The software for the easy assessment of pipe inspection data on mobile workstations

User Manual

Version 3.0.0

Date 22.08.2023

Introduction

The new generation of ProTouch is an optimized application for simplified data entry during mobile inspections of pipelines (sewer, gas pipes etc.) all over the world in all languages. The software allows MPEG video recording and taking pictures directly via live video signal. Section/inspection data entry as well as the description of pipe defects is done via predefined templates and catalogues that follow the standards used in the corresponding countries (e.g. PACP, WRC, WSA, NZPIM etc.)

The whole user interface has been adapted to the operation on mobile equipments with integrated touch screens.

The present documentation describes the stepwise procedure from software installation, project creation, data entry, video recording, taking pictures to printing and project upload via the cloud service WinCan-WEB.

Minimum system requirements

Hardware

• Processor: INTEL Core i5

• RAM: 8 Gbyte RAM

• Free disk space (C:\): 250 Gbyte

• Number of USB ports: 2

• Number of COM ports (RS232): 1

• Type of screen: Touch-Screen: 12 to 13 inch

Operating System

• Windows 8.1 PRO, 64bit: all updates provided by Microsoft must be downloaded and installed.

• Windows 10 PRO, 64bit: all updates provided by Microsoft must be downloaded and installed.

• Windows 11 PRO, 64bit: all updates provided by Microsoft must be downloaded and installed.

Software Installation and Configuration

Download the software installation package under www.wincan.com\Downloads and double-click on the installation file ProTouchSetup.exe to run the installation. Confirm all the steps given by the installation wizard hitting the button Next accordingly. Click on the corresponding desktop icon to run the application.

At first, you will be welcomed by the License activation popup, if the license was not activated yet. Please input a correct activation code and alias and then hit Activate. If the license is correct, a activation succesfull notification should appear.

The first screen you will see is the Home Screen that provides all basic commands/functionalities you will need to work with ProTouch:

1. Direct access to existing ProTouch projects which are ready to be uploaded to the WinCan cloud.

2. Re-open the most recent project.

3. Create a new project: you must at least enter a name and set the damage recording standard used in your country (PACP, WRC, WSA, NZPIM).

4. Manage the addresses of all project participants (i.e. customers, project managers and contractors)

5. Hit this button directly after the software installation to make sure all basic configurations have been done before you start your inspection job.

6. Quit the software

Above the main dashboard on the right-hand side you will find the control icons (1) of the battery status, the internet connection as well as a direct access (2) to the most important commands (foto/video gallery, report preview etc.) listed in a standard menu:

General Program Settings

Hitting the button Settings provides a list of categories that contain configuration options you will have to check or uncheck accordingly. All the settings are organized in categories and sub-categories to make the navigation easier. The most important settings options are described below.

General > Options

Make sure all options provided in this sub-category are checked. The option Virtual Keyboard Enabled is especially important, if ProTouch has been installed on a tablet computer.

If the Live Video Start option is checked, then the first screen you will see after opening application will be the control monitor that shows the live video signal and 3 main control buttons located below:

General > Language

Use this sub-category to set the language of your ProTouch installation on the current computer (English, German, French, Italian, Spanish etc.):

General > Contacts

This sub-category allows to change default contractor that will be automatically selected when creating new project.

General > Themes

This sub-category allows to change application theme to Dark or Light theme.

Auto naming

Select a predefined combination for the section names which the software will enter automatically. The entry NONE allows the user to type the section name manually:

Video > Video Source:

Once the camera is connected to a compatible video encoding device (i.e. Sensoray 2253, Dazzle DVD-Videorecorder or DFG/USB2pro etc.) and switched on the LiveVideo signal appears in the preview panel and the camera thus is ready for recording:

Video > OSD devices

This sub-category provides a list of OSD-devices that are currently supported by ProTouch. Select the desired device and the corresponding COM-port which the device is connected to:

Device Control

These settings allows to turn one of the ProTouch Api Panels, if needed.

WinCan Web

Enter your credentials for the usage of the cloud service WinCan WEB. Mind that you have to register your company and your web-account before under web.wincan.com.

Updates

Connect to the internet, select this category and hit the Check button in order to check whether a new version of ProTouch is available. Release Notes button allow to check the latest features and bug fixes. The tab Special allows to input special version code that will download given application version.

Licence

Check the status of your ProTouch license. Here you will also find license related information like its number, ID, duration etc.

Help

In case of technical problems write an e-mail to support@wincan.com and type the corresponding ticket number (e.g. WGS-8459) that you will find in the automatic reply. As soon as someone from the technical service is available, he will contact you.

Creating projects

Go back to the Home Screen and hit the green button Create Project. Next fill out all mandatory fields as shown below:

The check box Simple Project (1) needs to be activated only when end customers ask you to take pictures and record video clips of the inspected sections directly without any data entry.

Hitting the blue button Create is going to generate the corresponding project structure in the background and switches to the Project Start Screen which is shown below. Hitting the button Project Overview then opens the interface for section and inspection data entry:

Entering section and inspection data

First select the object category SECTIONS and create a new section pushing the green button Add New on the left part of the interface:

The input mask for section and inspection data entry then pop up automatically. If the virtual keyboard has been enabled in the program settings, it will appear automatically on the screen as soon as you want to type text into a data entry field.

After data entry you always have to hide the virtual keyboard manually (1) to be able to save the section and inspection data (2):

Use the pen icon (1) to edit or correct existing data. Hitting the corresponding trash icon (2) on the other hand is going to delete sections, inspections or observations:

Entering observations and defects

The observation entry interface shows the main chapters of the observation catalogue (1). You can manually navigate through the catalogue or use the search field (2) and enter the OP-Code or the beginning of the observation text - this will help you finding the desired observation more quickly:

Start entering stepwise all observations or defects for the current section and confirm each observation using one of the blue buttons (3). Parameters highlighted in red are always mandatory.

In case you have chosen the wrong observation, simply get back to the main chapter view hitting the checkerboard icon (1a).

Observation entry can be done via an imported video clip or via a LiveVideo signal from a TV camera as a part of the mobile inspection equipment.

Hit the camera icon at the bottom to the right (1) to have the control buttons for video recording and playback shown:

1a: Import existing video clips.

1b: Run video recording directly from the inspection camera.

1c: Start and pause video playback.

1d: Stop or restart video playback.

Push the button Go Back to get back to the overview that will show you all sections and the list of observations per section inspection listed on the right part of the panel:

You can take 2 pictures per observation per default. The first one is taken automatically hitting the command button Create Photo Observation.

Click on the empty placeholder (1) to add a second photo to the same observation. This is going to open the video panel. Move the slider to the desired location in the clip and push the blue button Add 2nd Photo (2):

Clicking on an existing photo opens a separate panel and shows the original size of the picture. This panel also allows you to either delete (3) or overwrite (4) the photo:

Entering continuous defects

Continuous defects must always have a START and an END point. Use the catalogue field Continuous Observation, pick the list item Start for a given observation code (e.g. DEX) and confirm the observation entry.

When you enter a new observation afterwards, all open continuous defects will be listed inside a separate field (1) below the observation catalogue. Simply highlight the desired continuous defect, complete the observation picking the list item Finish (2) and finally confirm the observation entry (3):

Control of text display

Observation entry based on a LiveVideo signal allows the user to control the text display if the corresponding text generator of the camera equipment is supported by ProTouch. Click on the main button OSD, then select the command button OSD panel to get the most important text display control buttons shown below the video screen:

The Project Bar contains 3 preconfigured lines of basic information to the current section and shows it during the whole video recording process.

The Section Data contain 8 preconfigured lines of detailed information to the current section that are displayed for 10 sec and usually shown at the beginning or the end of the video recording.

The button Objects gets information like the current date, time, inclination and distance displayed at the bottom of the video screen: the software obtains these data directly from the camera equipment.

Placing and moving OSD-Objects

ProTouch provides configuration modes to have object data from the camera (date, time, inclination, distance etc.) placed and displayed as close to the lower edge of the video screen as possible before you start recording a video clip. Push the button Objects (1) to open the object configuration panel.

Use this dialogue panel to activate the object display and to define whether you want change the object position via Drag&Drop or via value entry (X and Y values):

Hitting the button Show changes returns a preview of the object display. Click on Save if you agree with the result (2).

Activate the mode Value input to move the OSD-Objects in horizontal (X) and vertical (Y) direction. The software then is going to interpret the values as follows:

• X values: Number of characters from the left edge of the video screen

• Y values: Number of lines from the upper edge of the video screen

The maximum values for X and Y depend upon the text generator which is connected to the computer. Unlike the mode Drag on Screen the mode Value input allows the user to place the OSD objects much more precisely on the video screen.

Hitting the button Show changes returns a preview of the object display. Click on Save if you agree with the result (2).

Measurements

Hitting the Measurements button will open sub-menu containig a range of measurement tools that can help measure certain values like clock position, bend angle, water level etc.

Editing plots or maps with the drawing program

You can assign a plot either to your project or to a single section and draw the geografic location of the inspected objects accordingly. Open the project and click on the button Project data entry. Next click on the button Drawings (1) in the data entry interface and select the type Project drawing (2) in the pop-up panel to draw the location of all sections on one single page:

The drawing module in ProTouch supports the formats JPG, PNG or PDF for the import of existing plots or maps. So you can draw the inspected sections on a added background layer or selected map tile (1) and have them adjusted automatically to the corresponding scale:

The button Shapes (2) provides curved and straight lines, arrows, circles, rectangles, polygones and a huge number of predefined symbols for access points (3) that you can select and draw directly on the plot.

Adding captions to drawing elements is done with the button Text (4) whereas all formatting commands can be found in the symbol bar (5) above the drawing area.

The drawing program is automatically saving any modification in small intervals. Hitting the diskette icon (6) will also save your work manually.

Report preview

Button Report Preview will enter a screen where you can preview and print to file a PDF report of given project. On the left-hand side, you will find options which sections to include in the PDF report. After clicking Generate Report (1) button, a preview will be generated and possible to inspect using previous/next page arrows (3)(4). Save to PDF (2) button allows creating .pdf file inside projects files (C:\WinCan_Projects\[project_name]\Misc\Docu):

Open photo/video gallery

Selecting the standard menu command Photo/Video Gallery is going to list you all media files (i.e. photos, videos and drawings) which are available in the current project. You can check at any time whether all sections have really been assigned their specific videoclips:

You may also change the media filenames hitting the pencil icon or delete a media file via the trash symbol:

You may also filter (1) and sort (2) gallery files:

Managing projects

All projects you created on your mobile computer are saved per default into the folder C:\WinCan_Projects.

Get back to the Home Screen and hit the button Project Management to easily look for a specific project available on the list:

The most important function buttons of this panel are briefly described below:

1. Enter a part of a project name into the search field and corresponding project will be shown on the list. The rest of projects will be filtered out.

2. Update project list: invalid entries to deleted projects will be removed and the project list thus cleaned up.

3. Create a new project.

4. Open an existing project from the list.

5. Add a project to list, that you have previously copied into the folder C:\WinCan_Projects. Therefore you always must browse for the project database in the project sub-folder \DB an (e.g. Test_ProTouch_EN.db3).

6. Copy a project to a removable drive.

7. Rename the selected project.

8. Delete the project from the list.

Managing addresses of project participants (contacts)

The addresses of all project participants (clients, managers and contractors) will be saved in the address database C:\WinCan_Projects\Meta.db3 and are automatically available for all future projects on the current computer.

Get back to the Home Screen and hit the button Contact Management to easily look for a specific address available on the list:

The most important function buttons of this panel are briefly described below:

1. Enter a part of a contact name into the search field and corresponding contact will be shown on the list. The rest of contacts will be filtered out.

2. Click on this button to create a new address.

3. Run the import of an existing address database saved as a ZIP file from another computer.

4. Run the export of an existing address database on the current computer and save it as a ZIP file.

5. Select and edit an address from the list. Use the input mask (contact details) on the right to modify the current contact or select a specific contractor address to assign the logo file via the corresponding text field. 6. To delete the attached logo to the contact the user needs to select contact from the list and click on the trash icon on the right of the logo name under the Logo File field.
7. To delete the contact the user needs to select it from the list and click on the trash icon on the right of contact details bar.

Assigning existing addresses to a project

You can assign contacts to existing projects via the contact management, remember that the project must be active. Select the desired contact (1) and hit the button Append (2) to link it to the current project:

If you like to assign a contact to a new project already before the project has been created, you will have to pick existing address data (2) provided by the correspond list fields for clients, managers or contractors (1) and confirm with the button Apply (3):

Forwarding project data

There are two possibilities to forward projects you created with the software ProTouch:

• Copy the project on a removable drive, open it in WinCanVX on an office computer and upload it to the WinCan cloud.

• Upload the project directly from your mobile equipment to the WinCan cloud.

1. Check whether you have assigned all contacts (i.e. client, manager and contractor (with logo)) to the current project.

2. Create a report preview via the standard menu (1) and save the protocol as a PDF file hitting the corresponding button (3):

3. Check the status of your internet connection.

4. Switch to the Home Screen, click on the button Settings and make sure you have entered a valid account to make full use of the cloud service WinCan-WEB.

5. Get back to the Home Screen and click on button Project Management to see the list of all projects that are available on your local disk.

6. Select the desired ProTouch project, hit the gear icon and choose the command Send to Cloud from the menu:

Photo/video file sharing

Another option to forward project data is to export (1) or share via e-mail (2) an individual gallery files. To do so, just use correct buttons that can be found on a gallery file preview inside the gallery screen:

Clicking the up arrow icon will open a popup where you can choose the export location. Use given buttons on the left (1) to move around the different folders (i.e. Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Projects). Then, use Apply button and the file will be exported to choosen location:

On the other hand, the share file button allows to share given file via link sent to e-mail. After clicking cloud icon a popup will appear, where you can input receiver e-mail address. Using Share button will start uploading the file and after that, a link allowing to download the file will be sent to the e-mail address.

Downloading data

When connected to WinCan Web, a project list will also contain projects available on the web. This is signaled by a highlighted cloud icon (1). Just like in the step 6. described above, you can choose to download the project (2) from the cloud to your local device.

Sharing project link

Another option is sharing the project via link sent to e-mail. To do so, choose the Share link option (3). After that, a below popup will appear which allows to specify receiver email, whether the project can be downloaded and expiration date for a link to the project. The Send button will send an e-mail with a link to project uploaded on the Web which can be inspected and downloaded, if the correct option was checked.