JPS6010358B2 - Vehicle identification device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to pattern (shape) identification of moving objects, and particularly to a vehicle discrimination device for pattern identification of passing vehicles on a toll road.

On multi-section toll roads, a toll ticket is issued, and at the exit, the toll fee is calculated based on the entrance interchange number, vehicle type, etc. written on the ticket, and the toll is collected. As a result, there is a problem of unauthorized use, such as when users exchange tickets to confuse the section they are using, and one countermeasure is to encode and record the vehicle number on the ticket (punch card, magnetic card, etc.) at the entrance. There is a way to check this by playing this on exit.

Instead of the vehicle number, the shape of the vehicle is encoded and recorded as an image transmitted by a camera or a group of photoelectric switches.
There is also a way to check.

A method that uses a camera to capture the vehicle number, shape, etc., and then analyzes the image and records it on the pass ticket requires technically advanced signal processing and has the disadvantage of being expensive.

In addition, the method using multiple optical switch groups is simpler than the former in terms of signal processing, but in order to capture the speed of passing vehicles without being affected, it is necessary to arrange the photoelectric switch groups horizontally and instantaneously. Since it is necessary to sample the signals of all the switches, it is necessary to arrange a large number of photoelectric switches. If we simplify this by arranging a group of photoelectric switches in a row in the vertical direction and capturing the transmitted image as changes in vehicle travel time, if the traveling speed is not constant, patterns cannot be detected even for the same vehicle, and vehicle identification will be inaccurate. It had some drawbacks.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and includes a step board device that extends in the width direction of the road and is provided on the road and outputs a signal according to the pedal pressure of a vehicle, and a road shoulder device that corresponds to the installation position of the step board device. A plurality of pairs of light emitters and receivers are installed at intervals in the height direction to form an optical path extending in the width direction of the road in the space above the stepboard device, and to output a detection signal when the optical path is blocked by a vehicle. a color detection device installed in the simultaneous light-receiving device to detect the color of the vehicle; and a pulse that outputs a pulse signal in response to a rising signal and a falling signal of the light projecting and receiving device and an output signal of the step board device. a generator, and a device that extracts the output of the color detection device and outputs a color code every time the front footboard device is pressed;
a counter that counts the number of times the footboard device is pressed and detects the number of axles for each vehicle; a device that detects a detection pattern of the light transmitter and receiver of the light submersion receiver in accordance with an output signal of the pulse generator; Consists of a device that outputs an identification signal of a passing vehicle based on the detection results of the pattern, the color code, and the number of axles, and obtains information on the front and rear greenery of the vehicle, the height at the axle position of the vehicle, the color of the vehicle, and the number of axles. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle discriminating device which can accurately identify whether the vehicle is the same or not, without being affected by the running speed of the vehicle, by using the vehicle code as a vehicle code.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In contrast to the conventional method of time-division sampling of the light-blocking state of photoelectric switches, the present invention analyzes the light-blocking states of a plurality of photoelectric switches arranged in a vertical line based on the number of light-blocking points at the front and rear of the vehicle, the number of light blocks at the time of pressing the wheel tread, and the axle shaft. The purpose of this method is to extract characteristics unique to a vehicle that are not related to time factors by capturing the color of the vehicle body at a location as a feature extraction value.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing how the present device is arranged at a tollgate.

In the figure, 1 and 1' are islands of a tollgate, and the road surface sandwiched between these islands 1 and 1' becomes an approach road. 2,
Reference numeral 2' denotes a light projector and a light receiver for photoelectric detection of a vehicle pattern, which are provided opposite the islands 1 and 1' via this approach road, and are installed opposite to the approach road at right angles.

The projector 2 and the receiver 2' are arranged in m photoelectric switches (receivers) 3, 32 at predetermined intervals vertically above the road surface.
,...3m are arranged in an array, and the number m is a number that can sufficiently control the height of the vehicle to be discriminated and grasp the characteristics of each vehicle. Also,
The optical axes of the photoelectric switches 3, 32, . . . 3m are parallel to the road surface. Reference numeral 4 denotes a step board which is laid on the road surface and is activated by the pedal pressure of the wheels to generate a detection output.The step board 4 is placed on the dark road surface where the light projector 2 and light receiver 2' are installed.

5 is a tollgate booth, which includes a ticket issuing machine that records and issues various necessary data on a toll ticket such as a punch card or magnetic card (in the case of an entrance toll gate), or a ticket issuing machine that records the recorded contents of the toll ticket. Passage ticket verification machines (for exit toll gates) will be installed for discussion and data verification.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a semiconductor color sensor that identifies the color of a passing vehicle based on the reflected light from the vehicle body, and this color sensor 7 is disposed at an intermediate position in the arrangement of the photoelectric switches 3, -3m.

As a color sensor, for example, SHARP-PD151 etc. exist. This color sensor uses two photodiodes with different sensitivities to light wavelengths (one type is sensitive to short wavelengths and the other is highly sensitive to long wavelengths).
This is an element that is configured on a single chip, and by signal processing each photocurrent, an output voltage corresponding to the wavelength of light can be obtained. Since the output fin pressure is determined by the ratio of these two photodiode currents, it does not change depending on the intensity of the incident light, that is, it has the characteristic that a stable output can be obtained regardless of day or night. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which the photoelectric switches 3, 32, . . . 3 m are shielded from light while the vehicle 8 is running.

4 is the aforementioned step board, and photoelectric switches 3, 32,...
・It is arranged parallel to the optical axis at a position directly below the optical axis of 3 m.

7 is the color sensor mentioned above.

When the front part 1 of the vehicle passes on the optical axis, two photoelectric switches 3, 32 in the figure on the optical axis are shielded from light.

When the first wheel position 2 passes, the first wheel presses the footboard 4, and in the figure, the five photoelectric switches 3, 32, 33, 34, and 35 are shielded from light, and similarly
When the wheel position 3 of the eyelid passes, the four photoelectric switches 3, 32, 33, 34 are blocked, and when the rear end 4 of the vehicle 8 passes, the two optical switches 3, 32 are blocked. Ru. As can be seen from the above explanation, the number of light interruptions of the photoelectric switches at the detection points 1, 2, 3, and 4 varies depending on each vehicle, and thus represents a characteristic unique to each vehicle. This is because a unique pattern of the cargo 8a can be obtained even with trucks having the same shape. Furthermore, this device uses a color sensor 7 to detect the color of the vehicle body, so that the paint color of the vehicle body, the color of cargo, etc. can be taken into account when determining whether the two vehicles are the same or not. The detection field of view of the color sensor 7 is a wide-angle field of view shown by the two-dot chain line A, and in order to reduce the influence of background, it is located above the vehicle position (many vehicle body parts are within the detection field of view).
Detect with. FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a circuit for vehicle pattern identification used in the device of the present invention.

In the figure, 3, 32, 33, . . . 3m are the aforementioned photoelectric switches, 4 is the aforementioned footboard, and 7 is the aforementioned color sensor.

31 is a pulse generator that senses the pressure on the footboard 4 and generates a pulse P2 of a constant pulse width; 32 is the photoelectric switch 3., 32, 33, . ...3m output NAND
This is a NAND circuit that performs logic to determine whether a vehicle is passing.If the digital output of the photoelectric switches 3, 32, . , 32,...3m outputs are all "
Since it becomes "H", the NAND circuit 32 output is "L", or when a vehicle passes, at least one photoelectric switch is blocked from light and becomes "L", so if even one input becomes "L", the NAND circuit 32 output goes "L". The output of the circuit 32 becomes "H", and it is possible to determine whether a vehicle is passing based on this output level.The output of the NAND circuit 32 is input to the circuit 33, and the rising edge of the output of the NAND circuit 32 (from level "L" to "H") is input to the circuit 33. It detects the change point (change point) and fall (change point from level "H" to "L") and generates a pulse P with a constant pulse width, and at the time of the fall, n pulses C are generated in a separate system. This is a pulse generator.

That is, this pulse generator 33 generates a pulse when the front and rear parts of a passing vehicle pass on the optical axis, and also generates n pulses when the vehicle completes passing. Reference numeral 34 denotes an OR circuit which takes the pulse P of this pulse generator 33 and the output of the pulse generator 31 as input, and performs an OR logic between the two, so that a pulse is output from at least one of the pulse generators 31 and 33. When the input pulse width is equal to the pulse P3
(=P.10P2) is output.

35 opens and closes the gate according to the "H" output of the NAND circuit 32 (that is, this "H" is the output when the vehicle 8 passes, henceforth referred to as the vehicle passing signal S), and counts the output pulse P2 of the pulse generator 31. This is a counter that obtains the number of axles of the vehicle 8 that is passing by.

36 inputs the outputs of the optical box switches 3, . . . 3 m, reads the number of light-shielded photoelectric switches (i.e., the height of the vehicle) each time it receives the output pulse P3 of the OR circuit 34, and calculates this by e.g. An encoder 37 for converting into a BCD code (binary coded decimal code) is a shift register that operates every time it receives the output pulse P3 of the OR circuit 34 and reads the output of the encoder 36.

That is, the output pulse P3 of the OR circuit 34 is a pulse that is output when the vehicle's front and rear green areas and the axle position pass, and the encoder 36 and shift register 37 take in the vehicle height data of the vehicle's front and rear green areas and the axle position. That's why. 3
Reference numeral 8 denotes a signal processing circuit for the color sensor 7, which outputs an output voltage proportional to the color tone of the vehicle body, that is, the wavelength, as described above.

39 is an A/D conversion circuit that converts the output of this signal processing circuit 38 into a digital signal, and 40 is this A/D conversion circuit 3.
A color code discriminating circuit receives the output of the color code discriminating circuit 40 as an input, discriminates the color from this input, classifies it into arbitrary levels of color code, and outputs it. 41 is a shift register that takes in the output of this color code discriminating circuit 40 and sends it out. A/D conversion circuit 39
, color code discrimination circuit 40, and shift register 41 are all activated by the output P2 of the pulse generator 31, 39 and 40 are activated by the rising edge of the output pulse P2, and 41 is activated by the falling edge of the output pulse P2. Ru.

42 is the counter 35 and the shift register 37,
This is a data transfer circuit that takes in the output of the pulse generator 41 and sequentially sends out the content of the read in using the output pulse C of the pulse generator 33 that is generated after the vehicle passes.

This data transfer circuit 42 edits the above three types of data,
The information is sent to a ticket issuing machine or a ticket validating machine (not shown) to be recorded on the ticket or to be compared with the recorded contents of the ticket. Next, the operation of this device having the above configuration will be explained.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing the operation of this device, and with reference to this, the case where the vehicle shown in FIG. 2 enters will be explained as an example. The front part 1 of the vehicle 8 has a photoelectric switch 3.
,32,. - If any of the 13m optical axes is interrupted, the NAND circuit 32, which uses the outputs of these photoelectric switches 3, 32, ...3m as power, will interrupt the interruption. The output of the photoelectric switch is “L”
Therefore, an "H" output (vehicle passing signal S) is generated.

Now, as shown in FIG. 2, the photoelectric switch 31,
32,...3m is blocked, when the front part 1 of the vehicle 8 reaches the optical axis of the emitter 2 and receiver 2', the photoelectric switches 3, 32 block the light. The axis is blocked,
The output becomes "L".

Therefore, at this point, the output of the NAND circuit 32 changes from "L" to "H" as shown in FIG.
The output is given to a pulse circuit 33, which generates a pulse PH as shown in FIG. 4c when the output of the NAND circuit 32 rises. This pulse PH is applied to the OR circuit 34, and since there is no output from the footboard 4 at this point, the OR circuit 34 has a pulse P3 with a time width of this pulse P, -,
is output and given to the encoder 36 and shift register 37. As a result, the encoder 36 operates to take in and encode the outputs of the respective photoelectric switches 3, 32, . . . 3m. That is, when the front section 1 of the vehicle 8 passes, only the photoelectric switches 3, 32 have their optical axes blocked, so the photoelectric switches 3, 32 are in "L" and the others are in "H". If it is taken in as data and expressed as a decimal number, the number of light shielding of the photoelectric switch "2" is encoded. This is then given to the shift register 37,
This "2" is taken into the first digit of the shift register 37 operated by the pulse P3. On the other hand, if the counter 35 whose gate is opened by the vehicle passing signal S output from the NAND circuit 32 is cleared at the rising edge of the vehicle passing signal S, then when the vehicle 8 passes the front green 1, the axle is still on the treadle. Since it has not reached position 4, the content is zero,
Also, the A/○ conversion circuit 39 operates every time the footboard 4 is stepped on.
, the color code discrimination circuit 40, and the shift register 41 are all inoperative, so the color measurement operation of the vehicle 8 is not performed. Therefore, at the time the leading edge 1 passes, the color code, height code, and number of axles are as shown in (■) in FIG. 4a.
Next, the vehicle 8 moves forward, and the first wheel of the vehicle 8 is the floodlight 2,
The user reaches the position of the light receiver 2' and presses the footboard 4 placed there.

Then, the pulse generator 31 operates due to the operation of the footboard 4, and generates a pulse P2-, as shown in FIG. 4d.
The signal is applied to an OR circuit 34, a counter 35, an A/D conversion circuit 39, a color code discrimination circuit 40, and a shift register 41, respectively. Then, this OR circuit 34 generates a pulse P3 having a time width of this pulse P2-, and supplies it to an encoder 36 and a shift register 37. As a result, the encoder 36 receives and encodes the outputs of the photoelectric switches 3, 32, . . . 3m at this time, and provides the encoded contents to the shift register 37. That is, at this time, the swallow is in position 2 in FIG. 2, and the photoelectric switches 3, 32, 33,
34 and 35 are shielded from light and are at "L", and the others are at "H". Therefore, the encoder 36 outputs "5", and the shift register 37 is shifted by one step by the pulse P3 and takes in this "5". On the other hand, the A/D conversion circuit 39 receiving the pulse P2- outputted from the pulse generator 31 converts the vehicle body color detected by the color sensor 7 at this point and converted into a voltage signal by the signal processing circuit 38 into a digital value. Then, a color code discrimination circuit 401 is provided. Then, the color code discrimination circuit 40 outputs a color code corresponding to this digital value and supplies it to the shift register 41. The shift register 41 takes in this color code, for example, "4" if it is a decimal number "4" at the falling edge of P2. Further, the pulse P2 outputted from the pulse generator 31 is counted by a counter 35, and the counter 35 counts "1".

As a result, the color code newly loaded into the shift register 41, the height code loaded into the shift register 37, and the axle value counted by the counter 35 become as shown in (■) in FIG. 4a. Similarly, when the second axis is reached, the photoelectric switches 3, 32, 33, and 34 are shielded from light by the part 3 in Fig. 2, and a pulse is generated by the output of the treadle 4 pressed on the second axis. The device 31 receives the pulse P2- as shown in Fig. 4d.
Since 2 is generated, this causes the shift register 37 to have 1.
After shifting the number of digits, “4” is taken in, and the counter 35
The pulse P2-2 is counted and the cumulative value becomes "2". At this time, if the signal processing circuit 38 that processed the output from the color sensor 7 is outputting a voltage corresponding to the color code "3", then the output of the signal processing circuit 38 is outputted via the A/○ conversion circuit 39. The obtained color code discrimination circuit 40 outputs the color code "3" and supplies it to the shift register 41. At the falling edge of pulse P2-2, this shift register 41 becomes 1.
It shifts by one step and takes in the data "3" output by the color code discrimination circuit 40. As a result, the color code newly loaded into the shift register 41, the height code loaded into the shift register 37, and the axle value counted by the counter 35 become as shown in (■) in FIG. 4a. For vehicles with three or more axles, the above operations can be repeated.

At the position of the rear end 4 of the vehicle 8, the light shielding of the photoelectric sensors that had been shielded from light is released at the same time as the vehicle 8 completes passing, so all outputs of the photoelectric switches 3, 32, . . . , 3m become "H". As a result, the output of the NAND circuit 32 becomes "L", and therefore the vehicle passing signal S falls as shown in FIG. 4b. This causes the pulse generator 33 to generate pulses P, -2 as shown in FIG.
It outputs n pulses C and applies them to the OR circuit 34 as shown in FIG. The OR circuit 34 receiving the pulses P and -2 outputs a pulse P8 and supplies it to the encoder 36 and shift register 37. Then, the output of the photoelectric switch 3, ~3m is taken in, but since the data indicating the vehicle height at the rear end 4 positions of the vehicle 8 is required here, the light shielding is released on the encoder 36 side until the reading is completed. Just before the photoelectric switch 3,
, ~3m The output state is self-maintained, and the number of shadings "2" at this time is encoded and given to the shift register 37, and is taken into the shift register 37.

At this point, there is no output from the treadle 4 for detecting the axle, so the counter 35 remains at "2", and the A/D conversion circuit 39, color code discrimination circuit 40, shift register 4
1 is inactive. Therefore, the color code, height code, and axle numerical value at the position of the rear end 4 are excluded from ■■ in Figure 4a.
It will be as follows. 8 1, 2 of the vehicle obtained in this way,
The color and height data of the vehicle body and the number of axles at each position are edited by the data transfer circuit 42 so as to be easily processed by the terminal equipment, and from the falling edge of the vehicle passing signal S, the pulse generator 33 is sequentially transferred by n pulses C, and sent to a terminal device such as a ticket issuing machine or a ticket confirmation machine, and recorded on the ticket as vehicle pattern data, or the vehicle pattern recorded on the ticket. The data is compared to determine whether the vehicle is the same as the vehicle shown on the ticket.

In this way, data on the vehicle height and number of axles at the front and rear of the vehicle, and the color of the vehicle body at the axle position are obtained as vehicle pattern data for vehicle identification, so these data can be used regardless of the vehicle's running speed. If it is the same vehicle, the same data can be obtained. Since there is a wealth of data, if this is recorded on the pass ticket and compared at the exit, it will be possible to determine whether the vehicle is the same or not based on the data. Can be distinguished,
Even if vehicles have the same number of axles and the same shape, it is possible to distinguish them with high reliability, and therefore, it is possible to prevent unauthorized use by converting pass tickets.

A treadle device that extends in the width direction of the road and is installed on the road and outputs a signal according to the pedal pressure of a vehicle, and a treadle device that is installed opposite the road shoulder corresponding to the installation position of the treadle device A light receiving device that forms a light path extending in the width direction of the road in a space, and a plurality of pairs of light receivers that output a detection signal when the light path is blocked by a vehicle are installed at the corners in the height direction, and a light receiving device. a color detection device for detecting the color of the vehicle; a pulse generator for generating a pulse signal in response to a rising signal and a falling signal of the light receiving device and an output signal of the plate device; a device that extracts the output of the color detection device and outputs a color code; a counter that counts the number of times the footboard device is depressed for each vehicle and detects the number of axles; A device for detecting a detection pattern of each light emitter/receiver of the technical light receiving device, and a device for outputting an identification signal of a passing vehicle based on the detection pattern, the color code, and the detection result of the number of axles, The front and rear sides of a passing vehicle are detected using the signals outputted from the optical receiver, and the axle position is detected using the output of the footboard device, and the operating state of the optical receiver is detected when each of these detection outputs is generated. At the same time, the color of the vehicle body at the axle position is detected by a color detection device, and the number of axles is also detected, these are temporarily stored, and this is output as a pattern code indicating the characteristics of the passing vehicle. , the height information of the front and rear edges of the vehicle, the axle position, the number of axles, the color of the vehicle body, etc. can be obtained as data indicating the characteristics of the vehicle, and the detection position from which this data is extracted is a part that can be reliably detected. In principle, it is not affected by the traveling speed of the vehicle, so if the same vehicle is the same, the same data will be obtained regardless of the speed, and the reliability will be high. Vehicle identification can be performed reliably. A vehicle identification device that can check for unauthorized use can be provided.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, but can be implemented with appropriate modifications within the scope without changing the gist thereof.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining the arrangement of components at a toll gate of the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the operation of the photoelectric switch and vehicles, A block diagram showing a circuit configuration for identification, and FIGS. 4a to 4e are timing charts for explaining the operation of this device.・
．．・．． ．． Stepboard, 7...Color sensor, 8...
・Vehicle, 31, 33...Pulse generator, 32...
・NAND circuit, 34...OR circuit, 36...
・Encoder, 37, 41...Shift register, 38・
... Signal processing circuit, 39 ... A/D conversion circuit, 40 ... Color code discrimination circuit, 42 ...
・Data transfer circuit. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A treadle device that extends in the width direction of the road and is installed on the road and outputs a signal in response to the pedal pressure of a vehicle, and a treadle device that is installed in the space above the treadle device and is installed opposite the road shoulder corresponding to the installation position of the treadboard device. A light emitting/receiving device includes a plurality of pairs of light emitting/receiving devices spaced apart in the height direction to form an optical path extending in the width direction of the road and outputting a detection signal when the light path is interrupted by a vehicle; a detection device that detects the color of the light emitting/receiving device; a pulse generator that generates a timing pulse signal in response to a rising signal and a falling signal of the light emitting/receiving device and an output signal of the step board device; a device that extracts the output of the device and outputs a color code; a counter that counts the number of times the treadle device is pressed for each vehicle and detects the number of axles; Vehicle discrimination characterized by comprising a device for detecting a detection pattern of each light emitter/receiver, and a device for outputting an identification signal of a passing vehicle based on the detection pattern, the color code, and the detection result of the number of axles. Device.