Edge detection image capture and recognition system
AssigneeCyclops Technologies, Inc.
InventorsJohn D. Chigos, Karthik Vishwanathan
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Abstract
Provided is a system and method of electronically identifying a license plate and comparing the results to a predetermined database. The software aspect of the system runs on standard PC hardware and can be linked to other applications or databases. It first uses a series of image manipulation techniques to detect, normalize and enhance the image of the number plate. Optical character recognition (OCR) is used to extract the alpha-numeric characters of the license plate. The recognized characters are then compared to databases containing information about the vehicle and/or owner.
Claims15
A computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising:
- a. maintaining a database of predetermined identification values;
- b. capturing an image containing alpha-numeric characters from an imagining device;
- c. establishing a recognition value derived from the alpha-numeric characters within the image;
- d. storing the recognition value;
- e. comparing the recognition value to the predetermined identification values;
- and
- f. creating an alert responsive to a match between the recognition value and a value in the database of license plate identification values.
A computer-implemented method of electronically identifying a license plate, comprising:
- a. capturing an image containing the license plate;
- b. localizing the license plate within the image;
- c. recognizing a plurality of characters in the license plate;
- and
- d. comparing the recognized plurality of characters to a predetermined database.
The method of claim further comprising:
- a. establishing a character substitution table comprising a plurality of commonly mistaken character reads;
- and
- b. creating a plurality of altered recognition values derived from the recognition value and the character substation table.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.