This camera system can reach places far beyond the capabilities of any other cameras available on the global market. The SPC-15 camera is designed to be used in difficult to access places with the capability to withstand extreme conditions. This camera can operate in any type of pipe from water, sewer and industrial wastewater through to oil and gas. It can also operate in fully submerged rock shafts and bore holes on land and at sea.

It is also equipped with a tracking sonde capable of being used in steel pipes.

The camera system is capable of POI 3D scanning and for sections of the pipes that need closer inspection, these can be converted to 3D geometry when the camera is travelling at a slower rate. The scanned data obtained from the camera system needs to be analysed and processed by our team of engineers.

With the use of sophisticated 3D scanning software, data can be converted into 3D models or unwrapped on to a flat 2D image of the pipe or shaft. In addition to this, the camera can measure anomalies in the pipeline to 0.01mm which enables extremely accurate data for pipe internal diameters, angles of a pipe bend or the extent of a misaligned joint. It can provide the location and measurements of cracks and fissures in rock or be used to measure the volume of encountered obstacles.

The Fibre Optic Cam was initially developed for the Mt Albert sludge line repair project in Wellington. Two DN150 sludge pipes both 1.8km long concrete lined ductile iron pipes. Due to a seismic event towards the end of 2019, it was discovered that both pipes had broken and were pumping sludge into an interceptor tunnel. Neither of the sludge pipelines could be used forcing Wellington Water to run a fleet of vacuum trucks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to transport the sludge at a cost to ratepayers of over $600,000.00 per week. The pipes were not able to be accessed by contractors, and Wellington Water had no way of inspecting and assessing the 1.8km long pipes. More project information can be found here.

The Fibre Optic Camera H&B developed can give a full live stream up to 3km of pipeline and it can also 3D scan and measure items of interest to 0.01mm accuracy. The high level of quality and accuracy that this camera system has enables thorough pipeline assessments to occur giving clients access to condition assessments of assets that has previously not been achievable until now.

Having struggled to find high-definition camera systems that could inspect distances in excess of 1km long and at pipe diameter ranges at both ends of the spectrum, H&B partnered with movie industry expert Piotr Wysocki (Fox) and have been developing highly specialised bespoke pipeline cameras for the last three years. The various cameras that have been developed to date have the ability to investigate, scan, measure to 0.01mm, 3D model and provide footage of pipelines that have internal diameters that range from 12mm through to 4000mm at distances of over 3km live stream and 14 km remote capture. On top of all of this, these cameras deliver movie standard image quality which far exceeds standard pipeline footage of the past.

Please refer to the images below showing the pipe scanning abilities of our bespoke cameras.

The digital screen allows to check the measurements at any time, showing not only the length of the cable or rope but also the speed of entry in meters/min and km/h. Both those measurements allow the DRC to provide estimated time that’s needed to pull the required amount of cable/ or rope over the required distance.

The built-in high quality optical encoder ensures the precision of the taken measurements making it incredibly accurate even at long distances.

The DRC is capable of measuring ropes and cables with a maximum speed of 100km/h and length up to 99km and can measure between 1mm and 20mm diameter using a simple and quick height adjustment system.

The user-friendly simple design of the counter includes a rechargeable battery which will last for the entire day of operating which makes it portable to site and functional at sites with no power sources. It can also be operated while connected to the charger when power is available at the site.

To add to the specialised cameras that have been developed, H&B also operate a Swiss inspection drone which allows for immediate and fast inspection of most confined and inaccessible spaces above 400mm in size.