Need camera sys to capture motor name plate data 2

[king144]

Greetings,

Were are looking for a digital camera system that would be capable of capturing electric motor name plate data in the field. The cameras we have tried so far fail to get enough detail or are adversing affected by light conditions.

We would like to enter digital data into our "Indus/Passport" maintainence motor records system. This would replace our 52 year old Kardex file system.

Any suggestions would be appreciated...

Thanks,

Richard Anderson
GP Paper Mill
Camas, WA

 

[jOmega]

So that you don't get replies recommending cameras that you've alread tried, .... What cameras have you tried so far...

 

[electricpete]

I believe almost any digital camera with 2 megapixels will be more than enough (could probably get away with much less).

I have a personal camera hp photosmart 620 which I use at work - sells for around $200 including 64MB memory card. Has 2megapixels, 3x optical zoom, 2x digital zoom, lcd dispaly, very user friendly. I heartily recommend it. It's more than enough for that purpose. I come accross motors that sometimes have 4 or 5 nameplates together (the real nameplate, bearing and lubrication nameplate, space heater info, end-float info etc etc). I can easily get the all in one photograph which is easily legible on computer (using software with zoom capability) provided they were legible to begin with. In fact even when I can't read them with my naked eye I can often read much better when zoomed in by computer.

Another handy feature... small enough to fit in my pants pocket. I don't go to the plant without it.

With my camera as with many camera's, the camera cannot focus with poor lighting (even with flash feature). So I also always bring my 6" pen-light camera in belt holster for taking pictures in darker places.

 

[Skogsgurra]

The problem lies more with the motor manufacurer than with the camera. The ABB nameplates can be photographed with any digtal (or analog) camera. But the laser-written nameplates (Siemens for instance) can not be recorded with any known system. They are difficult to read with the unaided (or even aided) eye. I am sorry to say this since Siemens is one of my favorite suppliers of automation and drives. They really should do something about it.

Gunnar Englund

 

[IRstuff]

That usually simply means that you need to provide a different lighting, so it might be as simple as taking a flashlight and doing a side illumination.

TTFN

 

[IRstuff]

The other choice might be to bring along an ink pad and rub ink into the label. to increase the contrast.

TTFN

 

[busbar]

Agree with IR. Stamped or milled characters on a metal labels can suffer from poor contrast. Besides ink, talc sometimes helps.

 

[advidana]

Get a camera that does macro(minimum of 6 inches)and don't use your flash.

 

[jbartos]

Suggestion: I am using SONY MAVICA MVC-CD400
It does a good job when it comes to name plates. It saves pictures on 8cm CD-Rom which is convenient to use for viewing and coping at computers that have a CD-ROM Drive.
Visit

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/cd400.html

etc. for more info
Please, notice that there is a newer version available, SONY MAVICA MVC-CD500, i.e.

http://www.mysimon.com/Sony_Mavica_...3__CD_RW/4014-6501_8-20851395.html?tag=lst&q=

 

[king144]

Thanks to all for the advice...

What I have tried is a Sony MVC CD-400 and earlier on, my older Mavica FD-91 (Floppy writer). I think the model 91 actually worked better than my newer CD-400. But the floppy based unit is limited to about 11 - 15 hi-denisity JPG's per floppy. The Sony CD-400 has less zoom but comes with 4 mega-pixel capability. It's recorded JPG's are often in the 1.4 Mbyte range - too huge for a data base.

Our biggest battle has been with lighting - from the comments offered here I can see that some sort of auxillary lighting is probably needed. We have toyed with the idea of making a rubber boot with some sort of flash lite attachment. When the motor nameplate lighting environment happens to be just right I can get some good clear shots.

Another problem we face is round bodied small motors such as Baldor manufactures. Their nameplates are hard to get shots of without part of the data being out of focus due to the rounded nature of the nameplates as they conform to the shape of the round motor body.

Using the Sony's built in flash gives the worst results of all - too much glare & refelction from the metal and often shiny motor name plates.

Again, thanks for all the responses - we look forward to one day collecting all our data via digital cameras so as to increase reliability of our 10,000<+> motor data base.

I wonder if one day all motors will come from the factory with binary scan codes on the name plates - that would sure make our lives easier!

One brand we truly appreciate is Toshiba which usually arrives with a hard copy print-out of the name plate data -that helps us cut down on data base errors...


-Richard Anderson
Equip. Repairs & Records
GP Paper Mill
Camas, WA

 

[jbartos]

Suggestion to king144 (Electrical) Sep 14, 2003 marked ///\\What I have tried is a Sony MVC CD-400 and earlier on, my older Mavica FD-91 (Floppy writer). I think the model 91 actually worked better than my newer CD-400. But the floppy based unit is limited to about 11 - 15 hi-denisity JPG's per floppy. The Sony CD-400 has less zoom
///It has 3x optical zoom and 6x digital (total zoom).\\ but comes with 4 mega-pixel capability. It's recorded JPG's are often in the 1.4 Mbyte range - too huge for a data base.
///The resolutions available are:
Image Size Usage
2272x1704 very fine prints
(~1.7MB good for 21&quot; monitors)
1600x1200 printing in A4 format
1280x960 printing in post card size
640x480 attaching to the email
(about150KB in fine mode in jpeg format.)
The macrorecording mode is:
from:
4cm ~ 1 5/8 inches
to:
20cm ~ 7 7/8 inches
good for small objects, e.g. nameplates, flowers, insect, etc.
This is what I use for nameplates.\\

 

[electricpete]

A few more quick comments:

Your camera probably doesn't optimize the jpg compression. (neither does mine) You can reduce the size of the jpg's once they are in your computer using any of a variety of software... for instance Microsoft Photo Editor. Usually I take my 2 megapixel camera highest quality photo files and can get them down in the neighborhood of 100k without any significant loss of quality.

I have used those Sony's and like the HP better on two counts:
1 - It is a lot smaller... fits in your pocket. You won't look like a tourist every time you go in the plant ;-)
2 - Compared to floppy disk it has much bigger storage. I think the 64Meg can take roughly 60 high-quality photo's. And if you buy up to 256Meg spare card to carry in your pocket which is not much bigger than a postage stamp.

No macros capabilities on it, though.

 

[wired1]

A tip on file size. look for software that will let you save images in .tif or .gif format. these take a lot less space. i think the above mentioned photo editor can do it. (never save images as .bmp - that's the worst on file size)

 

[jsalls]

What you might want to consider is building a small fixture specifically for taking these pictures with a built in light source. What generally works well for Pin Stamped or Etched numbers is a low incidance light (sometimes called Dark Field Lighting). What you do is bring the light in at a low angle to the surface of the plate (usually less than 45 degrees). Light bounces away from the plate in the flat areas (unmarked areas) and catches at the rough surface in the bottom of the etched areas and so will glow to the camera. The other option is a little trickier which is to bring light directly on axis with the camera lens which requires half silvered mirrors and the like.

Good Luck!
John Salls

 

[Heydave]

I had the same problem with boat serial numbers imprinted on fibergrass. Although these are fairly high relief, there is almost no way way to light them enough to read, much less photogragh. The state has an online form to enter the number by using a rubbing with a pencil. I have done the same with other plates and stamped numbers I could not easily read.
One lighting scheme that might work is to use different colors of light from different directions. I would further recommend that at least three colors be used from three directions. Other lighting shemes simply shine light from one direction and count on the shadows but lines in the direction of the light source have no shadows and don't show up. This could be implemented with an array of LEDs making RED, Yellow and Blue sources.