Vehicle detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9810783-B2
Application number	US-201414278802-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 15, 2014
Priority date	May 15, 2014
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

Abstract

In some examples, vehicle detection includes detecting a target vehicle that has at least one designated attribute, confirming that the detected target vehicle is within an unobstructed or partially obstructed line of sight of the first object, and confirming that the target vehicle has been detected within the unobstructed or partially obstructed line of sight of the first object.

First claim

We claim:

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, hosted on a client device removably located in a spotter vehicle or hosted on a built-in device in the spotter vehicle, that stores executable instructions that, in response to execution by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform or control performance of operations comprising:
searching for at least one target object from the spotter vehicle, the spotter vehicle being a vehicle from which verified detection of the at least one target object is sought, the searching comprising operating a radar detector within a 360° range of the spotter vehicle and a laser mounted on or located in the spotter vehicle;
operating in cooperation with an alternative spotter that searches for the at least one target object;
quantifying a magnitude of an obstruction, wherein the magnitude of the obstruction approaches 0% if a line of sight is clear between the at least one target object and both of the alternative spotter and the spotter vehicle;
determining whether the quantified magnitude of the obstruction is permissible to detect the at least one target object, wherein the magnitude of the obstruction is permissible if below a threshold magnitude of obstruction;
based, at least in part, on the quantified magnitude of the obstruction being below the threshold magnitude of obstruction, detecting the at least one target object within a particular distance of the spotter vehicle which is moving at least at a threshold rate of speed greater than zero within the particular distance of the spotter vehicle;
confirming the detecting of the at least one target object by notifying at least a third-party entity of the detecting and by notifying the detected at least one target object of the detecting; and requesting and receiving a detection confirmation from the detected at least one target object.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the client device is hosted on a built-in console in the spotter vehicle.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the searching further comprises operating a video camera to detect the at least one target object in the line of sight between the at least one target object and the spotter vehicle.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3 , wherein the at least one target object includes a target vehicle for which at least one attribute is a basis for the searching.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4 , wherein the at least one attribute comprises a particular make, model, or color of the target vehicle.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the third-party entity comprises a service-provider.

7. A detection method, comprising:
quantifying, by a detector device controlled by an application hosted in or on a spotter vehicle, a magnitude of an obstruction, wherein the magnitude of the obstruction approaches 0% if a line of sight is clear between a target vehicle and both an alternative spotter and the spotter vehicle;
determining, by the detector device, whether the quantified magnitude of the obstruction is permissible to detect the target vehicle, wherein the quantified magnitude of the obstruction is permissible if below a threshold magnitude of obstruction;
detecting, by the detector device and based, at least in part, on the quantified magnitude of the obstruction being below the threshold magnitude of obstruction, the target vehicle, wherein the target vehicle has at least one designated attribute, and wherein the spotter vehicle is a vehicle from which verified detection of the target vehicle is sought;
confirming, by a first object controlled by the application hosted in or on the spotter vehicle, that the detected target vehicle is within a particular distance of the spotter vehicle and moving at least at a threshold rate of speed greater than zero within the particular distance of the spotter vehicle; and
confirming detection, by the first object, of the detected target vehicle by transmitting a confirmation signal to at least a third party entity to provide notification of the detecting.

8. The detection method of claim 7 , wherein the detecting includes performing the detecting by a surveillance system, associated with the first object, that includes a sonar detector and a radar detector having 360° detection capabilities.

9. The detection method of claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving, from the third-party server, a commercial reward.

10. The detection method of claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving, from the detected target vehicle, a signal confirming detection thereof by the first object.

11. A vehicle detection system, comprising:
a detector configured to:
search for a target vehicle that matches a particular criterion, by use of a speed and presence detection system having 360° detection capabilities;
quantify a magnitude of an obstruction, wherein the magnitude of the obstruction approaches 0% if a line of sight is clear between the target vehicle and the detector;
determine whether the quantified magnitude of the obstruction is permissible to detect the target vehicle, wherein the quantified magnitude of the obstruction is permissible if below a threshold magnitude of obstruction; and
based, at least in part, on the quantified magnitude of the obstruction being below the threshold magnitude of obstruction, the target vehicle within a particular distance of the spotter vehicle and moving at least a threshold rate of speed greater than zero within the particular distance of the spotter vehicle, indicate that the target vehicle that matches the particular criterion has been detected in relation to a host of the vehicle detection system, the host of the vehicle detection system being a vehicle from which verified detection of the target vehicle is sought; and
a confirmation module operatively coupled to the detector and configured to confirm that the target vehicle that matches the particular criterion has been detected in relation to the host of the vehicle detection system, by receipt of confirmation from the target vehicle.

12. The vehicle detection system of claim 11 , wherein the detector includes a camera mounted on or located in the host of the vehicle detection system.

13. The vehicle detection system of claim 11 , wherein the detector includes a laser mounted on or located in the host of the vehicle detection system.

14. The vehicle detection system of claim 11 , wherein to confirm that the target vehicle that matches the particular criterion has been detected, the confirmation module is configured to request confirmation from the target vehicle.

Assignees

• Empire Technology Dev Llc

Inventors

• Fligler Ariel
• Hirshberg David
• Bushinsky Shay
• Ur Shmuel
• Dabija Vlad

Classifications

• G08G1/0175

  by photographing vehicles, e.g. when violating traffic rules · CPC title

• G01S15/04 Primary

  Systems determining presence of a target · CPC title

• G08G1/054

  photographing overspeeding vehicles · CPC title