25° Thermal Camera Cores for Drones

Hi Everyone,
Good news for small drones, New FLIR Lepton 25° camera cores just arrived.

If you have read this post before , I have tested our new camera design with 50° version of Lepton and the range was shorter than 50 meters for human body because of wide angle lens design and low resolution of Lepton.

So we ordered 25° FOV FLIR Lepton modules to DroneThermal cameras instead of 50°.

These new cores are fully compatible with current developer boards and other Lepton based designs.
I tested it and zoom factor is exactly 2 times higher than the previous one.(test video coming)

DroneThermal analog thermal cameras will come with these new cores. We are waiting for PCB manufacturing now then I will share final product details and features.

You can find more details and photos under the product page.

Thank you for reading.
Melih

Comments

Sashi Ono March 30, 2015 at 11:36pm

groupgets.com just listed the 25 degree lepton for a group buy, if anyone wanted in.

https://groupgets.com/campaigns/88-25-flir-lepton-thermal-imager
Martin March 27, 2015 at 9:12am

@Melih,

I'm only trying to figure out if this camera is usable on a plane. I would gladly use it on a small FPV plane.
Melih Karakelle March 27, 2015 at 2:05am

@Guy
Great tool!, thank you for that.

@Martin & Serge
FLIR is manufacturing a lot of different camera between,
this
and this

If you have enough budget, payload and licence to use >9hz,>110k pixel cameras, TAU and other models are perfect.
There is huge gap in the market for lightweight and cheap thermal cameras. This is why they are manufacturing Lepton. And this is why we are using it on our DroneThermal analog (PAL/NTSC) camera.

9Hz or 110K pixel limits are really important for exportability.
Martin March 26, 2015 at 10:31pm

I think 9 Hz might be a problem if you are trying to track a fast moving object.
Crispin March 26, 2015 at 2:29pm

Brilliant comparison.
Martin March 26, 2015 at 2:18pm

I guess motion blur isn't a problem.

https://youtu.be/A_7TpS4cRWo
Crispin March 26, 2015 at 9:09am

@Serge.

It all depends. I have a Tau2 640 and it's very good for detail. One of my applications though the Lepton would be idea. Cheap, small, lightweight and did I say cheap?

The Tau2 640 cost me the same as a car and is ideal for most of my applications but overkill for some.

I'm looking with interest at the Lepton for the custom-fit applications.

@Martin

I've only used it on a hex in a slow or stationary hover - can't say it was a problem.

I may be very wrong but the frame rate has no correlation with the exposure time. It's not exposing for 6.66ms and then sending the frame. It's exposing for what it wants and then sending a frame every 6.66ms. Motion blur would be the same for a faster option. (not talking about 120 frames a second DH cams.)
Serge Contal March 26, 2015 at 8:33am

The resolution of the Lepton is too low for UAVs in my opinion...

Watch this comparison : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXKOqgxwp-c
Martin March 26, 2015 at 3:08am

Would a 9 Hz camera be usable on a plane? I'm wondering about the motion blur.
Sashi Ono March 25, 2015 at 3:59pm

Glad The 25 degree works fine with my breakout :)

http://www.pureengineering.com/projects/lepton