Sentinel: autonomous cameras, smart sensors and solar power to monitor the rural environment

The Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Innovación y Comercio de la Valencian Government financia el desarrollo de un sistema de videovigilancia autónomo y sostenible para prevenir actos vandálicos y mejorar la seguridad ciudadana en pequeños municipios de la Comunitat.

El director general de Innovación, Juan José Cortés, ha visitado Losa del Obispo, donde se ha reunido con su alcalde, David Pérez, para conocer de primera mano el funcionamiento de este sistema, que ha contado con más de 89.000 euros en ayudas en el marco del programa Territorios Innovadores. Una iniciativa que impulsa el desarrollo de soluciones de I+D+i con impacto en los pueblos y ciudades de la Comunitat Valenciana.

La solución que se implanta como laboratorio en este municipio valenciano incluye el despliegue de nueve cámaras autónomas 4G de alta resolución en siete puntos estratégicos del casco urbano, los principales accesos, así como áreas rurales más sensibles, según ha explicado Cortés. In addition, se han instalado sensores inteligentes basados en tecnología PIR y radar capaces de detectar movimiento con alta precisión, visión nocturna infrarroja y comunicación bidireccional, ya que cuentan con micrófono y altavoz.

Durante la visita, el director general de Innovación ha destacado el potencial de este proyecto para dar respuesta a algunos de los principales desafíos que afrontan los pequeños municipios del interior, especialmente en materia de seguridad y vigilancia del territorio.

“With Sentinela we demonstrate that innovation can help solve real problems of small municipalities, which often have limited resources to monitor public spaces, control access, or detect incidents in real time. This system provides an effective solution, sustainable and adapted to their needs”, it has been specified.

The system allows identifying any incident or risky situation that occurs in the municipality and its surroundings. In fact, the cameras send automatic alerts in real time to the authorized municipal staff and securely store video clips in the cloud for consultation by law enforcement if necessary.

A robust solution

The technological solution is so robust that it is capable of operate without electricity or wiring, as it is powered by solar modules and lithium batteries, which ensures its sustained operation and reduces its environmental footprint. Besides, municipal staff have been trained to ensure that the City Council can operate and supervise its functioning safely.

“thanks to its modular and scalable design, this development is presented as a reference model for other rural municipalities in the Valencian Community that wish to strengthen their security through technologically sustainable and low-maintenance solutions”, Cortés has highlighted.

In this sense, the mayor of Losa del Obispo, David Pérez, has emphasized that the installation has achieved permanent coverage of unattended critical areas and has improved in a 40 % the citizens' perception of security, according to surveys conducted within the framework of the project.

The system has been designed, besides, to comply at all times and scrupulously with European regulations of data protection, therefore ensuring the privacy of citizens. Territorios Innovadores is a program of the Directorate General of Innovation aimed at local entities whose objective is to promote R&D&I projects in the municipalities of the Valencian Community. Funds are distributed in tranches, based on the population of the participating localities, with the purpose of ensuring balanced access among small, medium, and large municipalities.