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

Scientists develop pair of algorithms that could enable thermal cameras to pick out drunk people

Scientists develop pair of algorithms that could enable thermal cameras to pick out drunk people

We're not sure if Georgia Koukiou and Vassilis Anastassopoulos of the University of Patras in Greece like a tipple or not, but the pair have developed two algorithms that, when used with thermal imaging, could pick out drunk people in crowds. What is it that betrays your best intentions to look sober? As always, your face. Booze causes the blood-vessels in your visage to dilate, and the researchers used this principle to compare facial scans against a database of tipple-free mug shots. Likewise the duo found that when under the influence, the nose gets warmer, while the forehead cools -- another visual check that the infrared can help identify. The hope is that using this technology, law-enforcement can make a judgement call based on more than just your wonky walk. But in our experience, the troublemakers are pretty good at outing themselves.

Filed under: ,

Scientists develop pair of algorithms that could enable thermal cameras to pick out drunk people originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 16:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Wired  |  sourceAlpha Galileo  | Email this | Comments

Modder builds $150 open-source thermal imaging camera to help insulate his house (video)

Modder builds $150 thermal imaging camera to help insulate his house video

Modder Andy Rawson thinks he's found the secret to turning smartphones into super-cheap thermal imaging hardware. Inspired by his quest to find leaks in his old home and the high cost of professional gear, he set about building his own. A 64-zone temperature sensor connects to his iPhone via the dock, overlaying the data onto his camera display. He's planning to open-source the $150 hardware, and an Android variant of the hardware is currently in the works -- although details for both are currently thin on the ground, you can see his announcement video after the break.

Continue reading Modder builds $150 open-source thermal imaging camera to help insulate his house (video)

Filed under: , ,

Modder builds $150 open-source thermal imaging camera to help insulate his house (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2012 17:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceInstructables  | Email this | Comments