Industrial Video and Control
In today’s industrial networks safety, security, reliability and traceability are key components of an efficient and productive environment. Since 2001 IV&C (Industrial Video and Control) have been producing IP based camera solutions for industrial and utility environments. Whether being required for safety (Monitoring areas, processes and machinery for safe work environments), security (Monitoring of plant boundaries and restricted areas for unauthorised access) or traceability (Having live recordings of events around the plant) IV&C can be used to put together a customised, working solution for IP camera monitoring over existing network infrastructures. By using Analogue to IP encoders (convert existing analogue cameras) engineers can integrate existing analogue cameras into the IP solution, meaning less CAPEX costs, as well as allowing upgrades to be done in batches over a longer period of time and thus project scopes can be extended as budgets allow.
Relay Server Software (RSS)
The RSS (Relay Server Software) is the heart of the IV&C solution. This software is installed on a central server on the network that has network connectivity to all the cameras it needs to monitor. This software will then interface with all the relevant cameras and will pull the video footage from them. This is a big difference to users viewing the cameras directly, as with direct viewing the user has no control over the bandwidth the video footage uses up. The RSS is highly configurable, allowing footage being pulled from the camera to be throttled according to the user’s network status and requirements. This means that the fps (frames per second) being pulled from the camera can be lowered to a point that is not overloading the network with video traffic, but is still enough to comply to the users needs. For instance if a user simply wants to see that a conveyor belt has started up a frame rate of 1 fps will be more than sufficient, however if the user needs to be able to see the size of ore travelling on that conveyor belt a frame rate of around 6-10 may be required.
This kind of throttling of the video footage can be achieved separately for users viewing camera footage over the LAN or WAN, as well as for recording and viewing of footage. This means that the software can record at a much higher rate than most users will view at, however if at any point the higher fps recorded video is needed it can be made available with minimum effort.
Any user on the network with the correct credentials can view the camera feed by using an Internet Browser to connect to the RSS machine. Without using the RSS any PC wishing to view a cameras footage will open an individual connection directly with that camera. This means that if four people wish to view the camera there will be four individual connections to that camera, and thus four times the amount of data travelling on that section of the network. As cameras are more often than not situated in remote areas this can cause serious bottlenecks and restrict critical traffic from arriving in a timely fashion. With IV&C, the RSS will open a single connection with the camera, and then will relay this data on to any of the users who wish to view it.
Using ActiveX this video can also be easily integrated into SCADA systems to provide visual confirmation to engineers. For instance take an engineer that wants to open a circuit breaker in a remote substation. It is easy enough to click the SCADA and see an image on the screen showing the breaker is open; however it is much safer and efficient to get an actual live video feed pop up confirming the breaker opening.
Camera control can also be limited depending on the user’s authorisation. This means that some users will be able to view the cameras but not configure or move (In the case of PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) cameras), whilst others would be able to view and move but not configure the camera settings.
View Station Software (VSS)
The View Station is an optional addition to your IV&C solution. Although with just a web browser a user can view the cameras connected to a RSS on the network, the VSS provides greater control and alarming of the cameras as well as many more features. The user can fully customise the VSS display depending on their requirements, adding sections for viewing live or recorded camera feeds, adding camera tours for PTZ cameras, allowing alarming controls, adding buttons for extra control of connected IO devices, and many more options.
Using the VSS, users can also easily search through stored footage for specific times and dates, as well as synchronising playback from multiple cameras. The VSS can also connect to multiple RSSs at remote areas, meaning that different sites can all be viewed from a single, central location.
Longwatch
In February 2011, IV&C announced their acquisition of Longwatch, a developer of video management software for industrial automation and process control applications. This acquisition establishes IV&C as a clear world leader in industrial video solutions and applications.
The Longwatch suite of software provides advanced recording and integration with Historian Trends and SCADA systems, and can be used to record camera footage as well as recording operator screens for HMI and SCADA terminals around the network, providing advanced monitoring and traceability of the plant and operator consoles. This means that for almost every application a tailored solution can be put together to provide the client with what they are looking for.
Console Recorder
Longwatch’s Console Recorder software can be used to record actual screen displays from various HMI and SCADA terminals around a plant. The console recorder client software will record the exact screen output of the machine it is installed on. What this means is that the recording will not only record what images are on the screen, but also all the mouse movements made by the operator!
This feature can be highly beneficial when engineers need to analyse an event and what caused it to happen, as they can check whether the operators were taking the correct actions at the correct time.
Another use for these recordings is for training purposes. Rather than just having to explain the theory, now the trainers can use these recordings to show examples of actual events and how they were handled (Whether correctly or incorrectly).
Video Historian
Data historians have long been the backbone of applications that drive productivity improvements in today’s industrial market. However Historians only give numerical, graphical and textual data, and associating this to actual process and events on a plant can be a time consuming job. With Longwatch’s Video Historian this is a thing of the past.
Video Historian time synchronises normal historian data with video of cameras and/or consoles (From the Longwatch Console Recorder), and allows easy navigation through saved footage based on time or on events. Now if there is an issue on the plant, engineers can easily find all data relating to the event, and can then view the historian data associated with recorded camera footage of the event (If a camera was installed to watch the relevant section) as well as video of the operators screen to show exactly what the operator was seeing and what actions were taken, including all mouse movements. This means that the cause and effects of events can be more quickly determined and rectified, leading to less downtime and thus more productivity. Also with the increased amount of information available relating to the event in question, steps can be more efficiently taken to prevent something similar from happening again in the future.
As industrial sites are starting to become more and more automated the need for human presence on remote sites is declining. However this means that monitoring of these sites remotely is becoming increasingly important. IV&C and Longwatch can provide custom tailored solutions to fit most clients’ requirements for remote monitoring, recording and traceability, providing overall increases in productivity with minimal upkeep costs.
For more information on Longwatch or IV&C please contact H3iSquared.
Website: www.h3isquared.com
Email: sales@h3isquared.com
Tel: +27 (0)11 454 6025
Live camera demo: http://h3isquared.dyndns.org