Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown

[Fraser]

@OrBy,

You can add Bluetooth to any device that communicates via RS232 if the levels are correct. A small level converter is sometimes needed. From memory, the E4 uses RS232 levels that are compatible with the many self contained Bluetooth transceivers available on e*ay. Such units are designed for interfacing to UARTS, so are ideal for the task, as no Bluetooth drivers or stack is needed on the host device. You are just converting Bluetooth data to RS232 format.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-PCS-Arduino-HC-06-Wireless-4-Pins-Bluetooth-RF-Transceiver-Serial-Module-EA-/360920189987?pt=UK_Computing_USB_Bluetooth_Adapters_Dongles&hash=item5408850c23

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30ft-Wireless-Bluetooth-RF-Transceiver-Module-RS232-TTL-HC-06-for-arduino-ItS7-/141227113401?pt=UK_Computing_Other_Computing_Networking&hash=item20e1cabbb9

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-PCS-Pass-through-Module-51-Single-SPP-CA-Bluetooth-Serial-Module-Wireless-Data-/371035601728?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item566371fb40


All 'cheap as chips' 

OR, if Wi-Fi is preferred......

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HC-21-Embed-WIFI-to-Serial-Port-Wireless-Module-UART-Brand-new-/351058461570?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item51bcb70382

Wi-Fi to RS232 module and still pretty inexpensive 

[mikeselectricstuff]

Hi Guys,

First time writing here
I was a friend of Camera modifications too.
I wrote a remote control Software for the FLIR Ex (I also really link the Exx, but it is financial out of range).
Here is the Description: http://joe-c.de/pages/posts/programm_ex_tools_158.php

A Copy is now selling for 30€ on ebay: http://www.ebay.de/itm/201086125469
(try to compensate a bricked E4, after trying to flash 1.18.7 to a 1.22 Camera ... Device was sent to FLIR for repair)

Additional...happy hacking

I really wish I could understand German right now!
Are my eyes playing tricks on me or did you manage to install a WiFi or BT adapter into a hacked up E4? (does it work?)
Looking at your remote control software page it looks like you are doing sequence or video capture as well - how long can it record for? (and can it record with out the UI showing up - raw video)
Would love to know more about the application but Google translate is just not working for your site for me.

A bluetooth connection to the console port would be a simple connection, but wouldn't get you image data. 

[joe-c]

Aurora is right. I used a Bluetooth to Serial module, powered directly from Main board.
The wifi Module he found sounds interesting...

Looking at your remote control software page it looks like you are doing sequence or video capture as well - how long can it record for? (and can it record with out the UI showing up - raw video)

I don't try to make long thermal records yet...
But i can confirm, that it is real raw video (without UI).

I wrote an Extension to my Thermoviewer Project (see here).
This program can connect over Telnet (RNDIS) to send some settings and then download the sequence and open it.
Its automates... start Programm, goto Tab "FLIR Ex", click on Telnet, if telnet green click on "init Grab", then Grab IR (get a full IR Image with Temperatures... it takes around 10 Seconds).
See Attachment...
I think it could be make better, but this I will make later. It can also open sequences. But the Thermal data is false yet (does somebody knows, which bytes must be interpreted to get the min and max Temperature).
A Friend tell me, that e gets some error messages, but no image. Could you get the image? I tried with 1.19.8 and 1.22.0 and both work on my PC.

A bluetooth connection to the console port would be a simple connection, but wouldn't get you image data.

Yes. I also still don't found a possibility to get the IR-Image over the UART.
You only can grab the values from the Measurement results. But no pixel data.
 

[scientist]

Think this might be related to the recent hack?

[Iphone_hack]

In my opinion
Flir is dropping its E8 price to try attract buyers due of the hack
But if you look at the poll
50% bought it  because price with the hack.
Myself included
I didn't want to spend $1000 for IR camera with low resolution
I was waiting for the flir one, I know VGA only but $350 only cheaper than new iPhone why not?
But after found out that spend $1000 = to E8 it was something that I cannot pass

My point flir got more sell of the E4 because of the hack
I am sure if flir change hardware to prevent the hack
It sells will drop to prior hack sells
Some might say flir can make more money selling higher end models
Of course! Higher profit margin, but in reality how many E8 they sell compare to lower end model

[joe-c]

2000 for the E8 is slightly better than before. But a hacked E4 is still better
It has some more defect pixels but after processing you don't can see them...

Has somebody tested the ThermoViewer_005e and get the full thermal Image?
Any error messages?

I improved my Ex Program (remote control E-Series). I is still default in German.
But by starting is there a "language.txt" in the folder, some controls and Messages are get a new text from this File.
See the Picture on the left side (contains "(extra language)"in the title). If changing the contend of "language.txt" it is possible to make it more Spanish or other.
Who has interest, contact me. The offer in Ebay is for 30€ or 40 USD (with Paypal directly).

[OrBy]

Has somebody tested the ThermoViewer_005e and get the full thermal Image?
Any error messages?

I poked at it for a min or two but didn't manage to get anything out of it even though it did seem to connect to my E4. As for errors - not that I could tell but it was in German so...

Glad to see the work that your doing however!

[ChristofSchwiening]

Has anyone investigated some of the other configuration file settings? For instance:
.caps.config.image.targetNoise.enabled
I think this may be the setting that adds noise to the E4 sensor. I suspect that there must also be some control over the smoothing filter which softens the image - but, I can't find it. Has anyone produced any documentation on controlling the E4 via the USB network connection? It should be relatively simple to capture the streamed IR data....
Having looked at the E4 raw IR data it seems largely unnecessary to jump through the complicated calibration formulae since within the 20-30 degree C range the data looks pretty linear.

[Sk_rmouche]

My newest camera has very few dead pixels.

Seems like I've been lucky with my hacked E4  !
Could be interesting to see what's the amount of defective sensor among clean ones 

[Sk_rmouche]

Oh okay I didn't catch that error correction parameter over the whole topic, my bad ! Let me see how I can disable it...

[joe-c]

This need not necessarily be. FLIR sold as many E4 in that the selection appears to be depleted in bad sensors. My newest camera has very few dead pixels.

This could be truth.
Btw, my camera looks similar...
But I have more in lower right corner:
http://joe-c.de/pages/posts/waermebildkamera_flir_ex_159.php#Firmware

I poked at it for a min or two but didn't manage to get anything out of it even though it did seem to connect to my E4. As for errors - not that I could tell but it was in German so...

Hmm...not good.
Ok... fist the Button "Telnet" in Tab "FLIR Ex" must be green, after pressing (yellow while try to connect).
(at the Fist start, the Firewall should ask for my Program to be able to connect to 192.168.0.2)
If the Button is green, the Telnet-Console should be active... if you hit ENTER in the Command line (with "nuc" inside) the Camera should perform the NUC.
Then click "Init Grab" and "Grab IR".
Program needs .NET Framework 3.5.

[lesliebr]

Hello all, I have a huge issue. Last night I was hacking my brand new E4 thermal imager and  I accidentally overwrote the FLASHBFS system folder with the new one. Would anyone be able to email me a zipped folder with the original system folder? My flir is acting up now and is missing some functions. The factory reset does not fix this issue and I am a little worried I completely ruined my camera. my email address is b.leslie@live.com thanks!? Also, I tried restoring the firmware from the Flir website using Fir tools and it still didn't fix the problem and on top of all the heartache, I can no longer get my camera to connect to Filezilla.

[sim]

Hello! For the poor fools trying through the Linux, ftool fails to encrypt to the correct output on amd64 because of this line in md5.h:

typedef unsigned long int UINT4;

Removing "long" will make it work. There's another one in main.cpp (DWORD), but it seems harmless.

[ixfd64]

FLIR just posted a picture on their Facebook that shows what appears to be considerable discounts. I wonder if the hack has something to do with it.

[scientist]

Look at this slimeball.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-Flir-E4-E8-Plus-Upgraded-Thermal-Imaging-Camera-320-x-240-Resolution-/191168294088

[Paulio]

Look at this slimeball.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-Flir-E4-E8-Plus-Upgraded-Thermal-Imaging-Camera-320-x-240-Resolution-/191168294088

Hi, What's your issue with this seller?

[scientist]

Look at this slimeball.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-Flir-E4-E8-Plus-Upgraded-Thermal-Imaging-Camera-320-x-240-Resolution-/191168294088

Hi, What's your issue with this seller?

He (i'm guessing you) is selling it as a hacked device. Both immoral and unprofessional. If you're selling an E4 don't mark it up 30% because you screwed around with the firmware.

[ixfd64]

If you think that's bad, someone just created a new website for selling hacked E4's: http://flir-upgraded.com

[scientist]

Shitty HTML, no https, $500 markup for software that they don't own... yeah nope. FLIR is definitely going to have them shut down.

[Taucher]

If you think that's bad, someone just created a new website for selling hacked E4's: http://flir-upgraded.com

Well, they obviously expect some trouble:

Registrant Email: FLIR-UPGRADED.COM@domainsbyproxy.com

A classic "provider" used by MANY very respectable guys as spammers, phishers and other really nice guys...
... but technically I don't see it beeing a crime to sell an upgrade-service with public domain information.

The only miss is that they will have to beat EEVblog reputation when searching E4 hack...
good luck with finding anybody literate enough to use the internet themselfs - online

It's hard to compete with FREE

[ixfd64]

Yeah, the jerks didn't even credit us.

[Taucher]

FLIR just posted a picture on their Facebook that shows what appears to be considerable discounts. I wonder if the hack has something to do with it.

I'm just more pissed on Flir for selling a "made in Europe" product at a really evil premium inside the EU.
899 USD would be 650 EUR ... or 775 EUR incl. VAT in Germany ... but not >1000 EUR.

It seems to be trendy to sell stuff at the same price number ... and good luck getting an E4 for under 1000 EUR inside Europe.

My guess is: EU-Price = US-Price +VAT + individual SHIPPING + 10% tolerance. ... so just to be near a point where individual imports won't pay off the hassle
It's like sticking a "FU" sign at the products.

[Paulio]

He (i'm guessing you) is selling it as a hacked device. Both immoral and unprofessional. If you're selling an E4 don't mark it up 30% because you screwed around with the firmware.

Well I'm from the UK, not the US 


Cost of camera = $995
Cost of eBay & Paypal fees at $1398  =  $195
Cost of US postage (guess)  = $30

TOTAL = $1220

$1398 - $1220 = $178 Profit.

In my opinion $178 is a fair profit for the seller who is providing a known working hacked camera and taking all risks including:

- The risk of buying a camera and not getting a hackable firmware
- The time and effort hacking the camera
- The risk of it going wrong

The buyer is therefore getting quite a good deal. Remember European/UK buyers are already paying well over $1600 just for the camera direct.

Please bare in mind that any person with a bit of technical knowledge can find this thread with a simple Google search and do it themselves.

Those people without the necassary technical knowledge who would like to benefit from the hack can purchase a ready hacked camera for a relatively small premium. These are the people that would otherwise be posting on this thread asking for help with XYZ over and over again.

I fail to see the problem with this, it's a free market.

It's hard to compete with FREE

Exactly, I agree :-)

Flir is doing exactly the same thing, but charging a $3000 premium.


I agree that it would be nice for the seller to provide a link to this thread though, or some mention of EEVblog.

I really like Flir, but they need to get their act together and decide what their business model is going to be going forward. They are stuck between Commercial and Military/Specialist markets.  Commercial is low margins but high volume, Military/Specialist is high margins and low volume.

Flir seems to have been stuck in a very low development mode for a long time. Think about all the technical progress made in the last 30 years, and yet a 80x60 thermal camera still costs at least a grand.

In my opinion Flir should be selling 720p and 1080p 9Hz cameras to the commercial markets for sub $10k, leaving room to put 640x480 cameras in the latest smartphones, cars and security systems.

They could then sell 4K cooled systems to the Military/Specialist markets at much higher frame rates (30-120Hz) with precision optics and high sensitivity, and therefore still preserve their high margin markets at the same time.

I suppose they are making some progress with the Lepton core, but it's still very low resolution. This whole E4 hack business goes to show that thermal cameras are not some wondorous new technology anymore, they are a commodity item. It's just the politics of having had a virtual monopoly that's stopped Flir from pushing the technology out there.

Thermal imaging is no longer the top military technology that it once was, every army, navy and air force in the world has them. Providing uncoolled 9Hz HD sensors to the civillian market isn't going to cause WW3, the hysteria needs to stop. Everytime we declare thermal imaging as being 'military technology' , we are only helping to preserve Flir's high margins.


Just my 2 cents (I mean pence!).

Cheers.

[Sk_rmouche]

He (i'm guessing you) is selling it as a hacked device. Both immoral and unprofessional. If you're selling an E4 don't mark it up 30% because you screwed around with the firmware.

Well I'm from the UK, not the US 


Cost of camera = $995
Cost of eBay & Paypal fees at $1398  =  $195
Cost of US postage (guess)  = $30

TOTAL = $1220

$1398 - $1220 = $178 Profit.

In my opinion $178 is a fair profit for the seller who is providing a known working hacked camera and taking all risks including:

- The risk of buying a camera and not getting a hackable firmware
- The time and effort hacking the camera
- The risk of it going wrong

The buyer is therefore getting quite a good deal. Remember European/UK buyers are already paying well over $1600 just for the camera direct.

Please bare in mind that any person with a bit of technical knowledge can find this thread with a simple Google search and do it themselves.

Those people without the necassary technical knowledge who would like to benefit from the hack can purchase a ready hacked camera for a relatively small premium. These are the people that would otherwise be posting on this thread asking for help with XYZ over and over again.

I fail to see the problem with this, it's a free market.

It's hard to compete with FREE

Exactly, I agree :-)

Flir is doing exactly the same thing, but charging a $3000 premium.


I agree that it would be nice for the seller to provide a link to this thread though, or some mention of EEVblog.

I really like Flir, but they need to get their act together and decide what their business model is going to be going forward. They are stuck between Commercial and Military/Specialist markets.  Commercial is low margins but high volume, Military/Specialist is high margins and low volume.

Flir seems to have been stuck in a very low development mode for a long time. Think about all the technical progress made in the last 30 years, and yet a 80x60 thermal camera still costs at least a grand.

In my opinion Flir should be selling 720p and 1080p 9Hz cameras to the commercial markets for sub $10k, leaving room to put 640x480 cameras in the latest smartphones, cars and security systems.

They could then sell 4K cooled systems to the Military/Specialist markets at much higher frame rates (30-120Hz) with precision optics and high sensitivity, and therefore still preserve their high margin markets at the same time.

I suppose they are making some progress with the Lepton core, but it's still very low resolution. This whole E4 hack business goes to show that thermal cameras are not some wondorous new technology anymore, they are a commodity item. It's just the politics of having had a virtual monopoly that's stopped Flir from pushing the technology out there.

Thermal imaging is no longer the top military technology that it once was, every army, navy and air force in the world has them. Providing uncoolled 9Hz HD sensors to the civillian market isn't going to cause WW3, the hysteria needs to stop. Everytime we declare thermal imaging as being 'military technology' , we are only helping to preserve Flir's high margins.


Just my 2 cents (I mean pence!).

Cheers.

Also mine as well 

[Taucher]

guys: how about snipping down such long quotes a bit?