Patent ID: 8577088
Filing Date: 2013-11-05
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method for identifying a vehicle, the method comprising: obtaining one or more images of the vehicle; producing at least one sub-image, the at least one sub-image comprising an area of the one or more obtained images that contains one or more identity parameters of the vehicle, the at least one sub-image being enhanced based on the one or more obtained images; detecting one or more interest points within the at least one sub-image, each interest point relating to at least one of the one or more identity parameters, and each interest point being substantially capable of detection as an interest point across a plurality of changing image capture conditions; for each distinct interest point, processing the at least one sub-image to obtain one or more descriptors, the one or more descriptors comprising a corresponding numeric representation of the distinct interest point; matching, with one or more processors, one or more of the descriptors to one or more templates, each template corresponding to at least one of (a) a known vehicle manufacturer and (b) a known vehicle make and each template comprising one or more predetermined descriptors representing interest points in previously obtained images that correspond to known identity parameters; calculating a confidence measure of a match between one or more of the descriptors and one or more of the templates; and identifying one or more identity parameters of the vehicle based on at least one match and at least one confidence measure.