The Rovion system – the newest edition to South African supplier Octopus Electronics’ CCTV pipeline monitoring and maintenance portfolio – is designed to offer professional inspectors everything they need for their working base, excelling in its power, robustness and agility, says Octopus Electronics owner, Gavin Nunn.

“Imported from overseas and launched in May 2011, we have already sold eight units into South Africa, which is an indicator that it is doing exceptionally well,” says Nunn, of the newest system.

A pipeline inspection camera system, its versatility is increased by the fact that it is a software-based system, and therefore the functionality grows with every software update, adds Nunn. “All this, without having to do any hardware updates and we are developing it constantly.”

Additionally, the system can be applied to projects involving 100 mm pipelines to 1.5 m centralised pipeline sizes, with the new crawler launched in February this year in the United States. “There are three crawler options. One crawler is applicable in pipelines sized from 100 to 200 mm, the next crawler from 150 mm to 1 m centralised pipelines and the large crawler will be doing from 450 mm up to 1.5 m centralised pipelines,” says Nunn.

Awareness on the increase

The need and demand in the market is growing constantly, as is the awareness of the product and the processes involved in the market, says Nunn. “We have been in business for 17 years and currently have 40 iPEK crawler systems in the market at the moment, which is more than double almost what anybody else has got in the market at the moment,” he adds.

The Rovion system is mostly used for sewer and stormwater inspections and maintenance programmes and projects. “Locally we have an ageing infrastructure, so the necessity is there. The sewer infrastructure is becoming very old and if inspection and maintenance is not carried out it will fail – and this is not something new or unheard of,” states Nunn.

He adds that while in its entirety, it’s a massive network of infrastructure, “within my knowledge the City of Tshwane has done the most work to date on its infrastructure network.” Currently, contractors in Tshwane are using two of the Rovion systems.

“Proactive investigation is key. Then all the data is collated and the software will identify the bad areas most in need of attention, and also what the good areas are,” says Nunn.

Substantial investment in R&D

The research and development required to produce a system like the Rovion system and introduce it to the market is exorbitant, explains Nunn. “iPEK is at this stage the largest European manufacturer of CCTV pipeline inspection equipment and is celebrating its 25thanniversary this year,” says Nunn.

Nunn himself, through Octopus Electronics, has a10-year history with iPek, which was recently bought out by America-based IDEX and as a result, “has just gone from strength to strength.”

Arrive on-site. You drive your van up to the hole – open the manhole. Connect the crawler with camera on it to the cable on a cable drum, which is an automatic cable drum on the back of the van – lower it down and set up your control and drive it down – as easy as that.

Training essential

There is quite a bit of training involved in being able to accurately and effectively use the system and similar systems, says Nunn. “We do that training on the equipment when we supply the systems, as well as training on the WRC MSCC4. This is the manual of sewer condition classification, and although not everybody in South Africa uses it, I promote it because it is the basis of all international related standards.”

Octopus Electronics also supplies after delivery support of the system, as well as maintaining a stock of small parts for maintenance and repair purposes. “If parts I don’t carry are needed, stock is available in two to three days, so downtown is minimal,” says Nunn.

All of this is made easier though by the fact the Rovion system is small, has a light capable, very robust cable, it is easily upgradeable, easy to maintain and very versatile for wide range of pipes,” concludes Nunn.