My Speeding Dectector Setup

[Laserray]

I have been lurking here for a while. Thanks for all the information, it's time for me to share my results.

I had a problem with speeding on my road. They were hitting over 50 mph every 2 hours, and over 40mph every 20 minutes. It's posted at 25mph.
We went through various stages with limited success.
It wasn't until I setup a permanent speed sign with a camera did things get interesting. I bagged a commercial vehicle doing 50+mph during school hours, and called the business to complain. That's when they decided to complain to the city about my setup. All that did was get me to invest more in the system. We added more cameras, and nice little radar box so I could record speed data to MySQL.
The politics of the setup are indeed interesting as the city claimed "right of way". They gave up quickly when they found out who they were trying to intimidate. We now co-operate with each other. "Right of ways" in my state are pretty much unenforceable in my state.
My website is "algoodspeeders.org". It records all the issues I've had setting up and maintaining the system.
We trigger our 3 cameras with a radar box using Python and send to BI. Which I love/hate BI.
There are 3 Python processes:
radar logger - logs data to MySQL and detects speeding, generates overlay for BI
post video trigger and collection - collects data from BI and stores video by year, month, and day
Plate detection and storage to MySQL

Just installed a IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E, and I'm going to add 3 more. 2 for LPR, and 2 for full view in each direction. Later we will add another camera for side view and face detection.
Things got out of hand, and I've invested much time in this setup.

Speeding has gone from over 50% to less than 10-15% during peak times. We hit 50+ maybe every 2 weeks and 40+ every few hours. The 10% left are the worst of the worse. So I'm left with recording for now until I have enough to present a plan to the city. They of course have all the typical excuses.

 

[c hris527]

I took a look @ your website, very Cool but I'm kinda surprised you are posting plates, Not sure you would get away with that here in NY.

 

[Laserray]

Check your state laws. In my state that is public information. You can NOT post names or addresses with plate numbers in TN. We are hoping the vehicle data should scare them enough.
I met with city officials including the chief of police. Believe me this didn't come without a fight. I also hired an attorney.
I have been strait up with officials, and avoided blame confrontations. They were introduced to the website first.
If it wasn't legal in my state I would have fought it. But vehicle plates are exposed on a public street, why do people think that information is private is beyond me. The same people belong to FaceCRAP and don't say a thing.
Eventually I plan on fight the TN law on names. Just how many times you going to blatantly speed on my road and nothing is done? Oh you are worry about stalking? DON"T SPEED!
The 10% that are left are incredibly stupid. Popping wheels at 58mph. Racing at 68mph etc. So it's a two edged sword. The criminals get worse in behavior. I should add, I had to turn off the speed sign at 35 mph to stop the "sign racing".
Interesting data feedback, every time I send the city pictures of the violators the speeding rates go down for at least two weeks.
We started the LPR a few weeks ago, and it's been buggy. It will be a month or two of data storage, but patterns will show up.

 

[aristobrat]

I should add, I had to turn off the speed sign at 35 mph to stop the "sign racing".

Wow (that you would have to do that).

 

[bp2008]

@Laserray, try unticking the bit rate limit in your recording encoding settings in Blue Iris. That should help drastically with the pulsing effect you are getting at every keyframe.

 

[fenderman]

I took a look @ your website, very Cool but I'm kinda surprised you are posting plates, Not sure you would get away with that here in NY.

You can post plates anywhere. There is no law or regulation that prohibits it that I am aware of.

 

[pinko]

I like this. Check the video out for the vehicle doing 52pmh. Doesn't know what side of the road to drive on?

 

[Rebelx]

So sad that you have to do this sort of thing to enforce the law. I thought we paid taxes for that sort of thing to be taken care of.

 

[mikeynags]

@Laserray what are the police doing with the info your site collects? Are there any tickets being issued?

 

[c hris527]

@Laserray what are the police doing with the info your site collects? Are there any tickets being issued?

That's a good question @mikeynags, I do not believe Law enforcement could issue tickets based on private citizens speed trap setup, law enforcement has to certify their personal and equipment all the time or MR. lawyer would tear them apart at traffic court. But we will see what the OP has to say about that issue.

 

[pinko]

@Laserray what are the police doing with the info your site collects? Are there any tickets being issued?

Probably wouldn't result in a ticket in Australia. US would be similar.
Some one would take the matter to court and argue that the calibration was off and the device lack proper certification. Which would mean, No evidence, no fine.

 

[Laserray]

Ok one thing at a time. First off thanks bp2008 for the BI pointer. Any input is greatly appreciated. Found one camera set incorrectly.
Anyone know how to limit CPU's to OpenALPR ? I have 16 cores and OpenALPr is using 90%.

I pay $700 a year in taxes to the town. That gives me a police car for one week. I don't expect my government to help me though they should.

The rest of the questions are politics. I have a whole section on my website explaining what I am going through. You can't set a system up like this and not expect bullshit.
Everyone speeds at some point. The police speed off duty they have blue code to protect them. That's country wide IMHO.
The first system was a simple $400 sports radar to verify the speeding rates. It was when I added camera's and turned in a local commercial truck into the business that the fun started.
No one gets arrested off the the data. The officer must ID the person in the car at the time. So after I finish the front and back setup I 'll move to FR and a camera side view.
The first position from the city was to charge me with a code violation. Pure intimidation. Police cars from another town over start parading by my house, speeding of course.
My local police had had issues with being caught speeding and they stayed out of the fray, and were very respectful, Nothing was done at this point to stop the speeding.

The day of my meeting with the city to discuss this issue a police car parked out in front of my home.
The police chief's official response was:
We get 2-3 complaints about streets in the town every week.
We don't have the resources.
We will step up patrols.
You know you can't ID the plate user on your website?

The city's response:
We are willing to co-operate.

My response:
I am willing to share information
I am willing to setup systems around the city.(for free)
I want you to use the data and pull over the offending vehicles.

You need to understand we went from over 50% to under 10% most times. The vast majority are law abiding when reminded. We were hitting 50 every day after the war started.
The 10% are:
Connected people such as politicians, cops, rich selfish people
Just plain criminals
And plain stupid people who think they are anonymous, which they are not.

The biggest reducer of speed was to report commercial vehicles, and send pictures to the city. Without a doubt that information spread fast.
There was a local newspaper article in which the police chief stated he can have his "speed trap" but he can't do anything to the speeders. He also included I meant well, and just wanted to reduce the speeding.
There is a post on my website were a local takes shots at me. Wanta be cop, the police officers are laughing at you, you are being unreasonable, You can't spell, etc

My plan is collect data long term. 100 speeders a day, 600 per week. How many got a talking to? None? Ok I'm stepping up the game. I just violated the law, tale me to court.
Judge sir, I tried my best to co-operate. Your law about not ID'ing the plates is bullshit. That dude went 50+ in a 25 10 times, and I wanted to protect my neighborhood.
Or I run out and smash somebody's windshield with a baseball bat.
The other possible use is in lawsuits, lawyers, and insurance companies.
Otherwise that speeding rates will slowly increase.

I do have some cool videos with people putting on a show. They actually travel down the street to speed, race, and rev their engines. Some come around multiple times.

A public road shouldn't be like the internet where people are on their worse behavior because they think they are anonymous.

No one can be arrested off the system data but for sure their driving pattern pops right out. If a cop wanted to he could just hide and wait. Instead they sit in the car in an open area.
If you use the SpeederID webpage, find a plate with multiple hits tied to it. Put the plate number in the search box. Vola you have their pattern.

 

[Laserray]

Well I stand corrected. A police car was at the front of my house today for a short time tracking speeders.
He claims the city manager wants enforcement picked up. The city manager has been good to me. He seems fair considering the limitations.
I asked him if he checked out the website and he replied "no". I do hate when people tell white lies.

 

[Fubduck]

Anyone know how to limit CPU's to OpenALPR ? I have 16 cores and OpenALPr is using 90%.

Edit: After checking out your website it looks like you are running Windows. Have you tried throwing an Nvidia GPU in the PC to see if it will reduce the CPU workload from the OpenALPR Agent?

Original post:
Are you running the OpenALPR Agent on Linux? I ask because I started out running it on a Linux box with 8 cores. I gave OpenALPR Agent 2 cores(AMD FX8320) and they ran at 100% for the few hours I tried it. I then tried the Windows OpenALPR agent. The windows OpenALPR Agent is configured to use 2 cores(intel I7-8700K) and Nvidia acceleration. I don't think I've ever seen the cpu's go above 10%. I even tried it on a old i7-860 and the cpu usage was far less than the linux box.

That might be something to look into.

 

[Laserray]

Thanks Fubduck. I ordered one today as I matter of fact. The forum is just full of goodies. I got the CPU to calm down, but noticed the GPU was running at 92% during Plate Scanning.
Working on the sunrise sunset thing, hopefully without the dahuadaynight service. The LPR CAM is giving me fits staying in focus at switch over. I think I found the camera gears have too much backlash. Will know in a few days. Trying an old machine tool trick, always approach the focus position from the same direction. So I knock it off to near, and reposition to the correct focus.
The problem with these systems are all the variables. As I glean more information things keep getting better.
Thanks for all the help!

 

[eeeeesh]

I understand your problem, but personally, I would have some privacy concerns if I was your neighbors. ( posting videos of the inside of their garage and whatever they may be doing inside on the internet... I am talking about the red brick house with the two red cars for example)

Plus you're basically 'naming and shaming' people, based solely on readings from your 'system'.

Has the radar ever been calibrated? Do you check the calibration daily with a tuning fork? Do you realize that most Law Enforcement Agencies don't issue tickets based strictly on a radar reading from an unattended device? Usually, an officer is required to visually observe a vehicle for at least a couple of seconds, then make a visual estimation based on their training and experience and then finally use a radar (or lidar) to confirm their visual estimate.

Then you have the issue of what is really the 'safe speed' for that road? I realize it is posted for 25 mph, but the 85th Percentile comes to mind - (what is the speed that 85 % of the motorists drive under, not the posted speed) So if the 85th percentile is 35 (not uncommon in a 25 zone), really the safe speed is 35 and the roadway should be reposted.

Ya, so sorry, not a big fan of your 'big brother' type operation

 

[fenderman]

I understand your problem, but personally, I would have some privacy concerns if I was your neighbors. ( posting videos of the inside of their garage and whatever they may be doing inside on the internet... I am talking about the red brick house with the two red cars for example)



Then you have the issue of what is really the 'safe speed' for that road? I realize it is posted for 25 mph, but the 85th Percentile comes to mind - (what is the speed that 85 % of the motorists drive under, not the posted speed) So if the 85th percentile is 35 (not uncommon in a 25 zone), really the safe speed is 35 and the roadway should be reposted.

Ya, so sorry, not a big fan of your 'big brother' type operation

You could have all the privacy concerns you want, the law is clear that he can record it. Dont leave your garage open if you want to fool around in there.
He realizes that they wont issue tickets based on his setup. Its accurate enough to determine that folks are driving recklessly.
When your kids/grand kids are playing in your yard, 25, legal limit, is the safe speed. The speed most folks drive is irrelevant. Regardless, hes got folks traveling 50 every two hours. That is well above your arbitrary 85 percent rule. Go ahead and speed on the roads where no one gives a crap. On this guys road you slow down.

 

[bp2008]

Working on the sunrise sunset thing, hopefully without the dahuadaynight service. The LPR CAM is giving me fits staying in focus at switch over. I think I found the camera gears have too much backlash. Will know in a few days. Trying an old machine tool trick, always approach the focus position from the same direction. So I knock it off to near, and reposition to the correct focus.

I've heard that it helps to set the camera to stay in black and white mode at all times.

 

[Fubduck]

Working on the sunrise sunset thing, hopefully without the dahuadaynight service.

I have had no issue using this service. I set it go into night mode 30 minutes before sunset and day mode 30 minutes after sunrise, this helps with initial focus due to available light. I also use a cronjob on my linux server to validate the focus every minute, if it is incorrect the cronjob adjusts it to the correct focus for the current day/night profile.

 

[mech]

Working on the sunrise sunset thing, hopefully without the dahuadaynight service. The LPR CAM is giving me fits staying in focus at switch over. I think I found the camera gears have too much backlash. Will know in a few days. Trying an old machine tool trick, always approach the focus position from the same direction. So I knock it off to near, and reposition to the correct focus.

You could also look into a camera that holds its focus setting indefinitely, or maybe mod a Dahua with a solenoid that disconnects the focus motor on command, using an alarm-trigger signal to toggle the solenoid. I use Bosch Starlight box cameras, no issues with focus, but you'd need a weatherproof enclosure and add-on IR illuminator for outdoor use, so you'd trade one complication for another. They do have this guy: NBE-6502-AL Bullet 2MP HDR 2.8-12mm auto IP67 IK10 12mm max zoom with a 33-degree horizontal FOV would require vehicles to be fairly close, however, so if you need a super-zoom lens that's not going to be enough.

Regarding the central debate around logging plates, why do vehicles even have license plates? To provide accountability so offenders can be identified and held accountable for their actions. I'd have no expectation of privacy when driving a vehicle on a public roadway.