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FLIR today announced Boson™, its smallest, lightest, and least power-consuming, high-performance uncooled thermal camera for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that make products for firefighting, automotive, maritime, hunting, UAS, and the military. The Boson design allows for expanded computing capability on the camera and a dramatic reduction in price. Smaller than the Tau® 2 core, FLIR’s other high-performance uncooled core, and double the size of the low-cost Lepton® core, Boson is the first thermal camera core to incorporate a sophisticated, low-power multi-core vision processor unit that helps make Boson the smartest thermal core on the planet. Boson uses FLIR’s XIR™ expandable infrared video processing architecture to help OEMs take advantage of advanced image processing and video analytics while keeping power consumption low. Manufacturers of drones, cars, weapons sights and handheld imagers will now have the ability to process video onboard, and allow Boson to do things our previous cores could not:: Military: Boson will allow our soldiers on the battlefield to use higher-performance thermal technology that is fit into smaller equipment and distributed more broadly because of the lower prices. It will enable soldiers both on the front lines and command centers to use video analytics to better identify combatant locations or areas for safe deployment. Drones: With a smaller design, the weight difference will help improve battery life and extend flight times. Boson will enable smaller drones with thermal imaging video capabilities that may have been available in only in the highest-end applications like those for military. Automotive: Thermal cameras today provide select luxury automakers a more accurate way to detect people and vehicles on the roadway. By connecting the video analytics built into Boson with a vehicle’s electronics system, cars will require fewer components for integration and more importantly, help improve safety for drivers on the road. With higher-performing capabilities at lower cost, Boson could help make thermal technology more accessible to more vehicles. Firefighting: Firefighters already use thermal imaging cameras, but Boson can enable firefighters to access better, smarter, and smaller thermal devices. The last thing a firefighter wants is another heavy tool. Boson can help control the display, control button functions, improve battery life and lead to a wave of smarter and smaller wearable devices for firefighters. With Boson, more firefighters will have access to higher-performing technology that can improve decision-making when seconds matter. Security: Boson will enable smaller higher-performing security cameras to be deployed more broadly. When securing high-value areas like airports, stadiums and ports, more security is better. In security, video is data, and it’s impossible for humans to make real-time decisions based on the vast amount of video data. The video intelligence within Boson could help security teams pinpoint if someone is in an area of a stadium where they shouldn’t be, designate the heated object with a box on a video screen and alert security teams. We’re excited to launch Boson, our first new thermal camera core since Lepton in 2014. We look forward to the range of new products it will enable our OEM partners to develop. For OEMs who want to consider Boson, it’s available for product development testing now. To learn more about the technical details for Boson, visit www.oemcameras.com Source: FLIR

Now available and in stock. FLIR VUE PRO 35mm Lens: 640 Version: 18°(H) x 14°(V) FoV 336 Version: 9.3°(H) x 7.1°(V) FoV More Info: OEMCameras.com Designed for professional use the FLIR VUE PRO is more than a thermal camera with Video and Image Capture capabilities adding tremendous value to your sUAS operations and services.

Twitter may be the latest tech giant interested in unmanned aerial vehicles — but not for delivery. The company has applied for a patent, which became available last week, for a drone capable of taking photos and videos and transmitting them through users’ Twitter accounts. Of course, applying for the patent doesn’t necessarily mean Twitter plans on building a drone. However, it could be laying a foundation for a Twitter-controlled UAV. For instance, Twitter mentions a way to use likes, retweets, and replies to control the drone’s direction or what it ends up recording or photographing. Twitter also mentions telepresence and live video interview capabilities. All of this sounds pretty outlandish, from both a technical and safety standpoint. Still, it’s an ambitious concept no other company is publicly considering at the moment. Twitter this year also launched the live-streaming app Periscope. That leaves open the possibility it could use the app in tandem with high-flying drones to capture and broadcast events through its platform, with crowds of Periscope users controlling the process. When CNBC asked for comment, a Twitter spokesperson replied with “Two words: drone selfies,” in one of the more social media savvy public relations responses in Silicon Valley. Twitter stopped short of using the term “dronie,” which has emerged in the last few years as a portmanteau describing the phenomenon of using UAVs to snap photos of yourself. Source: TheVerge.com

Last week we compared the FLIR VUE Pro cameras side-by-side. This video shows the difference in Field of View for the VUE Pro 640×480 9mm, 13mm and 19mm. The 19mm image is 32°(H) x 26°(W) FoV. The 13mm image is 45°(H) x 37°(W) FoV. The 9mm image is 69°(H) x 56°(W) FoV. The FLIR VUE Pro comparison matrix

Thermal Camera mounted on a Formula 1 Race Car. The speed reaches over 290 km/h (180 mph).

The FLIR VUE PRO will be shipping out in just another week or so and OEMCameras.com was one of the first to receive the FLIR VUE PRO for review. Here’s a look at some of the great features of the VUE PRO. Designed for professional use, FLIR Vue Pro is more than a thermal camera, it is a thermal measurement instrument and data recorder that adds tremendous value to your sUAS operations and services. FLIR Vue Pro gives you in-flight control of two camera functions through direct PWM connections, and it’s MAVLink compatibility makes it ready for the easy image stitching required for mapping, survey, and precision agriculture applications. Plus, it’s compatible with Pix4Dmapper right out of the box. The convenient mobile app makes pre-flight camera set-up and configuration quick and easy so you won’t have to drag a computer out to your flying site just in case you need to change a camera setting.

With Halloween looming in the next week, our Ghoul takes off for a test flight.

If you own and/or operate a sUAS in the United States, the rules are about to change. Over the next month, the government will announce a new program to register drones in the United States. The Department of Transportation is taking the first steps, by announcing the formation of a task force to create a registration process. Registration could begin as soon as the holiday season, DOT officials said Monday at a Washington news conference. Currently, all airplanes, helicopters and other large aircraft are required to register with the FAA. This initiative essentially would extend that requirement to drones. The DOT stated, “The task force will be made up of 25 to 30 diverse representatives from the drone manufacturers and manned aviation industries, the federal government, and other stakeholders”. Unmanned aircraft systems are restricted to fly within five miles of an airport without notifying the airport operator and control tower and are restricted to 400 feet max. The FAA is currently writing new rules for small drone operators, to be implemented in 2016. In the meantime, the FAA has issued more than 1,000 temporary exemptions to individual drone operators. Aviation groups are urging officials to complete these rules, as the FAA did not meet its deadline last month. More information can be found at:

Beta test now underway On August 28, 2015, the FAA released B4UFLY to approximately 1,000 beta testers, including members of industry, government, and the public. This limited beta test is expected to run for several months, after which the FAA plans to make a final version of B4UFLY available for the general public. The beta version of the app is for iOS devices only, but the FAA intends to release a future version for both iOS and Android devices. Key features of the B4UFLY app include: A clear “status” indicator that immediately informs the operator about their current or planned location. For example, it shows flying in the Special Flight Rules Area around Washington, DC is prohibited Information on the parameters that drive the status indicator A “Planner Mode” for future flights in different locations Informative, interactive maps with filtering options Links to other FAA UAS resources and regulatory information For more information, view the B4UFLY Q&A(PDF). Source: FAA.Gov