Technology Stretch

Sep 1, 2005 12:00 PM

JUST A FEW SHORT YEARS AGO Kaukauna Utilities, a provider of electrical power and drinking water in Kaukauna, Wis., had one camera. The single camera was analog and not attached to any recording device. Today the company has 18 Internet protocol (IP) camera domes and two IP video servers, with plans to expand.

The financial outlay has been small. Expansion plans include buying off-the-shelf computers and inexpensive cameras, although the technology is cutting edge.

Beta testing

One of Vicon's authorized dealers, Excellence Electric Inc., Little Chute, Wis., suggested to Kaukauna the possibility of designing the entire infrastructure around IP domes. It happened that Vicon was looking for beta sites at which to test its new products.

“We had an older analog Vicon camera that we investigated using several years ago,” says Frank Vander Wyst, system and operations technician for Kaukauna Utilities. “We liked the software that moved the camera, but we wanted it on our network. We begged Vicon: ‘We'll be your test site. Let us test these cameras.’ We volunteered to work out some bugs for them.

“Vicon liked the fact that we had wireless connection out to our hydro sites. We have a busy network control system, with phone systems on the same network — a lot of stuff happening. Our infrastructure for carrying data is Ethernet technology. We either have fiber or Cat 5 or wireless that goes to fiber and all comes back to the main office.”

Once Kaukauna was beta-site approved, Excellence Electric, Kaukauna Utilities and Vicon worked in conjunction to install 16 SurveyorVFT IP outdoor color domes. “We have several facilities, including substations, hydro plants, underground reservoirs and water towers,” Vander Wyst says. “Part of our need for cameras was for security: Who is coming and going day and night? The other was for operational needs, particularly in hydro plants, to verify river heights.”

Besides the options of coaxial, fiber or twisted pair, the domes were fitted with a built-in Ethernet connection, bypassing any DVRs, which Kaukauna did not want. “We wanted to be able to use the PC,” Vander Wyst says. “We didn't want to have to buy an expensive box. With this you just buy a PC and install the software on there, and it will do all the recording for you.”

“We really feel that cameras on a network are the wave of the future. We had so many camera companies trying to sell us old analog cameras with coax. It would require a separate box that sits on the network. With the new system, all the recording is done within the software.”

Being a beta site is not without its hitches. “Vicon knew we had an ethernet system, and did not know if it would work with their product,” Vander Wyst says. “They wanted to test our site. There were some things that we found out about our system as far as internal switches. We had too much on one. They were the wrong size.”

Making technology last

Kaukauna still has the original analog camera that started it all. While not currently in use, they plan to reuse it with another technology supplied by Vicon for beta testing.

The VN-301T and VN-306T video servers plug into any existing analog camera and convert it to digital for transmission over the ethernet. After testing the VN-306T (which allows six analog cameras to be plugged in), Kaukauna bought the unit. “If you have a camera from an old system, all you have to do is run coax cable to this box, and it can be used on the network,” Vander Wyst explains. “You can also use the pan/tilt/zoom of the analog camera.”

Kaukauna intends to use the original analog camera with this unit, putting it out at a hydro plant that currently does not have a camera, but has an Ethernet connection.

The two Vicon stationary cameras are also IP-enabled and can plug analog cameras into the back. They plan to use those to monitor doors in the main office, especially after hours.

“These have a nice feature in that we don't have to buy high-end cameras at every spot. Put in one nice camera, then we can buy cheaper ones and still be able to go over the network, rather than running cable from each camera back to the server,” Vander Wyst explains.

Positive changes

Kaukauna is already seeing results of its video system — achieved with little investment.

“We see the difference in our operations,” Vander Wyst says. “They feel like they know more of what is going on at the different sites, the comings and goings and activities of people. There is more of a sense of control, rather than running blind. We had electronic data coming back and saying we are putting out this much and that much, but we didn't know when an alarm sounded, is the place burning down, or is it a false alarm? This minimizes that question. We are here 24 hours a day, so it's nice to know what is going on before having to call someone in.”

In addition, the technology saves information automatically to the hard drive, which can then be retrieved instantly or searched. “The only limit is on the size of the hard drive,” Vander Wyst says. “We are probably storing a week's worth of information, which is fine for us. Then we can burn the information onto a CD for storage.”

In fact, the system has already been put to the test when two would-be vandals jumped a fence. “We had an operator working at night, and they happened to notice two individuals jumping the fence at one of our hydro plants,” Vander Wyst says. “They called the police, and the vandals were apprehended. We would not have known anyone was there without the camera system.”

In the future, Kaukauna plans to add cameras inside the office building, then add more fixed cameras for security purposes at all wells, hydro plants, towers and substations.

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