Traffic flow monitor apparatus
US5999877A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 30, 1997 |
| Grant date | Dec 7, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 30, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2207/30236
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A traffic flow monitor apparatus which can monitor a traffic flow at high precision over a wide range from the position near a TV camera to the distant position regardless of traffic conditions. An image analysis area crossing a road of an overlooked road image received every predetermined cycle is analyzed, the characteristic portion of the front (rear) portion of the vehicle is registered as a template, the vehicle is tracked by a pattern-matching process while updating the template, and the size of the template is reduced (enlarge) depending on a change in apparent width of a lane during template updating. Since the characteristic portion of the front (rear) portion of the vehicle is registered, and the vehicle is tracked by the pattern-matching process, no reference image of a road portion on which no vehicle exists is required, and influence of approaching or overlapping of another vehicle can be reduced. A traffic flow can be monitored at high precision regardless of deserted traffic or crowded traffic. Since the size is reduced (enlarged) during template updating, a vehicle can be stably tracked by using a template having an appropriate size in the range from the near positi…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.