Seek thermal camera & tire temps

[chrisw52]

so I have been playing around with a new thermal camera for my iPhone from Seek Thermal.

This is a small camera device that attaches to the lighting port on my iPhone, and it costs about $300. The resolution isn't that great, but you can take movies and snap shots along with recording temps.

This past weekend I got my first chance to use the camera for what I bought it for, recording tire temps after each run in an autocross. The results are pretty cool, and it definitely gives more insight into the cars performance on course after a run.


http://www.conedogers.com/2015/02/17...ke-tire-temps/

testing the camera, warming up the car


taking some tire temps


Overall the device is nice to use.

[BeerBudgetRacing]

Looks cool...

[BeerBudgetRacing]

F1 uses Flir:

http://www.flir.com/thermography/ame...view/?id=58154


$499 gets you a FLIR solution.. Don't know if it's more accurate..
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/fl...eter-tg165.htm

Or $250 for a phone add-on....
http://flir.com/flirone/buy-us.cfm

This one looks interesting:
http://www.flir.com/instruments/content/?id=66732

[chrisw52]

I looked at the Flir first, but I have an IPhone 6, so the case doesn't fit.

[BeerBudgetRacing]

I looked at the Flir first, but I have an IPhone 6, so the case doesn't fit.

I'm interested in the C2 unit. I don't like one toy dependent on another....

[chrisw52]

I can't say anything about the C2 unit, but the price point on this was low enough to experiment. I don't mind the external device to the iPhone. This will, in the future, allow me to write my own software (I am an iPhone developer), so this purchase is more research to find out the capabilities of the technology.

The Flir devices are more mature, and have a slightly better technology, but it's also expensive.

I also found a lighting extension cable, so for my next trick, I am going to try and connect the extension cable to the IR camera. This should allow me to mount the camera externally and monitor tire temps while driving. That said, I have to be careful about vibration. This IR camera makes a clicking noise when active, so I suspect there are some vibration sensitive hardware that I need to protect.

[BeerBudgetRacing]

Clever!

Post your results....
The phone and device are certainly cheaper than one of those sensor strips....

http://www.autosportlabs.com/product...e-temp-sensor/

[romoman]

The Texsys strip sensors are very cool and CAN based, so they pump a ton of data into your data system. You can do similar and cheaper with 3 of their analog sensors.

In my experience with IR tire temps, a connection to the data system in critical. While seeing the color can be helpful, when you have hard numbers in the data you're able to look at things like tire temps across the tire for camber and pressure evaluation and you're able to build graphs to see at what temp the tire works best.

[BeerBudgetRacing]

So my buddy that works for Flir dropped by yesterday. Gave me an opportunity to ask about the new products. He's one of the chips/sensors designers - he doesn't really deal with the end "products"...

So. Seek is a new startup by Bill Parrish. Bill has been involved with infrared for eons.
He was an engineer @ Raytheon here, left and started Amber Engineering. Years later he sold Amber to Raytheon, waited his non-compete period and started Indigo Systems.
Built that up and sold it to Flir. All this here in lovely Goleta.

Seek is now re-packaging (consumer packaging) Raytheon products.

My buddy worked at all these except Seek. Because Seek is not doing the chip design there's no place for him.

Flir & Raytheon have been tied up for years with government contracts. Its only been the last few years consumer products have been allowed.

The guy @ Flir that does the racing stuff is local here. Going to bend his ear about the amateur market.... After all, we've all paid for it...

[Revs2-12k]

I represent FLIR in NC, SC & VA and they have recently changed the way they go to market.

Our Manufacturers Rep Agency has been very successful selling FLIR via traditional Electrical Distributors. We sell the FLIR products in the Electrical & Mechanical and Test & Measurement categories. Link-
--> http://www.flir.com/instruments/elec...tent/?id=66136

IMO, for the average consumer, the TG165 is a game changer @ $ 499.99ea --> http://www.flir.com/instruments/content/?id=64755

Here are a couple of IR Photo's taken by a FLIR E-6 of my Stohr F1000. Notice the HOT SPOT Detection (Red Cross-hairs)

[chrisw52]

I represent FLIR in NC, SC & VA and they have recently changed the way they go to market.

Our Manufacturers Rep Agency has been very successful selling FLIR via traditional Electrical Distributors. We sell the FLIR products in the Electrical & Mechanical and Test & Measurement categories. Link-
--> http://www.flir.com/instruments/elec...tent/?id=66136

IMO, for the average consumer, the TG165 is a game changer @ $ 499.99ea --> http://www.flir.com/instruments/content/?id=64755

Here are a couple of IR Photo's taken by a FLIR E-6 of my Stohr F1000. Notice the HOT SPOT Detection (Red Cross-hairs)

I would love to represent them out here in ca.. It would be nice to be able to compare these devices side by side.