About the Monitor Mapboard System
The Monitor® mapboard system is a “customer driven” display technology that utilizes an electronic system drawing, developed in collaboration with our utility customers, to create a mapboard display customized to meet the unique operating requirements of every utility.
Once the digital file is complete, the graphic image is output at high resolution and secured to conveniently sized 11 x 8.5 inch flexible steel panels which are the foundation of the Monitor® system. The steel panels are then placed and magnetically held to a precisely engineered mapboard structure that hold the panels in perfect registration, forming a single graphic image and smooth, monolithic surface. When the system changes and updates are needed, the customer makes the revisions and transfers the revised drawing to Monitor which we then use to re-produce only those modules affected by the change. The updated modules are sent back for quick and easy placement on the mapboard.
Our expertise in delivering customized solutions and our commitment to quality has created an operational preference for our system over many years. Additionally, the Monitor® system offers key advantages over alternative mapboard technologies while serving as a reliable compliment to large LCD monitors and rear-projection video displays in what is commonly referred to as a “hybrid” system.
Enhanced Visualization
Your system operators depend on display technology that will provide them with the most clear and concise picture of system conditions as possible. The Monitor® mapboard system features high resolution graphics produced directly from an electronic system drawing created with significant input from your control room personnel.
We consult with the system operators to define proper scale, line, symbol and background colors that enhance readability and visual effectiveness. Our graphic quality and ability to re-produce high resolution schematic, geographic and photographic images differentiates us in creating what becomes the operational and aesthetic focal point of the control room.
Efficient Updating Process
The Monitor® mapboard system utilizes an efficient “digital-based” method for keeping your mapboard up to date. The multi-layered electronic system drawing that is used to create the mapboard is maintained by the customer and then used to output changes to your system when needed.
Our proven update process requires that changes must first be made to the electronic drawing which insures that you will always possess a digital system drawing that is identical to the image displayed on the mapboard. Reduced scale mapboards or paper maps can be re-produced from the same digital file for use in backup control centers, training facilities and in the field.
User-Centered Design
Typically, a system operator sits in front of some type of display system for a minimum of eight hours per day. During this time, it is important that they develop an accurate mental model of system status and how the system is configured which is invaluable, especially during a crisis. The Monitor® system is a tangible, “hands-on” display technology that cannot be lost, providing a clear, legible system overview designed to help the operator perform their job more efficiently.
The ability to physically tag a Monitor® mapboard with colored magnets keep the operators engaged while providing continuity during shift changes regarding system status. An excellent training device and ‘time-tested’, our mapboards optimize decision making processes by providing your operators with mission critical information that is easy to find, interpret and integrate with other data to make timely decisions in a complex environment.
Real-Time Information
The Monitor® system can be easily integrated with a variety of electronic components designed to provide dynamic indication and to display Real-Time Information for the system operators. When interfaced to SCADA through a mapboard display control system, LED status indicators and BCD displays are effective in providing the system operator with immediate information on changes in status of switches, breakers, line loads and other equipment in the field.
Large LCD type monitors or rear-projection video screens can also be integrated to create a “hybrid” display system which gives the system operator the best of both worlds. The video is effective in displaying detail or larger images from a SCADA, EMS or TV feed. If the video display is lost or compromised, the system can still be operated using the mapboard.
