Intelligent Video Surveillance Goes Trainspotting

April 27, 2007
Like airports, municipal mass transit systems are on constant lookout for suspicious individuals. After the London tube and bus bombings in July 2005, recorded surveillance video allowed authorities to identify the perpetrators behind the attacks. B

Like airports, municipal mass transit systems are on constant lookout for suspicious individuals. After the London tube and bus bombings in July 2005, recorded surveillance video allowed authorities to identify the perpetrators behind the attacks.

But transit officials these days are primarily interested in defusing terrorist assaults before they can happen. When officials in Stockholm, Sweden, began planning video surveillance technology for the city's mass transit system, they knew from the outset that they wanted an automated and integrated system that could analyze video in real time.

"We will equip 100 of our tube stations with cameras, 14 of our commuter train lines, and all 2000 of our buses," says Henrik Virro, project manager for Stockholm Lokaltrafik, the city's mass transit agency. The 6000-camera system, which is scheduled for deployment later this year, will send video signals to servers for instantaneous processing by Visual Defence's software.

The new video analytics system, for starters, will help Lokaltrafik reduce vandalism on its tracks. The system is designed to generate an alarm the instant it detects someone on the tracks. A central console provides operators with pre-programmed workflow instructions for responding to alarms.

"In Stockholm, we're doing video analytics specifically to detect people on the track," says Michael Godfrey, Visual Defence's CTO. "But, just as simply, it can detect things like graffiti, vehicles stopped in the wrong location, or, at night, people in a closed station."

"We will hopefully save a few lives as well," says Virro.

Sponsored Recommendations

Highly Integrated 20A Digital Power Module for High Current Applications

March 20, 2024
Renesas latest power module delivers the highest efficiency (up to 94% peak) and fast time-to-market solution in an extremely small footprint. The RRM12120 is ideal for space...

Empowering Innovation: Your Power Partner for Tomorrow's Challenges

March 20, 2024
Discover how innovation, quality, and reliability are embedded into every aspect of Renesas' power products.

Article: Meeting the challenges of power conversion in e-bikes

March 18, 2024
Managing electrical noise in a compact and lightweight vehicle is a perpetual obstacle

Power modules provide high-efficiency conversion between 400V and 800V systems for electric vehicles

March 18, 2024
Porsche, Hyundai and GMC all are converting 400 – 800V today in very different ways. Learn more about how power modules stack up to these discrete designs.

Comments

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Electronic Design, create an account today!