Automatic Number Plate Recognition
Mar 5

Automatic Number Plate Recognition

London Congestion Charge : This is an interesting Wikipedia article about the “congestion charge” levied on vehicles entering the busiest zone in Central London. Apparently traffic was so bad here, that they charge people $9 US for a day pass to drive in it.

Those sneaky Brits are too smart for mere tollbooths for enforcement:

Two hundred and thirty CCTV-style cameras, of which 180 are installed at the edge of the zone, record a stream of video of roads in the zone. There are also a number of mobile camera units which may be deployed anywhere in the zone.

It is estimated that around 98% of vehicles moving within the zone will be caught on camera. The video streams are then transmitted to a data centre located in Central London where a computer system equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (OCR) software deduces the registration plate of the vehicle.

Here’s another good article about the technology. I think the Brits have pioneered this just because the numbers on the license plates are so big.

by Deane   March 5, 2004 8:43 AM    |   Follow Gadgetopia on Twitter

Comments

by Peter,   March 6, 2004 12:44 PM  

We've installed the same system in the Netherlands, but it doesn't work as good as in the UK, because of the different "font" used on our license plates.

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