I have heard that some security cameras don't record details very well when filming the whole room, which is somewhat obvious. Unfortunately, if the camera were mounted at face-level, the perpetrator would potentially notice it, and try to duck under it or kill it.
Enter the motion-triggered zoom camera. It looks like an ordinary ceiling mounted camera, but if the camera is filming an unoccupied area, and someone walks in, the camera has an optical zoom that will automatically zoom in on the person, capturing more details and leading to a better chance of apprehending him/her. (if he/she actually did something illegal)
As an added bonus, maybe their could be more cameras that come out of secret panels in the wall when the room is busier. Then, when ever the room is not occupied (like when the school, store, arcade or whatever is closed) the cameras retract back into the wall, and a sliding panel closes, leaving only the ceiling mounted "dome" cameras. (the auto-zoom ones) This would counteract the problem of all the cameras zooming in on everyone and whipping around, wearing out the gears. Or, the zoom function could simply disable itself during "busy times"-- Dickcheney6, Apr 29 2008 Yup, ten years ago. http://www.patentst...atents/6215519.htmlSee "Other references - Primary Image" [AbsintheWithoutLeave, Apr 30 2008] What if there's more than one source of motion (more than one person in the room, say)?-- phoenix, Apr 30 2008 Are we talking about my driving again?
What did you ever do to deserve that moniker, Richard?
Welcome to the Halfbakery.-- normzone, Apr 30 2008 I like it though I think it's baked. I'll try tomorrow and see if I can do this. We have Axis 213 PTZ cameras and all the pieces are there, motion sensing, pan, tilt and zoom. There are two doors to cover, so setting up motion sensing on those two areas should be easy. The missing piece is having the motion alarm tigger the zoom.-- MisterQED, Apr 30 2008 Definitely Bakeable using current technology.-- 8th of 7, Apr 30 2008 I baked this about ten years ago with 1980s technology. [linky]-- AbsintheWithoutLeave, Apr 30 2008 Ok, here's the plan, I put the gun to his head and you run over to the other corner and wave, got it? On three, one, two...-- zeno, May 01 2008 If there is more than one source of motion, maybe the camera could zoom out as far as it needs to to get both sources of motion on camera. Also, as I mentioned before, maybe there could simply be more cameras, and some of them are only active when there is more traffic, for example. maybe it could be timed, or if there are more than x number of moving objects/people, it could just zoom out and have a "general monitor". Besides, if the area is busier, someone may be watching the monitors anyway (not neccisarily) but if there is something going on and someone IS watching the monitors, they could just zoom in on it "manually" (i.e. via buttons on or near the screen)-- Dickcheney6, May 03 2008 Another possible solution- maybe the cameras and the alarm system could be inter-connected? then if the burglar alarm is armed, and a sensor gets set off, the camera/s in that general area would zoom in to the area near the motion sensor or the door that got "illegally" opened. Then the camera could, maybe, send an alarm to the monitors. If anyone is watching them, they will be alerted by a flashing message or alarm sounder or something. The burglar alarm would still operate independantly, so if the burglar tried to disable or destroy the camera or set off a smoke-bomb, the alarm would still go off. In case you dont know how a burglar alarm operates, usually the keypad is mounted inside the door. After entering, you must enter a code within 1 minute to avoid the siren going off (and the cops being called) Usually the keypad beeps when this is happening.-- Dickcheney6, May 03 2008 random, halfbakery