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Thermal control for Irene estate

Southdown’s Irene Country Farm monitors a perimeter of over 6 km with thermal cameras and intelligent video analytics.

Southdown’s Irene Country Farm is a residential development capturing the essence of the area’s natural beauty and incorporating 50 hectares of farmland within the estate. The development spans approximately 200 hectares and covers 46 hectares of conservation corridors and agricultural areas and consists of about 700 sites, the majority being single residential stands with an average size of 1200 m².

Developed by Centurus Property Developers, it includes a Sport and Arts Exchange (SAX), the Southdown’s College and the Southdown’s Shopping Centre. The Irene Dairy Farm is also directly linked to the estate. The estate’s vision is “to be the premier residential estate in Gauteng offering a unique lifestyle in an environmentally sustainable manner”.

Like many other residential estates, Southdown’s had implemented conventional security measures, such as electric fencing with zone indication of intrusion detection, roving guards, reaction vehicles and a central control room. While these are still standard methods of security, many estates are finding that these methods are not sufficient when it comes to preventing and detecting intrusions.

The perimeter of Southdown’s is approximately 6,5 km long and the estate’s management needed a system that would give instant visual verification, day or night, as to the cause and position of any breaches in the perimeter. Moreover, the northern boundary has river frontage and dense vegetation. This type of landscape makes it difficult to erect and maintain electric fencing.

Home owners felt strongly about not erecting additional lighting around the perimeter of the estate as it is centred on the old Irene Dairy Farm and the aesthetic nature of the estate had to be preserved. Southdown’s is eco-friendly in nature and for this reason, a green security solution was selected by means of thermal cameras.

Thermal and intelligent analytics

Thermal cameras cut down on power consumption as there is no need for additional lighting in areas they cover. Not only are they eco-friendly, but they are efficient at detecting intruders and far more cost-effective over large distances than normal CCTV cameras.

Security integrator C3 Shared Services chose an intelligent video analytics system combined with thermal cameras to meet the requirements of the estate. The solution implemented allowed Southdown’s to keep its eco-friendly appeal while ensuring the safety of the residents of the estate.

A combination of two military grade technologies was selected, Opgal thermal imaging cameras and ioimage intelligent video analytics. The advantages being that the perimeter security system could now detect intruders on the darkest night at distances of up to 450 metres and enable the control room operators to make the correct and speedy decision to dispatch an armed response team to the correct area.

The system was integrated into the existing fibre-to-the-home solution already in place.

Educating home owners

The combination of thermal cameras and intelligent video analytics is a costly one. Therefore, before the system was approved, the home owners needed to be educated as to the benefits of this system and the advantages over traditional methods of security. They also needed to know that when deploying this kind of technology as part of a security solution, a reputable company with the appropriate experience must be retained. The combination of thermal cameras and analytics is a highly specialised field and requires a high level of expertise in order to be deployed correctly and obtain the best results.

Southdown’s achieved what it set out to achieve: a virtual perimeter that allows for instant visual verification of any breaches. Control room operators can view the perimeter and can make the necessary decisions on what response needs to be taken should the perimeter be breached.

Now, 20 thermal cameras with 20 channels of intelligent video analytics continuously monitor the Southdown’s perimeter. Furthermore, 30 analog cameras are used to monitor the gate houses where number plate and facial recognition systems are in use. A further two day/night cameras with IR illuminators and intelligent video analytics are used to alert guards to all movement at the two farm gates.

“C3’s emphasis is not on selling a system, but rather a working solution that delivers immediate benefits to the client,” says Nick Grange, technical director of C3 Shared Services.

The implementation team

* C3 Shared Services designed and installed the intelligent thermal perimeter security system.

* Norman Royds, an independent consultant assisted with the fibre-optic backbone infrastructure and project management.

* Smart Village installed the fibre-optic network backbone of the estate, into which the thermal cameras are integrated.

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