Thermal imaging in scientific applications has traditionally involved large and expensive cameras with static mounting. Applications of thermal imaging include: gas detection, heat sensing, stress ana..
Thermal imaging in scientific applications has traditionally involved large and expensive cameras with static mounting. Applications of thermal imaging include: gas detection, heat sensing, stress analysis of materials, as well as many other research applications. This research studies the feasibility of replacing large thermal cameras with the FLIR Lepton, a miniature thermal sensor with a resolution of 60x80 pixels, to be used for quantitative scientific measurements. The benefits of using this camera include the small package size, as well as a cost of ten times less than traditional thermal cameras. Software was created to convert the qualitative image into quantitative data. Several cameras were embedded into one imaging system to demonstrate the potential of integrating multiple sensors to collect more data about the object being tested. Further work will be done to verify that the sensors produce accurate quantitative data by comparing the FLIR Lepton measurements with the measurements from a higher resolution thermal camera.
