Patent ID: 8087311

Claim:
An apparatus for inspecting pipes in a sewer network from a computing device remotely located with respect to said apparatus, said remote computing device being connected to a data communication network, said apparatus comprising: a camera for capturing a plurality of images of at least a portion of an interior surface of a pipe in the sewer network and for generating signals representative of the captured images; a processor receiving and responsive to the generated signals and configured for communicating with the remote computing device; a transmitter associated with the processor for communicating the generated signals representative of the captured images to the remote computing device via the data communication network; a first sensor for sensing a physical characteristic external to the pipe, said first sensor comprising one or more of the following: a rain sensor for detecting a presence of rainfall in an atmosphere adjacent an exterior surface of the pipe and a water sensing device for detecting transpiration and evaporation in an atmosphere adjacent an exterior surface of the pipe; and a housing for the camera, the processor, and the transmitter, said housing being adapted for mounting on a surface of a manhole adjacent the interior surface of the pipe.