Generally, the system is subdivided into the observation towers in the field and the central control office. The observation towers carry the imaging and controlling hardware and software, i.e. the cameras with pre-processing controllers. The central control office provides the post-processing- logic, the user interface and data storage. The communication between both subsystems runs via radio or telephone (ISDN).

 

Observation tower

 

The cameras in the field monitor the area constantly. Depending on atmospheric transparency and the actual landscape, each camera can cover a range of up to 15 km in radius. The camera is installed on an elevated structure such as a mast, tower, house, over-looking the area to be surveyed.

 

 At each camera location, there is installed:

• A highly sophisticated high resolution camera with a pan-and-tilt mounting.
• A preprocessing computer linked up to the camera via fibre optics. The computer controls the camera position and evaluates the images received to detect smoke and fire. If there are any suspicious findings they are immediately reported to the central control office.
• An optional outdoor radio unit or ISDN equipment is used for the communication with the central control office.
• A power supply unit.

 

Central control office

 

FireWatch Office provides the user interface for the FireWatch system: It receives and displays the alerts from the towers in the field.

 

Generally it consists of:

• A system management and post-processing computer
• Monitors for the user interface of the software, camera images and an electronic map
• An optional radio base station for the communication with the camera sites
• Storage systems for data backup.