Surveillance system for gas station

CORE OF THE PROBLEM

The crimes most often committed on gas station are drive-off gas thefts and lifts of various car accessories or other things being sold at the station. An increasing number of armed robberies at the stations is related mostly with relatively big sums of money, collected in cash registers and safes, and inadequate protection of those places. Small number of employees - often one person, and big distance from the police station or monitoring center make the stations an easy aim for common thieves and organized criminal groups. An alarm system protects the station mainly from burglaries, but not from direct thefts, happening during opening hours (often round the clock), when every potential disturber may come in. Apart from thefts of gas and offered goods, there should be taken into consideration possible stealing from customers cars and acts of vandalism.

Well designed and reliable video surveillance system is one of the main factors that can improve safety levels at every public place (gas station).

DESIGN GUIDELINES

Before we start to design a system, we should consider what area has to be monitored and recorded. Obviously, all activities which are occurring at the station: cars arrival and leaving, pumps areas, all cars details (plate number, color and model), entrance to the store, cash desk and exit.

Pumps

The observation area should be confined to the car standing by the pump. It will enable to get detailed images including the plate number and driver's features. It is also important, when the pumps are located in one row, to apply two cameras - one on the front and the second at the back. Such arrangement will prevent blocking the view of the second car. The cameras should be mounted at optimal height allowing good visibility of registration plates.

Entrance and exit

Observation of the cars driving in and out is a good solution because not every car will get gas. Some cars may be parked outside the monitored area and the driver or passengers will only buy something in the shop. There are preferred cameras located just at the entrance and exit, but in a case of activities at further areas of the stations, there may be need to use more distant cameras with long focal lenses (telephoto lenses). CCTV security design for the station must be aimed towards of reducing the area of observation without decreasing monitoring and recording public activities at the station.

Other infrastructure of gas station

Even medium-size gas station usually offers shopping, car washing, minor repairs etc. Monitoring of all the places requires mounting a number of cameras and multiplexer/DVR or similar CCTV components enabling simultaneous viewing and recording of all areas. Another solution may be provided by detailed observation of doors (there are usually one or two in each place). One should apply there cameras with short focal length (big view angle), installed directly above the door. Obviously all station lenses should be equipped with automatic irises, to avoid overexposing by sunlight or the light from headlights. A typical installation made according to the above guidelines, may be the following:

Shop

4 8

5 3 2 1

Exit

Entrance

Example of surveillance system for gas station.

EQUIPMENT SELECTION

Camera no. 1 -, observes entrance to the station Camera no. 2 - observes exit from the station CCC1390 Series Day/Night, WDR, CCD Compact Camera 1/3-INCH, HIGH RESOLUTION,
530 TVL B-W/480 TVL COLOR (NTSC/PAL)

EH3512-2 EH3512/EH3515 Series Enclosure

13VD5.5-872.5 13VD Series Varifocal Lens SS3508/SS3512/SS3515 Sun Shroud

Camera no. 3 & 4 - observe the first two pumps, Cameras no. 5 & 6 - observe another two pumps, CC3751H-2/CC3651H-2X Digital CCD Color Camera LOWLIGHT DSS, 1/3-INCH, HIGH
RESOLUTION, 480 TVL (NTSC/PAL)

EH3512-2 EH3512/EH3515 Series Enclosure 13VD5-40 Series Varifocal Lens

SS3508/SS3512/SS3515 Sun Shroud

Camera no. 7 - observes cash desk and entrance to the station building,
Camera no. 8 - observes other rooms in the building

CC3701H-2 Series Digital CCD Color Camera 1/3-INCH, HIGH RESOLUTION

WITH EDR, 480 TVL (NTSC/PAL) 13VD Series 2.812mm Varifocal auto iris lens MOUNTS BS1750/CM1750/CM1750S/TB1750

CCC1390

CC3751H-2

CC3701H-2

EH3512

LENS

MOUNTS BS1750/CM1750

Next cameras, up to 16 - observe other important places: parking lot, restaurant, car wash... CCC1390 Series Day/Night, WDR, CCD Compact Camera 1/3-INCH, HIGH RESOLUTION, 530 TVL B-W/480 TVL COLOR (NTSC/PAL) camera is a compact, wide dynamic range (WDR), day/night camera. Its WDR technology provides up to 60 dB of dynamic range and produces superior images over a wide range of lighting conditions, including extreme backlight conditions. The camera also uses a removable infrared (IR) cut filter to switch between color and black-white (B-W) modes as environmental lighting conditions change. It also provides a dual resolution of 530 TVL (BW) and 480 TVL (color). Ideal choice to monitor objects day or night and with distance up to 50 meters. CC3751H-2 Designed and manufactured in the USA, the CC3751H-2 and CC3651H-2X color cameras have extended digital slow shutter (DSS) settings to enhance the low-light performance of the camera. DSS settings slow the picture frame rate and increase the cameras sensitivity in low light conditions. Light sensitivity increases as the number of fields of integration increase. CC3701H-2 Series is a high-resolution, high sensitivity, general purpose digital camera with 480 TV lines. The camera features two color balance settings, automatic gain control, digital signal processing, automatic backlight compensation, and line lock. To adjust one of the cameras many fine-tuning features, just reset the corresponding DIP switch, readily available on the left side of the camera. Utilizing innovative technology (patent pending), the CC3701H-2 Series camera provides an extended dynamic range over conventional high resolution cameras, without sacrificing sensitivity, color imagery, or resolution. Extended dynamic range (12X) allows the camera to provide a picture in many extreme light applications.

Cameras with SWD sensor are resistant to over exposure of images caused by strong light, including front, reflected and rear excessive illumination.

VIDEO RECORDING

Another step of system's design is selection of devices for recording and playing back the recorded video material and watching live and recorded images from cameras. Direct viewing and playing of recorded video may be performed from selected camera or simultaneously from a number of cameras (multi-screen or screen division).

Digital video recorders with network functionality are nowadays the main platform of digital
surveillance systems. They are easy to install and run, and enable remote viewing of images and control of the whole system via the network.

Digital surveillance systems based on DVR cards. (capture boards) These sets consist of
special DVR card for installing in PC and dedicated software pack. It's difficult to prove superiority of one system over another. These devices have their advantages and disadvantages. However, constant cooperation between producers and installers of these systems enables development of the software and new functions, which makes the systems more flexible and reliable. The cards coming from various producers differ in applied integrated circuits, ability of extension and cooperation with additional devices. Most of the systems offer Internet connectivity. The basic software usually allows for:

direct viewing and archiving of video - Server application viewing live and recorded video via the Internet - Client application playing recorded video - Browser application
It's important that these systems don't require a "super computer" for their operation, but the computer must be intended only for supporting the surveillance system. There is no possibility of simultaneous running of other programs; otherwise the system may not work properly. Here is example of real live 16 channel digital video recorder can be used:

Camera Input Frame Rate Recording Resolution Video Compression Non-Stop Recording

Up to 16 composite video camera, NTSC/PAL Up to 480 fps (Real-time, all channels, all models) 352x240, 704x240, 704x480 (NTSC) / 352x288, 704x288, 704x576 (PAL) MPEG4 hardware compression 15+ days or more of non-stop recording time depending on chosen hard drive configuration 6

Producers of these cards always determine the total number of frames per second that can be recorded. This value has to be divided by the number of cameras to be applied, to obtain the real number of frames per second recorded from each camera. The more frames one wants to record, the more capacious HDD and efficient computer he has to use. Aside from standard functions available in analog systems, the digital systems additionally enable:

registration with considerably larger number of frames per second, e.g. up to 30 frames/sec real live network operation (viewing and managing the system from any place in the world), easy and fast access to recorded material - due to digital technology without a drop of quality, possibility of creating service-free system, possibility of combining CCTV system with other systems: anti-burglar, access control, fire alarm etc. easy enlargement of the system through connection of additional devices for remote control, rotating PTZ cameras, implementing audio recording (even up to 16 audio channels).

MONITORS

It is worth to pay attention to the selection of monitor with proper diagonal. If the monitor is to be used sporadically, only for viewing recorded video, then 12"-19" diagonal is enough. In the case of real time observation, there is preferred a larger 20" monitor.

CONCLUSION

The surveys find that round-the-clock monitoring and recording at gas stations practically eliminates muggings, damaging of pumps, toilets etc., drive-off thefts. The stations have at last become "nonsmoking area". The owners have noticed an increased number of customers in station bars/restaurants, due to the fact that the customers are no longer afraid to park their cars on monitored parking lots. Summing up, application of this kind of system significantly increases safety at every gas station.