🚗 ALPR Local Dashboard

Welcome to your own Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) dashboard! This project gives you a powerful, local alternative to Rekor Scout's online dashboard, letting you keep all your license plate data on your own computer instead of in the cloud.

🤖 AI-Powered Development: This entire dashboard was created with Anthropic's Claude Sonnet AI as an experiment in AI-programming. Some human edits have since been made

📋 What You'll Need

Before getting started, make sure you have:

• ✅ Active OpenALPR subscription - You'll need a paid account to use Rekor Scout
• ✅ IP Camera - Any camera that broadcasts its feed over your network
• ✅ Windows computer - On the same network as your camera(s)
• ✅ Basic networking knowledge - Finding IP addresses and configuring ports

📂 Repository Structure: This branch contains the server-side dashboard. For building IP cameras cameras on Rasbian, switch to the lite branch.

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🔧 Part 1: Setting Up Rekor Scout (Windows)

First, we'll get the official Rekor Scout software running on your Windows machine. This software does the actual license plate recognition.

Step 1: Download and Install Rekor Agent

1. Download the installer: Visit Rekor's download page or go to their main website
2. Run the installer: Follow the installation wizard
3. Sign in: The installer will prompt you to sign in with your OpenALPR account credentials
4. Launch the program: After installation, you should see this interface:

💡 Testing without a camera? Skip the rest of these steps and go straight to Part 2. After you set up the dashboard, check out the image_stream folder for instructions on using your own images instead of a physical IP camera. Great for testing and development!

Step 2: Add Your Camera

Now we'll connect your IP camera to Rekor Scout:

1. In the Cameras section on the left of the main interface click 'Add'
2. If your camera's IP address is known:
   • Click 'Add Camera'
   • Enter the IP address of your camera and port to connect on (often port 80)
3. If your camera's IP address is not known:
   • Under 'Camera type' select 'IP Camera (Auto Discover)
   • Click 'Discover Devices'

Step 3: Test Your Camera Connection

1. Click "Test" to verify the camera feed is working
2. Skip credentials if prompted (unless your camera requires authentication)
3. Verify the feed: You should see live video from your camera

Step 4: Save and Activate

1. Click "Save Camera" once the test is successful
2. Name your camera (e.g., "Front Gate", "Parking Lot", etc.)
3. Start services: When prompted about starting Rekor services, always click "Yes" to prevent performance issues

🎉 Success! Your camera is now connected and Rekor Scout will automatically start detecting license plates. You can pause detection anytime using the pause button at the top of the interface.

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🌐 Part 2: Setting Up Your Local Dashboard

Now we will set up the local dashboard which stores data locally, and broadcasts MQTT messages to the database

Why Use a Local Dashboard?

• 📊 Data Privacy: All license plate is controlled by you
• 🚀 Performance: Faster loading times
• 🛠️ Customization: Modify the dashboard to fit your needs
• 💰 Cost Savings: No additional cloud storage fees

Step 1: Configure Your Dashboard

1. Navigate to the server folder:

   cd path\to\alpr\server

2. Copy the configuration template:

   • Find the file named config.template
   • Make a copy and rename it to config.yaml
   • Adjust filepaths and settings as needed

Step 2: Set Up the Server Environment

We've made this super easy with an automated setup script:

# One-time setup (installs Python, creates virtual environment, installs dependencies)
.\server.ps1 setup

# Run the server (use this every time you want to start the dashboard)
.\server.ps1

Alternative manual method:

python3.10 .\alpr_integrated_server.py

Step 2.5: Enable VIN Lookup (Optional)

The server includes optional VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) lookup functionality that can retrieve vehicle details (make, model, year, etc.) from license plates.

To enable VIN lookup, set the environment variable before starting the server:

PowerShell:

$env:ENABLE_VIN = "true"
python alpr_integrated_server.py

Or create a startup script (start_server_with_vin.bat):

@echo off
set ENABLE_VIN=true
python alpr_integrated_server.py
pause

When enabled, the dashboard will automatically look up and display vehicle information for detected license plates. VIN data is stored in alpr_vin_lookup.json.

Step 3: Access Your Dashboard

Once the server is running, open your web browser and visit:

• 🏠 Main Dashboard: http://localhost:5000/dashboard
• 📊 API Endpoints: http://localhost:5000/api/plates

Your dashboard will look like this:

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🔗 Part 3: Connecting Rekor Scout to Your Local Server

Now we'll tell Rekor Scout to send all license plate data to your local dashboard instead of the cloud.

Step 1: Open Data Destinations

1. Open Rekor Scout (if not already running)

2. Navigate to settings: Click Configure → Data Destinations in the top menu

Step 2: Add Your Local Server

1. Select server type: Click on "Other HTTP Server"

2. Enter server URL: Type http://localhost:5000/alpr in the URL field

3. Save the configuration: Click "Save" or "Apply"

🎉 You're all set! Rekor Scout will now send all detected license plates to your local dashboard.

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📁 Understanding Your Data

Your local server creates several files to organize the license plate data:

File	Description
alpr_raw_data.jsonl	Complete JSON data from Rekor Scout (includes heartbeats)
alpr_parsed_data.jsonl	Clean license plate data only (customizable)
event.log	Human-readable event log
plates/ folder	Cropped images of detected license plates

All file names and locations can be customized in your config.yaml file.

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🆘 Troubleshooting

Camera Not Connecting?

• Verify your camera's IP address and port
• Make sure your camera and computer are on the same network
• Try accessing http://<camera-ip>:8080 directly in your browser

Server Won't Start?

• Make sure Python is installed (python --version)
• Run the setup script: .\server.ps1 setup
• Check that port 5000 isn't being used by another application

No License Plates Detected?

• Ensure Rekor Scout is running and not paused
• Verify the data destination is set to http://localhost:5000/alpr
• Check that your camera has a clear view of license plates

Need More Help?

• Check the console output for error messages
• Visit the status page: http://localhost:5000/stats
• Review the event.log file for detailed information

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🎯 Next Steps

Once everything is running:

1. Test the system: Drive a car past your camera to see license plate detection in action
2. Explore the dashboard: Try different views, filters, and sorting options
3. Customize settings: Modify config.yaml to fit your specific needs
4. Add more cameras: Repeat the camera setup process for additional monitoring points
5. Monitor performance: Use the built-in statistics to track system performance

Enjoy your new local ALPR dashboard! 🚗✨