ES1311866U - DEVICE FOR VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

Device for controlling vehicle speed (100), characterized in that it comprises: - a radar (2) for measuring the speed of vehicles (100) in the area of interest, - a traffic light (3) comprising a connection to the radar (2), and arranged behind the radar (2), - an intelligent camera (4) for detecting the number plates of the controlled vehicles (100) connected to the red position of the traffic light (3) and oriented towards the roadway (5) in the area behind the traffic light (3), - at least one communications module with a control centre, - at least one power supply for one or more of the above elements, and - at least one portable box comprising one or more of the above elements. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

DESCRIPTION

Device for vehicle speed control

Object of the invention

The present invention relates to a device for controlling vehicle speed that allows double control of vehicle violations in order to improve road safety, to verify possible speeding and act to reduce it and to verify the detection of vehicles at a red light and provide information to issue a possible sanction in the event of exceeding said red light.

Background of the invention

There are various devices for controlling the speed of vehicles travelling on public roads, including fixed speed cameras, which, when combined with cameras, are capable of recording vehicles (and their number plates) travelling at a speed greater than permitted, so that they can be penalised. These devices are normally installed in more or less armoured frames, next to the hard shoulders, or in porticos, to prevent or make vandalism as difficult as possible. Therefore, these are fixed installations, which are difficult to update, and which only control speed when recording an offence.

There are also cameras synchronized with traffic lights to detect and identify vehicles that exceed said traffic lights during their red cycle, but these systems do not carry out any speed control since the detection of the vehicle is subject to the state of the traffic light in red cycle.

These drawbacks are solved with the device of the invention.

Description of the invention

The vehicle speed control device of the invention comprises:

- a vehicle speed measurement radar, placed in the area of interest,

- a traffic light comprising a connection to the radar and arranged behind the radar, to switch to the red cycle to stop the vehicle in the event of detecting the passage of a vehicle at a speed greater than the maximum speed determined in the controlled section, the traffic light being at a sufficient distance to allow the driver time to react or stop the vehicle when switching to the red cycle, for example, at a distance of between 20 and 200 metres, depending on the speed limit of the controlled section,

- an intelligent camera for detecting the number plates of the vehicles being monitored (i.e. it is associated with an image recognition system with an algorithm capable of reading vehicle number plates in the captured images) associated with the red position (traffic stop) of the traffic light and oriented towards the roadway in the area behind the traffic light in order to record the number plates of vehicles that have passed the red light; i.e. the camera is arranged in such a way that the images taken correspond to the area of the roadway behind the traffic light,

- at least one communications module (one or more 4G routers ideally) with a control center,

- at least one power supply for one or more of the above items, and

- at least one portable box comprising one or more of the above elements.

In this way, speed can be controlled first by turning the traffic light red in the controlled section to force the vehicle to stop, and only by recording the license plates of vehicles that pass the red light, transmitting the corresponding data to the control center to impose the corresponding penalty, due to easy portability of the system.

This forces vehicles that exceed the speed limit to stop at the red light and check whether they do so or not, in which case the vehicle will be fined.

That is, the device provides at least the following advantages:

- Control and respect the speed limits on urban and interurban roads.

- Continuous awareness-raising among citizens so that vehicles exceeding a certain speed are stopped at a traffic light, forcing them to stop for several minutes. - The non-issuance of a proposed fine for speeding directly, as would be done with a speed camera or section camera, since it only generates a proposed fine for vehicles that do not respect the traffic light, which is much less burdensome for citizens (less than 10% of the fines that a traditional speed camera would impose), while fulfilling the same objective of raising awareness and respecting traffic rules.

- Mobile, flexible system that can be adapted to any type of road, so that when citizens are convinced to respect the speed limit on one road, it can be transferred to another at almost no cost and without the need for metrological approval.

It should be noted that, thanks to the provision of communications modules, the red cycle can also be activated remotely from the control centre, which is an additional advantage as it allows, for example, regulating the traffic circulating on this road when accessing a junction with a concentration of vehicles.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1.- Shows a schematic view of a first variant of the device of the invention. Figure 2.- Shows a schematic view of a second variant of the device of the invention. Figure 3.- Shows a schematic view of the first box of the device of the invention, corresponding to the variant of figure 1, and its elements, placed on a lamppost.

Description of the preferred embodiment

The vehicle speed control device (100) of the invention comprises:

- a radar (2) for measuring the speed of vehicles (100) in the area of interest,

- a traffic light (3) comprising a connection to the radar (2), and arranged behind the radar (2) in the direction of traffic, to switch to the red or stop cycle in the event of detecting the passage of a vehicle at a speed greater than the maximum determined,

- an intelligent camera (4) for detecting the number plates of the vehicles (100) monitored, connected to the red position of the traffic light (3) and facing the road (5) in the area behind the traffic light (3) to detect the number plates of vehicles that have passed the traffic light in the red position,

- at least one communications module with a control centre,

- at least one power supply for one or more of the above items, and

- at least one portable box comprising one or more of the above elements.

The radar (2) can be a Doppler radar, or a laser radar, which are widely used for speed control.

Additionally, an IRDA emitter (31) can be added to improve the night vision of the smart camera (4).

Additionally, the smart camera (4) may comprise a memory (40) for recording the images taken, in addition to having been transmitted to the control center, or so that they can be transmitted to the control center when it is most convenient.

In a first embodiment, shown in Fig. 1, the device comprises a first box (8) in which are arranged:

- the radar (2),

- a first communications module (9),

- a radio transmitter (10) controlled by the radar (2), and

- a first power supply (7);

comprising a second box (16) in which are arranged:

- an external connection (17) for controlling the traffic light (3), i.e. to turn it red if necessary,

- a radio receiver (11) tuned to the radio transmitter (10), which is configuring the connection to the radar together with said radio transmitter (10), and which is associated with the red cycle of the traffic light (3) through the external connection (17) to put it into operation upon receiving the emission from the radio transmitter (10),

- a second communications module (90),

- a second power supply (70);

and comprising a third box (12) where the following are arranged:

- the smart camera (4) (and its memory (40) if applicable),

- a third communications module (900), and

- a third power supply (700); the IRDA emitter (31) being ideally arranged in the third box (12), if available.

In a second alternative embodiment, shown in Fig. 2, the device comprises a first alternative box (80) in which are arranged:

- the radar (2),

- the smart camera (4) (and its memory (40) if applicable),

- a first alternative communications module (9000), capable of transmitting and receiving data for and/or from the operation of the radar (2) and/or the camera (4) installed in this first alternative box (80),

- a radio transmitter (10) controlled by the radar (2),

- a first alternative power supply (7000); and arranging the IRDA emitter (31) in this box, if available,

comprising a second box (16) similar to the previous case, in which are arranged:

- an external connection (17) for traffic light control (3),

- a radio receiver (11) tuned to the radio transmitter (10), and associated with the red cycle of the traffic light (3) through the external connection (17) to put it into operation upon receiving the emission from the radio transmitter, configuring jointly with said radio transmitter (10) the connection to the radar,

- a second communications module (90),

- a second power supply (70); the second box therefore having the same configuration as in the previous case.

Indicate that each power supply preferably comprises (see fig. 3, where it is shown in detail for the case of the first box (8) an electrical adapter (75) connectable to the power line (110) of a street or public lighting street lamp (111), a battery charger (76), a rechargeable battery (71) and a power output (72) to the elements of the device to be powered. This solution allows a very simple configuration to be materialized, since it is made up of 2 or 3 boxes that can be installed in existing street lighting lamps, with batteries that store energy at night with the light of the street lamp and operate 24 hours a day. Therefore, the boxes (8, 12, 16, 80) will ideally comprise clamps (15) for holding said street or public lighting lamps, which facilitates their installation at a height, out of the reach of pedestrians, and the connection to the power supply of the corresponding luminaires.

Additionally, one or more of the boxes (8, 12, 16, 80) may comprise an anti-vandal camera (14) with a viewing angle with the necessary degrees to optically cover the box and the post that supports it, to transmit any attempt at theft or disabling thereof.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, and since the description provided corresponds only to an example of a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that within its essence multiple variations in detail may be introduced, also protected, which may affect the shape, size or manufacturing materials of the assembly or its parts, without this implying any alteration of the invention as a whole, delimited only by the claims provided below.

Claims (11)

1. Device for vehicle speed control (100), characterized in that it comprises: - a radar (2) for measuring vehicle speed (100) in the area of interest, - a traffic light (3) comprising a connection to the radar (2), and arranged behind the radar (2), - an intelligent camera (4) for detecting the number plates of the controlled vehicles (100) connected to the red position of the traffic light (3) and oriented towards the roadway (5) in the area behind the traffic light (3), - at least one communications module with a control centre, - at least one power supply for one or more of the above items, and - at least one portable box comprising one or more of the above elements. 2. Device for vehicle speed control (100) according to claim 1, where the radar (2) is selected from: - a Doppler radar, - a laser radar. 3. Device for vehicle speed control (100) according to any of the preceding claims, comprising an IRDA emitter (31). 4. Device for vehicle speed control (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the camera (4) comprises a memory (40) for recording the images taken. 5. Device for vehicle speed control (100) according to any of the preceding claims, comprising a first box (8) in which are arranged: - the radar (2), - a first communications module (9), - a radio transmitter (10) controlled by the radar (2), and - a first power supply (7); comprising a second box (16) in which are arranged: - an external connection (17) for traffic light control (3), , - a radio receiver (11) tuned to the radio transmitter (10), and associated with the red cycle of the traffic light (3) through the external connection (17), - a second communications module (90), - a second power supply (70); and comprising a third box (12) where the following are arranged: - the smart camera (4), - a third communications module (900), and - a third power supply (700); 6. Device for vehicle speed control (100) according to claim 5, where an IRDA transmitter (31) is arranged in the third box (12). 7. Device for vehicle speed control (100) according to any of claims 1 to 4, comprising a first alternative box (80) in which are arranged: - the radar (2), - the smart camera (4), - a first alternative communications module (9000), - a radio transmitter (10) controlled by the radar, - a first alternative power supply (7000). comprising a second box (16) in which are arranged: - an external connection (17) for traffic light control (3), - a radio receiver (11) tuned to the radio transmitter (10), and associated with the red cycle of the traffic light (3) through the external connection (17), - a second communications module (90), - a second power supply (70). 8. Device for vehicle speed control (100) according to claim 7, where an IRDA transmitter (31) is arranged in the first alternative box (80). 9. Device for vehicle speed control (100) according to any of claims 5 to 8, wherein each power supply comprises an electrical adapter (75) connectable to the power line (110) of a street or public lighting lamp (111), a battery charger (76), a rechargeable battery (71) and a power output (72) to the elements of the device to be powered. 10. Device for controlling vehicle speed (100) according to any of claims 5 to 9, wherein the boxes (8, 12, 16 80) comprise clamps (15) for fastening to street or public lighting lamps. 11. Device for vehicle speed control (100) according to any of claims 5 to 10, wherein at least one of the boxes (8, 12, 16, 80) comprises a vandal-proof chamber (14).