EEVblog #670 - FLIR TG165 Lepton Sensor Followup

[EEVblog]

A followup on the FLIR TG165 Visual Thermometer / Thermal Camera teardown. A look at the micro-shutter and some thermal chamber experiments and scope measurements on the SPI data from the Lepton sensor used.

[woox2k]

Power the sensor without any external controller, then you know for sure what is controlling the shutter.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Lepton datasheet : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3wmCw6bdPqFdXI1bEFnOHdWZTQ/edit

I2C bus isn't used for much at the moment it seems. Flir haven't yet released the command spec.
There is some info in the examples on the Pure Engineering page
http://www.pureengineering.com/projects/lepton

But I couldn't get the Flir One sensor to respond to most of them, so I guess firmware is different.

[rs20]

The fact that it seems to be working with no I2C interaction could be a very nice bit of design -- when the Lepton sensor wakes up, it just starts outputting video straight away, and takes care of NUC itself. If you want more control (e.g. "Dear Lepton sensor, I've just placed a shutter that I know is at 24.37 degrees C in your field of view, calibrate off that please"), you're free to take control via I2C, but many simpler applications like this won't need to go to that complication. I'll take five!

[nitro2k01]

With the risk of making a fool of myself, (or possibly you!) are you sure that you were actually probing the I2C clock pin? It seems odd that there would be a single ~500 ns pulse on the I2C bus. It would make sense if there was no activity, but a single pulse? Maybe there's a hardware bug, and the module won't start up without that pulse...

[EEVblog]

The fact that it seems to be working with no I2C interaction could be a very nice bit of design

Yes, I thought that was very elegant, no mess, no fuss.

[EEVblog]

With the risk of making a fool of myself, (or possibly you!) are you sure that you were actually probing the I2C clock pin? It seems odd that there would be a single ~500 ns pulse on the I2C bus. It would make sense if there was no activity, but a single pulse? Maybe there's a hardware bug, and the module won't start up without that pulse...

Pretty sure, I buzzed it out.
Likely just a setup thing on the micro or something.

[EEVblog]

But I couldn't get the Flir One sensor to respond to most of them, so I guess firmware is different.

Wouldn't surprise me if Flir products using their Lepton had unique firmware for each product, and it's only the OEM modules they sell would be as documented.

[nowlan]

You mean flir?

btw: i heared fresnel is pronounced fren-nell.

[EEVblog]

btw: i heared fresnel is pronounced fren-nell.

 I've never heard anyone in Australia pronounce it like that.

[EEVblog]

I also embarassed myself saying vig-netting instead of vinyetting.

Why be embarrassed, countless people say it either way, just like many other thing, and it's perfectly acceptable. The anal retentives can choke on it 

[mikeselectricstuff]

btw: i heared fresnel is pronounced fren-nell.

 I've never heard anyone in Australia pronounce it like that.

As it's French the "s" is technically silent, but most people seem to pronounce it these days

[David_AVD]

btw: i heared fresnel is pronounced fren-nell.

 I've never heard anyone in Australia pronounce it like that.

In the stage lighting industry everyone says it as "fren-ell", but most people new to the term usually say "frez-nell".  I know I did years ago.

[marshallh]

Yes it's "freh-nell"

[nitro2k01]

@6:41  "There you go it just blinked!" 

So must I have, because I missed it.

From Dave's tone of voice, I suspect he edited the video to remove some dead time, and happened to edit a way a bit too much.

[morpheus]

Is it possible to buy one of thoosse lepton sensors somewhere, without buying whole thing?

[Stonent]

Is it possible to buy one of thoosse lepton sensors somewhere, without buying whole thing?

I think mike's videos on the Flir one he said they weren't available to buy.

[EEVblog]

Is it possible to buy one of thoosse lepton sensors somewhere, without buying whole thing?

Sure, if you want to buy 1000qty at $250ea they will be happy to take your money. All others get a 

[SeanB]

Is it possible to buy one of thoosse lepton sensors somewhere, without buying whole thing?

Sure, if you want to buy 1000qty at $250ea they will be happy to take your money. All others get a 

And of course for that price they will only enable the features you order, and disable the rest permanently. They will also lock in the resolution and frame rate you want as well, and will not allow you to disclose any info under a NDA.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Is it possible to buy one of thoosse lepton sensors somewhere, without buying whole thing?

Sure, if you want to buy 1000qty at $250ea they will be happy to take your money. All others get a 

And of course for that price they will only enable the features you order, and disable the rest permanently. They will also lock in the resolution and frame rate you want as well, and will not allow you to disclose any info under a NDA.

Resolution & framerate are fixed, though I suspect it is capable of higher framerate  - why else would the interface run at 3x the actual rate...
Datasheet is released (link above) & I'm told the I2C command stuff is on its way

 

[morpheus]

Is it possible to buy one of thoosse lepton sensors somewhere, without buying whole thing?

Sure, if you want to buy 1000qty at $250ea they will be happy to take your money. All others get a 

Yeah, not a option for me Is there similar modules, with at least 60x60 resolution, available for hobbyists?

[Grapsus]

Apparently some people obtained a deal from Flir which enables them to order in 100 batches : https://groupgets.com/campaigns/31-flir-lepton-thermal-imager-batch-2

Still, 250 bucks is a stiff price if it's just for playing around with the sensor with no real project.

Maybe I2C is used to update the internal firmware of the sensor ? It might be interesting to trigger a firmware update on the device and probe the I2C bus at the same time...

[mikeselectricstuff]

Apparently some people obtained a deal from Flir which enables them to order in 100 batches : https://groupgets.com/campaigns/31-flir-lepton-thermal-imager-batch-2

Still, 250 bucks is a stiff price if it's just for playing around with the sensor with no real project.

Maybe I2C is used to update the internal firmware of the sensor ? It might be interesting to trigger a firmware update on the device and probe the I2C bus at the same time...

I'd be surprised if the TG165 had the ability to update the FW on the sensor.

Since Seek Thermal announced, Flir Ones have started dropping below RRP on Ebay, and combined with the Iphone 6 launch, I don't think it will be long before you will be able to easily get an F1 to harvest the sensor for $250 or less. Even if Flir don't drop the F1 price.
 

[Stonent]

Does the F1 sensor pulse the 2 micro-shutter pins when it does a correction or does that come from elsewhere on that sensor?

[mikeselectricstuff]

Does the F1 sensor pulse the 2 micro-shutter pins when it does a correction or does that come from elsewhere on that sensor?

Unless it's a product that has the shutter, I doubt it would try to activate it ( it's possible it may sense if the coil is connected), as it needs to know if there is a shutter, otherwise it would try to cal from an image that was not "flat"