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The history of Vehicle Occupancy Limited (VOL) can be traced back to 1998 when Leeds City Council, in the United Kingdom, implemented a car sharing lane on the A647. The HOVMAN project, led by Dr John Brocklehurst, was setup to develop an automated method for detecting lone drivers in this car sharing lane.
The original design concept for HOVMAN was to use a standard video camera operating in the near infra-red light range. Pattern recognition and other image processing techniques were to be used to count the number of faces. HOVMON encountered two key technical problems; namely:
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In order to help find solutions to these problems Dr Brocklehurst engaged the assistance of Laser Optical Engineering (LOE). LOE is a spin-out company from Loughborough University and is located on the university campus. They specialise in the development of innovative laser based metrology and optics technology. LOE is jointly owned by its founder, Senior Lecturer Dr John Tyrer, and Loughborough University.
LOE undertook research into the optical properties of different windscreens and the reflective characteristics of human skin when illuminated by light of different wavelengths. Based on the findings of this research, LOE devised a possible solution to the problems identified during the HOVMAN project. This solution involved taking two pictures at different wavelengths, processing these pictures to produce an enhanced single picture of the occupants' skin, using software to isolate the human faces and finally counting the vehicle occupants. This methodology remains the basis of the current dtect technology.
In 2004 Vehicle Occupancy Limited (VOL) was incorporated to act as the legal entity for any future commercial exploitation of the methodology which LOE had devised. Shares in VOL we allotted to the individuals who had contributed to the development up until that time.
Having devised the methodology, LOE then set about developing appropriate hardware and software. Numerous iterations of the development and testing occurred over the following thee years.
In 2005 Avingtrans, a Midlands headquartered AIM listed PLC, became involved. Avingtrans, via its subsidiary, Vehicle Sensor Technology Ltd (VST) secured exclusive rights to manufacture and sell the VOL technology. As part of this deal Avingtrans agreed to provide a loan to allow the construction of prototypes which were named Cyclops.
The original intention was for one of the pictures to be taken in the visible part of the light spectrum utilising ambient light for illumination. Much resource was expended on this approach, including the filing of a patent, before poor test results forced a change to the two illuminator approach.
Work on the two illuminator system, which is now called dtect, commenced in May 2006. A variety of designs were developed and tested. In late 2006 this effort began to yield success and by early 2007 VOL could clearly demonstrate a step change in the accuracy of the vehicle occupancy count.
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