Flir Systems Sponsors Infrared Symposium

Thermal imaging specialist Flir Systems sponsored the Infrared Symposium, an event to commemorate the centenary of the first published infrared photograph by Prof Robert Williams Wood. In October 1910, Wood made a presentation to the Royal Photographic Society entitled 'Photography by Invisible Rays'. The Infrared Symposium brought together leading experts in the fields of thermal imaging and thermography.

The first infrared scanning camera was introduced by Agema in 1965, a company that subsequently became Flir Systems. The state-of-the-art 1960s Thermovision thermal imaging camera weighed 60kg, not including the 220VAC generator that powered the unit. A 10-litre jar of liquid nitrogen was also required to cool the linear array detector. Data storage amounted to capturing the video display in a Polaroid image. In the 1980s, infrared focal plane array cameras were developed.

They remained cooled devices but had slimmed down to 10kg or less and offered a typical resolution of 10,000 pixels. However, these high-end products remained the sole preserve of the professional thermographer with a big budget as they were priced in the region of GBP32,000. Today, the technology has been thoroughly commercialised and Flir Systems continues to play a significant role in driving down costs and making infrared accessible to a wider industrial community. Infrared inspection to spot electrical and mechanical faults, building problems and energy loss is now standard practice, and the entry-level price makes the technology easily affordable.

The Flir i7 uncooled point-and-shoot IR camera, for example, produces 14,000 pixels, weighs around 340g, including the battery, and costs GBP1,330. There is now an extensive choice of Flir infrared cameras to service a range of qualitative and quantitative applications. Models feature comprehensive, built-in measurement tools and data storage as well as application-specific analysis and reporting software. At the top end of the scale, sophisticated imagers with cooled detectors are also available, typically for use in high-performance, high-speed monitoring in the fields of research and development, science and automation.

Thermal imaging and thermography continue to demonstrate huge potential. New applications are found daily for this highly flexible technology. Indeed, the closing summary from the first medical thermography conference held in New York in 1963 remains as valid today as was 47 years ago - 'All that has been revealed is nothing by comparison with what has yet to be discovered'. For infrared there is no doubt that the best is yet to come.

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