I'm getting a FLIR ONE thermal camera that attaches to an Android phone tomorrow. http://www.amazon.com/FLIR-Thermal-Imaging-Equipment-Android/dp/B00W5PRY52 I am wondering if it might be possible to fly it on my P3, by strapping it on to the landing skids somehow (I would hand launch/catch the aircraft).
What happens to the P3 if extra weight is attached to it? I would try to balance it properly, and keep the center of gravity low. Does it just become sluggish, or does it become unstable? Do the motors overheat? The equipment weighs about 210 grams. Are there any non-obvious safety issues I should worry about?
This is not a recommended activity.
But, if you must do it you should expect it to be slower to react, harder to control, and fly for a much shorter period of time.
The motors won't overheat.
Do not do it in the presence of any wind.
Seriously though, there is a good chance it will just fall out of the sky. Take your P3 camera off to keep that from getting broken and it will give you somewhere flat and high to mount to.
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Evening All...
I see that FLIR has a FLIR Vue and FLIR Vue Pro camera specifically for the UAS market. Their promotional pictures shows it mounted on a Phantom.
I am toying with the idea to mount one on a Inspire 1 with gimbal...
Hope I will be able to use Map Pilot to fly my IR sorties ;-)
Regards
We will be offering a range of FLIR Vue Pro cameras with custom app support in the very near future. It is not likely that the FLIR cameras will work with Map Pilot as it currently exists. We are exploring adding a few thermal IR mapping capabilities to our custom kits.
I'll keep an eye out for future developments.
My applications will be a fairly simple affair though.
One type of flight will be to look straight down at a solar panel array like on a solar farm and "map" the site similar to the current Map Pilot app. The photographs can then be analyzed with the FLIR software.
The other type of flight will be looking at electrical installations like overhead distribution lines and substations. This will require only a slight downward angle at times for substation work, or else the camera will be looking straight ahead, like high up on a power pylon. Photographs will only be required where there are "hot spots" and this will then be snapped manually. Geo-tagged photographs will be a great help for this application.
I will put my S900 wish on the back burner for now... it is clear that a large payload carrier like the S900 is no longer required for my purposes. The X5 is doing what the GH4 was going to do for me and the FLIR Vue has eliminated the A65 + recorder + heavy 12V batteries + plus + plus + plus...
