This is the FLIR Vue Pro. And it's a thermal camera designed for small UAVs. While the cool factor is off-the-charts, the FLIR Vue Pro has a lot of professional uses such as for precision agriculture. Because when you combine a thermal camera and make it airborne, it brings new capabilities to all kinds of applications, including for data recorder that adds tremendous value to your drone operations and services. The price is at $2,199.00.
This complete and affordable package weights 190 gram including all the parts (camera mount, transmitter, converters, accessory and bench cables, FLIR thermal camera including microSD card). Due the low payload, there is a minimal reduction in flight time.
FLIR Vue Pro gives you in-flight control of two camera functions through direct PWM controls, and it's MAVLink integration compatibility makes it ready for the easy image geo-tagging required for mapping, survey, and precision agriculture applications. Plus, it's compatible with Pix4Dmapper right out of the box. The Accessory Port lets you control camera functions in flight by integrating with your drone’s control system.
FLIR Vue Pro is perfect for search-and-rescue as a person's heat signature will light up like a flashlight and brush in rugged terrain. This can be used for agriculture. It can also be used to instantly inspect powerlines safely as the alternative is to have a utility worker contact powerlines that push a 100,000 volts. And it can also be used to inspect cell towers without having to send someone up 200 feet high. Because it uses thermal, you can see it in completely pitch black conditions enabling you to fly at night. It's small and portable so it won't throw off your UAV center of gravity by much or sacrifice flight times.
The FLIR Vue Pro comes with a GoPro mount making it surprisingly simple to mount wherever you have free space on your UAV. Or you can deeply integrate the clear view pro with your UAV by installing it on a gimbal mount and installing a transmitter so you can see a live feed. Many local hobby shops can integrate such a setup. If you don't feel like taking on the project yourself. It doesn't have an internal battery. But it can be fed power with a portable charger through its mini USB connector similar to what the GoPro uses. Or with power from the UAV through its 7 pin in-camera port. Just make sure the power doesn't exceed 6 volts. It contains a standard micro USB card slot on the side. The app connects the Clearview pro via bluetooth and its settings are optimized for airborne operations.
You can select from multiple color palettes, orient or invert the image, control camera settings, select scene presets and much more. There are different lens options available depending on the type of field of view you want.
The FLIR Vue Pro has a thermal sensor resolution of 640 by 512 pixels and records at 30 frames per second for smooth video. While the FLIR Vue Pro is targeted for professional applications. Flying around the thermal camera equipped UAV does make you feel pretty awesome.
Using the camera with the thermal vision, you can clearly see where you’re going at night and detect any obstacles. With the FLIR Vue Pro, Just being able to see in the dark, and from above increases the already high fun factor of flying a UAV even more.
Compatibility:
You can use this item on many different occasions on many different platforms from drones to stationary, including DJI drone and Yuneec. Mount for the FLIR Vue (Pro R), to be attached to:
- DJI Phantom 3 (all versions)
- DJI Phantom 4 (all versions)
- DJI Inspire 1 (all versions)
- DJI Inspire 2
- DJI Matrice 100
- DJI Matrice 200/210
- DJI Matrice 600
- Yuneec Q500 (can be swapped with Yuneec RGB)
- Yuneec H520 (contact DRONExpert for more info)
When it comes to using thermal cameras in uncontrolled environments (outdoors, moving, dynamic scenery), it is important to have a good understanding of how the hardware works, how it delivers data, and most importantly having realistic expectations of what is possible. See also: Most Common Mistakes in Farm Mapping with Drones
If you are capturing images outside, ambient temperature, the position of the sun, and the emissivity of the various surfaces in the field of view will affect the quality of the image's contrast. So if you are trying to search for wildlife on the ground, in the middle of the day, chances are the camera will not show much contrast between a mammal, and the ground, unless the animal is wet perhaps.