Development of Prototype Video-Based Sensor for Vehicle Detection from Stand-Still Images

The design, development, and testing of a prototype wide-area traffic detection system are described. The video-based sensor computes the approximate number of vehicles present within an a priori defined observation area from stand-still images. This sensor is mostly oriented toward the traffic detection in congested intersections, in which sensors using existing radar, acoustic, and video-based technology are faced with critical obstacles caused by the automobile stoppage. The prototype system has been tested and found to perform satisfactorily in field studies.