With the proliferation of consumer-grade cameras, it is tempting to think that they could be applied to monitor remote sites for industries like upstream oil and gas, water/wastewater, renewable energy, and more. The reality is there are many technical reasons why only industrial-grade solutions will work in the long run.
A March 2022 article in Control, written by Kaylor Greenstreet of Twin Eagle Solutions and titled, "Edge Solution Conquers Connectivity Challenges," describes how the company has applied Emerson edge controllers and IPCs to provide a vision, inspection, and detection solution able to survive and thrive in remote locations.
The dilemma of distanceIndustrial sites often must be inspected by personnel daily, which is expensive in terms of worker hours, travel, and risk. Effective remote visualization solutions need always-on capability, but they must operate under harsh environmental conditions and contend with expensive connectivity options, limited bandwidth, and intermittent networking. The only practical solution is to build solutions with local intelligence, processing, and storage features. This is particularly important for companies that want to own and manage their own data, rather than leasing it as a service.
Gaining a better viewRecognizing the challenges, Twin Eagle Solutions applied years of field networking experience to develop their VisionAery family of remote monitoring solutions, made possible because of the availability and performance of Emerson edge controllers and industrial PCs (IPCs).
The Emerson PACSystems CPL410 edge controller combines deterministic control with general-purpose computing. It can be used for robust local control, I/O connectivity, and interfacing with all types of operational technology (OT) systems, and it also connects smoothly with higher-level information technology (IT) systems.
The Emerson PACSystems family of IPCs is not used for deterministic control, but it provides an even more capable general-purpose computing platform for visualization, communication, and analytical applications right at the edge. Users can take advantage of the PACEdge industrial edge platform software and Movicon HMI/SCADA and analytics, or they can develop their own custom applications to run on the IPCs.
Twin Eagle designed the VisionAery system in trailer-mount and skid-mount portable versions, made possible by the compact size of the edge controller and IPC.
Edge computing ensures that site/SCADA networks are not overloaded, and upstream communications costs (via cell, satellite or Internet) are minimized, providing users with the best view of their assets. All data is processed onboard the VisionAery system using an Emerson edge controller and/or IPC depending on the scale and extent of the application.
To date, versions of VisionAery have been deployed at over 100 sites. Standard Remote Vision versions provide video inspection, abnormality alerts, automated recording, and more. Advanced Thermal Vision and Intelligent Vision versions provide additional benefits like leak and flare detection, vehicle tracking, integration with advanced analyzers, and more.
New visionRobust remote monitoring helps oil companies and other industries to operate efficiently and remain compliant with environmental regulations. Emerson edge controllers and IPCs enable practical and cost-effective remote monitoring today, while meeting future needs.
Figures all courtesy of Twin Eagle Solutions