rtCam & nanoLase The world's first integrated real-time PIV system. Acquire, view and record velocities and derived flow statistics instantly, at up to 16 Hz. Ideal for measuring liquid flows of up to 2 m/s (10 m/s with 1W nanoLase). Ultra-portable hardware, and intuitive software can be setup in minutes. The Class 3b nanoLase is significantly safer than a Class 4 Q-switched laser. Fully submersible versions available.

	Introduction		Specifications		Gallery		Buy

Particle Image Velocimetry is a well established, non-invasive technique for measuring a fluid's instantaneous velocity, at multiple points in space. Until now however, commercially available PIV systems have been bulky and expensive, with software that's difficult to learn, and tedious to use.

The rtCam is designed to make PIV easy.

That ease-of-use is complimented by functionality: the software lets you calculate and display a variety of flow information instantly, as well as offering a myriad of formats for exporting your data. Coupled with the camera's high acquisition rate, you can be viewing and recording complex time-averaged statistics, such as normalised turbulence intensity levels, in a matter of seconds!

The system consists of 3 components: the nanoLase, rtCam, and rtControl software.

The nanoLase is a compact laser light sheet generator, which is used to illuminate your flow with a pair of short, but powerful, flashes. The fluid must be "seeded" with flow-following particulates that will scatter these pulses of light towards the rtCam. The system is supplied with 100 µm polyamide seeding particles which are suitable for the majority of water-based flows.

The rtCam is responsible for accurately controlling the time between pulses, and capturing an associated pair of images. These images are sent to the control PC, where they are subdivided into "tiles" and cross-correlated by the rtControl software. By measuring the seeding particles' displacement in each tile, and knowing the delay between the images, a velocity map can be calculated for whole of the camera's field of view. While most PIV systems take several minutes to get to this point, rtCam and rtControl can repeat the entire process up to 16 times a second.

Please click on the specifications tab to learn more about the system, or the gallery to see how the system can be applied to a range of different flow problems.