Night-Time Car Detection with AI Security Camera
Watch this video to see the results of my night-time car detection testing using this IP-A4BZ AI security camera and Viewtron IP camera NVR. The vehicle and person object detection that you will see in this video is a function of the AI software built into both the IP camera and Viewtron network video recorder.
In my last video, I tested the object detection capability of this video surveillance system during the day and the results were very clear to me. Using these AI security cameras with object detection was far more reliable for triggering alarm events compared to traditional security cameras with video motion detection on a DVR. In this video, I wanted to see if car detection was just as reliable at night when the camera is running IR night vision mode. I also made this video to test long distance car detection with a 4K AI camera.
Please note that the parking lot in front of our warehouse has lighting. It is not a zero light infrared test by any means. However, it is dark enough that the camera did switch on its infrared LEDs and turned black and white.
AI Object Detection vs Motion Detection
Why does object detection work better than motion detection?
Video motion detection uses software to analyze the changes in pixels between video frames. It does not differentiate between the changes caused by a car or person vs a tree blowing in the wind. This leads to many false positives when using motion detection. This can be particularly annoying if you want to receive a mobile push notification or email alert when an alarm is triggered.
Object detection on the other hard, uses artificial intelligence software and neural network learning to improve over time at recognizing specific objects such as people, vehicles, and faces.
Car Detection
This is a screenshot of the live video display on the Viewtron NVR. The object detection visualization is enabled so that viewer can see the object detection alarm zones and the real time object detection events that occur.
Here is as screenshot of the Intelligent Analytics screen on the Viewtron NVR that is used for object detection event search and video playback. This shows the results of an event search for all of the vehicle detection events that occurred on a specific day, captured by specific cameras. To see the video recorded at the time of any of those events, I can click on any of these snapshot images and the video starts to play in the lower left.
You can see the backup button in the lower right. That can be used to export the video recording to a USB drive. You can also click on the playback button to see the video playback in full screen.
People Detection
I also did some people detection testing when I made this video demo. You can setup these AI camera systems to detect multiple types of objects. For example, I had the camera at our front door system setup to detect cars and people that approached our entrance. This is a typical configuration for after hours video security.
Here is another alarm event search that I performed on the recorder. This time, I search for people detection events.
Wireless Security Camera Bridge
Something else that I want to point out. The video that I recorded in the back of our warehouse was transmitting over this wireless security camera antenna system. We recently installed this light pole in the back of our warehouse. There is no coax cable or network cable run to this location, however, we did have access to power because of our sprinkler pump being there. So, power is run to the pole, but no connectivity for video.
To transmit the video from these cameras back to our warehouse where the NVR is located, we are using a WIFI bridge. The 2 IP-A4BZ cameras that you see at the top of the pole and the LPR-IP7 license plate recognition camera mounted down low are connected over WIFI back to our main building.
I recently created a video demo of this LPR camera here.
Wireless Transmitter
Here is a close-up of the wireless transmitter antenna. Inside that NEMA box is this PoE switch. All three cameras are wired to the PoE switch using CAT5 Ethernet cable. The uplink port of the switch is connected to the wireless antenna.
Wireless Receiver
This is the receiving WIFI antenna that is mounted to our building.
This type of setup with an LPR camera and one or more over view cameras mounted to a pole is pretty common. We have designed many of these systems gated HOA community entrances and other commercial locations where hard wiring cameras back to the recorder is not possible.
A hard wired connection is always first choice. Wireless is typically a last resort option. But as you can see, with the right equipment, it does work quite well.
Questions? / Need Help?
If I can help you with any questions related to AI security cameras or anything else related to video surveillance system design, you can email me at mike@cctvcamerapros.net.
