NL Camera User Manual
Table of contents Notice to user Legal Compliance Markings Disposal of electronic waste 5 5 5 6 6 Introduction Intended use of the device User safety Specifications Package contents Camera parts Battery parts Charger 7 7 7 8 10 11 13 13 Getting started Charging Startup Shutdown 13 14 15 16 User interface Heatmap Take snapshot Snapshot browser Filter Zoom Single-source / multi-source mode Screen brightness Wifi status [option] Settings Network settings [option] Upload snapshots Enable/disable wifi Sele
USB export USB update 22 23 Application-specific features Leak detection [option] Filter Distance Advanced settings Leak unit Currency Unit cost Env. temp. Rel. humidity Leak corr.
info@nlacoustics.com www.nlacoustics.com FI26650896 Document version: 05.03.
Notice to user This manual is the current printed version of the NL Camera User Manual. For updated versions of the manual, please contact your distributor. Legal For warranty terms contact your distributor. ©2020, Noiseless Acoustics Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide. Names and marks appearing on the products herein are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Noiseless Acoustics and/or its subsidiaries.
Markings The physical device ID label consisting of identification data, CE and WEEE markings is on the top left side of the NL Camera. The ID label consists of the product name, the serial number, the country of origin, the company name and approval markings. The e-label where all the regulatory information is displayed is the primary ID-plate of the NL Camera AC13. E-label is available in the NL Camera user interface. To open e-label press Settings -icon, choose Device info.
Introduction Thank you for choosing the NL Camera. The NL Camera is a standalone system for acoustic image measurements and signal analysis. As a standalone system, no additional equipment is needed for basic usage of the device. The NL Camera uses 124 microphones to form a very precise acoustic image in the desired direction. This acoustic image is transposed in real-time on top of a digital camera picture, which allows the user to accurately see from which directions sound is arriving to the camera.
Hold the NL Camera firmly by the handle. Do not pull by the cord or use any kind of pliers or tools to disconnect the cable. The top heatsink will get hot when using the NL camera. It is recommended that USB export is done directly after starting the device, as attempting to export the results after prolonged use might be problematic due to the hot heatsink. Consult your safety officer about using the NL Camera and the carrying bag with the strap in your facility or working environment.
User interface Display: size: 5”, 800x480; color: 24 bit RGB; brightness: 1000 cd/m 2 (adjustable) Input device: resistive touchscreen Power on indicator: red LED Video image resolution: 1640x1234 Video frame rate: 25 fps Acoustic image framerate: 30 fps Zoom: 2x digital zoom Acoustic specifications Acoustic measurement: 124 low-noise MEMS microphones, real-time sound visualization Dynamic range, low limit: less than 0 dB Dynamic range, high limit: more than 120 dB Bandwidth: 2 kHz to 31 kHz, depending on
Package contents The NL Camera product packaging consist of: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. NL Camera Battery Battery Cable Charger with a detachable mains cord Carrying bag Mass storage Lanyard Documentation !! NOTE: Use only the accessories that are provided with the NL Camera. Use only spare parts provided by Noiseless Acoustics.
Camera parts 1: Video Camera 2: Mic Array 3: LCD Screen 4: NL Camera Power Connector 5: Battery Cable, Camera side connector 6: Power LED 7: Mass Storage Port 8: Top Heatsink 9: Right Side Heat Sink 10: Left Side Heat Sink 11: Lanyard Fastening Point !! NOTE: The heat sinks (8, 9 & 10) will become hot while using. Beware of touching them. Long term contact may cause burns. !! The front side of the NL Camera consists of a video image sensor (1) and the microphone array (2).
The main power source is an external battery which is connected to the bottom of the handle (4). The NL Camera comes with a cable (5) which can be attached to the camera. Only use batteries and cables provided with the NL Camera or otherwise approved for use with the NL Camera. The status of the internal power supply unit is indicated by the power LED (6), which is red when the power is on.
Battery parts TOP: The battery end of the Battery Cable (4) Bottom: The main battery of the NL Camera 1: Output connector for the Battery Cable 2: Fuel gauge 3: Battery Charger connector Charger The Charger for the battery is an AC/DC converter with an output capable of charging LiFePO 4 chemistry batteries. The charger has a universal single phase mains input, a status led and a charging output. The charger is provided with a mains power cable including a plug compatible for your regional mains output.
Charging The main power source of the NL Camera is the Battery. It should be charged fully before usage also make sure the battery is charged before prolonged storage. To charge an empty battery fully usually takes 4-6 hours. Please note that the battery should be charged at temperatures between 0 °C and +40 °C (+32°F to +104°F). A new battery used in optimal environment conditions yields over 7 hours of usage. !! NOTE: The NLCamera is not intended to be used while the battery is being charged.
1 greens, 2 red Over 20 % 2 red Less than 20 % (recharge soon) 1 red Less than 10 % (near self switch off) No lights Empty (recharge within 12 hours) Nominally the battery yields 7-8 hours of usage. Though the battery usage depends on multiple variables which may decrease the usage time. These are the cell temperatures, the load and the age (cycles) of the battery. Startup The NL Camera will start automatically when the power supply is connected.
1: Input connector 2: Battery cable connector 3: Battery cable Connector Lock Ring 6: Input Orientation Marking 7: Cable Orientation marking 4: NLCamera Handle 5: Both the NL Camera and the Battery Cable have red orientation markings. They indicate the position of the key and the slot of the connectors which ensures the proper connection orientation.
User interface An example of the graphical user interface of the NL Camera is shown below. Note that the exact layout of the user interface might be different on your unit, since different versions of the NL Camera have different optional features. Heatmap The main view of the user interface shows the camera image with a heatmap overlayed on top. The heatmap shows the location of the strongest sound source (single-source mode) or multiple sound sources (multi-source mode).
The strength color mode shows each sound source with a single color according to the intensity of the sound source. In addition to the heatmap, the location of the strongest sound source is shown with a small crosshair. When taking a snapshot, the sound arriving from the direction of the crosshair will be recorded. Application-specific analysis available on some versions of the NL Camera will also use the sound arriving from the direction of the crosshair.
Note that snapshots are not available in the snapshot browser after they have been uploaded to the cloud service or exported to a USB memory stick. Filter Press the filter button to switch between different filters. The available filters are application-specific, and typically change the frequency range that the NL Camera uses for showing sound sources. The same frequency range is also used when taking a snapshot and the sound is recorded.
Screen brightness The brightness of the display can be adjusted by pressing the brightness button. This is useful to make the display readable under different lighting conditions (indoors/outdoors). Wifi status [option] An icon representing the wifi connection status and strength is shown next to the settings button: Excellent wifi connection strength. Good wifi connection strength. Satisfactory wifi connection strength. Poor wifi connection strength. No wifi connection.
Enable/disable wifi Use this option to enable or disable the wifi connection. After enabling wifi, connect to the desired wifi network by pressing Select wifi. Select wifi When pressing Select wifi, the NL Camera will scan for nearby wifi networks. After the scan, a list of the detected networks will be shown. In case the wifi network you wish to connect to doesn’t show up, try moving closer to the wifi access point.
When enabling Show threshold under Advanced settings, the threshold adjustment will only be temporarily shown. If the filter or mode is changed, or the device restarted, the threshold adjustment will be hidden and the threshold set to its default value. Some versions of the NL Camera always have the threshold adjustment enabled and shown on the main view.
The NL Camera will recognize the inserted memory stick and ask if you want to transfer snapshots to the USB device. If you press Yes, the transfer will begin. During the transfer, the progress will be displayed, and the transfer can be aborted by pressing the Stop button. Snapshots already transferred to the memory stick will remain on the stick and snapshots not transferred will remain on the NL Camera.
to restart the device to apply the update. Remove the memory stick and put the orange USB port cover back in place. Shut the NL Camera down by unplugging the power cable and start it again by connecting the power cable. The update will now be applied.
Application-specific features Each NL Camera is configured according to the customer’s use case. The typical applications are leak detection (locating and estimating the size of compressed air leaks) and partial discharge detection (locating and analyzing partial discharges in power grids). The features specific to these two applications are described below. Leak detection [option] The NL Camera detects compressed air leaks based on the sound emitted by the leak.
Currency The currency in which to display the leak cost estimate can be selected from the available options. Unit cost This determines the cost associated with the leak size for leak cost estimation. Depending on the selected leak unit, this determines how much a leak of size 1 l/min or 1 CFM costs in the selected currency. Env. temp. The environmental temperature affects how the sound from a leak propagates through the air. Specify the temperature in order to get as accurate a leak estimate as possible.
Filter The Norm filter filters out low frequency background noise (below 10 kHz), while the High and Ultr filters both filter out all audible background noise (below 20 kHz and 25 kHz, respectively), concentrating on ultrasonic frequencies where the sound of partial discharges often is prominent. If there is only little background noise, try the Norm filter. In the presence of strong background noise, the High or Ultr filter will most likely work better.
Usage techniques General usage Keep the battery inside the carrying bag and carry the bag with the strap over your shoulder to free your hands for using the NL Camera. !! NOTE: Consult your safety officer about using the NL Camera and the carrying bag with the strap in your facility or working environment. The strap is rigid and does not have a separate safety release mechanism, so special care should be applied around heavy machinery.
background noise. Background noise (for example traffic or factory noise) is often dominant at low frequencies, while many interesting phenomena have a lot of energy at high frequencies. More in-depth analysis is always done on the location of the crosshair on the screen. In the single-source mode, the NL Camera will always show the strongest sound source in the field of view. The strongest source will depend on the currently selected filter; different filters might display different sound sources.
An example of one actual sound source and three reflections shown by the NL Camera in multi-source mode. The actual sound source lies on the floor, while there are three reflections shown on the walls. When the camera is moved around, the location of the actual sound source remains the same, while the reflections move around on the walls, and are not seen from all angles.
Cloud [option] The NL Cloud expands your sound imaging experience by offering various analysis methods for the sound image and the signal. It also serves as a storage for snapshots taken, and can be used for generating reports. Use a modern web browser and enter the following address: https://view.nlacoustics.com/ . To access cloud services use the username and the password provided with the NL Camera and type them in the respective Username and Password fields.
a limited number of snapshots, and you can navigate back and forth through pages using the number and arrow links at the bottom of the page. When moving the cursor on top of a snapshot, you will see the comments that were entered when the snapshot was taken. If no comments were entered when the snapshot was taken, the device-generated label will be shown instead. Symbols that might be displayed on top of the snapshots are related to application-specific analysis.
When clicking on a snapshot in the main view of the NL Cloud, a view of that snapshot will be opened. On the upper left you can see the camera image and the acoustic heatmap overlayed on top of it. Above the image, the comments entered when taking the snapshot are shown. If no comments were entered, the device-generated label is shown instead. On the left side of the image a colorbar is shown.
designated area or select the files to upload by first clicking the link. The snapshot files that should be uploaded have the nlz extension on the USB memory stick. Note that these nlz files are not exported on all versions of the NL Camera. Once you have selected the files you want to upload, click on the Upload Files button to start the upload. Once the upload is done, it might take a few minutes until the new snapshots are visible in the snapshot list.
Storage Store the equipment in a dry location at room temperature. Store the batteries fully charged and recharge once every three months. Also start up the NL Camera at least once every three months. These actions ensure reliability. Cleaning Do not use any strong cleaning solutions. Do not use any running or dripping water or liquid. Do not immerse any of the equipment. Before cleaning the NL Camera, disconnect all the cords and make sure that no equipment is powered.
