ELECTRICAL CABINET INFRARED MONITOR SYSTEMS AND METHODS

• US 20150296146A1
• Filed: 06/24/2015
• Published: 10/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Teledyne FLIR LLC (Teledyne Technologies Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: FLIR Systems, Inc. (Teledyne Technologies Incorporated)
• Inventors: Scanlon, Thomas J., Fox, Michael, Hgasten, Nicholas, Hoelter, Theodore R., Strandemar, Katrin, Boulanger, Pierre, Sharp, Barbara, Nussmeier, Mark, Kurth, Eric A.
• Granted Patent: US 10,841,508 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/11 for generating image signals from visible and infrared light wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/63 by using electronic viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/90 Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/265 Mixing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

Various techniques are provided to monitor electrical equipment. In some implementations, a monitoring system for a cabinet may include an infrared camera and a non-thermal camera. The infrared camera may be configured to capture one or more thermal images of at least a portion of electrical equipment positioned in an interior cavity of the cabinet. The non-thermal camera may be configured to capture one or more non-thermal images such as visible light images of the portion of electrical equipment. In some implementations, combined images may be generated that include characteristics of the thermal images and the non-thermal images for viewing by a user. In some implementations, the cameras may receive electrical power through a physical coupling to an electrical connector within the cabinet and/or through electromagnetic energy harvesting techniques. Other implementations are also provided.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an infrared camera configured to capture a thermal image of at least a portion of electrical equipment positioned in an interior cavity of a cabinet;

a non-thermal camera configured to capture a non-thermal image of at least the portion of the electrical equipment positioned in the interior cavity of the cabinet; and

a communication interface configured to transmit the thermal image and the non-thermal image for external viewing by a user.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a processor configured to generate a combined image comprising visible spectrum characteristics derived from the non-thermal image and thermal characteristics derived from a radiometric component of the thermal image.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the combined image comprises:

high spatial frequency content of the non-thermal image encoded into a luminance component of the combined image; and

the radiometric component encoded into the luminance component of the combined image and/or encoded into a chrominance component of the combined image.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein:

the combined image comprises a chrominance component of the non-thermal image encoded into a chrominance component of the combined image;

the radiometric component comprises a luminance component of the thermal image;

the combined image comprises blended image data comprising the radiometric component and a luminance component of the visible spectrum image; and

the blended image data is encoded into a luminance component of the combined image.

5. The system of claim 2, further comprising a user-viewable screen configured to display the combined image.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the user-viewable screen is mounted on an exterior surface of the cabinet.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the user-viewable screen is remote from the cabinet.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an additional infrared camera configured to capture an additional thermal image of a corresponding portion of the electrical equipment;

an additional non-thermal camera configured to capture an additional non-thermal image of the corresponding portion of the electrical equipment; and

wherein the communication interface is configured to transmit the additional thermal image and the additional non-thermal image for external viewing by the user.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the non-thermal camera comprises a visible light camera.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an electromagnetic coupler configured to receive electromagnetic energy from at least one conductor within the cabinet;

an energy harvesting circuit configured to provide electrical power from the electromagnetic coupler; and

a battery configured to power the infrared camera and the non-thermal camera by the electrical power.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the thermal image is an unblurred thermal image of at least the portion of the electrical equipment; and

the system further comprises a processor configured to;

determine a plurality of non-uniform correction (NUC) terms based on intentionally blurred thermal images captured by the thermal camera, and

apply the NUC terms to the unblurred thermal image to remove noise from the unblurred thermal image.

12. A method comprising:

capturing, by an infrared camera, a thermal image of at least a portion of electrical equipment positioned in an interior cavity of a cabinet;

capturing, by a non-thermal camera, a non-thermal image of at least the portion of the electrical equipment positioned in the interior cavity of the cabinet; and

transmitting, by a communication interface, the thermal image and the non-thermal image for external viewing by a user.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising generating a combined image comprising visible spectrum characteristics derived from the non-thermal image and thermal characteristics derived from a radiometric component of the thermal image.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the combined image comprises:

high spatial frequency content of the non-thermal image encoded into a luminance component of the combined image; and

the radiometric component encoded into the luminance component of the combined image and/or encoded into a chrominance component of the combined image.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the combined image comprises a chrominance component of the non-thermal image encoded into a chrominance component of the combined image;

the radiometric component comprises a luminance component of the thermal image;

the combined image comprises blended image data comprising the radiometric component and a luminance component of the visible spectrum image; and

the blended image data is encoded into a luminance component of the combined image.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising displaying the combined image on a user-viewable screen.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the user-viewable screen is mounted on an exterior surface of the cabinet.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the user-viewable screen is remote from the cabinet.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

capturing, by an additional infrared camera, an additional thermal image of a corresponding portion of the electrical equipment;

capturing, by an additional non-thermal camera, an additional non-thermal image of the corresponding portion of the electrical equipment; and

transmitting, by the communication interface, the additional thermal image and the additional non-thermal image for external viewing by the user.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the non-thermal camera comprises a visible light camera.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving, by an electromagnetic coupler, electromagnetic energy from at least one conductor within the cabinet;

providing, by an energy harvesting circuit, electrical power in response to the electromagnetic energy received by the electromagnetic coupler; and

powering the infrared camera and the non-thermal camera by the electrical power provided by the energy harvesting circuit.

22. The method of claim 12, wherein:

the thermal image is an unblurred thermal image of at least the portion of the electrical equipment; and

the method further comprises;

determining a plurality of non-uniform correction (NUC) terms based on intentionally blurred thermal images captured by the thermal camera, and

applying the NUC terms to the unblurred thermal image to remove noise from the unblurred thermal image.