WO2022108566A1

WO2022108566A1 - Digital intelligence system used for parking lot management system

Info

Publication number: WO2022108566A1
Application number: PCT/TR2021/051243
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tolga SANDAL; Sergun Özmen
Original assignee: St Yazilim Programcilik Gida Sanayi Ticaret Ltd Sirketi
Current assignee: St Yazilim Programcilik Gida Sanayi Ticaret Ltd Sirketi
Priority date: 2020-11-20
Filing date: 2021-11-19
Publication date: 2022-05-27
Anticipated expiration: 2023-05-20
Also published as: EP4107715A4; CN115280394A; EP4107715A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system (1) that performs the control, management and fee collection of vehicle entries/exits in open/closed and on-street parking areas (A) with the help of its digital intelligence. The central control unit (11) in the inventive system (1) collects data from the sensors (2) in all car parking areas (A) as it is a solution to the problems in the existing indoor/outdoor and car parking areas (A), processes the sensor (2) data, records raw data in a way that administrators (E) can understand, follows the results by making task notifications to the operators (B) and controllers (C) and provides information requested by managers (E). The central control unit (11) is located behind a FireWall for data and access security.

Description

DIGITAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM USED FOR PARKING LOT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system that performs the control, management and fee collection of vehicle entries/exits in open-air with gate arm/barrier and on-street parking areas with the help of its digital intelligence.

State of the Art

Entry and exit in the existing Open/Closed parking areas are based on the number plate reading of the barriers and/or opening/closing with receipt method. The parking fees are collected by the officers working in shifts at the pay-desk located at the parking lot. Human interactions can still be seen in these areas and contactless transactions are not possible. Unregistered transactions made by the personnel within the first 15 minutes are possible.

Entry/exit controls in the on-street parking areas are performed by personnel working in shifts and require direct contact of the personnel with the vehicle owner. The fee is also collected by the personnel face-to-face with a POS device by making out an invoice. The amount of the fee mostly depends on the duration agreed between the staff and the vehicle owner, but the vehicles often stay longer than the specified time. It is difficult to follow the entry and exit of the vehicles on the street Due to the insufficiency of personnel. While leaving their cars, in case the vehicle owners do not meet the personnel, the fee cannot be collected. Although the amount of the fee is written to the number plate by the personnel later, it is not possible to collect this fee. It is obvious that more personnel is required. Therefore, current potential parking areas cannot be put into service, and even there may be individuals who attempt to collect cash illegally on behalf of the municipality in those areas. In some cases, the possibility of unreceipted transactions that are made by the person may also occur. Such vehicle tracking and charging method both increases human-human interaction and causes an illegal collection of fees with losses. In the patent application document numbered TR2020/04177 of the state of the art, a payment system that eliminates the use of cash for parking fees and enables users to make payments easily is disclosed. Payments are made via SMS, and no additional solutions are offered for payments other than SMS in the relevant system.

As a result, due to the abovementioned disadvantages and the insufficiency of the current solutions regarding the subject matter, development is required to be made in the relevant technical field.

Aim of the Invention

The invention aims to solve the abovementioned disadvantages by being inspired from the current conditions.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a system that performs the control, management and fee collection of vehicle entries/exits in open/closed and on-street parking areas with the help of its digital intelligence.

The barriers in the open/closed car parks are made smart by connecting to the central control unit with the camera system in the system. Entry/exit records are kept in a central unit and the fee is collected from the registered credit account of the user during exit. Thus, surface contact due to the obligatory receipt at the entrance and human interaction due to the fee collection at the exit are prevented. Substantial part of manpower in the parking lots can be transferred to other areas. On the other hand, unregistered users can open the parking barrier via SMS and can be charged via SMS at the exit.

Entry/exit processes in on-street parking areas are carried out via an application and/or SMS provided to vehicle users. In this way, input and output records are transferred to digital media. Fees are also collected in the digital environment, thus this eliminates human interaction. Payments are made in digital environment via credit account or SMS charging so as to prevent possible illegal transactions or timeouts in fee collections. Instant tracking is performed with the sensor data in the parking areas and measures are taken regarding illegal vehicle exits.

Control and management are carried out centrally and sensor data can be monitored because all car parking areas are connected to the central system within the system. Illegal movements that may occur in the parking area can be reported with the alarm method and relevant actions can be taken. Personnel actions are monitored and performance evaluations are made.

It is ensured in the system that the drivers can perform their transactions via GPS without getting out of their vehicles or violating any social distance rules. It is aimed that the users park faster and receive the service in the highest quality and fastest way by providing the systems such as customized sensors, data processing centers, Drone and Vehicle Moving Area Camera, Fixed Area Camera, License Plate Camera, Smart Barrier system, Smart lock and the like used in the parking areas to be operated in an integrated manner. Thus, operators can track the operation of the system with the least labor. The security of the personal data and information to be used in the payment system is provided with the firewall used on the system. Operator errors and their effects are prevented.

The structural and characteristic features of the present invention will be understood clearly by the following drawings and the detailed description made with reference to these drawings and therefore the evaluation shall be made by taking these figures and the detailed description into consideration.

Figures Clarifying the Invention

Figure 1 , is a schematic view of the inventive system.

Description of the Part References

1 . System

2. Sensor

3. Tablet

4. Mobile phone

5. Number plate camera

6. Fixed camera

7. Drone/on-vehicle action camera

8. Image processing station 9. Smart lock

10. Smart barrier

11 . Central control unit

12. Central server

13. Central data store

14. Management station

A. Car parking area

B. Operator

C. Controller

D. User

E. Manager

Detailed Description of the Invention

In this detailed description, the preferred embodiments of the inventive system (1) is described by means of examples only for clarifying the subject matter.

The present invention relates to a system (1 ) that performs the control, management and fee collection of vehicle entries/exits in open/closed and on-street parking areas (A) with the help of its digital intelligence.

The inventive system (1) whose schematic representation is presented in Figure 1 comprises the following;

❖ sensors (2) in the car parking areas (A) which sense the physical environment change and transfer the presence/absence information of the vehicles to the relevant stations,

❖ tablets (3) which include different applications of operators (B) and controllers (C), enables operators (B) and controllers (C) to perform the most optimal level of work in line with the information they receive from the sensors (2), and enables operators (B) and controllers (C) to communicate with digital intelligence,

❖ mobile phones (4) with smart and fixed properties which belong to users (D) and allow users (D) to use the system (1),

❖ number plate cameras (5), which are connected to the artificial neural network and used to read the number plates of the vehicles,

❖ fixed cameras (6), which are connected to the artificial neural network and transmit the image of the car parking area (A),

❖ drone/on-vehicle action cameras (7), which are connected to the artificial neural network and transmit the image of the car parking area (A) by constantly changing angles,

❖ image processing station (8) which processes image data from number plate cameras (5), fixed cameras (6) and drone/on-vehicle action cameras (7) using specific deep learning method and thus enables digital intelligence to learn,

❖ smart lock (9) which is used for remote vehicle locking under digital intelligence control and enables the collection of the parking fee via mobile phone (4) in case of illegal entry,

❖ smart barrier (10) which is integrated with the image processing station (8) and controlled by digital intelligence and

❖ digital intelligence based central control unit (11 ) evaluates the data it receives from sensors (2), tablets (3) and image processing station (8), determines the operation of the smart lock (9) and the smart barrier (10) as a result of these data, allows to automatically withdraw parking fees from the credit card account of the users (D) and allows users (D) who do not have a credit card account to make payments via their mobile phones (4).

The central control unit (11) in the inventive system (1) collects data from the sensors (2) in all car parking areas (A) as it is a solution to the problems in the existing indoor/outdoor and car parking areas (A), processes the said sensor (2) data, records raw data in a way that administrators (E) can understand, follows the results by making task notifications to the operators (B) and controllers (C) and provides information requested by managers (E). The central control unit (11) is located behind a FireWall for data and access security.

The manager of the central control unit (11) is a human manager (E). The manager (E) is responsible for the effective management of the car parking area (A). The manager (E) sets forth the operating procedures, procedures and rules of digital intelligence, follows the same and receives reports.

Operators (B) are responsible for providing the digital intelligence with vehicle identification information in the car parking areas (A) and following the digital intelligence guidelines.

Controllers (C) are responsible for fulfilling the duties assigned to them by digital intelligence and to notify the digital intelligence regarding the situations that violate the processes and procedures.

The central control unit (11) has the following;

❖ central server (12), which is the computer on which digital intelligence, application and service software run and is connected to the internet network,

❖ central data store (13) where data collected from peripheral units is stored to digital intelligence and

❖ management station (14) which is a platform where the management software runs and enables the digital intelligence to be controlled by the manager (E).

The inventive system (1) can operate on the car parking areas (A). In this embodiment, vehicle users (D) register their number plates to the system (1 ) with the application installed on their smart mobile phones (4), load credits and make entry/exit operations in the car parking areas (A) themselves. If users (D) have fixed/non-smart mobile phones (4), they can pay the fees via SMS via their mobile phone (4) and thus, they can enter/exit the car parking areas (A). In addition, if they desire, the users (D) can pay the fees via SMS via their smart mobile phones (4), and thus can enter/exit the car parking areas (A). Thus, tourists, old persons and users who cannot or do not want to use the application (D) can perform their transactions via SMS. All user (D) actions are recorded in the central data store (13) and thus users (D) actions can be followed. Operators (B) enable the central server (12) to map on the tablet (3) by making vehicle entries in the car parking areas (A) that they are responsible for. Operators (B) track the vehicles that have become illegal or expired with notifications from the central server (12) to the tablets (3). Controllers (C) implement the actions reported by the central server (12) using the tablet (3) and follows the actions of the operators (B). Fixed cameras (6) and drone/on-vehicle action cameras (7) transmit the raw area/environment images to the image processing station (8) for processing. All fixed cameras (6) and drone/on-vehicle action cameras (7) located in the system (1) are interconnected by artificial neural networks. The image processing station (8) processes the incoming images with the deep learning method and transmits them to the central server (12) and ensures continuous learning of the digital intelligence. The central server (12) verifies the notifications received. It plans actions regarding media movements and sends notifications for their application.

When illegal entries/exits or timeouts are detected by the central server (12), this situation is reported to the operators (B) and controllers (C) via the tablet (3). In such a case, the smart locks (9) are attached by the operators (B) to the vehicle that has been penalized. Operators (B) enter the number plate number by means of the digital keypad on the smart lock (9). The smart lock (9) connected to the network notifies the number plate to the central server (12). The central server (12) generates a 4-digit code and associates the code with the relevant smart lock (9). The instruction to unlock the smart lock (9) by the operator (B) is left on the windshield of the vehicle. The vehicle owner writes the number plate number to the service number specified in the instruction and sends an SMS via the mobile phone (4). SMS charges regarding the penal situation are made through the system (1). The central server (12) sends the unlock password of the smart lock (9) to the mobile phone (4) of the vehicle owner. Furthermore, the central server (12) sends notifications to the tablets (3) of the operators (B) and controllers (C) for unlocking the smart lock (9). The vehicle owner unlocks by entering the password on the smart lock (9).

The inventive system (1) can operate on the open/closed car parking areas (A). In this embodiment, smart barriers (10) integrated with the number plate camera (5) notify the central server (12) of the vehicles that will enter by reading the number plate. The central server (12) sends the opening command to the smart barrier (10) by processing the vehicle entry. The number plate camera (5) reports the number plate to the central server (12) during the exit process and the central server (12) charges for the exit process and deducts this fee from the credit account of the user (D). Also, the central server (12) sends a command to open the smart barrier (10). The user (D) who does not have the application enables the smart barrier (10) to be opened by using the mobile phone (4) and sending a message to the SMS service number. The relevant number plate is notified to the central server (12) by the number plate camera (5). The exit process is made via SMS and the SMS fee is arranged by the central server (12) using the service provided by the operator according to the hourly or cumulative hourly calculation. Fixed cameras (6) and drone/on-vehicle action cameras (7) which are located in the area connected to the artificial neural network transmit the raw area/environment images to the image processing station (8) for processing. The image processing station (8) processes the incoming images with the deep learning method and transmits them to the central server (12) and ensures continuous learning of the digital intelligence. The central server (12) verifies the notifications received. It plans actions regarding media movements and sends notifications for their application.

Claims

CLAIMS A system (1) that performs the control, management and fee collection of vehicle entries/exits in open/closed and on-street parking areas (A) with the help of its digital intelligence , characterized by comprising the following;

9 smart barrier (10) which is integrated with the image processing station (8) and controlled by digital intelligence and

❖ digital intelligence based central control unit (11 ) evaluates the data it receives from sensors (2), tablets (3) and image processing station (8), determines the operation of the smart lock (9) and the smart barrier (10) as a result of these data, allows to automatically withdraw parking fees from the credit card account of the users (D) and allows users (D) who do not have a credit card account to make payments via their mobile phones (4). The system (1) according to claim 1 , characterized by comprising; a central control unit (11) which collects data from the sensors (2) in all car parking areas (A) as it is a solution to the problems in the existing indoor/outdoor and car parking areas (A), processes the sensor (2) data, records raw data in a way that administrators (E) can understand, follows the results by making task notifications to the operators (B) and controllers (C) and provides information requested by managers (E). The system according to claim 1 , characterized by comprising; a central control unit (11) which comprises the following;

❖ management station (14) which is a platform where the management software runs and enables the digital intelligence to be controlled by the manager (E). The system (1) according to claim 1 , characterized by comprising; a mobile phone (4) with smart feature in the structure of the on-street car parking areas (A) that enables vehicle users (D) to register their number plate to the system (1 ) with the application, to load credits and to make entry/exit procedures in the on-street car parking areas (A). The system (1) according to claim 1 , characterized by comprising; a mobile phone (4) in the structure of the on-street car parking areas (A) that enables vehicle users (D) to pay the fees via SMS and thus to enter/exit the car parking areas (A). The system (1) according to claim 1 , characterized by comprising; a central data store (13) in the structuring of the on-street car parking areas (A), which records all user (D) actions and thus enables actions of the users (D) to be tracked. The system (1) according to claim 1 , characterized by comprising; a central server (12) in the structure of the on-street car parking areas (A) which

❖ performs the mapping process as a result of the operators (B) making the vehicle entries in the car parking areas (A) for which they are responsible via the tablet (3),

❖ allows operators (B) to track vehicles that have become illegal or expired by sending notification to tablets (3) and

❖ enabling them to implement actions and follow the actions of the operators (B) by sending notifications to tablets (3). The system (1) according to claim 1 , characterized by comprising; a central server (12) in the structure of the on-street car parking areas (A) which

❖ when illegal entries/exits or timeouts are detected, reporting this situation to the operators (B) and controllers (C) via the tablet (3),

❖ thus enables the operators (B) to attach the smart locks (9) to the vehicle that has been penalized and to enter the plate number to the smart lock (9) by the operators (B) via the digital keypad thereon,

❖ gets the plate number from the smart lock (9) connected to the network,

❖ associating the code with the relevant smart lock (9) by generating a 4-digit code, sends the unlocking password of the smart lock to the mobile phone (4) of the vehicle owner by writing the number plate number to the service number

11 specified in the instruction and sending an SMS via the mobile phone (4) by the vehicle owner and

❖ sending notifications to the tablets (3) of the operators (B) and controllers (C) for unlocking the smart lock (9). The system according to claim 1 , characterized by comprising; in the open/closed car parking (A) structure which comprises the following;

❖ smart barriers (10) which is integrated with the number plate camera (5) and informs the central server (12) of the vehicles that will enter by reading the number plate,

❖ central server (12) which sends the opening command to the smart barrier (10) by processing the vehicle entry,

❖ central server (12) which receives the number plate from the number plate camera (5), deducts the fee from the credit account of the user (D) by charging for the exit process, enables the smart barrier (10) to be opened by sending a command,

❖ mobile phone (4) that allows the user who does not have the application to open the smart barrier (10) by sending a message to the (D) SMS service number and

❖ central server (12) which receives the relevant number plate from the number plate camera (5), performs the exit process via SMS, and arranges the SMS pricing according to the hourly or cumulative hour calculation using the service provided by the operator.

12