Counting and tracking vehicles using acoustic vector sensors

Abstract

A method is presented for counting vehicles and for determining their movement direction by means of acoustic vector sensor application. The assumptions of the method employing spatial distribution of sound intensity determined with the help of an integrated 3D intensity probe are discussed. The intensity probe developed by the authors was used for the experiments. The mode of operation of the algorithm is presented in conjunction with noise characteristics produced by moving vehicles. The optimization of the algorithm is based on measurements of intensity of sound emitted by the vehicle under controlled conditions. A test setup was built for this purpose with the use of measuring devices installed along a road with varying traffic flow. Reference data on the number of vehicles and traffic directions were prepared employing a recorded video and a reference traffic analyzer operating in lidar technology. It is shown that the developed acoustic method may contribute to an increase of effectiveness of commonly used vehicle counting systems employing inductive loops or Doppler radars. [Project financed by the by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) from the European Regional Development Fund under the Operational Programme Innovative Economy No. POIR.04.01.04-00-0089/16 “INZNAK—Intelligent road signs...”.]A method is presented for counting vehicles and for determining their movement direction by means of acoustic vector sensor application. The assumptions of the method employing spatial distribution of sound intensity determined with the help of an integrated 3D intensity probe are discussed. The intensity probe developed by the authors was used for the experiments. The mode of operation of the algorithm is presented in conjunction with noise characteristics produced by moving vehicles. The optimization of the algorithm is based on measurements of intensity of sound emitted by the vehicle under controlled conditions. A test setup was built for this purpose with the use of measuring devices installed along a road with varying traffic flow. Reference data on the number of vehicles and traffic directions were prepared employing a recorded video and a reference traffic analyzer operating in lidar technology. It is shown that the developed acoustic method may contribute to an increase of effectiveness of common...