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Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) cameras are pivotal tools in various applications, including surveillance, homeland security, and industrial settings. Their ability to detect thermal emissions in the wavelength range of 8 to 14 µm makes them indispensable for capturing heat signatures and discerning objects in challenging environments. LWIR cameras and cores, often referred to as thermal imagers, excel in various fields such as surveillance, homeland security, object detection, and industrial and scientific applications, leveraging their ability to capture thermal emissions. These applications benefit greatly from LWIR technology, particularly when integrated with specialized filters for enhanced imaging capabilities and precision.
At Exosens, we offer a range of LWIR cameras and cores designed for seamless integration into electro-optics systems. Our Xenics brand, a part of Exosens, stands out for its ultra-low noise and high sensitivity, ensuring exceptional image clarity even in demanding scenarios.
One of our flagship series, the Crius, embodies true SWaP optimization, making it ideal for long-range observation and surveillance tasks. The Crius , in particular, represents a breakthrough in high-resolution LWIR cores, offering compactness and lightweight without compromising performance.
For applications where size, weight, and power are critical factors, our MicroCube series presents an innovative solution. Developed with a SWaP design and standard interfaces, MicroCube cores are perfect for UAVs, UGVs, handheld devices, and other battery-powered equipment.
In addition to our core series, Exosens offers a diverse range of LWIR cameras tailored to specific needs. The Ceres series, for instance, features uncooled microbolometer detectors with various resolutions, including 640x480 and x, catering to both vision and thermography applications.
The Hyper-Cam is a passive hyperspectral camera, sensitive in the far infrared band, i.e., from 7 to 12µm. The combination of high spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution gives it unparalleled performance and has quickly established the Hyper-Cam as the benchmark in hyperspectral imaging systems. The data produced by the Hyper-Cam contains hundreds of images taken at different wavelengths, thus enabling the remote detection of various gaseous, solid, and liquid substances. Coupled with the powerful Reveal D&I software, the system can detect and identify multiple gases such as hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) simultaneously in real-time. The Hyper-Cam is also available in a specific format for aerial surveys: the Hyper-Cam Airborne
Our commitment to innovation extends to advanced features such as shutterless technology, ensuring outstanding thermal profiles and reliable performance in the field. Moreover, our cameras boast state-of-the-art interfaces, lenses, and filters, providing flexibility and ease of integration for developers and integrators alike.
With options for different models and configurations, Exosens LWIR cameras offer versatility and cost-effectiveness without compromising on quality. Whether it's for surveillance, scientific research, or process monitoring, our cameras deliver sharp, crisp images with minimal hassle.
Experience the next level of thermal imaging with Exosens LWIR cameras. Explore our range today and discover how easy it is to capture the unseen with precision and clarity.
Our LWIR cameras incorporate advanced sensor technology, allowing for precise temperature measurement and accurate detection of thermal anomalies. Whether it's monitoring equipment in industrial settings or detecting intruders in security applications, our cameras provide reliable performance across a wide range of temperatures.
Our cutting-edge LWIR camera, equipped with advanced VOx sensor technology, requires minimal setup for seamless integration into your system.
With the ability to capture HD videos in real-time, our LWIR cameras offer unparalleled clarity and detail, making them indispensable tools for surveillance and monitoring tasks. Our different model of cameras outputs data via Digital Video interface, MIPI-CSI2, UVC (USB Video Class) or standard USB3 Vision. Our cameras are compatible with a wide variety of lenses. From identifying potential threats to analyzing complex thermal patterns, our cameras deliver actionable insights with ease. Some modules are based on an uncooled microbolometer detector with a 640 x 480 pixel resolution that offers frame rates up to 60 Hz and lower detector NETD options (30 mK or <40 mK available upon request). The camera is designed for use in safety & security and transportation applications.
Despite their powerful capabilities, our LWIR cameras are designed to be compact and lightweight, ensuring portability and ease of deployment in various environments. Whether mounted on drones for aerial surveillance or handheld for mobile applications, our cameras offer flexibility without sacrificing performance.
Exosens is committed to continuous development and innovation, ensuring that our LWIR cameras stay at the forefront of thermal imaging technology. From enhancing sensor sensitivity to improving radiometric accuracy, we are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what's possible in thermal imaging.
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Experience the versatility of our LWIR cameras with wide compatibility and integration options. Whether you're looking for standard interfaces or implementing custom solutions, our cameras provide the flexibility you need for seamless integration into your application.
Unlock the full potential of infrared (IR) or thermal imaging with Exosens LWIR cameras. Whether you're conducting surveillance, monitoring industrial processes, or performing scientific research, our cameras deliver reliable performance that meets the demands of any application.
Thermal imaging of objects at or near room temperature is typically done in the 8–14 μm longwave-infrared (LWIR) spectral band, as the Planck curve for blackbody radiation for room-temperature (300 K) objects peaks in the LWIR at about 9 μm. LWIR imaging has the great advantages of being able to image objects by their own light and discriminate between objects based on their temperature; in addition, LWIR imaging works well for outdoor use due to the relatively low output power of the Sun at LWIR wavelengths.
The most widely used sensor type used in LWIR imaging, and the one most covered in this article, is the uncooled bolometer focal-plane array (FPA), which is usually (but not always) based on vanadium oxide. The list of applications for LWIR imaging is extensive, and includes many uses in surveillance and security; biology, geology, and other sciences; industrial inspection and process control; and medical and veterinary fields. This article provides a bit of background on some commercial examples of current LWIR imagers.
Leonardo DRS (Arlington, VA), which produces uncooled vanadium oxide microbolometer FPAs, camera modules, and camera systems for military and commercial markets, has developed a line of small-pixel (10 μm pitch) arrays to complement its line of 17-μm-pitch arrays, as described by Doug Ransom, VP of Leonardo DRS’ Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems business. Its 1-μm-pitch arrays, including the U (640 × 512) and the U ( × ) FPAs, are the sensors for the company’s Tenum 640 and Tenum camera modules as well as for cameras used in several U.S. military programs. DRS’s 17-μm-pitch arrays, including the U (320 × 240), U (640 × 480), and U ( × 768) FPAs, are the sensors in the company’s Tamarisk family of camera modules as well as various other DRS system-level products.
“The most recent DRS advances in pixel design and process improvements allow reductions in pixel size while still achieving desired performance levels,” says Ransom. “This performance is crucial when reducing pixel size because reductions in size typically sacrifice sensitivity. DRS employs a patented umbrella pixel design that separates the radiation-absorbing and transducing elements of the bolometer. This separation allows for a maximum focal-plane fill factor, and the unique umbrella structure design reduces the mass and thermal time constant of the bolometer.”
DRS will begin volume production of the Tenum 640 thermal imaging module in the fourth quarter of ; Ransom notes that the module is the first uncooled (640 × 512) 10-μm-pitch thermal camera module on the market available for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
To simplify integration for OEMs, the module is I/O-compatible with the Tamarisk products, using the same connector and feature board. In addition, the communication protocol is the same, so OEM customers can plug a Tenum 640 into their current products and begin imaging and controlling the camera without extensive engineering changes.
Since , DRS uncooled camera modules have been used in handheld firefighting cameras, says Ransom. “Uncooled LWIR cameras give firefighters the ability to see clearly through smoke, locate and rescue victims, and identify dangerous hot spots,” he explains. “With the radiometric (temperature measurement) capability of the DRS LWIR camera module, a firefighter can determine the temperature of a ceiling or door before encountering a dangerous building collapse or entering a dangerous room.” The firefighter’s task is made easier by DRS’s Image Contrast Enhancement (ICE) algorithm (see Fig. 1).
Jenoptik (Jena, Germany), which includes Jenoptik Optical Systems (Jupiter, FL), has multiple product lines of thermal imagers; its current products include the IR-TCM camera, VarioCAM handheld camera, and Blackbird Precision portable monitoring kit, which have all been designed and are calibrated to visualize heat and detect temperature anomalies in either mobile or stationary applications. In addition, Jenoptik is introducing a new line of compact uncooled thermal camera modules called EVIDIR in .
The company’s thermographic camera product line is based on VGA and XGA 17 μm amorphous silicon (A-Si) microbolometer technology, whereas the new EVIDIR products are built around VGA and QVGA 12 μm A-Si microbolometers. All of Jenoptik’s thermal cameras offer a variety of standard configuration options such as camera format, frame rate, communication interface, and lens options. “The cameras are fully functional as stand-alone devices, but IR-TCM, Blackbird, and EVIDIR have been designed to facilitate integration into OEM applications,” says G. Scott Libonate, North American director, Advanced Systems, at Jenoptik Optical Systems. “All of the OEM cameras and, in particular, the EVIDIR offer a ‘toolbox’ approach of available configuration options to facilitate OEM customization: options such as lenses, shutter, imager format, frame rate, and communication interface are modular, allowing customers to mix and match to best suit their applications.”
Libonate notes that all of Jenoptik’s thermal cameras have a high sensitivity with a temperature resolution (NETD) less than 40 mK, which allows them to distinguish relative temperature differences of a tenth of a degree or less (see Fig. 2). He adds that thermographic cameras like the Blackbird can remotely measure temperatures with an absolute accuracy of better than 2°C over a -40°–600°C temperature range (with high-temp calibration options up to °C available).As described by Jens Vogt, head of international sales at InfraTec, the VarioCAM HD head 900 camera has a microbolometer detector with XGA ( × 768) pixel resolution, is fully radiometric over a range of -40 to °C, and has a thermal sensitivity that reaches 20 mK. “A wide range of applications benefits from those specifications,” says Vogt. “One of these is additive manufacturing, where process parameters need to be precisely set based on respective temperature measurements. Here, the camera’s subwindow ranges allow imaging at higher process speeds of up to 240 Hz.”
For higher speeds, Vogt notes that InfraTec advises the use of its ImageIR MCT-based cameras (for example, the ImageIR , with a spectral range of 7.7 to 10.2 μm, has a frame rate of up to 14,593 Hz). “As all of InfraTec’s cameras come with a wide range of lenses and specific protective windows, additive-manufacturing processes of different scales can be equipped to optimize for the very high demands in spatial resolution,” Vogt adds.
As part of its infrared imaging portfolio, Teledyne DALSA (Waterloo, ON, Canada) produces powerful, versatile solutions from SWIR to uncooled LWIR for industrial, security, and defense applications. LWIR imagers produced by Teledyne DALSA include its Calibir GXM LWIR cameras containing uncooled IR microbolometer sensors with radiometric operations, the Calibir DXM640 LWIR camera with an uncooled IR VGA camera core, and LWIR wafer-level-packaged vanadium oxide microbolometers.
The Calibir GXM cameras have high sensitivity in the 8–12 µm spectral range and factory-calibrated radiometric performance, according to Jean Brunelle, product manager for the Calibir series. The cameras also feature both shutter and shutterless operation and rapid image output on power-up while delivering uniform response over their whole operating temperature range, all of which benefit uninterrupted image acquisition; a 21-bit ADC design maintains a high dynamic range without the need for gain reduction, leading to the best possible NETD over a temperature range of more than 600°C.
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“Calibir delivers accurate, repeatable results for critical applications like detecting elevated skin temperature in fever screening (see Fig. 5),” says Brunelle. “In addition to fever screening, the Calibir GXM series benefits many other industrial monitoring applications requiring radiometric measurement, such as welding, sintering, baking, smelting, and firefighting.”