A real-time laser-based detection system for measurement of delineations of moving vehicles

In current practice, quantitative traffic data are most commonly acquired from inductive loops. In addition, video-image processing or time-of-flight laser systems can be used. These methods all have problems associated with them. We have developed a nonintrusive laser-based detection system for measurement of vehicle travel time. The basic detector unit consists of a fan angle laser and a photodetector array positioned above the plane of detection. This detection system is able to determine the length and width of moving objects in real time with high resolution, with the highest resolution measurements being associated with object lengths. This information is used to differentiate similar objects and can be used later for re-identification of individual objects or object groups, providing a real measure of travel time between detection sites.