Products > Thermal Imaging
FLIR stopping production of Pathfinder II automotive Thermal Cameras soon /
Dark Volter:
I know a lot here dont use the or toy with the autoliv OEM ones
, but i figured I'd share this
https://www.flir.com/products/pathfindir-ii/?vertical=automotive&segment=oem
( End Of Life notice in documents link on their page )
This is a sad day, since there is so few of these types of camaras, and I highly suspect it ain't that easy to slap any old core in a car grill and weatherproof it,
I talked about my experience here
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/thermal-camera-for-car/
And since then. ... not much of anything has changed ,
Well, there are less companies, the Pathfindir's original competition, guide infrared looks dead on the auto front
Speedier and NightRider Io are now going to be more prominent
Seek Thermal STILL, hasn't come out with their solution years later despite the heavy marketing, oddly
I Do see InfiRay / Iray has some a few entries into this market
Hudway ????appears??? to still be in it with theirs and their heads up display
...and I'm STILL waiting for ADASKY to come out with an entry, since they seem really far ahead in tech in these
As for my own PathfindIR, it serves me well Still
... only issue, the same one I mentioned before, software adjusts the span the wrong way when droplets area on the lens and the image gets dark, while I can counter this perfectly with my other Thermals ( handhelds )which let me adjust span, etc.
But the other 95% of the time? This thing is indispensable . I see SO many deer, bicyclists, people in all black on the road walking at night, past elevated trucks with high beams aiming at my winshield head on, thru. smoke from controlled burns and forest fires, wild hogs, cops in the far distance on the road parked with hot engines, . ..
The pedestrian and animal detection / recognition works better than i expected, though only maybe 500 - 1500 feet, compared to just seeing heat of critters/people a half a mile away in general well before it triggers, but it is 320x240, after all
And I'm in Florida, with the frequent rains and all.... and it's still something ( automotive Thermal in General )100% of cars should have, hornbeams can't compete at all
Nor can the night vision setups of friends and family who have near-infrared auto night vision setups, I've seen their screens and thermal murders them in capability badly. I will always now acquire thermal vision for any car I own
So, it's a sad day, we have one less option now.
They've made the videos private, but ADASKY had showed their thermals defeating rain with ease, so I hope they eventually release something with that capability, but here is hoping automotive thermals stay a thing in general. And NOT just another sensor for driverless cars to use without the human ever seeing any of the superhuman vision the cameras give- that 's a waste
NightRide_Shawn:
Shawn here from NightRide Thermal.
Yeah, it's really crazy that FLIR discontinued the PathFindIR II!
I completely agree, but it's part of the new direction they're taking :-//
But I completely agree with you about the benefits of driving at night with a Thermal Camera! You never know how many pedestrians there are (even somewhere as bright as Brooklyn!) until you can see people coming from between parked cars, deers out in the country, through smoke (which is UNCANNY how much better you can see through smoke!).
A lot of people have come to NightRide looking for an adequate replacement and been more than happy!
Our thermal cameras do everything the PathFindIR does, but in an easy to install package
We even have a 640 x 512 Ranger you might find interesting!
https://getnightride.com/pages/nightride-ranger-thermal-camera-640-13
Bill W:
--- Quote from: NightRide_Shawn on June 21, 2023, 07:42:12 pm ---
But I completely agree with you about the benefits of driving at night with a Thermal Camera! You never know how many pedestrians there are (even somewhere as bright as Brooklyn!) until you can see people coming from between parked cars, deers out in the country, through smoke (which is UNCANNY how much better you can see through smoke!).
--- End quote ---
That is where all the fire service (initially navy) interest in thermal came from. Seeing through smoke for people and building layout as much as about seeing really hot things.
Dark Volter:
That makes sense-
Frankly, i'd have to think even FLIR's got enough data that they know that continuing to try to give everyone thermal vision is only a major increase in safety/etc/etc for the average driver.
I like some of Nightride's mounting options , look far easier than the hassle you have with the usual full install- that is a draw. Though it'd drive me crazy if i couldn't align it straight
My million dollar question is this:- The Pathfindir II's software is the reason in heavy rain(as i mentioned) it adjusts the span oddly sometimes and makes the image dark-but that's the only funny - how do Nightride Cameras handle heavier and heavier rains?( I assume light rain is nothing for it, which is also the case with the PFII)
[Sidenote for the forum: Years back i contacted SpeedIR on this- the answer I got from them sounded like the SpeedIR would behave similarly to the PF2 at the time unfortunately. No word on how others(not counting ADASKY) fare in rain
McDogg:
I bit the bullet and bought a PathFindIR II last year.
At first, I had major buyer's remorse. It was cool and all, but I felt like I was never going to use it enough to warrant the dent in my wallet.
After that wore off, I came to love it. I always use it while driving at night. It provides comfort/aid in a lot of different scenarios.
So yeah, thats sucks, but I can completely see why.
Nobody wants to spend a few grand on the "gee-wiz" gadgets. Not until you've run one for a while anyways!
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