License plate recognition based on prior knowledge

In this paper, a new algorithm based on improved BP (back propagation) neural network for Chinese vehicle license plate recognition (LPR) is described. The proposed approach provides a solution for the vehicle license plates (VLP) which were degraded severely. What it remarkably differs from the traditional methods is the application of prior knowledge of license plate to the procedure of location, segmentation and recognition. Color collocation is used to locate the license plate in the image. Dimensions of each character are constant, which is used to segment the character of VLPs. The Layout of the Chinese VLP is an important feature, which is used to construct a classifier for recognizing. The experimental results show that the improved algorithm is effective under the condition that the license plates were degraded severely.