MOBOTIX Launches Fire-Detecting Thermal Cameras With Automatic Temperature Alarms

German video surveillance innovator MOBOTIX has launched a series of thermal cameras with the capacity to detect potential fires.

Equipped with a new type of thermal sensing technology the cameras can discern environmental temperatures ranging from -40°C to +550°C and will raise automatic alarms when temperatures stray beyond pre-defined parameters.

They boast a thermal sensitivity of 0.05°C (NETD=50mK), which means temperatures can be readily defined within the new ‘thermal radiometry’ window or over the whole sensor image with a typical accuracy of +10°C.

Up to 20 multiple temperature events can be defined simultaneously.

Spot metering, which measures temperature related to four pixels at the centre of the image, has also been refined with an accuracy of +10°C now possible.

MOBOTIX is also releasing a software update, which can be obtained free of charge, to upgrade existing thermal cameras with thermal spot metering.

Launched in 1999 MOBOTIX might be associated with security applications but these latest cameras are part of a growing trend where CCTV cameras have applications beyond security.

The company hopes the cameras will appeal to industrial and commercial premises for whom serious fires can can cost hundreds and thousands, even millions, of pounds and on occasion put them out of business.

David Bendall, business development manager at Spotfire, which also produces fire detection cameras, told IFSEC Global last year that cameras were particularly useful in open air fires.

“Existing fire detectors are vulnerable to poor weather such as high winds and freezing temperatures, so there are opportunities for developing cameras as temporary fire systems at manufacturing and logistic sites, recycling facilities, forests, etc,” he said. “A saving of two minutes could be the difference between stopping the fire and seeing the place burn down.”

MOBOTIX Thermal Radiometry (TR) is available in the M15 platform, as a sensor module within the S15 dual camera system and as a S15 PT-mount sensor head.

Installed as a dual thermal system the S15 thermal modules can together offer a combination of thermal and optical sensor technology to offer both visual and temperature-based verification of potential fires.

In a bid to stand out as one of the smaller players in what remains a crowded video surveillance market MOBOTIX regularly champions its unique decentralised architecture. This means the cameras, rather than a centralised hub as is the norm, individually conduct video analysis and event detection internally and manage their video ring buffer on an NAS or server.

This, argues the company, reduces bandwidth demands, requiring fewer servers, fewer workstations and less network infrastructure.

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