Design and test methods for a video-based cargo fire verification system for commercial aircraft

The Cargo Fire Verification System was developed to address the problem of frequent false smoke alarms that are of particular concern in long range flights of passenger aircraft. The system uses low-cost CCD cameras operating in the near infra red range to directly detect fire and hotspots. In addition, LED illumination units are appropriately switched on and off, and the obtained images are analyzed to detect smoke. Fusion of image processing results with temperature and humidity readings allows reliable detection of true fires and elimination of false alarms due to fog and dust. It was necessary to create a suite of fire sensitivity and false alarm immunity tests applicable to these vision-based fire detection systems. This paper will concentrate on the design of the system, testing aspects, and test cell modifications.