applying a License Plate Recognition algorithm to the images. Each license plate number is time-tagged, geo-referenced and entered into a local database. When the patrol vehicle re-traces the patrol route after the posted parking time limit has expired, the database is searched to flag vehicles that were observed at the same location during the previous circuit and therefore in violation of the parking regulations. When the system detects a parking violation, it prints a parking citation that the operator affixes to the offending parked vehicle.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A parking regulation enforcement system for monitoring a parked vehicle, the system comprising: 
       a camera capturing a first image of the parked vehicle at a first observation time and a second image of the vehicle at a second observation time;  
       a data processing sub-system coupled to the camera, the data processing sub-system extracting an identifier of the parked vehicle from the first image and the second image;  
       means within the data processing sub-system, for determining a first position of a predetermined measurement point at the first observation time and a second position of the measurement point at the second observation time, the means comprising a global positioning system;  
       a memory within the data processing sub-system, the memory storing a first data record, the first data record comprising the identifier, the first observation time, and the first position of the measurement point; and  
       means, within the data processing sub-system, for comparing the first data record to a second data record, the second data record including the identifier, the second observation time, and the second position of the measurement point, and for generating an output.  
     
     
       2. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising: 
       a proximity sensor coupled to the data processing sub-system, the sensor measuring a distance between the parked vehicle and the measurement point;  
       means for triggering the camera to capture the first and second images when the measured distance is equal to a predetermined value.  
     
     
       3. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising: 
       a metal detector coupled to the camera;  
       means for triggering the camera to capture the first and second images when the metal detector detects a pre-determined amount of metal.  
     
     
       4. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the identifier is a license plate number of the parked vehicle. 
     
     
       5. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 4 , wherein the sub-system uses a pattern-matching license plate recognition algorithm to extract the license plate number from the first image and the second image. 
     
     
       6. The parking regulation enforcement system, a recited in a  claim 4 , wherein the sub-system uses a full recognition mode license plate recognition algorithm to extract the license plate number from the first image and the second image. 
     
     
       7. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 4 , wherein the sub-system uses a pattern matching license plate recognition algorithm and a full recognition mode license plate algorithm to extract the license plate number from the first image and the second image. 
     
     
       8. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited to  claim 1 , further comprising a radio frequency transponder coupled to the parked vehicle, the transponder broadcasting the identifier when interrogated. 
     
     
       9. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising a display coupled to the camera, the display showing the first image and the second image. 
     
     
       10. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the camera is mounted on a second vehicle. 
     
     
       11. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the measurement point is a location on the second vehicle. 
     
     
       12. A system for locating a lost vehicle comprising: 
       a sensor capturing an image of the lost vehicle at an observation time;  
       a sub-system, within a data processing system coupled to the sensor, the sub-system extracting an identifier of the lost vehicle from the image;  
       a positioning system, coupled to the data processing system, for determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the observation of a predetermined measurement point at the observation time;  
       a concatenation system for concatenating the identifier, the observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record;  
       a display device coupled to the data processing system for displaying a location of the lost vehicle on the display device;  
       a database coupled to the data processing system, the database storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier, the observation time, and a vehicle position; and  
       a search engine coupled to the database for enabling a user to traverse the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the lost vehicle, to assist in identifying the lost vehicle.  
     
     
       13. A parking regulation enforcement system for monitoring a parked vehicle, the system comprising: 
       a camera capturing an image of a vehicle at a first observation time;  
       a data processing sub-system coupled to the camera, the data processing sub-system extracting an identifier of the vehicle from the image;  
       means, within the data processing sub-system, for determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the first observation time;  
       means for concatenating the identifier, the first observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record;  
       a database coupled to the data processing sub-system, the database storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier, an observation time and a vehicle position; means for traversing the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the vehicle; and  
       a computerized billing system for receiving data, and for creating an output.  
     
     
       14. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising: 
       first means for comparing the observation time in the first data record to the observation time of the second data record; and  
       second means for comparing the position in the first data record to the position in the second data record.  
     
     
       15. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 14 , further comprising third means for comparing a difference between the observation time in the first data record and the observation time of the second data record to a predetermined parking time limit. 
     
     
       16. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 15 , further comprising the computerized billing system, the billing system receiving data from the first and second comparing means. 
     
     
       17. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the computerized billing system measures an overall parking time of the vehicle over a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
       18. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the computerized billing system initializing a virtual parking meter in the database, the virtual parking meter comparing a plurality of data records for a particular vehicle. 
     
     
       19. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the computerized billing system charges to fee to an owner of the vehicle based upon a fee structure. 
     
     
       20. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 19 , wherein the fee structure is based on a changing hourly rate. 
     
     
       21. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising: 
       a parking facility system for determining a parking fee within a parking facility, the system determining a parking fee by comparing the observation time in the first data record to the observation time in the second data record.  
     
     
       22. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 21 , further comprising an automated gate coupled to the parking facility system that blocks movement of the vehicle based upon data received from the parking facility system. 
     
     
       23. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising a second database storing geographically referenced information. 
     
     
       24. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 23 , further comprising: 
       a navigation system that records and updates a plurality of citations for vehicles based on the plurality of stored data records;  
       means for estimating a time for patrolling a route based on the plurality of citations and geographic information to estimate the time.  
     
     
       25. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 24 , further comprising a display displaying information stored in the second database. 
     
     
       26. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising a clock within the data processing sub-system. 
     
     
       27. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the identifier is a license plate number of the vehicle. 
     
     
       28. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 27 , wherein the sub-system uses a license plate recognition algorithm to extract the license plate number from the image. 
     
     
       29. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 28 , further comprising means for comparing a result of the license plate recognition algorithm to a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
       30. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 28 , wherein the vehicle data record further includes the raster image. 
     
     
       31. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising means for estimating an error in the position of the vehicle, the estimated error being stored in the vehicle data record. 
     
     
       32. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising: 
       a second database storing a plurality of vehicle identifiers;  
       means for traversing the second database to locate one of the vehicle identifiers matching the identifier in the vehicle data record;  
       means for notifying a user of a located match between the vehicle identifier and the identifier in the vehicle data record.  
     
     
       33. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising means for encrypting the vehicle data record. 
     
     
       34. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the camera captures a plurality of successive images of the vehicle. 
     
     
       35. The parking regulation enforcement system, as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising a second camera capturing an image of a second vehicle. 
     
     
       36. A system for locating a lost vehicle comprising: 
       a camera capturing an image of the lost vehicle at an observation time;  
       a sub-system, within a data processing system coupled to the camera, the sub-system extracting an identifier of the lost vehicle from the image;  
       means, coupled to the data processing system, for determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the observation time;  
       means for concatenating the identifier, the observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record;  
       a database coupled to the data processing system, the database storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier, the observation time, and a vehicle position; and  
       means for enabling a user to traverse the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the lost vehicle, to assist in identifying the lost vehicle.  
     
     
       37. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 36 , further comprising: 
       a display device coupled to the data processing system; and  
       means for plotting a location of the lost vehicle on the display device.  
     
     
       38. The system for locating a lost vehicle, as recited in  claim 36 , wherein the enabling means is mobile. 
     
     
       39. A method for enforcing parking regulations comprising: 
       capturing an image of a parked vehicle at a first observation time;  
       extracting an identifier of the parked vehicle from the image;  
       determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the first observation time;  
       concatenating the identifier, the first observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record;  
       storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier, an observation time, and a vehicle position;  
       traversing the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the parked vehicle; and  
       billing a customer based upon a billing criteria and the stored data records.  
     
     
       40. The method for enforcing parking regulations, as recited in  claim 39 , further comprising the steps of: 
       comparing the observation time in the first data record to the observation time of the second data record; and  
       comparing the position in the first data record to the position and the second data record.  
     
     
       41. A parking regulation enforcement system for monitoring a parked vehicle, the system comprising: 
       a sensor for capturing a first image of the parked vehicle at a first observation time and a second image of the vehicle at a second observation time;  
       a data processing sub-system coupled to the sensor, the data processing sub-system extracting an identifier of the parked vehicle from the first image and the second image;  
       a global positioning system within the data processing sub-system, for determining a first position of a predetermined measurement point at the first observation time and a second position of the measurement point at the second observation time;  
       a memory within the data processing sub-system, the memory storing a first data record, the first data record comprising the identifier, the first observation time, and the first position of the measurement point; and  
       a comparator within the data processing sub-system, for comparing the first data record to a second data record, the second data record including the identifier, the second observation time, and the second position of the measurement point, and for generating an output.  
     
     
       42. A parking regulation enforcement system for monitoring a parked vehicle, the system comprising: 
       a sensor for capturing an image of a vehicle at a first observation time;  
       a data processing sub-system coupled to the sensor, the data processing sub-system extracting the identifier of the vehicle from the image;  
       a positioning sub-system within the data processing sub-system, for determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the first observation time;  
       a concentration system for concatenating the identifier, the first observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record;  
       a database coupled to the data processing sub-system, the database storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier, an observation time and a vehicle position;  
       a search engine coupled to the database for traversing the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the vehicle; and  
       a computerized billing system for receiving data, and for creating an output.  
     
     
       43. A system for locating a lost vehicle comprising: 
       
         a sensor capturing an image of the lost vehicle;  
       
         a sub - system within a data processing system coupled to the sensor, the sub - system extracting an identifier of the lost vehicle from the image;    
       
         a database coupled to the data processing system, the database storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier; and  
       
       
         a search engine coupled to the database for enabling a user to traverse the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the lost vehicle, to assist in identifying the lost vehicle. 
       
     
     
       44. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 43 , wherein the sensor captures the image of the lost vehicle at an observation time. 
     
     
       45. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 44 , further comprising a positioning system, coupled to the data processing system, for determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the observation time. 
     
     
       46. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 45 , further comprising a concatenation system for concatenating the identifier, the observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record. 
     
     
       47. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 46 , wherein each data record further includes an observation time and a vehicle position. 
     
     
       48. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 43 , further comprising a display device coupled to the data processing system for displaying a location of the lost vehicle on the display device. 
     
     
       49. A system for locating a lost vehicle comprising: 
       
         a camera capturing an image of the lost vehicle;  
       
         a sub - system within a data processing system coupled to the camera, the sub - system extracting an identifier of the lost vehicle from the image;    
       
         a database coupled to the data processing system, the database storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier; and  
       
       
         means for enabling the user to traverse the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the lost vehicle, to assist in identifying the lost vehicle. 
       
     
     
       50. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 49 , wherein the camera captures the image of the lost vehicle at an observation time. 
     
     
       51. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 50 , further comprising means, coupled to the data processing system, for determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the observation time. 
     
     
       52. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 51 , further comprising means for concatenating the identifier, the observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record. 
     
     
       53. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 49 , further comprising a display device coupled to the data processing system for displaying a location of the lost vehicle on the display device. 
     
     
       54. A system for locating a lost vehicle comprising: 
       
         a first radio frequency transponder for receiving a transmission from a second radio frequency transponder coupled to a lost vehicle, the second transponder broadcasting an identifier when interrogated;  
       
         a sub - system within a data processing system coupled to the first transponder, the sub - system extracting the identifier of the lost vehicle;    
       
         database coupled to the data processing system, the database storing a plurality of data records, each data record including a vehicle identifier; and  
       
       
         a search engine coupled to the database for enabling a user to traverse the database to locate a second data record having the identifier of the lost vehicle, to assist in identifying the lost vehicle. 
       
     
     
       55. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 54 , wherein the first transponder receives the transmission at an observation time. 
     
     
       56. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 55 , further comprising a positioning system, coupled to the data processing system, for determining a position of a predetermined measurement point at the observation time. 
     
     
       57. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 56 , further comprising a concatenation system for concatenating the identifier, the observation time, and the position of the measurement point into a vehicle data record. 
     
     
       58. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 57 , wherein each data record further includes an observation time and a vehicle position. 
     
     
       59. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 54 , further comprising a display device coupled to the data processing system for displaying a location of the lost vehicle on the display device. 
     
     
       60. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 54 , further comprising a sensor capturing an image of the lost vehicle. 
     
     
       61. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 60 , further comprising the sensor coupled to the sub- system, the sub - system extracting a second identifier of the lost vehicle from the image.   
     
     
       62. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 43 , wherein a lost vehicle is a vehicle that is: 
       
         reported stolen;  
       
       
         registered to an owner with a suspended driver's license;  
       
       
         registered to an owner with an unpaid public debt;  
       
       
         registered to an owner who is a wanted fugitive;  
       
       
         registered to an owner who is in violation of the owner's parole conditions;  
       
       
         subject to outstanding liens; or  
       
       
         wanted by a law enforcement or public service agency. 
       
     
     
       63. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 49 , wherein a lost vehicle is a vehicle that is: 
       
         reported stolen;  
       
       
         registered to an owner with a suspended driver's license;  
       
       
         registered to an owner with an unpaid public debt;  
       
       
         registered to an owner who is a wanted fugitive;  
       
       
         registered to an owner who is in violation of the owner's parole conditions  
       
       
         subject to an outstanding liens; or  
       
       
         wanted by a law enforcement or public service agency. 
       
     
     
       64. The system for locating a lost vehicle as recited in  claim 54 , wherein a lost vehicle is a vehicle that is: 
       
         reported stolen;  
       
       
         registered to an owner with a suspended driver's license;  
       
       
         registered to an owner with an unpaid public debt;  
       
       
         registered to an owner who is a wanted fugitive;  
       
       
         registered to an owner who is in violation of the owner's parole conditions; subject to outstanding liens; or  
       
       
         wanted by a law enforcement or public service agency.