Over the past few years, there has been extensive use of thermal camera in almost every industry. Homes, offices, field operations, and in the woods are some of the places you can find these thermal cameras.
The reason for those is that this piece of sophisticated technology allows users to enjoy certain benefits, especially when combined with robots or drones. Below are some of the ways a thermal camera can help your robot or drone.
Provision of a Wide Field of View
Nowadays, a lot of homes are using robots to assist in doing house chores. With the invention of home robots, you no longer have to lift a single finger. Robots can now do laundry, wash the dishes, mop the floor, and do many other things. An excellent example of such robots is the Pepper robot.
Pepper is an artificial intelligence robot with amazing features and the ability to detect feelings and emotions. Some of the features of Pepper are;
- Four microphones.
- Sensors behind the eyes.
- There is a touchscreen tablet on Pepper’s chest to enable you input commands easily.
- The hands and legs also come with gyro sensors, sonar sensors, laser sensors, and bumper sensors.
It is incredible what Pepper can do through its amazing features, including the HD cameras in the eyes. But these cameras are nothing compared to what thermal cameras can do for Pepper. With thermal cameras like the FLIR TG165 camera, robots can have a wide field of view. This comes in handy when Peeper is perhaps looking for an item in a large room. A broad area of view allows the robot to see a wider angle and thereby locate the item within seconds.
Easy Location of fires and people who need help
Thermal imaging using drones is vital as it can help in quickly locating fires utilizing the drone’s aerial photography. When in a burning zone, drones are unable to find the exact position of fires using regular cameras. The story is different when infrared cameras come into play.
Thermal imaging cameras help drones increase their visibility in smoldering areas. Once the drone has a clear vision, the camera then helps to pinpoint exactly where the fire is by creating what firefighters call “hotspots.”
That is not where it all ends; thermal cameras go the extra mile. Drones fitted with the infrared camera are also able to locate fire victims wherever they are in the fire zone. These massive benefits are the reasons why thermal imaging camera firefighting is a common thing nowadays.
Laser Aiming
Thermal imaging camera manufacturers want to make the work of robots and drones more comfortable in every way possible. One of the ways these manufacturers have successfully done this is installing laser pointers in thermal cameras that project on to the spot you want to capture.
Precision has always been something attached to robots and drones, but thermography cameras take this whole issue to the next level. So with such cameras, robots cannot make any mistakes when making measurements of complex objects like switches and circuit boxes.
Building Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Systems in Buildings
Robots and drones are not suitable for building heating ventilation and air conditioning systems because they cannot detect temperature and energy changes. Thermal cameras, on the other hand, can monitor all these changes.
For this reason, robots and drones fitted with thermography cameras can conduct simple energy audits of buildings. Thermography cameras, in this case, help robots and drones in checking where heat may be escaping or sections where there might be excess heat. With such things in place, experts can make the necessary corrections.
Seeing Through Obstacles
Some drones and robots are known to have sensors, and this plays a vital role in detecting and locating objects, even those hidden behind obstacles. Using detecting sensors is not always an ideal solution for finding exact locations of objects. That is why drones and robots need thermal cameras because they can see through any obstacles or objects.
You can even locate an object that is below the ground using a thermal camera, and this makes it is useful in archeology. Nowadays, these cameras are fitted in robots and drones and used in helping excavators see artifacts buried in the ground.
Conclusion
The amazing benefits that come with using thermal cameras can provide immense help to robots and drones. Using thermal cameras in the eyes of artificial intelligence robots provides a wide field of view, allowing them to locate objects quickly.
Drones can also benefit from such cameras. With thermal cameras, drones can identify the exact point where fires are to help in putting them out. Detection of excess heat areas in buildings is also a benefit that comes with using robots and drones fitted with thermal cameras.
