Radiation tolerant underwater camera with high definition viewing and recording capability

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020303084-A1
Application number	US-201916357717-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 19, 2019
Priority date	Mar 19, 2019
Publication date	Sep 24, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A camera system includes a camera assembly including a camera unit having an optical zoom of at least ×30 and a digital zoom of at least ×10, a controller structured to control one or more operable characteristics of the camera unit and to receive an output of the camera unit, and a conduit connecting the camera unit and the controller.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A camera system comprising:
a camera assembly including a camera unit having an optical zoom of at least ×30 and a digital zoom of at least ×10; a controller structured to control one or more operable characteristics of the camera unit and to receive an output of the camera unit; and a conduit connecting the camera unit and the controller.

2 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the camera unit has an optical zoom of at least ×36 and a digital zoom of at least ×32.

3 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the camera unit has a resolution of at least 1080p.

4 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the camera unit has a light sensitivity of at least 0.5 lux.

5 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the camera assembly includes a pan/tilt unit structured to pan and tilt unit structured to pan and tilt and at least one lighting unit.

6 . The camera system of claim 5 , wherein the controller is structured to control the pan/tilt unit and the at least one lighting unit.

7 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the camera unit is structured to output images using via a high definition serial digital interface (HD-SDI).

8 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes a display, and wherein the controller is structured to display images captured by the camera unit at a resolution of at least 1080p.

9 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the camera assembly weighs less than 10 lbs.

10 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the camera assembly includes a housing including a front cover, a back cover, and a body connecting the front cover and the back cover, wherein the housing is structured to house the camera unit, and wherein the front cover includes a transparent member through which the camera unit can see the exterior of the housing.

11 . The camera system of claim 10 , wherein the transparent member is a diopter structured for use with the camera unit.

12 . The camera system of claim 11 , wherein the diopter is selected from a +0.5 diopter, a +0.75 diopter, and a +1 diopter.

13 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the camera assembly is structured to operate in water depths of up to 50 feet.

14 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the camera assembly is structured to operate in water temperatures in a range of 60° F. to 122° F.

15 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the camera assembly is structured to have a radiation tolerance of at least 5×10 4 rads Cobalt-60 equivalent.

16 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the conduit is an Ethernet cable, and wherein the controller and the camera assembly are structured to communicate using an open network video interface forum (ONVIF) protocol.

17 . The camera system of claim 1 , wherein the conduit is a Serial RS-485 half or full duplex cable, and wherein the camera unit and the controller are structured to communicate using video system control architecture (VISCA) protocol.

18 . A method of inspecting a fuel assembly of a nuclear reactor, the method comprising:
providing a camera system comprising: a camera assembly including a camera unit having an optical zoom of at least ×30 and a digital zoom of at least ×10; a controller structured to control one or more operable characteristics of the camera unit and to receive an output of the camera unit; and a conduit connecting the camera unit and the controller; capturing images of the fuel assembly with the camera assembly; and viewing or storing the captured images with the controller.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
placing the camera assembly inside the nuclear reactor in the vicinity of the fuel assembly; and placing the controller outside the nuclear reactor.

20 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
controlling at least one of a zoom, focus, exposure, auto focus, and auto exposure of the camera assembly with the controller.

Assignees

• Westinghouse Electric Co Llc

Inventors

• Lazeski Shawn D
• Oehling Bryan R
• Polidora James T

Classifications

• H04N23/50

  Constructional details · CPC title

• H04N23/69

  Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming · CPC title

• H04N23/56

  provided with illuminating means · CPC title

• H04N23/62

  Control of parameters via user interfaces · CPC title

• H04N23/695

  Control of camera direction for changing a field of view, e.g. pan, tilt or based on tracking of objects · CPC title