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The ThermoVision A10 is a rugged and very compact low-cost infrared imager. It is designed for those applications that require excellent thermal image quality, compact size and low weight but where exact temperature measurements are not needed. This unique, robust little camera is perfect for stand-alone imaging applications, or as an OEM core where space, weight and/or power are constraints and performance is critical. It is ideal for industrial process monitoring, fire detection/prevention, robotics, machine vision, and security and surveillance applications.
Infrared or IR radiation is electromagnetic radiation of wavelength that is longer than visible light, yet shorter than microwave radiation. Infrared light was discovered by the famous English astronomer William Herschel in early 1800s, and the potential to use this in photography and imaging has been on enthusiasts’ minds ever since. The history of infrared camera hence dates back to approximately the same time as the discovery of thermography. Infrared cameras using ‘thermography’ technology is the term used to refer to equipment or methods employed to detect infrared energy emitted from an object and convert it into temperature. An image showing clearly demarcated areas of temperature variation or distribution is the end result of thermography. Infrared cameras therefore employ a type of photography that measures temperature differences in the infrared range and this technology found its very first use in the field of medicine.
Since then, infrared cameras have evolved and today, the first time ever in the history of infrared cameras, very compact versions of these are available (mini infrared camera). Images from infrared cameras normally produce monochromatic pictures since these gadgets are usually designed with only a single type of sensor which responds to a single wavelength range of infrared radiation. This limitation is owing to the fact that color cameras require a more complex construction to differentiate wavelength.
At times, these monochromatic images are displayed in what is known as ‘false-color’, wherein changes in color are used rather than differences in intensity to display alterations in the signal. This often proves to be useful since the ability to see fine intensity differences in bright areas is fairly limited in humans, though we have a much greater dynamic range in terms of intensity detection when it comes to color. Thermographic or infrared cameras can be broadly classified into two types namely, those with non-cooled infrared image detectors and those with cooled infrared image detectors.