Tech notes from the 2021 FM Solutions and Security Strategies Summit

For the Mid-Atlantic region, last week presented a significant opportunity to visit solution providers, meet with end users and attend problem-solving education classes. The FM Solutions & Security Strategies Summit, managed now by Mingo Summits, has been referred to as a “reverse trade show” where pre-qualified end users from a wide variety of markets have meeting space to see vendors at pre-arranged times. Vendor tables also surround the two-day event, and electronic security, door opening hardware and smart building systems were well represented at the Philadelphia-area event.

Education sessions are shorter, with greater focus on project savings and how to solve significant building and workplace issues like entry screening, occupancy sensing, health checks, facility viral load, cyber-readiness and active assailant detection. During one of these sessions, a security director for an entertainment venue presented a unique problem where a fatal shooting of one of their clients had recently just occurred at their home, and they may have been followed there from the venue itself, even across state lines. Weapons detection, vehicle identification, vehicle license plate capture, object tracking, 8K imaging, AI-based object detection, all represented ways of mitigating this complex set of threat vectors and these solution providers have very deep and varying product features, encouraging and often requiring one-on-one problem-solving conversations.

Here are few of the vendors I had a chance to catch up with at this year’s show:

Hanwha Techwin
With a significant range of products just announced at GSX 2021 in September, Hanwha decided to showcase its new Wisenet X PLUS Model XNV-8081Z camera during the FM Solutions Summit. The camera uses AI-based object classification with a 6M camera module that mounts magnetically, and reliably identifies objects such as a car, truck, bicycle, license plate or a person. The detection algorithms are license-free, and the cryptographic module is validated to the FIPS-140-2 Standard. In addition to object detection, these AI cameras send metadata to a video server for forensic search operations and also provide extended license plate and face capture analysis.

Hanwha Techwin America products also conform to Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that prohibit the federal government and government contractors from using devices with components manufactured by a host of China-based manufacturers.

VIVOTEK
As of November 2021, VIVOTEK America has also released its NDAA Compliant Product List, including their SUPREME, iNSIGHT, C-Series and V-Series Cameras, and PoE Infrastructure.

Fisheye cameras have been a popular product segment and VIVOTEK recently replaced its FE9382-EHV 5MP with the 6MP FE9382-EHV-v2. Version 1 of this Supreme-series fisheye lens included built-in analytics, was based on the Ambarella SoC with CV Flow Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and supported AWS’ Cloud Architecture with Kinesis Video Streaming. In a shift toward the more security-focused solution provider, Genetec, the latest version now supports the Genetec Stratocast cloud service, based on Microsoft Azure. Both platforms support Deep Neural Networks (DNN) or the more video-centric CNN.

The 12MP Model FE9391-EV remains in the 360-degree product segment for now, and contains the high performance computer vision lens by ImmerVision.

Delta Controls

With seven different sensors onboard, the O3 utilizes Sensor Fusion to enhance occupancy detection and temperature reading. The O3 reacts fast when you leave the room, turning off lights, reducing heating and ventilation. It can be configured out of the box with a smartphone, or can be part of a rules-based control system.

For example, the occupancy detection on an O3 module in a workspace can keep lights and HVAC on for the part of the building being used, with lit pathways for bathroom, kitchen, elevator and exits.

If an active assailant is detected in the building, the O3 module can send text messages to SWAT as to the last known activated occupancy sensors, indicating people sheltering in place, or the assailant themself. Multiple O3 modules, together with video motion detection from cameras, and even AI-based weapons detection can trigger input/output modules and create sophisticated noise distractions to draw the active assailant away from students or employees sheltering.

In the “Technology to Mitigate Active Shooter Threat,” session that I taught, I illustrated a potential sequence of operations after an AI-based visual or waveform energy camera or sensor positively reports an active shooter and their location. Individual offices or classrooms can automatically be “locked down” if equipped with electric locksets and the correct door opening function. Additional sequenced operations might be silent alerts, camera feeds streaming from last known motion activity and graphic display of smartphone Wi-Fi “blips” or last known location.

An excellent question came from an attendee that wanted to have free exit paths unlocked so students or workers could escape, but still wanted individual shelter areas locked down. With the use of Node Red Visual Programming, even complex logic to trigger some output locks, but not others, and then, only on certain conditions is greatly simplified, and the project manager need not have to learn any programming language. In fact, because Node Red is used a good deal for smart building logic to achieve sustainability, it is simple to find examples in HVAC and building automation forums. Testing is also simplified as you can see input-to-output activation right on your desktop, tablet or smartphone screen. See the sample image of an O3 sensor and a Node Red logic flow.

Reddware
ReddWare is a global solution provider that builds, tests and customizes computer hardware based on the Supermicro chassis, for end users of video management solutions like Qognify, Milestone, Avigilon, IndigoVision and Genetec. These surveillance storage machines are designed for high performance and scalability, even when resource-intensive decoding of high-resolution video streaming is involved.

ThinkLite
ThinkLite, a Boston-based smart space pathogen detection and mitigation solution, has introduced Flair, customizable sensors, controller and smartphone app that can give the facility manager a snapshot of the viral load living in your building’s public facing areas. The controller also purifies the air, depending on room size, from known pathogens at sizes (in microns) that consumer “dust cleaners” cannot sense and clean (see image).