This one is physical and digital. I personally patented, designed, built, and deployed a novel ultrasonic inspection device that encoded position/orientation using IR (Just like motion capture in movies). Actually used it in the field at a nuclear plant. The value pitch is that is allowed for fast deployment (manual scanning), but could also record coverage ensuring nothing was missed. Fast deployment was important to avoid radiation and guaranteing coverage was important for safety. Ended up costing significantly less than automated scanning using a robotic system.
My absolute favorite was using the data to project a 3d model of the interior of the welds. Had to learn quaternions which was nearly the death of me, but I'm just glad it worked.
They still have the link apparently. The system used traditional manual scanning system with a VGA capture card on the back. I synced that with an off the shelf IR capture system and was able to record the ultrasonic scan into a video file using opencv. I would also record a USB cam at the same time as a sanity check. I could generate point clouds of data by reading the video file and the synced position data to project where the ultrasound was going and the linear response of the scanner. Was a ton of fun to develop and it was nice that I pretty much only had myself to blame when things went wrong. I also had to write the procedure for operation in case someone else had to use it.
That sounds really fascinating, could you post the patent no. or a link to more information? I bought a cheap NDT ultrasonic 'scope' to play with recently, to see if I can potentially measure specific gravity via it.
This correctly listed the parents. Hard part was linking all the systems together and keeping sync. Did it all in C++ way back when I actually programmed for work. Now I am a PM and code on the side for fun. I'm almost glad I cannot go back and see my code. It produced good data but damn was I a novice.
My absolute favorite was using the data to project a 3d model of the interior of the welds. Had to learn quaternions which was nearly the death of me, but I'm just glad it worked.