Origo Corporation – Corona Camera Product Inquiry
1
Introduction
This Whitepaper describes Origo’s patented corona camera R&D project. Currently, lab and daylight
proof-of-concept tests have been conducted with good results. The project is now ready to move to the
product stage.
Origo always solicits potential user inputs prior to final design to ensure the final production product
meets the needs of the utility industry. As this camera can be implemented in different forms, Origo is
seeking inputs as to which type of implementation would be most useful to users.
Corona
Electrical corona is a partial discharge in the air surrounding an electrical conductor. It occurs when the
electric field around the conductor exceeds a minimum critical value strong enough to ionize the air surrounding the conductor but not sufficient to ionize a flash-over.
Corona is a problem because it can cause power loss, audible noise, radio interference, and corrosive
effects on conductors and insulators through the formation of nitric acid.
Corona Cameras
Electrical corona emits spectral energy in the ultraviolet (UV) region above the normal range of human
vision. However, it can be detected and viewed using corona cameras optimized for viewing UV.
All modern corona cameras are designed for use during daylight by using a so called “solar blind” filter
which removes normal sunlight but still passes some of the corona spectrum.
A beam splitter inside the corona camera sends the faint solar blind filtered light to an image intensifier
sensor and the sunlight illuminated scene light to a normal camera image sensor. Camera electronics
then overlays the two images for viewing by the operator. In this way, the exact location of the corona
discharge can be seen.
Origo Proposed Corona Camera
Daylight corona cameras have been continuously improved over the last decade and current cameras
work very well. Their main downside is that they are very expensive ($40K+) and usually only affordable
by the larger utilities.
Users and distributors of these products have opined that a much larger number of corona cameras could
be sold if their cost were around $15K or less. Accordingly, Origo has undertaken this corona camera
R&D project in an attempt to achieve this goal.
A lab proof-of-concept test, daylight substation tests, anticipated product specifications, and possible
product implementations are illustrated below.
© Origo Corporation 2015-2016
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Origo Corporation – Corona Camera Product Inquiry
2
Lab Proof of Concept Test
7500 volts, 1” gap, 22 foot range
Minor corona (single spot found) while wet after rain.
Corona disappeared when conductor dried.
 Camera position far across from substation.
© Origo Corporation 2015-2016
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Origo Corporation – Corona Camera Product Inquiry
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A standard commercial daylight corona camera verified corona on the 500KV insulator below. The camera indicated random corona over much of the insulator, but most was concentrated in the area of the
wide gap when low gain was used. The photon count indicated this corona would be something the utility
would normally fix. However, it has existed for a year and has not caused any issues.
The frames below were collected using the Origo proof-of-concept camera at noon on a cloudy day.
Unlike the previous lab and substation tests, this corona was not concentrated in a streamer. Therefore,
corona extraction processing was used to image the corona.
Sensitivity is adjusted via gain, threshold, and area selection. The brightness of the red squares indicates
relative intensity above threshold. Large squares integrate corona over a larger area which increases
sensitivity. The same frame below was processed using two different size squares. Note the sensitivity
increase using the larger squares.
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Origo Corporation – Corona Camera Product Inquiry
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A couple other frames are illustrated below. The left frame suggests this corona burst occurred via arcs
along the insulator's left side and center. The right frame suggests this arc propagated from left to right
across the insulator.
Any size square can be processed. It is assumed the operator would select a large square to detect the
presence of corona, and then drill down using smaller squares to indicate its actual location. If a strong
streamer is present (as in the previous lab picture), it can be viewed directly using full resolution.
This corona appears random over much of the insulator (not concentrated at a particular location). The
ability to image individual corona bursts may provide valuable information about its cause and severity
(sharp point, cleanliness, insulator failure, etc.).
© Origo Corporation 2015-2016
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Origo Corporation – Corona Camera Product Inquiry
5
Theory of Operation
All current daylight corona cameras are based on spectral discrimination between discharge corona and
solar corona. That is, the solar blind filter simply removes all solar corona while passing a small amount
of discharge corona to an image intensifier. A beam splitter prior to the filter sends the sunlight illuminated scene light to a normal camera image sensor where it is combined with the corona image.
In contrast, the Origo corona camera is based on temporal discrimination instead of spectral discrimination. That is, discharge corona is only present during the high voltage period of the 60 Hz (or 50 Hz)
power sine wave. Near the zero crossings, the voltage is too low to support corona so only the ambient
sunlight image is present and not the corona image. By subtracting the ambient image during zero crossings from the corona plus ambient image during voltage peaks, the corona image can be viewed. A single optical path is used for both the corona and visible images which eliminates the cost and complexity
of combining images for display. Additional details are available at
http://www.origocorp.com/Patents/US9291494.pdf.
Corona Characteristics
Since independent discharge corona bursts occur each power cycle, no two are exactly the same. Below
are individual corona bursts across a well defined 1/2" needle point gap energized through 20 megohms
with 7500 VAC 60 Hz. First 4 in still room (range 40 feet). Second 4 in breezy room (range 1 foot).
© Origo Corporation 2015-2016
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On outside insulators in the breeze or wind, corona bursts can vary widely. If the corona is due to a sharp
point or debris, at least one end of the corona discharge should originate at or near the same point. It is
expected that an ability to image individual corona discharges will aid in determining the cause of the corona. If the corona bursts are completely random across an insulator, it may indicate a dirty or failing insulator.
Implementation
This proposed corona camera can be implemented in many different forms as discussed in the next section. However, for the lowest cost and greatest application diversity, Origo's initial Corona InspectorTM
camera will be composed of a modified CMOS camera, selectable filters, optics, laptop PC, custom software, and display. This allows the user to optimized the system for their particular application.
The picture on the right illustrates a typical machine vision USB camera that has been modified
for UV sensitivity. The USB cable plugs into the
laptop USB port. A wide variety of UV lenses
and filters can be attached to the camera. In
general, UV lenses are very expensive compared to visible camera lenses.
A custom Windows program allows the user to
select camera operating modes, select display
settings, process the images, save images to
files, etc. Either the laptop display or virtual image goggles can be used to point and view the
corona.
The picture on the right illustrates a low cost alternative to using UV lenses. The camera can
be attached to a Newtonian telescope which can
be either mounted on a tripod or on a Dobson
mount (as shown). The complete assembly can
be simply set on the hood or bed of a vehicle
and pointed. A Dobson mount is widely used in
astrometry and is very stable and easy to point.
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Origo Corporation – Corona Camera Product Inquiry
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Alternate Implementations
The core technology of this new corona camera can be implemented into almost any configuration required. Origo invites user comments as to what form would best serve their needs. For drone applications, the camera with UV lenses and an adequate communication link would allow the processing and
display to be implemented at the drone control site. This would provide a small lightweight drone package. For normal linemen use, the camera could be packaged as a handheld unit. Listed below are some
thoughts on potential implementations.
Proposed Camera Specifications (non-UAV versions)

Approximately 3 to 6 inches in diameter by 6 to 12 inches long.

Viewing on either smartphone, laptop, or goggles.

All images can be recorded.

Sensitivity constant with range but resolution decreases as image shrinks.

Larger optics allows range to increase to miles.

HD resolution.

Zoom to pixel level.

View insulator or conductor with or without corona.

Mount on stabilized platform for mobile use (vehicle or helicopter).

Absolute linearity of corona energy measurement (don't need photon counter).

Daytime use.

On the order of 1/3 the price of current units.
Possible Implementations

Portable UV camera for use by linemen to inspect for corona.

A short range automated UV camera for substations to continuously inspect for corona.

A long range automated UV camera to continuously inspect for corona.

A small UAV mounted UV camera.
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Origo Corporation – Corona Camera Product Inquiry
8
Current Corona Camera User Comments
Based on a small number of discussions with people knowledgeable with current corona cameras and
their usage, Origo has been told the following:

For transmission voltages greater then 69 KV, most corona observed is benign and that which is
not usually causes a slow degradation process, taking years before failure.

Corona is typically not a problem for voltages below 230 KV. Even then, it takes years to do any
significant damage to insulators.

One large utility claims they fly HV transmission lines once every 6 months to check for visual
damage and do corona inspection once every 4 years.
Based on the user comments above and other information, Origo is lead to conclude the following:

At least one corona camera is required by utilities to quickly pinpoint an obvious problem such as
RF interference complaints or audible corona (for both distribution and transmission voltages).
They are also required for testing new construction to ensure it is corona free.

There doesn’t appear any need to perform routine surveys on distribution voltages.

Automated cameras (short or long range) would be useful to search for intermittent corona that is
causing RF interference complaints or audible corona.

Handheld linemen and vehicle mounted cameras are the most useful implementations.

Small lightweight UAV mounted cameras appear to be the most important implementation going
forward, since inspections by drones are the latest trend for utilities, as drones become more affordable and capable.
Marketing Survey
Origo’s conclusions above are based on a very small user input sample. There may be other useful applications we are not aware of. We would appreciate any suggestions or comments from potential users.
Contact
Please call or email any questions, interests, or comments you may have. Thanks.
Greg Piesinger
President
Origo Corporation
www.origocorp.com
480-473-1995
gpiesinger@origocorp.com
© Origo Corporation 2015-2016
Technology Made Simple