Flir has primarily been delegated to expensive cameras
carried on board conventional aircraft for military, police, fire and every
public safety application.
Recently the popular drone maker DJI and Flir teamed up to
offer these now affordable lifesaving cameras.
They can now operate from the popular DJI Inspire1 and Matrice 100 drone
platforms. That means anyone with these
drones can save or at least protect lives.
Flir is simply an optical device that captures imagery of
heat signatures or thermal patterns. At
98.6 degrees Fahrenheit our bodies are normally warmer than the ambient air
temperature. At night the outside air is
almost always colder than the bodies of humans or warm-blooded animals.
A human walking in total darkness in a desert or wooded are
stands out as a bright shadow and easily spotted from either the ground or
air. In many ways the FLIR is superior
to conventional night vision devices and is essential when looking for lost
people, trespassing criminals, lost pets and other such suspects.
You can also spot recently parked motor vehicles by their
heat signatures too.
For firefighting efforts hotspots can easily be pinpointed
directing the efforts to extinguish fires faster and more safely. More importantly firemen can know in advance
if and when they need to evacuate rooftops avoiding potential agonizing deaths
or injuries.
This is truly a game and public perception changer on the
value of the popular camera drones. At
a minimum people will be locating lost pets, children or wild animals roaming
in their surroundings. Until now you’d
have to wait for first responders to evaluate the need, and then for them to
travel to the search areas.
In our world we have earthquakes, floods, tornados and
wildfires. Drones can operate safely in tighter areas where helicopters cannot
enter. Civilian FLIR equipped drones
particularly in remote areas can be worth more than gold.
At the 2015 International Drone Expo I interviewed FLIR VUE
specialist David Lee about the new camera.
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