Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown

[OrBy]

What would it take to add a video record feature to the e4. I want to put ut on my drone but the camera and the phone i think would be just too much weight. Or even a timer that would take pictures at a set amount of seconds. Thanks everyone

For easy video your looking at attaching another device to the USB port of the E4 can capture it's webcam video out. I believe others here have used RPI's for the task but I found a cheap HP Stream 7 windows tablet worked well for me. I don't recall if anyone got a phone working - but as long as it supported USB-OTG there is a chance it could work. I do remember seeing a pic here on the forum of some one that stripped down a E4 to just the internal frame to accomplish something similar but don't recall what they attached to it.

[Notsolowki]

Hi. The problem im having is i cant press the capture button while its off the ground. I have the video working over Otg cable but all the weight and cables might be a problem. I wonder if someone could make script or somthing to record straight to the cameras storage. Or even take a picture every few seconds or so. It sure would help me out alot. Thanks

Im not necesarily looking for easy. Using the avaliable tools to do the modification to the menu and res was easy. Modifying the code not so easy. Atleast not for me

[Notsolowki]

really no one?

[Bud]

Based on my experience - forget about using e4 to record video internally.

[Signal32]

Hi. The problem im having is i cant press the capture button while its off the ground. I have the video working over Otg cable but all the weight and cables might be a problem. I wonder if someone could make script or somthing to record straight to the cameras storage. Or even take a picture every few seconds or so. It sure would help me out alot. Thanks

Im not necesarily looking for easy. Using the avaliable tools to do the modification to the menu and res was easy. Modifying the code not so easy. Atleast not for me

There's no way to record video on the FLIR directly, there's no existing feature that has support for video so very likley the code for encoding video is simply not on the camera.
Easiest way would probably be to use a simple timer to trigger the capture button (short out the contacts underneath the membrane every X seconds)
But of course seek camera + phone would probably be much much easier for this.

[tomas123]

There's no way to record video on the FLIR directly, there's no existing feature that has support for video

This is not correct. I posted some variants
see links in topic 15 "save a radiometric 16 bit video as *.seq" of my post
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg342072/#msg342072

a sample for scripting on Ex
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg1066954/#msg1066954

simple loop this code snippet (code successful tested on lir Exx)

Code: [Select]

#set file name
> rset .image.services.rtrecord.filename \StorageCard\seq\5.seq

#save the raw seq to RAM !!
>rset .image.services.rtrecord.active true

#wait until status is false
>rls .image.services.rtrecord.active                         
active                     false

# save video to file path
>rset .image.services.rtrecord.store true


[tomas123]

What would it take to add a video record feature to the e4. I want to put ut on my drone but the camera and the phone i think would be just too much weight. Or even a timer that would take pictures at a set amount of seconds. Thanks everyone

IMHO use USB RAW streaming and save the stream to a SD card with a raspberry pi (zero)
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-ex-realtime-raw-radiometric-data-streaming-via-uvc/?all

[Bud]

There's no way to record video on the FLIR directly, there's no existing feature that has support for video

This is not correct. I posted some variants

Nope, that requires the command to be sent externally, which OP is trying to avoid.

[mct75]

Is it possible to get UVC working on Android?  I have tried but it looks like there's a flir-specific implementation and it does not show up in Android as a basic webcam.

[Notsolowki]

  If i had to add and delete a startup file to disable the script that would be fine. What could i do to make it just take a picture every 5 seconds own its own untill i power it down and remove the script or kill it from telnet. I like the idea of video too that would be great if it just powered on and started recording untill i shut it off. Could your video record script be tweaked to be initiated from telnet or on startup. In not looking for somthing fancy just enough to ge tthe job done thanks you

[tomas123]

  If i had to add and delete a startup file to disable the script that would be fine.

please see my link above

...
on my Flir Exx I wrote a trigger for a button, while hooking a function (here the reversed palette)

On the applaunch.dat file append a dos script
...
...
This works fine on Exx.
On Ex there are some barriers, like the checksum in applaunch.dat

Nope, that requires the command to be sent externally, which OP is trying to avoid.

with applaunch.dat you can start a script while booting the camera

[Notsolowki]

okay so i got the seq file opened in flir tools but how can i save it in a different format so i can view it without flir tools. and how can i make it record for like 5-10 minutes. if thats not possible due to memory what could be changed to make it record a new seq file after the times up so they can be put into one main file. thankyou

[tomas123]

*.seq files are only stitched *.fff files
I wrote something about *.seq splitting to single *.fff images (see my perl script) and convert this frames to regular images (see my exiftool + ImageMagick samples).

> and how can i make it record for like 5-10 minutes
Yes, this is the problem. 
I wrote here about the "out of memory"
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg363898/#msg363898
You must write a loop.
Therefore you get gaps between the video snippets.

I would go this way:

IMHO use USB RAW streaming and save the stream to a SD card with a raspberry pi (zero)
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-ex-realtime-raw-radiometric-data-streaming-via-uvc/?all

There is a Raspberry pi behind my display. The Raspberry get over USB the real 16 Bit RAW stream from a Flir E4:

use a small raspberry pi zero for your quadcopter
thats all

[3roomlab]

i saw fraser's thread about black body calibrator, i thought i ask this here instead of a new thread.

has anyone tried this?
http://www.palmerwahl.com/product_home.php?cat=26&catl=7&line=319&itm=5014

TEC based calibrator i assume, goes down to -40C.

[Chanc3]

i saw fraser's thread about black body calibrator, i thought i ask this here instead of a new thread.

has anyone tried this?
http://www.palmerwahl.com/product_home.php?cat=26&catl=7&line=319&itm=5014

TEC based calibrator i assume, goes down to -40C.

Better off starting your own thread I think.

[Notsolowki]

the pi might do the trick. could you feed the video to it straight from the microbolometer. or better yet use the flirs lcd screen output as a video input.

[ysmalkie]

Hi ,

I am new, just bought a used E4 off eBay.  I thought it was a good idea, as it had 1.19.8 firmware inside which looks easiest to 'trick' :-)

I am new to thermography, and I have few questions I thought I might share:
- the 1.9 hack which involves sending the modified E8.cfg & camera.cmd files  is safe I presume??.. Is there anything that might go wrong? What happens for example if the CRC is wrong? - Just being cautious with my new toy :-).
- Can I use the current version of FLIRInstallNet.exe or do I need some older version?
- this may be a stupid question, but I body heat seems to be off the 36.6C by about 4C. Why?
- is there any guideline for emissivity values to use?

Tadek

[PA0PBZ]

- this may be a stupid question, but I body heat seems to be off the 36.6C by about 4C. Why?

That's the inside temperature, so you will have to cut yourself open and take a quick measurement to get to 36.6 

[tomas123]

the pi might do the trick. could you feed the video to it straight from the microbolometer. or better yet use the flirs lcd screen output as a video input.

title: "Flir Ex: Realtime raw radiometric data streaming via UVC"
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-ex-realtime-raw-radiometric-data-streaming-via-uvc/
=> 16 Bit sensor data from microbolometer

[Scottjd]

So I'm thinking of getting a FLIR E4 and a few other things to finish off the lab build.
I've read several pages on this thread and I guess I have a few questions.

1. If I was to buy a new E4 what is the latest firmware and can the latest firmware be modded for the updated resolution?

2. I'm also looking at a used E4 running 2.3.X. I read some comments saying if the E4 was updated to 2.3 from 1.X then the mods might fail. Is this still true or has this been fixed?

I plan to still keep the FLIR One running on my iPod touch for videos, but a higher resolution would also be nice. I see some lens options for taking close up images, this will mostly be used for electronics to see what's dead shorting or running hot. I may even try some of the lens mods as well. Has anyone made a 3D print of an adapter for adding cheaper lenses on the E4 or any E serries?

Thanks in advanced for any answers,
Scott

[ysmalkie]

I did it ! Many thanks Mike and all! :-)

[Tine]

Hey Guy's,
I'm very new with this topic and I was searching a little what is the best camera for less then 1000 bugs.
Therefore I'm strugeling to buy a new E4, but I'm not sure if it's possible to hack.
Is 2.11 the latest firmeware and is it possible to do the downgrade / hack with this version.

Does anyone have experience with this?


Thanks a lot for your feedback 

[matus]

Hey Guy's,
I'm very new with this topic and I was searching a little what is the best camera for less then 1000 bugs.
Therefore I'm strugeling to buy a new E4, but I'm not sure if it's possible to hack.
Is 2.11 the latest firmeware and is it possible to do the downgrade / hack with this version.

Does anyone have experience with this?


Thanks a lot for your feedback 

Hi there,

I just bought E4 with 2.11 fw, and I can confirm, the hack is working without downgrade to 2.3. I used 2lps'  2.3 hack with modification for 2.11 fw. The hack takes only 15 minutes, and both resolution and menu mod works like a charm! Thanks 2lps!

Matus

[m4rkiz]

my hacked e4 has shorter and shorter battery life, recently only half hour after overnight charging so i decided to replace its 18650 instead getting new battery from flir for 80 odd euros

i couldn't find any pictures except of internal pcb with protection circuits so here it goes:








i barely know anything about 18650 though, so is PANASONIC NCR18650B/ST a good replacement?

[Chanc3]

As long as the voltage is the same (which it probably is) it should be fine.


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