Interview. Paul Hucker about VOLANT. April 2017
Redvision’s fast, accurate and silent new VOLANT™ series, rugged PTZ. |Redvision’s revolutionary new VOLANT™ series camera is claimed to be the fastest, quietest and most accurate PTZ in the CCTV industry. |In this article, Paul Hucker, Director of the UK-based CCTV manufacturer, explains some of the technological developments Redvision has made in the VOLANT to support this impressive claim.
Rugged history.
The Redvision brand is synonymous with tough, hazardous or corrosive, outdoor surveillance applications. The company’s X-SERIES rugged PTZ dome cameras lead the market in Local Authority, industrial and public space CCTV applications. It has unique heritage in CCTV manufacturing, and one which Redvision drew upon whilst developing the VOLANT.
The VOLANT has a durable, die-cast aluminium body, like the X-SERIES, which is tough and offers cooling benefits in hot climates. The camera is off-set, but balanced with the PTZ mechanism, to allow viewing vertically downwards when mounted on a pole or column. Many rugged PTZs use a cantilever mechanism to achieve vertical viewing, but Redvision realised this throws the camera off-balance, slowing movement and increasing wear and tear.
The VOLANT is IP68 weather-proof rated. It surpasses all of Redvision’s own in-house, shock and impact testing criteria, designed to replicate conditions in the most demanding surveillance applications. The VOLANT far exceeds the demands of the commonly quoted IK10 shock and impact-resistance rating as well as IEC vibration, and salt spray compliance requirements.
Quiet, fast AND slow.
The VOLANT™ uses Infinity™ direct drive, brushless DC motors for both its pan and tilt movement. These are fundamental to many aspects of the camera’s high levels of performance. The Infinity™ motors do not rely on belts or mechanisms to move, so deliver minimal latency and military-level, positional accuracy, repeatable to 0.01°. The balanced design helps the VOLANT achieve pan and tilt speeds of 420°/second, whilst also producing immense torque, which will hold the camera firmly in position at rest. The motors give much faster, more accurate and quieter operation than the more commonly used stepper motors and have highly flexible, continuous rotation in both pan and tilt axis. If knocked, the camera will also recover to its correct position immediately.
Furthermore, the VOLANT can move very slowly, so operators can follow a person or target accurately. Current optical zoom options are 30x, which will pick out car license plates and faces at 300m away. However, the combination of smooth, responsive and accurate control with a balanced offset camera design means the VOLANT is stable enough to handle zoom options exceeding 60x, as they become available.
Silent and safe.
The Infinity motors have minimal vibration, making them silent and unobtrusive, with no vibration noise passing through fixings into buildings. The motors are also cool running, so can be sealed against dirt, moisture and dust ingress; helping to reduce wear and tear and contributing to many years of maintenance-free operation and low cost of ownership.
Optical quality and LED illumination.
Redvision uses a flat, toughened glass camera window in its VOLANT cameras. The toughened window protects the camera from wet conditions and provides a flat surface for a silicon wiper to remove dirt and water. It is easy to get the flat glass optically-correct meaning the VOLANT has minimal image distortion and the best possible low light performance.
The VOLANT includes Dual-Adaptive™ IR and white light illumination, effective at up to 150m in complete darkness. The technology was developed for the X-SERIES , but in the VOLANT the illumination appears as alternate IR and white-light, ultra-efficient LEDs, in an integrated ring surrounding the camera. Not only do they adjust intensity with zoom, but they also adjust the spread of light for optimal scene illumination in any field of view.
Camera options.
VOLANT options include a 2.1MP, Full HD IP camera with CMOS sensor and 30x optical zoom and an SD analogue camera with IMP CMOS sensor and 30x optical zoom. Each has pendant or pedestal mounting options.
The IP VOLANT provides seamless, network integration. It is ONVIF S compliant and has SDK integration protocols developed for most leading manufacturers’ control equipment or video management software (VMS) systems.