Thermography InfoRoute

Problem

At customer's request we developed application for analysis of infrared images. The application is a helper tool for monitoring of industrial objects. Assigned personnel take images of the monitored objects according to a schedule. Infrared cameras allow taking conventional and infrared images. Besides it is possible to store a brief comment for each image (e.g., nature of object's functioning). The application loads data from the infrared camera and stores it in a special repository. Then, application user can load images corresponding to different time periods and analyze them. The results of analysis can be saved as a report.

Solution

Our analyst interviewed the customer and potential consumers of the system. We created Software Requirements Specification. SRS was coordinated with all stakeholders that participated in project requirements clarification. We developed GUI design of the application. On the basis of object-oriented design we created Software Architectural Document.

The system was developed with use of elements of extreme programming (XP). We developed the application within 2-week iterations. A set of most urgent tasks was selected before each of iterations and implemented for the next release. As a result, every two weeks our customer received functioning version of the product. We widely used unit testing (CppUnit) during project implementation. Module for loading of images produced by infrared cameras appeared rather labor-consuming. Each camera creates images in its own unique format, sometimes very exotic. Now we gained know-how in that area. Our specialists proposed and implemented Fusion technology. The technology allows combining two images (conventional and infrared) in a single snapshot. There are several modes of such combination. Application user can define temperature threshold; "hot" areas are displayed from infrared image, while "cold" use conventional image. It's also possible to define portions that each image contributes into the resulting one, so infrared image is visible through the conventional one. We developed an Add-In for MS Word for report generation. During report generation, application user selects document template and receives a report with filled-in images and text; there is a possibility to modify images without re-creation of the report. We also developed application version for PocketPC. In order to reduce development time, some components are cross-platform (for instance, modules for loading and analysis of infrared images). Thus porting work was minimal.

Results

Thermography InfoRoute is widely used by plenty of consumers. Now the application is localized for the following languages: English, German, Italian and Russian.