CAM-406
The gate says one thing and the control system says another
Mid-morning at the intake structure. A sheet of water is falling through the gate into the channel below: it is open. A few metres away, the valve with the blue handwheel is shut. Four people are watching, two of them pointing. IRIS reads no telemetry and does not know what order was given: it sees the position of the gate and of the handwheel in the picture. That position is compared with what the control system says, and if the two disagree, it raises the alert.
Turn on IRIS Vision
AI-generated image
What IRIS understands
What it recognises in this scene
- gate standing open
- water falling into the channel
- handwheel valve, shut
- field control cabinet
- people on the walkway
What this camera measures
An alert says something is happening. The reading says how much.
- 9 minOut of step for
- 2Positions that do not match
- 2Valves in view
- 4People in frame
- 09:05Time of the alert
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 visible position of the gate or the valve does not match the one reported by the control system
Then
- alert the control room with the camera, the time and both positions: the one you can see and the one the system reports
- keep the video from the last moment the two agreed
- log the alert in the report with the spot and the item that does not match
The instruction that set it up«Tell me if the gate or the valve is not in the same position the control system says it is.»
What changes
What changes for whoever answers for the plant
A gate that is not where the system thinks it is shows up on no screen: the screen displays what the limit switch reports, and if that switch has come loose, the screen lies. That is the value of looking at the picture: if the system says open and the picture says shut, there is a fault nobody would have seen. The operations manager finds out right away, not when the water runs short.
What people usually ask
Does IRIS know what order was given to the gate?
No. IRIS reads neither the remote control nor the PLC: it does not know what order left the control room. All it does is see what position the gate is in on the picture. That position is compared with the one the control system reports. IRIS does not replace that system: it puts a second pair of eyes beside it, eyes that look at the steel, not at the signal.
Why compare at all, if the system already says it?
It is worth it precisely when the system gets it wrong. The signal comes from a limit switch, and a limit switch works loose, gets wet and breaks. If the system says open and the picture says shut, there is a fault that does not appear on any screen. Two different sources saying the same thing is reassuring; when they say different things, somebody has to go and look.
Can the camera close the gate?
No. IRIS does not act on any equipment: it does not move gates, does not open valves and does not start pumps. It raises the alert with the camera, the time and the video, and the manoeuvre is carried out by a person, or by the control system under whoever is in charge of it. Who may move what is in the operating procedure, and IRIS does not write that procedure.
Other cameras
- CAM-400 · Water is coming up through the cover and the street is a river
- CAM-401 · The clarifier has filled with foam and it is going over the weir
- CAM-402 · The screen is packed with wipes and the water is not getting through
- CAM-403 · A tree has come down the channel and is blocking the intake
- CAM-404 · A jet is spraying from the flange and the puddle keeps growing
- CAM-405 · The container plugged in is not the one that belongs there
A different case every time
No extra alarms here. Just what needs looking at.
Not a recorded video, not an explanatory drawing: a summary of the real screen, with a different case every time it starts. There is a lot more behind it.
- The alert fires
- It lands in the tray
- You open it
- You confirm or dismiss
Next step
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.
Who watches a whole station at rush hour?
17 cases: 11 raise an alert when something happens and 6 only measure. You see each image as it is, and then with what IRIS understands on top.
And the best part
Not everything calls for an alert:some things call for counting.
An alert gets you out of your chair; a number lets you plan. Two different jobs, and the same camera can do both at once.
Tell us your problem and we will say whether IRIS understands it, or not yet.
We reply the same working day.