🚗 Smart-Counter: Edge AI Traffic Analytics

High-performance people counting system with C++ (OpenCV, ONNX Runtime) + YOLOv8. Designed for edge devices with real-time analytics dashboard.

Most "AI video projects" stop at a notebook demo. Smart-Counter is built for production deployment — optimized C++ inference engine, persistent analytics storage, and Dockerized deployment.

🚀 Key Features

⚡ Real-Time Detection – YOLOv8 on GPU using ONNX Runtime (C++) achieving ~100 FPS on RTX 3060
🎯 Bi-Directional Counting – Tracks both entry (IN) and exit (OUT) flows with virtual counting lines
💾 Data Persistence – SQLite database logs all analytics with automatic drift protection
📊 Live Dashboard – Streamlit-based real-time visualization with historical analytics
🐳 Fully Dockerized – One-command deployment with Docker Compose (CPU/GPU support)
🔧 Production Ready – Modular architecture, error handling, and comprehensive logging

🛠 Tech Stack

Component	Technology
Core Engine	C++17, OpenCV 4.8+
AI Inference	ONNX Runtime (CUDA Execution Provider)
Detection Model	YOLOv8 (Ultralytics)
Tracking	Custom Centroid Tracker with state memory
Database	SQLite3 with analytics schema
Dashboard	Python 3.9+, Streamlit, Pandas
Build System	CMake 3.10+
DevOps	Docker, Docker Compose

🏗 Architecture

┌──────────────┐
│ Video Source │
└──────┬───────┘
       │
       ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│     C++ Detector (YOLO + Tracker)       │
│  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐ │
│  │  Detect │→ │  Track  │→ │  Count  │ │
│  └─────────┘  └─────────┘  └─────────┘ │
└──────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
           │
           ▼
    ┌─────────────┐
    │  SQLite DB  │  ← Persistent Analytics
    └──────┬──────┘
           │
           ▼
  ┌──────────────────┐
  │ Python Dashboard │  ← Real-time Visualization
  └──────────────────┘

Detailed documentation: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md | docs/BI_DIRECTIONAL_COUNTING.md

⚡ Quick Start

Prerequisites

Docker & Docker Compose
NVIDIA GPU + NVIDIA Container Toolkit (for GPU acceleration)
Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+, or similar)

🐳 Docker Deployment (Recommended)

# 1. Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/bigalex95/Smart-Counter.git
cd Smart-Counter

# 2. Allow X11 forwarding (for visualization)
xhost +local:docker

# 3. Build and run
docker compose up --build

The dashboard will be available at http://localhost:8501

GPU Support: See docs/DOCKER_COMPOSE_GPU.md
Configuration: Edit .env file or use environment variables

🔧 Native Build (Development)

For development or edge deployment without Docker:

# 1. Build C++ engine
./scripts/build.sh

# 2. Run detector
./build/SmartCounter --model models/yolov8s.onnx \
                     --input data/videos/video.mp4 \
                     --db logs/analytics.db

# Or use combined script
./scripts/build_and_run.sh

Available scripts:

build.sh – Build C++ project
run.sh – Run the detector
build_and_run.sh – Build and run in one step
check_cuda.sh – Check CUDA availability
test_database.sh – Test database connection

See docs/CLI_USAGE.md for all CLI options.

📂 Project Structure

Smart-Counter/
├── src/                    # C++ source code (Detector, Tracker, Database)
│   ├── main.cpp            # Main application entry
│   ├── detector.cpp        # YOLO inference engine
│   ├── tracker.cpp         # Centroid tracking algorithm
│   └── database.cpp        # SQLite analytics logger
├── include/                # C++ headers
├── dashboard/              # Python Streamlit analytics dashboard
│   ├── app.py              # Real-time dashboard UI
│   └── Dockerfile          # Dashboard container
├── python/                 # Python utilities
│   ├── prototype.py        # Python prototype (testing)
│   └── convert.py          # ONNX model conversion
├── scripts/                # Build and deployment automation
├── models/                 # ONNX models (YOLOv8)
├── data/                   # Videos and output
├── logs/                   # SQLite database (analytics.db)
├── docs/                   # Comprehensive documentation
├── docker-compose.yml      # Multi-container orchestration
├── Dockerfile              # C++ backend container
└── CMakeLists.txt          # Build configuration

🎯 Usage Examples

Docker Compose Deployment

# Run with custom video and settings
MODEL_PATH=models/yolov8s.onnx \
INPUT_VIDEO=data/videos/my_video.mp4 \
HEADLESS_MODE=true \
docker compose up

Standalone C++ Detector

./build/SmartCounter \
  --model models/yolov8s.onnx \
  --input data/videos/video.mp4 \
  --output data/output/result.mp4 \
  --db logs/analytics.db \
  --headless \
  --loop

Python Dashboard (Standalone)

cd dashboard
streamlit run app.py -- --db ../logs/analytics.db

Python Prototype (Testing)

source venv/bin/activate
python python/prototype.py

🔧 Configuration

Environment Variables (Docker)

MODEL_PATH=models/yolov8s.onnx     # Model path
INPUT_VIDEO=data/videos/video.mp4  # Input video
OUTPUT_VIDEO=data/output/out.mp4   # Output video
DB_PATH=logs/analytics.db          # Database path
HEADLESS_MODE=true                 # No GUI display
LOOP_VIDEO=true                    # Loop video playback
USE_CPU=false                      # Force CPU inference

CLI Arguments (Native)

./build/SmartCounter --help

Options:
  --model PATH      Path to ONNX model
  --input PATH      Input video file
  --output PATH     Output video file (optional)
  --db PATH         SQLite database path
  --headless        Run without GUI
  --loop            Loop video playback
  --cpu             Use CPU instead of GPU

See docs/CLI_USAGE.md for advanced configuration.

📊 Performance Benchmarks

Component	Performance
Inference (GPU)	~100 FPS (YOLOv8s)
Full Pipeline	~50-80 FPS
Latency	< 20ms per frame
Memory	~2GB GPU / ~500MB CPU

Tested on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU with YOLOv8s

Model Comparison

Model	Speed	Accuracy	Recommended For
`yolov8n`	⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡	⭐⭐⭐	Edge devices, high FPS
`yolov8s`	⚡⚡⚡⚡	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Balanced (default)
`yolov8m`	⚡⚡⚡	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Higher accuracy
`yolov8l`	⚡⚡	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Maximum accuracy

🚀 Deployment Options

🐳 Docker (Production)

# CPU-only deployment
docker compose up

# GPU deployment
docker compose -f docker-compose-gpu.yml up

🌐 Cloud Platforms

AWS: ECS/EKS with GPU instances
GCP: Cloud Run / GKE with T4/V100
Azure: Container Instances with GPU

🔌 Edge Devices

NVIDIA Jetson (Nano, Xavier, Orin) – Optimized for edge AI
Intel NUC – CPU inference mode
Custom hardware – Via ONNX Runtime compatibility

See docs/DEPLOYMENT.md for detailed deployment guides.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Development Setup

Fork the repository
Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

Ultralytics for YOLOv8
Microsoft for ONNX Runtime
OpenCV community
All open-source contributors

📫 Contact

Alibek Erkabayev - @bigalex95

Project Link: https://github.com/bigalex95/Smart-Counter

📚 Documentation

Quick Start Guide – Get running in 5 minutes
Architecture Overview – System design and data flow
Bi-Directional Counting – How counting works
Database Schema – Analytics storage structure
CLI Usage – Command-line reference
Docker Compose Guide – Container deployment
Deployment Guide – Production deployment strategies
Tech Stack Details – Technology deep dive

🎯 What Makes This Different?

Most computer vision projects are:

❌ Python-only (slow, not production-ready)
❌ No tracking (just detection)
❌ No persistence (analytics lost on restart)
❌ No deployment story (hard to run)

Smart-Counter is:

✅ Production C++ – Optimized for real-world performance
✅ Complete Pipeline – Detection → Tracking → Counting → Analytics
✅ Data Persistence – SQLite with automatic logging
✅ Deploy Anywhere – Docker, cloud, edge devices

✅ Current Implementation

What's Working Now:

✅ C++ Inference Engine – YOLOv8 ONNX Runtime with GPU/CPU support
✅ Custom Centroid Tracker – Simple, fast tracking algorithm
✅ Bi-Directional Counting – Tracks IN/OUT flows across counting line
✅ SQLite Database – Persistent analytics storage with drift protection
✅ Streamlit Dashboard – Real-time visualization and historical data
✅ Docker Deployment – Multi-container setup with docker-compose
✅ CLI Interface – Full command-line control with multiple options
✅ Video Recording – Output processed video with annotations

🚧 Roadmap (Coming Soon)

Planned Improvements:

🔜 Advanced Tracking – Replace simple tracker with BoTSORT/ByteTrack
🔜 Multi-Zone Support – Define multiple counting zones
🔜 Heatmap Generation – Visualize traffic patterns
🔜 REST API – HTTP API for integration with other systems
🔜 WebSocket Streaming – Real-time video feed to dashboard
🔜 Model Optimization – TensorRT support for even faster inference
🔜 Multi-Camera Support – Process multiple video streams
🔜 Alert System – Notifications for crowd thresholds
🔜 Time-Series Analytics – Advanced statistical analysis
🔜 Cloud Storage Integration – S3/GCS for video archival

Contributions welcome! See Contributing section.

Built with ❤️ for production ML deployment

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 15 Commits
dashboard		dashboard
data		data
docs		docs
include		include
models		models
python		python
scripts		scripts
src		src
.dockerignore		.dockerignore
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
.python-version		.python-version
CMakeLists.txt		CMakeLists.txt
Dockerfile		Dockerfile
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
ToDo.md		ToDo.md
docker-compose-gpu.yml		docker-compose-gpu.yml
docker-compose.yml		docker-compose.yml
pyproject.toml		pyproject.toml
requirements.txt		requirements.txt
run		run
uv.lock		uv.lock

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🚗 Smart-Counter: Edge AI Traffic Analytics

🚀 Key Features

🛠 Tech Stack

🏗 Architecture

⚡ Quick Start

Prerequisites

🐳 Docker Deployment (Recommended)

🔧 Native Build (Development)

📂 Project Structure

🎯 Usage Examples

Docker Compose Deployment

Standalone C++ Detector

Python Dashboard (Standalone)

Python Prototype (Testing)

🔧 Configuration

Environment Variables (Docker)

CLI Arguments (Native)

📊 Performance Benchmarks

Model Comparison

🚀 Deployment Options

🐳 Docker (Production)

🌐 Cloud Platforms

🔌 Edge Devices

🤝 Contributing

Development Setup

📄 License

🙏 Acknowledgments

📫 Contact

📚 Documentation

🎯 What Makes This Different?

✅ Current Implementation

🚧 Roadmap (Coming Soon)

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