JPH0237496A - traffic monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a traffic monitoring system, and particularly to a traffic monitoring system that monitors a large number of monitoring points.

[Prior Art] FIG. 4 shows a conventional traffic monitoring system. This is road 2
This is an example in which a Doppler speed detection device 6 emits radio waves 18 to a vehicle 4 traveling above the vehicle to perform speed detection using the Doppler effect.

When the Doppler speed detection device 6 detects that the vehicle 4 traveling on the road 2 is overspeeding, the camera IO is activated and the infrared flash 20 is emitted from the infrared flash device 8, and the infrared flash loaded in the camera IO is activated. The film 12 shows the driver 14 and the license plate 16 of the vehicle 4 that exceeded the speed limit.
is recorded along with information such as excessive speed and time.

After a predetermined number of images have been taken, the infrared film 12 is collected and developed, and a speeding violation notice is issued to the driver who is confirmed to have exceeded the speed limit.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Since the conventional traffic monitoring system is configured as described above, it has the following problems (1) to (3).

(1) The installation cost was extremely high, making it difficult to increase the number of installed units.

(2) The infrared film 12 has a very limited number of 1a images and has a short shelf life, so it needs to be replaced frequently and is very expensive. Therefore, maintenance for collecting and reloading the infrared film 12 is required at fairly short intervals, and the cost for this cannot be ignored.

(3) Because there is a time gap between the time when speeding is actually detected and the time when a traffic violation is reported, troubles sometimes occur with violators.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a traffic monitoring system that solves the above-mentioned problems, reduces installation costs and operation costs, does not require maintenance, and shortens the time from traffic monitoring to notification of traffic violations. Our goal is to provide the following.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve such an object, the present invention includes first to nth speed detection means for detecting the speed of a vehicle that exceeds a predetermined speed at n monitoring points; A television camera that photographs a vehicle at a monitoring point, and if excessive speeding is detected, one unit of image information and excessive speed etc. from the television camera installed at the monitoring point where the excessive speeding was detected. sending means for sending out information on one transmission line; storage means for storing one unit of sent image information and information on excess speed, etc.; and stored image information and information on excess speed, etc. The present invention is characterized by comprising an output means for outputting an image and information such as excessive speed based on the above.

[Operation: At n monitoring points, the first to nth speed detection means detect the speed of the vehicle that exceeds a predetermined speed, and at n monitoring points, the vehicle is photographed by a television camera to detect whether the vehicle is overspeeding. When the excessive speed is detected, one unit of image information and information such as the excessive speed are sent out to one transmission line from the television camera installed at the monitoring point where the excessive speed was detected. One unit of image information and information such as excessive speed are stored in the storage means, and based on the stored image information and information such as excessive speed, the image and information such as excessive speed are outputted by the output means.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the invention. In the figure, 2, 4
indicates the same or equivalent portion as in FIG. 4.

The infrared projectors 41, 42, 43, . . . , 4n irradiate the vehicle 4 with infrared rays as auxiliary light.

The terminal 51 is a man-machine interface section of the microcomputer and is composed of a keyboard, CRT, etc. The microcomputer includes a frame memory unit 54, a still image recording and reproducing unit 55,
It controls the video printer 59, the receiving unit 57, and the transmitting unit 58.

The monitor television 53 serves as an output means and displays still images and information such as excessive speed based on the still image information and information such as excessive speed stored in the frame memory unit 54.

The frame memory unit 54 serves as a storage means.
One unit of image information received by the receiving unit 57 is stored together with information such as excessive speed.

The still image recording/reproducing unit 55 records the still image information stored in the frame memory unit 54 and information such as excessive speed on a still image recording floppy disk 56.

The receiving unit 57 receives the signal sent to the transmission line 29.

The transmitting unit 58 sends a signal to the transmission line 29.

The video printer 59 serves as an output means and prints out still images and information such as excessive speed based on the still image information and information such as excessive speed recorded on the still image recording floppy 56.

Doppler speed detection device 61 installed at n monitoring points
．． 52, 83, .

The line control units 71.72.73,..., 7n control the transmission line 29 by the terminal control units 81.82.83,..., 8n.
In addition to directly connecting to the terminal controller, the signal from the terminal control unit is mixed and output to the transmission line 29.

The terminal control units 81, 82, 83, ... 8n include infrared projectors 41, ..., 40, Doppler speed detection device 6
1.62.63, 6n, TV left camera 1.9
2.93, . It is sent to

91.92.93, ..., 9n are the 1st to nth, respectively.
These TV cameras are installed at n monitoring points on the road 2 and take pictures of vehicles 4 that exceed the speed limit.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a traffic monitoring procedure by the microcomputer 52.

At all times, the TV left camera installed at each monitoring point is 1.92.
93, . . . , 9n are terminal control units 81.82.83,
..., 8n, infrared projector 41.42.43,
..., linked to 4n, TV left camera 1.92.
93, . . . , 9n are sending out continuous TV signals as shown in FIG.

In step S1, the speed of the vehicle 4 traveling on the road 2 is determined by the Doppler speed detection devices 61, 62, 63, . . .
For example, when the Doppler speed detection device 63 detects that a predetermined speed limit has been exceeded,
This information is notified to the terminal control unit along with the excessive speed at the timing shown in FIG. 3 (CB).

In step S2, the terminal control unit 83 determines whether or not the transmission line 29 is in a low state. If the transmission line 29 is not in a low state, the process proceeds to step S3, and in step S3, the line control unit Figure 3 (C) through 73
At the timing shown in , the camera number of the TV camera 93, that is, the line section permission W containing "3" is transmitted to the transmission line 29. This signal is received by the receiving unit 57, and if the operation on the center side is not busy,
In step S4, the transmitting unit 58 sends the
At the timing shown in , a control signal X, that is, a line busy declaration and permission for image transmission to the camera 93, is sent to the transmission line 29. However, the terminal control units 81, 82.
83, . . . , 8n are locked from accessing the line unless their own number is designated when the microcomputer 52 declares that the line is busy.

When the terminal control unit 83 receives this control signal X from the transmission line 29 through the line control unit 73, in step S5,
One unit of the image signal from the TV camera 93, that is,
A signal corresponding to one frame or one field of the image signal is extracted, and a control signal Y containing additional data such as overspeed, time, position, etc. is added to the signal, and the line control unit outputs the signal at the timing shown in Fig. 3(E). 73 to the transmission line 29.

The image signal for one unit sent to the transmission line 29 is received by the receiving unit 57 on the center side via the up line 2A of the transmission line 29, and the received image signal for one unit is sent to the frame memory. It is stored in unit 54.

When the frame memory unit 54 detects the control signal Y of the received signal, the frame memory unit 54 freezes the following one unit of the image signal in step S6. When the frame memory unit 54 receives the control signal Y, the frame memory unit 54 enters a writing state only while one unit of image signal is manually input, and freezes the manually input image. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2 (G), the frame memory unit continuously reads out and outputs the previously frozen images until time tl, but after time t, Based on this, the written image signal for one car is sent out as a continuous image signal.

When the frame memory unit 54 is completely frozen, the microcomputer 52 sends the third
At the timing shown in FIG.
．． All terminal control units 81.82, 83, . . . , 8n detected through 72.73, . ,...,6n, the image of the vehicle 4 detected by the TV camera 91.92.93,...,9n
and send the received image to the line control unit 71.72.73,
..., 70 to the transmission line 29. Therefore, overspeed detection and the transmission of the image to the center are again possible.

The still images frozen in the frame memory unit 54 are transferred to the monitor television 53 as necessary.
is monitored by the still image recording/reproducing unit 55 in step S7.
is recorded on the still image recording floppy disk 56 together with additional data. Finally, in step S8, the information is printed out on the video printer 59 together with additional data, and is used to notify speeding violators.

Since this embodiment has the above-described configuration, when the monitoring center is placed at an interchange on an expressway, speeding violators can be notified quickly, thereby eliminating the need for unnecessary notifications due to the long time it takes to notify them. It is also effective in preventing repeat violations.

Note that in this embodiment, the frame memory unit 54
Although an example of recording a plurality of still images has been described above, it is also possible to store one still image in the frame memory unit and record necessary images in the still image recording/reproducing unit 55 as appropriate. good.

Furthermore, it is of course possible to use an image recording means such as a VTR in case the still image recording/reproducing unit 55 is hot.

Furthermore, if the transmission line 29 is a long distance, a booster may be installed at the intermediate point of at least one of the up line 2A and the down line 2B.

In addition, in this embodiment, the Doppler speed detection device 61.
Although an example has been described in which the speed of the vehicle is detected using 62, 63, .

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, with the above configuration, installation cost and operation cost can be reduced.
Moreover, it requires no maintenance and has the effect of shortening the time from traffic monitoring to notification of traffic violations.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a traffic monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a traffic monitoring procedure by the microcomputer 52, and FIG. Time Chart FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional traffic monitoring device. 29... Transmission line, 52... Microcomputer, 53... Monitor television, 54... Frame memory unit, 55... Still image recording/reproducing unit, 57... Receiving unit, 58... Transmission unit, 59... Video printer, 61.62.63,..., 6n... Doppler speed detection device, 71.72.73, -17n --- Line control unit, 81.82.83,..., 8n...Terminal control unit. Figure diagram

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) first to nth speed detection means for detecting the speed of a vehicle exceeding a predetermined speed at n monitoring points; and a television camera for photographing the vehicle at the n monitoring points; When excessive speed is detected, a transmission means for transmitting a unit of image information from a television camera installed at the monitoring point where the excessive speed was detected and information on the excessive speed, etc., to a single transmission line. , a storage means for storing one unit of transmitted image information and information such as excessive speed, and an output means for outputting an image and information such as excessive speed based on the stored image information and information such as excessive speed. A traffic monitoring system comprising: