Waygate Mentor Visual iQ VideoProbe Video Borescope

Overview

The Mentor Visual iQ is the Everest VideoProbe video borescope from Waygate Technologies, a Baker Hughes business, presented on the Waygate website as the Mentor Visual iQ+ video borescope. It is used for remote visual inspection (RVI) of places the eye cannot reach: the inside of gas turbines and aero engines, gearboxes, heat exchangers, boilers, pipework, vessels and welded structures. The system combines a portable handset with interchangeable articulating probes, high-definition imaging, 3D measurement and analytics that use computer vision and machine learning to raise data quality and shorten inspection time.

Seven Star LLC supplies the Mentor Visual iQ to power generation companies, oil and gas operators, aviation maintenance organisations and inspection contractors in Oman and across the GCC. Our team in Muscat helps customers choose the platform, probe diameters, lengths and optical tips that match their equipment, and we provide engineering support for sites in Muscat, Sohar, Duqm and Salalah.

Working Principle

A video borescope places a miniature camera and LED illumination at the tip of a flexible insertion tube. The Mentor Visual iQ steers the tip with 360° All-Way articulation from a joystick on the handset, so the inspector can guide the probe through access ports and look in any direction. White LED light illuminates the scene, and image controls such as brightness, long exposure up to 16 seconds, high dynamic range, adaptive noise reduction, distortion correction and Dark Boost help reveal cracks, corrosion, erosion, and coating loss. Interchangeable optical tip adaptors set the field and depth of view for each task, and continuous 5× digital zoom enlarges details.

For sizing indications, the system offers Real3D measurement with 3D phase and 3D stereo methods that produce a fully surfaced point cloud. Up to nine measurement types are available, including projected plane, area depth profile, radius gauge and automatic blade tip clearance, and 3D stitching measures larger areas than a single view. This lets the inspector quantify pitting depth, tip clearance or a crack length directly in the field and decide whether a component can stay in service.

Engineering Design of the Mentor Visual iQ

The Mentor Visual iQ handset has an integrated 6.5-inch daylight-readable XGA LCD with an optically bonded, multipoint capacitive Dragontrail touchscreen that supports pinch and zoom. The housing is magnesium and polycarbonate with elastomeric bumpers, rated IP65 when assembled. QuickChange probes with optical tip adaptors make it quick to change the probe for each job, and probes are available in 4.0, 6.1, 6.2 and 8.4 mm diameters with titanium camera housings; HD camera versions with 1,200k pixels are available in 6.1 and 8.4 mm. Insertion tube and tip are waterproof to 1 bar.

Power comes from a 10.8 V, 73 Wh lithium-ion battery with about two hours of typical run time, or from a 100 to 240 VAC supply. Data is stored on 16 GB (Inspect) or 32 GB (Touch and Analyze) internal memory and moved through two USB 3.0 host ports or a micro-B client port, while DisplayPort provides video out. Integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connect the instrument to the InspectionWorks cloud, where Push2IW sends inspection data automatically and the store provides manuals, analytic data sheets and inspection templates.

Key Features

The Mentor Visual iQ brings the following capabilities to remote visual inspection:

• Three platforms, Inspect, Touch and Analyze, so the system can be matched to the inspection scope and upgraded later.
• HD imaging with a 1.2 megapixel sensor on 6.1 and 8.4 mm probes and continuous 5× digital zoom.
• Real3D phase and stereo measurement with a fully surfaced point cloud and up to nine measurement types.
• Menu Directed Inspection software that guides the inspector, names and tags files and creates Word and PDF reports.
• Assisted defect recognition analytics, including Gas Power assist and Blade Counter for turbine work.
• QuickChange probes and optical tip adaptors, plus specialty LongSteer, working channel, UV and quartz fibre probes.
• Always-on DVR, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and InspectionWorks cloud connectivity for data security and remote collaboration.
• Rugged IP65 handset tested to MIL-STD-810G environmental methods, operating from -25 to 46 °C.

Industrial Applications

The main uses of the Mentor Visual iQ are borescope inspections of gas and steam turbines, compressors and aero engines, where blade counting, tip clearance measurement and turning tool support speed up the work. The same instrument inspects gearboxes, heat exchanger tubes, boiler tubes, welds in pipe and vessels, valve internals, castings and machined bores. Recorded images and 3D data provide traceable evidence for maintenance decisions.

In Oman, the Mentor Visual iQ suits independent power and water producers running gas turbines, refinery and LNG maintenance teams in Sohar and Sur, airline and military aviation maintenance, and inspection contractors serving oil and gas fields. Seven Star LLC supplies it alongside other Waygate Technologies inspection instruments, such as the Waygate USM Go+ ultrasonic flaw detector, the Waygate DM5E thickness gauge and the Waygate Krautkramer CL Go+ precision thickness gauge.

Technical Specifications

The Mentor Visual iQ values below are taken from the Waygate Technologies Everest Mentor Visual iQ VideoProbe specification sheet.

How to Order

To order the Mentor Visual iQ, send Seven Star LLC an RFQ listing the platform (Inspect, Touch or Analyze), the probe diameters and lengths, the measurement and analytics options you need and the equipment you plan to inspect. Our team in Muscat will confirm the configuration, availability and lead time, and the specification sheet can be downloaded from this page. Seven Star LLC supplies Waygate Technologies remote visual inspection equipment across Oman and the GCC with engineering support in Muscat.