Good thermography analyses programs 4

[Mikkopee]

Hi all,

I took some thermal imagers and found out that analyses-program which i have is not very good.

I can only add one spot-temperature to the picture and
i can not add any box/area or any other tools to picture (which can be found from the camera).

Beside the fact, that this lack of analysis tools is very
uncomfortable, I don´t have any idea why this is like that?
Can anybody explain?

Furthermore: I am interested for a new software (with these
features). Are these programs compatible with every camera on the market? Is there some good analyses program with good capability to store old pictures in a sensible way?

 

[eyec]

i have used camera/software from CSI (called RBMware). i was also trained and certified by them for thermography.

there are others on the market.

i can tell you that the software from CSI allows a lot of annotation and comes with a route builder, Word add-in for report generation, and database for all of the info.

they also offer various models/manufacturers of cameras.

they also have a complete preventative maintenance package for oil analysis and vibration.

check them out at

http://www.compsys.com

 

[SeattleBruce]

Hi Mikkopee,

You may find that the image analysis you're trying to accomplish is limited by the software package of that particular camera manufacturer. Often the programs and image formats are not compatible. Mikron uses an .sit image that is proprietary but can be converted to .bmp (generic non-radiometric image) in Mikrospec. FLIR uses a radiometric .jpg that can only be modified within ThermoCAM Reporter or Quickview, although it can be saved as a non-radiometric .jpg or eventually imported into a report in .pdf (Adobe Acrobat) format. I think the story is the same across the manufacturers.

That said, do you realize the 65 to 70% of electrical problems are loose connections? (c.f. Hartford Steam Boiler/Logos Computer solutions white paper across 7 industries) This means that the majority of your electrical thermal anomalies do not require extensive analysis. Has that been your experience? Still, even based on those numbers, you need a decent analysis capability for the other 30 or 35% (or whatever the number is) of your problems found and some thermographers prefer to do a fair amount of analysis on every thermal problem they find/report on.

The other part of your question is important - how can you store and organize your images/reports...it's important to create/purchase a database that can do this and help you create a history and legacy of what you're doing with your IR scanning. It is nice that some of these systems are completely mobile - available on PDA handhelds. As eyec points out above, it's also nice to find a solution that has the capability to incorporate other PdM technologies or certainly to attach other PdM reports for reference. Also nice is to find one that incorporates an "asset health report" for your facility's equipment - especially the vital/critical pieces.

Good luck with your search!

Bruce Anderson

http://www.inspectrend.com

 

[Mikkopee]

Hi Bruce

Thank You for Your very valuable answer. I actually had noticed the fact that even with pretty basic IRinstruments (You don´t have to buy the hi-end camera with all possible features), You can get good results especially on loose connections with unexpensive models too, buth percentage
level of loose connections was a news for me.

Also i noticed that, as You said, that loose connections are
majority, but it is also a majority part of equipment measured.

Very valuable in Your answers were the picture formats, this easies my work a lot. What comes to softwares capability to store previous data, in my experience, most convient way is to store data in general maintenance softwares, if available.

Yours,
Mikko

 

[electricpete]

From what I heard in Bruce's response and my own limited experience, most of the programs come from a manufacturer and you can't use one camera's data file with a nother manufacturer's software.

So to help the discusion it would help to know what kind of camera you have.

We have Mikron and use Mikron software. One hardship that I find with that is that the region of interests and span/level selections stored with the image are those that were on the camera. Sure I can go in and change them and export the results to a static graphics file or report, but I can't store my ROI's with the raw data image for future viewing.

=====================================
Eng-tips forums: The best place on the web for engineering discussions.

 

[SeattleBruce]

Hi Mikko,

Yes, you're finding out the story as you dig into infrared at your facility. I wanted to respond to your comment:

"What comes to softwares capability to store previous data, in my experience, most convient way is to store data in general maintenance softwares, if available."

It has been our experience working with many, many thermographers and companies that although the general maintenance software solutions are indispensable at this point -for better or for worse - they don't often address the particular data gathering needs of Predictive Maintenance (PdM) and especially of IR thermography. In various integration projects that my company has done or scoped out, with Maximo and SAP, etc. we've found the real need to plug our data collection software into the general maintenance software/CMMS that you're talking about. Fortunately, because many people use, say Maximo, once you plug a PdM software tool into it, anyone that uses both software products can have the versatility of collecting data in a best of breed data logger and then pushing that data back into the CMMS/general maintenance software. At that point it's all about minimizing the number of times you have to enter and re-enter data. I've talked to so many skilled trades people that are tired of entering in the same data twice or even three times just to get reports and then to get a work order generated. The promise of databases is to enter data one time and then send the electronic data up the line, to create work orders and then send the results (say a fix on a critical piece of equipment) back through the system. By doing this electronically, it saves time, is more accurate and helps the whole system realize its potential for optimization and uptime. Not to mention, if you don't have to enter data two or three times you and your personnel might actually use the system..ah, now there's another story..

All the best,

Bruce Anderson

http://www.inspectrend.com

 

[eyec]

i guess i am jaded by the use of RBMWare, because all i ever had to do was enter the equipment info one time and from then on i did not have to re-enter anything, including the route i used to collect the IR imagery.

the database maintained all of the previous records of images (IR and visual), equipment specifics, and could also be placed on a LAN.

as for integration into a CMMS system, i would have to defer to CSI (makers of RBMWare) to answer that question.

for your own interest maybe you should contact one of the major IR players and ask them for a demo and have them respond to your specific questions and needs.

 

[SeattleBruce]

Yes, recording data one time is the goal (and I'm not talking about typing things in manually but, ideally, clicking on drop down knowledge base libraries in the field - say on PDAs) - however, if people have to generate work orders in a CMMS, they are often faced with entering data a second or even a third time! Integration and taking the software into the field solves that problem. If you're doing a lot of IR, indeed a lot of PdM inspection work, then mobilized software and integration can help you manage your data and improve your work flow (help make you better and faster at your skilled trade).

Further, CMMS integration can aid cross-technology collaboration - for instance between IR and ultrasound in the case of testing for corona or arc flashes, IR and vibration anal to discover and the find the root cause of rotating equipment that's not running properly, or IR and motor circuit testing in the case of discovering and solving electric motor issues. The question is, how do you get these technologies (often different technicians/departments) to 'talk to each other?' The ability for mobile PdM data logging software tools to integrate with CMMSs (as a hub for all such activities) and create cross-technology asset health reports linking multiple PdM technologies will facilitate this vital communication process and help the company realize the maximum benefit/ROI from significant PdM investments.

Bruce Anderson

http://www.inspectrend.com