ARH CARMEN User manual

CARMEN ANPR INSTALL GUIDE
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CARMEN ANPR INSTALL GUIDE
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CARMEN®ANPR
INSTALL GUIDE
Document version: 2016-12-14
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................................................... 3
HANDLING PRECAUTIONS.............................................................................................................................................. 4
PACKAGE CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
INSTALLING CARMEN®ANPR ....................................................................................................................................... 6
1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.................................................................................................................................... 6
2. HARDWARE INSTALLATION.............................................................................................................................. 7
2.1. INSTALLATION OF THE PCIE (X1) NNC.............................................................................................. 7
2.2. INSTALLATION OF THE USB 2.0 PORT NNC.................................................................................... 7
3. SOFTWARE INSTALLATION ............................................................................................................................... 8
3.1. INSTALLATION ON WINDOWS PLATFORMS................................................................................... 8
RECOMMENDED CAMERA POSITION......................................................................................................................10
IMAGE REQUIREMENTS..................................................................................................................................................12
CONTACT INFORMATION.............................................................................................................................................14

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INTRODUCTION
This documentation contains a step by step guide on how to install both the hardware and
software components of the CARMEN®ANPR engine. It also gives a brief description on
recommended camera positioning and image requirements.
This guide only details the installation procedure for Windows based systems, Linux users please
follow this link: CARMEN®for Linux install guide
If you would like to read more about the demo software that is provided with the engine, please
follow the links below:
ANPR Demo for Videos User’s Manual
ANPR Demo for Images User’s Manual

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HANDLING PRECAUTIONS
There are some standard precautions that should be followed when handling the Neural Network
Controller (NNC) card or any other computer component:
1. Keep the card in its anti-static bag until it is ready to be installed.
2. Protect the card from static electricity by grounding your body and the equipment during
installation. Wear a grounded wrist strap, or touch the metal case or chassis of the PC before
touching the card.
3. Always grasp the card by its edges.
4. Do not touch the components on the card or the “gold finger” connectors plugged into the
expansion slot. Instead, grasp the card by its mounting bracket.
5. Ensure the system power is completely turned-off before doing any installation work. In case
of PCs with ATX power supplies, it is recommended to unplug the power cord before
installation.
During hardware installation, exercise caution when handling hardware components as
these might have sharp edges or protruding parts that can cause hand injuries.

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PACKAGE CONTENTS
A CARMEN®license has both hardware and software components. Hardware components are
shipped physically via a courier service, software components are downloaded via the ARH
Technical Support System (ATTS) following registration.
Software Components:
Software development libraries
Sample codes for all supported languages:
- C/C++, C#, VB.NET and Java programming languages for Windows
- C/C++ and Java for Linux
Manual for the API in electronic format
Drivers for the PCIe(x1)/USB port Neural Network Controller (NNC)
ANPR Demo software
General LPR engine for reading common license plates with Latin characters
Hardware components:
One of the following Neural Network Controllers (NNC)
FXMC USB
FXMC Internal USB
FXMC PCIe

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INSTALLING CARMEN®ANPR
1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Minimum system requirements:
Intel Pentium III 1GHz CPU or higher (or any other fast x86 or x64 compatible CPU)
512 Mbytes of RAM or more
Free PCIe slot with bus mastering option or USB 2.0 port
Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 32/64 bit or Linux (current releases of Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian or Red
Hat) operating system
For CARMEN®ANPR: image files (.jpg, .bmp, .png, .jpeg2000) loaded from a mass storage
drive or directly from memory as input
In order to run CARMEN®ANPR, you should either have a USB 2.0 port NNC or PCIe NNC. This
is a form of HW protection for the software, the dongle includes the license.
The system requirements detailed above are the minimum specifications that CARMEN®
can run on. Using a computer with the specifications above will result in lower processing
speeds. Therefore, a higher performance PC is recommended if faster processing times
are required. The speed of image processing greatly depends on the clock speed of the
processor. Due to the high amount of calculation, hyper-threading and other emulation
technologies do not yield advantages in terms of performance. A CARMEN® engine will
run optimally on a CPU that is 3 GHz or faster.

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2. HARDWARE INSTALLATION
2.1. INSTALLATION OF THE PCIE (X1) NNC
1. Turn the computer off and unplug the power cord.
2. Remove the cover from the computer (refer to the user’s manual of the PC for specific
instructions).
3. Locate an available empty PCIe expansion slot.
4. Remove the slot cover screw and slot cover if possible.
5. Open the antistatic protective sleeve of the CARMEN®NNC card, grasp the circuit board by
the edge of its mounting bracket and take it out from the sleeve.
6. Insert the card into the empty PCIe expansion slot by its gold finger connectors and gently
press down on the top edges of the board to ensure that all connecting points are seated
securely. Fasten the mounting bracket of the board using the screw removed earlier.
7. Reinstall the cover of the PC and reconnect the power cord.
8. Turn the computer on.
9. During system boot, enter the BIOS setup program of the computer and check whether the
Bus mastering option is enabled. If not, enable it. Save and exit setup. (This option is not
available in every BIOS setup program; check the user’s manual of the PC for specific
information).
10. When the New Hardware Found wizard starts, click on [Cancel].
2.2. INSTALLATION OF THE USB 2.0 PORT NNC
1. Connect the NNC to one of the USB 2.0 ports of the computer.
2. The key will only be detected and recognized once the software package has been installed.

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3. SOFTWARE INSTALLATION
Download links for the CARMEN®Installation Package are distributed via the ARH Technical
Support System (ATSS). The links are sent out automatically once your order is processed. If you
did not receive a download link, please open a ticket in ATSS.
3.1. INSTALLATION ON WINDOWS PLATFORMS
1. Before installing a new CARMEN®ANPR version, uninstall any previous versions of CARMEN®
ANPR from your system (if applicable) and reboot the computer.
2. Extract the received zip file to a folder on the hard disk of your computer.
3. CARMEN®setup does not start automatically; locate the setup.exe within the Installation
Package to start the installation.
4. Follow the installation steps and accept the END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT by clicking on
[I Agree].
5. Once this is done, select the method of installation in the pop-up window.
Three options are available:
a) Minimal: only the drivers and the function libraries will be installed.
b) Typical: besides the drivers and the function libraries, the demo applications will be
installed as well.
If this option is selected, the License Manager application will not be installed. The
License Manager is only necessary if you intend to update licenses on the computer.
Typical installation is the default installation method recommended for users.
Development libraries will not be installed if this option is selected.

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c) Full: recommended for developers. Selecting this option will install the entire package
on the PC.
6. Click on [Next] to start copying files to your computer.
7. Restart the computer to complete the installation process.
8. Connect the USB or Express Card Hardware Key into the computer. When the New Hardware
Wizard starts, select Install the software automatically.
9. Go to Start Menu/ (All) Programs/ CARMEN GX and run the ANPR Demo for Images to
start using CARMEN®.
This option installs all components required for development. Choose this option if you
are a developer.

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RECOMMENDED CAMERA POSITION
A good ANPR engine can read the plates from images taken in various conditions. However, if
recognition rates of over 95% with short recognition times are required, the position of the
camera has to be calculated accurately. In an ideal situation the camera is installed on a gantry
above the traffic lane (see below).
If no gantry exist at the site where ANPR is necessary, then the camera can be installed near the
side of the road as well. In this case, the angle between the camera axis and the direction in
which the vehicle is moving should be minimal. Furthermore, the camera should be installed 1
–1.5 meters above the headlights of the vehicles.
The distance between the camera and plate is also important. If the camera is too far from the
plate, the characters may not be large enough for recognition. If this is the case, zoom-in until
you reach the proper size. If the distance is too short, it may happen that a part of the plate is
outside the camera’s field of view (when the vehicle is near to the side of the lane or the plate
is not in the middle of the vehicle).