15/02/2013 - AZoM.com
FLIR's Advanced Thermal Camera Technology: An Interview with Emmanuel Vanneau, Product Manager for R&D Cooled Solutions at FLIR. Emmanuel Vanneau, Product Manager for R&D Cooled Solutions at FLIR talks to Kal Kaur at AZoM.com about FLIR’s Advanced Thermal Camera Technology. KK - Could you please provide a brief introduction to the industry that FLIR work within and outline the key drivers? EV - FLIR Advanced Thermal Solutions is the FLIR division providing R&D users and scientists with state-of-the-art thermal cameras. Operating in private companies or governmental laboratories, these users have the important task of developing products or processes or assessing theories. It is important to understand thermal behaviours and models in order to achieve such goals efficiently and quickly. Image resolution, thermal sensitivity, High speed and advanced synchronization capabilities are our top priority for these applications and FLIR ATS offers these users the cameras and systems that have the best performance to date. KK - What are FLIR’s most advanced sensor systems and what are the key features that keep these systems at the forefront of thermal imaging technology? EV - FLIR ATS covers the full infrared spectrum with various models. The latest addition to the product range is equipped with a high speed HD 1280x1024, with highest thermal accuracy. However, besides performance, FLIR also focuses on the ergonomics of its cameras and to provide a product that is going to deliver excellent user experience. Our cameras are developed to withstand rough handling to allow for a greater life expectancy of these products and to justify investment in our technology. KK - Can you provide a summary of FLIR’s thermal imaging cameras for science research and development? EV - FLIR develops its offering for research and science on both ends. Recently, FLIR has introduced the most compact R&D camera, the A35sc, which is aimed at supporting simple, yet important R&D tasks. The X8400sc is the latest addition to our product range and offers high-quality performance capabilities. Between both end of the product scale, there are numerous models available, covering all of the thermal range products and applications. KK - What are the key features to these cameras that make them ideal for research and development purposes? EV - As mentioned earlier, these cameras are developed by engineers and scientist for their peers. All of these engineers share the same field of focus: best temperature measurement accuracy, perfect drift compensation, real-time image acquisition, advanced triggering and synchronization, spectral filtering capabilities, and a range of high performance lenses. Moreover, we make sure that the different technologies used across the infrared industry are seamlessly integrated and compatible with the same software tools. KK - Who are the end users for these R&D cameras? EV - We define R&D as by the use of an IR camera to assess and verify behaviour with the aim to create or improve a technology, a product or a process. Therefore, our users come from various horizons. For example, our users include technicians in manufacturer R&D departments, engineers in high tech electronics companies, scientists working in biological laboratories, or experts in governmental agencies. KK - Can you think of any challenging aspects to the development of these cameras? EV - Challenges are numerous when designing such high tech cameras. One of the most notoriously complex tasks is to handle the thermal behaviour of the camera. Our cameras are designed and developed to be sensitive to heat radiation, but they are also composed of electronic parts and powerful processors that emit a large amount of heat radiation; however, we do not want these to impact the accuracy of the camera. Moreover, the environmental temperature also affects the heat radiation entering the thermal sensor. We are using our 20+ years of experience to design cameras that are perfectly taking into account the overall thermal behaviour and delivering accurate measurements in their full operating range. KK - Are you planning to incorporate any new features to these cameras and will this open up a new avenue for applications? EV - We are committed to continuous efforts to improve our products and open their use to new applications. We have several on-going developments that will open new fields of applications during the coming months. KK - What does the FLIR X8000sc and X6000sc series of thermal imaging cameras offer the end user compared to similar imaging technology currently being used? EV - These cameras are bringing thermal imaging to a new performance level whilst still maintaining ease of use compared to any other user. For instance, the touchscreen LCD embedded on our cameras allows the user to ergonomically position and adjust the camera to his/her experiment. Also, as we know that these cameras are sometime used in very harsh environment or in remote locations, we have made this screen detachable. KK - How accurate is this new series? EV - These cameras feature an accuracy of +/-1°C or +/-1% over a range from -20°C to up to 3000°C. The thermal sensitivity to the FLIR X8000sc and X6000sc series is as small as .015°C. KK - What are the connectivity options for the X8000sc and X6000sc series? EV - Versatile connectivity is very important for this type of R&D camera series. These cameras feature GigEVision, Camera link or HDMI in parallel. KK - Geographically, where is there the biggest demand for your R&D products? EV - Europe and North America have shown the traditional biggest demand. However, with the emergence of BRICS (Can you define this for me? EV: Brazil, India, China, South Africa), we now see an even split all over the world. Asian countries are especially dynamic. KK - What type of research areas are being explored with the application of your R&D products by scientists? EV - Most of this research remains confidential until its publication. Therefore, I will not disclose any of these amazing research subjects. Field of applications are wide, but we can note a growing interest in the electronics industry, especially in Microelectromechanical systems (MEMs). KK - What are the advantages to FLIR thermal imaging camera technology? EV - FLIR is the only company vertically integrated that develops thermal imaging commercial products. We have experts in every domain with engineers and infrared experts that are working together between our different development sites across the world. This enables us to embed this knowledge into our products in order to offer better camera technology. KK - On a geographical scale and from an industry perspective, where do FLIR currently supply its products? EV - FLIR ships thermal cameras worldwide, addressing manufacturing industries, research laboratories or university labs. KK - How do you see FLIR technology progressing over the next decade and what do you see as being FLIR’s biggest challenge in relation to this? EV - The biggest challenge is certainly to maintain the high level of commitment toward our users while the number of applications is growing rapidly. We intend to walk through this challenge by continuously listening to our users and the R&D community so that we can continue to deliver them the right tools they need for their tasks. About Emmanuel Vanneau Since 2008, Emmanuel Vanneau has been in charge of the product management of science grade thermal imaging cameras developed at FLIR Advanced Thermal Solutions in Paris. Emmanuel has worked in the thermal imaging market for more than 15 years. During this time, Emmanuel has served as a software engineer and then has followed this on to become a Development Manager during which he has participated in or led more than 5 generations of high performance cameras. Emmanuel has been awarded with an MBA from Paris-Sorbonne University and an Industrial Development Engineer degree from Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.
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