Patent Publication Number: US-2011069168-A1

Title: Vehicle surveillance system for use in parking lots

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a smart vehicle surveillance system, and more particularly to a vehicle surveillance system for use in a parking lot. 
     2. Related Prior Art 
     A conventional parking lot surveillance system is equipped with cameras for security personnel to monitor vehicle status in a parking lot. Typical prior art surveillance cameras record hundreds of hours of moving images onto video tape which must be monitored by people in order to tell if something suspicious occurred. Most of the video data is useless because nothing interesting is occurring. These cameras may record every detail occurred in the parking lot for further crime investigation. However, when an abnormal event of the vehicle does occur, no instant action will be taken for the vehicle since the security personnel or related people may not be watching the monitor at that moment. The vehicle remains insecure under the conventional parking lot surveillance system. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle surveillance system for installation in a parking lot to ensure that the vehicle in the parking lot is secure. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle surveillance system that is completely automatic. That is, no or little manpower is needed with such system for vehicle security. Manpower costs for vehicle security can therefore be reduced. 
     The present invention is directed to an intelligent vehicle surveillance system for installation in a parking area, such as a parking lot or a parking space. The vehicle surveillance system includes an image capture device, a calculating unit and an alarm processing unit. The image capture device is provided for capturing image data from the parking area. The calculating unit is coupled to the image capture device for detecting whether an abnormal event of the vehicle occurs in the parking area or not. The alarm processing unit is coupled to the calculating unit and includes an alert notification module. When the abnormal event of the vehicle is detected by the calculating unit, the alert notification module will be activated immediately to notify a security guard or the vehicle owner of the abnormal event in a timely manner for further processing. 
     Specifically, the calculating unit is configured to recognize a movable object from a static background according to the captured image data of the image capture device. 
     Further features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated by review of the following detailed description of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING 
       The invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawing in which corresponding parts are identified by the same numerals and in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a vehicle surveillance system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1  of the drawing, a vehicle surveillance system  10  for installation in a parking area in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention includes an image capture device  12 , a calculating unit  14  coupled to the image capture device  12 , and an alarm processing unit  16  coupled to the calculating unit  14 . 
     In this embodiment, the image capture device  12 , such as a CCD (Charged Coupled Device) camera, is configured for capturing image data from the parking area and transferring the captured image data to the calculating unit  14 . 
     The calculating unit  14  cooperates with the image capture device  12  to monitor the parking area and detect whether an abnormal event of the vehicle occurs in the parking area or not. Specifically, the calculating unit  14  can recognize a movable object from a static background according to the captured image data of the image capture device  12 . Therefore, when a vehicle, a person or any unusual object moves into the parking area, the calculating unit  14  can identify what the movable object is. More specifically, the calculating unit  14  can distinguish a human body from the vehicle. Upon concluding that the movable object is truly the vehicle according to its dynamic characteristic, the calculating unit  14  further recognizes shape, color and license plate of the vehicle. Afterward, the calculating unit  14  sends the detected and analyzed result to the alarm processing unit  16 . 
     The alarm processing unit  16  includes a light source  11 , a user setting interface  13  and an alert notification module  17 . The light source  11  is provided for illumination of the parking area to maintain enough lighting when the light is too dim, such as at night, for the image capture device  12  to capture enough-quality image data for further recognition by the calculating unit  14 . 
     The user setting interface  13 , coupled with the alert notification module  17 , is provided to allow the vehicle owner to set up contact information and click in the relevant window to bring the vehicle under surveillance of the system. Once the vehicle is under surveillance of the system, the calculating unit  14  detects whether any passenger or unusual object approaches the monitored vehicle according to the captured image data of the image capture device  12 , and then tracks the activities of the passenger or the object to analyze whether the vehicle is in danger or not. 
     If the calculating unit  14  detects that the passenger or object remains at the parking area rather unusually, the calculating unit  14  concludes that an abnormal event of the monitored vehicle occurs in the parking area. For instance, in the case where a thief or a dangerous article is detected by the calculating unit  14 , the alert notification module  17  of the alarm processing unit  16  will be activated to send a warning message to notify the security personnel or the vehicle owner according to the contact information of the event. The security personnel or the vehicle owner can then judge according to the warning message and take instant action if necessary. 
     The construction of vehicle surveillance system as described above is thus far largely conventional. According to the present invention, this configuration utilizes motion detection and track technologies to detect whether an abnormal event of the monitored vehicle occurs or not and thereby automatically inform the related people to make sure that the vehicle is secure. 
     It will be appreciated that although a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, modifications may be made. It is intended in the claims to cover such modifications which come within the spirit and scope of the invention.