Artem Chepurnoy, founder of the Noise Locator project, reported testing a dedicated acoustic camera system in real-world traffic conditions in Almaty (digitalbusiness.kz). Mounted above the roadway, the equipment monitored vehicles moving in the stream. According to the developer, the accuracy of attributing noise to a specific car reached 96%, while the source presents the developer’s estimate and does not provide independent verification results (digitalbusiness.kz).
How Noise Locator Associates Sound with Vehicles
The hardware complex uses an array of microphones that identifies the direction of sound by calculating the time difference of arrival across various sensors (digitalbusiness.kz). This data generates a visual noise map, which is programmatically overlaid onto video footage and matched with the vehicle license plate in motion (digitalbusiness.kz).
According to the developer, the equipment detects straight-pipe exhaust systems, loud onboard music, car horns, and tire screeching (digitalbusiness.kz).
Municipal monitoring innovations are becoming part of broader tech deployments across Central Asia. Previously, RAEM explored how city teams implement connected urban sensors in Smart City & IoT in Action: How Kazakhstani Startups Are Modernizing Urban Infrastructure.
What Prevents Automatic Fines — Developer Perspective
According to Chepurnoy, current camera recordings cannot serve as a direct legal basis for issuing automatic administrative fines in Kazakhstan (digitalbusiness.kz). Existing regulations specify testing stationary vehicles with certified sound meters at a fixed distance from the exhaust, while national standards for moving acoustic road systems have not yet been established (digitalbusiness.kz).
Consequently, Chepurnoy suggests beginning implementation in a monitoring mode without automatic enforcement (digitalbusiness.kz). He recommends testing competing acoustic systems under unified conditions and developing formal measurement procedures together with certified metrologists (digitalbusiness.kz).
As potential pilot corridors, the founder suggested Abay, Dostyk, and Seifullin avenues, while the source provides no confirmation of municipality-approved installation sites (digitalbusiness.kz).
Digital public administration and automated verification initiatives continue expanding across local ecosystems. Related civic tech and institutional platforms were reviewed in BTS Digital: Who Is Behind Aitu and Why State Agencies Must Use It.
What This Means for the Reader
The proposed pilot seeks to identify sources of traffic noise across multi-lane avenues (digitalbusiness.kz).
However, as acknowledged by the founder, standardizing measurements and validating operational procedures remain necessary before automated fines can be deployed (digitalbusiness.kz). While Chepurnoy did not disclose the purchase cost of the acoustic camera, he noted recurring expenses including annual sensor calibration, data storage, electrical power, network transmission, ongoing maintenance, and manual validation of recorded episodes (digitalbusiness.kz).
