Solving a repair problem with CCTV

CCTV at an airport

Closed circuit TV (CCTV) is a common necessity in public places, like airports, casinos or even supermarkets.  Generally speaking they are inconspicuous.  Often they are covered by an opaque dome. But, they are also hard to reach, by design.  To achieve the wide viewing coverage and for the protection from vandalism CCTVs are typically positioned high up and out of reach.  This makes for a difficult job to install or maintain them.  One of Agilent’s customers SSSTV in Las Vegas is in this business.  He told us about some of his challenges.

Indoor CCTV

CCTVs are powered by external power supplies, either 24 VAC or 12 VDC, +/- 10%.  It should be a simple task setting the right voltage at the power supply such that the correct voltage would result at the camera base.  However, the physical world may not always cooperate.

In most cases, there is a long power cable running between the protected cabinet with the power supply to the camera location.  There is an inevitable voltage drop along the way due to resistance in the conductors carrying power to the camera.  In an extreme case, the CCTV is on top of a light pole outdoors and the power supply is safely covered indoors.  The long wire is subjected to severe temperature cycling from the weather.  The nominal temperature range of Las Vegas can go from freezing winter to 106^oF (41^oC) in the summer.   Heat build up from the sun’s radiation can exacerbate the situation.  Soon customer would report camera malfunctions, possibly due to insufficient power supply at the camera base.

CCTV over parking lot

Often, after taking care to fix other issues, he would have to readjust the power supply so as to provide exactly 24 VAC at the camera base.  He would alternate between taking voltage readings with his meter at the camera base and making the power supply adjustment.  Mostly, it is a matter of climbing up and down long ladders a few times.

With Agilent’s WRC (wireless remote connectivity) meter, he is now able to see the meter readings as he adjusts the power supply.  He leaves his Agilent meter connected to the power input at the camera base.  The meter reading is transmitted via a Bluetooth adapter to his Android cell phone.  The app is free from Agilent or Google Play Store.  It just takes a few clicks to get going. No more climbing up and down ladders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiBuzDEOP4o&list=PL9F34A7C7C9DFCD10&index=1

Unmanned automotive remote control test application

The "Intelligent Vehicle driving research team" from Beijing Union University was formed in 2012. The team was focused on intelligent vehicle transformation project (automatic steering system, automatic acceleration system, automatic braking systems and automatic gearshift system modification). They used GPS and INS navigation system for the route planning. The vehicle was also installed with mobile radar, cameras and sensors in order to identify the target and object. The intelligent decision algorithm embedded system would control the vehicle on the test route.

To enable the unmanned vehicle experiment, the steering, breaking system, gear control as well as the acceleration systems that were controlled by the driver had to be modified. The team revised the existing steering system and installed additional control motor, sensors and other equipment in order to convert it from manual control to system control. This modification had led to higher power consumption due to the additional industrial PC, motors, sensors and other devices to the existing car battery source that impacted the power cord and required power redistribution.  To resolve this issue, the project team had to run a test on the newly added devices on the modified vehicle to estimate the power consumption. Current values of several control actions were required for reference. The team used a handheld DMM to measure the actual current drawn in the testing. The vehicle was parked on the lift with the front wheels lifted up by the lift to test on the acceleration, with steering instruction from the Industrial PC outside of the vehicle. The multimeter had to be inside the vehicle to run the test. The project team had encountered difficulty to perform the measurement as no one was allowed to stay inside the vehicle during the test. They needed a remote solution.

Figure 1 Front wheels were lifted up to test on the acceleration

The project team used the Agilent Wireless Remote Connectivity Solution to resolve this issue. They connected the Agilent U1232A handheld multimeter with the U1177A Bluetooth Adaptor and left it in the vehicle, and recorded the measurements with the ‘Mobile Meter’ and ‘Mobile Logger’ free apps that were installed in their Android tablet. The team finally accomplished the testing safely within a 10-meter distance boundary.

Figure 2 Monitor the current measurement remotely with Android tablet