The existing availability of LWIR cameras is heavily tilted towards low-resolution industrial applications and also high-resolution, robust and very sophisticated military versions subject to restrictions such as ITAR (The International Traffic in Arms Regulations - a set of United States Government regulations on the export and import of defense-related articles and services) or the Wassenaar Arrangement, of which Mexico, where the cameras are made, is a signatory but that does not currently cover this product. At the moment, no other supplier offers a 3D LWIR camera other than Ardita!
Many of the LWIR cameras on offer are from Defense suppliers of very sophisticated equipment, and therefore they do not have any interest in offering reasonably-priced versions of their wares for industrial applications. Our customized instrumentation group has identified a niche for a reasonably-priced 3D LWIR camera with digitally enhanced depth of field capability and super-resolution, made with standard Non-ITAR components and our image fusion and image processing software, which has been refined in multiple colorimetry, spectroscopy, microscopy and velocimetry applications for customers such as Alstom Power Plc., BAE Systems, Technicolor, and Hitachi Global Storage. Often, low-light conditions require the use of a large aperture resulting in very limited depth-of-field, an effect that can be compensated for by taking a sequence of images at a range of focal distances and then combine them in order to obtain a single large depth-of-field image.
Our LWIR camera includes a 640x480 pixels sensor with a sampling rate of 50 frames/second, a motorized 15-100mm lens provided by Ophyr Optronics (which can be changed for other Non-ITAR products if required by the customer – please visit http://www.ophiropt.com/infrared-optics/catalog-infrared-lenses) able to record images in the 8-12 µm range, i.e. long-wave infra-red, all controlled by an advanced Linux-based embedded system that communicates with the software interface module through WiFi. The super resolution and enhanced depth-of-field modules can either be run on-board in near real-time or in the computer in a post-processing stage. The 3D reconstruction from LWIR video/images is performed off-line and it is capable of a sub-pixel resolution of 0.1 pixels, thanks to its iterative differential method.
Our camera allows the user to detect a person at almost 3.0 Kilometres and temperature differences of 0.1 degrees Celsius. Applications envisaged for this device include thermography, security, petro-chemical processes.
Features
- Compatible with our Raphael ground control station
- Non-ITAR, no US export license required.
- High-resolution sensor at 50Hz.
- Motorized 15-100mm lens
- LWIR range allows applications for night-vision or thermography.
- Spatial resolution in SUPER mode 1550x1100 pixels.
- Sub-pixel resolution of the 3D reconstruction.
- Acccess to the cloud-based R-3D-2.com high-capacity site, which is continually updated and improved.
Technical specifications
- Resolution: 640x480 pixels LOW RES, 1550x1100 pixels SUPER mode at 9 HZ.
- Existing lens options: Ophyr Optronics 15-100mm lens
- Non-uniformity correction: 5-parameter characterization and tion correction algorithm
- Frames per second: 50 frames per second
- Operating waveband: LWIR, 8-12 µm
- Minimum channel width: 4nm
- Weight: < 2 kg (camera)
- Dimensions: 36x36x42 (LxWxH) cm
- Camera Power supply: 12.0VDC
- Power consumption: <35 watts operating
- User control: USB 2.0/IEEE 1394 & WiFi
- Operating temperature: -10oC to +50 oC
Availability
Orders can be taken as from now for delivery in early 2016, subject only to the rules and regulations of the Wassenaar Arrangement. This is a Non-ITAR camera not subject to export controls by the U.S. government. Current lens is a motorized Ophyr 15-100mm lens but customers can request other models as required.