CAM-58
The slurry pit close to the brim
A deep urban excavation seen from above. In the foreground, the settling pits full of slurry, split by concrete walls and ringed with yellow handrails. On the left, a pipe is still discharging slurry into the pit; on the right there is a band of wall still dry, and that band is the margin left before it spills. Further back, the boring machine, an excavator and two workers on the walkway. IRIS watches one thing only: how high the slurry is. Right now it is at 85 %: 38 cm of dry wall left to the top, and the alert is set at 90 %.
Turn on IRIS Vision
AI-generated image
What IRIS understands
What it recognises in this scene
- slurry level
- top of the pit
- discharge pipe
- workers on the walkway
What this camera measures
An alert says something is happening. The reading says how much.
- 85 %+6 ptPit level
- 38 cmMargin to the top
- 90 %Alert threshold
- 2 pt / diaHow fast it rises
- 2 diasTime left
- hace 4 minLast reading
The figures on this screen are an example from the illustration, not any client's measurement.
The series, not one figure
One number says nothing. A curve does.
This week's rise and the threshold
- Slurry level
- Alert threshold
| Slot | Slurry level |
|---|---|
| Mon | 71% |
| Tue | 73% |
| Wed | 75% |
| Thu | 78% |
| Fri | 80% |
| Sat | 83% |
| Sun | 85% |
| Alert threshold | 90% |
The figures on this screen are an example from the illustration, not any client's measurement.
The rule
You decide once. IRIS applies it always.
If
the slurry in the pit rises above the marked height and stays there
Then
- alert the site foreman and whoever runs the pump, with the camera and the pit that is filling up
- log the time and the height, so you know how fast it is rising
- repeat the alert for as long as the level keeps rising instead of dropping
The instruction that set it up«Tell me when the slurry gets within a hand's width of the top of the pit, before it goes over and I find it all over the site.»
What changes
What changes for whoever answers for the site
A slurry pit that goes over the top takes the site floor with it, runs into the drains and ends up as a formal notice. Today the level is checked by going to look, and whoever goes sees a level, not a slope: they come back knowing how the pit stands, not how long it has left. And a number on its own does not tell you whether to act: 85 % is alarming or not depending on what it read yesterday. What decides is how fast it is rising. At two points a day, 85 % to 90 % is two days, and emptying a pit or booking a tanker is not something you improvise: you ask for it in advance. That is why the reading comes with its curve and with the threshold line drawn beside it. The foreman stops walking over just in case and goes when it matters. IRIS does not stop the pump and does not open any valve: it warns while there is still margin, and a person decides.
What people usually ask
How does a camera know how high the slurry is?
A camera knows how high the slurry is because somebody drew the reference on the image first: where the top of the pit is and from what height it starts to be a problem. It is the same idea as a ruler painted on a wall — the mark is drawn once and the camera checks whether the surface of the slurry has passed it. That is why this camera is set up by drawing and not by describing: you cannot explain a line with a sentence, you have to trace it. And it is worth saying plainly: this is an estimate of the level from the image, not a probe sitting in the slurry. It is there to warn while there is still margin, not to certify a volume; a sensor inside the pit measures better, and what the camera adds is that it is already up there and sees the whole pit.
What if the slurry ripples or changes colour in the sun?
Slurry does ripple and it does change colour in the sun, which is why the rule does not fire on the first wave. What counts is the level held for a while, not the instant, and the reference is adjusted with the pit working during the first days, in sun and in rain. An alert that fires every time the discharge raises a wave gets switched off within a week, and a camera that is switched off warns about nothing. Foam, the reflection off the water and the site lights at night are learned in those first days: they are part of the pit, not part of the level.
Is this camera used to watch the people working next to the pit?
This camera is not used to watch the people working next to the pit. It watches a height, not people: it does not recognise faces, it does not compare them against any database and it cannot tell you who was on shift. If workers appear in the picture it is because they are working there, not because the rule is about them. All the alert returns is which pit is filling up and at what time.
Every simulation
Something has spilled
Tell me if there is liquid or foam outside its place and it is still there two minutes later.
- The sentence
- Where it applies
- What it finds
- The same rule
Next step
Who watches the cameras of a whole city?
23 cases: 18 raise an alert when something happens and 5 only measure. You see each image as it is, and then with what IRIS understands on top.
Who watches an entire motorway?
10 cases: 8 raise an alert when something happens and 2 only measure. You see each image as it is, and then with what IRIS understands on top.
And the best part
You cannot describe a line with a sentence.You have to draw it on the image.
Asking is for finding; counting is for measuring. That is why the number comes out the same every day, and why people counting is certified by the Centro Español de Metrología.
Tell us your problem and we will say whether IRIS understands it, or not yet.
We reply the same working day.