GB SOLO SoloVision Stealth & Fire - something a bit different - Bi-Ocular TIC.

[Fraser]

For those who like to see something a little different to the common thermal imaging camera/scope formats, I present to you GB SOLO SoloVision Stealth and Fire Bi-Ocular thermal imaging scopes.

So what makes it different ? Well this is an early generation of Bi-Ocular handheld and helmet mounted thermal imaging scope for use in the Fire, LEA and SAR roles. The unit was created by GB Solo in the UK and was intended to be a versatile thermal imaging scope that presents its images to the user via a pair of LCD panels, rather than a single CRT monitor or LCD panel. Note that this unit does not present a stereoscopic image as a single imaging core drives a pair of miniature LCD panels that, in turn, present the images to the users eyes via prisms. This may sound familiar to some readers of a certain age. The twin eyepieces and the use of prisms was part of the Olympus EyeTrek VR glasses design. I have my suspicions that the SoloVision uses the Olympus EyeTrek display assemblies.

This particular unit appeared on eBay and its quirkiness drew me to it. There was not much interest in the unit so it ended up in my collection. The kit comprises the main head unit that contains the imaging core and display components and Ni-Mh battery pack that powers the head unit. A helmet/neck strap holds the Main head unit and battery pack in a neat package that may be suspended around the neck, like standard binoculars, or affixed to to a safety helmet for hands free operation. I have to admit, the "hands free" deployment looks more than a little unwieldy ! 
I was fortunate in that the kit that I purchased appears to have been a "demonstrator" that has the temperature measurement option and all the original kits components, including manual and battery charger. The only physical damage that I can find is some stress related cracking of the thin LCD eyepiece protection acrylic sheet, and that is easily replaced. The camera does not currently work (OSD but no thermal image) but I do not expect anything too challenging to be wrong with it.

For those interested in the "front end" design, the SoloVision contains a Raytheon/L3 2500AS 160 x 120 pixel thermal imaging core with temperature measurement capability. The lens fitted in my unit is the longer range 25mm version. A wider angle lens is fitted to the SoloVision FIRE model. The lens has the ability to be manual focussed for the sharpest possible imaging. The unit provides a composite video output on the battery pack for an external monitor or RF video transmitter.

The power pack contains a battery management PCB and four 2000mAh Ni-Mh cells. The power button on the head unit sends a "power on" signal to the battery pack via a wire in the umbilical cable.

The SoloVision will undergo a teardown in order to repair it and this will be documented in this thread when undertaken.

[Fraser]

Pictures of my SoloVision kit.....

[Fraser]

Pictures continued......

The final picture shows the SoloVision sitting on top of a Audio CD to show its size. It is roughly the size of a CD case.

[dalittle]

Since I am an old timer, I can offer a little entertainment history on the British camera manufacturer GB Solo. Their original product from the early to mid-1990s was the SOLOtic. (See uploaded data sheet.)  This camera/helmet/mask unit was designed for firefighters. It incorporated a very early attempt at an in-mask heads-up display although the image was far from 1:1. Although it is primitive by today’s standards, it was very unique and innovative at the time.

The original camera engine in the SOLOtic was an EEV pyroelectric vidicon core. Something happened somewhere along the way and GB Solo switched to using a derivative of our (ISG) early PEV core. As the years went by, they switched to our cores that ran a ULIS 160x120, and I think a 320x240 as well, probably the 35u variant, I can’t recall exactly. The 320x240 may have even been the 45u variant.

There was a time that ISG were selling the SOLOtic product on behalf of GB SOLO in America but the product didn’t do well here since it was in competition with the CairnsIRIS firefighting TIC.  Additionally, NFPA regulations do not allow for use of a mask that did not come with (and not certified with) its corresponding SCBA set. In Europe, you can use a third-party mask, and the demand valve fittings are not proprietary (at least that was the rule at the time.)

The ISG / GB Solo arrangement was almost a sort of nuisance OEM deal for us because it required a special build camera core and was low in volume. GB Solo eventually started using Raytheon AS2000 and AS2500 a:Si FPAs (later L3 Comms.)
 
You’d think GB meant Great Britain. It does not. It stands for Gordon Brooks, the founder.

Later in life, after Brooks retired, the company was managed by his kids. They even developed and started using their own bespoke camera cores in newer products. I was told that they used their own cores until the engineer who designed and built the cores buggered off to India.

I think today, what is left of GB Solo is incorporated into the French company Group Leader.

I know there are many old timers on this board. Especially the e2v people. Please correct me if my recollection is inaccurate.

Thanks,
David

 Solotic.pdf (251.92 kB - downloaded 11 times.)

[Fraser]

Dave,

I really enjoy hearing about the companies involved in early development of thermal imaging products. It was a time of innovation and clever people developing novel thermal imaging solutions. GB Solo look to be a company that was not afraid to be different in terms of their thermal imaging camera formats. Whilst the Solovision is an interesting design, it is more of a handheld unit than a helmet mount due to its bulk. I cannot imagine a fire fighter being comfortable with such a unit clamped to their mask and obscuring most of their visible light vision. The use of, what appears to be, the Olympus VR glasses display modules is novel and enables the unit to be smaller as it avoids the usual single LCD panel with close vision lens. That said, as the owner of many Olympus EyeTrek VR glasses, I can state that prolonged use of them really strains the eyes ! Added to that there is the issue of I Ge processing delay and the disorientation of the user whilst looking through the head mounted thermal imaging unit. A novel design, but I think it unlikely that it was that popular with fire brigades when better, more user friendly designs existed in the market place. I have a suspicion that my unit was a GB solo demonstration unit as it has labels on it that I would not expect to see on a unit sold to a customer. It has definitely not see fire fighting service where smoke permeates the materials. The strap is like new so has clearly not seen much use as these quickly get a bit worn. For me it is an interesting curio but also evidence that manufacturers in the 1990’s and 2000’s were thinking outside the box and trying new imager unit formats. I also own the much more recent HALO helmet mounted thermal imaging system and, whilst it looks good, that also suffers from practical use limitations. As a Security and surveillance tool, the SoloVision would likely have been a very useful product as it would be used in its “Binoculars” mode and held to the users face when needed. In that respect, the unit is an early version of the FLIR BHS/BHM Thermal binoculars and GB Solo should be applauded for their forward thinking. In the security version there was even a pressure switch that only enabled the displays when the units rubber light seal was pressed to the users face to avoid light leakage revealing the users position to the targets. Nice idea. I love to see innovation rather than companies just copying the market leaders products and product formats. That does carry risk though.

Fraser

[Fraser]

The GB Solo helmet that Dave mentioned…. The SoloTI combined helmet, breathing mask and thermal imaging system. The display is at the top of the users viewing window. I understand that the SoloTI was very popular in maritime scenarios, such as on cruise ships. Smoke quickly obscures vision in the confines of a ship so the use of a “hands free” thermal imaging system makes good sense. The wearer of the SoloTI may use both of their hands to hold a fire hose etc whilst fighting a fire in a confined space.

[Fraser]

The SoloVision appears to have been further developed into the “S2 Personal” imager that uses the similar handheld case format but moved to a more conventional large single LCD display. This unit was handheld away from the face, much like the E2V Argus 4 unit. I recall seeing the S2 being marketed as the “Aurora” and I tried to buy a used unit but it was just too expensive.

[Bill W]

A quick reply -

My page about the original EEV version of the GB Solo helmet camera
http://www.fire-tics.co.uk/4444.htm

As Dave wrote above it was a Pevicon tube & CRT setup and electrically very similar to an Argus1.  The immediate sucessor with the ISG tube imager was a bit higher, but got the lens back on centre line.  The tube imagers at least would not have image processing lag.

I had not heard of Gordon Brooks, I think we were mainly dealing with Bob Lowrie - some 'character' he was !

Bill

[Bill W]

Since I am an old timer, I can offer a little entertainment history on the British camera manufacturer GB Solo. Their original product from the early to mid-1990s was the SOLOtic. (See uploaded data sheet.)  This camera/helmet/mask unit was designed for firefighters. It incorporated a very early attempt at an in-mask heads-up display although the image was far from 1:1. Although it is primitive by today’s standards, it was very unique and innovative at the time.

The original camera engine in the SOLOtic was an EEV pyroelectric vidicon core. Something happened somewhere along the way

Hi Dave,

30+ years is sufficently ancient history to relate the 'something' .......

It actually goes back to 1990, when the GB Solo helmet camera got onto BBC 'Tomorrows World'.  The cases were initially very much hand made, even the 'production' run of around 70 for a cruise line were vacuum formed and a lot of manual fixings and so on. So to make any more EEV wanted to get an injection moulding done, get all the fixings built in, always the same, tooled gaskets etc.
GB Solo could neither stump up a share of the costs nor cope with a higher unit price if EEV paid the lot.

The main engineer was also one of the earlier departures to ISG - so the link up for technical and political reasons, after all the Talisman case was also hand made in GRP from the same suppliers as GB Solo used for the helmet shells IIRC.

For all the positives of building the camera in the helmet, the big problem with an all in one is that breathing apparatus is truly 'personal' while the camera was always seen as a shared tool.  Hence the Solovision camera here being attached externally but keeping the visible optics reasonably clean.
Even at todays lower camera prices (Scott Sight using a FLIR lepton for example) that concept still holds for many.

Bill

[dalittle]

Hi Bill,

Great commentary!  I knew you could step-up and share info that dates back to the very beginnings of the GB SOLOtic.

It’s so interesting to see the offset version of SOLOtic that you linked. That was TRULY the first version. I had completely forgotten that there was an offset version. And you used the shorter frogshead tube in soft(Ar) and in hard. Bill, how did the name frogshead come to be? And why was it still offered with a soft tube after the hard tube was made available?

So, the engineer you are thinking about who was an early departure from EEV was John Prescott? If so, last I heard, he moved to Australia and is retired – if he is even still with us at this stage. I also recall that he did have some health difficulties. John was the designer of the Talisman GRP “shell” as we used to call it.  I think I remember that in the very early days of the arrangement with SOLOtic, ISG did build the complete camera but I recall GB Solo eventually took on the assembly and we just provided them with the camera core.

Switching gears now. I haven’t thought of Bob Lowrey in decades! He was indeed a character!  One of many old stories (short version) - Bob and Alistair were in Spain driving in a British car (right hand drive) with Bob at the wheel.  They were pulled over for speeding by Spanish police.  Bob managed to convince the officer to give Alistair a ticket since he was seated in the left seat! Then, Alistair tried to expense the ticket, but the FD was not having any of it. 

You must admit, the early days of thermal imaging were the most enjoyable. 

Here's to the good ol days, (pic of pint.)

David

PS: Bill, what was the name of the sales manager for Argus during the time MSA were distributing in America? John ?? I can’t recall his last name.

[Bill W]

Hi Dave,

The 'frogshead' tube so called as the tube looked a bit like a frog with a big head and smaller body.  With a pyro target you could not get the resolution from a 2/3" target due to thermal spread so it has a " tube body and a 1" target grafted on the front.  If you look carefully at the image you'll see the front target ring is the same diameter as the outer scanning coil yoke body.  It did not help image uniformity making the electrons do a couple of handbrake turns.

Yes, that was John Prescott, and no surprise the Talisman case looked like a Morris Minor inner wing  .  He was a great 'Moggie' fan.  Glad to hear he retired, but as you say he had not been in great shape.

The sales guy was John Lyons, very tall. He had some very early dealings with thermal cameras as he was with the RAF at Ascention putting the first ones onto Hercs to air drop to the fleet during the Falklands war.  He came to EEV/Marconi around the Argus1 times after Alistair left for ISG, and although you'd more know us from MSA USA, things started out with MSA's arm in Germany - AUER, who then recommended us to MSA-USA and why Argus1 was launched in Germany at the big Hannover show.  We were coming back from Zurich once and the plane was overbooked, so John got to sit up front !  As ex-RAF he loved it.  That would not happen now.

I also recall Lowrie getting pulled in the Netherlands (Belgium could not catch him), and got a 'free' night in the police 'hotel' until the banks opened so he could get enough cash to pay the speeding fine.  That was with Alistair too I expect.    I think it got into the local papers as Alistair had a souvenir copy. while the turbo in his Saab was red hot and trashed itself when he was stopped.  It ran in the family as Lowrie senior was even worse.

Bill

[Fraser]

I love these stories. Life seemed so much more “fun” in the good old days before the World went to hell in a handcart. We may not have had the Internet and Smartphones, but we sure did enjoy life without excessive political correctness and HR complicating our work lives. I miss those days.

Fraser