Technologies for human temperature control became one of the most demanded solutions today.
By Security Sales
With the arrival of COVID-19, the security industry has been greatly affected, as the vast majority of projects were stopped and just today we are seeing a slight return to activities in what we now call the "new normal".
Because of this, opportunities were presented by the need to protect people with the new biosecurity regulations established to open the different commercial and industrial spaces. It was there that many brands in the industry found the possibility of meeting the demand for safety with thermal solutions that allow the identification of people with high body temperature.
The arrival of these solutions in times of COVID-19 became a light at the end of the tunnel for many factories and a complement to other companies that already have extensive experience in the thermal technology sector.
In this article, we invited several brands (Dahua, FLIR, Hikvision, Uniview) as well as distributors Casmar and Portenntum, to give us their concepts on how this experience of providing this kind of solutions has been; In addition, we will know some of the features of their solutions and see how much this business has grown in recent days.
Customer needs
The need of the client is clear, they want to identify users who can put other people at risk of contagion. It is no longer strange to think that our security sector now not only protects people and places from vandalism, but that people's health care is also a priority of our industry.
The brands agree on something: the intention of this class of thermal solutions is to help customers make a preliminary measurement of the visitor's body temperature and get alerts from the solution when identifying a person who registers a body temperature higher than normal levels. This allows monitoring of incidents, generation of reports that allow to keep the temperature control record, among others.
The important thing for customers is that these solutions are fast and quite effective, because they do not seek to generate conglomerations due to scanning, but that traffic is much more agile in revenue.
Features of the solutions
In this space we will mention the characteristics, brand by brand of our guests. We present them in alphabetical order:
- Dahua: Considering the solutions of cameras and access control and assistance systems, the main features are as follows:
• Monitoring and detection of body temperature with high precision.
• Alarm and notification of abnormal temperature and omission of the use of masks
• Response time of 0.2 seconds at a distance of 0.3 - 1.8 meters with an accuracy range of ± 0.5°C and in the case of high-flow cameras deliver an accuracy of ± 0.3°C at a distance greater than 3 meters with a flow of more than 150 people per minute.
• Contactless access to reduce cross-infection.
• Easy to install, flexibility to look at one place or change its location according to the needs of each organization.
• Large storage of facial images and temperature information for easy incident tracking.
• Quick access to prevent capacity control.
• Attendance control with check-in, check-out, lunchtime, delays and non-attendance.
- FLIR: "We have the widest selection of lenses and offer a variety of detection ranges to suit small and large site deployments. Our cameras are also designed for system interoperability. They are ONVIF compliant," said Daniel Gundlach, Head of Global Business Development and Key Accounts, Critical Infrastructure, Systems at FLIR.
The thermal cameras are compatible with GigE Vision / GeniCam, which allows to create a software of detection of elevated skin temperature. Cameras with elevated skin temperature detection on board support ONVIF (Pending Compliance Verification), Modbus TCP, RESTful API and other commonly used communication protocols. For elevated skin temperature detection applications, two defining features of our cameras are FLIR Screen-EST mode and FLIR Screen-EST software.
The Screen-EST mode on the camera takes into account natural fluctuations in body temperature and the environment by providing a relative temperature alert system, designed to prevent false positives and false negatives that may result from relying on absolute temperature measurements. The Screen-EST software automatically takes a skin temperature measurement near each person's tear duct, which is the surface area most closely related to core body temperature. The software ensures that detection is done in just two seconds, allowing for accelerated performance.
- Hikvision: The accuracy of the equipment is up to 0.5ºC without the need for external calibrators (known as Black Body). If we use a Black Body with the camera the accuracy can be up to 0.3ºC. Another important aspect is the capacity of simultaneous readings that can be up to 30 people per second in the semi-fixed equipment type dual cameras that can be mounted in a fixed way on wall / ceiling or in a tripod to take it to different places.
It is important to note that although the equipment has a great reading capacity, it must be ensured that the flow of people does not interfere between them, since a robust or tall person could completely block another and thus prevent it from being captured by the camera. We also highlight the speed of the measurement that is less than 0.2 seconds per person; this is important if we place it in the context of a company that has more than 300 people in a shift. This speed ensures that the person should not stop to make the measurement.
- Portentum (Provision solution - ISR): Having a diverse portfolio for different operational needs. The accuracy of temperature recording with a deviation of 0.3%, this is reliability.
- Uniview: Accuracy ± 0.3°C, combining temperature detection and access control together. Detect the rotational temperature to make sure the sensing temperature is closer to the actual temperature of the human body. The UNV program introduced TOF (time of flight) in this type of solution to make the temperature detection response faster and more accurate.
Accessories
As Stated by Lenore Li, Brand Manager of Uniview, in the previous paragraph, the ideal complement to these solutions are access controls. Nowadays brands are focusing their efforts on these specific contactless solutions.
"The perfect complement are access control and assistance solutions that allow through intelligent analytics to help detect people with high temperature, who do not wear a mask, who analyze the distance between people and the number of people in a place, all of the above in an efficient way, so as not to hinder the flows of people and also in a safe and non-invasive way that allows people to feel comfortable with this type of technology," said Rodrigo Escamilla, Business Development Manager at Dahua Technology Mexico.
For her part, Francisca Sánchez, Marketing Communications Manager for Hikvision LATAM, highlighted: "As these technologies are being thought to be preventive measures, the ideal complement is related to access control, since it provides two important advantages: one is the identification of an abnormal temperature in the person and the second is the validation of their identity, together with having a normal temperature, and even the use of a mask at the time of access make these preventive measures more effective. Even when this implementation is done with a management platform, such as HikCentral, it allows you to keep a historical record of people: their temperature over a week or a month, if you have always used your mask as a prevention; you can even add time and attendance functions, already taking advantage of the fact of identifying the person and their time of entry and exit."
The notable increase in demand
Definitely, COVID-19 increased the demand for this kind of solutions. Many companies report fairly high percentage growth. In the case of Casmar, "these solutions represent approximately 50% of our activity," said Olga Serras, Head of Corporate Communication at Casmar.
"The global demand for and interest in this technology during the COVID-19 pandemic is unmatched in FLIR's 17 years of experience in this market. In the first quarter of 2020, FLIR booked $100 million in orders for our elevated skin temperature detection cameras," said Daniel Gundlach of FLIR.
Dahua highlighted "triple-digit" growth in this class of technologies. "The need to maintain operational activity and now, with the new normal, to be prepared for reopening, has increased the confidence and need for this technology to achieve the objectives in a safe way," said Rodrigo Escamilla, from Dahua.
Francisca Sánchez, from Hikvision, mentioned in this regard that "there is really no point of comparison of these solutions with anything before. Given the circumstances with which the events that we all know developed, as soon as there began to be demand for this solution it increased exponentially and thus it is growing with a rate of 50% each month and it is likely that it will increase more in the coming months as it can return to the new normal and more of this solution is required. "
For Uniview the growth has been "around 500%", acknowledged Lenore Li, Brand Manager of the brand.
Recommendations for using the solutions
The use of thermal cameras also requires that a series of important requirements be met when it comes to ensuring their correct operation. "In general, the equipment must be installed in controlled temperature and lighting environments since the equipment can generate deviations losing the accuracy of the temperature record," said Alejandro González, ISR Supply Channel Manager, Portentum.
Also "large drafts should be avoided and that between the entrance and the detection area there are a few meters away. Likewise, an action protocol must be followed by the operator with a second temperature measurement for verification," said Olga Serras, from Casmar.
Francisca Sánchez added in this regard that "it is also important to pay attention to the installation conditions, such as the recommended height, the distance from the camera to the target person; this depends on and will vary depending on the model of the camera, which can have lenses of different sizes, these range from 3 to 12 mm".
Some outstanding projects
Dahua: "Among which we can highlight one of the most important hospitals in the country, a logistics company of great renown at a global level, government institutions in the state such as Nuevo León and Coahuila, bank branches, which for confidentiality reasons we can not disclose their names, but the list is wide and continues to grow due to the implementation of the strategy of reopening and economic reactivation of companies and industries driven by the government," said Rodrigo Escamilla of Dahua.
FLIR: "FLIR is selling elevated skin temperature detection cameras in several industries, including critical infrastructure, governments, manufacturing facilities, airports and airlines, theme parks, sports stadiums, transportation companies and other high-traffic facilities. Our customers for these cameras include the World Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Defense, General Motors and Emirates Airlines," said Daniel Gundlach.
Hikvision: "Important real estate corporation with presence in 3 countries in Latin America, more than 50 million visits to its shopping centers, has relied on Hikvision's thermal solutions through an exhaustive proof of concept of the effectiveness of cameras for temperature detection in order to control the pedestrian access of entry of its customers and visitors to shopping centers. The real estate corporation has implemented 16 checkpoints to carry out a controlled and monitored temperature detection process, with state-of-the-art technology," said Francisca Sánchez.
Uniview: "Embassy of Panama in China, 4-piece thermal screening system, 8-piece front terminal temperature detection devices," said Lenore Li, brand manager.
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