SideCatcher camera for basic crane OCR
The SideCatcher solution provides
basic crane OCR. It’s a compact intelligent camera system, installed on the crane’s horizontal sill beams, used to take pictures of the container’s long sides. The system detects and captures the container ID, ISO code and door direction. Operators can use the
Crane Operator application for further exception handling in case the OCR data confidence levels are low. They can correct specific fields before committing the data to the TOS. Seamless TOS integration ensures that the data is instantly sent to the TOS, ultimately improving vessel turnaround time.
Concept
Six camera units, three on each horizontal sill beam, take pictures of the long sides of the containers during loading or discharge. Each camera internally has multiple 4MP sensors with fix focus lenses. Every sensor/lens combination covers two lanes and guarantees perfectly focused pictures. Built-in LED light projectors ensure appropriate (on demand) lighting conditions.
The cameras capture the container number and ISO code, and detect the door direction based on the door hinges. Various container configurations are supported: single, tandem, 20′, 30′, 40′, 45′.
For information on Camco’s performant full crane OCR solution based on a moving camera, refer to
BoxCatcher.