LPR to open a gate - using blue iris - Smart Life App can control

[bignose3]

HI,

Just installed an electric gate
I have a camera just pointing at where the cars will stop so LPR should not be the issue.

I would love for this to pick up licence place and open the gate if known.

I have BI
I have a wifi receiver already attached & can open with alexa or an app so is "smart" just not sure how to (or even possible without considerable extra gear) get blue iris &/or which ever LPR software to send a signal on recognizing from a list etc.

The WiFi a cheap generic controller & linked to Smart Life or can be Tuya Smart.

Also not sure if can get a cheap or even free LPR, not sure when they say Free it is just for the trial's.

$5 pm is OK but is just for entry so prefer free. 2500 a month is more than enough.

Also BI is running quite a few cameras so perhaps minimal CPU usages, no recording necessary, just snapshots perhaps but whatever the LPR needs.

Any ideas how this can be done & best/cheapest option software.

 

[cjowers]

for the critical part - i'd first try to control the gate somehow (whether BI talks to app / Alexa, or custom script talking to a receiver, or either of these talk to a raspberry pi or similar that can controls the gate). if no luck, you could always dumb it down (trigger a relay to give it power, or to trigger voltage across the button of a hidden remote control).

for the lpr aspects, you should be able to get from either subscription software, or through your own AI custom models (a lot more work, but sometimes easier to configure and control for your situation). I just did my own customs AI models which goes like...
BI captures jpgs on motion -> custom model finds objects that are plates (crops jpg) - 2nd custom model finds character within plate (returns string of plate, and filters a bit as well) - then i'd just add a condition for your VIP plates (if XBGNOSX then send open signal to gate device).
The good thing with doing the models yourself, is that (well free, unlimited) and in your case you only have to train the model on a few VIP plates (the rest dont matter) and it will be insanely better than some generic subscription model that isnt' specific to your environment/plates/font. Also you don't have to tell a company everytime you come home, and rely on their systems. But you'll have to rely on your own, so maybe have a backup remote handy lol

below is some of my results from random plate images, which I would deem to be absolute rubbish image quality. imagine how well it does with known VIP plates! (in focus, stationary, up close, etc.)



im now in the process of correcting any incorrect characters in the results, and feeding them back into the model for improved identification, in a semi-automated sort of model training.

 

[djmadfx]

Did you plan on using another factor for the vehicle authentication? RFID reader at the gate?

 

[WimNL]

Very interesting! I want to do the same and for backup I want to use a RFID reader that is standard in the VTO doorbell / intercom.
Don't have much time at the moment, so I keep following

 

[bignose3]

Many thanks cjowers,

It is smart as I say but not sure yet how to send a command, alexa & google can so I guess I will find out how they do it. It was a generic Wifi adapter that is connected to SmartLife Or Tuya which I did not know about before but seems quite a comprehensive smart ecosystem. I will research that.

Don't know where to start to make custom AI, so far just used BI normal settings.
I can program a bit so not afraid to try, what did you use to make the custom AI.

Under AI I have just two : Sentry Smarts Person Detection & Plate Recognizer.
Is it something like deepstack?

If you could point me in the right direction I can do my own research.

 

[DLONG2]

HomeSeer is a bit pricey, but there's a BI plugin. LiftMaster/Chamberlain offer gate openers with wifi, and there's a MyQ plugin for HomeSeer, too. In addition, HomeSeer has an RFID plugin, and an email plugin, among dozens of others. Not sure how these would all fit together with a LPR.

Perhaps subscribe to OpenALPR, and use the free CSV downloader program from @Gymratz, as it includes alerts from specific plates. An email alert on a plate received by HomeSeer can trigger the gate to open within the HomeSeer's events.

Here's their website: Smart Home Systems For Every Need & Budget | HomeSeer

And they have a free Tuya plugin: HomeSeer Tuya Plugin for HS4

 

[cjowers]

Don't know where to start to make custom AI, so far just used BI normal settings.
I can program a bit so not afraid to try, what did you use to make the custom AI.

Under AI I have just two : Sentry Smarts Person Detection & Plate Recognizer.
Is it something like deepstack?

If you could point me in the right direction I can do my own research.

yes, start here: Custom Models | DeepStack v1.2.1 documentation
it has the full process described well. I'm not sure how well the latest BI-integrated deepstack custom models work (I assume not very well for your intended level of customization - i have an older version of BI, so I just record jpgs on motion in the BI settings, and then use that folder as my input for any custom models. The AITool by gentlepumpkin ([tool] [tutorial] Free AI Person Detection for Blue Iris) isn't for custom I don't think, but it basically works how you'd want it to: monitors that folder where the jpgs go to, sends the new files to deepstack server, and returns the detection results. Otherwise some of my python script are here: License plate detection, crop, and save which might also help you.

edit- as others have mentioned, RFID would be a much simpler, more accurate, more secure, more robust solution than the vision solution. And I would only work on the plate recognition by vision if: you were more interested in that aspect as a project, or you'd plan to enable/disable visitors access 'on the fly' by just entering their plate #. For instance, many parking garages with known residents typically use rfid, whereas public parking garages with random visitors might use plate recognition.
Also keep in mind, if anyone knows your system is vision-based, all it takes is a black marker and paper to gain access. Probably not a concern for most, but since you've got a closed gate to begin with, security might be a factor for you.