So, I recently acquired a Flir Pathfindir II, which i'd been after for a long time ever since seeing the OEM version on BMW's in 05.
(note: A few years ago I also acquired a Therm-App HZ)
(my setup)
I am in FL where it rains frequently.
And upon finally getting it installed , I have noticed a odd issue, that I was curious if anyone had experience with?
I noticed that, with rain droplets on the front lens, cause the image to get severely darker, and all I can see are hot tailpipes , the environment disappears completely in the image. I am surprised, as I assumed the camera would adjust it's lower temperature span like my Therm App thermal camera will do with the default app(or I can do it myself using the Therm-app Plus app), to bring things back into view. I cannot manually adjust the PF2 at all.
After nearly a month of using it, in various situations and comparing against my Therm-App HZ in rainy conditions(being a bit careful since the Therm-App isn't waterproof) , I have confirmed the image from the Pathfindir II does oddly get darker when water drops are on the front of the camera. I did bug FLIR tech support, and the person I talked to mentioned that the image adjusting like that should only happen if something very hot or cold gets in the image- I noted that I could , then drive my car so it aimed at a wall or bunch of trees where there were no sources of hot or lack of IR(cold) in the image and then take a picture of it still being dark, and was sorta passed over/ignored on that suggestion.
From elsewhere on the web it was suggested that Autoliv codes the OEM version for the cars' algorithms, and then the PF2 is just a copy of that.
I find this odd, as I know they test this camera in cold weather, but in FL in the humid air when it's raining , the image shouldn't degrade..It does surprise me that water drops on the front make it adjust like that- and that hot sources of IR like tailpipes then can get through still.
The Pedestrian Detection/Animal Detection feature (which i do have),FLIR support mentioned would still work regardless , if i had it- and it does, but at slightly reduced range... for those who get the camera without the feature though, they'd only have a dark image...with tailpipes.
I am aware IR cannot go through actual water flow(which isn't this), - however, if this was my Therm-App HZ, I would take the bottom number of the temperature span and lower it until the environment comes back into view. I tested this actually today in the rain with the TAhz and sure enough, the image got a little darker(in Therm-App Plus), then I lowered the bottom of the span till the environment was back- that was easy.
I find this a shame, as these cameras have been long marketed as being able to see through obscurants- and research papers from FLIR themselves note the extent in bad weather where their cameras will still penetrate fogs and haze and rain. The cameras do have a heater, but that is for cold weather and presumably ice, I assume the heater would also take care of rain, but it's obviously not going to turn on in warm weather. I have not had the chance to test it in very cold weather with rain, and can't tell when the heater is on.(I have driven in cold air with it.)
I know SEEK just announced at CES a $1000 auto thermal camera with the same specs as the PF2 they are working on- I wonder if their algorithms will better handle this odd edge case.
You can't interface with the PF2 at all, but I know pretty much every other FLIR core lets you control settings on them- but none of them are IP69/waterproof, and the Boson- based driverless-car thermal camera vision project FLIR have now is just underway(it would need weatherproofing)
Has anyone else encountered this issue?
(a few pictures of the effect)
https://imgur.com/a/dARzn