Tag: Integration Guide

Axis Q19 Series Thermal Cameras Integration Guide

Post author By Bhargav Atturu
Post date September 18, 2024

Description

Axis thermal cameras provide heat-based detection for monitoring property or detecting thermal anomalies which could lead to incidents involving smoke or fire. This guide is intended to introduce the use of these devices with your exacqVision VMS software.

Requirements

Axis Q19 Series Camera
Camera firmware 11.8 or higher
exacqVision Server/Client 24.09 or higher

At the time of writing this article, these instructions pertain to the Axis Q19 Series of cameras and assume you have already located the device on your network and logged into the web browser interface.

Thermometry Configuration

Detecting a Temperature Change (Temperature Tripwire)

Expand the Thermometry menu from the left-hand side, then select Temperature Reading.
Select a color palette of your choice from the Palette menu on the right.
Set the Temperature unit you intend to use, either Celsius or Fahrenheit.
Select Temperature detection, beneath the Thermometry menu on the left.
Back on the right, select Add detection area.
Use the handles to drag out the bounding area on the video panel to highlight the polygonal area of interest.
Provide a descriptive name in the Name field, such as “High Temperature” or “Low Temperature” depending on what you may be concerned about sensing.
Enable the Use area control to enable monitoring this detection area.
Set Temperature in area choice.
- If detecting a high temperature is desired, choose ‘Warmest Spot’ from the Temperature in area options. Then select ‘Above’ and enter the temperature degrees you wish to be alerted at.
- If detecting a low temperature is desired, choose ‘Coolest Spot’ from the Temperature in area options. Then select ‘Below’ and enter the temperature in degrees you wish to be alerted at.
You may wish to adjust the Delay field time if some fluctuation is expected in the region. This setting will allow the event to trigger only after remaining above/below the set temperature threshold for a given amount of time.
The Include detection area in video stream selector determines if, or when, the bounding area is included in the video stream as it will be sent to exacqVision.
Checking the Include temperature checkbox will display the detected temperature.

Detecting Smoldering Fire

The Thermometry functionality of the camera combined with the Early Fire Detection app may be used to sense if a fire could ignite in a designated area. The early fire detection app filters uninteresting moving objects, to minimize false alarms.

Expand the Thermometry menu from the left-hand side, then select Temperature Reading.
Select a color palette of your choice from the Palette menu on the right.

NOTE: Axis recommends avoiding the use of palettes beginning with ‘Iso’ for best performance, preferably using the ‘White-hot’ option.
Set the Temperature unit you intend to use, either Celsius or Fahrenheit.
Select Temperature detection, beneath the Thermometry menu on the left.
Back on the right, select Add detection area.
Use the handles to drag out the bounding area on the video panel to highlight the polygonal area of interest.
Provide a descriptive name in the Name field. If you were monitoring a waste disposal area for the potential of a fire, you might name this “Waste Bin”.
Enable the Use area control to enable monitoring this detection area.
Use the Temperature in area control to select ‘Warmest Spot’ and ‘Above’.
Within the temperature field, enter 50°C (122°F)
Open the Apps menu from the left-hand side of the screen.
Enable the Early Fire Detection app.

NOTE: At the time of this writing, this app is a beta release, version 1.2.0.
Select the Open button for the Early Fire Detection app.
Examine each of the defined detection areas on the right-side of the screen to ensure they are active for early fire detection.

exacqVision Use

Add the camera to your exacqVision Server, using the AXIS VAPIX Device Type, following the steps shown in How to Add IP Cameras – Manual Method.
Select the camera from the left-hand navigation tree to reach the camera settings page.
Select the Analytics tab from the bottom half of the page
A panel lists each analytic from the camera, including each detection region you defined on the camera as well as an ‘AnyArea’ option which acts as an alert when any of the regions have been triggered. Users may define the appearance of bounding areas for each analytic separately.
Users may also configure Event Linking or Event Monitoring actions to occur when any of these analytics are triggered. Use these to perform actions such as sending SMTP email notifications or change views for live viewers. More details on configuring Event Linking and Event Monitoring can be found in the exacqVision Client User Manual or the video links at the bottom of this page.

Tags Guest, Axis, Integration Guide, 21288, Thermal, Thermometry

Software Categories DSX Documentation Integrations Categories Products exacqVision Integrations

exacqVision DSX Integration Guide

Post author By Bhargav Atturu
Post date January 19, 2024

Overview

DSX is a powerful access control system monitoring application. This integration solely supports PTZ, Live View and Recorded View video and utilizes evAPI.

Requirements

Licensed exacqVision Server 23.09 or later
WinDSX version 3.7.52 or later

Installation

Before configuring WinDSX for use with the exacqVision System, complete the following steps:

Obtain a valid Username and Password from the exacqVision Server that will be used with WinDSX.
Obtain the IP address of the exacqVision system. Alternatively, you may use the domain hostname if the system is on the same domain as WinDSX.
Obtain the User ID and Password for the WinDSX Database/Server.

NOTE: It is strongly advised to use or create an account with limited privileges for this purpose. (e.g. – Live + Search)
Download the exacqVision plug-in for WinDSX from https://support.exacq.com
Proceed with the Configuration section

Configuration

On the WinDSX server, install the exacqVision plug-in for WinDSX. Follow the on-screen prompts.
From the Start menu, select All Programs > WinDSX. Log in using the User ID and Password obtained previously.
Click the Database window:
      a. Double-click Locations.
      b. Double-click your location.
      c. Click Camera.
      d. Click on the New button in the menu to display the New Camera window.

On the General tab, enter the following information:
      a. Camera #: This is generic, such as 1, 2, 3, and so on. It is not the same as the camera number on the exacqVision Server.
      b. Name: This can be any name that you want to assign to the camera.
      c. Camera Type: Select Exacq Technologies from the drop-down list.

On the Digital Video Camera tab, enter the following information:
      a. DVR Server Name: Enter the IP address of the exacqVision Server.
      b. Assign Cameras: The number of the exacqVision camera (numbering starts at zero). See TIP below.
      c. DVR Server User Logon: The exacqVision Username obtained previously.
      d. DVR Server Password: The exacqVision Password obtained previously.

TIP: Clicking Help > Camera List from the exacqVision Driver window will show all camera names, camera IDs, and input numbers on the server. Use the camera ID in step 5b above.

NOTE: If you are using a PTZ camera, select the PTZ box and enter any preset position you want to see in the PTZ Preset Position field.

Click OK.
Click the Workstation window.
      a. Double-click your location.
      b. Click Cameras.

The cameras defined for your location appear in the right window. Right-click any camera and choose Live Video or Recorded Video from the pop-up menu. A window with the desired video is displayed.

NOTE: If socket errors appear when you try to view live or recorded video, ensure that the dongle is correctly plugged in and the DSXKey service is running on the WinDSX server.

Tags Integration Guide, DSX, WinDSX, 18616, Guest, Plugin, Integrations

exacqVision Integrations Other Documentation Integrations Categories Products exacqVision Integrations

Road AI LPR application with Hanwha Cameras

Post author By Bhargav Atturu
Post date September 8, 2023

Overview

Hanwha cameras may be configured with the Road AI license plate recognition application. The data from license plate captures can be viewed in the ExacqVision Client as text, sent as serial data over IP. The Road AI application is pre-installed and licensed from the factory on select camera models. This document will step through setting up the application integration with ExacqVision.

Tested Versions

ExacqVision
22.12 and higher

Camera models
PNO-A9081RLP – firmware 1.41.02
PNV-A9081RLP – firmware 2.21.00

Road AI application
Version 7.2.7.6

Installation

Mount the camera according to the manufacturer’s installation manual. LPR applications typically provide specific guidelines on positioning camera distance and angle to the target.
If needed, download the Road AI User Manual to help with configuration from the manufacturer’s website.
Open a web browser and navigate to the camera’s IP address.
Log in with the username and password
Navigate to the Open Platform settings page.
Once the application is running, you may configure how it sends data to ExacqVision.

Road AI Application Configuration

Open the camera’s web interface. Navigate to Setup > Open Platform > Go App

Refer to the Road AI user manual for greater detail on the best way to install and position your camera. Once you have completed this, you may configure the camera for license plate capture.

Select the Settings tab from the top of the application.
By default there is a single zone bounding box, which you may manipulate. A second zone may be configured using the + button under Zones Management. Drag the corners of the bounding box to your desired size, shape, and location in the field of view.
Set the Region field to select your country of interest.
Select the Plate Capture Mode setting.
- Low speed mode with 4K resolution
- High Performance mode with Full HD resolution
Enabling the Wizard button displays a statistic of the latest 1000 plate sizes detected to help you increase detection rates. See the Road AI user manual for more details.
The Plate Size Measurement feature also aids in increasing the detection rate. Recommended plate width is 130-350 pixels in the camera image.
Scroll down to Recognition Setup to enable/disable Model Recognition and Color Recognition.
Scroll to the Integration Options section.
Select the check box for NVR Integration.
Beneath this check box, enter the IP address of the ExacqVision Server on your network in the field on the left.
Choose a port number that will be used to communicate with ExacqVision. This must be a port number that is not used by any another devices on your network. This port number will also be configured in the ExacqVision Client. Enter the port number in the field to the right of the Server IP address.

In the example above, the ExacqVision Server is located at 192.168.0.6, and the port number selected is 9393.

IMPORTANT: When using multiple Hanwha cameras running Road AI on the same network, each device MUST be assigned a unique port number.
Click the Save Settings button at the bottom when these steps have been completed.
Before continuing with ExacqVision configuration, ensure that license plates are being captured by navigating back to the Events tab. If you are experiencing trouble successfully detecting license plates refer back to the guides on camera positioning and placement.

NOTE: In our testing, it took some time for the application to complete saving changes when pressing the Save Settings button. You may also need to be patient for the Road AI application to display the camera image.

NOTE: If a red banner appears when navigating back to the Events tab, this may delay events being sent to ExacqVision.

ExacqVision Serial Port Configuration

Within the ExacqVision Desktop Client, select the Configuration icon from the top-left toolbar.
Select the Serial Ports node from the left-hand navigation tree, nested beneath your server name.
Under the IP section, click the New button
Enter a Name for the Serial Port.
Under the Use column, select POS from the menu.
From the Type column, select TCP Listener.
In the Address field, enter the IP address of the Hanwha LPR camera.
In the Port field, enter the port number you selected and entered into the Road AI application earlier. Recall in our earlier example we entered 9393.
Under the Profile column you will select New, unless you had previously configured a Serial Profile, in which case you would select that profile name.
Click the Apply button to save your changes. If you selected New in Step 8, this will automatically take you to Serial Profiles to continue setup.

ExacqVision Serial Profile Configuration

If you selected New during setup of the Serial Port, you will begin by naming your Serial Profile. If you did not do this, then you will begin by selecting the New button, then enter a Name for the profile. Example: Hanwha LPR

Choose one of the following options for the Marker Type. Your choice will depend on how you’d like the data to appear in live and search. 
- For records in this format:
 LPR LPR = ZTD904 Dodge RAM SUV
 - Select XML as the Marker Type
 - Enter <LPR in the SOT Marker field
 This is not a typo, do not enter a closing >
 - Uncheck the Case Sensitive box
 - Click the Apply button to save your changes. 
- For records in this format:
 ZTD904 Dodge RAM SUV
 - Select Standard as the Marker Type
 - Enter <LPR> in the SOT Marker field
 - Enter </LPR> in the EOT Marker field
 - Uncheck the Case Sensitive box
 - Navigate to the String Replacements tab.
 - Click the New button. 
 - Enter <LPR> in the String field, then enter a single space character in the Replace field. This field cannot be left empty. 
 - Click the New button again, to add a new row.
 - Enter </LPR> in the String field, then enter a single space character in the Replace field.
 - Click the Apply button to save your changes.
Use the Live Display tab to preview how your data will appear in the Live View overlay. Enable Line Removal if you wish to periodically clear the text.
Optional – If you wish to trigger events from ExacqVision’s Event Linking or Event Monitoring features based on specific words, you will need to configure this on the Event Keywords tab within your Serial Profile. Example keyword: LPR

Event Linking

ExacqVision can use the analytic events from Road AI to trigger various actions, such as recording video from a specific camera.

Select the Event Linking node from the navigation tree on the left side of the ExacqVision Client window.
Click the New button.
Within the Event Type list, select Serial Profile.
In the Event Source list, select the serial profile name to trigger this event on all keywords you configured. Select the profile name with ‘Keyword’ to trigger this event only when that keyword is encountered.
From the Action Type list, select the action you intend to take when triggered.
Select the Action Target.
Some Action Types, such as Record Video, provide the ability to set a Pre and Post Trigger settings.
Click Apply to save your changes.

Related Materials

Find more details on topics mentioned in this article at the following links:

Troubleshooting

After making changes to the network settings within the Road AI application, it may be necessary to Stop, then Start, the Road AI application from the camera’s Open Platform page.
As noted above, during configuration of the Road AI port numbers; When using multiple Hanwha cameras running Road AI on the same network, each device MUST be assigned a unique port number.
The camera is detecting license plates in the Road AI application and the port numbers are correctly set in both the camera application as well as in ExacqVision’s Serial Ports page but no data is being received. You may need to add an incoming port exception to the firewall of the system running your ExacqVision Server application.