Author Topic: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?  (Read 482178 times)

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline EEVblog

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 37661
  • Country: au
    • EEVblog
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #750 on: December 14, 2013, 08:54:07 am »
I think I might set up a web store selling torches and pitchforks. Send me £35 and I'll send you your very own personalised 'angry mob' kit - as soon as they're ready, of course. First 100 backers get a free pickaxe with their names engraved on the handles.

Put it on Kickstarter or Indiegogo!
 

Offline Jay_Diddy_B

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2731
  • Country: ca
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #751 on: December 14, 2013, 01:02:36 pm »
Hi,

I believe that the image shown in the Mu Optic rendering is not a real thermal image. The image is way to high quality. There is also a 'mistake' in the picture. The storm door would be opaque to infra red imagining.

Here is a picture of my front door. I have a double storm door with glass panels. The picture shows one of the storm doors open and the other door closed. This picture was taken with a Fluke Ti9 120 x 160 resolution camera.



The picture that is shown in the Mu Optics rendering is John  McGrath's house.

From Google Street View:



From the rendering:



Jay_Diddy_B
« Last Edit: December 14, 2013, 01:10:33 pm by Jay_Diddy_B »
 

Online tom66

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 6678
  • Country: gb
  • Electronics Hobbyist & FPGA/Embedded Systems EE
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #752 on: December 17, 2013, 11:47:08 pm »
It has been stated before (uh... after they were caught out) that these were "virtual" images.
 

Offline Orpheus

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 120
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #753 on: January 02, 2014, 03:26:17 am »
And this:
https://medium.com/p/c00da75ae6ae
Were backers still cling to hope that Mu will actually produce anything.

Not meaning to tease you for the typo, but when I read that my mind turned to were-wolves.

I suppose were-backers are ordinary humans who fall under supernatural influence and turn into backers until  some bright dawning turns them back into humans, blinking and wondering what happened.
 

Offline ixfd64

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 345
  • Country: us
    • Facebook
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #754 on: January 07, 2014, 05:36:04 pm »
FYI: FLIR just announced their own phone-based thermal imager: http://www.flir.com/flirone

Offline AndyC_772

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 4208
  • Country: gb
  • Professional design engineer
    • Cawte Engineering | Reliable Electronics
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #755 on: January 07, 2014, 06:06:13 pm »
From the video:

"The thermal images shown are for illustration purposes only and may not have been taken by the camera series depicted"

Where have we seen that before? :-DD

Lurch

  • Guest
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #756 on: January 07, 2014, 06:13:33 pm »
From the video:

"The thermal images shown are for illustration purposes only and may not have been taken by the camera series depicted"

Where have we seen that before? :-DD

In every advert ever made anywhere on any medium ever?
 

Offline rolycat

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1101
  • Country: gb
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #757 on: January 07, 2014, 06:52:55 pm »
Apparently the FLIR ONE will use their new Lepton core, which will be made available to other manufacturers. Looks interesting, and is supposedly an order of magnitude cheaper than existing cores, so it could be very disruptive. They are very coy about the resolution, though.

Next update from Mu?

"Oh, no - the Mu hardware was almost ready, but this announcement from FLIR has ruined everything and all our partners have abandoned us  :scared:"
 

Online Fraser

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 13145
  • Country: gb
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #758 on: January 07, 2014, 07:04:48 pm »
That FLIR ONE is how it should be done  :-+  I am amazed at how thin the camera section is ! If it had been another picture by Mu I would have cried FAKE ! but if FLIR are the manufacturer they have the resources needed. Well done FLIR  :)
If I have helped you please consider a donation : https://gofund.me/c86b0a2c
 

Online tom66

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 6678
  • Country: gb
  • Electronics Hobbyist & FPGA/Embedded Systems EE
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #759 on: January 07, 2014, 11:06:54 pm »
Very cool  :clap:. Price is OK too, if Lepton is available cheap hopefully a version will be available for Android phones too from other providers (though the device attachment would not be as elegant or simple.)

$349 MSRP, how much of that is sensor BOM? Less than half? A quarter? Pretty impressive if so.
 

Offline CanadianAvenger

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 179
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #760 on: January 07, 2014, 11:21:04 pm »
The spec page for the FLIR One does say version(s) for select Android phones will be made available later this year.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2014, 03:45:20 am by CanadianAvenger »
 

Offline EEVblog

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 37661
  • Country: au
    • EEVblog
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #761 on: January 08, 2014, 05:58:29 am »
Next update from Mu?
"Oh, no - the Mu hardware was almost ready, but this announcement from FLIR has ruined everything and all our partners have abandoned us  :scared:"

Not at all!
Next update will read:
"Mu is now excited to partner with Flir to develop our unique app for their new Flir ONE camera. We are working hard to bring this new app to market and will have an update by this weekend. We can't wait to get this app into the hands of our backers as soon as possible."

http://www.flir.com/flirone/developer/
 

Offline CanadianAvenger

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 179
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #762 on: January 08, 2014, 01:56:04 pm »
Looks like the FLIR One is 80x60 for thermal resolution. No word on Frame-rate, but I'd assume 9fps due to export restrictions.

The visible camera on the FLIR One is 640x480, and they claim with that that the thermal resolution is enhanced to 160x120.
 

Online Fraser

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 13145
  • Country: gb
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #763 on: January 08, 2014, 02:40:12 pm »
Such resolution 'enhancement' would be very easy with interpolation as shown by the enhancement of digital zoom images on FLIRs other cameras.

The question now is ....why would ANYONE want a Mu when a FLIR is availabe at similar money ?

It was never a serious contender, but now it is even less so.
If I have helped you please consider a donation : https://gofund.me/c86b0a2c
 

Offline BravoV

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7547
  • Country: 00
  • +++ ATH1
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #764 on: January 08, 2014, 02:46:44 pm »
The question now is ....why would ANYONE want a Mu when a FLIR is availabe at similar money ?

The one who no longer can get their money back anymore ?   ::)

Offline andtfoot

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 352
  • Country: au
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #765 on: January 08, 2014, 03:11:11 pm »
The question now is ....why would ANYONE want a Mu when a FLIR is availabe at similar money ?

The one who no longer can get their money back anymore ?   ::)
But... but... but...
It's alllmost there! They just have to finalise the colour of the case so they can 'cut the checks' (again). ::) :-DD

Everyone knows you can't get thermal images out of a camera if the case is the wrong colour or something... right?
 

Offline Corporate666

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 2008
  • Country: us
  • Remember, you are unique, just like everybody else
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #766 on: January 08, 2014, 04:24:00 pm »
The FLIR One just eviscerated whatever miniscule chance was left for Mu to ever get anything done or ever make any money. 

This illustrates one of the problems with crowdfunding.  You put an idea out there but you really have no clue how you are going to actually achieve it - so you just put up a bunch of bullshit pie-in-the-sky rendered crap.  Then you get a bunch of money, and you have to figure out how to actually make it.  Someone who knows how to make it and is experienced in making it comes along and kicks your ass, and you come out with an inferior product, months later, and wind up the second to market with a compromised product that is too expensive and doesn't have the first-maker cache.

Happened with Lifx.
Happened with Mu Optics.
Happened with that iPhone stand.
Happened with that USB signal thing.
Happened with countless electronic doo-dads.

It's not always the most popular person who gets the job done.
 

Offline Rasz

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2616
  • Country: 00
    • My random blog.
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #767 on: January 09, 2014, 08:12:26 am »
This illustrates one of the problems with crowdfunding

Im confused, why do you think its a problem? Its a feature. Clueless will FAIL almost every single time (unless they pay someone to bail them out).

It might be a problem for clueless backers tho.
Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
My fireplace is on fire, but in all the wrong places.
 

Offline CanadianAvenger

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 179
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #768 on: January 09, 2014, 12:37:24 pm »
ICYMI

Quote
Hello All,

We are planning on a Friday update this week, but we thought we would quickly speak about the FLIR ONE that was just announced yesterday morning at the Consumer Electronics Show(CES) in Las Vegas.

As we believed when we started this project, the advent of thermal imaging for the consumer marketplace was nearly upon us. The FLIR ONE is an iPhone 5 and 5s thermal imaging case attachment. We've been hearing rumors about this device for a couple of months now, and have been looking forward to seeing exactly what they were developing. Our anticipation of this announcement has of course involved both nervousness and excitement. Having a competing product from a company like FLIR is certainly something that we have been nervous about, however the flip-side to this is that a huge name in infrared imaging has just confirmed our belief that there is a huge market for affordable infrared imaging products.

We see that a few of our supporters have noticed FLIR's press release and have posed a few questions. Let me fill you all in with as much as we know. The FLIR ONE works with only the iPhone 5 and 5s. It has a physical connection to the phone and an incorporated visible light camera that is used to clarify the thermal images. The FLIR ONE is an impressive device that utilizes a brand new sensor that is much, much smaller than previous sensors, either from FLIR or their competitors. This sensor core is called the Lepton Core. The FLIR ONE does not yet have a published spatial resolution or frame rate, however we believe it to be somewhere between 50x50 and 80x80 pixels, with a frame rate around 10fps. FLIR ONE is expected to be available sometime in the spring of 2014.

We are four weeks away from final prototypes with our camera.  We are scheduled to hand over a number of them to distributors both here and overseas in the middle of February.  At that time we believe we'll be very close to mass manufacturing and distribution.   We expect to begin mass production at the beginning of April.

When we first began designing what would become our final product, we had a lot of planning to do. Decision such as what phones and devices we should support, how to move data from the camera to the host device, what sort of features will benefit the most use cases, etc. During that planning phase we designed the camera that you all will be receiving. The Mu Optics camera has many features that we believe will allow us to actively compete with the new FLIR camera even as both products prepare to enter the market. The Mu Optics camera utilizes WiFi, allowing the user to separate the camera from the phone or tablet. This means that it is easy to examine the thermal scene in hard to reach places. The Mu camera will be accessible for those who want to program it for their own purposes. Our camera has an active shutter, has a frame rate greater than 30FPS with higher resolution. The Mu camera works with nearly any device and OS, and will continue to work with any new phone that a user purchases.

As a CNET article from yesterday stated, "Let the thermal games begin."

Thank you all for your patience, it's been a much harder device to develop than we first thought, but we are excited to be nearing the finish line.

Cheers,

-Mu Optics
 

Offline Jay_Diddy_B

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2731
  • Country: ca
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #769 on: January 09, 2014, 01:06:42 pm »
Hi,
It is good to be reassured that the Mu Optics team has not lost faith in their own ability to:

1) Outperform one of the two industries leaders, with huge resources, at their own game.

2) The Mu Optics camera is still on track and only one (magic) month away. They plan on handing over the prototypes to distributors (to hell with their investors  >:D).

3) They say mass production will start in April. :palm:

Only a video, showing the Mu Optics design working will change my mind. If what they are saying is true, they should have no difficulty at all producing a thermal image.



I can only add  :wtf: Wow that's Fantastic !!!

Jay_Diddy_B

 

Offline BravoV

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7547
  • Country: 00
  • +++ ATH1
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #770 on: January 09, 2014, 01:14:11 pm »

3) They say mass production will start in April. :palm:


Hey ... what with that faceplam smiley doing there ?

They did nothing wrong, just read carefully at their announcement there, they did not mention the "YEAR" ! 

Could be April 2015 or 2016.  >:D So they have nothing to blame there.  :-DD
« Last Edit: January 09, 2014, 01:18:32 pm by BravoV »
 

Offline Corporate666

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 2008
  • Country: us
  • Remember, you are unique, just like everybody else
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #771 on: January 09, 2014, 04:59:11 pm »
This illustrates one of the problems with crowdfunding

Im confused, why do you think its a problem? Its a feature. Clueless will FAIL almost every single time (unless they pay someone to bail them out).

It might be a problem for clueless backers tho.

Well, to clarify, it is a problem for the poor suckers...err, I mean backers :) who believed the creators and put their $$ up, only to be utterly at the mercy and whim of those same creators when the projects drag on for months and months, and/or deliver shoddy products that don't match what was promised.
It's not always the most popular person who gets the job done.
 

Offline dustout

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 24
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #772 on: January 09, 2014, 11:17:01 pm »
They have to wait until the Flir One releases so they can slap that inside a plastic case they've been working on for so long... Re-branded Flir Ones for all?
 

Offline ixfd64

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 345
  • Country: us
    • Facebook
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #773 on: January 09, 2014, 11:19:20 pm »
I was thinking the same thing. It'd be hilarious if Mu Optics ends up buying the sensors from FLIR. :P
« Last Edit: January 10, 2014, 04:00:31 am by ixfd64 »
 

Offline mikeselectricstuff

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 13694
  • Country: gb
    • Mike's Electric Stuff
Re: Mµ Thermal Imager - real or fake?
« Reply #774 on: January 09, 2014, 11:28:06 pm »
Geez - when will these idiots give up and just admit they have nothing. still 4 weeks away from  a proto? WTF have they been doing all this time?
Incidentally I wonder how many of the IGG suckers are outside the US - on the outside chace thay ever get to being able to ship anything, and it's 30FPS as they claim, someone will have a lot of export paperwork to deal with.
Youtube channel:Taking wierd stuff apart. Very apart.
Mike's Electric Stuff: High voltage, vintage electronics etc.
Day Job: Mostly LEDs
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf