Vehicle speed detection is a basic need for planning a township or managing traffic in a smart city. A vision-based system to monitor traffic drew enough attention from all the stakeholders in the last decade. A system to detect and monitor speeds of vehicles can help in traffic planning, management and enforcement. Through such a system, concerned authorities can have information about vehicles running on particular city roads, vehicle speeds, traffic congestion.
All of us know speed is one of the primary causes of road accidents in India and other parts of the world. Through the extracting frames from real time videos of moving vehicles and comparison of speed between two points in a city, authorities can decide whether a car/vehicle is running within or above the mentioned speed limit. From the background, several algorithms can help authorities to extract information on vehicles running on a particular route.
Earlier, radar systems were in use to keep a close watch on moving vehicles. But they had some limitations. To get over those limitations, we have a vehicle speed detection system that works on image or video processing techniques. Factors like camera noise, tree branch wavings, and illuminations may affect the image or video processing job. And the authorities could have issues in getting the right information at the right time.
Importance of a vehicle speed detection system
To enforce traffic rules & regulations, detecting and monitoring the speed of vehicles is a crucial factor. In conventional methods, concerned authorities used a radar detected and a radar gun for vehicle speed surveillance. Radar is the shortened form of radio detection and ranging. In this technique, a radar system produces radio waves that are a form of electromagnetic energy. The energy was directed out into the air where signals made travel at the speed of 186 000 miles a second.
The transmission of these signals and the data collected from the return of electromagnetic energy helps in the speed calculation. A radar system was in use for the detection of objects, information on the range/distance between them, and the establishment of position and distance. It helps to know the location and distance of a vehicle from a certain point.
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In the current vehicle speed detection system, the working methodology is almost the same as the radar system. The earlier works on the radio wave frequency while the speed monitoring system works on the image or video processing techniques. It analyses the data from the captured images/videos or live videos collected from the installed CCTV or surveillance cameras connected with the system. In the process, it clicks the complete picture/video of a moving vehicle and uses video analytics to analyse the data between two points on a city road. The system provides all the requisite data of particular vehicles such as speed, direction, and time to reach a particular point. With this data, traffic police can detect a stolen vehicle or stop a vehicle crossing the speed limit.
The system works effectively on busy roads and does not affect the buses or vehicles serving emergency needs – health care support. It can help better and provide higher accuracy on roads with no trees on sides or in the partition. Using the system can help authorities lower road accidents and casualties caused by speeding vehicles.
