The Big Picture: Considering People and
Technology
By: Frank
Perry When Photonic
Spectra magazine
published an article we prepared, this to several white papers requested
by agencies of the government interested in optical
surveillance. While QuickSet has a long history producing pan and tilt mounts,
it has been a natural progression into optical camera integration as
demand for sophisticated imagery, automation and precision has
exploded. QuickSet has been in a unique position given its traditional
electro-mechanical platforms. This often implies a symbiotic relation
to imagers and lenses commonly used in surveillance architectures. Our
first “smart” platforms included internal controls (IC products) for
camera controls, plus memory used for setting platform dynamics, tours
and preset pointing
locations. Over the past few years, integrated video platforms, most
with multi-mode imagers, LRFs, GPS, etc, have become a large part of
our business. We also remain dedicated to our legacy business partners
providing the highest quality products. Requirements imposed by
integration, e.g. video noise suppression, have rippled downward into
increasingly viable features for our standard
products. QuickSet is a highly recognized brand in wide-area optical
security and directional communications. This legacy is important to
our company and engenders immense responsibility given the massive
undertaking to protect our people and infrastructure. QuickSet products
are often in key roles used to deter or defend our interests. We live
and breathe national security on all
levels. For example, QuickSet has more than 2,000 camera mounts in
the CBP inventory. When something fails (some of these systems are 20
years old), we endeavor to take corrective action mindful of
implications when vision assets are inoperable. Not long ago we
featured our expanded customer service organization, which has doubled
in size and is elevated to the corporate management staff. Product
durability, features and customer service are an important part of our
corporate mission. Each day, we deal with specifications for harsh environments
including desert conditions, water immersion, blast protection, shock
and vibration, vision obscuration, etc. It is sobering to consider that
these are not just physical attributes to design around. These
conditions reflect the world our people are enduring protecting our way
of life. To us, they are not just design parameters, they are
conditions our people are experiencing. We recently undertook a vision
system for a military tracked vehicle required to withstand two
explosive impacts. Likewise, I have a respectful awareness that our troops
operating these vehicles must also experience these conditions. I speak
for the employees at QuickSet in saying that we are all aware that our
national defenders (often personal friends and loved ones) are also
meeting these
“specs”. Spotlight on… Rod
Harris  Rod Harris has
been part of the QuickSet team since 2001. Besides being our resident
chili expert and guitarist, he has helped QuickSet move to the
production of integrated positioning and control
systems.
A self-described technology buff, he explains, “Exploring science
and technology has been a passion for me since childhood. Visualizing a
solution to a problem using optics, electronics or mechanics seems to
come to me
intuitively.” Vastly experienced in electro-optical engineering and R
& D, Rod’s many years at Hughes Aircraft Company and Honeywell
Test Instruments Division are helping QuickSet see the future of the
video surveillance industry. With five years as a Microwave
Communications Technician aboard U.S. Naval warships, Rod has seen
surveillance technology doing what it was designed to do – to defend
our nation. Rod graduated from the U.S. Navy Electronics Communications
“A” School, and the Denver Institute of Technology. Later, he attended
the University of Colorado majoring in Electrical Engineering and
attended ATEP Geometric and physical optic courses. Professionally, he
has worked on engineering digital photographic printer product lines,
and research and development of an optical disc data storage system –
key technology for CD and DVD players and
writers. The Intelligent Node: An Agile
Architecture
With more than
thirty years of experience supplying positioning systems for many
high-stakes video security systems, and with system-prime roles more
recently, QuickSet has a unique perspective and experience with
increasingly IT-centric architectures, including the acceleration of
Internet
operability. By embedding processing and software tasks within the sensor
nodes in the system, there are tremendous benefits conserving bandwidth
with improvements in real-time system performance. System-control
software, a major risk element in most integration projects, is greatly
simplified. The evolution toward nodal processing is following a path
similar to the transformation in central computer processing before the
IT moniker was applied. Initially, batch processing was accomplished by
keypunching cards from “dumb” terminals. Over time, functionality
migrated to the terminals and, eventually, distributed node-centric
approaches employing microcomputers. In many ways, this shift is being
mimicked in modern security
systems. A great deal has been written about data transmission as it
relates to bandwidth limitations and processing power in today’s
enhanced video security systems being deployed in response to the
global terror threat (see http://www.agilealliance.org/articles).
Modern surveillance systems must be conceived around their network
architecture and all of the implications involving command/control,
software tools (video analysis and displays, annunciation.), and sensor
resolution -- to name only a few of the issues. Another important
consideration is the trades associated with cost, including life-cycle
ownership expense. One important element in such designs is the
distribution of the computer processing functions, sensor control, and
simplified command
protocols. An article published in the June 2005 issue of PHOTONICS
SPECTRA makes an argument for distributing the command and control
functions by optimizing nodal performance in surveillance systems
employing long-range video sensors1. This approach to network-centric
system design has several advantages including simplified operating
software; easier system enhancements, scalability and reconfiguration;
lower lifetime expense; greater reliability; and, easier
support. Simplified Command Software
Design
Surveillance
system designs are driven by requirements unique to each location,
geo-specific infrastructure and the threat environment. For example,
surveillance distance, available light, and resolution requirements can
vary at each node. Nodal configuration can be based on several factors
and trades including range, and scanning vs. fixed cameras. In some
cases, multi-spectral imaging is required. Range finding and absolute
target positioning may be needed. Intrusion alarms may demand rapid
acquisition followed by micro-stepping control of narrow FOV imagers.
Tradeoffs abound when designing the system, and imager selection may
vary at each node. Often, systems are not designed for optimum optical
performance, but are driven by other constraints such as common
operating schema or hardware standardization. In QuickSet’s experience,
this factor, system software deployment, is a risky and often
contentious element of most surveillance projects. One solution to
simplifying the command protocol design, while optimizing the nodal
configuration at each location in the system, is to have the node
itself handle all of the disparate sensor interfaces, platform
dynamics, pointing automation, and camera lens control. By using COTS
pan and tilt platforms with embedded microprocessors and auxiliary
motor drivers, it is possible to control multiple dissimilar devices
entirely through commands implemented at the node. From a network
control standpoint, the stream of commands is reduced to a single
protocol that is interpreted within each node to operate whatever
cameras, lenses, and auxiliary devices are present. Also, stored in the
node memory, are various preset pointing coordinates and touring
routines that control automated motion functions when operating without
operator control, including responding to specific intrusion alarms.
With embedded “translation” capability, different system operating
protocols can be
used. Easier System Enhancements, Scalability and
Reconfiguration
By embedding
sensor and platform logic in the node, it is a simple matter to change
the equipment mix. This may result from technical advancements in
sensors and lenses, reorientation of the nodal grid, mission/threat
changes, or other initiatives. With sufficient embedded intelligence
and the ability to “upload/reflash” software modules, configuration
changes are greatly simplified since most/all of the command software
can remain unchanged. Such platforms routinely change sensors, add and
subtract devices, change lenses; add auxiliary features such as GPS,
and other complimentary capability. As cameras and lenses become
obsolete, new devices can be installed (swapped) with relative
ease. The
internal structure of QuickSet’s nodal communications design is
entirely two-way meaning that all commands are verified. This is not
universally done, but is an important consideration when upgrades may
follow, since many mounted commodities provide positive feedback. For
example, it is important to know exactly what position a lens carriage
has achieved when commanded to a specific FOV and focus position.
QuickSet can provide this positive affirmation to the system
controller. Lower Lifetime
Expense
The
intelligent node concept developed by QuickSet is unique in the
industry. Various commodity manufacturers have embedded processing
capability and logic as digital electronics have progressed. However,
it is important to recognize, during the system design phase, that
certain elements of the architecture have more resilience and are less
likely to change over its operational lifetime. Cameras, sensors,
lenses, computers, network technology and infrastructure change rapidly
and may have a relatively shorter usable or relevant lifespan than is
usually the case with the basic motion platform. In QuickSet’s
experience, it is common for the mount to be used for more than twenty
years after initial installation. This is not generally true for other
elements of complex surveillance systems. When components change, the
impact, from an overall system control viewpoint, can be extensive. For
example, if a different lens is desired, or required, with a new
operating control protocol, it is quite likely that the information is
available as COTS from QuickSet as plug-in modules that will interface
with little or no change to the system-level software. On the other
hand, systems relying on direct sensor interface need to factor
upgrades to the system software with each change in the mix. Sometimes,
critical dependencies are established when the system designer utilizes
a particular commodity operating protocol as an element of a
distributed processing scheme, only to suffer later when it is changed
or mixed with other devices. Whenever system control software must be
modified for a new interface, it must be considered a high risk that
unanticipated problems will be manifest in overall system performance.
This risk factor has been replicated, painfully, all too often. The
intelligent platform acts as a buffer, isolating the core system from
such
issues. Greater
Reliability
By simplifying
the system design using nodal intelligence, there are fewer glitch
possibilities. Additionally, by distributing the processing workload
(when operating over the internet for example) amongst the nodes of the
surveillance grid, it is far easier to design command/control schema to
counter the possibility of a threat directly to the central command
center. For example, command authority interventions exist in a recent
system developed by QuickSet for the US Coast Guard2, which prescribes
shifts in command from the primary surveillance post to a central
command under certain circumstances. This relatively simple
architecture was developed around the intelligent node
concept. Easier
Support
As implied above, most commodity changes can be
achieved by simple updates to QuickSet’s embedded memory at the
platform. As systems evolve, grow or become obsolete, the fundamental
operating software is relatively stable when most of the configuration
is handled at the
node. Conclusion
The
intelligent/smart pan and tilt console, as a central element of a video
surveillance design, offers unique benefits. Conventional logic does
not generally place much operational burden on the mounting platform,
yet modern COTS products designed by QuickSet International have been
re-centering the conventional wisdom. The various sensor nodes and
system references cited in this newsletter were all projects and
products developed at QuickSet International,
Inc. Footnote
1. “The Intelligent Node: Video Pan and Tilt Aids
Surveillance,” Frank Perry and Dan Cloud; Photonics® Spectra, June
2005, Volume 39, Issue 6
2. Cape Disappointment, streaming
surveillance video available on the
Internet. |
