Bob's Adventures in Wireless and Video

Hey Bob, Get some more pictures of the show.

2012-04-16T10:02:55.416-07:00

Hey Bob,

Get some more pictures of the show.

great, it really helps someone like me who is not ...

2012-03-27T18:58:29.528-07:00

great, it really helps someone like me who is not a very computer literate person.

The only limit on what is possible is a closed min...

2012-03-10T06:45:42.178-08:00

The only limit on what is possible is a closed mind.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/pr...

2012-02-23T11:04:54.345-08:00

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/project_syndicate/2012/02/why_germany_is_phasing_out_its_solar_power_subsidies_.html

Here is a recent article in Slate about how the Germans have arrived at the same conclusion I have

After a few people read my blog they told me: &quo...

2012-02-21T10:38:52.411-08:00

After a few people read my blog they told me: "Well you had a great backswing, but no follow through." They meant that I stated all the problems but skimped on the solutions.

Going back to the school example. If the high school had undertaken a comprehensive solar implementation project, that looked at consumption as much as supply, they could have come close to an economically viable implementation of solar.

If they had rewired lighting circuits to use 24VDC and swapped out AC incandescent and flouresent lights with LEDs. If they converted all of their heating systems to natural gas. If they had replaced AC blowers with DC blowers. Then they could have gotten their consumption down to where smaller panels could have been mounted on the roof, saving the costs of building the carports. They could have eliminated inversion, which would have saved them about 15% in power loss for conversion, which again means fewer panels and less cost.

Now look at building a solar powered surveillance system: Conventional assumptions say to use a PTZ camera: 20-30W. Install a heater/blower: 10-15W. Use a mesh wireless router: 15-20W. Maybe you pick an DC heater/blower, but it is less expensive to use 24VAC, so you need to invert the power from DC to AC with a sine wave converter: 15-20% loss.

If we use a 3 megapixel camera such as a Vivotek FE8171V, a AXIS M3114-VE, a Mobotix Q24, or other camera that allows for electronic steering of a VGA window within the fisheye field of view, you can achieve PTZ performance for less than 4W. With a lens heat ring, you can keep the power for defogging and defrosting the lens down to less than 4W. And by using a HauteSpot wireless router, you can keep your long range transmission power down to less than 6W.

Conventional thinking without redesigning your system for solar could consume 65W (this is actually based on a project that we had a customer install). They ended up using our routers instead of a competitor, so they could knock about 20W off their budget, but they still had to file building plans and get permits. They excavated for pads, then formed reinforcement, then poured concrete. They installed large frames for the panels, large boxes for batteries, and had to ship all the heavy material to the site. The project took months to complete and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for the 20 cameras.

If they had started with a design for solar by calling us first, we could have saved them months of time, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and made a system that looked much nicer.

Because of situations like these, we have built up our expertise in solar system design and sizing. We work with partners who know how to install solar, and we have found partner suppliers who have the right products at the right price.

Again, you need to design a system, not bolt on panels to a system that was never intended for solar.

You're amazing. Keep it up!

2012-02-18T09:51:21.082-08:00

You're amazing. Keep it up!

2012-02-18T09:40:23.185-08:00

You're amazing. Keep it up!

Yes, Bob we all have fall victim to a phishing sit...

2012-01-18T10:41:17.198-08:00

Yes, Bob we all have fall victim to a phishing site. And considering the number of ways we now have to protect ourselves, you have to agree with some corporations policy of no surfing or using Social media sites.

Update...I am on a road trip around the Pacific No...

2011-12-26T18:02:37.837-08:00

Update...I am on a road trip around the Pacific Northwest with Charlotte. See my facebook for photos of our adventures.

Nathan and Patrick just called and said that they wanted to shoot some video captures of the demonstration system and wanted to walk through the remote setup.

From our hotel in Eureka, I used the public Internet to connect to the HauteSpot office in Los Osos, check on the remote VPN connection of the Network Optix office in Burbank, and set up remote access to the microNVR for Patrick. All of this over easy to use VPN connections that are entirely secure.

In other words, we could completely manage all aspects of our demonstration network from a laptop on the road.

How cool is that?

Want a lesson...We will be conducting a webinar on VPN connectivity using HauteSpot routers.

This is great stuff Bob. I can't wait to star...

2011-10-08T13:12:16.626-07:00

This is great stuff Bob. I can't wait to start running some of our edge-archiver-client tests in a few months as well.

Sounds great Bob. You are always on the forefront...

2011-08-18T10:32:12.487-07:00

Sounds great Bob. You are always on the forefront of exciting applications. Mike Walker. Coronado, CA

Very cool Bob. Looking forward to see what we'...

2011-06-03T21:38:53.829-07:00

Very cool Bob. Looking forward to see what we're able to do with it soon. Our two remote developers are both back in town for the next two weeks and we are focused on finalizing the road map for our two releases this year. Would love to have you down for a day to join us at some point. We're also a day or two away from releasing a v1.1.x (beta) which has many more behind the scenes optimizations which most wouldn't see but you will really appreciate. Let's talk early next week.
Nate

Yes, Bluetooth 4 includes what is known as LE or L...

2011-05-15T19:04:07.102-07:00

Yes, Bluetooth 4 includes what is known as LE or Low Energy technology. It also has an implementation that runs over 802.11 and is compatible. There is a convergence happening between BT and 802.11. It is very interesting to see.

I think that an extended range BT with 23Mbps and point to multipoint support is where video needs to go.

Marvell has a new part the Avastar 88W8797 which combines 802.11 2x2 MIMO, Bluetooth 4 LE and an FM radio receiver. Interesting idea to add low power FM transmission on a base station to send control to the chip. It also has an ARM 5 processor built in. 20mW and cheap.

Definitely worth investigating.

I heard Bluetooth 4.0 will be introduced by the en...

2011-05-06T11:21:20.401-07:00

I heard Bluetooth 4.0 will be introduced by the end of 2011. One thing I learned is that 4.0 is focus on power management. Do you know any thing else about it?

It actually sounds like a really intriguing new po...

2011-05-01T16:05:24.507-07:00

It actually sounds like a really intriguing new potential entrant technology. Not ready for prime time yet but that new spec of 24mbps bandwidth capacity is highly intriguing, even in short range. That's sufficient bandwidth to carry even high megapixel. Could lead to some interesting new innovation.

nice info thanks

2011-04-10T20:05:38.862-07:00

nice info
thanks

Bob... Let's talk soon. I'm 99% certain ...

2011-03-21T02:05:49.954-07:00

Bob... Let's talk soon. I'm 99% certain that with 30 minutes of you hear with our cool new toy, we could have our cool new toy humming along smoothly on it. Would be a sight to see. Besides, a bunch of cool new cosmetic upgrades for you to see.

Second that Bob. Here's to an amazing show!

2011-03-12T20:34:47.388-08:00

Second that Bob. Here's to an amazing show!

Awesome technology. Hope you have a great show in ...

2011-03-12T17:33:42.790-08:00

Awesome technology. Hope you have a great show in Las Vegas.
Karla

Looking forward to seeing it in action Bob. Sound...

2011-02-20T23:41:03.212-08:00

Looking forward to seeing it in action Bob. Sounds like a hell of a platform for solutions integration.

Frank this is correct, but it goes much further th...

2011-01-30T09:21:44.593-08:00

Frank this is correct, but it goes much further than that. This technology is ideal for tracking across large geographic areas and watching targets move between cameras seamlessly, as you point out, but it goes much farther.

The 3D Overlay technology actually maps data in 3 dimensions. The data can be video, or it can be links to access control systems, lighting control systems, traffic control, building automation, sensor networks, or just about anything else.

So, if I get an alarm at building A and I see the intruder running across the parking lot, I could look ahead of him and close the entry gate, turn on security lights, make an announcement over the address system, or make other changes all from within the interface, where the controls appear where they are physically located. I no longer need to cross reference systems and I can remotely immerse myself in the location I am protecting.

let me guess. The ability to track specific video...

2011-01-30T01:13:04.405-08:00

let me guess. The ability to track specific video targets... vehicles/people anything that moves and hand off from camera to camera ...coast through non covered areas etc. . Similar to radar target identification and tracking.

I have been waiting for this day for a long time.

2010-08-21T21:36:12.371-07:00

I have been waiting for this day for a long time.