Thermal cameras in UK road traffic control - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Ultrapurple
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2018, 01:05:32 pm
content: I was in York recently and spotted what looked suspiciously like thermal cameras dotted around atop traffic lights and other street furniture, apparently monitoring traffic flow or something. For a variety of reasons (mostly down to time and the company I was with) I was unable to get a good photograph but hopefully the image below gives an idea of what I'm talking about. In fact I feel the images I've posted here areembarrassinglybad. But they're all I've got.There are other, very similar versions of this - eg the 'FLIR TraffiCam x-stream' in the second image - that are visible light only, as far as I can tell. Certainly, the thermal variants were less abundant than the visible devices.Far be it from me to suggest that anyone with a spanner or hacksaw could obtain an interesting toy. It has also not crossed my mind to imagine that anyone would be so light-fingered as to simply unscrew the lens and put it on eBay. I'm sure everyone reading this forum is entirely law-abiding and recognises that 'borrowing' things from traffic lights in a heavily-CCTV'd area is not the wisest of moves.Has anyone else seen these around (and/or have any better photos)?

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2018, 01:13:41 pm
content: Yes they are FLIR Traficam Traffic cameras. Visible light and Thermal versions shown in your pictures.The thermal offers advantages over visible light imaging, just as with any CCTV. FOG becomes less of an issue. AI identification of pedestrians and cyclists is also possible in all lighting conditions.Theiving any form of CCTV is the act of a fool. We deploy CCTV in a self protecting format to spot anyone thinking of climbing a mast to pinch one 😉 A police car would soon be in attendance and these cameras are clever in their anti theft precautions 😉FLIR have been advertising these for a while. They likely have the data sheet on their web site.Fraser

author: Ultrapurple
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2018, 01:37:18 pm
content: Quote from: Fraser on November 02, 2018, 01:13:41 pmAmen to that.On the other hand, it's also foolish to film yourself on a drone you're using to smuggle contraband, particularly when it crashes out of your reach - seehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-45734071/drone-smugglers-caught-on-cameraQuote from: Fraser on November 02, 2018, 01:13:41 pmThat doesn't surprise me - my immediate guess would be a bit of crypto communication to base to make the thing even boot, a built-in 'phone home' facility and probably a self-destruct mechanism that at the very least scrambles the software & NUC tables - and the sensor itself may even have a built-in kill-switch that nurdles the ROIC.If I can think of that in the space of two minutes then I suspect a group of talented FLIR engineers could come up with some much more elegant self-protection methods.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2018, 01:38:30 pm
content: The VL cameras are called Traficam and the thermal versions are called TrafiSense.Datasheet is here.....https://www.flirmedia.com/MMC/CVS/Traffic/IT_0009_US.pdfTraficam VL camera datasheet is here.....https://www.flirmedia.com/MMC/CVS/Traffic/IT_0011_EN.pdfFraser

author: Vipitis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2018, 02:56:41 pm
content: Flir posted a white paper on cyclist security and thermal camera traffic monitoring.https://www.flir.com/discover/traffic/urban/city-of-liverpool-relies-on-thermal-imaging-to-boost-cycling/

author: Ultrapurple
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2018, 11:56:44 am
content: I managed to drag a bit better resolution and sharpness out of the camera RAW file. You can read what I consider the important bit - it's 7.5mm f/1.2 - but the other data on the lens is a bit more challenging.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2018, 04:09:10 pm
content: Some more information here....https://tacel.ca/products-services/detection-systems/thermal-video-detection-systems/trafisenseI would expect to to find a pretty standard FLIR TAU 2 in that ball headFraser

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2018, 04:24:37 pm
content: I forgot to mention, FLIR also released the TrafiOne traffic camera that includes a visible light camera alongside the thermal imager. You can guess what the camera casing contains from its name and that is even before seeing a picture of it !https://www.flir.co.uk/globalassets/imported-assets/document/trafione_datasheet_en.pdfThis is the sort of expansion in thermal imaging that I had hoped the Lepton Core would drive. Affordable thermal imaging at lastFraser

author: Ultrapurple
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2018, 06:14:51 pm
content: Is it just me, or does the TrafiOne look like something out of the Mr Men?

author: Vipitis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2018, 09:49:08 pm
content: So the TrafiOne comes in two FoVs, 95° and 56° for different mounting heights. It's 160x120 and 9hz; meaning FLIR has two different lens block with fl of like 1mm and 2mm.The A8X from FLIR is a different product, but is it a network camera in a rugged housing with a visible camera. It cost 995$ while only having a 80x60 Lepton that is radiometric.So That TrafiOne will be rather expensive.

author: Ultrapurple
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2018, 08:18:38 am
content: Quote from: Vipitis on November 04, 2018, 09:49:08 pmEven compared tootherFLIR products...?(Yes, I know; good R&D end engineering cost money)