A SPEED MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES

Technical Field

The invention relates to a speed measurement system used to calculate the average speeds between two measurement points by using the rays from the daytime driving headlights of vehicles on road and/or infrared LEDs placed in their headlights.

Prior Art

Today, high speed vehicle driving on highways leads to an accident and reveals the risk of death or disability injuries as a result of the accident. In order to prevent the risks of such accidents, speed was required to be controlled and different technologies were developed.

Nowadays, the commonly used speed measurement technologies can be listed as;

• Radar (Doppler Effect) Systems

• Laser Assisted Vehicle Speed Measurement Systems

· Portable Plate and Speed Reading Systems

• Vehicle Speed Estimation and Identification with Inductive Loop Technology

• Corridor Speed Detection System

Radar (Doppler Effect) systems use radio waves. The radar vehicle that is appropriately positioned on the road sends radio waves towards the approaching car. The reflected waves that hit the incoming vehicle measure the speed of the vehicle according to the round-trip time.

Laser-assisted vehicle speed measurement systems are similar to the radar doppler effect system. The laser method is based on measuring speed with light signal. The system sends laser light to the incoming vehicle. The speed is measured according to the round-trip time of the reflected light from the vehicle. This system requires calibration at certain periods depending on the power source. The formula used in radar system also applies to this technology.

Portable or stationary plate and speed reading systems are fixed on the road or on a bridge and the plates of the vehicles coming are read with the camera. Two separate virtual lines are drawn on the camera and actual distance between the lines is adjusted. The plates of vehicles passing between the two lines are read and the displacement of the plate is calculated.

In the determination of speed and vehicle type with inductive cycle technology, the electronic circuit element placed under asphalt measures the speed according to magnetic change as the vehicle passes through it and sends this speed information to the computer. The software on the computer determines the speed and length of the vehicle with the values it receives from the data input. In addition, the information is combined with a plate reading system that works parallel to the system.

In the corridor speed detection system, the average speed method is based on the technology of plate recognition system. In this system, the photograph information of the vehicle passing through the plate reading system from two different points in the same direction is determined by the cameras and time information is recorded. The speed of the vehicle is measured according to the distance between with using the said time information.

The main disadvantages of the systems used today are that they are high costly, therefore they cannot be used very often, emit high frequency radiation to the environment and require personnel for measurement.

Although many different systems are used today for speed measurement, there are no cost- effective, staff-free and simple solutions using the ray beams from the vehicle's daytime running lights.

The patent application no. TR2014 / 00414 in the literature relates to a method and system for determining the speed of a vehicle with its captured images. It comprises one or more cameras for measuring the speed of the vehicle, time-measuring tools for the timing of the capture of images, a processor for determining the vehicle's characteristics, size and speed. However, the document does not mention a procedure for determining the speed of the vehicle by using the ray beams coming from the daytime running lights of the vehicle.

As a result, due to the above-mentioned drawbacks and the inadequacy of the existing solutions, an improvement in the technical field has been required.

The Purpose of Invention

The invention is inspired by the existing circumstances and aims to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks.

The main purpose of the invention is to determine the average speeds of the two measuring points by means of the ray beams coming from the daytime running lights and/or the infrared LEDs placed in the headlight of the vehicles.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide a cost-effective and staff-free vehicle speed measurement.

In order to fulfill the above mentioned purposes, the invention comprises a driver circuit in the vehicle providing daylight running lights with license plate information, a primary measurement unit that detects the vehicle's daytime running lights, gets the vehicle plate information in the vehicle's daytime running lights and initiates the meter, and a secondary measurement unit, which receives the initiated meter and vehicle license plate information via wireless communication from the primary measurement unit, detects the daytime running lights of the vehicle at a distance and stops the meter, identifies the vehicle license plate information in the daytime running lights, calculating the average speed of the vehicle according to the distance read by the stopped meter and the distance to the primary measurement unit.

The structural and characteristic features and all advantages of the invention outlined in the drawings below and in the detailed description made by referring these figures will be understood clearly, therefore the evaluation should be made by taking these figures and detailed explanation into consideration.

Brief Description of the Figures

Figure 1 , is a representative view of the speed measurement system of the invention.

Reference Numbers

1 . Speed measurement system

2. Driver circuit

3. Primary measurement unit

4. Secondary measurement unit

A. Vehicle

Detailed Description of the Invention

In this detailed description, the preferred structures of the speed measurement system (1 ) of the invention are described only for a better understanding of the subject.

The invention shown in Figure 1 relates to a speed measurement system (1 ) for use in calculating the average speeds between two measuring points using the ray beams from the daytime running lights (DRL) and/or infrared LEDs placed in their headlights of the vehicles (A) on road, wherein; it comprises; at least one driver circuit (2) placed in the vehicle (A) that allows daytime running lights and/or infrared LEDs placed inside the headlight to contain plate information,

■ at least one primary measurement unit (3) that detects the daytime running lights and/or infrared LEDs placed inside the headlight of the incoming vehicle (A), gets the vehicle (A) plate information in the daytime running lights and/or infrared LEDs placed inside the headlight of the vehicle (A) and initiates the meter, at least one secondary measurement unit (4), which receives the initiated meter and vehicle (A) license plate information via wireless communication from the primary measurement unit (3), detects the daytime running lights and/or infrared LEDs placed inside the headlight of the vehicle (A) at a distance and stops the meter, identifies the vehicle (A) license plate information in the daytime running lights and/or infrared LEDs placed inside the headlight, calculating the average speed of the vehicle (A) according to the distance read by the stopped meter and the distance to the primary measurement unit (3).

In the vehicles (A) of today, mostly daytime driving lights with LEDs and/or infrared LEDs placed in the headlight are used. Said headlights and/or the infrared LEDs placed in the headlights are automatically activated when the vehicle (A) motor is switched on and they cannot be deactivated even if the driver wishes to. The plate information of the vehicle (A) is transmitted through the driver circuit (2) into the said headlights and/or infrared LEDs placed inside the headlights. When the vehicle (A) passes from the primary unit of measurement (3), the infrared LEDs placed in daytime running lights and/or in the headlights in the vehicle (A) are detected, the plate information of the vehicle (A) is obtained and the counter meter is activated. The said information is transmitted to the secondary measurement unit (4) at a certain distance through the wireless communication system in the primary measurement unit (3). While the vehicle (A) passes from the secondary measurement unit (4), at the time the daytime running lights and/or the infrared LEDs placed in the daytime running lights are first detected, the meter was stopped by the secondary measurement unit (4). Thus, the time for the vehicle (A) to cover distance between primary measurement unit (3) and secondary measurement unit (4) is determined. Since the distance between the primary measurement unit (3) and the secondary measurement unit (4) is known, the speed of the vehicle (A) is detected.

As well as the speed of the vehicle (A), the plate of the vehicle (A) can also be detected in the speed measurement system (1 ). In this way, the vehicle (A) plates which are followed by the security forces can be easily accessed.

Daytime running lights and/or infrared LEDs placed in the headlights are released to include plate information of the vehicle (A). The driver circuit (2) used for the headlights and LEDs is not in continuous mode; but it operates in pulsed/intermittent mode in the form of "1 ,0". The pulses generated in this mode include the plate information. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the driver circuit (2) places a code in front of the plate information. In this way, the primary measurement unit (3) and secondary measurement unit (4) control the code mentioned and when they see the code, they start to measure.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the primary measurement unit (3) and secondary measurement unit (4) have at least one photo detector to detect daytime running lights and LEDs of the vehicle (A). Speed measurement and vehicle (A) tracking can be done frequently because the cost of the speed measurement system (1 ) of invention is very low. In addition, the system (1 ) is simple to install and use, and no personnel are required to use it. In addition, the system (1 ) emits radiation at low power and frequency.