Case Studies
Bushfire Monitoring and Asset Management
Title: EYEfi Bushfire Mitigation and Situational Awareness Technology
Stakeholders: EYEfi, Telstra and Melbourne Water - Pilot Program
System users: Melbourne Water Catchment Management personnel and fire tower operators
Industry segment: Government and Statutory Authorities
Application: Bushfire monitoring tools enabling tower operators to work remotely on high fire danger risk days or when unsafe to work in the tower
Product: EYEfi Spatial Video and SPARC plugin
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Objective: Melbourne Water Corporation (MWC) are a statutory authority responsible for managing some of Victoria's largest and critical water catchments and associated assets. With this, MWC has direct responsibility for bushfire planning, management and the identification of bushfires within and around the water catchments, using their network of fire towers.
The key problem and use-case for this pilot was MWC's need to provide continuity of surveillance, detection and monitoring activity when OH&S requirements require fire towers to be unmanned during: high fire danger risk days; a fire event; after a fire event when access is dangerous; and during very high wind days.
Solution: EYEfi Spatial Video platform and SPARC plugin provides spatial targeting technology, embedded in the Cloud platform, and high specification visual spectrum cameras and thermal sensors; enabling key fire personnel using these to determine the geographical location of a fire, or other point of interest, over wide areas, within seconds and without needing any other frame of reference or triangulation.
Other features include reverse geo-pointing the camera(s) to a geographical coordinates, street addresses, user-camera presets or by simply clicking on a map location within the user interface to automatically view that location.
Fire personnel using the system were able to work within the tower to augment their surveillance activities, or they and other personnel were able to access the system remotely and perform key surveillance and monitoring activities away from the fire tower.
The system also provided for continuity of surveillance, detection and monitoring activity outside operational and/or daylight hours and with the ability to see through smoke and cloud using thermal imagery and SPARC technology.
The platform also provided automated detection and visual verification of lightning strikes, 24 x 7 - which proved useful during the pilot when lightning was present through the night and operators could simply login remotely to assess any potential impact.
Outcomes: EYEfi and Telstra are continuing to work closely with the Victorian Government and MWC to determine the next stage of this critical deployment.
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Automated Incident Management (AIM)
Title: EYEfi Automated Incident Management (AIM) technology for emergency management and incident response across Victoria's major freeways and arterials
Organisation: VicRoads - Incident Management Team (IMT)
Location: Victoria's road network, VicRoads Traffic Management Centre and Incident Management Team
Industry Segment: Road and Traffic Authorities, Road Management
Application: Automated Incident Management (AIM), visualisation of incidents, resource tracking and management, job dispatch
Product: EYEfi Spatial Video and AIM plugin
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Objective: Managing the State's road infrastructure and related projects is a major challenge for Government and commercial operators. The EYEfi Mobile (Vehicle) solution enables operators to gain instant visibility over incidents and traffic conditions, while also keeping track of their vehicles along with their personnel.
In 2011, EYEfi worked closely with VicRoads to extend the capability of the system to help VicRoads with some key issues in the following areas:
• The workflow methodology and process of capturing incident information and dispatching and managing resources relating to the incident
• The accuracy and completeness of data relating to incidents
• Compliancy with the Road Act and management reporting
• Location based information relating to the vehicles and resources servicing incidents on the road network
• Safety of incident management personnel and the travelling public
The Incident Management Team operates a fleet of incident management vehicles that incorporate camera/video, GPS and communications technologies provided by EYEfi.
Solution: EYEfi conducted a discovery process with key VicRoads personnel to examine current work practices, workflow and methodology, processes and procedures and the current reporting mechanisms.
EYEfi modified the existing EYEfi Automated Incident Management (AIM) framework to specifically address the key issues identified through the discovery process, and then implemented an agreed set of new capabilities in the EYEfi AIM system plugin that would enable VicRoads with the following key functionalities:
• Automated creation of jobs based on an in-vehicle trigger linked to the vehicle's arrow board
• Spatial event triggers and smarts based on the vehicle's location and proximity to incidents
• SMS based job dispatch and acknowledgment, with a catch-all feature to ensure the capture of all jobs including ad-hoc jobs
• Automated job progress and closure indicators, incident dashboard
• Simple management and "one-click" report generation
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Outcomes: "The EYEfi system has directly enabled VicRoads to improve our productivity, efficiency and compliancy, along with added security via the cameras, of our Officers at incident sites,” Steve Bevens, Team Leader (retired), Incident Response Team, VicRoads.
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With thousands of incidents automatically processed through AIM each month, the EYEfi AIM has provided a catch-all capability for the first time at VicRoads, enabling the following key outcomes:
• Capture of ad-hoc incident data resulting in increased data accuracy/capture of up to 23%
• Reduced the end-to-end workflow process by up to 40% (100% for ad-hoc incidents)
• Enabled a single system-of-record for all incidents
• Provided live and recorded vision and the location of all incidents attended
• Significantly improved the safety of incident management personnel/drivers
• Enabled organisation-wide visibility and access to all incident data and information
• Integration with STREAMS (internal system) for video streams via EYEfi API
• Future support for sharing incident data, GPS and location based information
The EYEfi platform and technology has enabled VicRoads IMT personnel to become more productive, with clearance rates increasing due to the streamlined and automated workflow being hard-wired into the system.
The driver-less approach to job creation, dispatch and closure enables the driver to entirely focus on the incident at hand, resulting in improved efficiency and, importantly, safety and OH&S outcomes.
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VicRoads now has a clear understanding of where their incident management assets and resources are located at any given time, have clear visibility over incidents as they occur in real-time, and can easily capture all data and report on these incidents with confidence and to a high degree of accuracy.
Major Events
Title: EYEfi situational awareness technology assisting in crowd management at Australia’s Formula One Grand Prix
Organisation: Public Transport Victoria
Location: Albert Park - Canterbury Road and St Kilda Road, and the Traffic and Transport Control Centre
Industry segment: Major events
Application: Monitoring crowd movement and safety at key entry and exit points to venue at Formula One Grand Prix (F1GP)
Objective: Each year, State Government agencies and contracted organisations come together to plan and implement the traffic and transport solutions that operate to get patrons to and from the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The purpose of the operation is to:
• Ensure the safety of patrons travelling to and from the F1 Grand Prix by monitoring crowd ingress and egress at key access points at the venue and;
• Safely manage traffic and transport to and from the venue by monitoring the setup and operation of the plans.
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The Australian F1GP attracts thousands of people across the four days of the event. The flexible real-time video surveillance solutions at the access points of the event allow the agencies to centrally monitor and manage situations proactively and as they arise.
Solution: The EYEfi LTE/NextG wireless, portable surveillance camera system has been assisting the F1 Grand Prix Traffic and Transport Centre for the past six years, providing video surveillance in real-time that is fed direct to the central control room.
The EYEfi system was chosen for the ability to deliver images in real-time to anywhere surveillance was required during day and night activities at the event.
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Key decision makers sit together in the Traffic and Transport Control Centre, to view each camera’s video feed in real-time.
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Crucial decisions are based on what they see from the cameras, so that some traffic lights, trams and infrastructure can be coordinated and adjusted in a timely and efficient manner, to best manage the attending crowds.
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A number of EYEfi’s solar powered, GPS-enabled rapid deployment camera surveillance trailers are set up each year at the main entry gates located on St Kilda Rd, Lakeside Drive and Canterbury Road.
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Provided by EYEfi as a fully managed service, and operating on Telstra’s LTE/NextG network, any authorised agency or remote user connected to the cloud based system can gain instant secure access to the cameras.
The EYEfi maps-based software shows the exact GPS location of the devices and imagery in real-time.
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The EYEfi trailers, which are deployed in just a few hours the day before the event, connect immediately to the centralized cloud system and have proven to be very effective in helping the key agencies manage crowds attending the Grand Prix Carnival.
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Outcomes: "It really provides eyes on the ground, and allows us to be there without being physically present,” said Manager of Special Events, Transport, Frank Gribi.“It also provides better vantage points.”
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The agencies use the EYEfi video feeds to survey and deal with issues as they see them develop. EYEfi also provides a recording of the footage that can be used as an investigative tool.
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Victoria Police Regional Traffic Advisor for the Southern Metropolitan Region, Inspector Greg Parr said, “For me it’s about outcomes, the ability to see what’s happening in real-time, as that is a true account. I don’t have to rely on hearsay. I use it to make decisions and changes in the way we manage the entry point gates. I can see for myself what’s forming, and use that information to manage something before it escalates, so that I deploy resources where they are really needed, and prioritise what is required, when and where."
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With no need for hardwiring, the portable EYEfi system can be moved or relocated very quickly, to ensure hot spots are covered for the central control room to view.