In order to improve safety of high buildings, receiving public, with high ceilings, a smoke detection function has been developed and integrated in the LYNX EVITECH software. The latter has begun smoke detectors certification tests. Tests will last for a few months, at the CNPP (French Authority for certification of smoke detectors) and will issue in May 2016.

Smoke detection through video has several forecasts  : it can use existing color CCTV cameras, the cost of the function is low, particularly when compared with the cost of lasers usually used for such detection in high buildings, and the detection is early, when compared with classical smoke detectors.

Tests will address detection of the burning of cotton, wood, polyurethan foam, and liquid oil, whose smokes are very different one from each other. The smoke should be detected in a norm defined constrained delay.  One additional difficulty was set using room decoration walls similar to those of public sites (white or light painting, enlightments). Tests are usually done in a room with fully black walls, due to smoke. This would not have been a situation representative of customer needs.