Thursday, 22 December 2016
AN Armidale-based company – RMTeK – has partnered with the NSW Government to roll out world class remote camera monitoring technology in some of the State’s most remote and fire-prone areas.
RMTeK has installed remote units in eight locations – including two in the Northern Tablelands electorate at Mount Tindal between Grafton and Glen Innes, and Point Lookout between Ebor and Armidale – with another two expected to come online shortly.
Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall applauded the initiative and commended the ground-breaking research and development work being undertaken locally by the RMTeK team, led by Director Brendan Doyle.
“The technology deployed in these remote areas will allow emergency service authorities to monitor bushfire prone areas as never before – almost an eye in the sky,” Mr Marshall said.
“The systems developed and employed by Brendan Doyle and RMTeK team in Armidale, could prove vital this summer by helping authorities detect blazes early and give residents and travellers time to leave for a safe place.”
Acting Premier and Minister for Regional Development, Skills and Small Business, John Barilaro, said the Armidale-based company delivered a vital fire-fighting tool.
“RMTeK is an innovative regional company which produces these sophisticated and robust systems to allow for monitoring of remote areas, including for bushfire detection,” Mr Barilaro said.
“Every minute counts when fire threatens and these cameras are helping protect our communities by giving early warning if a bushfire breaks out.”
The systems in place allow for 360-degree views of bushland and national parks with video images relayed to a web-monitoring platform accessible via computer or mobile device. The cameras have a zoom viewing distance of up to 15 kilometres, allowing about 70,000 hectares to be viewed at each camera location and bushfire monitors log onto their local camera sites to check isolated areas for signs of smoke.
For a video snapshot of recent camera footage visit:
www.dropbox.com/sh/fk15zcevroi4iu5/AAB_jdtZlFDHNeMOOqWHkSwBa?dl=0