Vehicle Enforcement System
Our Vehicle Enforcement System (VES) accurately captures high-resolution color images at levels that support video tolling capability.
Design Benefits
- High-resolution digital color image capture
- Vehicle front, rear, or both, as well as straddle and shoulder image capture in Open Road Tolling (ORT) environments
- Integrated dual strobe – These long life, low energy, minimal maintenance strobes ensure excellent image quality, even in poor visibility conditions, by enhancing the reflective properties of the license plate. This is done without requiring large 1000 watt flood lights which consume power, distract the drivers and require intensive maintenance
- Captures plate images at varying speeds providing assurance that every plate is captured using defined and precise trigger points
- License plate “region-of-interest” (ROI) image isolation – UTS VES images are digitally analyzed to isolate the license plate area and provide a separate plate image
- Optical Character Recognition/Optical State Recognition (OCR/OSR) analyses – Plate images may be digitally processed for recognition of state of origin, plate type as well as what is typically provided for individual characters
- Single-lane VES configuration option included in the UTS Traffic Control Pedestal – One piece of hardware accommodates several lane configurations without the need to purchase different models
- Video tolling option supported – If video tolling is desired, the hardware is already in place for implementation
The UTS high resolution (1380 x 1024 pixels) digital cameras capture over 16 million colors. In contrast, most other violation enforcement systems use lower resolution black and white images from infrared cameras. In an installation of a single attended lane, the UTS VES captures two rear images of every vehicle. The time and location of each image are slightly different to minimize the chances of sun glare or an obstruction (such as a trailer hitch) affecting or blocking the same portion of the license plate in both images. In unattended lane types, an optional UTS VES system can also be set to capture front images of every vehicle. Each IP addressable camera houses a dedicated microprocessor for remote camera setup, image quality monitoring, and subsequent camera adjustment over the LAN or Virtual Private Network (VPN). Lanes do not need to be closed to make camera adjustments or to perform maintenance.
Satisfactory license plate imaging depends on appropriate lighting in varying weather conditions. To meet the challenge, UTS has developed specialized redundant filtered strobes that flash at 200 microseconds. Light intensity is controlled by the camera computers to optimize the lighting on the license plate for the prevailing conditions. The two industrial bulbs housed in the strobe are designed for use in excess of ten years. These strobe lights not only increase the quality of images, but also significantly reduce energy consumption when compared to multiple 1,000 watt incandescent bulb lighting as an ambient light source.
Another UTS design, the fast plate locator, identifies the “region of interest” (ROI) in the captured digital image. A special patent-pending process is applied to the images for transmission and storage without compromising their value for enforcement.
Images can be transmitted from the lanes to the OCR/OSR system for processing. Alternately, the images can be queued for manual processing by image review personnel; or a combination of these based on set thresholds of confidence.
