Arc monitoring system

• US 20070108990A1
• Filed: 09/22/2004
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Chubu Electric Power Company Incorporated, Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Chubu Electric Power Company Incorporated
• Inventors: Suzuki, Atsushi, Kumai, Toshiya, Oguchi, Yoshihisa, Saitou, Hisaya, Shimbo, Kenichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,783,437 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/536
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/1218 using optical methods; using charged particle, e.g. electron, beams or X-rays
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80

Abstract

An arc monitor system locates an arc based on optimal frames from a frame obtained before an arc discharge to a frame obtained immediately after the arc discharge. The arc monitor system, used to locate an occurred place of an arc discharge that occurred in an electric facility, includes multiple monitor cameras arranged at multiple places in the electric facility, an image processing device that processes images received from the respective monitor cameras, a control logic section that controls the image processing device, and an operation device that includes a display section and an operation section and is connected to the control logic section. The image processing device and the control logic section extract a change in the images received from the monitor cameras in response to a control signal generated from the electric facility on an occurrence of the arc discharge, and then locate an occurred place of the arc discharge.

Claims

1-8. -8. (canceled)

9. An arc monitor system, which is used to locate an occurred place where an arc discharge occurred in an electric facility, comprising:

a plurality of monitor cameras that are arranged at a plurality of places in the electric facility;

an image processing device that individually processes images received from the monitor cameras;

a control logic section that controls the image processing device; and

an operation device that has a display section and an operation section, and that is connected to the control logic section,

wherein the image processing device and the control logic section extract a change in the images received from the monitor cameras in response to a control signal generated from the electric facility on an occurrence of the arc discharge, and then locate the occurred place of the arc discharge.

10. The arc monitor system according to claim 9, wherein the image processing device and the control logic section, on recognizing and extracting the arc discharge, successively process a plurality of frames of the image ranging from a frame obtained before occurrence of the arc discharge to a frame obtained after an extinction of the arc discharge, obtain a level and a center of gravity of the arc discharge in the successive images, and observe transitions of the level and the center of gravity, thereby locating the occurred place of the arc discharge.

11. The arc monitor system according to claim 9, wherein:

the monitor cameras are arranged to allow all places in the electric facility to be imaged by at least two of the monitor cameras; and

the image processing device and the control logic section, on the occurrence of the arc discharge, combine places located by the images captured by at least two of the monitor cameras, thereby calculating the occurred place by triangulation.

12. The arc monitor system according to claim 9, wherein each of the monitor cameras includes a near-infrared camera that captures an image by near-infrared light obtained by removing visible light.

13. The arc monitor system according to claim 9, wherein the image processing device and the control logic section observe a change in a remaining heat energy of the arc discharge immediately after the occurrence of the arc discharge.

14. The arc monitor system according to claim 9, further comprising:

an image switching device that is connected to the image processing device; and

an image recording device and a monitor that are connected to the image switching device,

wherein the occurred place of the arc discharge located by the image processing device and the control logic section is displayed on the monitor and the operation device as a plan view, and is simultaneously recorded in the image recording device.

15. The arc monitor system according to claim 9, wherein each of the monitor cameras includes a panning camera that is turned toward the occurred place of the arc discharge when the occurred place of the arc discharge is located, and then captures an image immediately after the occurrence of the arc discharge.

16. The arc monitor system according to claim 9, wherein the electric facility is a substation.