thermal core

[amv]

Hi all
In my spare time i like to fly drones and hiking in nature, and documenting my experiences with video. I have
just about every micro video camera commercialy available, and for some time a thermal camera was just
about the only camera i was missing in my collection.
As i am sure you all know there can be some obstacles in getting a hold of theese things:
Price
wassenaar/itar
picture quality/price
For what i would like to do there are a couple of problems more, i would like to have thermal core (Max weight
100 gr. ) that delivrers analog video out, runs on 6-12 volt (to mount it in a cradle, like in the picture, replacing
the cmos camera with a thermal core ) and is interchangable (so i can remove the thermal core and put it in a
wildlife camera type housing)

I have been looking around and found :

seek thermal, flir one and i3thermal expert (weight okay) but all of theese cameras only delivres direct video
out through a rasberry or similar. i would like to avoid any more wires and print boards, as theese drones have
more than enough
Flytron : Drone thermal v3 micro uav thermal camera (weight okay, has DVO) But 80x60 pixels for £299 ?
I asked I3thermal expert for a quote on the TE-EQ1 core - but they wanted over 2500$ plus about 30% import
charge
and i of course looked at Flir products but they are not excatly cheap either.

So my question now is - are there any preferbly european suppliers i have missed ? that have thermal cores
with the above mentioned specs. or (and moderator, if this is a violation of EEV´s rules - i wil delete)does any of
you guys have any thermal cores lying around that they would like to sell - please PM me or write in this tread
Regards

Jan

[mahony]

Optris might be one option but regarding your weight target their camera seem to be too heavy.
Besides other cams they offer a lightweight cam including a Odroid/Linux based recording system (380g total) for larger drones:
http://www.optris.de/pi-lightweight-netbox

Small edit:
Referring to the specs of the Thermal Expert, even the Q1+ (with the larger lens 42g) the normal version has only 39g. Combining this with an Odroid board (~65g depending on which one you use) or a Raspberry PI (9-40g according to wiki) you should get very good image quality within your weight budget...

[amv]

hi Mahony
Thanks for your answer, i had not found this one my self and it looks nice.
Actually i allready have a recorder (pic 1) weighs 9,3 gr. ( a bit more with sd card) and records in sufficient
solution for the cameras output.
If you look at (pic2) you can se my current system, what i would like is to remove the right camera (hd
recorder) and replace it with a thermal core, and put in a video switch and switch between the two video
signals (fpv flying)
So what i would really like, is to find a thermal core that needs 6-12v. input, current system runs on this, so
no need for ubec or downstepper.
And the unit to output analog video out, due to requirements of video recorder.

I would really appreciate any sugestions and advice - and i have a fealing that some of you will sugest a thermal
core with arduino or raspberry but if you look at (pic3) sometimes you just dont need more wiring or pcb
boards, and what is equal important is weight.

Again any sugeistions or advice is very welcome

Regards

Jan

[Bill W]

I'd thought using a Raytheon AS2000, but way over your weight budget at 195g.

At least low latency and 20Hz with NTSC video out.

Bill

[amv]

Hi Bill W
Thanks for your answer
Latency is not a big problem for this setup, i am not going to fly race,
or even fly very close to objects. Even a relative high latency will not be
problem, since i will always be able to switch to the cmos camera.
But 195g. will seriously effect my ability to control this thing in a responsibil
way.
Again i apreciate you taking the time to answer.

Regards

Jan

[Vipitis]

I am sure the flir lepton 3 module on a custom board would work - maybe you can even add it to the board on your drone easily.

It has higher res then gen2 lepton(flir one) and two different gain modes.

But it is sold out everywhere and currently goes to makers and OEMs instead of hobbyist.

[amv]

Hi Vipitis
Thanks for your answer
I have been watching the different lepton hacks people have made,
and if all else fail, this may have to be the solution.
The main issues with this solution for me is,
The lack of real estate - even though small, the raspberry is bulky in drone therms
wirring - this is not a stopblock, but if possible i try to follow the "KISS" theroi.
also i would like to relatively easy switch the thermal core into a "trail camera"
finaly i have no experience with the raspberry (but i guess youre never to old to learn)
Even though i would like this project to be ready tomorrow, i have no "deadline"
so if it ends up being the lepton core, i am shure they will be come back in stock.
About the lepton3 - Have any off you had experience with the "0gravity group"
They claim to have the lepton3 core in stock, and some other okay offers.
 i just never heard anybody mention this page, and i could find no god/bad experiences
online.
Thanks for your answer

regards

jan