Frequently Asked Question

The following document outlines expectations and requirements when deploying a SiteTrax Virtual Gate camera system.  If there are any questions regarding any of these topics, please feel free to reach out to support.

SiteTrax.io Responsibility 

SiteTrax.io will be responsible of the following aspects of a virtual gate install.

#1 - Video Delivery:

SiteTrax platform will deliver the video from the camera to our servers in the cloud and configure any webhook destinations as required.  For more information on the SiteTrax REST API, please visit this knowledge base article.

#2 - Motion / Object Detection / Resolution / Field of View:

The SiteTrax team will configure the motion detection on each site based on the orientation and field of view of the SiteTrax Virtual Gate camera.  A lot can change depending on the facility and how traffic flows in and out of the yard.  The SiteTrax team will provide recommendations on camera orientation and layout to achieve the best results.

#3 - Camera Tuning (Day/Night Mode):

Proper lighting is required for the camera to identified objects correctly.  The SiteTrax Team can tune the camera for lower lighting conditions and work with field staff that are setting up the camera to recommend best lighting practices.

#4 - Access to SiteTrax "Digital Twin" Results:

The SiteTrax Service portal (https://service.sitetrax.io) contains a list of all objects detected by the SiteTrax Virtual Gate camera.  This includes the ability to review images captured by SiteTrax and the original videos captured by the SiteTrax Virtual Gate camera.

Customer Responsibility

The following is a list of customer responsibilities when installing a SiteTrax Virtual Gate camera.

1. Infrastructure: Infrastructure needed to properly locate the camera at a particular location (i.e. in-gate or out-gate) along with providing power and internet.  Although a single camera can be used to identify multiple directions of an object, there may be circumstances when a dedicated camera should be deployed for each direction needing to be captured (i.e. in-gate, out-gate or multiple lanes).
2. One SiteTrax Virtual Gate Camera per Lane:  For best performance, it is recommended that one or more cameras are deployed per lane.  In other words, it is not recommended to use one camera to cover two different lanes (i.e. in/out gate).  Best practice is to deploy two Virtual Gate cameras per lane.
3. Maintenance: On-going maintenance including lens cleaning and any repairs due to accidental or environmental damage.
4. Firmware and Application Upgrades: From time to time, there may be a new firmware or application that may need to be loaded onto the camera.  The SiteTrax team will provide instructions on how to connect into the camera and load this software on-site to ensure that the latest features are available. The customer will need to load these updates or coordinate to provide remote access.
5. Data Storage: If storage of the raw data and interpreted images is required for longer than 90 days, it is recommended that the customer works with the SiteTrax team to store the data on customer supplied data storage provider (recommended:  Amazon AWS buckets).
6. Data Destination: After the SiteTrax backend computes the "digital twin" of the object identified by the SiteTrax Virtual Gate, the final destination of the data is required to be maintained by the customer.  SiteTrax works with a number of partners who can provide consulting services and have turn-key visualization platforms (i.e. YMS, WMS, TMS, TOS, ERP, etc.) that can accept SiteTrax API data.  Please see the SiteTrax Terms of Service for more information at https://www.sitetrax.io/tos.
7. Camera Mounting and Orientation: After mounting the camera, the camera orientation may need to be adjusted (i.e. height, orientation and angle). For example, capturing the back of the container and chassis is best, while approximately 3 ft (1 m) height for the camera is typically recommended for chassis and containers and 4 ft (1.3 m) to 6 ft (2 m) height when only detecting containers. 
8. Lighting: Proper lighting is very important if objects are required to be detected at night. Recommend using LED lights with a color temperature of 7,000K (bright white) and 5,000 lumens brightness.  Mounting the lights at a distance of approximately 20 ft from the object is ideal.
9. Speed: To prevent motion blur during capture of the object from the SiteTrax Virtual Gate, the use of stop signs or speed bumps is recommended to slow down the operators (i.e. 10 mph or 16 kph is the maximum speed to reliably capture assets).
10. Exception Handling: From time to time, there are objects that may not comply with the ability to properly identify the ID (i.e. damaged container ID or no chassis ID visible).  In these cases, the SiteTrax platform will identify these objects as unknown and properly classify them.  It is recommended that the customer establish a process for working with these exceptions to properly classify them as needed (i.e. manual inspection).

Need additional assistance?

These are recommended guidelines and other variables can affect the performance of detecting objects properly.  Please reach out to the SiteTrax team for recommendations or guidance with any of the above items listed above including design, integration or third-party partners that can assist your organization with deploying SiteTrax within your organization.

If there are any questions, please reach out to the SiteTrax support team at https://www.sitetrax.io/contact.