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Good morning, everyone. This is a question for all my manufacturing people out there.

Our Service Department is responsible for the final inspections of the agricultural machines we build and sell. We currently have several hoist systems to help move product around the loading bays. Last year, the Service Manager asked me to recommend a camera we could use with one of the hoists to take a nice top-down picture of the machine once it’s packaged up and loaded. I ended up picking out the Amcrest ASH47-W, which is a pretty cheap wireless network camera. We mounted it to the hoist body and use 110v power from the hoist (there’s a convenient outlet right on the body), but the camera is pretty cheap and has trouble starting up when the hoist is electrified.

Has anyone else come across a better camera for this kind of situation? Failing that, can anyone recommend a wireless network camera that’s a little more rugged and can boot up faster?

Thanks!

7 Spice ups
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We use Ubiquiti cameras, and they work great. They are lower cost, and have great images.

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Just speculating here, but my guess is not that the camera is having trouble starting, but rather EM interference from the hoist causing problems with the WiFi. Could of options. Some cameras can record to MicroSD in case of WiFi interruption. Sorry, don’t have any part numbers off hand, but it’s a common feature. Less convenient would be to run some shielded ethernet to the camera.

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Maybe there’s a way to keep the camera from losing power? Not that this fixes the ‘inexpensive’ camera, as that’ll always be an issue…you get what you pay for, after all…

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5

How about a dashcam? Most record to MicroSD and have onboard batteries that will allow recording without external power for at least a few minutes.

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They’re also designed to handle vehicle vibrations and stay generally stable even during crashes (for the most part…) so riding on a crane would be pretty tame!

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I appreciate all the replies so far! The issue we’re experiencing isn’t signal-related. The camera is about 20-40 feet from the (Ubiquiti) wireless access point, and there’s never anything obstructing line-of-sight. The SD card option is out due to the real-time nature of how the camera is used. Same for a dashcam for the media card, although a dashcam would be MUCH better at the repeated power on/off, which earns it a “I’ll check them out”.

As for providing constant power, that’s the most tricky part. I’ll have to take a picture of the loading bay to provide a better idea of what I’m dealing with. The hoist body can move all over the bay, and it clearly gets power from the rails, which appear to be energized all the time, but might not be. If I can tap into that power, I should be golden with an appropriate power cord.

I’ll update soon with a picture.

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8

I operated a security company, and we had a similar warehouse request. We wall-mounted a digital still camera at a designated “inspection station” where the photo was taken. The truck was parked on the yellow square on the floor where it was photographed.

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I was thinking along these same lines. Reduces variables (power, positioning, lighting, obstructions, etc.)

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We already have two stationary cameras in the bay, but they’re mounted to the side walls, where the top-down view just isn’t there. If memory serves, I got cocky because of the “solution” to mount a cam to the hoist body for the freedom to take a picture anywhere the hoist is. I’ll have a chat with Service about a stationary cam, that’s not a bad idea.

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Use a fisheye lens camera on an arm, maybe? Ala:

th-442685788
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SBP-390WMW2_white_01_M-600x600
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We have an IDS camera on our Fork Lifts and they work well. The hard part here is you’re asking for a WiFi capable unit that might be something you’d need to talk with their sales about. I know they’re not the cheapest, but they work as expected and do a really good job for what we’ve asked them to.

https://www.ids-imaging.us

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Does this help? Here are some pictures of the Loading Bay, including the hoists. The closeup of the hoist shows the bubble of the Amcrest ASH47-W camera on the right.

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I would be first concerned about power quality coming through rails, the slip brushed are going to supplu really really dirty power, the motors don’t care, electronics on the other hand will..

I wonder, is it camera bootup that is slow? or is it WiFi node acquisition that is slow?
Usualy those cameras are powered up on 3 or 4 seconds, but it might be having a hard time finding it’s node..

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With the way power is delivered & routed, all those nearby metal objects, and RF noise caused by the motors I’m a little surprised that the WiFi camera works acceptably at all. My vote is still for designating a specific area where everything is photographed.

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Huh, never considered dirty power. That’s a good point. And speaking of power, I wonder how that camera is handling it all.

In any case, it’s pretty clear I need to have another conversation with Service about expectations and the reality of what they want to accomplish.

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I am thinking a dedicated inspection location with a fixed camera would work better also. Unifi just announced some really interesting 4K cameras this week that might be a good fit for this.

The Unifi cameras also have a Snapshot mode where you can simply call a URL to the camera (it has to be enabled in the camera UI) and the camera will return an image. No extra software or NVR required.

http://<camera-ip>/snap.jpeg
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18

The camera utilizing a REST API for extreme ease-of-use sounds like an incredibly dangerous feature, so of course I love it. :slight_smile:

I spoke to our primary company electrician, who is the guy who helped wire up the camera in the first place. Apparently both the trolley and bridge are energized only when activated by the control. That means trying to get constant power to the camera is out; it’d be hyper inefficient no matter what. I emailed our service manager two options: leave it all alone (it’s rather MacGyvered but it works), or go with the designated photo spot (thanks to several of you for that suggestion!). I’ll see what he says and we’ll go from there.

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