Abacus™
The Iteris' Abacus™ family has been designed using a unique blend of Artificial Intelligence and video detection algorithms that allow either fixed or Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras to be used for data collection and incident detection without the need for virtual or detection zone configuration. The system tracks all vehicles as they move through camera’s field of view (FOV) regardless of direction, lane straddling or lane weaving. As a result, all information is captured and incidents can be detected easily by identifying anomalous driving behaviors that would be impossible to detect when using virtual zones or other fixed types of detection boxes or trip lines.
Abacus takes advantage of the large number of existing installed CCTV video feeds monitoring roadways, tunnels and bridges and at signalized intersections. When not being actively used for surveillance, these cameras can be transformed into vigilant sentinels for traffic data collection and incident detection. The flexibility of using nearly any camera with an appropriate perspective means accurate data collection without the setup and calibration required with other systems.
The Abacus family consists of two products:
- Abacus Intersection for collecting turning movement counts at signalized intersections
- Abacus Highway for data collection and incident detection on limited access roads and major arterials
Abacus Intersection
With Abacus Intersection, turning movement counts can be performed as often as wanted without having to execute manual counts each and every time. Not only does this facilitate the process, but it allows the user to collect much more information than had been previously practical – imagine being able to collect turning movement counts showing seasonal changes, reflecting the impact of school vacations, major holidays and events, changes in traffic signal timings, etc.
From a well positioned camera with a good view of the intersection box, the Abacus Intersection can provide turning movement counts for up to 12 movements on 4 approaches. Once the video processing is complete, the user tells the Abacus Intersection which turning movements to calculate by running a simple wizard which transforms the raw data into organized, user-customizable Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
Abacus Traffic Data Collection
The traffic data collection capabilities are designed to provide a continuous feed of data similar to other technologies. In this way, a single camera can act as both surveillance and data collection while monitoring for incidents. The default reporting period of data collection is 60 seconds and provides the following information in the form of a universal XML schema. Each camera can collect data from up to two directions of traffic:
- Volume (reported in vehicles per minute)
- Speed (reported as the average vehicle speed during the reporting interval)
- Occupancy (reported as a percentage)
- Classification (reported as the number of vehicles for each classification group)
Abacus Traffic Incident Detection
The Abacus system is designed to continuously monitor video feeds for incidents. Abacus can act as a digital video recorder to record incidents or work with existing DVR units to provide notification of an event. These notifications can be provided by means of e-mail or SMS text message. The types of incidents which can be detected for immediate notification are as follows:
- Stopped vehicle detection
- Roadway debris detection
- Wrong way driver detection
- Fire or smoke detection