Integration with NMEA Devices Application Note MV-Series Thermal Cameras
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Contents Support.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Overview ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Scope ........................
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Overview This document describes how to integrate a FLIR MV-Series thermal camera with devices that use National Maritime Electronics Association (NMEA) communications. In particular, the camera can receive NMEA 0183 sentences from various types of devices, including: Radar GPS Gyrocompass In general, there are several ways to interconnect the camera and NMEA 0183 devices1.
32-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note References FLIR MV/MU-Series Installation Guide (Document # 432-0007-00-12) FLIR MV/MU-Series Operators Manual (Document # 432-0007-00-10) FLIR Sensors Manager (FSM) User Manual 2 http://ns.flir.com/downloads (manual also available from FSM Help menu once the software is installed) National Maritime Electronics Association http://www.nmea.org/ Antaira PoE Switch – LNP-0500-24-T http://www.antaira.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note System Connections It is assumed the camera is installed and operational, and can be controlled via the FLIR Joystick Control Unit (JCU). Warning: Do not connect a Power over Ethernet (PoE) Power Source Equipment (PSE) device (such as a PoE switch or injector) directly into the Ethernet port of the MV-Series camera. Damage to the camera could result and will void the manufacturer’s warranty.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Multiple Nexus Servers By default, the MV cameras have a configuration that includes two Nexus Servers: one for the camera and one for a radar. The Camera Server controls and monitors the various devices in the camera, such as the pan/tilt platform, the IR thermal cameras, the DLTV and LLTV visible cameras and other devices.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Geo-Referencing of the Sensors The Camera Server and the Radar Server can each have a georeference location. When the camera is installed on a vessel, the location information can come from a GPS and gyrocompass and the information is available as NMEA data directly from those devices or through the radar device.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Radar Communications The radar device communicates NMEA 0183 sentences over a serial connection. For the first example, a Moxa Nport 5150 server serial port is connected to the serial interface of the radar, and allows the NMEA data to then be sent via the Ethernet over the network to the camera. The NPort connects to the network through the same PoE switch as the JCU.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Moxa NPort Server In order to use the NPort server on the network, it will need to have an IP address that is compatible with the IP address of the camera, so it is likely it will need to be changed. In this example the NPort is assigned IP address 192.168.250.97. Refer to the NPort user manual for information about using the NPort Administrator software to change the IP address and other configuration parameters.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Select the Operating Mode tab to set up the UDP Terminal. Select the Modify checkbox and then the Settings button to change the UDP Mode settings.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Set the UDP Mode Settings Destination Begin and End IP addresses to the IP address of the camera, and set the port number to 10001. These correspond to the UDP Terminal that is configured in the Radar Server.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Once the UDP Mode is set up, it is possible to use the Port Monitor feature to confirm if the radar data is received by the NPort server. Select the Port Monitor Option, then select “Add” at the top. Once the NPort device is displayed, select the checkbox next to it and click OK.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Use the Port Monitor settings (right click on one of the column headings) to add a column that displays the number of transmitted and received packets – for example, “Tx/Rx after Mon”. Select the “Go” button and then confirm the number of received packets (Rx) is non-zero.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Radar Server Configuration Changes Warning: do not make any changes to the configuration file other than the changes listed here in this document. Open the server.ini configuration file with a text editor. Some parts of the file contain parameters that relate to Sensor 0 (the Camera Server) and some contain parameters that relate to Sensor 1 (the Radar Server).
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Use the joystick to move down to “Special Modes”, and select that option. In the Special Modes Menu, select “NMEA Modes”. In the NMEA Modes Menu, select the “Track NMEA Mode: Disabled” line to enable tracking. Confirm the camera responds to radar tracks.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Multiple NMEA Devices In the next example, multiple NMEA talker devices are able to send NMEA sentences to the camera. In this case, the GPS, gyrocompass, and radar are connected to an NMEA multiplexer (also known as mux), and the output port of the NMEA multiplexer is connected to serial port of the Moxa NPort server used in the previous example. No changes are required on the camera or the camera configuration.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note An alternative solution allows provides the same type of connectivity and combines the Serial Ethernet server and the NMEA Multiplexer into a single device. The ShipModul MiniPlex-2E operates on 12-24VDC rather than PoE, and can connect up to 4 NMEA talkers. Connect the ShipModul mux to power and to the switch. Use the MPX-Config tool that comes with the device to search the network and locate the device.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note The ShipModul uses port number 10110, which is a registered port for NMEA data. Therefore the UDP Terminal of the Radar Server configuration is also set up to use port 10110. Open the camera server.ini configuration file with a text editor, as in the first example. Perform a search of the file for “Sensor 1” to locate the section related to the UDP Terminal: [Sensor 1: TERMINAL Configuration - Device 0] Enabled=yes IP Address=192.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note In the ShipModul software, select the Connect button to connect to the MiniPlex mux. Verify if the mux is receiving NMEA data from the devices. The image above shows $GPGLL sentences from the GPS and $RATTM sentences from the radar.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Troubleshooting The FLIR Sensors Manager software is a convenient tool for monitoring and troubleshooting the camera and the Radar Server. If it has not already been done, install and run FSM, and use Setup > Discovery to add the Camera and Radar Servers to the list of Active Sensors. In FSM, select View > Tracks Panel, confirm the radar tracks are displayed.
432-0007-00-28-en-US v100 Integration with NMEA Devices – Application Note Unable to see radar tracks in FSM Check the connections to the camera, and make sure it is receiving power. If possible, confirm there is a video signal by temporarily plugging the video cable into another video monitor. If the M-Series camera is in Standby mode, no video will be displayed. Generally the camera will be in the Park position if it is in Standby mode.
FLIR Commercial Systems, Inc. 70 Castilian Drive Goleta, CA 93117 Phone: 888.747.FLIR (888.747.3547) International: +1.805.964.9797 www.flir.
