Pips Technology P372 User Manual

License plate recognition camera

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P372 Licence Plate Recognition Camera

PIPS Technology Ltd

York House

School Lane

Chandler's Ford

Eastleigh SO53 4DG

United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 2380 240250

Fax: +44 (0) 2380 240251

E-mail support@pipstechnology.co.uk

Web site http://www.pipstechnology.com

P372

Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual

User Manual

- 18653 -

PIPS Technology Inc

10511 Hardin Valley Road,

Building C,

Knoxville

TN 37932-1565

USA

Tel: +1 (0) 865 693 4432

Fax: +1 (0) 865 693 4896

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Page 1 P372 Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual P372 Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual PIPS Technology Ltd PIPS Technology Inc York House 10511 Hardin Valley Road, School Lane Building C, Chandler’s Ford Knoxville Eastleigh SO53 4DG TN 37932-1565 United Kingdom...
Page 2 P372 Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual This page is intentionally blank © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 2 of 76 - 18654 -...
Page 3 Rear connector information re-written More information about trigger and relay connections Tables of commands reformatted Camera mounting details added 16 August 2005 Application RS-232 port connections on rear panel detailed © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 3 of 76 - 18655 -...
Page 4 P372 Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual This page is intentionally blank © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 4 of 76 - 18656 -...
Page 5: Table Of Contents
Aligning number plates .............................. 14 Maintenance ................................15 Fault Finding ................................. 15 Appendix 1 Mechanical and Electrical Specification for the P372 .................. 16 Mechanical ................................. 16 Electronic ................................... 16 Environmental Specification ............................16 Statutory and Regulatory Considerations ........................16 Appendix 2 Connector pin outs ............................
Page 6 5.3.1 format of heart beat message ..........................59 5.3.2 Heartbeat status report ............................59 Time synchronisation ..............................60 Appendix 6 P372 Application Notes ..........................61 Tolling system ................................61 6.1.1 File formats ................................61 6.1.2 Time stamps ................................62 6.1.3 Command channel ..............................
Page 7 The warranty excludes consumable materials and parts with an inherently limited life and excludes faults arising from misuse, neglect or vandalism. PIPS Technology will replace or repair at its option and at no cost to the purchaser any faulty items reported to it within the warranty period.
Page 8 L'information dans ce manuel est autorisée pour la distribution aux clients, au personnel des services de maintenance autorisés, et aux distributeurs de PIPS Technology Ltd (ci-après dénommée "La compagnie") Tout effort a été fait pour que l’information dans ce manuel soit correcte. Cependant, "La compagnie"...
Page 9: Introduction
Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual Introduction This user manual will provide the reader with sufficient information to set up and operate the P372 Licence Plate Recognition Camera safely and to carry out any routine maintenance tasks that may be necessary.
Page 10: Equipment Overview
GPRS modem link.  Hot list. The P372 can check, in real time, the detected VRN against a white or black list of VRNs. Alarms can be raised when a match is found. New hot lists can be downloaded to the P372.
Page 11: Siting The P372
P372 Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual 2.1. Siting the P372 The P372 can be sited on poles, gantries or any elevated position giving a clear view of the road or carriageway to be monitored. 2.2. Rear connection panel Figure 1 P372 Rear Connections Figure 2 P372 Rear Connections - Detail Details of the Connector ‘Pin-Outs’...
Page 12: Computer Configuration Of The P372
P372 Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual If required, connect the video monitor output(s) from the P372 to a suitable video monitor(s) using standard 75 Ohm video coaxial cable. Ensure that the video cable is terminated in 75 Ohms once (only) including all units through which the video signal may be looped.
Page 13: Pc Support Software
PC server for software loading. An IP address is usually seen as a group of four numbers separated by dots. e.g. 100.100.100.100. The IP addresses used need to match the rest of the network system in which the P372 is installed. The local network administrator will usually be responsible for issue of IP addresses.
Page 14: Set Up Tools
Figure 2 PIPS Viewfinder application Confirm that the P372 is detecting a plate. Enter the IP address of the P372 and select the Run button. The camera can be adjusted to align the plate in the image box in the viewfinder window.
Page 15: Maintenance
Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual Maintenance The P372 operates with a power supply unit outputting a voltage between 12 and 18 volts. There are no user serviceable parts within the P372. Routine maintenance of the P372 is limited to cleaning the unit and ensuring that the unit is properly secured and aligned.
Page 16: Appendix 1 Mechanical And Electrical Specification For The P372
P372 Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual Appendix 1 Mechanical and Electrical Specification for the P372 Mechanical Overall Dimensions 210 mm long, 107mm diameter excluding hood Overall Weight 1.5kg Casing Material Aluminium, black anodised Electronic Operating Voltage 11.5 to 18 volts (at the camera connector)
Page 17: Appendix 2 Connector Pin Outs
Reserved Application Port RS- 232 In (To P372) Application Port RS- 232 Out (From P372) Reserved External LED Drive Table A.2.2(A). P372 Connector - Rear Connector with Socket Contacts © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 17 of 76 - 18669 -...
Page 18 Black Relay 3 (NC) Blue Trigger 2 (Current in) Grey Table A.2.2(B). P372 Connector - Rear Connector with Pin Contacts A.2.3. RS232 Signals Signals are RXD – Receive Data by P372 TXD – Transmit Data from P372 The RS232 "common" conductor is shared with the Ethernet "common" conductor.
Page 19 A changeover relay is provided to connect to other equipment. Using a relay ensures isolation as well as felixibility so far as voltages and polarities are concerned. Relay 1 Relay 3 Relay 2 P372 Fig A.2.2. Relay Configuration © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 19 of 76 - 18671 -...
Page 20: Appendix 3 P372 General Configuration
This file may be located within any of the available file systems. A small number of configuration options are accessible from the EPROM boot loader as these configuration options must be set in order to start or to load software into the P372. Connection & Control Initial control and configuration of the P372 must be done via the engineering access serial (RS232) port (the debug port).
Page 21: Boot Device
>>set boot file 372x2a.z00 boot mode is: FILE, default file: 373x2a.z00 >> >>show server system serial number: 13 ethernet hardware address: 0800 372b 0013 internet address: 10.10.10.100 server address: 10.10.10.254 >> © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 21 of 76 - 18673 -...
Page 22: Application Configuration
Requires 080 or 100 above. Images will be monitored according to other 0x0800 options set. However no image will be forwarded until after the completion of a trigger event. Cont/ © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 22 of 76 - 18674 -...
Page 23 Where nn is pixels from right edge of field Set bits to turn on debug messages within capture set debug 0xnn capture system Cont/ © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 23 of 76 - 18675 -...
Page 24 Field separator to use when building long file jpeg set separator names No list file jpeg set list n List file by date in dos:/jpg Cont/ © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 24 of 76 - 18676 -...
Page 25 250 entries Change the aspect ratio of jpeg images. NB jpeg set aspect n PIPS Technology quotes performance for standard aspect ratio. This parameter does not affect patch images that are always unmodified. Standard aspect ratio. A video field is...
Page 26 Log plate string to dos:/bmp/lost.log if 0x00800000 output Q becomes full ditto 0x00000080 Enable logging to file of OEM specific 0X01000000 debug messages Enable printing of OEM specific debug 0x00000100 messages Cont/ © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 26 of 76 - 18678 -...
Page 27 No network connection, modem connects directly to a CLI After connection the modem line is switched into a SLIP connection After connection the modem line is switched into a PPP connection Cont/ © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 27 of 76 - 18679 -...
Page 28 Specify the server IP address to be used for the system set time_server internet "daytime client" and SNTP requests. Set this to 0 to turn off calls to a time server Cont/ © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 28 of 76 - 18680 -...
Page 29 Trigger on elapsed distance after trailing edge of 0x0002 event. distance is in mm This is converted to a time by using speed measured through gate Event is rising edge on input. 0x0004 Cont/ © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 29 of 76 - 18681 -...
Page 30: Mode And Sync
0xnn corresponding to bits set in this mask 3.4.1 Mode and Sync Command Notes Default value. set mode 0x00 set video sync rate set sync NTSC/EIA PAL/CCIR © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 30 of 76 - 18682 -...
Page 31: Camera Exposure Configuration
The extra entries are required to define what the camera(s) will do when its output is not being processed. When the camera output is not being used the flash control should be set to 0. © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 31 of 76 - 18683 -...
Page 32: Example Exposure Settings
3.4.4 Direction Selection The P372 will normally accept all plates moving through the field of view (subject to selection filters). However the system may be configured to accept plates from vehicles moving either toward or away from the camera. See option cap set direction above.
Page 33: Closeloop
In order to determine direction the P372 observes the movement of a detected plate within the field of view. The P372 must therefore have at least two detection events for any plate. On high speed traffic under conditions of poor visibility and/or with a poor plate the P372 may only detect one plate from a triple flash pattern and therefore will be unable to make a reliable determination of direction.
Page 34: Alpr Configuration
Sets bits for debugging closedloop debug 0x0000 operation 0x0001 – for threshold control 0x0002 – for brightness control 3.4.6 ALPR Configuration (PIPS Technology AUTOPLATE specific) Command Notes anpr show anpr set set to 0 to turn off all internal debug messages debug...
Page 36: Plate Database
Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual Plate Database The P372 incorporates a real time fast access plate database. In its standard form this database may be used as a filter for plates either acting as a white list filter or as a black list filter.
Page 37: Performance
The plate database should be restricted to a few hundred vehicles. This approach is more appropriate for situations where many plates must be checked against a small list as for example in a controlled access situation. © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 37 of 76 - 18689 -...
Page 38: Communication & File Transfer Facilities
Copies fromfile from the 372 to an identical name in the ftp put fromfile default server directory. Copies fromfile from the P372 to tofile, where tofile may ftp put fromfile tofile be a full pathname The fromfile may contain wildcards ftp mput fromspec Appends 372 fromfile to the end of tofile on the server.
Page 39: Web Management And Reporting
P372 Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual 3.6.1 WEB Management and Reporting Figure 3 Example home page for the P372 © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 39 of 76 - 18691 -...
Page 40 P372 Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual Figure 4 Example Client monitor page for the P372 © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 40 of 76 - 18692 -...
Page 41: Trigger System
Trigger System The trigger/detector system provides an input. This input is fed to the P372 processor so time measurements can be made. The trigger input can also be used to wake the P372 from its two doze modes. The system can provide a longer latency detector designed for enabling a camera channel in response to an external vehicle detector as might for example be used at a car park barrier.
Page 42: Test System
Create a list of these files in the same directory. eg: ls –c1 *.bmp > inlist Then on the P372 process the files >> bmp list inlist results This will process each file, and record the result in in file “results”.
Page 43: Batch Processing
3.10 Network Support The P372 has a fairly complete TCP/IP stack. Communication links may be made either via 100/10baseT Ethernet or via SLIP or PPP on the modem port. SLIP & PPP support direct connections. No facility exists to allocate (or accept allocated) IP numbers.
Page 44: Ping
-s packetsize use packets of size packetsize, default 56 -v verbose list other ICMP packets received (useful for debugging routing issues) set the IP record route option (NYI) © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 44 of 76 - 18696 -...
Page 45: Telnet
If no target is given, ping will access the default server address. 3.10.2 Telnet The P372 supports a telnet interface on the standard telnet port 23. Concurrent telnet sessions are not supported. The telnet connection may be set to automatically time out on no input activity.
Page 46: Ftp
64k of flash store space. Each file name has an 8.3 format. However the 3 portion of the file name is used for version identity and plays no part in the name © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 46 of 76...
Page 47: Dos File System
>> fs del fspec 3.12.2 DOS File System The P372 provides local non volatile storage in an area of battery backed ram configured as a ram disk. The ram disk system has a DOS 3.3 style file system. This limits file naming conventions to the DOS 8.3 format.
Page 48: Time Synchronisation
P372 time reference be synchronised in some way with the external systems. The P372 has an internal clock/calendar chip. This is used to set the system time on initial power The time on this clock can be set manually via the set date or set time CLI commands. However this clock cannot be expected to maintain accurate synchronisation with the external world.
Page 49: Appendix 4 Vehicle Logging Software Notes
This document describes a system for logging vehicle licence plate numbers together with the plate patches. The data is collected via an Ethernet connection to a server running FTP. One server will be able to support many P372 data collection points. The exact number being dependant upon the capabilities of the sever.
Page 50 In the suggested configuration, when the P372 detects a licence plate, the number will be read and an entry will be placed in a log file within the P372. Optionally a JPEG compressed copy of the plate patch image will be transferred to the host system. The log file will grow until the first of three possible limits is reached: ©...
Page 51: Data Format
4.5.1 Log Files As described above the P372 generates a log file with a record for each licence plate detected and read. Log files are created within the P372 and transferred on either time or size overflow. The P372 is not limited to providing batch transfers, but could transfer the data in real time to a suitable accepting application if this were available and appropriate.
Page 52: Patch Files
As there are potentially very many of these image files the P372 will break the storage of the images into a number of separate directories with a configurable maximum number of files in each directory. Each image file is given a name based on the same format as the log file record: p0329,1221465,0,W202MAK,96.jpg...
Page 53: Time Synchronisation
Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual Time Synchronisation The P372 system will attempt to maintain local time and date via a connection to the BSD / UNIX style SNTP (preferred) or daytime server on a specified host machine at port 13. Most UNIX and NT systems will provide this service or can load a service to do so.
Page 54 If you wish to use a network time server ensure that your network has an SNTP server running. You will need to know the IP address of this server. Allocate IP addresses for the P372 units within your local domain. The P372 defaults to a mask of 255.255.255.0 Turn on the P372.
Page 55 4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max = 1/1/2 ms >> Unpack the zip file containing configuration scripts into the directory on the development system for account ftp_boot. Confirm that the ftp client on the P372 can "see" this directory: >>ftp dir ----------...
Page 56 Ensure that once the connection is ok you disable debug on the ftp connection as shown at the end of the above examples. The debug messages can lead to connection disruption. © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 56 of 76 - 18708 -...
Page 57: Appendix 5 Oem Journey Time System
This may indicate a possible system failure e.g. camera fault or, may indicate that a lane is closed. Cont/ © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 57 of 76 - 18709 -...
Page 58: Vehicle Tag Message
0x01 – reduce ambiguous characters Vehicle Tag Message On detection of a vehicle. the P372 will send a message to the host system comprising time stamp and tag details. The connection to the host is opened on the first plate and thereafter maintained open until no vehicles have been detected for a period, at which time the connection will be closed.
Page 59: Heart Beat Message
Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual Heart Beat Message If option keep_alive is set to non zero, then, on every "keep_alive" seconds the P372 will open a connection to the host system and send a heart beat message. The connection will be closed after transmission.
Page 60: Time Synchronisation
The P372 system will attempt to maintain local time and date via a connection to the BSD / UNIX style SNTP (preferred) or daytime server on a specified host machine at port 13. Most Unix and NT systems will provide this service or can load a service to do so.
Page 61: Appendix 6 P372 Application Notes
These examples are shown as case studies. The software and functionality described may not be available as standard on the P372. It is usually the case that a specific application or configuration will require specific software to be implemented. These case studies show how that might be done by describing the required system configuration and hypothetical software specification.
Page 62: Time Stamps
An alternative mechanism would be to use a standard calendar timestamp eg the minutes, seconds, ticks from a normal clock. The P372 system will maintain local time and date via a connection to the BSD / UNIX style SNTP (preferred) or daytime server on a specified host machine at port 13. Most Unix and NT systems will provide this service or can load a service to do so.
Page 63 Force the 372 to perform a complete software reset reset. All current IP connections will be lost, and all current image sets will be discarded. Close the connection, wait for a new connection logout © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 63 of 76 - 18715 -...
Page 64: Message Channel
In addition, the message channel will transmit a periodic message if no other messages have been sent for the configurable period msg_timeout seconds . The host system may use the presence of data on this service as an indication that the P372 is operational. © PIPS Technology Ltd...
Page 65: Error Codes
OK nvt:n ftp:n msg:n clk:n where: n is state of communication channel OK nvt:6 ftp:1 msg:6 clk:1 I:6,12,1,1 nvt channel state : ftp channel state: msg channel state: clock state: © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 65 of 76 - 18717 -...
Page 66: Tolling Specific Configuration Options
Age in seconds for which images are maintained in the max_age history table. NB: images will be discarded oldest first despite this setting when the table becomes full. Cont/ © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 66 of 76 - 18718 -...
Page 67: Security Monitoring System
The site has barriers at entrances. Loops are available indicating when a vehicle is waiting at the barrier. For each lane entering the site, one P372 camera is mounted on a pole viewing the area before the barrier. A central system stores the images and vehicle tags in a database.
Page 68: Car Parking
The car park has two entry lanes and one exit lane. The latter has a payment booth. One of the entry lanes and the exit lane are to be monitored by automatic licence plate reading system (ALPR). Each of the lanes will be monitored by one P372 camera. This will feed data to the parking system.
Page 69: Appendix 7 High Level Commands At The Cli Interface
Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual Appendix 7 High Level Commands at the CLI Interface These commands are entered at the command line interface (CLI) on the P372. The function of these commands is described in Appendix 3. 1 - capture...
Page 70 18 - jpeg 19 - raw 20 - log 21 - anpr 22 - system 23 - kermit 24 - carpark 25 - client 26 - tl 27 - sync © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 70 of 76 - 18722 -...
Page 71 1 - server 2 - send 3 - set 4 – show 5 - script 10 - ftp Available Commands are 0 - nlist 1 - dir 2 - ls © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 71 of 76 - 18723 -...
Page 72 14 - exit 15 - flash Available Commands are 0 - write 1 - erase 16 - flex Available Commands are 0 - load 1 – reset 2 - version © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 72 of 76 - 18724 -...
Page 73 4 - show 5 – info 6 – hangup 7 – power 8 - command 23 - site Available Commands are 0 - show 1 - set 24 - script © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 73 of 76 - 18725 -...
Page 74 28 - bmp Available Commands are 0 - test 1 - set 2 - show 3 - html 4 - ALPR 5 - list 6 - score 7 - script © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 74 of 76 - 18726 -...
Page 75 5 - config 6 - ping 7 - blast 8 - route 9 - getrt 10 - slip 11 – ppp 12 - info 30 - ping 32 - convert © PIPS Technology Ltd Page 75 of 76 - 18727 -...
Page 76: Appendix 8 Customer Comment Proforma
York House ………………………………………………… School Lane ………………………………………………… Eastleigh ………………………………………………… Hants SO53 4DG Thank you for commenting on: P372 Licence Plate Recognition Camera User Manual – Issue 2.1 Action is being taken to: *(1) Revise the publication *(2) Amend the publication *(3)

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Table of Contents