Automatic Number Plate Recognition

Automatic Number Plate Recognition Seminar Report
Abstract
Automatic number plate recognition is a mass surveillance method that uses optical
character recognition on images to read the licence plates on vehicles. As of 2006,
systems can scan number plates at around one per second on cars travelling up to 100
mph (160 km/h). They can use existing closed-circuit television or road-rule enforcement
cameras, or ones specifically designed for the task. They are used by various police
forces and as a method of electronic toll collection on pay-per-use roads, and monitoring
traffic activity such as red light adherence in an intersection.
ANPR can be used to store the images captured by the cameras as well as the text from
the licence plate, with some configurable to store a photograph of the driver. Systems
commonly use infrared lighting to allow the camera to take the picture at any time of
day. A powerful flash is included in at least one version of the intersection-monitoring
cameras, serving to both illuminate the picture and make the offender aware of his or her
mistake. ANPR technology tends to be region specific, owing to plate variation from
place to place.
www.seminarsonly.com 1
Introduction
Being able to identify car number plates quickly and mechanically is of great benefit to
many businesses and organizations for a wide variety of applications including security,
crime detection, traffic management and even automatic payment systems (e.g. for car
parks). It is only recently that the technology has really come of age, but the systems AC
Controls now install not only provide exceptionally reliable results, but also can do so at
acute angles, in any lighting condition and most importantly at high speed.
The ANPR was invented in 1976 at the Police Scientific Development Branch in the UK.
Prototype systems were working by 1979 and contracts were let to produce industrial
systems, first at EMI Electronics then at Computer Recognition Systems (CRS) in
Wokingham, UK. Early trial systems were deployed on the A1 road and at the Dartford
Tunnel. The first arrest due to a detected stolen car was made in 1981.
Massive integration of information technologies into all aspects of modern life caused
demand for processing vehicles as conceptual resources in information systems. Because
a standalone information system without any data has no sense, there was also a need to
transform information about vehicles between the reality and information systems. This
can be achieved by a human agent, or by special intelligent equipment which is be able
to recognize vehicles by their number plates in a real environment and reflect it into
conceptual resources. Because of this, various recognition techniques have been
developed and number plate recognition systems are today used in various traffic and
security applications, such as parking, access and border control, or tracking of stolen
cars.
In parking, number plates are used to calculate duration of the parking. When a vehicle
enters an input gate, number plate is automatically recognized and stored in database.
When a vehicle later exits the parking area through an output gate, number plate is
recognized again and paired with the first-one stored in the database. The difference in
time is used to calculate the parking fee. Automatic number plate recognition systems
can be used in access control. For example, this technology is used in many companies to
grant access only to vehicles of authorized personnel.
In some countries, ANPR systems installed on country borders automatically detect and
monitor border crossings. Each vehicle can be registered in a central database and
compared to a black list of stolen vehicles. In traffic control, vehicles can be directed to
different lanes for a better congestion control in busy urban communications during the
rush hours.
Mathematical aspects of number plate recognition systems

In most cases, vehicles are identified by their number plates, which are easily readable
for
humans, but not for machines. For machine, a number plate is only a grey picture defined
as a two-dimensional function ) , ( y x f , where x and y are spatial coordinates, and f is a
light intensity at that point. Because of this, it is necessary to design robust mathematical
machinery, which will be able to extract semantics from spatial domain of the captured
image. These functions are implemented in so-called ANPR systems, where the
acronym ANPR stands for an Automatic Number Plate Recognition. ANPR system
means transformation of data between the real environment and information systems.
The design of ANPR systems is a field of research in artificial intelligence, machine

vision, pattern recognition and neural networks. Because of this, the main goal of this
thesis is to study algorithmic and mathematical principles of automatic number plate
recognition systems.
Humans define the number plate in a natural language as a small plastic or metal plate
attached to a vehicle for official identification purposes, but machines do not
understand this definition. Because of this, there is a need to find an alternative definition
of the number plate based on descriptors, which will be comprehensible for machines are
segmented using the horizontal projection of a pre-processed number plate, but
sometimes these principles can fail, especially if detected number plates are too warped
or skewed. Then, more sophisticated segmentation algorithms must be used.
Technology Highlights
This technology is gaining popularity in security and traffic installations. The technology
concept assumes that all vehicles already have the identity displayed (the plate!) so no
additional transmitter or responder is required to be installed on the car.
The system uses illumination (such as Infra-red) and a camera to take the image of the
front or rear of the vehicle, then an image-processing software analyzes the images and
extracts the plate information. This data is used for enforcement, data collection, and (as
in the access-control system featured above) can be used to open a gate if the car is
authorized or keep a time record on the entry or exit for automatic payment calculations.
The LPR system significant advantage is that the system can keep an image record of the
vehicle, which is useful in order to fight crime and fraud ("an image is worth a thousand
words"). An additional camera can focus on the driver face and save the image for
security reasons. Additionally, this technology does not need any installation per car
(such as in all the other technologies that require a transmitter added on each car or
carried by the driver).
Early LPR systems suffered from a low recognition rate, lower than required by practical
systems. The external effects (sun and headlights, bad plates, wide number of plates
types) and the limited level of the recognition software and vision hardware yielded low
quality systems.
However, recent improvements in the software and hardware have made the LPR
systems much more reliable and widespread. You can now find these systems in
numerous installations and the numbers of systems are growing exponentially, efficiently
automating more and more tasks in different market segments. In many cases the LPR
unit is added as retrofit in addition to existing solutions, such as a magnetic card reader
or ticket dispenser/reader, in order to add more functionality to the existing facility.
Even if the recognition is not absolute, the application that depends on the recognition
results can compensate the errors and produce a virtually flawless system. For example,
when comparing the recognition of the entry time of a car to the exit time in order to
establish the parking time, the match (of entry verses exit) can allow some small degree
of error without making a mistake. This intelligent integration can overcome some of the
LPR flaws and yield dependable and fully automatic systems.
Elements of typical ANPR systems

ANPR systems normally consist of the following units:
Camera(s) - that take the images of the car (front or rear side)
Illumination - a controlled light that can bright up the plate, and allow
day and night operation. In most cases the illumination is Infra-Red (IR) which is
invisible to the driver.
Frame grabber - an interface board between the camera and the PC,
allows the software to read the image information
Computer - normally a PC running Windows or Linux. It runs the LPR
application, which controls the system, reads the images, analyzes and identifies
the plate, and interfaces with other applications and systems.
Software - the application and the recognition package. Usually the
recognition package is supplied as a DLL (Dynamic Link Library).
Hardware - various input/output boards used to interface the external
world (such as control boards and networking boards)
Database - the events are recorded on a local database or transmitted over
the network. The data includes the recognition results and (optionally) the vehicle
or driver-face image file
The following illustration shows a typical configuration of a LPR system (for example,
for 2-lanes-in and 2-lanes-out access control system). The system ("SeeLane") is a
typical example of such system. The SeeLane application runs as a background Windows
application in the PC (shown in the center), and interfaces to a set of SeeCarHead
camera/illumination units (one for each vehicle) which are interfaced by the frame
grabber. The application controls the sensors and controls via an I/O card that is
connected thru a terminal block to the inputs and outputs. The application displays the
results and can also send them via serial communication and via DDE messages to other
application(s). It writes the information to local database or to optional remote databases
(via the network).
SeeLane major features are:

The program is the basis for a wide range of Traffic and Access-control
applications
Handles single or multiple lanes (1-6 lanes, each lane with different
characteristics easily changed by a password-controlled setting menu)
Easy configuration settings: communication, device interface, sensor types,
capture and illumination modes
Selectable illumination and image capture schemes (to maximize the results on
different plate qualities the application switches automatically between the 3
illumination levels and outputs the result according to built-in intelligence)
SeeLane can run in background (as black box) and send DDE messages to your
client application (samples and source code are provided)
Cuts time-to-market - a tailored application can be prepared and integrated in a
few days!
Simplifies the interface of the SeeCar recognition package to a Relational
database or a multi-site LPR system (ask for application note)
Automatic image recording option (for security checks and debugging)
Full hardware kit is included (frame grabber, IO card and interface, sensor
interface, Camera/Illumination unit )
Released for Win 2000/XP
System Architecture
SeeLane is a turn-key system comprises of the following elements:
o A PC Pentium running Windows 2K/WinXP Pro SeeCar DLL - which is used to
analyze the images and extract license plate string.
o Camera/Illumination unit to capture the images (SeeCarHead Hi-Tech
Solutions LPR camera and illumination unit)
o A Frame Grabber(s) - which capture(s) the images from the camera units
(handles multiple camera inputs)
o I/O card input/output board with multiple I/O discrete lines. This board
supports the sensors, illumination control and optional gate-open signal. It is
connected via a cable to a terminal interface board with easy connections and
indicator lights.
o Sensors to indicate the presence of the car (a sensor for each lane)
o SeeLane The SeeLane Windows application interfaces the hardware elements
(frame grabber, camera/illumination unit(s), IO card and sensor). It controls the
illumination, reads the video inputs and passes the images to the DLL in order to
obtain the recognition results. The application displays the image and recognition
results. It then exports the results using serial communication, messages or disk
files. Its man-machine interface supports on-line setting control, which can easily
adapt the application to various types of configurations.
Working Of ANPR
The following example shows how a typical access-control system works. It follows the
order of the animation above.
Fig 1. The vehicle approached the secured area, and starts the cycle by stepping over a
magnetic loop detector (which is the most popular vehicle sensor). The loop detector
senses the car and its presence is signaled to the LPR unit.
Fig 2. The LPR unit activates the illumination (invisible Infra-red in most cases) and
takes pictures of the front or rear plates from the LPR camera (shown at the left side of
the gate). The images of the vehicle include the plate and the pixel information is read by
the LPR unit's image processing hardware (the frame grabber).
Fig 3. The LPR unit analyzes the image with different image processing software
algorithms, enhences the image, detects the plate position, extracts the plate string, and
identifies the fonts using special artificial intelligence methods (such as Neural
Networks).Most LPR units are based on an application running on PC under Windows.
Other systems exist that do not require a PC (such as the stand-alone unit shown in this
illustration).
Fig 4. The LPR unit checks if the vehicle appears on a predefined list of authorized cars,
and if found - it signals to open the gate by activating its relay. The unit can also switch
on a green "go-ahead" light or red "stop" light. The unit can also display a Welcome!
message with personalized data.
Fig 5 The authorized vehicle enters into the secured area. After passing the gate its
detector closes the gate. Now the system waits for the next vehicle to approach the
secured area.
Other types of applications use the information retrieved from the image for different
purposes. For example, to prepare a speed or red-light violation ticket. All rely on
automatic image understanding process performed by the LPR unit, which actually
mimics the human mind.
Difficulties
There are a number of possible difficulties that the software must be able to cope with.
These include:
Poor image resolution, usually because the plate is too far away but
sometimes resulting from the use of a low-quality camera.
Blurry images, particularly motion blur
Poor lighting and low contrast due to overexposure, reflection or shadows
An object obscuring (part of) the plate, quite often a tow bar, or dirt on the
plate
A different font, popular for vanity plates (some countries do not allow
such plates, eliminating the problem)
Circumvention techniques
Early ANPR systems were unable to read white or silver lettering on black background,
as permitted on UK vehicles built prior to 1973.
While some of these problems can be corrected within the software it is primarily left to
the hardware side of the system to work out solutions to these difficulties. Increasing the
height of the camera may avoid problems with objects (such as other vehicles) obscuring
the plate, but introduces and increases other problems such as the adjusting for the
increased skew of the plate.
Many countries now use licence plates that are retroreflective . This returns the light
back to the source and thus improves the contrast of the image. In some countries, the
characters on the plate are not reflective, giving a high level of contrast with the
reflective background in any lighting conditions. A camera that makes use of infrared
imaging (with a normal colour filter over the lens and an infrared light-source next to it)
benefits greatly from this as the infrared waves are reflected back from the plate. This is
only possible on dedicated ANPR cameras, however, and so cameras used for other
purposes must rely more heavily on the software capabilities. Further, when a full-colour
image is required as well as use of the ANPR-retrieved details it is necessary to have one
infrared-enabled camera and one normal (colour) camera working together.
Blurry images make OCR difficult ANPR systems should have fast shutter speeds to
avoid motion blur
To avoid blurring it is ideal to have the shutter speed of a dedicated camera set to
1/1000th of a second. Because the car is moving, slower speeds could result in an image
which is too blurred to read using the OCR software, especially if the camera is much
higher up than the vehicle. In slow-moving traffic, or when the camera is at a lower level
and the vehicle is at an angle approaching the camera, the shutter speed does not need to
be so fast. Shutter speeds of 1/500th of a second can cope with traffic moving up to 40
mph (64 km/h) and 1/250th of a second up to 5 mph (8 km/h).
On some cars, towbars may obscure one or two characters of the licence plate. Bikes on
bike racks can also obscure the number plate, though in some countries and jurisdictions,
such as New South Wales, "bike plates" are supposed to be fitted.
Some small-scale systems allow for some errors in the licence plate. When used for
giving specific vehicles access to a barriered area the decision may be made to have an
acceptable error rate of one character. This is because the likelihood of an unauthorised
car having such a similar licence plate is seen as quite small. However, this level of
inaccuracy would not be acceptable in most applications of an ANPR system.
Typical applications
LPR applications have a wide range of applications, which use the extracted plate
number and optional images to create automated solutions for various problems. These
include the following sample applications.
Parking
The plate number is used to automatically enter pre-paid members and calculate parking
fee for non-members (by comparing the exit and entry times). The optional driver face
image can be used to prevent car hijacking.
In this example, a car is entering a car park in a busy shopping center. The car plate is
recognized and stored. When the car will later exit (through the gate on the right side) the
car plate will be read again. The driver will be charged for the duration of the parking. The
gate will automatically open after payment - or if the vehicle has a monthly permit.
Access Control - a gate automatically opens for authorized members in a secured area,
thus replacing or assisting the security guard. The events are logged on a database and
could be used to search the history of events.
In this example, the gate has just been automatically raised for the authorized vehicle,
after being recognized by the system. A large outdoor display greets the driver. The event
(result, time and image) is logged in the database.
Tolling - the car number is used to calculate the travel fee in a toll-road, or used to
double-check the ticket.
In this installation, the plate is read when the vehicle enters the toll lane and presents a
pass card. The information of the vehicle is retrieved from the database and compared
against the pass information. In case of fraud the operator is notified.
Border Control - the car number is registered in the entry or exits to the Country, and
used to monitor the border crossings. It can short the border crossing turnaround time
and cut short the typical long lines.
This installation covers the borders of the entire Country. Each vehicle is registered into
a central database and linked to additional information such as the passport data. This is
used to track all border crossings.
Traffic control - the vehicles can be directed to different lanes according to their entry
permits (such as in University complex projects). The system effectively reduces traffic
congestions and the number of attendants.
In this installation the LPR based system classifies the cars on a congested entrance to 3
types (authorized, known visitors, and unknown cars for inquiry) and guides them to the
appropriate lane. This system reduced the long waiting lines and simplified the security
officers workload.
Marketing Tool - the car plates may be used to compile a list of frequent visitors for
marketing purposes, or to build a traffic profile (such as the frequency of entry verses the
hour or day).
Travel - A number of LPR units are installed in different locations in city routes and the
passing vehicle plate numbers are matched between the points. The average speed and
travel time between these points can be calculated and presented in order to monitor
municipal traffic loads. Additionally, the average speed may be used to issue a speeding
ticket.
In this example the car is recognized at two points, and the violation shows the photos of
both locations which were taken on bridges on top of the highway. The average speed of
the car is calculated from both points, and displayed if the speed passed a violation
threshold, and optionally printed.
Airport Parking - In order to reduce ticket fraud or mistakes, the LPR unit is used to
capture the plate number and image of the cars. The information may be used to calculate
the parking time or provide a proof of parking in case of a lost ticket - a typical problem
in airport parking which have relatively long (and expensive) parking durations.
This photo shows the gate of a long-term airport parking. The car is recognized on entry
and the data is later used to track the real entry time in case of a lost ticket.
Conclusion
Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) is a mass surveillance method that uses
optical character recognition on images to read the licence plates on vehicles. As of 2006
systems can scan number plates at around one per second on cars travelling up to 100
mph (160 km/h). They can use existing closed-circuit television or road-rule enforcement
cameras, or ones specifically designed for the task. They are used by various police
forces and as a method of electronic toll collection on pay-per-use roads, and monitoring
traffic activity such as red light adherence in an intersection.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition

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Automatic Number Plate Recognition Seminar Report

Mathematical aspects of number plate recognition systems

The design of ANPR systems is a field of research in artificial intelligence, machine

Elements of typical ANPR systems

SeeLane major features are:

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