ABSTRACT

Smoke Belching Detection through Image Processing is a developed algorithm for a no

contact evaluation of vehicle smoke emissions. According to the Department of Health,
automobiles accounts for 80% to the total pollution in the country. The discharge of black smoke
is induced by improper maintenance of vehicles, improper way of driving, weak vehicle engine,
overloading of vehicles and use of low quality oils. This type of emission imposes hazards to
both the health and environmental sector leading to various illness and diseases, mostly affecting
the respiratory system, as well as contributing to the worsening case of global warming.
Currently, the government is implementing the rules for the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 by
doing random roadside inspection with the use of portable testing equipment in which it resulted
to a large amount of vehicles labeled as smoke belchers. This study aims to implement a method
for the no contact evaluation of smoke belching vehicles, to establish a program that would
process the smoke exhaust from the captured image of the suspected smoke belching vehicle and
to validate the functionality of the method used to obtain the values from the analyzed smoke
exhaust by testing. The researchers considered the process flow in image processing and the
techniques used in every process to be applied for the analysis of the captured image of a
suspected smoke belcher for a result of accurate labeling of smoke vehicle emissions in
accordance with the standards set by the government. The uploaded footage of smoke exhaust
will first undergo frame extraction then background subtraction. After the said method, blob
analysis will occur where it will detect the smoke from the point of view of the camera and the
system will get the HSI of background image and HSI of smoke. The difference between the
intensity of the background and the intensity of smoke will be displayed at the Graphic User
Interface. The system has an overall system accuracy of 92%. This resulted to a Cronbach’s
alpha of 0.767, an indication of acceptable system reliability. There is also a significant
difference between the system’s time response and the conventional way of testing the smoke
vehicle emission by the Land Transportation Office by performing the unpaired T test on the
times recorded. The researchers recommend the development of the program where it can detect
multiple smoke emissions, actual application of the project on the road and exploring more
techniques on smoke detection.
Keywords: Smoke belching detection, Image processing, Background Subtraction, blob analysis,
smoke intensity, Color analysis, Color model, Threshold
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This research entitled “Smoke Belching Detection through Image Processing” targets the
issue smoke belching in the country. As per the LTO-NCR, the agency is lacking of personnel
and testing equipment to apprehend the smoke belchers in the country. This research is designed
to maximize the use of MMDA CCTVs for the proper monitoring of vehicle exhaust emissions.
Moreover this research addresses the concerns such as the motor vehicles being one of the major
causes of the air pollution in the country specifically the diesel-engine ones, the health issues
arising from the smoke exhaust of the vehicles as well as the environmental effects and the
deficiency of the government in enforcers and equipment.

The design of this proposal was to implement a method for the no contact evaluation of
smoke belching vehicles through image processing. The research specifically aims to confirm the
accuracy, reliability and the time response of the system.

Accuracy refers to the conformity to a standard value in which the result of a calculation
and measurement coincides to the correct value. To validate the accuracy of the system in terms
of image processing, the output display from the software is compared to the government
standards for smoke belching vehicles. The proposed device is considered accurate if it matches
to the standardized true value.

Reliability refers to the quality of how often a certain variable is able to achieve the same
results over a specific period of time. It can also related to the system’s precision, in which it
indicates how the closeness or the steadiness of the output readings when the same input is
implied at any given time.
Lastly, time response refers to the amount of time the system is able to process the input
footage, detect smoke, measure its intensity and properly label whether it pass or fail the
government standards.
The uploaded footage of vehicle exhaust will first undergo frame extraction then
background subtraction. After the said method, blob analysis will occur where it will detect the
smoke from the point of view of the camera and the system will get the HSI of background
image and HSI of smoke. The difference between the intensity of the background and the
intensity of smoke will be displayed at the Graphic User Interface. After the system has
processed all the input footage and has labeled the vehicles, the overall system accuracy is 92%.
The obtained Chronbach’s Alpha of the system is 0.767 which indicates an acceptable system
reliability. Through unpaired T test, it is found that there is a huge difference between the
system‘s time response compared conventional way of testing the smoke exhaust emissions.
Binary regression is performed on the LTO opacimeter results and the intensity difference
obtained by the system to build the relationship between the two.
The researchers recommend the development of the program where it can detect multiple
smoke emissions, actual application of the project on the road and exploring more techniques on
smoke detection.
 CHAPTER 6
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter explains the researcher’s summary of findings, conclusions and

recommendations.

6.1 Summary of Findings

Based from the output of the system it can be observed that this research’s, “Smoke
Belching Detection through Image Processing” findings are as follows:

1. The system can detect smoke exhaust from an input footage.

2. The system can differentiate the foreground and the background from the input
footage.
3. The system can measure the intensity difference of the smoke exhaust and the
background and compare it to a threshold to display the proper label.
4. The user of the system can choose to upload or record an input footage from the
graphical user interface.
5. The user will be able to see the label of the smoke, intensity difference and time
response of the system after the image processing has been done.

6.2 Conclusions
Based on the objectives of the study, these are the conclusions drawn:
1. The overall system reliability is 92%.
2. The Chronbach’s Alpha obtained is 0.767, an indication of acceptable system
reliability.
3. Through unpaired T test, there is a statistically huge difference between the
system’s time response and the conventional way testing the smoke exhaust.
6.3 Recommendations
From the factors encountered during the data sampling, the researchers recommend the
following:
1. Development of the system where it can detect multiple smoke emissions and
apprehension of the violators.
2. Actual application of the project on the road.
3. Explore more techniques on smoke detection.