Traffic cameras will make friends with flashing lights – Newspaper Kommersant No. 192 (7393) of 10/17/2022

In 2023, the State traffic inspectorate is going to purchase a new type of camera – built into the system of flashing lights of traffic police patrol cars. Such devices are able to record speeding and traffic on a dedicated line right on the go, as well as detect stolen and improperly parked vehicles in the stream. The traffic police announced plans to use this technology back in 2019; since then, some regions have purchased the devices and are piloting them. The manufacturers of the complexes have already announced that they are ready for deliveries to the police. The cost of one such set of cameras and flashing lights is 4–4.8 million rubles.

The head of the traffic police of Russia, Mikhail Chernikov, at the Road 2022 exhibition, announced plans to purchase signal beams with built-in cameras in 2023, which will be mounted on the roofs of patrol cars. Kommersant talked about these intentions back in 2019: then the State traffic inspectorate borrowed the idea from the Azerbaijani police. In Russia, there are now two manufacturers of such beams – Moscow-based LLC Technology of Recognition (model Avtouragan-MS) and Smolensk LLC Arsenal 67 (model Cyber-Sheriff). The device of the complexes is approximately the same – there are built-in video cameras, number recognition cameras, radars, and an optics cleaning system. The devices are able to record speeding, violations of the parking rules, driving to the side of the road, a dedicated lane and other violations, and on the go. On Friday, Mikhail Chernikov demonstrated the operation of the cameras to Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin during his tour of the exhibition: both beams were exhibited at the booth of the State Traffic Inspectorate.

In a pilot mode, cameras are already being used (with the distribution of fines) in the Smolensk region, Yakutia, Dagestan and other regions, but there have been no mass purchases through the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Moscow TsODD, for example, has been testing both models since 2021 on two service vehicles at once. The cost of each device varies within 4-5 million rubles. a piece.

The new complexes will be purchased as part of the Safe High-Quality Roads (BKD) national project, explained Lenar Gabdurakhmanov, deputy head of the traffic police of Russia. The published passport of the federal project “Road Safety” (an integral part of the BKD) contains a plan for the purchase of 150 “hardware and software systems” that, according to the description, coincide with the new beams. Work “on putting these beams into supply” will actually begin as early as 2022, Mr. Gabdurakhmanov said. “We plan to carry out testing, then acceptance, after which, subject to all the necessary requirements, the devices will be put into supply,” he explained.

“In two years of using our beam, we can say that the device is in demand and necessary,” Sergey Kusov, a representative of the Recognition Technologies company, told Kommersant. “In combat mode, the cameras actually began to be used this year. From the regions, we are already receiving information that the cameras are quite effective and perform tasks that were previously unfeasible.” Mr. Kusov emphasized that the complex is constantly evolving: for example, a rear radar has recently appeared to detect violators who are moving at a speed behind a patrol car.

In turn, the CEO of Arsenal 67, Sergey Vasilevsky, told Kommersant about plans to build a plant for the production of beams by April 2023 as part of a joint venture with Rostelecom (the company acts as an operator of photo and video recording systems in a number of regions). “Our complexes are already used by the traffic police in the Smolensk region, in Kazakhstan, and we are also negotiating deliveries with Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and the United Arab Emirates,” says Mr. Vasilevsky. The device, he added, can also be used for face recognition when searching for citizens who are in the wanted base. There is also an option to connect an interior camera and record what is happening inside the traffic police car to identify various “corruption situations,” Sergei Vasilevsky noted. There is also error protection. “The speed of a patrol car is measured by two independent methods – radar and GPS, and if they do not match, then the material automatically goes to the trash, there will be no fine,” said Mr. Vasilevsky.

Grigory Shukhman, an expert on road cameras, draws attention to a number of important nuances when using new beams. When fixing the speed in motion, he says, there is a problem with double-checking the result for errors, since each new measurement takes place on a different section of the road and at a different speed of the patrol car. “Documentation” of other types of violations from the beam (except for speeding) is likely to take place in manual mode, with a further stop of the violator on the spot or his call to the traffic police, the expert adds. “In order for video analytics to work automatically, you need a certain viewing angle and installation of cameras above the road, and often with a preliminary marking of the control zone,” Mr. Shukhman explained.

Ivan Buranov, Kazan