FLIR Systems Announces New Radiometric Thermal Imaging Camera for Commercial Drones

By Mike Ball / 02 May 2016
Follow UST

FLIR Vue Pro RFLIR Systems, Inc., a developer of imaging sensors, has announced the FLIR Vue Pro R, the latest member of FLIR Vue thermal imaging camera series for commercial drones. The new Vue Pro R adds radiometric functionality, giving drone operators the ability to save the pictures for post-flight image analysis and accurately measure the temperatures of individual image pixels.

The Vue Pro R retains all of the capabilities in the standard Vue Pro model but adds calibrated radiometric imaging that allows it to capture the temperature data of every pixel in an image. When saved in Radiometric JPEG format, still images can be imported into FLIR Tools software for detailed analysis and reporting. FLIR Tools lets drone operators adjust settings including object emissivity, background temperature, target distance, relative humidity, thermal sensitivity as well as assigning various color palettes for each image.

The Vue Pro R records digital thermal video, along with radiometric thermal still images, to an on-board micro-SD card. For applications such as electrical inspection, infrastructure assessment, and precision mapping, this on-board recording allows operators to capture high-quality thermal data for post processing and analysis.

“Without a doubt, radiometry is the most popular feature drone operators have requested, and we’re delivering that with Vue Pro R,” said Jeff Frank, FLIR’s Senior Vice President for Product Strategy. “FLIR has pioneered thermographic cameras for more than 50 years and our expansion of high-performance capabilities like radiometry to drone operators is another example of our ability to provide state-of-the-art thermal technology to people that need it.”

An updated mobile app with advanced radiometric functions uses the camera’s Bluetooth interface to connect to iOS and Android devices, making camera set-up and configuration easy. Through the app, operators can configure functions to ensure the best imagery possible for their conditions without having to connect the camera to a computer.

Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact