Has anyone tried using a Wyze cam with this REKOR LPR (License Plate Reader) software. Looks like they have a plan for 5 bucks a month. I’m interested in collecting vehicle plate information, in the event there is a crime in the neighborhood. The collected plate information could be turned over for any investigations based on time/date of the incident.
I’m not trying to sell this software nor am I associated with the company. I just saw their products and noticed they could be used with existing IP cameras.
that’s interesting!..i didnt know of programs that operate like this but I cant definitely see their use for certain types of business.
but there are a couple of catches there. first…I would check with a bar certified attorney first before ever doing something like this as depending on your location ( even though in public a person has “no expectation of privacy” ) being that your intent might be to record something that is not on your private residence, in this instance a public street this could possibly fall under infraction of numerous public recording violations. and some states have been very creative with there wording of such laws and city ordinances…protect yourself first.
but onward to the first few hiccups i could imagine. I don’t think the frame rate or the image quality would be above par for capturing something that is more than 10 feet away moving above 5 MPH. and that’s in good lighting. people have requested this type of implementation with the AI for years now but i don’t think the product is capable enough. so far I don’t know of anyone attempting to run anything like this. I think a lot of this would come down to image quality.
Great points to consider and thank you for the reply. I will definitely look into any possible ordinances or laws that may apply to collecting those shots on a public road.
I’ve seen many videos of porch pirates leaving the scene in a car and imagine this type of software could be a game changer for neighborhood watch types and regular joes wanting to keep tabs on the neighborhood.
About the frame rate and speed, I downloaded free IOS app called Mobile LPR that functions pretty much the same way that REKOR is advertising and it was able to grab plates and take a pic. That information was sent to a “History” folder that allowed for a chronological list of plates grabbed. I image this free version of an IOS based LPR would be less capable than the REKOR software working off a well placed Cam3. I don’t have anything to back that up but I’d like to check it out to see how it works.
Let me clarify. I used a completely different phone app (IOS). It was not REKOR but I did function while I was in a moving car. It was perfect but I did a pretty good job. I didn’t have the phone in a mount I was just holding it. I was prob moving 10-15 mph and it was grabbing the plates through the windshield.
I also walked through a parking lot and held up the phone while walking and scanning plates. It grabbed most of the plates with no problem. I think the LPR tech is improving quite well.
but you mentioned that was with a phone. I misunderstood and thought you ran the video ( from a wyzecam) through this IOS app
im going to go on a limb despite my distaste for all things fruit and say that might have a slightly better sensor than our mighty Wyzecams
sorry for my misunderstanding there.
that video is quite impressive! I wonder if you COULD take the video from a Wyzecam…say the WCO ( walking with it in hand) and run it through similar software to test it out.
Off hand, I doubt that you are going to get much with Wyze cameras. Several reasons The sensor simply is not that good. I just did a test with both a V2 and a V3 that are mounted side by side as dashcams in my truck. My wife pulled into the driveway and I tried to read the license plate. I was not able to read the plate until she was straight on (not at an angle) and about 15 feet in front of my truck. She was moving at about walking speed, and it was overcast daylight, so well lit with no shadows or sun glare.
Second complication is if the software will be able to read the camera data at all. Remember that without the RTSP firmware, the Wyze cameras operated in a closed system.
Third as was mentioned, is legal. As I recall from a friend who is a repo man, they do have license plate readers on their vehicles, but it requires permits that are not just handed out. You need to have a legit reason for an LPR. Granted that this is regulation loving California - your state may be different.
I run two LPR cameras from my home using the Rekor software. Those cameras are Dahua varifocal cameras which are very popular with the “do-it-yourself” LPR community.
Unfortunately, the Wyze camera is unsuitable for LPR using the Rekor client for several reasons:
(1) Lack of RTSP support. The v2 had experimental RTSP firmware, but there’s none for the v3. The Rekor Scout client must be run on a CPU or GPU, processing RTSP streams from your local cameras.
(2) No control over the Wyze Cam shutter speed. Reliable LPR requires a shutter speed setting of 1/1000 seconds or faster to prevent motion blur of the plate as the vehicle moves. There’s no control of such settings for the Wyze.
(3) Low data rate. Good LPR requires 10 to 30 frames per second (FPS) of high-quality video. That is very difficult to do with a wireless connection. Only wired PoE (power over Ethernet) cameras can consistently provide high FPS.
(4) Lack of optical zoom. Reliable LPR requires that you “zoom in” on the roadway such that the license plate is clearly visible. My cameras are about 60 feet from the roadway, and require about 10X zoom to function. You could conceivably add a fixed lens with higher zoom to the Wyze, but it’s a bit of a hack, and makes little sense when you can buy a high-quality weatherproof varifocal PoE camera for about $250.
Finally, home LPR requires a computer running the Rekor Scout client 24/7. If you’re not afraid of the Linux operating system, my advice is to buy a Jetson Nano Developer Kit (available on Amazon). It incorporates an Nvidia GPU that runs the client quite well, and costs less than $100. With case, power adapter, and memory card, you can have an embedded system up and running for about $120.
If you really want to pursue LPR capability (and you will find that it is absolutely invaluable under the right circumstances), then you might want to check out www.ipcamtalk.com and look for the LPR forum for more information and advice.
Third as was mentioned, is legal. As I recall from a friend who is a repo man, they do have license plate readers on their vehicles, but it requires permits that are not just handed out. You need to have a legit reason for an LPR. Granted that this is regulation loving California - your state may be different.
LPR does not require any sort of permit, or any permission to use if you are a private entity. There are various municipalities that have different regulations regarding using of city LPR systems, but they do not apply to (for example) tow trucks operated by repo companies. Even in my city, which refuses to fund public LPR cameras, repo vehicles and private citizens can operate the cameras without interference.
There’s nothing magical about LPR. It is just optical character recognition processing a video stream. You can’t outlaw it any more than you can outlaw the use of security cameras in general. And with software like the Rekor Scout client, any good security camera can be turned into an LPR camera with less than $150 of additional hardware.
Now, there may be legal limits to what you can do with the data you collect from your system. For example, publishing a list of license plates that drives by your house could get you into civil if not criminal trouble. But for private use (e.g. recording license plates of porch pirates and providing them to the police) you have the right to operate LPR cameras.
I just think feeding the REKOR database using personal cameras and doorbells is a bad idea.
In the grand scheme of privacy concerns, I consider LPR cameras a very distant fourth behind smartphones, credit cards, and the Internet. Google, your cell service provider, and your credit card company already know far more about where you go and what you do than Rekor could ever learn.
Rekor’s RPSN database is entirely voluntary on the user side; you have to opt in for Rekor to share your data with law enforcement. Rekor is also a U.S. company and subject to U.S. law, which you can’t say about other LPR companies operating overseas (e.g. Russia or China). If the people at Rekor ever abuse the information they collect, they can be made legally answerable for it.
My own LPR cameras have helped solve multiple burglaries, aided in the arrest of several felons, and assisted in the recovery of two stolen vehicles. As with all technology, you have to weigh the potential downsides to the potential benefits. As crime-fighting tools they are invaluable, and well worth installing.
