AUTOMATIC NUMBER PLATE RECOGNITION

SYSTEM

BYDevang Tailor

INTRODUCTION Automatic Number Plate Recognition (or 'number plate

recognition') is a special form of optical character recognition (OCR).

It enables computer systems to read automatically the registration number (license number) of vehicles from digital pictures.

Reading automatically the registration number means transforming the pixels of the digital image into the ASCII text of the number plate.

OCR technology scans paper documents and turn them into electronic, editable files.

Capturing of fast moving vehicles needs special technique to avoid motion blur . To ensure the right image quality short shutter time is used with high-power illumination.

The best illumination is the IR, because the retro-reflective plates reflect this kind of light and it is undetectable for the human eye.

This combination works fine during day and night and provides constant good image quality.

Only dedicated ANPR cameras meet these requirements, which provide flexible shutter control with built-in IR flash and able to catch the vehicles up to 250km/h which is suitable for all kind of license plate reading applications.

Traffic Applications√ Traffic Law Enforcement. Detection and prosecution for:

√ running red lights√ driving at a point-in-time speed over the speed limit

√ Traffic Law Enforcement. Detection and interception of:√ Unregistered Vehicles? Driving at an average speed over the speed limit?? Vehicles owned by currently Unlicensed Drivers

√ Public Safety. Deterrence of unsafe practices, e.g.√ running red lights, speeding? driving unregistered vehicles?? driving while unlicensed

Applications: Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), security systems motorway toll collection (highway toll collection), traffic analysis, police law enforcement, state border control, enforcement of traffic regulations, vehicle theft prevention, automation and simplification of airport, harbor and warehouse logistics, security monitoring of roads and checkpoints vehicle surveillance

HOW TO BULIT ANPR SYSTEMS ? ANPR has two technological issues:

The quality of license plate recognition software  with its applied recognition algorithms, and

The quality of image acquisition technology, the camera and the illumination.

The very key factor is the number plate recognition software.

A sophistication recognition software should have following features the highest recognition accuracy the fastest processing speed the most type of number plates it can handle, the widest range of picture quality it can handle, the most tolerant against distortions of input data .

The key technological parts of an APNR system:

high accuracy Optical Character Recognition (OCR) – is an essential requirement

technology image acquisition technology - determines the average image quality the number plate recognition algorithm has to work on.

ANPR Architecture

Camera& OCR

Tightly-Coupled

Processing

PoliceCars

Alerts

ANPR Architecture

Camera& OCR

Tightly-Coupled

Processing

Sources ofData-Sets

PoliceCars

Alerts

ANPR Architecture

Camera& OCR

Tightly-Coupled

Processing

Sources ofData-Sets

OperationalPolicing

PoliceCars

Alerts

AlertsOnlyAlerts

ANPR Quality Alliances of purveyors and purchasers suggest that

data extraction is accurate and reliable ... BUT ... Very little evidence is publicly available There appear to be no independent tests Many factors reduce reliability, including:

the nature and condition of the registration plates the condition of the camera lens the conditions of the light-path and back-lighting

The extraction is by its nature 'fuzzy', and confidence threshholds have to be set

Reliable extraction of the registration data may be as low as 70% even under favourable conditions

LEAs – Operational Applications

Detection and Interception of: Wanted Vehicles, in particular:

'Reported Stolen' 'Get-Away Cars'

Vehicles associated with Persons of Interest

Dependent on: Real-Time Acccess to ... Real-Time-Maintained Data Sources

LEAs – Intelligence Applications Retrospective Analysis of Vehicle Movements:

Detection of Duplicates False Registration Numbers

Retrospective Inferences about Owner Location and Movements

Retrospective Inferences about Co-Location, and Co-Location Frequency, of: Vehicles People

Real-Time Inferences about Location, Co-Location

Mass Surveillance ANPR Architecture

Camera& OCR

OperationalPolicing

PoliceCars

Alerts

AllSightings

Mass Surveillance ANPR Architecture

Camera& OCR

CentralProcessing& Storage

OperationalPolicing

PoliceCars

Alerts

AllSightings

AllSightings

ANPR SOFTWARE Different CARMEN software versions are used for different

ANPR application areas

There are basically 3 versions CARMEN Free Flow : general-purpose license plate

recognition engine , used for processing images of fast moving vehicles

CARMEN Parking Lane: developed for parking management applications where automatic identification of vehicles is needed.

CARMEN Parking: cost-effective solution, which is ideal for parking, vehicle entry and access control systems. It is capable of the automatic detection, identification and recognition of the registration number of any vehicle.

CARMEN FREE FLOW SOFTWARE It is highly accurate, fail safe and stable, fast and

intelligent.

it provides the highest technological performance

It can be integrated into practically any ANPR system

Features: offers general-purpose license plate reading from digital

pictures of any type of sources. provide high quality car plate recognition for very

different type of images and plates with default settings. 98.5% recognition rate (correct reading/total number of

input)

CARMEN PARKING SOFTWARE specially designed for parking systems, security systems

and access control systems.

It has a unique integration level of license plate recognition technology, the video acquisition technology and the processing of multiple images of video streams.

It comes with an industrial quality native driver for image acquisition and video streaming, providing a plug-and-play core number plate recognition module (software and capture card) for car park and vehicle access control systems.

Features: offers flexible, low maintenance, effective and intelligent technology for car park operation. reduces costs as well as increasing efficiency and security.

the Carmen Parking ANPR package contains the following elements: Automatic number plate recognition engine FXVD4mc_s grabber card Functions library (ANSI C/C++, MSVC/C++, MSVB and

Delphi, ActiveX, OCX) Demo and test applications Tutorial and sample programs both in executable and source

code. High Resolution Camera equipped with a special and

synchronized IR flash.(optional)

A parking lot equipped with Carmen Parking can provide: Flexible and automatic vehicle entry to and exit from a car park Management information about car park usage Improved security for both car park operators and car park users Improved traffic flow during peak periods Vehicle recognition through date and time stamping as well as

exact location Comprehensive database of traffic movement can be managed

Applications: car park management, car parking automation, occupation management, automation of access control, security access control, flotilla management (car pool management), automation of vehicle entry to and exit from car parks, inventory management, state border control

CARMEN PARKING LANE SOFTWARE

used for one or two lanes of access control systems.

With integration CARMEN Parking Lane into parking management systems, it is possible to automate vehicle entry to and exit from a car park or a secure zone and to use the recognized registration number for inventory management.

specially developed for parking management applications where automatic identification of vehicles is needed.

provides accurate and quick identification of vehicles without human assistance.

ANPR HARWARES ANPR consists of following hardware products :

Image capturing -FXCAM LPR/ANPR camera series : to provide good quality images

ARH Car PC for Mobile ANPR applications : is a mobile PC with unique features like GPS receiver and GPS antenna.

Video signal digitizing -FXVD4 frame grabber card : the primary function of this card is digitizing the video signal. FXVD4mc_s is a high quality 4-channel frame grabber card

FXCAM DIGITAL ANPR CAMERA The smart shutter technology enables you to make an

adaptive image capturing system, controlled automatically by software.

Effective range is up to 20 meters (65 ft) but it may vary depending on the specific environmental conditions.

Ideal for both moving traffic and access control (parking management) applications.

Image quality: Resolution: 752X480 pixels, ROI support Image processing speed: 60 frames/sec at full image size Continuous, or triggered buffering for 60 full size images Lossless RAW image format Adjustable gain and shutter time 1/100 to 1/30000 sec No extra illumination required

Lens: High quality motorized zoom and iris (effective range 3-20m) IR pass filter included

High speed and ultra sensible image sensor : CMOS monochrome WideVGA (pixel size 6ľm x 6ľm) Global Shutter TrueSNAP Dynamic range up to 100dB

High performing illumination : High power IR LEDs - ideal for ANPR day & night Strong sunlight / shadow correction

   Power consumption : Isolated 24-28V AC or 30-36V DC input (50-60Hz) Optional 12V DC (FXCAM202) Less than 15W (26V AC) [depending on heating ON/OFF] Reverse polarity protection

FRAME GRABBER CARDS FXVD4mc_s is a high quality 4-channel frame grabber card

function of this card is digitizing the video signal by an Bt878 video capture chip.

To improve the reliability and stability of a stand-alone system the FXVD4mc_s has a secondary function the watchdog.

This function helps to reboot the computer when a system crashes

On the card there is a RISC co-processor which serve the hardware protection of the software

Interface : PCI 2.1 AD conversation : Bt87 Input : 4 x BNC video, 75 Ohm Watchdog : Programmable with 1-250 sec. delays Supported Operating System :

Windows Vista 32bit, XP, 2003, 2000 Linux

Programming Languages : Visual C/C++ Visual Basic Borland Delphi Visual Basic.NET C# Java GCC and Java under Linux

Additional Tools : SDK for easy integration DLLs and ActiveX components

Video Formats : PAL or NTSC (75 W, 1 Vp-p) Video Framing : Full, Field, Half @ any / odd / even Image Output : Memory, file File Types : BMP, JPEG File Formats : Grayscale, RGB15, RGB16, RGB24,

RGB32, YUV422 Documentation :Reference Manual in electronic

format System Requirements : Free PCI slot with Bust

Mastering support Power consumption : approx. 450mA Size : 97 mm x 120 mm

ARH CAR PC PC-based system which is specially designed for mobile

installation

The anti-vibration protection and the anti-shock protection makes its usage reliable in vehicles.

it has unique features like Intelligent (programmable) UPS GPS receiver GPS antenna

Advantages: Maintenance free operation No moving parts Configurable

Processor : Intel Core Duo 1.2 GHz RAM : 1 GB DDR2 Graphics : Integrated Intel graphics controller HDD : Automotive 40GB (Flashdrive: optional) Network : Gigabit LAN controller Input/output:

2 x RJ45 LAN 2x serial 3x USB2.0 DVI + VGA out PS2 for keyboard Mic + line in, line out Composite + S-video TV out

Power: Input voltage: 9-30 VDC (5.4A @ 9DC) Power consumption: max. 50W (typical 15-20W) Power Module with UPS :

Smart Battery, Li-Polymer, 3000mAH GPS receiver and antenna included Windows XP Professional included

DEVELOPING POWERFUL APPLICATIONS

APPLICATIONS Parking

Access Control

Motorway Road Tolling

Border Control

Journey Time Measurement

Law Enforcement

THANK YOU