COE Group Trials Surveillance System

Story link: COE Group Trials Surveillance System by Jan Harris

COE Group Plc, which provides the video network for London’s congestion charging scheme, is planning to trial a system which uses CCTV technology to provide real-time information on trains and at stations.

The trial will take place this summer at Clapham Junction railway station in south London.

Video surveillance technology will be tested that can identify bags or suspicious behaviour and pass the information on in real-time, from moving trains, on both underground and overground lines.

The system is also designed to detect people involved in graffiti activity.

Graffiti is a problem for all councils in the UK and is expensive and difficult to remove. Also, when a wall has been sprayed with graffiti, more graffiti is usually quickly added. COE’s systems should help to spot the problem quickly so that it can it be resolved before it spirals out of control.

The system includes analytical algorithms with COE’s X-Net G3 video codec, a device which converts an analogue camera signal into a digital signal and compresses it for transmission over a digital network.

The codec also runs analysis software which can look for movement within the camera’s images. It can identify a certain type of motion and trigger an alarm, with a lower rate of false alarms than are generated by similar systems.