Powered by solar cells and batteries, the surveillance system hibernates in a low-power standby mode until an internal sensor, such as a motion detector or intrusion alarm, or a command from a central control room sends it an alert to wake up. The system records a short video alarm clip, transmits it to a remote operator at a central HMI/SCADA system and continues to recorded video on its disk until commanded to return to hibernation. The surveillance system can begin capturing live video within 6 to 7 seconds of an intrusion or process alarm.
The video can be transmitted to the control room via a RF data link, where it can be viewed using the company's Viewer or integrated into a HMI/SCADA system. It can also use Ethernet, wireless, smart phones or satellite communications when power consumption or bandwidth is not a concern. The software uses a small amount of available bandwidth to transmit data, avoiding control and instrumentation network issues.
The system uses Advantech's Design To Order Service (DTOS) to monitor the sensors and "wake up" the video system. It has a custom digital I/O board so it can monitor digital inputs even in hibernation mode. The system takes inputs from gate sensors, motion detectors and intrusion alarms, or digital inputs from the site's RTU such as leak detectors or pressure switches. On board the surveillance system is Advantech's UNO 2173 Atom-processor computer that has 1GB of memory, Windows XP/E operating system and a batter-packed SRAM.
Longwatch, Inc.
www.longwatch.com
Advantech Corp., the Industrial Automation Group
www.advantech-eautomation.com/media
