Area scan cameras and line scan camera

High detection rates with area scan cameras 

The market for OCR gates in the logistics industry is dominated by a few suppliers. In contrast to our competitors, who rely on one-dimensional line scan cameras and gain the 2nd dimension by as uniformly as possible movement of the vehicle, we work with high-resolution 2-D area scan cameras. We would like to explain why in this news.

The greatest advantage of area scan cameras is that the characters (e. g. wagon and container numbers) can be recorded several times during a passage, allowing them to be viewed, recognized

and read from different perspectives. Characters hidden by obstacles such as railings, stirrups or cones can also be added when they are visible in another perspective.

The repeated recording of area scan images is also extremely helpful for the documentation of damages, which can be analyzed from several directions. In the case of containers, for example, the doors and end faces can be viewed (Fig. 3). A line scan camera, on the other hand, looks vertically at the car and knows only one perspective. The line-scan camera generates only a single image of the vehicle with almost any image width. However, high image quality and detection rates only work as long as the vehicle does not change or stop its speed. A condition that is difficult to achieve with a train length of up to 400 metres.

Using stitching to view whole cars and trains
Area scan cameras, on the other hand, have a fixed image width that is not sufficient for the complete graphic representation of a wagon or an entire train. ASE uses a so-called “stitching " method for creating images adapted to the length of the vehicle: narrow image strips are taken from the center of the image and joined together with the adjacent strips (picture 2). Complete wagons and trains are displayed distortion-free, even if speed changes or even standstill occur (Fig. 1).

Repeated recordings naturally cause large amounts of data, which must be transmitted and analyzed. Our intelligent numberfinder software, based on a highly efficient OCR algorithm, can easily handle this and delivers the well-known high detection rates of well over 95%.

Deutsche Bahn is going to strengthen freight traffic through digitisation
Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz sees the economic development of DB Cargo's freight transport division on the right track. At the Group's New Year's reception, the CEO based his optimism on the "Digital Rail Germany" programme, which represents a fundamental technical change in the railway sector and represents an unprecedented development boost for the German railways. A shorter interval of trains and better utilisation of the railways will be possible. The aim is to create 20% more capacity in the German rail network. (Source: Verkehrsrundschau).

Intelligent image processing is one of the basic technologies for digitisation in freight transport. The automation of logistics processes along the value-added chains includes, among other things, the fully automatic monitoring and registration of incoming and outgoing goods. Our OCR-Gates NUMBERCheck - Video gate for rail & road offers suitable and proven working solutions.