Power Accord

How one tailored system is fitting the bill for day/night surveillance in remote locations

  • By Martina Panighel
  • Dec 01, 2010

With temperatures regularly topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the Southwestern state of Arizona, residents need a reliable source of electricity to run air conditioners. Power utility APS is the Grand Canyon State’s largest electric utility and Arizona’s leading producer of electric power, providing reliable power with quality service at a reasonable cost for more than 100 years. APS, which is owned by Pinnacle West Capital Corp., serves more than 1.1 million customers in 11 of the 15 counties in the state.

The Challenge
APS has found that it needs to monitor its critical infrastructure and substations, which are located all over the state. Much of the infrastructure is located in areas that are often difficult to reach, such as its Palo Verde nuclear power-generating station, located about 55 miles west of Phoenix, which has been the largest power producer of any kind in the United States since 1992.

APS already had a video surveillance system in place equipped with a series of thermal imaging PTZ. The problem, however, was that this legacy system had a high failure rate and was quite costly to maintain. Seeking an effective surveillance system for both sunny and nighttime conditions, APS moved to Videotec’s solution, a ULISSE positioning system specifically created for applications of day/night video surveillance in external environments.

The Solution
Videotec’s ULISSE surveillance system has an integrated housing, P&T head and telemetry receiver. In order to monitor its power infrastructure around the clock, APS needed some sort of night surveillance capabilities. So the power company’s package included two Videotec infrared LED illuminators without external rotating cables.

ULISSE’s rotation on the horizontal axis is continuous, with a variable speed of up to 40 degrees per second. The amplitude on the vertical axis varies from +90 degrees to -40 degrees with a max speed of 30 degrees per second. ULISSE controls the functions of autopan and patrol with a tracking accuracy of 0.02 degrees on preset positions recall. The positioning system is controlled through an RS485/RS422.

Active infrared night vision like ULISSE PTZ incorporates illuminators that produce high levels of infrared light, and the resulting images are typically higher resolution than other night-vision technologies.

The system fit APS’s needs well.

“Working close with APS,” said Gianni Viero, vice president at Videotec, “we offered a valuable solution with one of our state-ofthe- art solution for effective day/night surveillance.”

The ULISSE PTZ with twin 20-degree IRBD Illuminators have been fitted with a 1/2-inch CCD camera and a mechanical zoom lens, which gives about 900 feet, or 275 meters, FOV in black and 1350 feet, or 400 meters, FOV in daylight. Its integration with different cameras and motorized zoom lens combination is straightforward thanks to its side-opening housing and connection boards with preinstalled BNC. The ULISSE can be integrated in several different installations, thanks to the several integrated protocols, or in IP-based systems, thanks to its seamless integration with most VMS. The telemetry signal can be transmitted in an active way for chain configuration of several ULISSE units together, and multiple communication protocols are embedded.

APS deployed 40 of these units in 2010 to monitor APS substations, with a typical install consisting of two to nine units, and APS security officials are quite happy with the fact that the ULISSE system could be tailored to fit the power company’s needs. “With Videotec’s unit, it has allowed us to make a unit to suit our surveillance requirements,” said Gary Couch, APS’s physical security engineer.

Now, APS can focus on providing Arizonans with electricity to keep cool, without having to worry about failing cameras in remote locations, because the perfect-fit reliability of Videotec’s ULISSE surveillance system is keeping watch, day and night.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

About the Author

Martina Panighel is the marketing manager for Videotec SpA.

Featured

  • Video Surveillance Trends to Watch

    With more organizations adding newer capabilities to their surveillance systems, it’s always important to remember the “basics” of system configuration and deployment, as well as the topline benefits of continually emerging technologies like AI and the cloud. Read Now

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services

  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities

  • Mobile Safe Shield

    Mobile Safe Shield

    SafeWood Designs, Inc., a manufacturer of patented bullet resistant products, is excited to announce the launch of the Mobile Safe Shield. The Mobile Safe Shield is a moveable bullet resistant shield that provides protection in the event of an assailant and supplies cover in the event of an active shooter. With a heavy-duty steel frame, quality castor wheels, and bullet resistant core, the Mobile Safe Shield is a perfect addition to any guard station, security desks, courthouses, police stations, schools, office spaces and more. The Mobile Safe Shield is incredibly customizable. Bullet resistant materials are available in UL 752 Levels 1 through 8 and include glass, white board, tack board, veneer, and plastic laminate. Flexibility in bullet resistant materials allows for the Mobile Safe Shield to blend more with current interior décor for a seamless design aesthetic. Optional custom paint colors are also available for the steel frame.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”