Systems and methods for virtual control of a non-destructive testing system

• US 9,489,124 B2
• Filed: 09/21/2015
• Issued: 11/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Baker Hughes Holdings LLC (Baker Hughes Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Schiefer, Eugene, Reeder, Michael Stanton Jr., Coombs, Kevin Andrew, Venugopal, Rajeshkumar
• Primary Examiner(s): LEE, NICHOLAS J
• Application Number:
  US14/860,668
• Publication Number:
  US 20160011740A1
• Time in Patent Office: 414 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

A non-transitory computer readable medium may comprise instructions configured to display a virtual joystick, a virtual control pad, or a combination thereof and to derive control data based on a manipulation of the virtual joystick, the virtual control pad, or the combination thereof. The instructions may be further configured to communicate the control data to control a component of a non-destructive testing (NDT) device.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions configured to:

display a virtual joystick, a virtual control pad, or a combination thereof, on a screen of a handheld non-destructive testing (NDT) device;

derive control data based on a manipulation of the virtual joystick, the virtual control pad, or the combination thereof;

communicate the control data to control a component of the NDT device, wherein the instructions are configured to operate while the handheld NDT device is being held by a human operator;

display a second virtual joystick on a mobile device communicatively coupled to the handheld NDT device;

derive a second control data based on a manipulation of the second virtual joystick; and

communicate the second control data via a data network to control the component of the handheld NDT device, wherein the data network comprises at least one wireless segment, wherein the mobile device is communicatively coupled to the handheld NDT device via a local area network, and wherein the mobile device is disposed on a same job site as the handheld NDT device.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions configured to communicate the control data to control the handheld NDT device comprise instructions configured to:

receive the control data by using a wireless system included in the handheld NDT device; and

derive a control action to control the component.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions configured to control the component comprise instructions configured to control a movement of the articulating section of a borescope to position a tip of the borescope.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 3, comprising instructions configured to display a tip map, wherein the tip map is configured to visualize the position of the tip.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the instructions configured to control the component comprise instructions configured to rotate a transportable pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera about an axis, to tilt the PTZ camera with respect to the axis, and to optically zoom the PTZ camera.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, comprising instructions configured to change a responsiveness to the manipulation of the virtual joystick, the virtual control pad, or the combination thereof.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is communicatively coupled to the handheld NDT device via a cloud computing site.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, comprising instructions configured to hide the virtual joystick, the virtual control pad, or the combination thereof, and to derive the control data based on using a touchscreen gesture.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, comprising instructions to:

display a third virtual joystick on a second handheld NDT device communicatively coupled to the handheld NDT device;

derive a third control data based on a manipulation of the third virtual joystick; and

communicate the third control data via the data network to control the component of the handheld NDT device.

10. A system comprising:

a handheld non-destructive testing (NDT) device comprising;

a housing;

a touchscreen disposed on the housing,

a physical directional input device disposed on the housing;

and a processor configured to;

display an image or a video based on a signal transmitted from a sensor disposed on a borescope end, on the touchscreen;

derive a control data based on a manipulation of the touchscreen, the physical directional input device, or a combination thereof;

communicate the control data to control a component of the handheld non-destructive testing (NDT) device to move the borescope end;

derive a second control data based on a manipulation of a second touchscreen included in a second handheld NDT device; and

communicate the second control data via a data network to control the component of the handheld NDT device, wherein the data network comprises at least one wireless segment.

11. The system of claim 10, comprising a mobile device having a third processor and a third touchscreen, wherein the third processor is configured to:

derive a third control data based on a manipulation of the third touchscreen; and

communicate the third control data via the data network to control the component of the handheld NDT device.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to derive the control data based on a touchscreen gesture.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the touchscreen gesture comprises a single digit gesture, a pinch-to-zoom gesture, a rotational gesture, a multi-digit gesture, a tapping gesture, or a combination thereof, using a finger or a stylus.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to display a file system included in the handheld NDT device on the touchscreen and to control the file system.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the mobile device, the second handheld NDT device, or a combination thereof, is disposed on a same job site as the handheld NDT device, or at a second job site different from a first job site having the handheld NDT device.

16. A method comprising:

displaying a first virtual joystick, a first virtual control pad, or a combination thereof, on a first touchscreen of a handheld non-destructive testing (NDT) device;

displaying a second virtual joystick, a second virtual control pad, or a combination thereof, on a second touchscreen of a computing device;

deriving control data based on a manipulation of the first virtual joystick, the first virtual control pad, the second virtual joystick, the second virtual control pad, or the combination thereof;

communicating the control data to control a component of the handheld non-destructive testing (NDT) device;

displaying a second virtual joystick on a second touchscreen of a second handheld NDT device or on a third touchscreen of a mobile device;

deriving a second control data based on a manipulation of the second virtual joystick; and

communicating the second control data via a data network to control the component of the handheld NDT device, wherein the data network comprises at least one wireless segment.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein communicating the control data to control the handheld NDT device comprises communicating the control data by using a cloud computing system.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein communicating the control data to control the handheld NDT device comprises communicating the control data by using a local area network.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein communicating the control data to control the component comprises communicating a borescope control data configured to control an articulating section of a borescope to position a tip.