SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTE INSPECTION OF EQUIPMENT MECHANICAL DIAL GAUGE READINGS, ELECTRICAL TERMINATION AND BUSHING CONDITION MONITORING
An electrical equipment service cabinet is equipped with a monitoring system for remote inspection and monitoring. The cabinet includes a roof, a floor, and a deadfront wall supporting one or more mechanical dial gauges, electrical terminations and bushings; a digital camera, mounted within the cabinet, that is capable of capturing images of the deadfront wall, the floor, or both, in low visible-light conditions of the cabinet, wherein the digital camera images relevant parts of equipment on the deadfront wall, floor, or both, and wherein the images are adapted for identifying leaking in the form at least one of vertical traces, expanding pools, and darkening concrete floor; and a monitoring computer system operatively connected to the camera and adapted for receiving, storing, and analyzing data inputs from the camera for purposes of raising alarms and providing an indication of potential failure conditions related to the identified leaking.
1 - 20 . (canceled)
21 . An electrical equipment service cabinet equipped with a monitoring system for remote inspection and monitoring, comprising:
an electrical equipment service cabinet having a roof, a floor, and a deadfront wall supporting one or more mechanical dial gauges, electrical terminations and bushings;
a digital camera, mounted within the electrical equipment service cabinet, that is capable of capturing images of the deadfront wall, the floor, or both, in low visible-light conditions of the electrical equipment service cabinet, wherein the digital camera images relevant parts of equipment on the deadfront wall, floor, or both, and wherein the images are adapted for identifying leakage in the form of at least one of vertical traces, expanding pools, and darkening of a concrete floor; and
a monitoring computer system operatively connected to the camera and adapted for receiving, storing, and analyzing data inputs from the camera for purposes of raising alarms and providing an indication of potential failure conditions related to the identified leakage.
22 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 21 , wherein the digital camera is mounted on a motorized swivel.
23 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 22 , wherein the motorized swivel positions the digital camera to capture separate images at a plurality of different orientations.
24 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 23 , wherein the motorized swivel positions the digital camera to capture, at a first orientation, an image of equipment on the deadfront wall, and, at a second orientation, a separate image of other relevant equipment contained in the cabinet, including equipment on the floor of the cabinet.
25 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 21 , wherein the cabinet includes a primary cabinet and a secondary cabinet, the primary cabinet and secondary cabinet being separated by a partition, wherein the digital camera is a first digital camera that is mounted in the primary cabinet, and wherein the monitoring system-equipped cabinet includes a second digital camera mounted in the secondary cabinet.
26 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 21 , wherein the monitoring computer system compares images from the digital camera to baseline images.
27 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 21 , wherein the monitoring computer system is a local monitoring computer system disposed within the electrical equipment service cabinet.
28 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 27 , wherein the monitoring computer system is adapted to provide a remote indication of potential failure conditions to a remote monitoring system.
29 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 28 , wherein the local monitoring computer system is powered from a remote power source and communicates with the remote monitoring system using power over Ethernet (POE) for data connection.
30 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 27 , wherein a self-hosted HTTP web browser is used to allow user configuration and real-time monitoring and control of the local monitoring computer system.
31 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 21 , wherein the digital camera is capable of capturing wide angle images.
32 . An electrical equipment service cabinet equipped with a monitoring system for remote inspection and monitoring, comprising:
an electrical equipment service cabinet having a roof, a floor, and a deadfront wall supporting one or more mechanical dial gauges, electrical terminations and bushings;
a digital camera, mounted within the electrical equipment service cabinet, that is capable of capturing images of the deadfront wall, the floor, or both, in low visible-light conditions of the electrical equipment service cabinet, wherein the digital camera images relevant parts of equipment on the deadfront wall, floor, or both, wherein each of the one or more mechanical dial gauges includes a dial displaying a value, and wherein the images include images of the value of each of the dials; and
a monitoring computer system operatively connected to the camera and adapted for receiving, storing, and analyzing data inputs from the camera for purposes of determining the value of each of the one or more dials using user defined information about each respective gauge and an image processing algorithm.
33 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 32 , wherein the digital camera is mounted on a motorized swivel that positions the digital camera to capture separate images at a plurality of different orientations.
34 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 33 , wherein the motorized swivel positions the digital camera to capture, at a first orientation, an image of at least one of the one or more mechanical dial gauges supported on the deadfront wall, and, at a second orientation, a separate image of other relevant equipment contained in the cabinet, including at least one electrical termination or bushing.
35 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 32 , wherein the cabinet includes a primary cabinet and a secondary cabinet, the primary cabinet and secondary cabinet being separated by a partition, wherein the digital camera is a first digital camera that is mounted in the primary cabinet, and wherein the monitoring system-equipped cabinet includes a second digital camera mounted in the secondary cabinet.
36 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 32 , wherein the monitoring computer system compares images from the digital camera to baseline images.
37 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 32 , wherein the one or more mechanical dial gauges include a temperature gauge.
38 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 32 , wherein the one or more mechanical dial gauges include a cabinet pressure/vacuum gauge.
39 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 32 , wherein the monitoring computer system is a local monitoring computer system disposed within the electrical equipment service cabinet.
40 . The monitoring system-equipped cabinet of claim 32 , wherein the digital camera is capable of capturing wide angle images.