Author Topic: Another smartphone thermal imager from i3 (Read 145191 times)

Kilrah · « **Reply #150 on:** July 29, 2016, 09:50:18 am »

Quote from: Kilrah on July 26, 2016, 08:08:08 am

Q1 Plus ordered

Now that was quick! Just got my Q1+ with both lenses. Cringing a bit thinking I should actually have gone for the Q1 Pro, because at this point the difference was I believe not that much anymore anyway - interestingly it is not possible to order from the site nor see the price anymore so I couldn't confirm.

The hardware is beautiful, awesome CNC alu consctuction, including the lens caps. The supplied cases holds the camera plus the additional lens. It's easy to understand the difference vs things like the Seek - the sensor is enormous in comparison, as is the the 13mm F1.0 lens for the same FOV. Just the ability to adjust focus puts it in another league (it's however also much more of a necessity due to the large sensor and wide aperture lens, so keep in mind that focusing often takes a bit of time). Initial impressions seem really great, the wide angle lens is useful for indoor and overviews, and obviously requires less focusing effort. Obviously it has quite some barrel distorsion.

The android app however leaves a lot to be desired... All settings get reset to defaults every time the camera is disconnected/reconnected, and for whatever stupid reason both the preview and saved images are stretched to the phone's screen 16/9 size and saved as 1280x720, stretching everything (or squishing when holding the phone in portrait orientation) and hiding useful image data under the controls. Both the preview and saved images should maintain the sensor's native aspect ratio.
There are a few other bugs, e.g. when disabling AGC the hot and cold palette ends get locked to where they were in AGC mode as they should but the image colors shift. The temperature offset also needs a lot of attention, as mentioned earlier all settings get reset to defaults when reconnecting the camera, the temp offset however still shows in the app - but not in effect. You have to edit the value once for it to be considered again.

App version is 14.0.0 from the Play Store.

frenky · « **Reply #151 on:** July 29, 2016, 05:04:57 pm »

Nice.

I have just ordered T.E. Q1 Plus so now the wait begins...

peter_mcc · « **Reply #152 on:** August 02, 2016, 04:59:33 am »

My TE-Q1 Pro turned up yesterday and I excitedly plugged it into my phone - HTC Desire 530 - only to find it didn't work. I tried it on my wife's Sony Xperia Z5 compact - also didn't work. I tried some of the older handsets at home - no luck.

I tried it at work today on a colleagues Nexus 6 and... it worked! Phew.

Has anyone worked out how to connect it to a Windows PC? At the moment that might be the easiest thing for me (since we want it to take thermal photos of equipment on the workbench). I can't work out where to source a USB A male to micro USB female cable - all the ones I can find are around the other way.

schlafli · « **Reply #153 on:** August 02, 2016, 06:59:29 am »

Regarding cables, I bought this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B009AWA3VK/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1470120841&sr=8-11&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=Usb+a+male+micro+female and this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B012S0ZQNU/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That second cable actually has all 5 connectors of the micro USB ports hooked up, so you can use it to extend the camera on the phone too.

Regarding the software, you'll have to contact i3. I was sent a Google drive link to download the software for Windows.

-Michael

Kilrah · « **Reply #154 on:** August 02, 2016, 07:15:43 am »

Interesting. I tried on my 2 main phones and it was fine, but I now dug up some older ones I found and neither work. One is a Galaxy S3 Mini and for that one it's pretty normal since it doesn't support USB Host at all. My S4 however should work, it recognises the camera and opens the app but that then says "camera not detected" and closes.
Note I have a custom ROM and kernel on that one so it might play a role.

For computer connection I've ordered a few of these for the plug: http://www.ebay.com/itm/370788940297
and I'll cut/splice with A-type ends as required.

I don't know of any software to make use of it though, but given I'm in contact with I3 regarding the app issues I'll see if I can have the SDK.

EDIT: S4 works after a reboot.
EDIT2: Have received Windows software, but it crashes on load (W10 64bit). Don't know if it's becasue no camera is connected, although I tried sharing it from my Android phone through VirtualHere USB, the drivers installed correctly and the app also crashed straight away on launch.

Kilrah · « **Reply #155 on:** August 02, 2016, 10:44:40 pm »

So as mentioned I couldn't get the Windows app to run on my main W10/64bit machine, and it didn't work on an XP VM I tried to install for the purpose either. Also I still don't have a cable to connect the Q1+ to my PC. I however remembered I had a couple of cheap Windows tablets in a drawer that have micro-USB-OTG ports that could be used to connect the camera as is, so I tried installing the app on those (W10, 32bit). And there it worked, AND I can connect the camera (although the wrong way around, i.e. in "selfie" mode)

Then following an idea from here about a program that allows for remotely connecting an USB device through a network, I decided to try to link it with my very appropriate C.H.I.P minicomputer I received 2 days ago - it's also got an USB OTG port, integrated WiFi and can be battery powered, making for a great standalone wireless thermal provider

I initially was thinking about a Pi Model A as I've got 2 of them in a box, until I remembered why they were in a box - No battery, no OTG, no Wi-Fi. Yeah right... time for those things to be trashed I guess, not worth the hassle. The C.H.I.P is how things should be nowadays.

And everything works perfectly fine. Unlike what's been reported about the FLIR cam in that other thread there's no timing issue at all, one can see a certain delay when connecting the camera and kinda slower refresh rate, but functinally it does the job great

The bigger tablet is a Lenovo Miix3 8'' that is pretty decent with a good quality 1024x768 screen and 2GB RAM, the widescreen one is an ultracheap ($50?) Trekstor one that was bought maybe a year ago. It's really pretty crappy - yet it works, and it's impressive how cheap you can have a PC these days.

frenky · « **Reply #156 on:** August 03, 2016, 06:26:17 am »

That is really cool.

I've got to try that with RPI2 when I get my ThermalExpert...

peter_mcc · « **Reply #157 on:** August 03, 2016, 07:05:07 am »

Thanks for the cable pointers - I searched eBay for "USB A Male to Micro USB Female Adapter" and found some which claim Australian stock. Hopefully I'll have it early next week.

frenky · « **Reply #158 on:** August 03, 2016, 07:42:28 am »

The easyest wayt o make a cable is:
- take an usb cable of an old mouse (or chop micro usb connector off regular phone charging cable)
- buy this http://goo.gl/ZYgfr0
- solder usb wires to it and bridge ID to GND

Done...

frenky · « **Reply #159 on:** August 09, 2016, 07:58:10 pm »

So the happy day is here even if it was a bit expensive...

599$ T.E. Plus + 65$ shipping + 196$ VAT and import taxes = 860$.

So here is unboxing of i3 ThermalExpert Plus with 13mm F/1.0 lens...

The thing is really tiny but surprisingly heavy.

frenky · « **Reply #160 on:** August 09, 2016, 08:09:06 pm »

First comparison with what I had before (Seek) to see the difference...

VDSL modem:

SeekThermal 1gen:

TE Plus:

I believe I will quickly get spoiled...

Some more photos:

I noticed that you really have to use focus ring all the time to get the best sharpnes (doh...).
And the second is that images on the phone look A LOT sharper than what gets saved. App really needs an ability to save in the 384x288 lossless format.

frenky · « **Reply #161 on:** August 10, 2016, 08:00:45 am »

They have put Windows software online today: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B36fN1Q-Tg1AQnU0VTNWbWZsU2M

http://www.i3-thermalexpert.com/support/analysis-tool/

peter_mcc · « **Reply #162 on:** August 23, 2016, 11:39:32 pm »

I got the Windows app working last night - it's a bit ragged around the edges but does enough for me at the moment.

After you install it you need to go to the install folder and look in the 3 sub folders:
- install the USB driver
- 2 x Microsoft runtime libraries

It initially complained about missing MFC140.DLL - I had to install the x86 runtimes from "vs2015 redistributable" to get it to work (I already had the x64 ones installed)

Kilrah · « **Reply #163 on:** August 24, 2016, 06:53:17 am »

I have it working on some machines, but my 2 main ones won't. Can't find why, it runs fine on 2 W10 32bit tablets, doesn't run on 2 Win10 64bit machines, but does on a third.

frenky · « **Reply #164 on:** August 24, 2016, 07:16:06 am »

It works fine on all my machines 32bit and 64bit win7.

You can try if this app works for you:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pg6iwz2vg7j3imy/Test%20Program.zip?dl=0

Yeasterday I managed to successfully run SDK demo project. Sadly it's a C++ MFC app with which I'm not familiar.

I tried porting it to C# but VS is rejecting to add T.E. dlls as reference...

Kilrah · « **Reply #165 on:** August 24, 2016, 07:22:32 am »

This does run on my desktop where the TE app doesn't.

I'll need to ask them for the SDK as well and report the incompatibility, not done yet.

DDT · « **Reply #166 on:** August 24, 2016, 09:26:54 pm »

T.E-V1 is very overpriced at $3000. I'd rather buy FLIR scout lll 640 for $3400 which is 30Hz and features a 640x512 sensor. In addition, it's a very rugged self-contained handheld unit. I'd never pay $3000 for a gadget that is supposed to be affordable alternative to FLIR and with unknown future compatiblity. If FLIR can offer a complete unit at this price, shouldn't we expect T.E-V1 be much much cheaper, say around $1000?

frenky · « **Reply #167 on:** August 25, 2016, 06:41:15 am »

Quote from: DDT on August 24, 2016, 09:26:54 pm

T.E-V1 is very overpriced at $3000.

Compared to Flir Scout III it really isn't overpriced...

Because:
- It's cheaper
- has exchangeable lenses while with Scout you are stuck very narrow field of view (18°×14°)
- can be connected to computer
- also has 30fps

The only plus for Flir is that it's more rugged because it's main market are hunters.

I to would love to see it at 1000$ but that is really not realistic at this time. Perhaps in a year or two...

encryptededdy · « **Reply #168 on:** August 27, 2016, 04:12:28 am »

Quote from: frenky on August 25, 2016, 06:41:15 am

Because:
- It's cheaper
- has exchangeable lenses while with Scout you are stuck very narrow field of view (18°×14°)
- can be connected to computer
- also has 30fps

The Thermal Expert is also fully radiometric as you can read out a temperature value from any pixel. The FLIR Scout does not allow fore any temperature measurement at all.

DDT · « **Reply #169 on:** September 01, 2016, 05:50:50 pm »

Quote from: encryptededdy on August 27, 2016, 04:12:28 am

Quote from: frenky on August 25, 2016, 06:41:15 am
Because:
- It's cheaper
- has exchangeable lenses while with Scout you are stuck very narrow field of view (18°×14°)
- can be connected to computer
- also has 30fps

The Thermal Expert is also fully radiometric as you can read out a temperature value from any pixel. The FLIR Scout does not allow fore any temperature measurement at all.

That sucks, nevertheless I still think the T.E-V1 price is too high IMO.T.E- Q1 in other hand is the best camera for the price so far. Let see what the pixel war will bring us in the future as the technology and market for thermal cameras are developing fast.

BOGET · « **Reply #170 on:** September 03, 2016, 07:55:33 am »

Sorry for my poor english that isn't my nature language.
I got my Q1 and Q1+ at this weekend,
but I find a problem that is some of dots in my screen from my App,
and I teardown both of my camera, all have some dust on sensor flat.
is it only i have got this issue?

Fraser · « **Reply #171 on:** September 03, 2016, 08:35:12 am »

That looks iike dead pixels rather than dust contamination. Such can happen if a thermal camera is dropped. Dead pixels are captured during factory NUC so this likely happened in transit to you. The VOx pixels are sensitive to high levels of G force associated with drop impacts or high levels of vibration.

I recommend you contact i3 and return the camera for replacement.

Fraser

wraper · « **Reply #172 on:** September 03, 2016, 08:57:27 am »

Quote from: BOGET on September 03, 2016, 07:55:33 am

Sorry for my poor english that isn't my nature language.
I got my Q1 and Q1+ at this weekend,
but I find a problem that is some of dots in my screen from my App,
and I teardown both of my camera, all have some dust on sensor flat.
is it only i have got this issue?

Probably this is dust, dots are at different places on both pics. Have you tried to clean it (blow compressed air).

Quote from: Fraser on September 03, 2016, 08:35:12 am

That looks iike dead pixels rather than dust contamination. Such can happen if a thermal camera is dropped. Dead pixels are captured during factory NUC so this likely happened in transit to you. The VOx pixels are sensitive to high levels of G force associated with drop impacts or high levels of vibration.

I recommend you contact i3 and return the camera for replacement.

Fraser

BOGET · « **Reply #173 on:** September 03, 2016, 10:14:12 am »

Thanks for your reply, I think Fraser is right,
cause I can't blow the stain down,
even I took tissue paper gently wipe it,
but nothing be changed.
So I tried to contact the seller a few hours ago,
and he doesn't respond so far,
I prefer to refund them if they are passive processing.

encryptededdy · « **Reply #174 on:** September 03, 2016, 10:40:08 am »

Perhaps check if the app offers some kind of dead pixel removal function? The Therm-App app offers this function and will fill in dead pixels with data from the surrounding pixels.

This isn't really a huge deal as 4 or 5 dead pixels out of 76800 pixels doesn't really affect the image quality.


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Author Topic: Another smartphone thermal imager from i3 (Read 145191 times)

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