Vehicle barrier system
A vehicle barrier system that helps prevent instances of “tailgating,” where non-paying cars closely follow a paying car into (or out of) an automated garage facility or other venue to avoid fees and/or authentication.
1. A vehicle barrier system comprising:
a sensor system for detecting a vehicle seeking passage through a gateway;
a first gate system;
a second gate system subsequent to the first gate system; and
a control system in communication with the sensor system, the first gate system, and the second gate system, wherein the control system comprises:
a processor; and
memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the control system to:
receive data from the sensor system indicating the presence of the vehicle;
in response to receiving the sensor data indicating the presence of the vehicle, determine whether the second gate system is closed;
in response to determining that the second gate system is closed:
open the first gate system to allow the vehicle to pass the first gate system; and
attempt to close the first gate system behind the vehicle after the vehicle passes the first gate system;
in response to successfully closing the first gate system behind the vehicle, opening the second gate system to allow the vehicle to proceed through the gateway; and
in response to unsuccessfully closing the first gate system behind the vehicle, generating an alarm.
2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an access terminal coupled to the control system and adapted to receive input from a driver of the vehicle, wherein the memory of the control system further stores instructions for causing the control system to successfully authenticate the driver, based on the input from the driver, prior to opening the second gate system.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the input from the driver includes one or more of: insertion of a validation ticket, entry of a code, scanning of a barcode, scanning of a radio frequency identification badge, and entry of biometric information.
4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the sensor system includes one or more of: a camera, a motion sensor, a pressure sensor, and an inductive loop sensor.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first gate system comprises one or more of:
a horizontally tilting door, a vertically tilting door, a sectional door, a vertically rotating arm, horizontally rotating arm, a spike barrier, and a post.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second gate system comprises one or more of: a horizontally tilting door, a vertically tilting door, a sectional door, a vertically rotating arm, horizontally rotating arm, a spike barrier, and a post.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein generating the alarm includes generating one or more of: a visual alarm, an audio alarm, and an electronic communication.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor system is adapted to detect an obstacle blocking closure of the first gate system, and wherein the memory of the control system further stores instructions for causing the control system to refrain from closing the first gate system in response to detection of the obstacle by the sensor system.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the sensor system includes one or more cameras adapted to capture an image of the obstacle blocking the first gate system.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the memory of the control system further stores instructions for causing the control system to:
automatically identify the obstacle from the image of the obstacle; and
generate the alarm based on the identification of the obstacle.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the obstacle is a second vehicle, and wherein the memory of the control system further stores instructions for causing the control system to:
automatically identify the second vehicle from the image of the obstacle; and
based on identifying the second vehicle, generate the alarm to a user of the system to attend to the gateway.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the obstacle is a second vehicle, and wherein the memory of the control system further stores instructions for causing the control system to:
automatically identify the second vehicle from the image of the obstacle; and
based on identifying the second vehicle, generate the alarm to instruct a driver of the second vehicle to back up to allow the first gate system to close.
13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the obstacle is a second vehicle, and wherein the one or more cameras are adapted to capture one or more of: an image of a driver of the vehicle, an image of a driver of the second vehicle, an image of a license plate coupled to the vehicle, and an image of a license plate coupled to the second vehicle.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the memory of the control system further stores instructions for causing the control system to:
determine, based on an image captured from the one or more cameras, that a license plate coupled to the vehicle is obscured; and
generating an alarm directed to the driver of the vehicle that includes a notification that the license plate coupled to the vehicle is obscured.
15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the memory of the control system further stores instructions for causing the control system to:
determine, based on an image captured from the one or more cameras, that a license plate coupled to the second vehicle is obscured; and
generating an alarm directed to the driver of the second vehicle that includes a notification that the license plate coupled to the second vehicle is obscured.