Progresses on the design of a surveillance system to protect forests from fire

This paper describes a surveillance system for forest environments and protected natural areas. The surveillance system has a capacity for detecting fires and other ecological crimes. The system uses a digital camera that is controlled remotely by a system operator. Using the software the operator may choose to zoom a special spot or even take measures to strategically fight the fire right before it becomes uncontrollable. Since this system is operated in the middle of forests, aspects like effectiveness, robustness and reliability are crucial. In positioning the camera, the system uses a stepper motor for the vertical movement of the camera and a DC motor for the horizontal movement. The system also captures information about the temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction. All the processing is realized by a PIC16f877 microcontroller.