Visual Testing Simulator: Direct, Borescope and Drone Inspection Practice
Visual testing (VT) is the method every other method relies on, and the one where inspectors differ most. The visual testing simulator in Atlantis Practical NDT has 17 jobs covering three ways of looking: directly, with gauges; remotely, with a borescope; and from a drone over the plant. Coverage is earned from the frames you capture, so an area you did not actually look at is not counted as inspected.
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What you practise in a VT job
- Direct visual inspection with gauges: looking at the component at working distance and measuring what you see rather than estimating it.
- Remote visual inspection with a borescope, where the view is narrow and orientation is easy to lose.
- Visual inspection from a drone on the plant, where the question is what to capture and from where.
- Recording observations with their coordinates, so each finding is tied to a location in the learner record.
- The same work order, applicability check, post-check and training report as every other method.
How visual coverage is counted
The simulator does not credit an area because you were near it. It credits what your captured frames actually show, which is the visual equivalent of a UT coverage map: you, and your instructor in the learner record, can see where the inspection is complete and where it is not. That turns a vague instruction, "look at everything", into something you can practise and measure, and it is the same discipline whether the view comes from your own eyes, a borescope tip or a drone camera.
Why visual inspection needs deliberate practice
In an FAA benchmark of visual inspection on a Boeing 737, the crack length detected with 90% probability ranged from 0.16 to 0.36 inch across eleven inspectors and was 0.91 inch for the twelfth; individual inspectors found between 22 and 77 of the 117 cracks present. The aircraft was the same for all of them. The difference was the inspector: search pattern, coverage and attention. Those are trainable, and the simulator trains them with repetition and a record of exactly what was and was not covered.
Where the VT jobs run
Drone inspection happens on the process plant. Direct and borescope work runs in the shared catalogue, including weld examination in the welding workshop and airframe and component work in the aircraft hangar. Weld profile, corrosion, mechanical damage and access limitations are what the visual jobs are about, and they are also what decides where a volumetric method is worth using next.
What the VT simulator cannot teach
A screen cannot reproduce glare, low light, heat, a confined space or the PPE you wear on site, all of which change what an inspector sees. It does not test your eyesight either: vision examinations are a separate requirement of the written practice. Drone inspection in the simulator is practice in what to look at and capture; real drone operations have their own rules and qualifications, which simulator practice does not cover.
How VT simulator practice fits SNT-TC-1A
SNT-TC-1A's recommended visual testing figures are 8 training hours for Level I and a further 16 for Level II, with 70 and 140 hours of method experience, all set in the employer's written practice. Simulator jobs can be logged as organised training where computer-based or web-based training is allowed. Experience is different: it means work performed in the work environment, so simulator time does not count toward it.
Check the theory with the free VT Level II practice questions.
Frequently asked questions
Can I practise remote visual inspection?
Yes. The VT jobs include remote inspection with a borescope and visual inspection from a drone over the plant, as well as direct inspection with gauges.
How does the simulator know I covered an area?
Coverage is earned from the frames you capture. An area that does not appear in a captured frame is not counted as inspected.
Does VT simulator practice replace the vision examination?
No. Vision examinations are a separate requirement of the written practice; the simulator does not test eyesight.
What do the VT jobs ask you to look for?
Weld profile, corrosion, mechanical damage and access limitations, on welds, plant, airframe structure and components.
Next steps
Practical NDT is a training simulation, not a validated engineering tool. It runs in a standard browser, works offline once downloaded, extends to standalone headsets and is integrated with the Atlantis LMS and ERP, so learners reach it from the client portal with one sign-in. Practice in it does not replace the practical examination or the experience hours your written practice requires.
Speak to an ASNT NDT Level III
Discuss your inspection requirements with Atlantis NDT. Include the asset, method, location and documents you need reviewed.