Working Together Remotely: the Story Behind Pancam

Pancam was conceived by Aurizon to address the need for regular low-cost inspection of pantographs. Aurizon conducted the on-site development and testing in Mackay (north Queensland) while Hamey Vision Systems provided software development and consultancy from our Sydney offices. Access Macquarie provided project management services, also based in Sydney.

Aurizon's on-site work involved development and installation of the imaging systems, sensors, industrial PC and sensor signal processing for the machine vision system. Hamey Vision Systems provided consultancy for the design and development of the imaging components of the inspection system.

Working in our Sydney offices, Hamey Vision Systems developed the Pancam machine vision software to capture and analyse images of locomotive pantographs. Development of the hardware interfaces (AVI tag reader, sensor interface, etc) required shipping the hardware components to Sydney for a short development period after which they were returned and installed on-site. The image analysis software was tested in our offices using stored digital images, with installation and final testing performed on site by Aurizon.

The features of Pancam were developed incrementally, providing a useful pantograph monitoring system early in the project with more sophisticated pantograph inspection and reporting mechanisms added as the project progressed. Hamey Vision Systems provided regular software updates to Aurizon throughout the project.

The remote development approach required close collaboration and regular communication between the parties. However, the project outcomes were achieved with a significant reduction in cost compared to on-site consultancy services.

Hamey Vision Systems would be pleased to work with you to develop your machine vision solution in the way that best suits your requirements.