Tracking Nicely

Text:/ Derek Powell

HERE’S THE PITCH

One of the more interesting factors in the design was the decision to pitch an LED solution rather than the more traditional command and control solution of rear projection cubes. John Kimenkowski explained that CRS’s decision to recommend a NanoLumens LED wall wasn’t the obvious choice but was driven by good science.

“The tender actually called for cubes,” John noted. “That’s what they had in some of their existing locations and while we could do a cube wall that size, we realised that [with so many cubes] the overall resolution would be far more than was needed. The key driver was getting big clear images and if you scale sources at a lower resolution to that size it starts to lose quality. So what we really aimed for was to get a pixel perfect image that was simply a lot bigger. And the only way to achieve that is with LED technology.

“As soon as we saw floor plans of the room and how big they wanted this wall to be, our first thought was: this is a prime opportunity [for the kind of technology] that we think will be the future of all control room displays. And that is LED technology. When you start looking at its lifetime; how easy it is to service; how little power it uses when run at lower brightness. We obviously don’t need to run anywhere near the potential brightness – we’re currently actually running at about 36 percent – and it’s still just so vibrant and bright.”

PROOF OF CONCEPT

Knowing that the LED wall was a non-compliant proposal, with the support of its major vendors, CRS proposed a proof of concept demonstration. “We took a whole bunch of equipment – and one twentieth of the entire display – out to one of their sites and set it all up,” John explained. “We were giving our idea of what an ideal control room control environment looks like. Lots of stakeholders came through and had the opportunity to ask questions. So it was a very hands-on experience rather than keeping everything in that sort of tender format where bits of information can very easily get misunderstood or lost.”

Once a technology decision was made and contracts awarded, the detailed design evolved rapidly. The final layout, as defined by Sydney Train’s ergonomists and technical operations team, called for one main display – the Operational Visual Display Screen (the OVDS or ‘Wow Board’) to provide critical information to all the operational groups.

THE NUMBERS

Suspended from the ceiling along the front wall, the stunning 32.5m long x 3.6m high display enables Sydney Trains’ controllers to monitor the entire rail system; control trains, tunnels and platforms; and deliver a safe and reliable journey to its millions of daily customers. The 1.6mm pixel pitch LED display contains 41 million pixels configured as 19,200 x 2160 – equivalent to 20 full HD resolution displays.

The largest display element switched to the display is the graphical map of the entire network created by the Train Location System (TLS). The TLS display usually occupies the centre portion of the wall where it allows the train controllers to see the immediate and knock-on effects of any delays or outages and schedule new services as needed. Other inputs available to the videowall include off-air television via Foxtel or pictures from any of the thousands of CCTV cameras that monitor tracks, platforms and concourses across the network.

WALL MANAGEMENT

Managing the huge display area is a VuWall processor which takes in HDMI feeds from 30 PCs to turn the LED Wall into one giant canvas, allowing any bit of information to be displayed anywhere – making the system very flexible. To make the display quick and intuitive to operate, a number of templates have been devised to meet regular requirements. Within the various areas defined on the templates, individual sources can be changed at will.

An enterprise KVM solution from IHSE allows operators to directly control each source PC, allowing them to call up particular views at will. Ten operator desks are equipped to allow local preview and control of every source relevant to their location so they can work closely with a piece of content before publishing it to the desired wall.

Dedicated Extron control processors with a bespoke graphical user interface, allow for an easy to use interface to the whole solution. CRS’s own ‘Wall Builder’ technology allows Sydney Trains’ operators to interact with the video walls after only 10 minutes of familiarisation and basic training.

POD RACING

In addition to the OVDS, there are three other videowall ‘pods’ on the main floor of the Rail Operations Centre. These provide specialised information display to teams responsible for the Sydney Trains’ own electrical network (the Electrical Operations Centre); the Infrastructure Operations Centre (responsible for bridges, level crossings and more) and the Rail Technology Operations Centre. The three displays are each made up of 12 x Panasonic 55-inch ultra-narrow bezel LCD screens, two walls in a four by three format; and one as a six by two display. Each pod has its own videowall processor; control system; and a Foxtel box to view news coverage of any incidents.

INCIDENT ROOM

But wait, there’s more! On an upper floor, overlooking the control centre are two other high-tech facilities. The Incident Management Room and Executive meeting Room are separated by an operable wall but can be joined together in case of a major incident. Each room has similar technology: smart boards, videoconference equipment, and ceiling array microphones to facilitate communications for routine meetings or critical events. Each room also has its own LCD videowall display that can mimic the OVDS or carry separate information as needed.

CONTROL FREAKS

After a hectic 14-month delivery schedule, CRS have created a stand-out, first of a kind control room solution. Perhaps more importantly, they have also generated a satisfied customer.

“CRS have done an exceptional job delivering the OVDS system into our Sydney Trains flagship Control Room,” commented Ibrahim Fazah, Sydney Trains ROC Program, Facility Technical Manager. “They were able to manage a complex delivery during all the phases of the project from managing our challenging requirements during the design stage, the complex construction of the screen support in our new purpose built facility as well as full system installation, configuration and commissioning.”

Though it won’t be seen by the travelling public, the display represents a massive investment in ensuring the safety of passengers who make more than 1.3 million journeys every day on Sydney’s rail network.