This thermal imaging drone could help firefighters quickly locate the source of fire in a building

I’m of the firm belief that robots should be assigned duties that are too difficult or dangerous for humans. Take for instance the Prophet by Marius Kindler, an autonomous drone that’s designed to monitor and assess structures/areas on fire so that blue light departments (firefighters, police & paramedics) can effectively carry out their protective and preventive measures. The drone comes fitted with a FLIR camera that captures a heat-map, helping rescue missions detect sources of fire or even helping them plot the position of humans who need to be rescued.

The tricopter drone’s design can be split into three elements – the propellers, a hockey-puck-shaped FLIR thermography camera at the bottom, and a removable/replaceable battery pack on the top. On-site, the drone can be programmed to run pre-determined routes and will constantly patrol a specific area, analyzing the structural fire to give the rescue team a clear idea of the fire’s source, the building’s layout, and possibly even identify potential safe routes for ingress and evacuation.

“Equipped with FLIR‘s thermal imaging technology it monitors heat exposure and the fire‘s behaviour over time”, says designer Marius Kindler. “Based on the gathered data it can identify anomalies and even predicts how the situation could develop in the near future. The system also makes it possible to link several drones together to a network, enabling all first responders to share their information, responsibilities and their equipment in a collaborative way during emergency incidents.”

The Prophet Drone was the result of a 10-week term project at Umeå Institute of Design in collaboration with FLIR Systems. Although conceptual, it definitely makes a case for how drones can be designed to help protect people and contain major disasters. The technology isn’t too far off, to begin with. Thermography cameras already exist, and autonomous drones are definitely a thing… so it shouldn’t be too farfetched to assume that human-assisting drones could soon be a part of every urban neighbourhood’s firefighting arsenal.

Designer: Marius Kindler

AI-powered cameras make thermal imaging more accessible

As cool as thermal cameras may be, they're not usually very bright -- they may show you something hiding in the dark, but they won't do much with it. FLIR wants to change that with its new Boson thermal camera module. The hardware combines a long w...

FLIR FX – HD Sports Camera

FLIR FX

Capture all of your extreme sports and adventures with FLIR’s new HD sports camera ‘FX’. Coming with a tough, waterproof acrylic housing (submersible to depths of 65′) this ultra-compact camera is equipped with a 4MP 1/3″ CMOS sensor, a 160-degree ultra-wide angle lens, 6x IR LEDs for night vision (up to 33′ range), a microSDHC/SDXC card slot (up to 64GB), a micro-USB port and built-in WiFi connectivity – lets you remotely monitor and review your videos using the FLIR FX app for iOS and Android devices.

Powered by a built-in 1130mAh battery (up to 2 hours of operating time), the FLIR FX can record 1080p Full HD video at 30fps in H.264 format. The FLIR FX is available now for $199.99. [Product Page]

The post FLIR FX – HD Sports Camera appeared first on TechFresh, Consumer Electronics Guide.

Flir One iPhone Thermal Camera Released

Thermal cameras can be used for all sorts of things from monitoring body temperature for coaches to finding thermal leaks in your home. The catch is that most thermal cameras cost $1000 or more. During CES 2014 this past January, Flir, a leader in thermal cameras, unveiled a cheaper thermal camera accessory for the iPhone that looks very slick.

flir one thermal camera 620x496magnify

The accessory is called the Flir One and it will fit the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S. The camera sells for $349(USD) and is available starting today. At that price, it is much cheaper than the next cheapest thermal camera in the Flir range priced at around $1000.

Flir says that a version of this camera accessory for Android users is coming next year. A version of the accessory for iPhone 6 models can also be produced quickly according to the company.

You can check out an interactive simulation of the Flir One in action here.

[via WSJ]