MxMC Thermal Dashboard Installation & Configuration Guide
The visualisation of temperature values is used in many applications to prevent damage or disruption to process sequences in many control rooms, which MOBOTIX provides as a system provider with the new Thermal Dashboard function in the MxMC.
In this community article, we go into the necessary installation steps!
Requirement
- At least MxMC version 2.8 installed on the PC or Mac.
- MxMC Thermal Dashboard licence](MxMC Thermal Dashboard - License Info) Mx-SW-MC-Th-DB-Bas or the demo licence Mx-SW-MC-Th-DB-Bas-30
The Base (SW-MC-TH-DB-Bas) Licence supports 4 thermal cameras, each additional thermal camera requires an additional Device (SW-MC-TH-DB-Bas) Licence.
- A MOBOTIX thermal imaging camera (Thermal or Thermal TR but no ECO model)
Supported MOBOTIX IOT thermal imaging cameras:
P7 Thermal imaging cameras with the latest software version such as the M73, S74.
P6 Thermal imaging cameras with the latest software version such as the M16, S16.
P3 thermal imaging cameras, to obtain thermal data, the camera must generate >periodic events to obtain the data.
1. Licence activation
Important: The function first requires **activation of the licence in the MxMC licence dialogue!
In the MxMC menu bar under ‘Windows’, select the ‘Licences’ sub-item
Activate licence:
MxMC online manual contains further helpful details https://manuals.mobotix.com/mxmc/current/en/#LicensesActMgt.html?Highlight=lizenz
2. Add thermal camera
The thermal camera must always be added to the MxMC. (MxMC requires admin rights on the camera).
There are various ways for the user to do this:
- Via the Welcome dialogue during initial installation
- Via the side Device bar in the MxMC
- Via the Components view (preferred variant for existing installations)
This is described in detail in the MxMC online manual:
https://manuals.mobotix.com/mxmc/current/en/#CamerasAdd.html?Highlight=kamera%20hinzufügen
3. Prepare MOBOTIX Thermal camera
Which cameras are supported:
P7 Thermal imaging cameras with the latest software version such as the M73, S74.
P6 Thermal imaging cameras with the latest software version such as the M16, S16.
P3 thermal imaging cameras, to obtain thermal data, the camera must generate periodic events to obtain the data.
Thermal and thermal radiometry cameras are supported.
- Camera has the latest camera firmware installed!
- Camera ‘Arming’ is activated (Setup → General Event Settings)
- Configure Thermal Event(at least one thermal event required)
3.1 Setup → Event Overview
3.2 Create a new Profile and define a Measurement Area (only possible for radiometry models, otherwise use Spot Meter)
- Camera Recording is active and Continuous recording (optimal) is active
- Specifically for P6 and P7 cameras, the following setting is required in Camera Setup → JPEG Settings to obtain thermal data:
Note: If you do not have this ‘JPEG comment interval’ setting in your camera because your firmware is too old or the camera does not support this setting. The default interval is every 10 seconds. If you need a faster interval, define a periodic event in the camera to do this, e.g. a periodic interval every second.
For further special thermal settings, camera thresholds, optimal thermal settings suitable for the ambient conditions to avoid temperature deviations / distortions, please study the relevant training and documentation:
- Often underestimated the online camera manual (press yellow ? in the upper right corner of the camera web interface)
- General camera manuals
- Introductory brochure for Thermal
- Whitepaper Thermal Applications
- E-Campus Thermal training courses
- How to configure a radiometry event & audio announcement
Info for experts:** The temperature data for the thermal dashboard display is contained either in the live image stream or in the image stream of the recording. The thermal data is NOT encoded in a separate channel but in the image stream.
4. Settings in the MxMC
- Basic settings in the menu bar under Settings
Settings can be made here for:
- which unit (Celsius or Fahrenheit)
- Define the temperature range of the measurement display (graph)
- Alarm behaviour at temperature thresholds such as the alarm tone and whether alarms are automatically acknowledged after a certain time!
- Support of OPEN GL for the graphical rendering of the display to reduce the load on the PC processor (CPU). OPEN GL On is the standard!
Configuration of the Thermal Dashboard
In this step, we determine which temperature graphs are to be displayed in the dashboard, which colours they have and define the application-specific threshold values.
If a threshold value is exceeded, an email can be sent if required. For long-term statistical analysis, the data can be sent automatically in CSV format by email on a regular basis.
- Select the ‘Thermal Dashboard’ menu item under ‘Windows’ in the top menu bar of the MxMC
- The Thermal Dashboard window appears and Edit mode (lock icon) enables configuration
- The graphs can now be created side by side and on top of each other. The thermal cameras can be linked to the graph using drag and drop from the device bar of the MxMC main window. In the following example, 4 graphs have been linked to 4 cameras.
The navigation buttons ‘Jump to live image’ and ‘Jump to playback’ can be shown or hidden in each graph. Marked in colour and described in the screenshot:
- Context menu (via right mouse click) allows options as shown in the screenshots:
5.Graphs*
Shows the thermal measurement windows and spot metres that have been configured in the assigned camera. Each measurement window and the associated thermal values to be displayed in the graph can be selected. As many thermal curves can be displayed per graph as have been configured in the camera.
Temperature thresholds:
The user can create one or more threshold values (max. approx. 20-25) and define the name, threshold value and trigger behaviour when the threshold value is exceeded or not reached. An email can be sent on request when the threshold value is triggered.
Measuring range of the Y-axis:
The user can define the measuring range of the scale.
- Exit edit mode (press the ‘lock symbol’)
- In the normal display mode of the dashboard (symbol: closed lock ), the context menu is also available by right-clicking with the following functions:
Live Tracking
Ensures that the current live data is always displayed in the centre of the graph and does not run out of the display area. As soon as the user clicks on a position in the graph or changes the display zoom of the graph using the mouse wheel, live tracking is deactivated as the user’s focus is now on a specific time range and no longer on the current live data. The user can reactivate Live Tracking at any time via the context menu.
Playback Synchronisation
If the MxMC is in playback view, the time displayed in the playback is always synchronised with the recorded thermal values in the thermal graph. Ideal for analysing events in the past by comparing the image and the past temperature curve.
Export CSV
The temperature data is exported in CSV format with separate files for the camera reference image and for the plot of the selected curve diagram.
