Communications: directive radio wave systems and devices (e.g. – Combined with diverse type radiant energy system
Patent
1998-07-02
2000-05-09
Sotomayor, John B.
Communications: directive radio wave systems and devices (e.g.,
Combined with diverse type radiant energy system
342 53, 342 55, 342 28, G01S 1386, G01S 1356
Patent
active
06061014&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION--SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a procedure for monitoring large surface areas, which has been developed especially for the monitoring of outdoor areas to detect the presence of people, but which can just as well be used in large indoor spaces and for other types of area supervision.
The procedure of the invention can be applied to the supervision of various storage areas, supervision of working sites, frontier supervision, passage control in industrial areas, supervision of military areas, airports, etc.
In the various applications mentioned above and in corresponding applications where supervision is needed, the monitoring equipment mainly consists of video cameras and various optical, mechanical or electrical switches, sensors or alarm systems designed to detect movements or other effects produced by an object moving in the area watched over.
However, prior-art solutions have significant drawbacks. Weather and illumination conditions render the video camera inapplicable for effective monitoring of outdoor areas. The various switches, sensors and alarm devices used serve relatively local needs and are therefore required in large quantities when a large area is to be monitored. Thus, building and especially maintaining a monitoring system is expensive. Moreover, different individual alarm switches are often relatively easy to evade or to make inoperative.
The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks. A specific object of the invention is to produce a new procedure which allows a maximal land and/or water area to be monitored and supervised in a simple and centralized manner from a single observation point.
As for the features characteristic of the invention, reference is made to the claims.
In the procedure of the invention for the monitoring of large surface areas, the area to be supevised is monitored substantially by means of a monitoring unit located at one point and comprising both a thermal camera and an electromagnetic radar, which are rotated about a vertical axis to scan the area in a horizontal plane. Moreover, the monitoring unit comprises a suitable processing device for the processing of the data supplied by the thermal camera and radar and for performing the functions required by the data obtained, such as issuing an alarm. According to the invention, the area to be monitored is divided into surface elements as a function of the angle of rotation of the vertical shaft and the scanning distance, and monitoring criteria are defined for each surface element. These actions are performed in the memory and files of the processing device. The monitoring criteria may be the same for the entire area to be monitored, in which case they need not be defined separately for different surface elements. The criteria may also be different for each surface element or for larger groups of surface elements. In the procedure of the invention, movements in the surface area to be monitored are observed by means of an electromagnetic radar and, by means of a thermal camera, objects differing from their surroundings in respect of temperature are searched and discriminated. In addition, depending on the circumstances and the distance of observation, either the radar or the thermal camera is used to define the location of the object, i.e. the surface element within which the object has been detected, and to identify the object detected.
The thermal camera and the radar are preferably rotated about a vertical shaft simultaneously, or the thermal camera and the radar are connected together so that they will scan the same sector of the area at the same time. Thus, the information obtained from each can be immediately compared with that obtained from the other device and, if necessary, an alarm can be issued immediately.
It is also possible to turn the thermal camera and the radar about the vertical shaft independently of each other, in which case both can be used continuously or the scanning is performed by only one of the device
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Korja Jari
Rautanen Jouko
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