The FLIR Vue Pro thermal imaging camera is a step many commercial sensor and camera manufacturers have done. A purposefully designed and developed product for aerial applications in small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS). In this unboxing and review I take a closer look at the physical camera as well as its set of features and image quality.
*Full Review*
The full review cannot be posted in the description. Please visit this blog post to read the full review. http://blog.florianuhlemann.de/flir-vue-pro-thermal-imaging-suas/
*Where to Buy*
If you are on the lookout for one of these cameras, feel free to contact John Palmeri at www.oemcameras.com and please mention that you were referred by Florian Uhlemann. He’s a great guy and the sales experience was superb! He also ships internationally, offers a custom-made 35mm f/1.5 lens for the FLIR Vue Pro camera and a great power regulator for the 5V input that is required by the FLIR Vue Pro.
*Technical Details*
The Vue Pro features a 640×512 pixel uncooled VOx microbolometer sensor with six different lens and sensor combinations and a low weight of only 109 grams. There is also a 336×256 pixel sensor available. While the 640 edition offers a selection of 19mm, 13mm and 9mm lenses, the smaller sensor comes paired with either a 13mm, 9mm or 6.8mm lens. The shorter focal length of the 336 edition is used to accommodate for the smaller sensor size to grant roughly the same field-of-view. The lenses are not interchangeable, so you have carefully pick the ideal lens for your job.
With some basic research that you can do, you will find that the Vue Pro is powered by a Texas Instruments IP Video Camera system-on-a-chip, the TMS320DM368, and runs on Linux 2.6.18. This enables FLIR to provide firmware updates and easy MAVLink compatibility.
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*Final Verdict*
For me this camera has enabled me to actually use thermal imaging technology on my unmanned aerial applications at a rather low-cost factor. With the extremely small size and integrated features, as well as the ability to remotely control the camera, there just doesn’t seem to be an alternative around. The image quality is fairly good, though I’d imagine there could potentially be some improvements in the future. The Vue Pro is packed with rich features, some of which are currently unavailable, such as MAVLink, but in the long run it’s going to be a tremendously helpful little tool for the job at hand. My only nitpicks are going to be the rather slow time interval for still image sequences of 1 frame per second, the requirement to reboot the camera when switching between capture modes and something I haven’t addresses previously: I haven’t been able to find a way to actually use and look at the image data from the FFF still image files. Anything else is pretty good.
Vue Pro information: http://www.flir.com/suas/content/?id=70728
Vue Pro resources: http://www.flir.com/suas/display/?id=70782
Vue Pro iOS App: https://itunes.apple.com/app/flir-vue-pro/id1051901140
Vue Pro Android App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flir.vuepro
*Music*
Silent Partner - Log Cabin
Silent Partner - Hit My Soul
Vibe Tracks - Beat Your Competition
The Cypherfunks - Florian Uhlemann ft. Simon de la Rouviere - Weavers (instrumental)
