Cameras mounted on 100-foot-high lighting towers feed into the yard’s existing IP infrastructure like any other peripheral, offering operators the opportunity to zoom in on a container’s number and the rail can on which it arrived.
Network dome cameras mounted on mobile reachstackers feed into a wireless network programmed with a set of presets on the cameras.
Resident video analytics allow the cameras to sense an event, like a reachstacker attaching to a container, and execute a series of pre-determined moves to scan down the box transmitting three of four frames per second. The resulting images are sent to an admin application for later viewing. The camera is able to record the condition of the containers’ sides and bottom.
Inspectors reviewing the images can then decide if the box can be sent on its way, flag it for repair, or re-load its contents into an alternative one. The images can also be used as proof of when any damage occurred – critical information about liability in respect of insurance claims.
The next step has been the introduction of HDTV cameras allowing operators to inspect boxes remotely as the move from ship to terminal yard.
Virginia International Terminals intend to add optical character recognition technology, enabling remote video inspection to digitise container, track and rail numbers, providing the operators with the ability to record all of the information with a single keystroke.
Analytical software can highlight anomalies, drawing circles around anything the cameras detect as ‘out of specification’. The objective of this is to help inspectors to respond more quickly to problems that need their intervention.
The Commonwealth of Virginia sees the application of network video technology to its intermodal container operations as important to having the world see its port as an important international gateway to the east coast of North America.