Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown

[gabriel.klein]

That'll be the WinCE !.....they should have used Linux 

The power of marketing people

[nazar404]

Hello Guys,

I have been spending hours in trying to use FLIR tools version 2.0 for Mac and I cant seem to make it work or locate the Camera!!
does any one have this same problem?

It seems to work with my PC software just fine.

I am now using the  version 10.9.1 with is Apple Newest version of there operating system ... hope maybe some has the answer

thanks to all

[QuantumLogic]

Using Taucher's BETA2a with Zoom enabled, when Color modes "Detect condensation" or "Detect insulation deficiencies" are selected, I am unable to adjust the threshold temperature.  The temperature displayed is in dark grey.  The up/down/left/right buttons have no effect.  The "Detect condensation" temperature is "48.7" (F) and the "Detect insulation deficiencies" temperature is "64.4" (F).  Are we supposed to be able to change these?
However, I CAN change the "Interval" min/max temperatures using up/down/left/right buttons.

[Taucher]

Using Taucher's BETA2a with Zoom enabled, when Color modes "Detect condensation" or "Detect insulation deficiencies" are selected, I am unable to adjust the threshold temperature.  The temperature displayed is in dark grey.  The up/down/left/right buttons have no effect.  The "Detect condensation" temperature is "48.7" (F) and the "Detect insulation deficiencies" temperature is "64.4" (F).  Are we supposed to be able to change these?
However, I CAN change the "Interval" min/max temperatures using up/down/left/right buttons.

Check Beta3

[Scutarius]

Hello Guys,

I have been spending hours in trying to use FLIR tools version 2.0 for Mac and I cant seem to make it work or locate the Camera!!
does any one have this same problem?

It seems to work with my PC software just fine.

I am now using the  version 10.9.1 with is Apple Newest version of there operating system ... hope maybe some has the answer

thanks to all

At least me an another folk, please read previous posts.
(in a few words, it seems to be mac drivers)

[QuantumLogic]

Using Taucher's BETA2a with Zoom enabled, when Color modes "Detect condensation" or "Detect insulation deficiencies" are selected, I am unable to adjust the threshold temperature.  The temperature displayed is in dark grey.  The up/down/left/right buttons have no effect.  The "Detect condensation" temperature is "48.7" (F) and the "Detect insulation deficiencies" temperature is "64.4" (F).  Are we supposed to be able to change these?
However, I CAN change the "Interval" min/max temperatures using up/down/left/right buttons.

Check Beta3

Hi Taucher, I just loaded BETA3.  Thank you for this update.
I now see the new settings menus for "Ambient relative humidity", "Condensation: rel. amb. humidity" and "Condensation: humidity marking level".
Changing these settings does change the temperature threshold displayed in the "Detect condensation" Color mode.
How the settings work is not clear, yet.  Not sure what the values mean as decimal numbers.  But at least it is something that can change the threshold.
The up/down/left/right buttons still have no effect, however.
I suppose the icons for these Color modes are incorrect by displaying the up/down triangles to the right of the icons since up/down has no effect on them.
After all, "Blue below" and "Red above" do not have the up/down triangles next to their icons yet up/down adjusts their displayed temperature thresholds as expected.

Edit:  It appears the new settings do not have any effect on the "Detect insulation deficiencies" Color mode.  Updated above text to reflect that.

[wilheldp]

Has anybody figured out if the E4 sensor is capable of 30 FPS (or at least north of 9 FPS), and is just being firmware limited?

[ixfd64]

From what I gather, the sensor has a raw 60 FPS data stream, but getting meaningful data from it would require a lot of filtering.

[Taucher]

Hi Taucher, I just loaded BETA3.  Thank you for this update.
I now see the new settings menus for "Ambient relative humidity", "Condensation: rel. amb. humidity" and "Condensation: humidity marking level".
Changing these settings does change the temperature threshold displayed in the "Detect condensation" Color mode.
How the settings work is not clear, yet.  Not sure what the values mean as decimal numbers.  But at least it is something that can change the threshold.
The up/down/left/right buttons still have no effect, however.
I suppose the icons for these Color modes are incorrect by displaying the up/down triangles to the right of the icons since up/down has no effect on them.
After all, "Blue below" and "Red above" do not have the up/down triangles next to their icons yet up/down adjusts their displayed temperature thresholds as expected.
Edit:  It appears the new settings do not have any effect on the "Detect insulation deficiencies" Color mode.  Updated above text to reflect that.

Your'e welcome.
@values: example: 35% are the same as 0.35 ... I suggest reading up on "condensation point", "relative & abolute humidity" and "air moisture saturation tables"
@icons: I can just guess that your e8.config did not enable all features or you appended something instead of overwriting when adding the menu hack.
Also don't forget to restartapp/cold-boot.

@cursors: I can't follow you what exactly you're meaning - insulation and condensation have fixed values that are computed by ambient setup (temp, hum, condensation-%) - no cursor action to be expected there.

[pomonabill221]

Just reflecting on all that has been done by everyone here (Mike, Taucher, Aurora, and a few others)....
This camera is TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE with all the enhancements!!!!
Thank you to ALL the hard effort and work that has been done, and the gracious sharing of the work!
This thing has SO many features now, to me  it is priceless!!!
I would really like to contribute also, but I don't know the camera very well YET, but I am getting there and experimenting using telnet (telnet is your friend!)
For instance, I tried the "auto brightness" for the display and RATS it didn't work!  The item was there with a radio button, but nothing happened.  Probably another entry is needed in an .rsc file, but I need to know how to work with them first... I'll get there!
Thank you guys for your help!
Bill

[Bonocr]

I have repack the ADDMENU_Beta3 with the FLIR logo visible (thanks to Taucher for the instructions).
The file is not yet tested (I can try on my E4 tomorrow)
If someone try it let me know.

Awesome.  Works like a charm!  Thanks, Bonocr!

You are welcome!
A friend of mine have my E4, I hope to try my file on Monday...

BTW: I looked my old pics with FLIR logo and discover that the logo disappears if I generate a report with Flir tools.

[Taucher]

I've had the chance to support a fellow forum user who had to un-brick his cam as he had by accident deleted all (deleteable) files from the E4 (good for him he had made a backup as first step).

The symptoms were like this:
- camera would show a logo on boot, that's all.
- RNDIS/FTP/TELNET were still available, but FTP login did not work - telnet was possible

The solution to the bricked state was fetching the firmware upgrade pack (even beeing a small downgrade in reality)
http://cdn.cloud.flir.se/swdownload/assets/cameradownload/flir_ex_pn639_v1.18.7_update_pack.zip
and flashing the .fif file with FlirNetInstall - confirming and ignoring several error messages.

Then after a reboot and putting it back into RNDIS mode again the backup was used to overwrite the older files, resulting
in a pretty much perfect reconstruction and a fully working camera where the firmware showed the newer version - disregarding
the fact that appcore.exe was not overwritten via FTP.

The perfect way would have been to create a .fif file from the backup or to have a .fif backup in the first place (FlirNetInstall).
I also did some version comparisons and found that his camera (with 1.8.19 firmware) has differences in the following files:

\FlashBFS\system\appcore.exe
\FlashBFS\system\fpga.bin
\FlashBFS\system\fvd.dll
\FlashBFS\system\prodapp.exe
\FlashBFS\system\web\service\imgcorr\pixkill.asp

\FlashFH\MaxResolution.txt  <- file unknown to me, containing "80" as content
\FlashFH\default_a\  -> \FlashFH\default_b\

.caps.config.revision text "1.0" <- mine
.caps.config.revision text "1.1" <- his

Prodspec.rsc contains some nice findings, too:

# For Ex camera and SBA0901   detector,  Astra
#special max resolution 80x60
.prodSpec.general.version text "0.4X" (was 0.42 for my 1.0)

.prodSpec.map.detectorDefects.blob.blobLimitBig int32 3000 (was 1150 for my 1.0)
.prodSpec.map.detectorDefects.blob.blobLimitSmall int32 3450 (was 1450 for my 1.0)
.prodSpec.map.detectorDefects.blob.maxNumberBlobs int32 100 (was 20 for my 1.0)

And a bunch of new entries:
.prodSpec.map.detectorDefects.blob.ratioTh double 0.37
#Above is replaced by this
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects entry
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le entry
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.Th1 int32 700
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.Th2 int32 400
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.radiusThreshold double 3.5
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.minRadius double 2.3
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.blobLimitBig int32 2450
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.blobLimitSmall int32 3450
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.maxNumberBlobs int32 100
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.ratioTh double 0.37
#pick up map to check from calib .calib.detector.staticGainMap.
#.prodSpec.map.detectorDefects.filename text "ds250C_we_ap_fi_le_static.gan"
# Unverified "dummy" values of Ckj added 2013-09-05
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.C00  double -3.0813
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.C01  double 22655.0
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.C02  double -11879.0
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.C10  double -0.0039
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.C11  double -74.1062
.prodSpec.map.windowDefects.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.C12  double 40.8838

....

.prodSpec.imgQuality.perf.ccase.ds250C_we_ap_fi_le.BigBB60_netd.maxSpatNoise double 30.0 (was 14.0 for mine)
.prodSpec.SE.ExFOL7.0.mtfMin double 0.23 (was 0.25 for mine)

\Windows\default.mky <-- seems to be some generated key
\Windows\system.mky <-- seems to be some generated key
\Windows\FTPd.tmp <-- differs, seems to be a FTP log-file

A few other files inside FlashBFS also differed (but had the same size) - that was obviously due to some compile time timestamping - usually 3 x 4 byte groups differed inside the file

[mikeselectricstuff]

For instance, I tried the "auto brightness" for the display and RATS it didn't work!  The item was there with a radio button, but nothing happened.

I would imagine this needs an ambient light sensor to do anything useful.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I've had the chance to support a fellow forum user who had to un-brick his cam as he had by accident deleted all (deleteable) files from the E4 (good for him he had made a backup as first step).

The symptoms were like this:
- camera would show a logo on boot, that's all.
- RNDIS/FTP/TELNET were still available, but FTP login did not work - telnet was possible

Presumably this was this just the files on FlashBFS? I'd imagine FlashFS could also be restored ONLY IF you have a backup, as  these are device specific with calibration and bad-pixel maps etc.

[Taucher]

Presumably this was this just the files on FlashBFS? I'd imagine FlashFS could also be restored ONLY IF you have a backup, as  these are device specific with calibration and bad-pixel maps etc.

Actually I did not completely inspect what was deleted in every folder (was a skype screensharing, viewonly session), but FlashBFS was left only with a couple of not deleteable files - like appcore.exe. I've verified that it got "emptied" - the user was moving all files instead of copying them... and the backup folder contained anything readable including FlashFS and Windows.
I can hence safely assume that any removeable file got removed - probably after downgrade the camera was working with some setup defaults - uncalibrated - while restoring the cal-files restored the original performance.

[Taucher]

For instance, I tried the "auto brightness" for the display and RATS it didn't work!  The item was there with a radio button, but nothing happened.

I would imagine this needs an ambient light sensor to do anything useful.

Exx series setup contains this:
 <ui_model_item type="SettingItem" ID="AUTO" label="ID_SETUP_AUTO" radio="true" caps="power.settings.autoBacklight" caps_ge="1"/>
This caps-entry does not exist in the Ex-Series.

But of cause one could utilize the inbuilt camera to compute ambient brightness ...

.caps.config.image.framegrab.visual: (1)
enabled                     true

.caps.config.image.sensor: (1)
enabled                    false

...I wonder what's ment by "sensor" (it seems it can't be enabled - so it's not some software "sensor")

[Rick Hunter]

Nice hack but now I am trying to delete the flir logo in the ir image. I was looking around in the system file and I think it is hide in the Printer.swap file in the root of the system file. But I cant delete it or rename it. So anyone who can figure out how to delete the flir logo?

There is no copyright issues with these ir images I am taking. FLIR made the camera not the images.

[Fraser]

Have you installed the Menu enhancement by Taucher yet ? That upgrade removes the logo and adds lots of useful features in the menu, like e-zoom and manual range capability. I recommend it if you want something more capable to use.

[pomonabill221]

For instance, I tried the "auto brightness" for the display and RATS it didn't work!  The item was there with a radio button, but nothing happened.

I would imagine this needs an ambient light sensor to do anything useful.

That would make sense, but there was a comment in the file that it MIGHT use the visible camera for light level sensing..... seemed like that could have worked but of course it didn't.... RATS!

[inline]

I've lost track, I'd like to apply Taucher's beta3, but want to do so in the proper manner, I'm looking for the detailed step by step info on properly doing a backup first and then applying BETA3.  I looked around, but don't see this anywhere...does it exist?

[Zucca]

@inline, I found this back in 2013, it´s in this forum in the past pages...

*Warning* Don't mess about with the files on your camera if you don't understand what you are doing.

To install Taucher's menu hack:

1. Install the RNDIS drivers on your PC. (http://cdn.cloud.flir.se/swdownload/assets/other/flir_device_drivers.exe)
2. Turn on RNDIS on the camera via the hidden menu (Settings>Device Settings>Camera Information - Press <right> for 10 seconds, select "USB Mode" then select "RNDIS")
3. Connect camera to PC via USB.
4. FTP to camera (eg. with FileZilla): Normal logon type, Host "192.168.0.2", user name "flir", password "3vlig"
5. Make a back-up of the files on your camera (copy files from camera to your computer into a back-up directory of your choice)
6. Copy the ADDMENU-Beta files over the files in the camera (eg. unzip the files to your computer then copy the folder "FlashBFS" from your computer over the folder "FlashBFS" in the camera - overwrite files)
7. Power-down the camera, remove battery and USB cable.
8. Re-insert battery and turn on.
9. Enjoy! 
 
If you don't completely understand the above instructions then it would be best to not attempt the menu hack. Better to have basic functions.

FOR BETA 3 ZOOM FUNCTION:

1. If necessary edit your flashfs\system\appcore.d\config.d\e8.cfg like this:

...
.caps.config.image.zoom.enabled bool true
...

2. In case you modify the e8.cfg in step 1 then re-generate its CRC (I used the EzCRC01.exe in the ADDMENU-BETA3.zip).
3. Power-down the camera, remove battery and USB cable.
4. Re-insert battery and turn on.
5. Enjoy!, when you press menu you should see a ZOOM icon on the right 

@Taucher: do you think it make sense to add this .txt in attachment to yours ADDMENU-BETAx.zip? Thanks for all your effort, You are a Chuck Norris of hidden menu.

[Taucher]

@Taucher: do you think it make sense to add this .txt in attachment to yours ADDMENU-BETAx.zip? Thanks for all your effort, You are a Chuck Norris of hidden menu.

I won't re-package the files, but I did put a link in the post:

If you need additional instructions how to install the patch, then take a look here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg366426/#msg366426

[mikeselectricstuff]

For BETA 3 ZOOM FUNCTION:
1. edit your e8.cfg
.caps.config.image.zoom.enabled bool true

I have updated the template cfg file in my hack zip to enable this

[mikeselectricstuff]

Interesting Flir patent on calibrating IR sensors :
https://www.google.co.uk/patents/US8378290

[plesa]

Just a general question here to anybody capable of answering

If you had access to a 320x240 TiC that did video output at 30fps, what would you want to see *most*? It can be anything - literally anything.

Something which is not on Youtube channel below, like defence applications.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC66C90CB9B52B2C9