System and method for determining parking infraction

1. A method of managing a parking lot using a patrol vehicle, the parking lot comprising a plurality of parking stalls for occupancy by a plurality of vehicles, each parking stall having a unique parking stall identifier, at least one parking stall being occupied by a corresponding parked vehicle, the patrol vehicle having a memory and a processor, the method comprising:

storing, in the memory, a predetermined boundary for each of the plurality of parking stalls;

determining, by the processor, if an approximate longitudinal and transverse center of the parked vehicle is located within a predetermined boundary of the corresponding at least one parking stall, and if so:

flagging, by the processor, the at least one parking stall as an occupied parking stall;

determining, by the processor, at a first time, a parking duration rule for the occupied parking stall, the parking duration rule indicating a parking expiration time for the parked vehicle at the corresponding occupied parking stall; and

determining, by the processor, if the first time exceeds the parking expiration time, and if so, generating a citation alert for the occupied parking stall.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the parking duration rule is based on a parking authorization request received from an operator of the parked vehicle occupying the occupied parking stall.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein when the first time does not exceed the parking expiration time, the method further comprising:

determining, at the first time, a detected vehicle identifier corresponding to at least one detected characteristic of the parked vehicle at the occupied parking stall;

determining if the parked vehicle corresponds to the vehicle associated with the parking authorization request, wherein the parking authorization request comprises a vehicle identifier identifying at least one characteristic of the vehicle;

if the parked vehicle does not correspond to the vehicle associated with the parking authorization request, determining if a second parking authorization request is received for the occupied parking stall; and

if the second parking authorization request is determined to not have been received for the occupied parking stall, generating a citation alert for the parked vehicle.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the detected vehicle identifier comprises:

detecting a license plate number of the parked vehicle using an image processing system on the patrol vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining if the approximate longitudinal and transverse center of the parked vehicle is situated within the predetermined boundary of the at least one parking stall comprises:

generating a laterally extending polygon based on a direction of travel of the patrol vehicle, the laterally extending polygon encapsulating a geometric center of the at least one parking stall; and

determining if global positioning coordinates of the approximate longitudinal and transverse center of the parked vehicle is located within the laterally extending polygon.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the approximate longitudinal and transverse center of the parked vehicle comprises:

determining at least one of a length of the parked vehicle and a width of the parked vehicle, such that if the parked vehicle is positioned parallel to a direction of travel of the patrol vehicle, the length of the parked vehicle is determined, and if the parked vehicle is positioned perpendicular to the direction of travel of the patrol vehicle, the width of the parked vehicle is determined;

determining a position of the patrol vehicle;

determining a distance between the patrol vehicle and the parked vehicle; and

determining the approximate longitudinal and transverse center of the parked vehicle based on the at least one of the length and the width of the parked vehicle, the position of the patrol vehicle, and the distance between the patrol vehicle and the parked vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the length and the width of the parked vehicle is determined based on laser scanning of at least one corresponding edge of the parked vehicle, the laser scanning being carried out by a laser system provided on the patrol vehicle.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the length and the width of the parked vehicle is determined based on image processing carried out by an image processing system provided on the patrol vehicle.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the position of the patrol vehicle is determined based on global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the patrol vehicle.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined boundary for each parking stall is stored based on global positioning coordinates of at least one corner of the respective parking stall.

11. A parking lot management system for managing a parking lot, the parking lot comprising a plurality of parking stalls for occupancy by a plurality of vehicles, each parking stall having a unique parking stall identifier, at least one parking stall being occupied by a corresponding parked vehicle, the system comprising:

a non-transient computer memory; and

a processor coupled to the non-transient computer memory, the processor and the non-transient computer memory being provided on a patrol vehicle, the processor being configured to:

store, in the memory, a predetermined boundary for each of the plurality of parking stalls;

determine, by the processor, if an approximate longitudinal and transverse center of the parked vehicle is located within a predetermined boundary of the corresponding at least one parking stall;

if the parked vehicle is determined to be within the corresponding predetermined boundary of the at least one parking stall, flag, by the processor, the at least one parking stall as an occupied parking stall;

subsequently, determine, by the processor, at a first time, a parking duration rule for the occupied parking stall, the parking duration rule indicating a parking expiration time for the parked vehicle at the corresponding occupied parking stall; and

determine, by the processor, if the first time exceeds the parking expiration time, and if so, generate a citation alert for the occupied parking stall.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the parking duration rule is based on a parking authorization request received from an operator of the parked vehicle occupying the occupied parking stall.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to:

generate a laterally extending polygon based on a direction of travel of the patrol vehicle, the laterally extending polygon encapsulating a geometric center of the at least one parking stall; and

determine if global positioning coordinates of the approximate longitudinal and transverse center of the parked vehicle is within the laterally extending polygon.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to:

determine at least one of a length of the parked vehicle and a width of the parked vehicle, such that if the parked vehicle is positioned parallel to a direction of travel of the patrol vehicle, the length of the parked vehicle is determined, and if the parked vehicle is positioned perpendicular to the direction of travel of the patrol vehicle, the width of the parked vehicle is determined;

determine a position of the patrol vehicle;

determine a distance between the patrol vehicle and the parked vehicle; and

determine the approximate longitudinal and transverse center of the parked vehicle based on the at least one of the length and the width of the parked vehicle.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the system further comprises a laser system provided on the patrol vehicle and coupled to the memory and the processor, and wherein the at least one of the length and the width of the parked vehicle is determined based on laser scanning of at least one corresponding edge of the parked vehicle.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein when the first time does not exceed the parking expiration time, the processor is further configured to:

determine, at the first time, a detected vehicle identifier corresponding to at least one detected characteristic of the parked vehicle at the occupied parking stall;

determine if the parked vehicle corresponds to the vehicle associated with the parking authorization request, wherein the parking authorization request comprises a vehicle identifier identifying at least one characteristic of the vehicle;

if the parked vehicle does not correspond to the vehicle associated with the parking authorization request, determine if a second parking authorization request is received for the occupied parking stall; and

if the second parking authorization request is determined to not have been received for the occupied parking stall, generate a citation alert and issuing a parking citation to the parked vehicle.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the instructions for causing a processor, coupled to a memory, to perform a method of managing a parking area, the parking lot comprising a plurality of parking stalls for occupancy by a plurality of vehicles, each parking stall having a unique parking stall identifier, at least one parking stall being occupied by a corresponding parked vehicle, where the computer-readable medium is provided on a patrol vehicle, the method comprising:

storing, in the memory, a predetermined boundary for each of the plurality of parking stalls;

determining, by the processor, if an approximate longitudinal and transverse center of the parked vehicle is located within a predetermined boundary of the corresponding at least one parking stall, and if so:

flagging, by the processor, the at least one parking stall as an occupied parking stall;

determining, by the processor, at a first time, a parking duration rule for the occupied parking stall, the parking duration rule indicating a parking expiration time for the parked vehicle at the corresponding occupied parking stall; and

determining, by the processor, if the first time exceeds the parking expiration time, and if so, generating a citation alert for the occupied parking stall.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the parking duration rule is based on a parking authorization request received from an operator of the parked vehicle occupying the occupied parking stall.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein determining the approximate longitudinal and transverse center of the parked vehicle comprises:

determining at least one of a length of the parked vehicle and a width of the parked vehicle, such that if the parked vehicle is positioned parallel to a direction of travel of the patrol vehicle, the length of the parked vehicle is determined, and if the parked vehicle is positioned perpendicular to the direction of travel of the patrol vehicle, the width of the parked vehicle is determined;

determining a position of the patrol vehicle;

determining a distance between the patrol vehicle and the parked vehicle; and

determining the approximate longitudinal and transverse center of the parked vehicle based on the at least one of the length and the width of the parked vehicle, the position of the patrol vehicle, and the distance between the patrol vehicle and the parked vehicle.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein when the first time does not exceed the parking expiration time, the method further comprising:

determining, at the first time, a detected vehicle identifier corresponding to at least one detected characteristic of the parked vehicle at the occupied parking stall;

determining if the parked vehicle corresponds to the vehicle associated with the parking authorization request, wherein the parking authorization request comprises a vehicle identifier identifying at least one characteristic of the vehicle;

if the parked vehicle does not correspond to the vehicle associated with the parking authorization request, determining if a second parking authorization request is received for the occupied parking stall; and

if the second parking authorization request is determined to not have been received for the occupied parking stall, generating a citation alert and issuing a parking citation to the parked vehicle.