What a yard has to show later
The questions are repetitive. Which vehicle left, and through which gate. Who was in the yard after lock-up. What happened on the apron in front of the office. A dispute about a delivery or a test drive starts with the gate and the row, not with a camera filming the showroom lounge.
Plates matter at the gate and almost nowhere else. A camera that can read a plate needs a short, straight view and usable light. The same camera cannot also cover three rows of stock.
What we install
- Gates. Entry and exit, aimed for the vehicle and, where the geometry allows, the plate. Separate from the yard overview.
- Rows. Enough cameras that a car in the back row is a car, not a blob. Poles and building corners, overlapping so a van parked close to one camera does not hide the row behind it.
- Office and workshop. The sales counter, the key cabinet if it is not in a private office, and the workshop lane where vehicles are dropped.
- After dark. Yard lighting planned with the cameras. Infrared alone falls off before the back fence on most Australian yards.
What the AI layer watches for
- A person or vehicle after hours, emailed with the frame. A cooldown stops a swaying tree or a repeating headlights clip from filling the inbox. You set the hours, including days the yard is shut.
- Gate crossings as timeline events, so "what left at 7pm" is a search.
- Vehicle counts at the gate over the week.
It does not track a vehicle across town, identify a driver, or promise every plate is readable at night. If the gate camera cannot see the plate, the alert still tells you a vehicle was there. After-hours alerts is the feature yard owners use first.
Constraints to plan for
Glare off windscreens, western sun, and dust on housings are the normal picture problems. Long cable runs to poles need proper protection, and power at the pole is a planning item, not an afterthought. Ask us for licence and insurance details.