Real-Time Infra Red

[Lady Campanula]

Or, as the Yanks would have it, 'FLIR' ( which is, in some undefined way, different from SLIR and RLIR )...

Raymarine are now a much-relieved subsidiary of a US parent, the 'FLIR Corp' and were very keen to showcase their new IR Camera systems at the Show.

They're kinda interesting to me, 'cos I did rather a lot of early operational R&D on the forerunners of this kit - "Ew, you thar! Take those grubby little metal boxes in the corner and that rather large tin of liquid nitrogen away, if you would, and go play with it 'over the water' somewhere. Do twy to find a use for it somehow, there's a good chappie! And do let me know how you get on....."

I can see some uses for this kit in marine regulation and management - UKBC, HMRC, Police, perving and keeping Tim Bartlett in scribing commission(s) - but I am struggling a bit to identify a real-world use for the stuff on a normal boat. Apart from keeping an eye on the young hotheads.....

Perhaps it's the difficulty I have equating 'relative emissivity' to 'heat'.

 

[agurney]

- but I am struggling a bit to identify a real-world use for the stuff on a normal boat. Apart from keeping an eye on the young hotheads.....

Perhaps it's the difficulty I have equating 'relative emissivity' to 'heat'.

How about seeing in poor visibility, such as fog or heavy rain?

Alisdair

 

[sarabande]

already in the real world of oil security.

http://www.asmag.com/showpost/8151.aspx

(but don't tell anyone I told you...)


The US Navy has recently (Aug 2010) awarded a $27 million contract to Flir Systems Inc. for work on tracking equipment used on warships, for short-range ground mobility visual augmentation systems. The systems are intended to be installed []for short-range surveillance, identification, detection and limited tracking capabilities in any weather or lighting condition.

Star SAFIRE electro-optical sensor systems contain range tracking and laser detection system as well as forward-looking infrared sensor. The systems [] can be mounted on ships to offer IR and visible band imaging abilities. The sensor systems also provide range finding capability to enhance the present radar and optical sensors for identifying and detecting terrorist attacks. The electro-optical sensor system is used by the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Royal Danish Navy and other naval forces for fire control and surveillance applications.

The Shipboard Protection System improves the anti-terrorism/force protection abilities of naval surface vessels by offering versatile engagement zones and 360-degree situational awareness.

Unfortunately the official pics of the UKBA cutters have been removed from their site, so the National Archives is the only site where... ah, sorry....

So you will have to make do with a pic of FLIR multiple system mounted on a fixed-wing aircraft. Perhaps just a little different ?

 

[mainmarine]

You could use it to monitor the engine room, see any hot spots on the engines, prop shaft, check for cold loss around the fridge etc

 

[Chrissie]

They are the latest in hi spec surveying, not only for examining the electrics, picking up poor conections etc, but also show stresses and wear in the engines, shafts and blistering and voids in grp, unfortunately I didnt get to that section of the show and I now want to go back,

 

[sarabande]

Chrissie - something here

http://www.engineeringtalk.com/news/fli/fli160.html

and here, where FLIR kit is being used by a consultancy

http://www.thermaltec.co.uk/equipment.html



and in my own industry, it's being used to ensure that bulls are ready to work properly

flir.com/uploadedFiles/Thermography/Industries/...



Quite a hot potato, is this IR stuff....

 

[ChrisE]

They are the latest in hi spec surveying, not only for examining the electrics, picking up poor conections etc, but also show stresses and wear in the engines, shafts and blistering and voids in grp, unfortunately I didnt get to that section of the show and I now want to go back,

Thet also get used in the building trade to work out where heat is being lost from buildings. I had a play with one a year or so back and with it you could a cold 'chimney' running behind a wall all the way through floors, voids and wall joints.

What the heck you'd use them for on a boat other than surveying I couldn't guess.

 

[DJE]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that some of the fast ferries are using them as night vision aids.

 

[Chrissie]

they are also used to detect stowaways, and bodies in the water, they will also show up boats in the fog.

 

[xxyyzz]

Could it be used to identify the coldest beer in the fridge?

 

[Chrissie]

Oh yes

 

[westernman]

It would be useful for finding a MOB in the fog or at night.

It won't be any good for finding bodies once they have had time to cool down.

 

[SailBobSquarePants]

Or, as the Yanks would have it, 'FLIR' ( which is, in some undefined way, different from SLIR and RLIR )...

Despite the obvious technical differences, as someone who has spent too much time around marketers and "brand builders", I can tell you that the forward looking version will be perceived as aggressive, active, deterministic...whereas the side looking is passive, non-core, superfluous, and the rear-looking is defeatist, regressive, and frankly wimpy.

The buyer wants to be defined as the one doing the movement and the actions, and therefore what is AHEAD of him is what is really important...um, to a marketeer at least. As the film Italian race car driver said while ripping out his rear-view mirror - "What is behind me, is not important!" (Cannonball Run, 1976).

And of course, what company does not want to be "forward looking?".

So, yes, FORWARD Looking InfrRed would therefore have to be the name of the company...even if they sell units that DO look elsewhere!

 

[Mark-1]

I am struggling a bit to identify a real-world use for the stuff on a normal boat.

Watching out for lobster pots and other obstructions in the water ahead at night, and the ultimate MOB locating tool? Rich poser mobo owners may want to install them to show them off to other rich poser mobo owners?

That's all I can come up with.

 

[Leighb]

It would be useful for finding a MOB in the fog or at night.

It won't be any good for finding bodies once they have had time to cool down.

At the risk of being gruesome, they may warm up again due to the decay process after a few days.

Without a LJ bodies sink at first then after about 3 days they resurface, unless they have become trapped under water.

 

[mjcp]

In combination with a GPS and chart plotter type display in the cockpit, a passive IR system on the mast head would allow a nice little EVS (Enhanced Vision System) setup not unlike those appearing on business jets: Gulfstream EVS

Night + Fog + TSS = pain.

Night + Fog + TSS + EVS = much less pain... QED

mjcp

 

[Major Catastrophe]

They're kinda interesting to me, 'cos I did rather a lot of early operational R&D on the forerunners of this kit - "Ew, you thar! Take those grubby little metal boxes in the corner and that rather large tin of liquid nitrogen away, if you would, and go play with it 'over the water' somewhere. Do twy to find a use for it somehow, there's a good chappie! And do let me know how you get on....."

We got the nitrogen bottles for the MILAN anti tank missile system.

The lads set it up and then scanned the 'battlefield' (Farmland around a neat German village) for the enemy, and by the time they showed up, the nitrogen was all used up.

I believe it is all a bit more user-friendly now.

But for marine use? All academic until the price comes down, except for a few wealthier gadget freaks.

 

[xxyyzz]

Without a LJ bodies sink at first then after about 3 days they resurface, unless they have become trapped under water.

...or eaten.

 

[Lady Campanula]

We got the nitrogen bottles for the MILAN anti tank missile system.

The lads set it up and then scanned the 'battlefield' (Farmland around a neat German village) for the enemy, and by the time they showed up, the nitrogen was all used up.

I believe it is all a bit more user-friendly now.

I should blurry hope so! Just you try refiling the tiny Liquid Nitrogen coolant reservoir from a great ungainly 6 litre 'Dewar' flask, via a plastic filler funnel, into a 10mm hole in the top at eye level, wearing armoured firemens' gauntlets, with the chopper bouncing about in a winter snowstorm, in the dark somewhere over 'Bandit Country', with a wee NATO green torch between your teeth....

....and not a trained subaltern in sight! You had it soft!

The first FLIR this side of the Atlantic, in about 1975 ( actually, as one can see, it's that weebly 'Sideways and Down Looking Out Of The Sliding Door Infra Red Temporary LashUp' system, but that a s##t acronym! ). True to type, we could always spot a late night 'pub lock-in' from, oh, afar, and tell the difference between the lad bringing the tray of fish and chips, and his sister....then send in the SPG to snaffle the scoff.

Talk about swinging the lantern!