Toll collection system

Abstract

To solve the problem with currently prevalent ETC of, as well as a utilization percentage not reaching 100% due to a need for an ETC card, a need for sufficiently reducing the speed of a vehicle in toll gate passage due to frequent occurrence of a vehicle which cannot pass through a toll gate resulting from forgetting to insert the ETC card, contact failure, expiration, mistaken entry into the toll gate, and so on and personnel being stationed at all times near the toll gate in preparation for the vehicle which cannot pass through the toll gate.SOLUTION: Identifying a license plate of a vehicle at a tollbooth with toll payment means registered linked to information on the license plate of the vehicle eliminates a need for an ETC card and a toll gate. However, if the license plate cannot be identified, a charge cannot be made. Thus, there is provided means to specify the vehicle and make the charge even if the license plate cannot be identified.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] To provide a method for identifying a vehicle and charging a toll even if the license plate cannot be identified when the license plate of a vehicle passing through a toll gate on a toll road or in a parking lot is identified by a camera and a toll is charged. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 provides a technique for charging a fee based on identification information of a vehicle that has passed a charging point. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-117519 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The currently popular ETC system requires an ETC card, so it is difficult to achieve 100% utilization, and manned toll gates are essential. Also, vehicles often fail to pass through toll gates due to forgetting to insert the ETC card into the on-board unit, poor contact, expired card, or mistaken entry into the toll gate, so vehicles must slow down sufficiently when passing through the toll gate, and there are always people stationed near the toll gate in case a vehicle is unable to pass through.

[0005] Although the system for charging parking fees is automated, toll gates, car stops, and payment machines are still required, as well as regular maintenance, collection of sales revenue, and replenishment of change.

[0006] If vehicles that have been issued license plates were required to register their payment method (bank account, credit card, electronic money) and the license plates of vehicles that pass through toll booths on toll roads and in parking lots were identified and the toll charged, it would be possible to achieve 100% utilization, reduce the costs associated with toll booths, and improve user convenience. However, it would still be necessary to be able to identify the vehicle even if recognition of the license plate fails. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, the toll collection system of the present invention comprises a charging point and a billing system, the charging point comprising a photographing unit that captures an image including the license plate of a vehicle that passes through the charging point, and a notification unit that notifies the billing system of the image including the license plate of the vehicle captured by the photographing unit.

[0008] The billing system includes a vehicle information registration unit in which the model, color, license plate information, a unique identifier on the communication network, and a payment method of the vehicle to which the license plate has been issued are registered, a number identification unit that identifies the license plate from an image including the vehicle license plate notified by the notification unit of the charging point, and a vehicle identification unit A that compares the license plate information identified by the number identification unit with the license plate information registered in the vehicle information registration unit and determines that a vehicle with matching license plate information is a vehicle that has passed through the charging point.

[0009] The billing system includes a model estimation unit that estimates the model and color of a vehicle from an image of the vehicle notified by the notification unit of the charging point, and a vehicle identification unit B that compares the model and color registered in the vehicle information registration unit of a vehicle that the vehicle identification unit A has determined to be a vehicle that has passed through the charging point with the model and color estimated by the model estimation unit, and determines that a vehicle with a matching model and color is the vehicle that has passed through the charging point.

[0010] The toll collection system includes a vehicle, the vehicle having a number registration unit that electronically registers issued license plate information, and the billing system includes a vehicle identification unit C that attempts to establish communication with a unique identifier on a communication network registered in the vehicle information registration unit of a vehicle that the vehicle identification unit B has determined to be a vehicle that has passed through the charging point, acquires license plate information registered in the number registration unit of the vehicle with which communication has been established, and determines that a vehicle whose acquired license plate information matches the license plate information identified by the number identification unit is the vehicle that has passed through the charging point.

[0011] The toll collection system includes a smartphone and an app installed on the smartphone, the app having a designated device registration unit in which a designated in-vehicle Bluetooth connection device is registered, and a communication permission unit that permits communication with the billing system when the smartphone makes a Bluetooth connection and is connected to a device registered in the designated device registration unit.

[0012] The notification unit of the charging point notifies the billing system of the time when the photographing unit captured an image including the vehicle's license plate information along with the image of the vehicle, and the billing system is equipped with a communication history acquisition unit that acquires the position coordinates of the communication base station with which the vehicle was communicating and the time of communication, and is equipped with a vehicle identification unit D that estimates the vehicle's movement path from the time series changes in the position coordinates of the communication base station with which the vehicle was communicating acquired by the communication history acquisition unit, and identifies the vehicle that passed through the charging point by comparing the estimated vehicle movement path with the time when the image of the vehicle was captured notified by the notification unit of the charging point and the position coordinates of the charging point.

[0013] The billing system includes a vehicle identification unit E which, when the vehicle identification unit C or the vehicle identification unit D determines that no vehicles have passed the charging point, compares the license plate information identified by the license plate identification unit and the model and color estimated by the model estimation unit for vehicles that have been determined by the vehicle identification unit B to have passed the charging point and whose unique identifiers on the communication network are not registered in the vehicle information registration unit, and determines that vehicles with matching license plate information, model and color are the vehicles that have passed the charging point.

[0014] When any of the vehicle identification units A, B, C, D, and E of the billing system determines that only one vehicle has passed the charging point, the fee is charged to the fee payment method registered in the vehicle information registration unit of the determined vehicle. Effect of the Invention

[0015] According to the toll collection system of the present invention, when the license plate of a vehicle that passes a charging point is identified and a toll is charged, the toll can be charged even if the license plate cannot be identified. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a fee collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing performed by the fee collection system according to the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] Hereinafter, an embodiment of a toll collection system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0018] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a toll collection system.

[0019] In the toll collection system 100, a charging point 1, a billing system 2, a vehicle 3, a smartphone 4, and a communication base station 5 are connected.

[0020] The charging point 1 includes a photographing unit 7 and a notification unit 8 .

[0021] The billing system 2 includes a vehicle information registration unit 9, a number identification unit 10, a vehicle identification unit A11, a model estimation unit 12, a vehicle identification unit B13, a vehicle identification unit C14, a communication history acquisition unit 15, a vehicle identification unit D16, and a vehicle identification unit E17.

[0022] The vehicle 3 includes a license plate registration unit 18 .

[0023] The smartphone 4 includes an application 6 , and the application 6 includes a designated device registration unit 19 and a communication permission unit 20 .

[0024] If toll booths on toll roads could identify vehicle license plates and charge tolls to the payment method linked to the license plate (bank account, credit card, electronic money), it would reduce the burden of capital investment and maintenance and improve convenience for drivers.If parking lots could also identify vehicle license plates and charge tolls, it would improve convenience for drivers and reduce the burden of capital investment and maintenance.

[0025] For this reason, the toll collection system 100 comprises a charging point 1 and a billing system 2, the charging point 1 comprises a photographing unit 7 that photographs an image including the license plate of a vehicle that has passed the charging point 1, and a notification unit 8 that notifies the billing system 2 of the image including the license plate of the vehicle photographed by the photographing unit 7, the billing system 2 comprises a vehicle information registration unit 9 in which the model, color, license plate information, a unique identifier on the communication network, and the toll payment method of the vehicle to which the license plate has been issued are registered, and the billing system 2 comprises a number identification unit 10 that identifies the license plate from the image including the vehicle license plate notified by the notification unit 8 of the charging point 1, and a vehicle identification unit A11 that compares the license plate information identified by the number identification unit 10 with the license plate information registered in the vehicle information registration unit 9 and determines that a vehicle with matching license plate information is a vehicle that has passed the charging point 1.

[0026] In addition, monthly parking lots can also be managed by linking the toll collection system 100 with a system for contracting monthly parking lots. The toll collection system 100 photographs the license plates of parked vehicles, making it possible to effectively combat illegal parking.

[0027] If the number plate identification unit 10 of the billing system 2 can only partially identify the number plate, the vehicle identification unit A11 determines that multiple vehicles have passed the charging point 1. Possible causes of failure to identify the number plate include peeling paint, bending, turning around, the installation of a protective sheet, and the accumulation of mud or snow.

[0028] Paint peeling, folding, turning, and installing protective sheets are all signs of poor maintenance, and can be prevented by enforcing strict regulations. In Japan, where the roads are paved at a high rate, mud that makes the license plate unreadable is limited to some construction vehicles, and can be prevented by informing businesses.

[0029] It is thought that in areas with heavy snowfall in winter, it is common for snow to accumulate on vehicle numbers, making them unreadable. The spread of illuminated license plates can prevent snow from accumulating on vehicle numbers, but in order to prevent unauthorized passage through toll booths, technology is needed to identify vehicles when license plate identification fails.

[0030] For this reason, the billing system 2 is provided with a model estimation unit 12 that estimates the model and color of the vehicle from an image of the vehicle notified by the notification unit 8 of the charging point 1, and a vehicle identification unit B13 that compares the model and color registered in the vehicle information registration unit 9 of a vehicle that the vehicle identification unit A11 has determined to be a vehicle that has passed through the charging point 1 with the model and color estimated by the model estimation unit 12, and determines that a vehicle with a matching model and color is the vehicle that has passed through the charging point 1.

[0031] If the vehicle identification unit B13 of the billing system 2 determines that multiple vehicles have passed through the charging point 1, it becomes difficult to identify one vehicle that has passed through the charging point 1 from the image of the vehicle notified by the notification unit 8 of the charging point 1. Therefore, the toll collection system 100 is provided with a vehicle 3, which is provided with a number registration unit 18 that electronically registers the issued license plate information, and the billing system 2 is provided with a vehicle identification unit C14 that attempts to establish communication with a unique identifier on the communication network registered in the vehicle information registration unit 9 of the vehicle that the vehicle identification unit B13 has determined to be the vehicle that has passed through the charging point 1, obtains the license plate information registered in the number registration unit 18 of the vehicle 3 (whose engine is starting) with which communication has been established, and determines that a vehicle whose obtained license plate information matches the license plate information identified by the number identification unit 10 is the vehicle that has passed through the charging point 1.

[0032] When a vehicle communicates with a network, the user must pay the communication fee, so it should not be mandatory to equip the vehicle with a network communication function. However, if many vehicles do not have a network communication function, this technology will not be viable. Therefore, an application 6 is provided for a smartphone 4, a unique identifier on the network of the smartphone 4 on which the application 6 is installed is registered in a vehicle information registration unit 9 of a billing system 2, and the application 6 allows communication with the billing system 2 only when the smartphone 4 is connected to the vehicle 3 via Bluetooth, and the license plate information electronically registered in a license plate registration unit 18 of the vehicle 3 is obtained via the application 6. It is not necessary to equip the vehicle with a communication function. Navigation and AV devices installed in vehicles generally have a Bluetooth function, and if a device dedicated to Bluetooth connection is provided for vehicles whose navigation and AV devices do not have a Bluetooth function, the cost can be reduced to less than that of an ETC terminal.

[0033] For this reason, the toll collection system 100 includes a smartphone 4 and an app 6 installed on the smartphone 4. The app 6 includes a designated device registration unit 19 in which a designated in-vehicle Bluetooth connection device is registered, and a communication permission unit 20 that permits communication with the billing system 2 when the smartphone 6 connects to Bluetooth and is connected to a device registered in the designated device registration unit 19.

[0034] If the communication permission unit 20 of the app 6 permits communication with the billing system 2, the unique identifier on the network of the smartphone 4 is sent to the billing system 2 together with the license plate information registered in the license plate registration unit 18 of the vehicle 3, and is registered as the unique identifier on the network of a vehicle whose license plate information matches among the vehicles registered in the vehicle information registration unit 9.

[0035] In case the vehicle license plate is counterfeited, even if the number identification unit 10 of the billing system 2 succeeds in identifying the license plate, it is desirable to estimate the vehicle model and color using the model estimation unit 12 and attempt to establish communication using the vehicle identification unit C14.

[0036] When the above-mentioned process is performed, in order to illegally pass through with a license plate that has a forged charging point 1, it is necessary to select a vehicle that does not have communication capabilities, obtain the license plate information of a vehicle that is model XX, color XX, and has not installed app 6 on smartphone 4 and set up a Bluetooth connection with vehicle 3, and then forge the license plate; however, it is difficult to obtain license plate information of a vehicle that is certainly not set up for Bluetooth connection.

[0037] Even if license plate information that meets the above conditions is obtained and a person illegally passes through charging point 1 with a counterfeit license plate, if the owner of the original license plate alleges that the license plate was used illegally, it is easy to determine whether or not the license plate was used illegally by checking the driver's characteristics from the image captured by the camera unit 7 at charging point 1.

[0038] When the vehicle identification unit C14 of the billing system 2 determines that multiple vehicles have passed the charging point 1, the travel route is estimated from the history of the communication base station 5 with which the vehicle communicated. Any vehicle that can communicate with the network is equipped with a navigation system, but for any reason, detailed position coordinates of a vehicle that an individual is driving for personal use should not be obtained, and it is difficult to determine whether or not a vehicle is being driven for personal use.

[0039] For this reason, the notification unit 8 of the charging point 1 notifies the billing system 2 of the time when the photographing unit 7 captured an image including the vehicle's license plate information along with the image of the vehicle, and the billing system 2 is provided with a communication history acquisition unit 15 that acquires the position coordinates of the communication base station 5 with which the vehicle was communicating and the time of communication, and is provided with a vehicle identification unit D16 that estimates the vehicle's movement path from the time series changes in the position coordinates of the communication base station with which the vehicle was communicating acquired by the communication history acquisition unit 15, and identifies the vehicle that passed through the charging point 1 by comparing the estimated vehicle movement path with the time when the image of the vehicle was captured notified by the notification unit 8 of the charging point 1 and the position coordinates of the charging point 1.

[0040] If the vehicle cannot communicate with the network, the vehicle identification unit C14 or vehicle identification unit D16 of the billing system 2 will determine that no vehicles have passed through charging point 1. Therefore, the billing system 2 is equipped with a vehicle identification unit E17 that, when the vehicle identification unit C14 or vehicle identification unit D16 determines that no vehicles have passed through charging point 1, compares the license plate information identified by the license plate identification unit 10 and the model and color estimated by the model estimation unit 12 for vehicles that do not have a unique identifier on the communication network registered in the vehicle information registration unit 9 of the vehicle that the vehicle identification unit B13 has determined to have passed charging point 1, and determines that a vehicle with matching license plate information, model and color is a vehicle that has passed through charging point 1.

[0041] This concludes the description of the configuration of the toll collection system 100. The operation of the toll collection system will now be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 2. Steps S1 and S2 are processes performed by the charging point 1, and steps S3 to S9 are processes performed by the billing system 2.

[0042] In step S1, the photographing unit 7 of the charging point 1 photographs an image including the license plate of a vehicle that has passed the charging point 1, and in step S2, the notification unit 8 of the charging point 1 notifies the billing system 2 of the image including the license plate of the vehicle photographed by the photographing unit 7.

[0043] In step S3, the number plate identification unit 10 of the billing system 2 identifies the number plate information included in the image notified by the notification unit 8 of the charging point 1, and the vehicle identification unit A11 compares the number plate information identified by the number plate identification unit 10 with the number plate information registered in the vehicle information registration unit 9, and determines that the vehicle with matching number plate information is the vehicle that passed through the charging point 1. If the vehicle identification unit A11 identifies one vehicle, the process proceeds to step S4, if the vehicle identification unit A11 identifies zero vehicles (the number identification rate is too low), the process proceeds to step S5, and if the vehicle identification unit A11 identifies multiple vehicles, the process proceeds to step S6.

[0044] In step S4, the fee is charged to the payment means registered in the vehicle information registration unit 9 for the vehicles identified by vehicle identification units A11, B13, C14, D16, and E17 of the billing system 2.

[0045] In step S5, the police are asked to cooperate in the investigation.

[0046] In step S6, the model estimation unit 12 of the billing system 2 estimates the model and color of the vehicle from the image notified by the notification unit 8 of the charging point 1, and the vehicle identification unit B13 compares the vehicle model and color estimated by the model estimation unit 12 with the vehicles identified by the vehicle identification unit A registered in the vehicle information registration unit 9, and determines that a vehicle with a matching model and color is the vehicle that passed through the charging point 1. If the vehicle identification unit B13 identifies one vehicle, the process proceeds to step S4, and if the vehicle identification unit B13 identifies multiple vehicles, the process proceeds to step S7.

[0047] In step S7, the vehicle identification unit C14 of the billing system 2 attempts to establish communication with a unique identifier on the network of the vehicle identified by the vehicle identification unit B13, which is registered in the vehicle information registration unit 9, obtains the computerized license plate information registered in the license plate registration unit 18 of the vehicle 3 (whose engine is in a started state) with which communication has been established, compares the license plate information identified by the license plate identification unit 10 with the license plate information of the vehicle with which communication has been established, and determines that the matching vehicle is the vehicle that has passed the charging point 1. If the vehicle identification unit C14 identifies one vehicle, the process proceeds to step S4; if the vehicle identification unit C14 identifies multiple vehicles, the process proceeds to step S8; if the vehicle identification unit C14 identifies zero vehicles, the process proceeds to step S9.

[0048] In step S8, the communication history acquisition unit 15 of the billing system 2 acquires the position coordinates of the communication base station with which the vehicle identified by the vehicle identification unit C14 was communicating and the time of communication, and the vehicle identification unit D16 estimates the vehicle's movement route from the change in the time-series position coordinates of the communication base station acquired by the communication history acquisition unit 15, and identifies the vehicle that passed through the charging point 1 by comparing the estimated vehicle image with the position coordinates of the charging point 1 where the image was taken and the time the image was taken. If the vehicle identification unit D16 identifies one vehicle, proceed to step S4, and if the vehicle identification unit D16 identifies multiple vehicles, proceed to step S9.

[0049] In step S9, the vehicle identification unit E17 of the billing system 2 identifies, among the vehicles identified by the vehicle identification unit B13 in the case of via step S7, or the vehicles identified by the vehicle identification unit D16 in the case of via step S8, a vehicle whose unique identifier on the network is not registered in the vehicle information registration unit 9, as a vehicle that has passed the charging point 1. If the vehicle identification unit E17 identifies one vehicle, the process proceeds to step S4, and if the vehicle identification unit E17 identifies multiple vehicles, the process proceeds to step S5. [Industrial Applicability]

[0050] The toll collection system according to the present invention is suitable for charging tolls when the license plate of a vehicle passing a charging point cannot be identified and the license plate cannot be identified. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 1 Charge points 2. Billing System 3. Vehicle 4. Smartphones 5. Telecommunications base stations 6. Apps 7. Photography Department 8 Notification section 9. Vehicle Information Registration Department 10 Number Identification Unit 11 Vehicle Identification Section A 12 Type Estimation Section 13 Vehicle Identification Section B 14 Vehicle Identification Section C 15 Communication history acquisition unit 16 Vehicle Identification Section D 17 Vehicle Identification Section E 18 Number Registration Department 19. Designated Equipment Registration Department 20 Communication permission section

Claims

1. A charging point and a billing system are provided, the charging point includes an image capturing unit that captures an image including a license plate of a vehicle that has passed the charging point, A notification unit that notifies the billing system of an image including a license plate of a vehicle photographed by the photographing unit, The billing system includes a vehicle information registration unit in which the type, color, license plate information, a unique identifier on a communication network, and a fee payment method of a vehicle to which a license plate has been issued are registered; a number identification unit that identifies a license plate from an image including the license plate of the vehicle notified by the notification unit of the charging point, A vehicle identification unit A is provided which compares the number plate information identified by the number identification unit with the number plate information registered in the vehicle information registration unit and determines that a vehicle having matching number plate information is a vehicle that has passed through the charging point. A toll collection system characterized by the above.

2. A smartphone and an application installed on the smartphone, The app includes a designated device registration unit in which a designated in-vehicle Bluetooth connection device is registered, A communication permission unit that permits communication with the billing system when the smartphone is connected to a device registered in the designated device registration unit via Bluetooth connection.

2. The toll collection system according to claim 1,

3. the billing system includes a model estimation unit that estimates a model and a color of a vehicle from an image of the vehicle notified by the notification unit of the charging point; and a vehicle identification unit B that compares the model and color registered in the vehicle information registration unit of the vehicle that the vehicle identification unit A has determined to be a vehicle that has passed through the charging point with the model and color estimated by the model estimation unit, and determines that a vehicle whose model and color match is the vehicle that has passed through the charging point.

2. The toll collection system according to claim 1,

4. Equipped with a vehicle, The vehicle includes a number registration unit that electronically registers issued license plate information, The billing system includes a vehicle identification unit C that attempts to establish communication with a unique identifier on a communication network registered in the vehicle information registration unit of a vehicle that the vehicle identification unit B has determined to be a vehicle that has passed the charging point, acquires license plate information registered in the license plate registration unit of the vehicle with which communication has been established, and determines that a vehicle whose acquired license plate information matches the license plate information identified by the license plate identification unit is the vehicle that has passed the charging point.

4. The toll collection system according to claim 3,

5. The notification unit of the charging point notifies the billing system of the time when the image capturing unit captured the image including the license plate information of the vehicle together with the image of the vehicle; The billing system includes a communication history acquisition unit that acquires a position coordinate of a communication base station with which the vehicle communicates and a time of communication, A vehicle identification unit D is provided for estimating a moving route of the vehicle from a time series change in the position coordinates of the communication base station with which the vehicle communicated, acquired by the communication history acquisition unit, and for identifying the vehicle that has passed the charging point by comparing the estimated moving route of the vehicle with the time when the image of the vehicle was taken and the position coordinates of the charging point, which are notified by the notification unit of the charging point.

5. The toll collection system according to claim 4,

6. When the vehicle identification unit C or the vehicle identification unit D determines that no vehicles have passed through the charging point, the billing system: The vehicle identification unit B includes a vehicle identification unit E for collating the number plate information identified by the number identification unit and the type and color estimated by the type estimation unit with respect to a vehicle that is determined to have passed the charging point and whose unique identifier on the communication network is not registered in the vehicle information registration unit, and determining that a vehicle having the matching number plate information, type, and color is a vehicle that has passed the charging point.

6. The toll collection system according to claim 5,

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