Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Leave a comment

As more automobiles hit the roads, the need and use of license plate capture cameras have been increasing. These cameras are known as license plate recognition (LPR) cameras and they are specialty cameras that are able to read license plate numbers in a variety of weather and speed. Although LPR cameras capture the plate numbers, this is all it can do. These cameras need automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) in order for any other action to occur.

What is Automatic Number Plate Recognition?

Automatic number plate recognition refers to the software that is typically used with LPR cameras. ANPR is the software that takes the plate numbers captured by LPR cameras and stores it or matches up the numbers to a database. Why is this important? ANPR is important because without it, LPR cameras will just capture numbers without any purpose behind it. License plate numbers are a form of identification so ANPR is necessary to identify vehicles and people.

Uses of Automatic Number Plate Recognition

But why would ANPR be needed? ANPR has a wide variety of uses in many different industries:

Parking

If you’ve ever been through a parking garage, you know that paying for parking can be a hassle. You typically have to wait in a queue of other cars to take a physical ticket to enter and then hold onto that ticket for the rest of the day. As you’re leaving, you have to wait in another line of cars to input your ticket into a machine and then pay for the amount of time you were there. Besides taking up time, this method also has issues with malfunctioning or people not understanding how to use the machines. Nowadays, most parking garages have a smartphone app where you can input your license plate number when you enter and then pay through the app when you leave. This method takes up less time, but it requires you to download the app if you don’t already have it and many people can forget to pay for parking. With ANPR, visitors can register their vehicles on a website so their car will be recognized and automatically billed. Another option would be to have ANPR keep track of entry time so people only need to pay as they’re leaving.

Access Control

Another use of ANPR would be to control access to areas. Hiring security guards to monitor areas and grant or deny access can be costly. However, access can be controlled remotely and automatically with ANPR. With this, property managers can establish a database of license plate numbers that will be recognized and granted entry through a gate or barrier. For unauthorized vehicles, the barrier will remain closed off. Using ANPR makes the entry process more efficient but also protects property from intruders.

Toll Roads

Like parking, going through a toll road can be a hassle. Many toll roads have booths that you’re required to stop at to pay. As a result of this stopping, long lines can form. Not only that, these booths can be inconvenient for some people because many of them only take exact change. Nowadays, most toll roads use LPR cameras with ANPR to take record of cars that come through to either send a bill to the registered address or to take out the money automatically from an account. Doing this eliminates the need for cars to stop and pay.

Law Enforcement

ANPR is an extremely helpful tool for law enforcement. Using ANPR can help police identify stolen vehicles or to track the location of vehicles. It can even be used at stoplights to capture and automatically ticket people who run red lights. In addition, it can be used to monitor traffic and identify vehicles who are going over the maximum driving speed.

Wrap Up

License plate numbers are another form of identification for vehicle owners. LPR cameras are helpful for capturing these numbers, but without ANPR, the numbers will just stay numbers. ANPR has a variety of uses that range from streamlining traffic to helping law enforcement.

As always, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any more questions. You can call us at 877-926-2288 or connect with us on social media
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