Large-scale license plate analytics for convoy detection

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This project aims to develop computational methods for analyzing streams of license plate recognition (LPR) data. LPR cameras, positioned along roads or mounted on law-enforcement vehicles, capture and record observations (time and location) of the license plates of vehicles passing by. Based in Montreal, Genetec, Inc., is a leading provider of LPR technologies to the world-wide market, and this project builds on an existing collaboration between the research team at McGill and Genetec. The aim of this project is to study and develop statistical algorithms for detecting groups of vehicles traveling together (convoys) using streams of LPR events recorded by a collection of cameras around a city. The ability to detect and track convoys would be useful to law enforcement offices for, e.g., helping to catch car thieves, or for catching criminals transporting or smuggling illicit goods. One challenging aspect of this task is to develop algorithms that can distinguish between groups of vehicles that are truly traveling together as a convoy and vehicles which just happen to be near each other for an extended period due to traffic patterns (e.g., during rush hour, or along a long stretch of highway). Another challenge is to develop algorithms that are capable of scaling to handle very large LPR systems (hundreds of cameras, with each camera reporting many thousands of events per hour). This project will focus on developing scalable convoy detection methods combining developments in sparse signal processing, matrix factorization, and optimization. We will also consider the task of efficiently implementing a convoy detection system using a cluster of computers in the cloud, and contributions will be made to literature on large-scale and distributed optimization for matrix factorization. The technology developed in this project will be transferred to Genetec and integrated into their AutoVu product, and success of this project is likely to lead to the creation of new jobs. Through Genetec's technology and services, these methods will be available to law enforcement agents in Canada and around the world.