City gets 'crime-detecting' CCTV

By Dan Whitworth Newsbeat technology reporter

Anti-social behaviour has become a familiar site in some towns and cities across the country.
Now there's a new weapon in the fight against it called Smart CCTV.
Portsmouth City Council is the first, and so far only, local authority in the UK to try out the new system.

It's a computer programme that has been integrated into the city's existing network of 152 cameras and has been programmed to spot unusual behaviour in places and at times when it's not expected.

For example, a speeding car being driven around an empty car park could be a joy rider or someone running through a deserted shopping precinct late at night might be a vandal.
When those and similar scenarios are 'spotted' by the software, using special parameters from programmers, an alarm is sounded which alerts CCTV operators to that particular camera.

Ray says Smart CCTV takes some of the strain off human operatorsThey then make a decision about whether or not to call the police.

Ray Stead runs the CCTV operation for Portsmouth City Council.

He said: "With the total number of CCTV cameras that we have, 152, the operators cannot see all of those cameras or monitor them live.

"So this software programme will actually help the operators become more effective."
It's already been used in parts of seven cities across America, in places like New York and Washington DC, where the feedback has been positive.

Nick Hewitson helped design the version Portsmouth City Council is using.
He said: "It filters out all the rubbish video that you don't want and lets you see the stuff that you do want.

"So you're using human beings for doing what they do well, making subjective decisions on incomplete data.

"And using computers to do what they do well, process tonnes and tonnes of boring data."
But not everyone in Portsmouth is as convinced by the new system as Ray Stead and Nick Hewitson.

Similia thinks the system is too much of an invasion of privacySamilia Narcho, 19, told Newsbeat: "They are lurking a bit too much into people's business. It's a bit unfair on people who aren't doing anything wrong.

"It's a bit too much invasion of privacy. Big Brother going a bit too far."

But 18-year-old Chris isn't worried about being watched.

He said: "It doesn't really bother me because I'm not doing anything wrong, so I've got nothing to worry about."

Berry, who's 24, and 21-year-old Becky Pearson have different opinions on the new CCTV system.

Berry said: "I think it's pretty good because there are a lot of idiots in Portsmouth and they need to be kept under wraps."

Becky added: "I can see why people think it's a bit too much, with people being too watched."

The Smart CCTV technology is on trial in Portsmouth but if it proves successful, other UK cities could set up similar systems.

Smart CCTV Ltd: Smart CCTV hires new business development director to grow security business

Matthew Fletcher, a seasoned sales and marketing professional with 20 years' experience in IT, has joined Havant company Smart CCTV Ltd, as business development director, heading up its new security division. He will market the company's growing video analytics portfolio, including its flagship behaviour recognition system, PerceptrakT, particularly to retail security users. He is also tasked with expanding the business with the launch of an exciting new line of video analytics based security surveillance products aimed at residential and small to medium sized businesses.

Matthew said: "Smart CCTV has developed a great reputation since it was set up in 2003, for delivering solutions on time and in budget. As a specialist firm, it is gaining well-deserved market share in the fast-growing niche area of video analytics."

Nick Hewitson, managing director of Smart CCTV, will focus on the firm's transport-related security solutions for applications such as traffic management and Automatic Number Plate Reading. Nick said: "We are delighted to have Matt on board. Both the security and traffic markets are becoming major users of video analytic technology and we need to expand our management team in order to remain focused on delivering our customers both innovative solutions and value for money.

Most recently Matthew was sales director for Grandeye, a specialist security camera manufacturer, following a position as business development manager at a leading IP Video and data security provider, and work for the European Space Agency. Matthew's career has spanned 20 years in the IT industry, on telecommunications systems and more recently, security video applications. He lives in Windsor, Berkshire.

About Smart CCTV Ltd

Smart CCTV Ltd is a value added reseller of 'video analytics' products that will allow operators to become more proactive in their response to criminal and undesirable behaviour and thereby improve the quality of life of the people living and working in their area. Smart CCTV Ltd uses the technologies of computer image processing and analysis to supply and sell innovative solutions.

Portsmouth leads UK by installing video analytics for city centre security

A market-leading CCTV system, based on behaviour-recognition software and state-of-the-art intelligent cameras, has been installed by Portsmouth City Council, to increase the effectiveness of the camera monitoring.

Perceptrak™, supplied by Smart CCTV Ltd of Havant, has been set up to watch quiet areas such as car parks, stairwells or corridors in buildings and streets at nighttime. Perceptrak™ uses the latest software to analyse images using up to 18 pre-defined criteria such as ‘converging people’, ‘fast car’ and so on. When it sees something untoward happening, the system sends an alert to the control room. This allows the security officer to make a human decision on whether to monitor the scene and make an appropriate response. It also ensures that many more scenes are being watched than is normally possible, hence helping to make Portsmouth city a safer and more trouble-free zone.

Ray Stead, CCTV manager at Portsmouth City Council, who decided to install Perceptrak™ for the City, said: “Following a successful trial period in 2006, we decided to install the system on a more permanent basis to prove proof of concept after improvements had been made to the software and because of the quantifiable benefits to the control room outcomes.”

Nick Hewitson, managing director of Smart CCTV, added: "We believe that this is the first fully installed example of video analytics being used in a city centre control room in the UK. As a local company we are very pleased to be working with Portsmouth City by providing leading edge technology to make their CCTV control room one of the most effective in the UK."

In the area covered by the Portsmouth City Council control rooms, there are 142 cameras with live monitoring, and the CCTV operators watch over 24 monitors simultaneously. Perceptrak™ is run in the background looking at some of those cameras that are not displayed to the operators until an alarm sounds.

Milestone Selects Cernium as Solutions Partner of the Year 2008

Reston, VA – October 14, 2008 – Cernium Corporation, the leading developer of video analytics-enabled products, has been selected Milestone Solutions Partner of the Year 2008. The Milestone Partner Awards are presented each year to distinguished leaders in IP video, and Cernium is recognized for its seamless integration of Perceptrak advanced video analytics software with Milestone’s video management platform.

"We are honored to be recognized by Milestone,” said Melissa Blake, Perceptrak Product Manager. “The complete solution brings exceptional value to IP video surveillance installations, and we are excited to continue extending this award-winning solution to partners and end users alike."

“Cernium has distinguished itself as a Milestone Partner of the Year 2008 because the company has fully embraced our Milestone Solutions Partner concept by performing a tight integration using the Milestone Software Development Kit (SDK) and its Application Program Interfaces (APIs) with the Perceptrak application. Such cohesive solutions based on the true open platform for best-of-breed IP video add real value in our eco-system and the surveillance market worldwide,” said Martin Kaufmann, MSP Program Manager for Milestone Systems.

Perceptrak by Cernium is an open standards software add-in to the Milestone IP video management platform that offers powerful analytics capabilities to help achieve safety and security objectives. Perceptrak analyzes video in real time and adds meta data about the content so administrators and operators can apply an information-based decision making approach to better manage, distribute, monitor, store and query video.

The integrated solution is simple to use and operates on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware to provide maximum design flexibility. Perceptrak also easily scales with Milestone XProtect Enterprise to accommodate system growth and changing security requirements. For more information, please visit http://www.cernium.com/.

Megapixel technology for the home and retail surveillance market

IQeye 4 series cameras provide cost effective digital surveillance capability for retail and domestic applications and can be integrated with other systems

IQinVision has announced the release of the IQeye 4 Series of cameras. The IQeye 4 Series is available in resolutions from VGA all the way up to high-definition 2-megapixel quality, and it sends power, video and camera management over a single network cable making the 4 Series easy to install (an IQeye hallmark) and simple to use.

The IQeye 4 Series is the newest member of the IQeye BASIC LINE, which offers IQinVision’s world renowned ultra-stable operating system and superior image quality in a clean, small package with a simplified user interface. Like all IQeye cameras, the non-proprietary open-architecture means the IQeye 4 Series integrates seamlessly with all leading network video recording systems and video analytics systems. It ships ready-to-install and includes a high-quality lens and a versatile camera mount.

“The IQeye 4 Series is the newest member of our recently-created IQeye BASIC LINE. This line is targeted at cost-sensitive applications like the retail and residential markets that don’t always require the full feature set of our IQeye PRO LINE,” explained Paul Bodell, Chief Marketing Officer for IQinVision. “This new entry-level IQeye makes high-definition megapixel video quality highly accessible for just about any application.”

The IQeye 4 Series will be publicly unveiled at the upcoming ASIS security tradeshow in Atlanta, Georgia, September 15-17, 2008. Customer shipments commence the first week of November.

Smart CCTV Ltd: Olympic Stadium Webcam Gives The Wider Picture

Smart CCTV Ltd, a specialist in video analytics, has supplied a special wide angle, 5 megapixel IQeye IP camera to Essex Security Services Ltd as an Olympic Stadium Webcam installed for H.Forman & Son, the world-renowned salmon smokery based in Fish Island, Stratford, East London. The webcam can be viewed by the public at

www.formanandfield.com/fisheyeview

Smart CCTV Ltd specified the IQeye750 Series Day/Night, 5 Megapixel IP camera and adjusted the settings to obtain the best picture quality. The camera's high resolution allows viewers to zoom in closely to selected scenes. Due to the short distance of approximately 100 metres between the Olympic site and the camera's mounting position, a Lensation lens was chosen that enables a particularly wide angle of view at 52.6 using just one camera.

The IQeye camera delivers low-bandwidth video images to a server for remote viewing, whilst simultaneously recording megapixel images onboard the camera.

Essex Security Services Ltd wanted to create a time-lapse video, so Smart CCTV's application engineers customised the camera's software code to record a photograph at 2pm every single day of one particular scene, transferring the video image via FTP to the company's hosting server. In four years' time a film of the whole building process from start to finish will be created to coincide with the London Olympics in 2012.

About IQinVision

IQinVision is the world leader in megapixel IP video. Since 1998, IQinVision has been designing, manufacturing, and marketing the IQeye family of high-performance network cameras, intelligent cameras, and network video recording (NVR) systems. IQeye network cameras are renowned for image quality, stability, and reliability in the mostdemanding network conditions and environments. www.iqeye.com

About Smart CCTV Ltd

Smart CCTV Ltd is a value added reseller of video analytics' products that will allow operators to become more proactive in their response to criminal and undesirable behaviour and thereby improve the quality of life of the people living and working in their area. Smart CCTV Ltd uses the technologies of computer image processing and analysis to supply and sell innovative solutions. http://www.smartcctvltd.com/

CONTACT:
Keren Burney, Public Relations Consultant, Compge
Tel: +44 (0)1730 894 123
Tel: +44 (0)7876 780 065

Nick Hewitson, Managing Director, Smart CCTV Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)23 92 456 560
Fax: +44 (0 23 92 476 078

"Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) CCTV"

Speaker: Richard Boswell (MMB Associates Ltd)

Wednesday 09 July 2008 - School of Management, University of Surrey, Guildford

Synopsis

Following on from the various former and current events around privacy and surveillance, the event will concentrate on ANPR, automatic number plate recognition and its application with the road transport infrastructure, particularly on motorways and the monitoring of traffic flow and checking for speeding violations.

Mike Prewett (Camtek Surveillance) will introduce the event and give a very brief description and hand over to Richard Boswell (MMB Associates) who is a consultant to the Highways Agency. Also in attendance will be Smart CCTV, who will have a working demonstration. There will be a ANPR camera somewhere in the car park monitoring car numberplates. This will be relayed to the event by wi-fi to enable an active demonstration to be carried out. We will be showing the good side of anpr as well as the dark side

• How ANPR works
• The data base behind ANPR
• How the Highways Agency use ANPR technology
• Who else uses ANPR technology and what for
• The many advantages of ANPR
• The future of ANPR

About the speaker
Richard Boswell is with MMB Associates Ltd, independent consultants providing technology based consultancy and support services to a range of clients in the transport sector. (Richard replaces previously announced speaker Neil Brailsford also of MMB Associates Ltd.)

Organiser
Mike Prewett

Further information
There will be a live ANPR camera located in the entrance to the car park showing images during the presentation. A camera will also be available for inspection in the lecture room.

Milestone co-sponsors IMS VCA Conference

Milestone Systems, a leader in open platform IP video management software, will be a Silver Sponsor of the upcoming IMS Video Content Analysis (VCA) Conference to be held in Amsterdam June 24 and 25. This event will focus on the use of VCA for security, business intelligence analytics and other emerging applications.

Video Content Analysis (VCA) is transforming the way that video surveillance and monitoring is used. Public and commercial organizations worldwide are increasingly looking to VCA to enhance the performance of their video systems to meet the growing demand for more effective security and business intelligence.

In recent years, video content analysis has provided front-line security professionals with real-time intelligence that aids faster responses, allowing them to proactively address potential security threats. More recently, VCA has begun to gain traction in areas that go beyond security, such as business intelligence and factory automation. In the future, its versatility will make it an invaluable tool in loss prevention, public liability assessments, consumer behavior analysis and other innovative applications. This is driving the market for cameras and associated equipment with embedded video content analysis capability to exceed $3.4 billion by 2010, according to a recent study by IMS Research.

The IMS Video Content Analysis Conference will provide security and loss prevention professionals, marketing executives, operations managers, security equipment vendors and installers with valuable insights into how this cutting-edge technology is evolving. It will also explore real-world case studies that highlight the key issues and practical considerations surrounding the successful installation of VCA applications. By bringing together executives from all parts of the VCA value chain, the combination of keynote sessions, case studies and highly interactive debates, will deliver the essential tools to make informed decisions on the use of VCA to enhance security and profitability.

As a sponsor of this event, Milestone Systems will be exhibiting their latest offering in their XProtect™ Analytics Framework: XProtect License Plate Recognition. Milestone Chief Sales & Marketing Officer Eric Fullerton will also be a speaker on the agenda. He will talk about open platform video management systems with a Video Analytics Framework that enables best-of-breed solutions that are future-proof.

• Learn how Video Content Analytics and open Video Management Systems turn surveillance into more than just a security application.
• How can you stay out of ‘proprietary jail’ when implementing VCA?
• Why does a solution need to offer both on-camera and sever-based VCA in one system?
• Correct use of VCA enables you to search recorded video faster than ever.

Besides Eric Fullerton from Milestone Systems, some of the interesting speakers presenting are Finavia Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, Schiphol Group, Siemens Building Technologies, Smart CCTV, Telindus Surveillance Solutions, Texas Instruments, 3VR, Transport for London, Tyco Fire & Integration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ViaSys Intelligent Video, and VTS Police Netherlands.

A leading presentation will be made by Simon Harris, Research Director for Security & ID at IMS Research on the topic “Setting the Scene: What’s in Store for VCA in the Current Marketplace”. He will look at the reasons why VCA is such an important market, a video surveillance timeline, and an analysis of vertical markets’ uptake of VCA.Other companies taking part in the conference include Agent Vi, Axis Communications, Bosch Security Systems, Honeywell, IBM, Intel, IntelliView Technologies Inc., ioimage, Niscayah Group and ObjectVideo.

The Video Content Analysis Conference will be held at the Hilton Hotel Amsterdam in the Netherlands on 24-25 June, 2008. To find out more about the event and to register, visit the IMS Conferences website: www.imsconferences.com.

Smart CCTV announces Megapixel IP CCTV installation at Queen Mary, University of London

Smart CCTV Ltd, a specialist in video analytics, today announced the installation of a network of Megapixel IP behaviour-recognition smart cameras at Queen Mary, University of London, one of London and the UK’s leading research-focused higher education institutions. The installation will enable the research team to gather real world data and build models and algorithms for software application development relating to BEWARE (Behaviour based Enhancement of Wide-Area Situational Awareness). The project has important implications for security in the UK.

Dr Tony Xiang of Queen Mary’s University explained the challenges that the University needed to meet in specifying the technology to achieve the project. “The problem we want to address is behaviour analysis using multiple cameras. We need to develop a model for detection and tagging of people across cameras, enabling an automated video analytics system to track the same person between views from camera 1 to camera 2, for example.”

A further objective is to automate PTZ cameras through software instructions linked with the tagging and behaviour profiling. Dr Xiang says: “Camera actions would be determined by the behaviour profiling. If the smart camera detects suspicious behaviour, it will automatically focus on the tagged person.”

Smart CCTV recommended a network of IQeye Megapixel IP behaviour-recognition smart cameras offering high-definition MJPEG video quality images. Milestone Systems’ XProtect IP video management system was specified as the recording platform to satisfy the project’s initial aims of watching people, clarifying data and for testing models.

Following training of the research assistants at Smart CCTV’s premises in Havant, the system is working efficiently and the team are using the cameras extensively to capture data.

Dr Tony Xiang said: “We have an obligation to get best value for money and, as a Government Agency, we asked different companies for competitive proposals. Smart CCTV was the only company that provided the specialist technology that we needed to complete the project, on time and within budget. We particularly needed an IP-based solution that could be easily integrated with our existing building, cabling and network infrastructure.”

Nick Hewitson, Managing Director of Smart CCTV, added: “The combination of the Milestone software platform and IQinVision’s Megapixel cameras provides a highly effective and efficient way of collecting and managing high resolution video streams.”

About IQinVision
IQinVision is the world leader in megapixel IP video. Since 1998, IQinVision has been designing, manufacturing, and marketing the IQeye family of high-performance network cameras, intelligent cameras, and network video recording (NVR) systems. IQeye network cameras are renowned for image quality, stability, and reliability in the most demanding network conditions and environments. www.IQeye.com

About Milestone Systems
Milestone is a global leader for open platform IP video surveillance software, sold through partners in 90 countries. Reliable, robust and proven in 35,000+ customer installations, the XProtectÔ products support the widest choice in network video hardware and API integrations with other systems. www.milestonesys.com

About Smart CCTV Ltd
Smart CCTV Ltd is a developer of ‘smart CCTV’ products that will allow operators to become more proactive in their response to criminal and undesirable behaviour and thereby improve the quality of life of the people living and working in their area.

Smart CCTV strengthens portfolio with Intellio video analytics

Smart CCTV Ltd announced today that it has become a UK distributor for the Intellio ILC-210 series of smart cameras for video analytics applications. Smart CCTV will share stand 17042 in the CCTV Hall at IFSEC with Intellio Ltd, to demonstrate the latest range of smart cameras for a range of behaviour recognition applications in security, retail and traffic management.

Smart CCTV joins a growing list of international distributors of the Intellio range of products. Intellio’s ILC-210 cameras are fully IP compliant, combining megapixel resolution with true day and night capability and onboard video content analytics. Embedded intelligence allows better control of bandwidth consumption, as decisions are taken onboard about when to send alerts or video images in the event of a security breach.

A notable benefit for remote monitoring situations is that ILC-210 cameras can provide a verified alarm from a single unit, by sending alerts in parallel to video images.

Nick Hewitson, managing director of Smart CCTV explained the reason for expanding the product range: “We decided to use Intellio for a particular traffic related contract. No other camera on the market was able to classify vehicles, count them and work out their speed, all within the smart camera itself. Intellio is complementary to our other products, as we can offer a range of solutions with different processing power from PC-based to fast, IP-enabled smart cameras.”

Intellio’s ILC-200R cameras for retail applications use the company’s leading-edge IntelliZoom™ object tracking software to implement ‘Entry Detector’, ‘Direction Detector’, ‘Traffic Detector’ and ‘People Counting’ features.

Safe and secure in transit

David Robson investigates the latest technology innovations that are providing more intelligent transport security

Imaging and Machine Vision Europe: December 2007/January 2008

The failed terrorist attacks on Glasgow International Airport, Scotland on 30 June 2007, in which a burning car drove into the glass doors of the main terminal building, were just the latest signal that security and transport control must now go hand in hand.

It should be no surprise, then, that the technologies used to ensure security and to monitor and control traffic have converged in recent years, with intelligent CCTV cameras now combining licence plate recognition with complex video analytics to help security staff track potential troublemakers before a crime has even occurred.

This union is evident in a new system released by Smart CCTV, which scans the underside of vehicles to search for explosive devices. The system can also function in conjunction with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems to provide more secure identification of vehicles entering and leaving restricted zones.

Typical applications would include high-security areas such as airports, embassies and nuclear power stations. In these situations registered vehicles are allowed to enter certain parts of an airport where other vehicles are prohibited. To get past an ANPR system functioning by itself, suicide bombers could steal a number plate from a registered vehicle to place it on their own vehicle. However, the underside of a vehicle is unique to its manufacturer and model, and Smart CCTV’s system would deny access if this information does not agree with the data from the licence plate.

As with many of these applications, the system must function for 24 hours a day, often in adverse weather conditions, so the equipment must be very rugged. Positioning the camera to obtain a good view of the underside of vehicles was also a challenge for the company: it needs to be placed at a distance from the vehicle to achieve a large field of view, but it would be unwise to bury the equipment too deep underground. To overcome these problems, the system effectively views the vehicle through a periscope, allowing the camera to be placed in parallel with the road. Once the image is captured by an area scan camera, it is then matched to a database of known vehicles.

In addition to this specialised system, Smart CCTV also provides more general security systems, which make use of video analytics technology to track vehicles and detect suspicious behaviour in addition to reading number plates.

In common with many security and traffic systems now, instantaneous information is provided. ‘They give real-time information to which people can react,’ says Nick Hewitson, managing director of Smart CCTV. ‘The software extracts people and vehicles from the footage to attract the attention of the security guard.’ These systems may draw the guard’s attention to a car that is moving slowly compared to the other traffic, or a vehicle that has stopped on double yellow lines.

One of Smart CCTV’s systems – the ANPR Dolly – is portable, providing a flexibility that makes it suitable for diverse applications. The system would be equally suitable for councils monitoring congestion as it would for tracking the trailers entering and leaving a concert venue. ‘It can be deployed within 10 minutes, and communicates via mobile telephony,’ says Hewitson.
The system is battery powered, using a cell similar to a car battery, and the control mechanism, camera and illumination are all contained on board. Hewitson attributes the system’s portability in part to the use of smart cameras, which offer image processing in a compact package and low power consumption compared to a computer system.

However, it’s not the ideal solution for everyone. In some situations, traffic monitoring systems are needed day in, day out, year after year, and it would be pointless to adopt a portable system. In these situations, the recent popularity of Gigabit Ethernet communication, which provides fast data transfer over very long distances, has triggered a new trend for security cameras to be connected to a central server at remote locations.

This has two main advantages: it is cheaper to perform all of the image processing from a network of cameras on a central computer, rather than paying for individual processors (or expensive smart cameras) at each security gate; and it is safer to house the processors in a secure, air-conditioned building, rather than exposing the equipment to outdoor conditions.
In addition, sometimes the cameras’ settings need to be altered to suit lighting conditions, and the ethernet connection allows these parameters to be controlled remotely. In some cases, operators could even control the cameras over the web, from anywhere in the world. ‘All in all it’s quite a step forward for how powerful the systems can be,’ says Stuart Box, the director of Cybertronix, which provides these systems.

Mark Williamson, the director of Firstsight Vision, agrees: ‘Gigabit Ethernet is making a big difference for ANPR systems. If I look back to other systems, the cables could not reach far enough away, so we needed to place the intelligence on board the camera. But now, we can distribute the processing away from the cameras.’

Williamson says this is a very efficient use of resources for speed cameras, since the image processing required to recognise the number plate is only necessary when a vehicle has caused an offence, meaning processors on board each camera would be left idle for large periods of time. With a network infrastructure, however, the central server can be kept busy with jobs from many different cameras across different locations.

As with all vision applications, the illumination of ANPR systems is of the utmost importance. According to Williamson, the infrared illuminators used in security systems are not bright enough to give a good image at large distances.

LEDs are an increasingly popular light source, but they dissipate an enormous amount of heat if left running continuously at the required brightness.

Firstsight Vision has solved this problem by synchronising the LEDs with the camera to produce short, but bright pulses of light at the point when the picture is taken. In this way, the time period does not last long enough for the heating effects to build up, producing impressive results. ‘If we pulse the LED illumination we can obtain three or four times the amount of light from them,’ says Williamson. ‘It allows images at further distances, of better quality.’

This consistent improvement in technology is a sentiment that has been echoed throughout this article: transport monitoring systems are proving to be more flexible, more accurate and more intelligent than ever before. It may be a curse for those trying to avoid speeding fines, but ultimately these innovations in technology will provide greater security and safety for everyone.

KEEPING PASSENGER SAFETY ON TRACK

It must be the sentence most hated by every commuter. You’re standing at the station platform, on your way to an urgent meeting, when a train announcer broadcasts over the loudspeaker: ‘The service to.... will be cancelled, due to leaves on the line.’

Hopefully, a new machine vision system recently implemented by Firstsight Vision may help to remedy this situation, by providing an efficient method for train operators to monitor the state of the railway tracks across their network. Previously, operators had performed this manually, which is obviously a very slow and laborious process, but the new system collects the images as the train travels along the track, providing faster and more reliable coverage.

The system consists of nine cameras, mounted underneath the train, which are synchronised with the motion of the train to capture images at regular metre-long intervals. This allows the operators to find the unique geographical position of each image. Once the images are fed into a central database, it is possible to view past records to trace how the track has deteriorated through time.

The underside of a train is clearly a dirty, inhospitable environment for any electrical equipment, so it was essential to create a robust system. The company used military-spec cameras from JAI encased in a rugged package. The team also had to find a way of cleaning away the dirt thrown up from the track. The answer was a cleverly designed unit that directed the airflow to drive dirt away from the cameras, leaving a clear view to take pictures.

All of which helped the system to comply with the rail network’s stringent regulations. ‘One of our biggest costs was putting it through testing,’ says Mark Williamson, director of Firstsight Vision.

Q. Why does Milestone XProtect drop frames when recording from the IQeye cameras

A. The problem is with the Motion detection in the Iqeye camera. This seams to cause the camera to drop frames as it processes the video.

The solution to this is to disable the motion detection within the camera. This can be found under the “window” tab and then “motion” tab.

You may also want to disable the motion detection with in Milestone. This can be found in the camera settings options under the administrator settings. You will first need to set the set the “Motion Detection” to low on “Noise Sensitivity” and “Motion Sensitise”.

You will then need to set the Exclude regions to “Set all”. This can be found in “Exclude Regions…” option.

We achieved 15 IPS on 3 cameras with the following settings

Iqeye 511, 755 and 753

Image size: HD format 1280 x 720
Quality: Fine
Max frame rate: 15
Motion: Disabled
IQrecorder: Disabled
Trigger: Disabled

Milestone XProtect Basic +

Desired frame rate: 15 per second
Motion Sensitivity: Low
Exclude regions: All

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© Smart CCTV Limited 2006 – All right reserved. For more information on Smart CCTV Limited please visit our web site: www.smartcctvltd.com - Published by: Ross Burrows

Milestone case study: Warsash Maritime Academy

http://www.info4security.com/story.asp?sectioncode=12&storycode=4116947&c=2

By Milestone Systems

Warsash Maritime Academy at Southampton Solent University monitors simulator stress tests with Milestone IP video and IQinVision megapixel technology.

“We were looking for functionality ‘out of the box’ and Milestone has just that. It is very easy to set up and use, which is a great bonus for the teaching staff.” - Stephen Harding, Learning Systems Support Manager at Southampton Solent University

The Challenge

At Warsash Maritime Academy, their ship’s engine room simulator for student stress testing had an old analogue system with image quality in low light levels that was unacceptable. Each camera had its own monitor able to switch to a VHS tape recorder, which meant that only one camera’s output could be recorded at any given moment. With the high levels of background noise in the test environment, audio capture was very challenging and recorded results far below the high standard needed by the Academy. Editing facilities were very primitive and the VHS output quality was not good enough to show through a video projector to large audiences, when sharing test results with international stress research colleagues.

The Solution

Milestone XProtect Professional IP video management software is installed on a standard Dell PowerEdge tower server, and provides the user interface for viewing live and recorded video from six IQeye 701 megapixel cameras made by IQinVision using 4.5-10mm lenses from Lensation and an Axis 214 PTZ network camera. These are networked using a Netgear Prosafe FSM7326TP – a 24 port, L3 fully managed switch with power over Ethernet and Gigabit connectivity. The video is archived in the Milestone database onto a Buffalo TeraStation with a further terabyte of storage capability. The implementation expertise came from InCam Digital Surveillance and Smart CCTV Ltd.

The Advantages

The megapixel technology gives very clear images, even in low lighting, and all the camera views are now simultaneously monitored and recorded, which gives a much better editing capability. By recording the output to a dedicated server, the material is viewable on any PC on the university network, as well. The system is very flexible, handling video in various formats and allowing easy upgrades to scale the solution to other locations. The user-friendly software interface required very little training.

Southampton Solent University in the UK was given university status in 2005. Formerly it was the Southampton Institute which can trace its roots back to the early 20th century. Solent University is a medium sized institution having around 14,000 students and 1,100 staff, with the main campus located in the centre of Southampton, and two other locations including Warsash. A wide range of courses are offered, teaching many disciplines and drawing students from all over the world.

Of particular note is the world-leading Warsash Maritime Academy, which offers professional seafaring qualifications for merchant navies and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The Academy provides certification programmes from cadetships to Class 1 for both deck and engineer officers, short courses to develop skills such as fire fighting and sea survival, and continuing professional development modules for more experienced officers. Warsash pioneered the use of bridge and engine room simulators for higher level training, and the Liquid Cargo Operations Simulator, which is the most advanced of its kind, was developed in house. Their manned model ship handling training facility is the only one in the United Kingdom, and one of very few in the world.

Skills honed through stress simulators

“At the Maritime Academy site we have a number of simulators which are used in teaching. One of these is an engine room simulator where students can be put through their paces. All kinds of incidents can be simulated to which the students have to react. Typically students will spend a 2-hour session in the simulator dealing with a range of issues on which they are debriefed at the end of the session. Of particular interest is how the students react to stress, and the Maritime Academy is part of an international group researching reaction to stress,” informs Stephen Harding, Learning Systems Support Manager at Southampton Solent University.

For the simulator to be as realistic as possible, it is important that only the students are in it: the teaching staff must be in a separate control room where they cannot see into the simulator. In order to be able to see (and hear) what the students are doing, how the instruments read, where the controls are set, etc., video cameras are used.

“These video cameras need to be as small as possible because the space is restricted, and they also need to be unobtrusive so that they do not spoil the simulator atmosphere,” notes Harding. “An old analogue system had been used for several years but image quality, especially in low light levels, was unacceptable. Six cameras were used, each with its own monitor and able to switch to a VHS tape recorder - meaning only one camera’s output could be recorded at a time. With the high levels of background noise, audio capture was very challenging and recorded results very poor. Editing facilities were very primitive and the VHS output quality was not good enough to show through a video projector to large audiences.”

Milestone IP video fulfils the requirements

The Academy was granted some funding under a research grant to upgrade the audio and video capture in the engine room simulator. From the outset the decision was taken that the new system had to be digital and preferably an IP based system.

“We were looking for functionality ‘out of the box’ and Milestone has just that. It is also very easy to set up and use which is a great bonus for the teaching staff,” adds Harding. “It’s an integrated package that provides all the functionality that we require."

The output from the IQeye cameras now can be simultaneously monitored and recorded to give a much better editing capability. The system is very flexible, handling video in various formats: analogue, SDI, HD, JPEG, AVI, etc. so it can be used in different ways. By recording the output to a dedicated server, the material is also viewable on any PC on the university network.

Harding continues: “Of particular interest is that it is scalable. We intend to increase the number of cameras in the future to cover other simulators in the academy. By scaling the license fee, we can do that very simply.”

IP video for megapixel clarity tested and proven

Harding carried out Web-based research followed by a visit to the IFSEC security trade show in January 2007, where he saw demonstrations of the system. The university’s chosen installer, InCam Group, promoted Milestone Systems IP video management software and cameras from Smart CCTV Ltd.

“We knew pretty well what we wanted, and discussions with InCam and Milestone confirmed it,” states Harding. He also comments on InCam's performance throughout the purchase, installation, and support phases as being: “Just brilliant!”

InCam selected SmartCCTV because of their specialisation in IQeye megapixel cameras. IQeye 701 cameras were specified because of their small physical size and for the spatial resolution that would achieve the required image quality. The system captures 25 frames per second (FPS) on all cameras at HD Quality 1208 x 720. It records and shows a live view on all cameras. All the cameras are Powered over Ethernet (PoE) from the switch and, because of the environment, shielded cabling used.

“We very much worked with each other to deliver this solution at IT and camera levels and have forged a good partnership for future projects,” states Paul Stout, Managing Director of InCam Group.

Only IP video management software like Milestone XProtect can manage megapixel cameras, and these give top clarity from the highest resolution images available on the market today.

“In this installation we are using IQeye megapixel cameras at full frame rate to assess the student behaviour (and stress) within the Academy’s ship engine simulator. We tested for the optimal setup on this as the bandwidth and storage are critical here: they must have 25 frames-per-second from all cameras at very high resolution,” explains Paul Stout, Managing Director of InCam Group. “We needed to make sure that the technicalities could be achieved - and they do with the strong Milestone-IQinVision-Axis combination. It’s a high performance solution.”

Paul Stout adds: “We use an Axis 214 network camera for important PTZ duties: the IQeye 701's are running full resolution, which give a phenomenal view of the room, but the Axis 214 has really added to this as the course lecturers can quickly zoom in to check on very small gauges and switches in the simulator room. This helps them to ascertain lots of detail about how students are dealing with scenarios.”

Video and audio combined

Adobe Soundbooth CS3 software was also installed for its ability to clean up the recordings through a high-quality filtering system. This was installed on the workstation along with an AXIS 243SA Video Server to synchronise the audio and the video. The main part of the sound system involved a Biamp Nexia CS, a digital signal processor with 10 microphone line inputs and 6 microphone line outputs. The internal system design is completely user definable via PC software and can be controlled via daVinchi software screens.

The Academy have cameras installed in the engine room simulator along the back wall. Five university personnel are using the Milestone software to view the images and administer the system: two academics, two technicians and one IT support officer.

“Training in the Milestone XProtect software was given by InCam,” reports Harding. “It was all very straightforward.

”Warsash Maritime Academy provides first class education, training, consultancy and research to the international shipping and off-shore oil industries.

The Academy is an integral part of Southampton Solent University. Learn more at www.solent.ac.uk and www.warsashacademy.co.uk.

InCam is a certified Milestone and Axis partner bringing innovation and a professional solution-based approach to network video projects. InCam combines the very best in camera, lighting and computing technology with the power and coverage of scalable networks and storage. InCam differentiates itself not simply by providing unique technology-based solutions, but also supporting clients through each technical and business phase of a project. www.incam.co.uk

Smart CCTV Ltd is a value added reseller of ‘video analytics’ products that will allow operators to become more proactive in their response to criminal and undesirable behaviour and thereby improve the quality of life of the people living and working in their area. Smart CCTV Ltd uses the technologies of computer image processing and analysis to supply and sell innovative solutions. www.smartcctvltd.com

IQinVision designs, manufactures and markets the IQeye family of high performance network cameras and intelligent video processors. A technology leader, IQinVision has redefined the surveillance and industrial video markets by introducing High Definition, Megapixel and Intelligent Video network cameras. www.iqeye.com

Axis Communications is an innovative market leader in network video and print servers, founded in 1984, with offices in 14 countries and partners in 70 countries. www.axis.com

Milestone is a global leader for open platform IP video surveillance software, sold through partners in 63 countries. Reliable, robust and proven in products support the widest choiceÔ25,000+ customer installations, the XProtect in network video hardware and API integrations with other systems. www.milestonesys.com

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© Smart CCTV Limited 2008 – All right reserved. For more information on Smart CCTV Limited please visit our web site: www.smartcctvltd.com - Published by: Ross Burrows