Low-power vehicle detection
AssigneeIps Group Inc.
InventorsAlexander SCHWARZ, Stephen John HUNTER
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A parking meter detects an object in proximity, based on a change in a proximity measurement at the meter, activates a directional sensor in response to detecting the object, receives sensor data at a meter processor from the directional sensor, wherein the received sensor data indicates a predetermined direction to the detected object relative to the meter. The parking meter determines a presence of the object, or lack thereof, in the predetermined direction based on the sensor data, and upon a positive determination of the presence of the object, stores an indication of the presence of the object along with a time of the positive determination.
Claims27
A low-power sensor apparatus for monitoring a parking space, the sensor apparatus comprising:
- a first sensor, a second sensor, a wireless transceiver, and a control module comprising one or more processors and coupled to the first sensor, the second sensor, and the wireless transceiver;
- wherein the second sensor has a more focused detection area than the first sensor and draws more power during operation than the first sensor,
- wherein the first sensor detects a change in a presence of an object in a parking space based on a change in a sensor measurement,
- wherein the one or more processors of the control module determine a payment status of the parking space, identify a potential parking violation based at least on the change in the sensor measurement and the payment status, and activate the second sensor in response to the potential parking violation,
- wherein the second sensor captures sensor data pertaining to the presence of the object in the parking space, and
- wherein the one or more processors of the control module transmit, by the wireless transceiver, the sensor data to one or more of:
- a parking meter associated with the parking space, a remote data manager, and a handheld device.
The sensor apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one or more memories for storing data comprises read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, or flash memory.
A method of metering a parking space, the method comprising:
- a) detecting a change in a presence of an object in a parking space based on a change in a sensor measurement by a first sensor;
- b) determining a payment status of the parking space;
- c) identifying a potential parking violation based at least on the change in the sensor measurement and the payment status;
- d) activating a second sensor in response to the potential parking violation, the second sensor having a more focused detection area than the first sensor, the second sensor having a higher power draw during operation than the first sensor;
- e) capturing sensor data by the second sensor pertaining to the presence of the object in the parking space;
- and
- f) transmitting the sensor data wirelessly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.