Discussions

To be honest, I'm still not completely sure how all of this happened... A couple of months ago, someone over at FLIR – the world leader in thermal imaging – approached us to see if we would like to try flying some of their hardware.

Our initial response was stunned silence, brought on by shock. Fortunately, that initial contact came as an online message, so I don't think they noticed. After we managed to get our heads together enough to respond, we sent back a message that said basically, “Uh... Sure!”

We've been experimenting with this technology ever since, and we put together this video to explain the basics about how it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqlptPhFmk0

We had actually attempted night flying once before, using a combination of conventional low-light cameras and powerful flashlights. It was pretty pathetic, so we never bothered to put together a video about that particular misadventure.

Using the FLIR, however, that fanciful notion is utterly achievable – and as you can see for yourself, it is amazing. Total darkness is no obstacle at all to safely flying FPV.

I won't waste the bytes explaining the potential applications in search and rescue and other public safety missions, except to say that those are uses that we are interested in exploring further. Also, even during normal daylight operations, it can give you an enhanced perspective on the world.

We've already shot some additional videos using the FLIR, so stay tuned for those on our YouTube channel.

Before you ask – unfortunately, I don't get the feeling that FLIR is going to be handing out any more of these things. They are NASA expensive and fall under the domain of U.S. export controls, as well – so not something you can pick up at your local hobby shop.