News Room

It is with deepest regrets that we announce that Peter (Pete) Hutchinson, Managing Director of The Traffic Group, passed away on May 30, 2024 following a short illness. He is survived by his wife Rachel and their three children Kerrie, Ciara and Conor, brother Phil and his parents Mike and Hilary.

A Chartered Physicist, Pete co-founded AGD Systems Limited in 1991 with his father Mike, and his uncle Mark. Pete was the motivating force for the advancement of AGD’s radar detection technologies, their application in the Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS) market, and the international expansion of the business. He successfully led AGD to its current prominent position in the ITS sector.

Under his AGD Systems leadership, Pete was involved in several strategic acquisitions, leading to the formation of The Traffic Group, and was instrumental in the award of several patents and three Queens Awards for Innovation. His commitment to building a sustainable business was also recognised with two Green Apple awards for environmental best practice. His approach to continuous improvement enabled his employees to thrive, creating a dynamic and highly collaborative workplace where everyone is valued.

One of his greatest joys, after his family, was his work, often remarking “if you enjoy your job, you never work a day in your life!”

Pete was a widely respected figure with the industry, having brought about positive change through working within TOPAS to revise specifications for industry products, and more recently a leading author in the latest temporary traffic signal guidance for the traffic management sector. He was driven by a purpose to make products, roadside installations and road works safer and more efficient for road users, road workers and the general public.

Outside of work, Pete was a passionate cyclist, having won several national and international competitions in cyclo-cross. He had an unbounded enthusiasm for motorsports, reflected in his choice of cars which were his pride and joy. A considerate, quick-witted and intelligent man, Pete was popular within his local community and will be greatly missed by all who knew and worked with him.

The Traffic Group remains a family business, in the hands of Mike, Mark, Phil and Maxine Hutchinson, and continuity plans are in place to minimise disruption to its customers and partners.

News Room
Date published 23rd March 2024

The launch of the new AiQ Advanced Intelligence ALPR camera offers more than just plate recognition, it eradicates the limitations that have previously faced ALPR cameras and has opened a wealth of visual data mapping and target detection that set new performance standards. After 2 years of research and testing, MAV systems have now launched the AiQ to eagerly awaiting system integrators and solution partners who have sought enhanced ALPR technology.

With the ability to identify illegal, masked and even ‘ghost’ plates even in poor weather and lighting conditions; the AiQ has changed the narrative around what is possible. Boasting full colour and IR capture including automatic ‘best match’ functionality, vehicle pathway
tracking, zero light performance, international license plate coverage, vehicle count and classification, all with low power usage, the AiQ offers an AI capable open platform camera that offers immediate and enhanced development solutions.

Of the AiQ, Steve Walker, Managing Director of MAV Systems said:
“Working so closely with our partners across multiple sectors allows us to identify development possibilities that will offer true benefits. ALPR technology has always been limited by vehicle owners trying to evade plate capture but the AiQ has been designed to address these evasion techniques.”

New AiQ enhanced intelligence ANPR camera

Offering solutions for parking management, law enforcement, ITS and civil enforcement, including MTO systems, the AiQ has been built for the changing world of driver behaviour. Built to offer enhanced performance quality and accuracy, the AiQ is not limited to simply plate recognition. Generating multiple data streams through efficient vehicle mapping, classification and pathway tracking; data compression and split-sends via separated communication channels allows system developers the opportunity to refine data collation across application specific solutions.

Steve continued:
“The new features and opportunities offered by the AiQ are numerous but the purpose of its design is to meet the growing needs of technology partners looking for more efficient solutions for accurate data generation. The best way that system developers can witness the true value of the AiQ is to test it for themselves.”

With trials carried out across multiple sectors, MAV systems are confidently launching the AiQ knowing it has the capability to meet the requirements of system integrators and partners worldwide. With a plan to support further partnerships across the UK and international markets in the development of the most accurate and effective ALPR systems, the AiQ will soon be core to the advancement of a wide-range of solutions across the world.

News Room

The IQX range of intelligent ANPR cameras offer the next generation of ANPR technology to meet the changing need of our worldwide partners.

At MAV, our partners provide the framework from which we plan the next steps in the development of our constantly evolving ANPR technology. Their varying and often unique requirements are the driving force behind the need to innovate and pioneer new features to offer greater, more effective performance. It was from this ambition that the product roadmap was re-routed and culminated in the development of the new IQX range of ANPR cameras with enhanced intelligence. This roadmap now offers partners direct access to their key markets through module integration and on-camera system development opportunities.

The IQX range is a collaboration of features designed to support our partners across a diverse range of sectors and countries:

IQ:XP – The IQ:XP series provides a multitude of opportunities through the inclusion of dual processing power. The open platform of the XP intelligent ANPR series provides partners with the flexibility to integrate their own application software alongside the protected core IQ ANPR capabilities to meet unique system objectives. A suite of MAV application building blocks are also available to accelerate developments such as infringement plate validation and dual plate processing. The IQ:XP ANPR cameras also offer optional enhanced encryption to bolster data security and protect mass storage onboard with optional tamper protection.

IQ:XR – The IQ:XR series offers an all in one capture and communication solution to simplify the efficient transfer of data to multiple system/back-office end points in line with project requirements. Whereas the IQ ANPR cameras require a secondary external communication set-up to complete the transfer of data, the XR series provides GPS, WiFi and 4G all within a single housing. This all-in-one communication solution allows for simplified installation, more efficient set-up and quicker deployment. Adding embedded communications to the proven performance standards of MAV’s Intelligent ANPR camera range ensures our partners benefit from lower cost deployment options.

IQ:X – The IQ:X series has evolved to offer the latest generation of camera modules, taking advantage of sensors that offer improved low light performance alongside the continued quality and accuracy of our previous models. The addition of our new entry level IQ:130X camera also provides our partners with the superior performance of our IQ range in a smaller and more dynamic housing. This offers further opportunities for covert solutions and dual front plate confirmation with multiple camera set-up. The continuing evolution of our intelligent ANPR cameras ensures we are able to meet the changing needs of our partners with the delivery of enhanced intelligent ANPR technology.

As the needs of our partners become more complex, the solution becomes clearer, provide a depth of functionality coupled with flexibility that allows them to determine how to optimize their systems themselves. The IQX range now adds further opportunities for efficient system development alongside an already diverse portfolio of high performance, easy integration ANPR technology.

The addition of optional edge-based technology modules within the IQX range also offers a new layer of flexibility that allows our partners to add value without any impact on the proven IQ ANPR core.  We have already seen this create more cost-effective enforcement solutions and expect applications to grow as more partners adopt this low risk, high return approach.

This evolving technology offer ours partners additional confidence in consistently meeting their system objectives through the advancement of performance and accuracy alongside the world-renowned quality. The range of IQX ANPR cameras include products to meet stand-alone system needs as well as complex multi-functional requirements. It is through this product depth offered by MAV that we have developed successful partnerships in more than 50 countries across multiple markets.

The development of this flagship range of ANPR cameras is the result of our continuing investment into research and development with the ambition of meeting our immediate partner requirements whilst offering further capabilities and system options. We continue to push technology to the edge, offering global benefits to system integrators and partners across multiple applications and sectors. In this way, MAV have found a way to offer unique solutions on a truly international scale.

News Room

Lockdown has been a challenging time for us all and we all find ourselves in very different positions to where we were or planned to be. Some have been fortunate, like us, in that lockdown has provided us with some time to develop and innovate and offer our partners improvements. We have improved our website to enable better navigation, more information and access to more support. We have changed our brand to reflect an evolution in our business but also in the products we offer, namely the IQX range.

The IQX range of intelligent ANPR cameras has been built on the foundation of the market leading IQ range, carrying forward the quality and performance but heightening the results our partners receive. The IQX range is formed of the IQ:X, IQ:XR and IQ:XP intelligent ANPR cameras and includes a wide range of features and functionality that offer our partners the opportunities and the tools to achieve more. Moreover, this new range compliments our other ANPR cameras, providing further benefits to meet unique project and solution objectives with all-in-one intelligent ANPR cameras. These capabilities include:

  • Extensive FOV and range capture
  • Efficient set-up and deployment using truEZoom®
  • JSON, FTP, UTMC 1.2 and web services communication options
  • Split data options to compliment parallel systems
  • High performance, accuracy and quality
  • Compact ANPR options
  • Internal storage of over 1,000,000 reads
  • Simple integration with existing systems and periphery device inclusion
  • Optional internal modem with 4G, GPS and Wifi
  • Optional co-processing for vehicle classification
  • Bi-directional coverage
  • Entry level to superior specification models
  • Increased data transfer encryption
  • IP68 environmentally robust configuration
  • Low power consumption

This extensive new range of intelligent ANPR cameras is the result of our continuing investment into research and development as well as all our team members. Using their combined expertise and experience they have been able to develop clear advancements in ANPR technology that benefits our partners across a wide range of sectors across the world.

Find out more at anprcameras.com

News Room ANPR Technology
Date published 29th March 2019

ANPR is often seen as a stand-alone technology which provides independent data for use in specific applications. The reality is that today’s ANPR, using next generation models such as the MAV IQ range, forms part of a wider framework of technologies that utilise multiple data sensors in live and AI based analytic scenarios.

The best Intelligent ANPR cameras have evolved each year providing much more than on board processing and storage options. The key differential within ANPR technology is the ability to offer alignment of causal data with associated peripheral sensors and devices that provide a wealth of data which is tagged for each vehicle’s passage. This allows for geographic analyses to be completed with a greater depth of information for comprehensive study of behaviours, trends and responses to traffic stimuli.

Such flexibility of Intelligent ANPR technology and subsequent compatibility across multiple systems offers opportunities for:

  • Emission studies per location
  • Emission impact per vehicle type, including enforcement of CAZs
  • Traffic volume and dispersal analysis
  • Average and Spot Speed analysis and associated actions
  • Journey Time Management
  • Smart City interfacing from Car Parks/Motorways/Inner City routes/Hotels/Conferences/Events
  • Cross-border journey analysis
  • Road Work traffic ripple effect studies

MAV’s range of market leading intelligent ANPR cameras

MAV’s range of market leading intelligent ANPR cameras provide consistently high quality performance and flexibility.

Whilst these applications provide examples of systems which use core Intelligent ANPR cameras and the multiple communication and data gathering functions, new applications are being continually developed which utilise the benefits of cameras such as the IQ range of intelligent ANPR technology.

Steve Walker, Managing Director of MAV Systems Commented:

“Our world has become far more sophisticated and reactive to the environmental impact of our lifestyles. This is necessarily being matched by the technology needed to keep it running efficiently and providing vital information on the consequences of our actions. MAV have pioneered some of the most cutting edge ANPR cameras with our IQ range and, due to customer demand and legislative requirements, the next enhancement is never far away. We now offer a range of combined speed, emission sensing and ANPR products that open up new exciting possibilities for our system integrator partners.”

Future proofing of technology is a well-worn phrase that is often mis-represented as adding a few spare ports but businesses such as MAV Systems believe this phrase needs to be redefined.

Peter Henden, Technical Director of MAV Systems stated that:

“Our method of future-proofing ANPR technology, the needs of our partners and indeed the market as a whole, is to be agile and adopt new technologies quickly and often. To ensure you offer the best technology, you must be constantly evolving and developing the best functionality possible. At MAV Systems we dedicate a vast amount of time and funds to targeted research and development. Our specialist team of embedded engineers constantly design and test to see how we can improve and offer our partners the technologies that will allow more flexibility, further integration and more efficient data collection.”

All these worthy goals mean nothing without practical applications and MAV Systems are being constantly requested to assist with new ways of achieving cost effective systems that are hybrids and extensions of their core products. By way of example, the EQ range of gas and particulate sensors can be seamlessly integrated with the IQ to correlate ANPR for classification and emissions data. Integrated systems can collate information on traffic flow, volume, congestion patterns and wait times at traffic lights/junctions and pair this with real-time air quality. This provides a baseline for analysis and enables process improvement through links into traffic control and SCOOT systems.

This is not just a retrospective tool, the ANPR can be linked to control systems that affect traffic flow based on live classification data. The effect of the adapted flow can then be measured using the intelligent ANPR data and emissions sensors. In this way, the traffic model can be optimised and further traffic improvements can be performed at a local level as well as influencing national policies. Continual analysis of process changes allow for impact evaluation to identify best practice and system improvements reducing emissions further.

With such integration available for emissions regulation using the IQ range of ANPR cameras, Low Emission/Clean Air Zones are now being introduced across the world. It is only with sophisticated technology, such as the IQ and EQ, that targeting specific locations for dramatic emissions reduction through traffic control can be effectively conducted. These systems can be further supported by speed regulation using average or spot speed integration to provide a full traffic control system and data retrieval. Such demands have led to the market leading IQ becoming pivotal in the development of traffic and emission control, regulation and implementation systems.

In a data driven global society that is always looking to find efficiencies, ANPR technology is pivotal. Previously only seen as a blunt instrument, ANPR now offers the key to linking Smart City technologies that can provide flexibility, open integration and enhanced functionality. MAV Systems believe that they offer the vital components of measuring the impact and efficiency of our rapidly changing world of traffic.