Oil theft hurts the bottom line for oil producers, the most extreme case being Nigeria's staggering $4.2 billion annual losses. Theft in most other places has been largely eliminated through security monitoring. However, the installation of remote security monitoring systems is complicated by long lengths of power and Ethernet cable that are expensive, troublesome to install, and prone to degradation and damage. Standalone, solar-powered video surveillance systems with wireless network connections provide a powerful alternative for outdoor applications. Our customer, a system integrator specializing in security and video surveillance, wanted to add a solar-powered surveillance system to better serve their clients, including automotive salvage yards, automobile dealers, oil and gas, traffic monitoring, mining, railway, and other outdoor applications across the US. These systems connect to their client's central surveillance center through a wireless network and provide real-time monitoring and alerts for intruders, vandalism, and natural disturbances. To build a solar-powered video surveillance system, our customer needed a low power, compact, and rugged embedded system that can connect to PoE cameras and is compatible with a solar-powered power source. |