-------------------------Monitor------------------------
The Newsletter for PC-Based Data Acquisition and Control
Issue 170 www.windmill.co.uk September 2012
--------------------ISSN 1472-0221----------------------
We focus on the data acquisition of people counts
this month - how many people went into a building,
passed by an entrance, travelled on a bus or walked
down the street. We also welcome back the Excel Corner
after its summer break, bring news of upcoming
exhibitions and conferences and round up the highlights
of this months's data acquisition news.
For more data acquisition news, tips and special offers,
follow us on Twitter - @DataAcquisition.
I hope you enjoy this issue, but should you wish
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Monitor Newsletter
CONTENTS
========
* Windmill used in Outdoors People Counting System
* Choosing a People Counting System: infra-red, thermal, video...
* Excel Corner: Finding What Happened When
* Data Acquisition Exhibitions
* DAQ News Round-up
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Windmill used in Outdoor People Counting System
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Windmill Software has written the software for the
Video Turnstile outdoor people counting system.
With an embedded video server, Video Turnstile lets you
view live TV footage and verify the counts through
our setup software over the internet, from anywhere
in the world.
We've designed the software to be highly versatile,
so users of the system can change settings for each
individual counting area. For example, you can choose
whether or not to count children or to optimise the
counting zone for crowds.
With the help of Windmill, the bi-directional
Video Turnstile system counts outside with the highest
accuracy no matter what the weather. Tried and tested
in sun, wind, rain, snow and ice, Video Turnstile is
over 98% accurate, even in the busiest situations.
CCTV cameras link to intelligent people counters which
detect the people in the picture. The software regularly
collects data from the people counters - every day or
every hour for example - and can show the updating counts
in real-time as they happen.
For more details contact Windmill Software -
sales@biodataltd.com or see the Video Turnstile website:
https://www.retailsensing.com/people-counting-outdoors.html
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Choosing a People Counting System: infra-red, thermal, video...
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You've decided you want to count people: perhaps to
monitor occupancy or see which areas of a building are
most used. But which type of people counting system to
choose? There are several options out there, including:
- video people counting,
- thermal sensors,
- infra-red beams,
- hand-held tally counters.
Which you choose depends on your priorities, which will
probaby include:
1. Accuracy
2. Flexibility
3. Directional or non-directional
4. Reporting
5. Cost
1. Accuracy
===========
How accurate do you need the data to be? The best
performing systems achieve 98% accuracy. But make sure
that the accuracy quoted on the manufacturers' web sites
is not just that for perfect conditions. Will the system
meet your accuracy needs in your specific conditions?
Amongst the most accurate systems are the video people
counters. Here software analyses CCTV pictures and
identifies people crossing a counting zone. These
systems can exceed 98% accuracy.
Next are the thermal sensors. Positioned above an entrance,
they detect people's body heat. Quoted accuracies are
between 96 and 98%. Accuracy, though, can be affected by the
ambient temperature within the counting area being above
or below a certain value. Low ceilings can also reduce
the accuracy.
With infra-red beam systems, a sensor sends a beam to a
reflector on the the opposite side of the doorway. As
someone passes through the beam breaks and a person is
counted. These were in demand some years ago - now
managers generally demand a higher accuracy and more
comprehensive information to be collected. Additionally,
accuracy tends to decrease with wide or busy entrances.
If two people cross a beam together, for instance, only
one count will be recorded. Direct sunlight onto the beam
will also affect the system. Difficult conditions can
bring accuracy down to 80%.
Hand-held tally counters are the least
sophisticated of solutions. A person
stands clicking the tally counter
whenever anyone passes through the
entrance. This may be acceptable for
a one-off people counting excercise,
but is obviously unsuited to
continuous monitoring. Accuracy
depends on the people holding the
tally counters. Tally counters were once used in
nightclubs and bars to monitor occupancy, but are now
being replaced by automatic counting systems.
2. Flexibility
==============
For businesses with many entrances, check that your chosen
solution is configurable for all the different situations
in which you want to count, not only now but also in the
future. The most versatile systems are video and thermal
counters.
3. Directional or Non-Directional
=================================
Do you need to count people going in and out? The video and
thermal counters do this automatically. Some infra-red beam
systems rely on you dividing the count by two, although the
more expensive beam counters are directional.
4. Reporting
============
Do you need access to your data? How often? Some companies
keep hold of your data and just send you reports. Others give
you full access to all data so you can analyse it as you wish.
Consider also how often you need the counts. Do you require the
count per week, per day, per hour, per half-hour, in real-time?
If you want to see your own data - in what format do you it?
MySQL, xml, text...?
How is the data distributed: centrally at a head office PC,
locally, or both? Can authorised users grab it at any time from
anywhere in the world?
5. Cost
=======
Last but not least, how much is a system going to cost? Consider
initial cost, future expansion, installation, technical support,
any on-going charges.
The cheapest option is the hand-held tally counter but this is not
suitable for detailed analysis. Also, you need to take into account
the cost of employing someone to stand there clicking the counting
all day.
Next cheapest is in the non-directional infra-red beam system,
followed by the directional beam counters. Installation costs
are saved with this type of system as most infra-red beam
counters can be installed by businesses themselves.
The most expensive systems tend to be the thermal imaging. Like
the video counters, they have installation costs. However, the
thermal counter has a lower field view than video counters and
you may need more thermal units to cover the same width of
entrance or counting zone.
More Information
================
More details on counting people are in the new blog from
Video Turnstile:
http://retailsensing.com/people-counting/
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Excel Corner: Finding What Happened When
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Excel lets you enter a date, or a time, and see what the
data reading was at that instant. You do this with the
VLOOKUP function.
For example, continuing with our people counting theme,
you have a table of how many people entered a building
each day. In the first column is the date. In the second
column is the number of people.
To find how many people entered on a specific date, you
would tell vlookup the date, the extent of the data table
and how many columns across to look. To find how many
people entered on 8th September you could use
=vlookup("8/09/2012",$A$5:$B35,2)
First comes the date, second the range of the
data table, third how many columns across to look up
- in our case 2.
To use this with our date example, you need to make
sure that the first column is formatted as text and
not as dates. When you import saved data into Excel
from Windmill Logger, in Excel's Text Import Wizard
just select text as the format of the date column.
Of course, you can do this with any kind of data:
temperature, pressure, strain...
For more Excel tips see
https://www.windmill.co.uk/excel/
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Data Acquisition Exhibitions
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Our quarterly update of data acquisition and control
exhibitions around the world.
Engineering Design Show
10-11 October 2012
Coventry UK
Focuses on the needs of design engineers in the
mechanical and electronic fields, with a conference
and workshop programme.
http://www.engineering-design-show.co.uk/
Building Controls
24-25 October
Sandown Park UK
Building control technologies and seminars.
http://www.buildingcontrolsshow.co.uk/
Perth Process & Instrumentation Technical Trade Show
31 October
Perth Australia
Exhibition of products and service related to
automation technology. From Institute of
Instrumentation, Control and Automation.
http://www.iica.org.au/
Automotive Engineering 2012
7-8 November 2012
Birmingham UK
See the latest engineering services, design and
production technology supporting vehicle design.
http://ukautoengineering.com/
Automation 2013
21-24 January 2013
Chicago USA
Showcases the full spectrum of automation technologies
and solutions. From traditional industrial applications
to new technologies.
http://www.automate2013.com/
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DAQ News Round-up
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Welcome to our round-up of the data acquisition and
control news. If you would like to receive more
timely DAQ news updates then follow us on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/#!/DataAcquisition
IEEE data breach demonstrates need for increased server-level security
The usernames and passwords of 100,000 members of the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
have been found unencrypted on a FTP server by a
Romanian researcher, Radu Dragusin.
Source: Help Net Security
http://www.net-security.org/
Nestle Embeds GPS Trackers In Kit Kats
Customers buying Kit-Kat bars in the UK could be
unwrapping a 21st-century version of Willy Wonka's
Golden Ticket - a GPS unit the confectioner will use to
find them, apprehend them and give them a prize.
Source: POPSCI
http://www.popsci.com/
Strong Growth for Wireless Sensor Networks
The wireless sensor network market, led by ZigBee,
grew ten-fold from 2007 to 2010 and exceeded
45 million annual shipments in 2011. According to
ABI Research, strong growth is expected for 2012 and
beyond as ZigBee pervades the home automation and home
entertainment markets, whilst Smart Meters continue
to be rolled out across the globe.
Source: ABI Research
http://www.abiresearch.com/
Ethernet for cars consortium launched
Alliance aims to drive wide-scale adoption of Ethernet-
based automotive connectivity.
Source: Industrial Ethernet Book
http://tinyurl.com/8z5fkz5
Thermoelectric efficiency boost is good news for solar
A way of bumping up the efficiency of thermoelectric
materials has tantalising implications for the
efficiency of solar panels.
Source: New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/
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