How Does Auto Follow Camera Work

Automobile-Tracking Explained

At SCW, we effort to realistically portray what certain features are truly capable of, so customers can empathise when a feature is suitable for them or when it's simply not going to work well to solve their video surveillance challenges.

On our PTZ cameras that support automobile-tracking, our marketing message tells our users the post-obit.

Automobile-tracking does not piece of work well in scenes with moving backgrounds.
Auto-tracking is not a solution to replace multiple cameras with one "argent bullet" car-tracking PTZ camera.
Motorcar-tracking should only be used to gain more detail on a scene - exercise not await it to capture unabridged scenes from start to finish.
Motorcar-tracking is non a replacement for a human operator - but can aid a human operator.

However - the surveillance industry volition often present car-tracking as a flawless, works anywhere solution. This kind of marketing means buyers oftentimes retrieve that instead of having 5-6 cameras cover a parking area, they can just throw an auto-tracking PTZ up, which volition cover the same area but also. So they'll salvage coin and accept a cool PTZ to use win-win, right?

Nosotros'll be frank here - machine-tracking is a characteristic with one of the lowest industry-wide satisfaction rates, and information technology's because expectations and marketing are mode out of the line of the bodily capability inherent with car-tracking.

To understand the limitations of auto-tracking, we'll start have to talk about how machine-tracking works.

Auto tracking works by seeing move or object (in more than advanced cameras) and using the PTZ to follow it.
Some PTZs can only pan/tilt to runway
Some PTZs volition too zoom in and out while tracking.
The more you zoom the PTZ, the slower it tin can move/track
When the object stops moving, the PTZ will return to its "home" position - a preset position on the camera.
Nearly all PTZs have a designated tracking time, ranging from thirty seconds to 300 seconds maximum.
After that time, it will also return to abode, regardless of move. This is to prevent the photographic camera from being stuck in move loops where it locks onto something for minutes at a time.

This seems straightforward, just some fundamental considerations with machine-tracking rarely pop upwardly before bodily use.

Consideration #1 - No Move or Line of Sight = No Tracking

The PTZ is ready to track once a person or vehicle crosses the line in this example. Once the person crosses the line, it does a fine chore at tracking him, all the manner upwardly to him getting behind a vehicle and the PTZ losing the object and going dorsum to its home position.

This is an inherent result with motorcar-tracking. Motorcar tracking makes decisions based on move - what to rail, what non to track, etc. Once an object stops moving or being seen, it will return to the home position. At that place is no automobile-tracking camera that will solve this primal event.

At that place are many other scenarios where this can occur. For example, a person beingness tracked may end moving for whatever reason, and the camera may finish tracking and become dorsum to the home position.

A person may walk up to their motorcar, get in the machine, and the PTZ will go back to the dwelling position because it no longer sees the person in the vehicle and the vehicle is non moving. Too, a motorcar may move, stop, and the PTZ will cease seeing the motion and get back to its home position.

There is fiddling that can mitigate this challenge - as mentioned; this is where a human brain still reigns supreme. In the application where auto-tracking is used every bit an aid for a human being operator, the homo operator can grab the control and go along viewing the person or automobile if needed.

Consideration #ii - Move Isn't Always Valuable Move

Some PTZs accept a "general" machine-tracking feature. There's no advanced object detection (people, vehicles) to inform it, and often this automobile tracking doesn't even have exclusion zones to tell it to avert certain areas. Motion to this photographic camera is motion.

This auto-tracking tin non distinguish between a automobile going past and a branch floating wildly in the wind. So this means a co-operative could blow by moving in the groundwork plenty for the PTZ to zoom into it, missing vehicles driving by every bit it zooms in.

Some of this can exist mitigated by having a PTZ in an expanse without distractions (cars, moving backgrounds, etc) and angled and zoomed in on chokepoints like entrances.

Consideration #iii - Need for Speed

Equally mentioned in the beginning, the more than a PTZ is zoomed in, the farther information technology needs to movement to cover the same expanse. Meaning a PTZ that's zoomed in will track objects slower than ane zoomed out.

This is a double-edged sword. In well-nigh scenarios, you want automobile-tracking to assemble as many details as possible, just you likewise want them to be able to track every bit long as possible. And so expect to have to tweak and exam this to attain a solid residual.

In the example video, the PTZ is zoomed in near max, at an surface area about 240-250FT away. The PTZ tracks the car well up until almost 75FT abroad, in that case, the beautiful motorcar is moving too fast to be tracked going out of its FOV, and it returns to its home position.

Again this may be mitigated by setting the initial zoom further out to compensate for the size and speed of cars.

Consideration #iv - Only i object at a time!

Auto tracking can only runway 1 object at a time. Motorcar tracking can not distinguish between a person walking to his auto and a criminal looking to break into vehicles, catamenia. If the person walking to his auto was seen first, that's what the photographic camera volition track, even as person #2 goes sawing on some catalytic converters.

It will not interrupt tracking i person or object to tracking another information technology sees even if it's in the field of view. Take a look at this example.

In this example, auto-tracking picks upwardly the 2 people walking, and shortly after, a car drives by our somewhat oblivious chatters. The automobile-tracking photographic camera fixes the kickoff object of interest and continues to follow information technology equally there is nonetheless move.

A third person walks by even later in a clip, but the car-tracking is yet focused on the people because there was move yet.

This is some other case of an inherent automobile-tracking issue - no setting or changes can solve this. This has to exist solved with careful planning of the surveillance solution. Single lanes and smaller tracking areas tin assist avoid as well many objects in the photographic camera's view.

Consideration #five - Multiple Cameras Even so Required!

PTZs have blind spots in general - but with auto-tracking PTZ, it'southward critical to have at least one or two cameras covering the "larger" area. This larger view camera helps embrace areas when machine-tracking results may non work perfectly, and it's far more probable you'll exist able to combine the detail from the motorcar-tracking PTZ with this wide-bending to get solid evidence.

Here's a look at a wide-angle camera covering some of the parking lots forth with the PTZ.

There is as well another photographic camera facing oppositely, which covers the other side.

Agreement that you can combine the more meaning details from the machine-tracking PTZ and the wider "scene" cameras to have a solid set of evidence is central to having a good auto-tracking experience.

Tips and Tricks

Despite some of its inherent limitations, machine-tracking can still be useful. Remember the scenarios mentioned above. Expect that you will have to tweak and test to go results - and remember that some scenarios may but not be viable due to the inherent limitations. SCW highly recommends PTZ cameras that have analytic options like the Watchkeeper 4.0 as these provide meliorate results than the "general" car tracking models.

While not perfect, if y'all understand the considerations and limitations auto-tracking can be a powerful feature in your video surveillance system..

Source: https://www.getscw.com/knowledge-base/auto-tracking-explained

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