Closed Circuit Television in Industry
| Published date | 01 September 1981 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057208 |
| Date | 01 September 1981 |
| Pages | 5-6 |
| Author | Tom Atkin |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Closed Circuit Television in
Industry
by Tom Atkin
Pye Business Communications
With the continual advance of technological research
and development, today's sophisticated closed circuit
television systems have immense scope in almost every
field of security, surveillance and industrial process
control - in fact, wherever there is a situation to be
observed. In an industrial environment, closed circuit
television can be used to fulfil two basic functions -
security and process control. Obviously each factory or
plant has its own particular requirements, but today's
closed circuit television systems can be tailor-made to
meet the individual specifications not only of the large,
national organisations, but also those of smaller indus-
trial concerns. In fact, closed circuit television now
plays a central role in the design of new plants, rather
than being added as an afterthought, and the trend in the
1980s will be towards incorporating closed circuit televi-
sion into an integrated management system where all
building controls are centralised.
Closed circuit television is now an
integral part of the design of new
plants and not added as an afterthought
Where closed circuit television is used for process
control surveillance, it satisfies several basic require-
ments. Firstly, it improves efficiency by smoothing the
flow of work, thereby making the process more
economic in terms of productivity and manpower. Con-
veyor belt systems, for example, have to be monitored
constantly to avoid blockages and jamming, especially
at transfer points. Such blockages can bring the produc-
tion process to a complete standstill, wasting valuable
time and money. To assign extra manpower to watch
each stage of the process would be prohibitive in finan-
cial terms, whereas with the aid of television cameras,
relaying pictures to a central control room, one man can
take action to avoid blockages and send maintenance
staff to the centre of any technical problem.
From the safety and comfort of a central console, the
operator receives accurate information instantly.
Hazardous areas can be monitored without endangering
personnel, who can be more productively deployed
elsewhere, and the efficiency of the process is increased
considerably.
Some of the latest developments in closed circuit
television techniques provide the plant manager with
additional surveillance facilities. Video recording, for
example, enables particular incidents to be analysed
without having to visit the site or disrupt the process. A
complete day's programme can be viewed in either
time-compressed form or slow motion - a facility which
is invaluable where high speed processes are being
monitored.
With the new slowscan transmission technique, still
pictures can be transmitted from a camera to a monitor
over the public telephone network at intervals of 8, 17,
35 or 70 seconds. The major advantage of slowscan is
that pictures can be sent over any distance for the cost
of a telephone call. One application of slowscan would
be where remote, possibly un-manned processes, have
to be monitored - the camera, for example, could be
positioned to observe gauges or dials. In view of the
rising cost of high quality cables for more orthodox real
time pictures, slowscan is an extremely cost-effective
method of remote observation.
The flexibility of closed circuit television enables the
diverse and exacting requirements of industry to be met.
Infra-red lighting units enable cameras to function at
low light levels and throughout the night. Specially
designed housings - even radiation proof - provide the
protection for cameras and monitors to operate in
extremes of heat and cold (from 1500°C to - 45°C) and
underground or underwater.
One of the latest camera systems, which utilises a
single co-axial cable both to power the camera and to
return the video signal to the monitor, can be used
where the mains power supply is located at some dis-
tance from the camera position. This reduces cabling
and gives added flexibility in siting the camera, since
location of the power supply is not the deciding factor.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1981 5
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