What is DeepSORT?

DeepSORT is an extension of the SORT (Simple Online and Realtime Tracking) algorithm.
While SORT is a tracking algorithm based on Kalman Filters and the Hungarian Algorithm,
DeepSORT improves upon it by incorporating deep learning to re-identify vehicles, even if
they are temporarily occluded (blocked) or if their appearance changes due to lighting,
angle, or other factors.

DeepSORT uses both motion-based tracking (using Kalman filters) and appearance-based
tracking (using a neural network to extract features from the vehicle).

How DeepSORT Works in Your Smart Parking System

1. Vehicle Detection (YOLO):

o First, YOLO detects vehicles in real-time from the camera feed.

o YOLO provides bounding boxes around each detected vehicle, with a

confidence score and class label (e.g., "car", "truck").

o These detections are passed as inputs to DeepSORT.

2. Tracking Initialization:

o When YOLO detects a vehicle, DeepSORT assigns a unique ID to that vehicle.

This is crucial for tracking the vehicle as it moves through the parking lot.

o The initial bounding box from YOLO (the location of the vehicle) is input into
the Kalman filter (used in DeepSORT for prediction).

3. Kalman Filter for Motion Prediction:

o DeepSORT uses a Kalman filter to predict the next position of each vehicle in
the next frame based on its current speed and trajectory.

o This helps maintain the vehicle’s track even if the vehicle temporarily
disappears from view or is occluded by another object.

4. Appearance-based Tracking with CNN Features:

o While the Kalman filter tracks based on motion (position and velocity),
DeepSORT also uses a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) to extract
appearance features from each vehicle.

o The CNN generates a feature vector representing the visual appearance of

the vehicle.

o These feature vectors are stored and used for re-identifying vehicles across
frames.
 o Even if a vehicle is momentarily blocked or occluded, DeepSORT can re-
identify it once it reappears, based on its unique appearance features.

5. Matching Detections with Existing Tracks:

o In each new frame, DeepSORT compares the appearance features of the

detected vehicles with those of vehicles being tracked.

o The Hungarian algorithm is used to associate new detections with existing

tracks based on the appearance similarity and motion consistency (predicted
position from the Kalman filter).

6. Track Management:

o DeepSORT maintains a list of active tracks and is capable of:

 Creating new tracks for newly detected vehicles.

 Updating existing tracks for vehicles that continue to be detected.

 Terminating tracks for vehicles that have left the scene or are no
longer detected.

7. Tracking Output:

o After processing the frame, DeepSORT provides the vehicle ID, along with the
updated position (bounding box coordinates), for each tracked vehicle.

o This allows you to know which vehicle is parked in which spot and track its
movement over time.

DeepSORT Components in Detail:

1. Kalman Filter:

o Purpose: Predict the next position of a vehicle based on its current position
and velocity.

o How it helps: When a vehicle is occluded or momentarily lost, the Kalman

filter ensures that it doesn't get lost from the track by predicting where it
should be.

2. Appearance Descriptor (CNN):

o Purpose: Generate a feature vector that uniquely represents the appearance

of each vehicle.

o How it helps: This allows DeepSORT to re-identify vehicles even if they are
occluded or temporarily leave the camera's field of view.
 3. Hungarian Algorithm:

o Purpose: Solve the data association problem to match detections to existing

tracks.

o How it helps: Ensures that vehicles are properly assigned to their correct
tracks, reducing errors when vehicles are close together.

4. Track Management:

o Purpose: Maintain an active list of all vehicle tracks, handle new detections,
and delete tracks when vehicles exit the scene.

o How it helps: Keeps your system organized and ensures that vehicle IDs are
consistent across frames.

Benefits of Using DeepSORT for Tracking in Your Project:

1. Real-time Tracking:

o DeepSORT is designed to work in real-time, which is crucial for your smart

parking system, where you need to track vehicles continuously as they enter
and exit the parking lot.

2. High Accuracy:

o The combination of motion-based and appearance-based tracking allows

DeepSORT to track vehicles accurately, even when they are occluded or their
appearance changes due to lighting, angle, etc.

3. Vehicle Identity Persistence:

o DeepSORT ensures that each vehicle is consistently assigned the same unique
ID, even if the vehicle temporarily disappears from the camera’s view.

4. Handling Multiple Vehicles:

o DeepSORT can track multiple vehicles simultaneously, even in busy parking

lots with a high density of vehicles.

5. Integration with YOLO:

o Since YOLO provides accurate vehicle detections, DeepSORT can use these
detections to ensure that vehicles are tracked across frames efficiently, which
is essential for your smart parking system to know exactly where each vehicle
is parked.
How to Integrate DeepSORT with YOLO in Your Project:

1. YOLO Detection:

o Use YOLO to detect vehicles in each frame and get the bounding boxes
(coordinates) for each vehicle.

o Example: Use OpenCV to load YOLO and perform object detection on each
frame of the video.

2. Initialize DeepSORT:

o Use the output from YOLO (vehicle bounding boxes) as input to DeepSORT.
Initialize the tracking system with the bounding boxes from YOLO.

o Example: Use a Python library like deep_sort_realtime or sort to implement

DeepSORT.

3. Tracking Vehicles:

o In each new frame, the bounding boxes from YOLO will be passed to
DeepSORT, which will predict vehicle movements and keep track of their
positions.

o DeepSORT will assign unique IDs to vehicles and maintain tracking over time.

4. Parking Spot Assignment:

o Based on the vehicle IDs and their tracked positions, you can update parking
spot statuses (vacant/occupied) in your system.

o Example: If the tracked vehicle enters a parking spot, mark it as occupied.

In Summary:

DeepSORT is crucial for your smart vehicle parking system because it ensures that vehicles
are continuously tracked across frames, even if they are temporarily occluded or leave the
camera’s field of view. By combining motion-based (Kalman filter) and appearance-based
(CNN) tracking, DeepSORT helps in maintaining the vehicle's identity, ensuring accurate
parking spot allocation, and enabling a smooth and reliable real-time vehicle tracking
process.