Pipeline Camera Accelerates Data Capture

Envirosight”sDigiSewer digital visual sidewall scanning (DVSS) device enhances thespeed and detail at which pipeline inspection is performed. In a singleday, a DigiSewer-equipped crawler can scan extensive networks of pipeat full speed. When scanning is complete, a supervisor rapidly analyzesthese scans using a freeware viewer, zooming in on areas of interestfor greater scrutiny and making measurements and annotations directlyon the scan. DigiSewer uses patented technology to generate ahigh-resolution sidewall scan. The proprietary DigiSewer camera mountsto any ROVVER crawler. As the crawler advances down a pipe, the cameragrabs a frame of video at established intervals. From each frame, aring of pixels representing a fixed-width cross-section of the pipewall is digitally extracted and unfolded into a tall rectangle by theDigiSewer CPU. As scanning progresses, the DigiSewer CPU joins theserectangles together to form a complete sidewall scan, one whose lengthcorresponds to the length of the pipe, and whose height corresponds tothe pipe’s full circumference. DigiSeweraccelerates data capture. A DigiSewer-equipped ROVVER crawler cantraverse an entire pipeline at full speed, capturing consistent detailfrom every square inch of the pipe’s interior wall. The operator neverneeds to slow the crawler to scout for defects; never needs to pan,tilt, or zoom the camera; and never needs to stop to type anobservation. DigiSewer alsostreamlines inspection analysis. Unlike the videotape and DVDsgenerated by traditional CCTV inspection, DigiSewer scans takeminutes—not hours—to review and annotate. They load directly into afreeware viewer on any PC, allowing rapid browsing of scan thumbnails,as well as detailed analysis, measurement and annotation of problemareas. And because DigiSewer scans require only a fraction thestorage/transmission bandwidth of digital video, they are much easierto share and archive.