Parking Lot Management System Server-Side Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional parking lot management systems require high-performance cameras and multiple sensors, such as radars, to maintain a high vehicle number recognition rate, leading to increased complexity and cost, especially in large parking lots.
Innovation Solution
A parking lot management system that uses general-purpose digital cameras installed at each parking space, with a server device connected over a network for data analysis, eliminating the need for high-performance cameras and additional sensors like radars, as the server performs character recognition and vehicle detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If high-performance cameras and high-processing-power CPUs are used in camera units to maintain high vehicle number recognition rate, then recognition accuracy is improved, but system cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex data processing and character recognition functions from the camera units and relocates them to a centralized server device. The camera units are reduced to simple image capture and transmission functions, while the server handles the computationally intensive tasks of image processing, character recognition, and database management. This extraction resolves the contradiction by maintaining high recognition accuracy through server-side processing while keeping camera units simple and low-cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple camera units into a single centralized system managed by one server device. Instead of each camera unit having independent high-performance processing capabilities, the system combines the processing power of a single server to handle images from multiple cameras. This merging approach maintains high recognition rates while reducing the overall system complexity and cost compared to having multiple high-performance camera units.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If radars or infrared sensors are installed in camera units to detect approaching vehicles, then vehicle detection capability is improved, but the number of components and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the camera unit multi-functional by enabling it to perform both vehicle detection and vehicle number recognition using a single device. The camera captures images that are then processed by the server to detect the presence of vehicles and recognize their license plates. This eliminates the need for separate radars or infrared sensors, resolving the contradiction by maintaining vehicle detection capability while reducing the number of components through the camera's universal function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/sensor-based vehicle detection system (radars, infrared sensors) with an optical system (camera) combined with digital image processing. Instead of using active sensors to detect vehicles, the system uses passive optical capture followed by computational analysis to detect and identify vehicles. This substitution reduces component complexity while maintaining or improving detection capability.
Data Source
AI summary
To provide a parking lot management system capable of maintaining a high vehicle number recognition rate even with reduced camera performance. A parking lot management system 1 comprises a parking lot system 10 installed in a parking lot, and a server device 30 connected thereto by a network 2. The parking lot system 10 comprises a camera unit 11, and the server device 30 comprises a server-side control means 31, server-side memory 32, a data analysis means 33, and a server-side communication means 34. The camera unit 11 comprises a camera-side control means 13, a flashlight 14, an indicator 15 for indicating that a space is occupied, a camera 16, camera-side memory 17, and a camera-side communication means 18. Because the data analysis means 33 of the server device 30 has high analytical power, a low-performance camera 16 is sufficient for the camera unit 11.