The sense of sight is arguably the most complex of the five senses. Take a few moments to consider, what if one day the world as you know it went black…   The ability to see is one of the most intricate processes of the human body. Unfortunately every day thousands of people suffer eye injury or are diagnosed with eye disease, taking away this priceless function.In this video Rob Spence, self-named “Eyeborg”, suffered a debilitating eye injury that left him with only one eye. Spence teamed up with engineers and was fitted with at prosthetic eye containing a wireless video camera. This sparked Spence’s interest in bionic implants and how close current technology is to reaching what once seemed like science fiction. For more information on emerging technology in retinal implants click here.

As night falls in Liwonde National Park, wild elephants enjoy roaming the African plains of Malawi searching for food. Surrounding villages use the land along the park boundary to grow corn and mangos, an elephant delicacy. As the crops ripen, the thousand-pound mammals are drawn to the fruitful meal and increase the risk of endangering themselves and the lives of the villagers. One of the world’s most intelligent mammals, the elephants use their ivory tusks to break through the electric fence surrounding the park boundary. By hooking their tusks into the fence, they use their strength to pull the fence until it breaks. This allows them to leave the park and enter the farmlands where they can do extensive damage and threaten villagers’ lives. Thermal cameras, which were donated by FLIR to World Wildlife Fund and to African Parks, the latter who manage Liwonde National Park, were tested over the course of several months to see if they could be used to help with preventing poaching. Combined with drones however, these cameras were effective in helping Liwonde Park staff respond to conflict situations when elephants broke through the fence, who were then able to be herded back into the park. Using drones equipped with FLIR Vue Pro thermal imaging cameras, Malawi park rangers were able to monitor the elephants at night to determine if they’re approaching the park boundary and therefore could help locate ‘problem elephants’. Not only is the technology useful for supervising the elephants’ behavior, but staff were able to fly the drones close to the animals as a tool to redirect their path. As UAVs emit a bee’s buzzing sound, which elephants are known to fear, park staff were able to use the UAV’s to direct them back into the park and to safety, reducing potential damage to villagers and their crops.  

Boson Radiometric Cameras Bring Absolute Temperature Measurement Capabilities for Quantitative Assessment and Analysis Across Commercial and Industrial Uses The Boson® camera core represents the best in FLIR high-performance uncooled thermal imaging technology within a small, lightweight, and low-power package, and now FLIR partners and customers will have the option to purchase radiometric versions that can capture the temperature data of every pixel in the scene. The new Boson radiometric camera core comes in two versions, 640 x 512 or 320 x 256 resolutions with multiple lens configurations and the ability to capture temperature data for quantitative assessment. The camera core is meant for use in systems across a variety of applications including firefighting, surveillance, security, unmanned systems, industrial inspection, and fixed-asset monitoring. ..the Boson Radiometric cameras include a Spot Meter Accuracy software feature that provides an assessment of how accurate a given temperature measurement appears in the scene… Assessing Temperature Accuracy with FLIR “Spot Meter Accuracy” Featuring radiometric accuracy provides ±5 °C (±8 °F) or ±5% temperature measurement accuracy, the Boson Radiometric cameras include a Spot Meter Accuracy software feature that provides an assessment of how accurate a given temperature measurement appears in the scene. Available as telemetry data accessed through the Boson SDK or the Boson graphical user interface (GUI), this feature provides guidance across five confidence grades offering in-the-moment assessment to help improve temperature measurement confidence. In addition, the Spot Meter Accuracy software feature gives operators the ability to account for dynamic ambient temperatures, along with the ability to configure measurements prior to operation, including adjusting emissivity and thermal gain settings. These functions are crucial for outdoor environments and the swift movements of unmanned aerial drones and automated ground vehicles. The software also offers inspection and assessment features, including spot meters and windows that pinpoint temperature measurement in the scene that the camera is focused on, and atmospheric correction capabilities during post-processing analysis. 40 Years of Thermal Imaging Expertise The Boson family of thermal imaging cores are an important part of the 40 plus years of thermal imaging expertise that FLIR offers. As a result of this expertise, the Boson thermal imaging cores utilize a high sensitivity 12-micron pixel pitch detector that provides high-resolution thermal imaging in a small, low power, lightweight, and turnkey package. All Boson cores feature FLIR infrared video processing architecture, noise reduction filters, and local-area contrast. The imaging processing capabilities accommodate industry-standard communication interfaces, including visible CMOS and USB. FLIR Boson Radiometric cores are available to order globally today. For more information about Boson Radiometric cores, visit https://oemcameras.com/boson.

New Thermal Camera Models and the Boson GUI 3.0 Provide More Flexibility and Development Support Features for Industrial, Commercial, and Defense Integrators January 18, 2022 – The Teledyne FLIR radiometric Boson® thermal infrared camera module is now available in five additional configurations. The new models offer an 8°, 18°, 32°, 50°, or 95° horizontal field of view (FOV), are 640 x 512 resolution, and further enable development of next-generation thermal imaging products and systems. To streamline design and testing while minimizing development cost, developers can also leverage the new Boson GUI 3.0 and its key radiometric command capabilities with the Boson thermal camera module. “The five new Boson models feature radiometric temperature measurement, meaning the cameras capture the temperature data of every pixel in every frame of a scene,” said Dan Walker, vice president, product management OEM, Teledyne FLIR. “Used in unmanned aerial systems, firefighting, automotive, security, surveillance, and industrial inspection products, these new models offer greater flexibility and options in supporting industrial, commercial, and defense integrators requiring high thermal image resolution within a small, lightweight, and low-power package.” The Boson GUI 3.0 provides the ability to quickly access and adjust radiometry settings, critical to high-speed integration cycles balancing schedule, cost, and performance. Optimizing radiometric parameters and using spot meters and regions of interest (ROI) with real-time statistics allow for optimization during development testing and tuning. Extensive isotherm controls, commonly used in products for industrial inspection and emergency response UAS missions, enable the GUI to highlight objects in the scene at temperatures of interest. Data fusion, an important capability for systems using complementary sensors such as visible cameras, can be explored using the Boson GUI 3.0 external sync capability. All Boson thermal camera modules feature FLIR infrared video processing architecture, noise reduction filters, and local-area contrast, utilizing a high sensitivity 12-micron pixel pitch detector that provides high-resolution thermal imaging in a small, lightweight, and low-power package. The image processing capabilities accommodate industry-standard communication interfaces, including visible CMOS and USB. The new Teledyne FLIR Boson Radiometric camera core models are available globally through Teledyne FLIR and preferred distributors. The Boson GUI 3.0 is available for Windows 10 64-bit systems, while the predecessor Boson GUI 1.4.4, operating on 32-bit systems, remains available. For more information about Boson radiometric thermal camera modules, please visit https://oemcameras.com RELATED ARTICLES