Thermal Images on F1 Quali Coverage

[Kiltie]

Good evening photography people. I hope you are having a nice weekend.

Watching the F1 qualification coverage this season (can't remember if Sky or BBC) they show some thermal image video of the front tyres on some cars.

I wondered if anyone knew about the kit that was being used.

I'm particularly interested to find out if the price range is accessible for an ordinary chap.

I also wonder if there might be some clever workaround / bodge using conventional equipment (GoPro and the like).

The application I have in mind is hillclimb / sprint events where the effect of tyre temperature is a very interesting and controversial topic.

I had a wee google but don't really know what I'm looking for. I'd hence be grateful if anyone could give me any pointers.

Cheers,

Eric

[Otispunkmeyer]

You will probably need a specialised camera. Though it is possible with standard sensors as they can detect near infra red but that gives you some pretty high detectable temps as a minimum. (as in the minimum you might be able to see could be around 300 deg)

Have you had a look on fleabay for old FLIR kit or something?

Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Sunday 6th October 22:09

[Otispunkmeyer]

URL:http://blog.arduino.cc/2012/10/25/diy-less-expensive-thermal-imaging-camera/

[flat-planedCrank]

Kiltie said:

Good evening photography people. I hope you are having a nice weekend.

Watching the F1 qualification coverage this season (can't remember if Sky or BBC) they show some thermal image video of the front tyres on some cars.

I wondered if anyone knew about the kit that was being used.

I'm particularly interested to find out if the price range is accessible for an ordinary chap.

I also wonder if there might be some clever workaround / bodge using conventional equipment (GoPro and the like).

The application I have in mind is hillclimb / sprint events where the effect of tyre temperature is a very interesting and controversial topic.

I had a wee google but don't really know what I'm looking for. I'd hence be grateful if anyone could give me any pointers.

Cheers,

Eric

Guess it depends how much £ is 'reasonable'

You can buy 'non contact' thermometers for not much money (on amazon, maplin, etc). Range from hardly anything to, say, £100 for something rugged with a few functions.


The only 'imager' I've seen around is the Dewalt DCT416S1: http://www.dewalt.co.uk/powertools/productdetails/...

"Non-contact temperature measurement over a range of -10°C to 250°C"



There is a youtube promotional video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVgf6mgb5OA
& a review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLRHzFULn8s

The bad news? Well, it's £870.92: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dewalt-Compact-Imaging-The...



I'd love one, but not 870-pounds-worth


May be a more commercial approach than you were thinking, 'fraid I don't know about any DIY approaches

Edited by flat-planedCrank on Saturday 5th October 22:30

[Otispunkmeyer]

Did find an example on the web that combined a non-contact thermometer as above which then had its value read by an Arduino board+program that then spat out instructions to an RGB LED array which would then change colour depending on the temperature read. You can then image the area by sweeping the thermometer across the object and at the same time, the LEDs paint the right colour over the area. You then photograph this on long exposure (so I guess you have to do it in the dark). I can't imagine the resolution being that great due to how point light sources spread out, but its a neat bit of engineering.

[Top Banana]

sorry to be bearer of bad news, but decent quality true thermal imaging video aint cheap - how do I know, because I sell thermal imaging cameras to industrial and R&D clients.

true thermal imaging cameras use a fairly specialised detector to pick up mid-range IR, our starter range cameras have 160x120 balometer (detector) so you get 19,200 pixel image resolution. this sells for around £2k. as well as the special detector array, you also need some clever electronics and software to convert the data based around the IR emissivity of the product being looked at.

our high-end camera comes in with 1280 x 960 detector which gives a superb image quality including full radiometric video output (radiometric means we can give temperature readings for each individual pixel, as well as give temperature info via various palette colours) - this sort of kit will set you back approx £12K

the neat trick on the F1 cameras is to get them small enough to fit easily on the cars - our cameras have been used in pits and engine test cell applications, but were to large to fit on a car

if you want any more info then PM me

regards - Tb

[Defcon5]

We have a few at work, I think they were about £5000

[flat-planedCrank]

Makes that £870 Dewalt look like a bargain

[Otispunkmeyer]

Top Banana said:

sorry to be bearer of bad news, but decent quality true thermal imaging video aint cheap - how do I know, because I sell thermal imaging cameras to industrial and R&D clients.

true thermal imaging cameras use a fairly specialised detector to pick up mid-range IR, our starter range cameras have 160x120 balometer (detector) so you get 19,200 pixel image resolution. this sells for around £2k. as well as the special detector array, you also need some clever electronics and software to convert the data based around the IR emissivity of the product being looked at.

our high-end camera comes in with 1280 x 960 detector which gives a superb image quality including full radiometric video output (radiometric means we can give temperature readings for each individual pixel, as well as give temperature info via various palette colours) - this sort of kit will set you back approx £12K

the neat trick on the F1 cameras is to get them small enough to fit easily on the cars - our cameras have been used in pits and engine test cell applications, but were to large to fit on a car

if you want any more info then PM me

regards - Tb

So do you know what they use then? pretty interested to know! (gonna google it as well now). Do you know if its a TV/FoM thing or if its something owned by the teams?

[Top Banana]

Otispunkmeyer said:

So do you know what they use then? pretty interested to know! (gonna google it as well now). Do you know if its a TV/FoM thing or if its something owned by the teams?

fairly sure it's been done through FoM, but technology may have come via individual teams using it in past

could have been supplied by our competition (FLIR) as they have great range of minature cameras, or possibly OPTRIS

regards - T.b.

[Zad]

For anyone interested, one of the YouTubers that I subscribe to has just produced a video looking at a low end thermal camera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3YksbvYnKY

In the past he has torn down an ex- fire brigade head mounted thermal camera which he bought off Ebay, so they are definitely available.

[spitfire4v8]

Not an imaging camera but a way of monitoring temps in real time if that is all you need.

http://texense.com/en/produits/racing-series_2/inf...

[Krikkit]

Top Banana said:

Otispunkmeyer said:

So do you know what they use then? pretty interested to know! (gonna google it as well now). Do you know if its a TV/FoM thing or if its something owned by the teams?

fairly sure it's been done through FoM, but technology may have come via individual teams using it in past

could have been supplied by our competition (FLIR) as they have great range of minature cameras, or possibly OPTRIS

regards - T.b.

All the onboard camera bits are currently supplied and spec'd by FoM, the teams don't use video (they rely on FoM supplying them the footage later if needed, or the live feeds), they use sensor data to maximise the amount of parameters they can get through their allotted track-side data channels (not enough bandwidth for all the telem and video together).

Seriously cool footage though, I remember Paul Hembrey discussing how tricky it was to get the temperature range colouring right.

[_rubinho_]

Top Banana said:

Otispunkmeyer said:

So do you know what they use then? pretty interested to know! (gonna google it as well now). Do you know if its a TV/FoM thing or if its something owned by the teams?

fairly sure it's been done through FoM, but technology may have come via individual teams using it in past

could have been supplied by our competition (FLIR) as they have great range of minature cameras, or possibly OPTRIS

regards - T.b.

It's done by FOM. The teams have their own systems which use motorsport hardened Optris cameras.

[NEEP]

Is this this the sort of thing you are looking for Kiltie?

[Mannginger]

[rottie102]

Mannginger said: