First off I want to say that I am very impressed with the work that is being done through this group. I was going to use a gumstix computer but the idea of using a cell phone was genius. Anyway, getting to the point. I was curious to know if anyone could suggest a platform that was battery powered and had a 30 minute flight endurance. My second question is a bit more specific. Has any one done work with low light, night vision, thermal or IR cameras?Infra red cameras can be made small and light weight but require reflected infra red light from an a second source like an LED bank and on top of that its relatively short range, less than 50ft. Night vision is same but not as bad, unfortunately its heavy, even the gen 3 stuff. Thermal would be optimal but I haven't used a thermal camera that weighed less than 5lbs.
By platform I mean plane. I apologize. I work with a lot of retired military so I end up brining the jargon home. Thank you both again for the suggestions. Some one mentioned the idea of using UAV's for civilian patrol and then everyone at the table looked at me because I'm the resident geek. I have been stumbling from concept to concept ever since. The Telemaster looks like a good starting point. I'll keep y'all updated.
I personally would go with the telemaster if you are going to integrate a thermal imager. You are looking at around $5-7K for a basic thermal imager and you would want to mount it internally. Most standard gliders will not accommodate even the smaller cameras along with everything else you need to pack in.
By "platform" do you mean plane? There are loads that can carry large enough batteries for 30 minutes, starting with powered gliders like the EasyGlider Pro and also light wing-loading planes like a telemaster.
I have have a NIR camera for plane but have not though of trying it as a night vision system with LEDs.
There are thermal imagers cores small enough to be flown on an electric with the endurance you require. Two good sources for basic 320x240 thermal cores are:
Comments
Thermal Video
You should be aware that if you go down this road you are not going to get a warm reception from the FAA.
There are thermal imagers cores small enough to be flown on an electric with the endurance you require. Two good sources for basic 320x240 thermal cores are:
US:
http://www.corebyindigo.com/
Europe:
http://www.thermoteknix.com/
If your application does not require the resolution you could use a 160x120 Razir thermal camera
http://www.bergeng.com/miva/merchant.mv?Store_Code=BEOS&Screen=...
Good luck.