See 4x Farther with Zenith’s new Lighting Payload
When potential customers think of Zenith, they initially think of narrow vertical spaces, not larger spaces like wide storage tanks or big boilers. A common Zenith misconception is that it cannot be used in these larger areas because the camera is horizontally limited to the cable it hangs from, so these same potential customers assume they are forced to use a drone to fly across these large spaces to complete their visual inspections.
But it’s also no secret that Zenith contains a powerful camera for visual inspection data. In fact, Interactive Aerial has proven the camera can clearly see a line 1/16th of an inch thick from over 90 feet away! As impressive as these numbers are, this test was performed in a well-lit environment. However, as the inspection area continues to get darker, lighting becomes the limiting factor of the camera’s effectiveness. Enter Zenith’s new add-on lighting payload – providing 30,000 lumens of extra focused light, it gives your Zenith the ability to see farther, and even more concentrated.
now inspect assets two times larger
The big lighting boost enables Zenith to inspect assets two times larger than what it can now. Relying on Zenith’s built-in gimbal LED keeps the unit within 30 feet of the object it’s photographing. However, add the new lighting payload with 30,000 lumens of concentrated light, and that 30 ft. radius now goes up to a 60 ft. radius. Putting this concept into practice – place Zenith in the center of a 120 ft. wide tank – and the camera now tackles this environment with ease.
Light is measured in many ways. The inspection industry most commonly measures it in lumens, which is the total amount of light emitted by a single source. A less commonly used measurement is the “lux” value which describes how much light falls on a particular surface. If we look closer at the lux values for Zenith, this value is the same at 15 ft. using only the built-in LED as it is from 60 ft. away when adding the new lighting payload. This in turn means our new light extends Zenith’s visual range by four times.
This new lighting payload saddles either side of the Zenith unit and connects to the device via the standard mounting holes located in the bottom shell. Two towers house six individual 5,000 lumen lights, each with concentrated convex lens, allowing a user to configure the lights for farther distances. The lighting payload is powered by the same swappable battery used in the Zenith Unit and Winch Box. A user can also separately adjust the two lighting towers to see any angle, whether that’s straight up to the ceiling, or 180° down to the floor.
two successful inspections
Let’s review two successful inspections where the new light towers were used: a large chemical tank, and a dusty grain silo.
One inspection our service team recently completed would not have been possible had it not been for the new lighting payload. The team needed to fully inspect two 60 ft. wide, 60 ft. tall chemical tanks. These thanks had not been internally inspected for over 20 years. The challenge with this inspection surrounded the entry point. This vessel only had access from one manway along the outer shell – meaning Zenith needed to see 60 ft. across this vessel to complete the inspection. With the two lighting towers adding 30,000 lumens of concentrated light, the Zenith system had no problem zooming in to see the far side with detail. Both tanks were fully inspected in one day using Zenith’s automation mode.
In another instance, Zenith needed to see across a 30 ft. wide grain silo. The challenge revolving around this inspection was the dust caused by wind drafts. To better manage this environment, our team added the two light towers to Zenith and turned the gimbal LED off. This reduced the light glare from the LED being next to the camera lens, which allowed Zenith to see the full 30 ft. distance across the silo. This asset owner ultimately purchased their own Zenith system and continues to use it for these same silo inspections today.
Simply Purchase Online
One convenient feature of doing business with Interactive Aerial is our Customer Portal. After becoming a Zenith customer, our team will give you access to this section of our website, easily allowing entry to pages such as Software Updates, Webinars, and our Training Material.
Another tab within the Portal is our Online Shop. This page allows a user to simply pick the components they need, run a credit card, and the components go next day with shipping rates already included. It makes ordering additional components like the new lighting payload easy and hassle free!