New Flir products

[Fraser]

@Marshallh,

I have written comment on the current consumer grade thermal cameras in the SEEK camera thread. I agree with you. The technology has advanced quickly and I hope that performance will keep improving. BUT, I am aware that some companies may not wish the budget cameras to become too good as it may impact other tiers of their product ranges.

I remain impressed with the size of the LEPTON 3. It appears eminently suitable for incorporation in 3rd party equipment. Sadly the lens is a major limitation to performance.

For me 160x120 pixel arrays are the absolute minimum that I will use for my work. 320x240 pixel arrays is far more pleasant to use. I would love a 640x480 or even a 1024x768 pixel array camera but my wife would not like me selling the house to pay for it   

I still believe that consumers are getting a lot of bang for their bucks with both the FLIR ONE G2 and the SEEK. It is still early days for these products. Let us hope the advances in the technology continue at a pace.

Fraser

[FlirOneFan]

It is a fact that FLIR did not provide a MSX overlay disable option for one reason...... The MSX provided additional image detail and context that makes it compete well against the SEEK cameras higher resolution. FLIR do not want users or potential purchasers to see the raw 160x120 thermal image only. They believe buyers may buy the camera with the higher resolution instead.

Doesn't the SDK provide access to the raw thermal image? It shouldn't be too complicated to build an app which has an option to select / deselect MSX overlay...?

[mct75]

Instead of using patented "tricks" such as MSX, why doesn't Flir just release a imager with better specs?  Surely they haven't been out-engineered by Seek on the race to the bottom? 

[Fraser]

A fellow forum member has done a F1G2 vs SEEK thermal differential sensitivity test. I was surprised at his results.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/seek-vs-flir-one-g2-images/?topicseen

Fraser

[Pantheron]

Is anyone else fooling with the Lepton v3 module yet? I have already ripped apart my Flir One v2 to harvest the module. I have it on a breakout board interfaced to a raspberry pi. After some code mods I have it working but it acts a bit strangely compared to what I expected from reading the datasheet. Would be great to compare notes...

Obligatory 160x120 thermal selfie attached...

Hello Arsenix,

i also disassembled an Flir ONE (new Gen) and used this sensor.
But i use a standalone system with the AGC the Lepton provides with my own Color LUTs.

Attached are some Screenshots..

The Thermal Blob that the App creates are awful, but less noisier.
You can disable the MSX while you unplug the visible camera on the Board and there wouldnt be noise from the MSX camera.
But like i said, its just a better thermal blob what you will get.


The screenshots shows the Thermal image received from the lepton in AGC mode.


If you got some Questions about the code differences, just ask them.



Best regards
Pantheron

[marshallh]

Looks far betetr than the app blob! Nice job

[encryptededdy]

That's so odd... the raw data from the Lepton is higher quality than the output from the app? Is this on purpose, or is it just a side effect of excessive noise reduction / upscaling?

[bookaboo]

That's so odd... the raw data from the Lepton is higher quality than the output from the app? Is this on purpose, or is it just a side effect of excessive noise reduction / upscaling?

From what I've seen of both the original lepton and the Flir One it looks like Flir are aiming for the "pretty image" rather than the more useful (to an engineer) raw data image. Lepton output looks pixelated and if processed (smoothed then sharpened with some clever msx integration) looks better to the untrained eye, even though it's no more accurate and probably less accurate than the raw data.

[mct75]

Is it possible to write an Android app that pulls data from the F1G2, allowing us to do what we want with the Lepton data?

[Elandril]

Has anyone already tried to convert to USB to a lightning connector or vice-versa? Or does anyone have any good photos from the USB/lightning connector pcb?

Judging from the 4-port connection between connector module and camera pcb, I would guess that there is only minimal identification logic happening on the connector board (if any). So i wonder, how difficult it would be to make the camera work in both worlds with an adapter or some modifications.

[Fraser]

Sadly USB to lightning for use on an Apple device might be challenging. Apple authorised accessories are infamous for their ID Chips that are very complex and hard to crack. IIRC since OS7 the ID authentication process has become even more rigorous to detect fake ID chips.

Converting from a lightning based camera to a USB connectivity MAY be possible if the USB data is tapped before the Apple interface. Much would depend upon whether the firmware in both versions of the camera is the same.

I bought a Lightning Plug to mico USB socket adapter the other day. It onle enables use of a standard USB cable for charging and PC syncing though. FLIR ONE APP does not see the micro USB camera.

Sorry I cannot help more....... I had similar thoughts to you..... Using my USB F1G2 on my iPad via some cheap Chinese converter with spoofed ID, but Apple is a hard but to crack. If only I could get my paws on a FLIR One ID chip

Fraser

[tomas123]

Is it possible to write an Android app that pulls data from the F1G2, allowing us to do what we want with the Lepton data?

there is a working Flir One SDK where you can load "Thermal Linear Flux 14 Bit Image" at this point

Code: [Select]

        thermalBitmap = renderedImage.getBitmap();

see the RenderedImage.java to grab the untouched 16 Bit 160x120 raw image "pixelData()" in LITTLE_ENDIAN byte order before it's level shifted to 8 Bit

Code: [Select]


public Bitmap getBitmap()
...
            ByteBuffer.wrap(pixelData()).order(ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN).asShortBuffer().get(shortPixels);
...
                int range = maxValue - minValue;
                float scale = 255.0F / range;
...
                   short pixelValue = (short)(int)((shortPixels[p] - minValue) * scale);


more infos:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-one-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown-and-hacks/msg799649/#msg799649

[encryptededdy]

FLIR Black Friday sale - $50 off a TG165 and $1000 off a E60 (but a E40 is still cheaper )

[encryptededdy]

http://www.flir.com/suas/content/?id=72351

FLIR Vue 640x512 @ 30Hz is only $2695 now. That makes it by far the cheapest 640x480-class camera. The question is whether a fully functional Tau2 core can be extracted from these for 14bit digital output, as the Vue in it's current state only outputs analog video.

[mct75]

http://www.flir.com/suas/content/?id=72351

FLIR Vue 640x512 @ 30Hz is only $2695 now. That makes it by far the cheapest 640x480-class camera. The question is whether a fully functional Tau2 core can be extracted from these for 14bit digital output, as the Vue in it's current state only outputs analog video.

If the Exx series is any indication, FLIR wants to make as few different imagers as possible, and instead restrict them with software or features.  If there's not an "analog only" Tau2, I'd bet money (but not $2695) that it's the full-featured imager.

[Fraser]

The Tau series has been around a few years now. In its most basic configuration the camera is Digital only with a 14bit data interface. In order to use it with other communications or video protocols additional interfaces have to be added to to the TAU2.  The TAU core is highly configurable in firmware and as such it can be locked down by FLIR to what ever configuration they desire. If they want to limit its abilities or its interface options, they easily can.

The FLIR core website provides plenty of data on teh connectivity and configuration. There is even free firmware configuration software for download. Such configuration can be disabled by FLIR though.

http://www.flir.com/cores/display/?id=54717

Composite video/USB interface module

http://www.flirshop.com/product/tau-vpc-module/Tau640-Accessories

I have met the TAU2 in professional CCTV cameras as it is a high performance core at a commercially reasonable price. Those TAU cameras were locked down to composite video only and regrettably I had no way to test the 14bit interface functionality. Sorry I can't offer more help on this.

Fraser

[in.Vitro]

Guys, I have a Problem with my flir one 

I bought this baby yesterday, charched it and it worked well! but today as i unplugged it from the power brik it wont turn on 

does anybody knows if there is a "lock"-mode on this device?

edit: when I plug it on the power brick, the green indicator-light stays dark

[Fraser]

My first F1G2 was dead on arrival. There is no lock on the unit.

Sounds like yours is also a DoA. Return to suppliers or a replacement.

Fraser

[encryptededdy]

Two new Lepton products at CES 2016.

The FLIR Scout TK (RRP $599 USD): http://www.flir.com/hunting-outdoor/display/?id=72845

It's a 160x120 thermal handheld monocular. Lepton with narrow (   20° × 16° ) field of view. Built in image and video capture.

Images don't seem super impressive, but they look like they're using the full 160x120 sensor (unlike the FLIR One G2).




The FLIR TG130 is like a TG165 but uses the lepton for temp measurement instead of the seperate IR pyrometer. Resolution of this isn't disclosed, but I would assume it's 80x60 and cheaper than the TG165. Only has 1 button: the power button. Cannot save images.

[Maxlor]

The FLIR TG130 is like a TG165 but uses the lepton for temp measurement instead of the seperate IR pyrometer. Resolution of this isn't disclosed, but I would assume it's 80x60 and cheaper than the TG165. Only has 1 button: the power button. Cannot save images.

Yep, $249. At that price, I'm really not complaining about missing features. It does have a second button, the trigger, which freezes the image on screen. Heh, looks like they had to find some function for the button, and that's the best they could come up with

[Fraser]

Good to see FLIR producing more new models, and the monocular isn't too badly priced when compared to previous units of the type.

The Lepton 3 is a good core so hopefully we will see more innovative products based on its capabilities in the future. Will there be a Lepton 4 any time soon I wonder ?

I have already seen a third party thermal headset that provides a thermal image to the wearer via a HUD on a prism. It was truly tiny, thanks to the Lepton 3. There are rumours that this will be the year of VR headsets.... Such image presentation technology married to a thermal camera would be very powerful. Applications for such technology are many, including Search And Rescue operations, provided that they do not exceed its temp specs. And do not read too much into the max temp spec. It can be improved upon if the application requires such.

Fraser

[mct75]

Looks like lead time on Amazon is still 1-3 months.  At this rate I will hold out for G3.

[mct75]

F1G2 Android still OOS on Amazon.  Any updates from the hacking scene?

[Ben321]

I just fixed a couple bugs in my FLIR FFF Viewer software. It's now up to version 1.3. One bug originally allowed you, when saving the raw 16bit-per-pixel thermal image to TIF or PNG image, to accidentally save the wrong file name if you had selected (but not loaded) a different file from the file selection list than the one you had loaded, before clicking the Save Raw Image button. The other bug would have made it so that a file located directly in the root directory C:\ would not have successfully loaded.

Download the package in ZIP file format from http://www.mediafire.com/file/6vg1le6t9ppeqr1

[tomas123]

Why do you not open a new post with a good subject and post some screenshots from your software?
Nobody find your hard work, if you post in another threads.

Otherwise you opened for some minor questions new topics. A oddly strategy 

Well since I finished my program before I finished the component, I'm releasing the program now. The standalone program has all the features that the component will have, except that it's compiled right into the exe file, instead of the program having the separate component as an added dependency. My next plan is to create the component, which will be an ActiveX DLL file. It should be a fairly simple process of migrating this code to a new VB6 project (the one for generating this component) now that I have all the code I want laid out in nice *.bas VB6 module files. I hope to complete the component, a single ActiveX DLL file, some time tomorrow, so you guys will be able to easily implement this functionality in your own programs, without having a bunch of module files that you would need to add to each project to get the same functionality.

Please read the readme file in the zip file, so you will know how to get the program setup to run. It's a very simple program to use. It's very self explanatory how to use each of the functions. So I haven't put a help file in the zip file.

The program, which is called FLIR FFF Viewer, is able to load all of the forms in which FLIR FFF files can exist, including ones with PNG compressed raw data, and the ones in which the FFF file is not a standalone file, but rather is embedded in a JPG file. Once loaded, there are a number of options for how to display it. It offers the ability to save the image as it is currently displayed to a BMP file. It also offers the ability to take the raw 16bits-per-pixel thermal image and save it to either an uncompressed TIF file or a losslessly compressed PNG file. Unlike with FLIR's implementation, which saves the 16bit raw data in little-endian byte order for PNG files (even though multibyte image data in PNG files is supposed to be big-endian), my implementation of 16bits PNG saving actually correctly swaps the bytes to save big-endian image data in the PNG file.

FFF files can be in one of 4 formats (all 4 of which my program will handle). FLIR calls these:
FFF
FFF+PNG
JPEG+FFF
JPEG+PNG

FFF and FFF+PNG are standalone *.FFF files. FFF stores the 16bit image data uncompressed (either in little-endian or big-endian byte order), while FFF+PNG stores the data as a losslessly compressed PNG file embedded within the FFF file (though the uncompressed image data that is input to the compressor is in the wrong byte order for PNG, thus it is technically an invalid PNG file).
JPEG+FFF and JPEG+PNG are *.JPG files with embedded *.FFF files. For the JPEG+FFF format, the embedded *.FFF file is in the pure FFF format. For the JPEG+PNG format, the embedded *.FFF file is in the FFF+PNG format.

For JPEG+FFF and JPEG+PNG, the embedded FFF file is extracted from the JPEG container prior to further processing. With the extracted (or standalone) FFF file, if it is of the FFF format, my program will directly extract the raw data. If it is in little-endian byte order this pixel array is passed directly to the rest of the program. If it is in big-endian byte order the bytes are swapped to little-endian (as needed in Windows software) before it is passed to the rest of the program. If the extracted (or standalone) FFF file is of the FFF+PNG format, my program uses ZLib (in the form of zlibwapi.dll, the stdcall version of the DLL file) to decompress the image data in the PNG file, and then passes the decompressed pixel array to the rest of my program. This is the required core functionality of any program that is to handle FLIR radiometric images.

All this functionality will also be wrapped into my ActiveX DLL component when I finish making it, allowing others to write their own programs for processing FLIR radiometric images.


Here's the download link for my program (not the DLL component). And yes, it does have all the source code.
Version 1.0 https://www.mediafire.com/?9n5m7hstbats5n9
Version 1.1 https://www.mediafire.com/?o5wjeonnc390jco
Version 1.2 https://www.mediafire.com/?zf2imwze56kqvc4