The new security camera is integrated with a passive infrared motion detector and is designed for integration with standard monitoring and alarm installations.

Developed by Moreton Bay Systems, he key to the product is its ability to run on the smell of an oily 9volt battery for a staggering nine weeks at a time.

Image storage is integrated into the unit, which looks much like a standard detector, via a standard memory card which is capable of storing up to 65,000 images.

Managing Director of Moreton Bay Systems, David Hill, told Smarthouse that the key to the development of Digilant was taking the high-resolution video processing technology and using it in a different way. The camera, which is triggered by the passive infrared detector, triggers the image recording sequence which then stores a user-defined sequence of images to the flash memory card.

The product is destined for use in monitoring situations where it can be used by Police to track down thieves or vandals, or to monitor high-value merchandise in a warehouse or retail setting. Another application is simply to monitor remote site access in agricultural, mining, construction or other locations not continuously attended.

Prior to establishing Moreton Bay Systems, Hill's was country manager for the Australian operations of semiconductor giant Motorola. During his last two years with that company he worked developing their SmartCard division, but in earlier projects he has worked designing a precursor to the booming RFID tag systems which monitor stock movements with tiny RF emitting tags. He also worked on a project to construct Europe's first fully automated factory.

Hill's primary objective with the Digilant system was to reduce the amount of power required to run the system. The entire video processing system runs on just one half amp making it possible to power the Digilant with solar power if required.

Of course you don't have to run the unit on battery or solar power and the device will work cooperatively in a security system mixed with standard motion detectors with images synchronised back to a central monitoring station in encrypted form.

Now with the Clipsal tie up Moreton can blend the digital camera technology with Clipsal's C-Bus automation systems.

Next project on the development board for Moreton Bay Systems is to design the Digilant for entirely wireless operations.

Priced at $399 per camera, the Digilant is now available from Clipsal suppliers. See www.digilant.com.au for more information.