COUNTING SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE RIDERS

There is provided a system and method for counting riders arbitrarily positioned in a vehicle. There is provided a method comprising receiving, from at least one camera filtered to capture non-visible light, video data corresponding to the vehicle passing through a light source filtered for non-visible light, converting the video data into a 3D height map, and analyzing the 3D height map to determine a number of riders in the vehicle. The camera and light source may be mounted in a permanent position using a gantry or another suitable system where the vehicle travels across the camera and light system in a determined manner, for example through a vehicle track. Multiple cameras may be used to increase detection accuracy. To detect persons in the 3D height map, the analysis may search for height patterns indicating heads and shoulders of persons, compare against height map templates, or use machine-learning methods.