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Thermal camera shootout

Monaghan Farm is a luxury residential estate near Lanseria and as any such estate it has significant security requirements to keep the large grounds and residents safe. Zentech Integrated Security Solutions is the systems integrator tasked with advising and implementing Monaghan’s security solution.

Over time, Monaghan has improved its perimeter security to the current status of having a two-fence system (electric fence) as well as a fibre cable with kinetic detection installed along the perimeter. The fibre cable transports data about the fence, including the motion detection data it collects to alert the security team when someone tries to climb or cut the fence. It also has the capacity to transport other information pertinent to the estate, such as surveillance video.

Recently, Zentech was tasked with improving the perimeter security of the estate and wanted to determine the efficiency of thermal cameras in this regard. Not willing to take the word of manufacturers’ specifications, Zentech asked Ernst Le Roux, a consultant with many years’ experience in security integration projects to assist in setting up a shootout between different thermal cameras.

The shootout was held on Monaghan Farm and involved setting up a sophisticated control centre in only two days that could handle the camera feeds as well as two management platforms and the required networking functionality.

The setup

Three thermal vendors participated in the shootout, Axis, Bosch and Flir. The Flir brand was demonstrated courtesy of Timeless Technologies, which also demonstrated Davantis, Sightlogix and Genetec to Monaghan visitors. They were each tasked with setting up their camera equipment on the estate’s perimeter and monitoring it in the control centre. The perimeter thermals were connected to the estate’s fibre optic network, which in turn was connected to a wireless network panel about 1 km from the control centre.

Wireless networking technology from Radwin was used for the wireless networking to then transmit the video from the perimeter to the control centre where it was then processed by the various vendors as well as two independent management platforms from Milestone Systems and the local software developer, Xi Systems.

Radwin wireless technology was also used on a mobile surveillance platform, a van with cameras and networking equipment attached to the roof. This vehicle was used as a proof of concept for a mobile surveillance platform. The thermal cameras fed video streams to the control centre via Radwin’s moble wireless technology.

The vehicle also had its own Wi-Fi network which allowed guards or technical personnel near it to communicate or receive instructions from the control centre. This communication was also handled by the Radwin kit.

In the control centre, the wireless network was connected to a switch, which was connected to the management platforms and vendors’ displays. Each vendor had its own display, which showcased the cameras’ images and their own video analytics applications.

Visitors from the estate and others in the area visited the control centre and spent time at each vendor’s display. There they could witness the thermals at work, as well as the effectiveness of the motion detection analytics from each vendor. To make the situation more realistic, the initial testing was done during the day, while the final tests were conducted after dark.

In addition, during the tests, Zentech sent some of its personnel to the perimeter area under surveillance to act as if they were trying to break in or sneak by undetected. A variety of techniques were used in an attempt to get past the thermal cameras as well as the vendors’ video analytics programs.

The independent platforms

The two independent video management platforms also demonstrated their capabilities in the field. Milestone’s XProtect was used to view the cameras from all the vendors and due to its open platform design, can incorporate a variety of third-party applications to analyse video or add more functionality into the system. (See more about Milestone in this issue’s MPOP review.)

Xi Systems installed its Xi Commander, an integrated facilities manager originally designed as a physical security information management (PSIM) solution for the prisons. It has since been expanded and is now able to incorporate signals from almost any electronic device. It is aligned to the latest trend known as the Internet of Things (IoT).

Xi Commander connects networks, devices and people on the estate together so they all communicate. The platform has been designed to be technology agnostic, meaning that all devices and networks with the ability to communicate will be seamlessly integrated with one another. This means that a map of a location, such as Monaghan Farm can be attached to the system and any alarms or events (a perimeter intrusion, a panic alarm in someone’s home or even the fuel levels of electricity generators, for example) can be identified by their type and location immediately, with the operators able to manage follow-up processes and communicate with guards or maintenance personnel as required.

The results

Over the course of a day and a late night for all involved in the shootout, a number of visitors arrived and were able to see each vendor’s solutions at work, making their own decisions as to which was the most effective and would be appropriate in their own environment. The vendors were also on hand to take questions and talk about how their solutions could adapt to different environments.

For more information contact:

• Stephan Van Der Merwe, Zentech Integrated Security Solutions, +27 (0)11 894 7691, [email protected], www.zentechiss.co.za

• Terje Moen, Xtreme innovation (Xi Systems), +27 (0)12 880 0114, [email protected], www.xisystems.co.za

• Mike Metcalfe, Milestone Systems, +27 (0)76 811 7495, [email protected], www.milestonesys.com

• Charles Coetzee, Bosch Security Systems - South Africa & Sub-Sahara Africa, +27 (0)11 651 9813, [email protected], www.boschsecurity.co.za

• Sasha Bonheim, Axis Communications, +27 (0)11 548 6780, [email protected], www.axis.com

• Quintin Smith, Timeless Technologies, +27 (0)12 997 6466, [email protected], www.timetech.co.za

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