System and method for remote inspection of equipment mechanical dial gauge readings, electrical termination and bushing condition monitoring

A system for remote inspection and monitoring of equipment mechanical dial gauge readings, electrical termination and bushing condition, said system comprising:

• an electrical equipment service cabinet having a roof, a floor, and a deadfront wall supporting one or more mechanical dial gauges, electrical terminations and bushings;
• a plurality of digital cameras capable of capturing wide angle images in low visible-light conditions of an equipment service cabinet, wherein a first digital camera, of the plurality of digital cameras, is mounted within the electrical equipment service cabinet and is capable of capturing images of the deadfront wall, the floor, or both, in low visible-light conditions of the electrical equipment service cabinet, wherein such images include:
• images of the one or more mechanical dial gauges, and
• images of the electrical terminations and bushings;
• a local monitoring computer system disposed within the electrical equipment service cabinet and operatively connected to the plurality of digital cameras and adapted for receiving, storing, and analyzing data inputs for purposes of providing data, including raising alarms and providing a remote indication of potential failure conditions, to a remote monitoring system;
• and
• a remote monitoring system that receives the data, including the raised alarms and remote indications of potential failure conditions, from the local monitoring system using a power over Ethernet (PoE) data connection, wherein the data connection utilizes:
• Modbus TCP communication for exposing values and alarm conditions,
• email for sending alarm details,
• FTP for transferring image files, and
• a self-hosted HTTP web browser for allowing user configuration and real-time monitoring and control of the local monitoring computer system.