M2ED or SUAS Thermal Camera retrofit on Mavic Air???

[Timothy Vedanayagam]

As mentioned in an earlier post, I was just going to get a M2ED when I came across this solution at:
VuIR Boson - Turnkey Thermal Vision System for DJI Mavic 2/Mavic 1/Mavic Air | suas

VuIR Boson - Turnkey Thermal Vision System for DJI Mavic 2/Mavic 1/Mavic Air, SKU: VB0011
he complete mounting system with:

• ONE adapter to be attached to the top of the Mavic 2, Mavic 1 or Mavic Air
• Onboard DVR for recording
• Onboard Video transmitter (5.8ghz)
• Boson camera mount with Adjustable tilt angle
• 1 Micro SD card for recording (8GB)
• Special VPC module
• 1 VuIR Battery for operation
• 1 VuIR Battery Charger
• USB cable for Boson
• Ground Thermal Monitor (Black Pearl Monitor)
• 5 Extra VuIR batteries
• FLIR Boson 320 Camera with 13.8 mm Lens

Cost @ $2,499.00

So the question is, should I go for the M2ED @ $2,949.00 with a 160×120 Sensor Resolution or the SUAS option @ $2,499.00 with 320x256 Resolution ???
My application is Night flying to locate raiding elephants within a 1 Km distance.
With the M2ED I have a Factory set solution and a Gimbal for stabilisation but only 160×120 res Thermal Cam
With the SUAS option I have a retrofit solution on my own MA with no Gimbal but a 320x256 res Thermal Cam
Which to go for, please advise.
Thank you.

 

[TSUPD]

We use our M2ED for search and rescue and tactical perhaps and it works fine for locating subjects, so elephants would not be a problem. The important thing is knowing how to set your temperature range for what you are looking for. Night flying with thermal is quite different without practice. The higher resolution is nice, but you'll have to determine what works best for you. The effective attitude for us with the M2ED is about 125' AGL.

 

[io390]

This will be available in about a week though it could be longer to arrive through our US distributor. This is fully integrated into the drone - the suas one is not and has issued with the video signal (it uses 5.8ghz FPV gear).

 

[TSUPD]

What is the name of this unit /sensor?

This will be available in about a week though it could be longer to arrive through our US distributor. This is fully integrated into the drone - the suas one is not and has issued with the video signal (it uses 5.8ghz FPV gear).

 

[io390]

What is the name of this unit /sensor?

It's a custom integration that we've been developing. If you like, drop me a PM with your details and I can add you to our update list?

 

[Timothy Vedanayagam]

This will be available in about a week though it could be longer to arrive through our US distributor. This is fully integrated into the drone - the suas one is not and has issued with the video signal (it uses 5.8ghz FPV gear).

Will it work with the Mavic Air?What Thermal cam are you using?

 

[kimber45]

Mavic 2 Flir - An Analysis

Yesterday these two posts popped up: DJI picture 1 DJI Picture 2 #2 was released by the Enterprise team and right now everyone thinks that it's a thermal accessory for the Mavic 2 Enterprise. Makes perfect sense, DJI would be incredibly dumb to not do this. Question, is what sensor? The...

mavicpilots.com

Check out this thread, io390 talks about their project and shows some early pics.

Edited link, maybe now it will work for all.

 

[RWD]

I get a 404 page at that link...

 

[kimber45]

Edited link in prior post, hopefully now it works.

 

[WDB]

As mentioned in an earlier post, I was just going to get a M2ED when I came across this solution at:
VuIR Boson - Turnkey Thermal Vision System for DJI Mavic 2/Mavic 1/Mavic Air | suas

VuIR Boson - Turnkey Thermal Vision System for DJI Mavic 2/Mavic 1/Mavic Air, SKU: VB0011
he complete mounting system with:

• ONE adapter to be attached to the top of the Mavic 2, Mavic 1 or Mavic Air
• Onboard DVR for recording
• Onboard Video transmitter (5.8ghz)
• Boson camera mount with Adjustable tilt angle
• 1 Micro SD card for recording (8GB)
• Special VPC module
• 1 VuIR Battery for operation
• 1 VuIR Battery Charger
• USB cable for Boson
• Ground Thermal Monitor (Black Pearl Monitor)
• 5 Extra VuIR batteries
• FLIR Boson 320 Camera with 13.8 mm Lens

Cost @ $2,499.00

So the question is, should I go for the M2ED @ $2,949.00 with a 160×120 Sensor Resolution or the SUAS option @ $2,499.00 with 320x256 Resolution ???
My application is Night flying to locate raiding elephants within a 1 Km distance.
With the M2ED I have a Factory set solution and a Gimbal for stabilisation but only 160×120 res Thermal Cam
With the SUAS option I have a retrofit solution on my own MA with no Gimbal but a 320x256 res Thermal Cam
Which to go for, please advise.
Thank you.

I can tell you this about the M2ED. I use mine to locate hogs and while i am fairly new with it I don’t think you will see a hog at much over 50’ distance. That’s early am around daylight summertime. You get very little clarity other than a small white area (using greyscale palette). I often hover over what looks like it may be a hog to see if it moves because you can’t tell for sure. In flat terrain it might work ok with a large animal but I’m not sure it’s what I am happy with yet. I’m hoping someone will put a better thermal on a dual so you’ll have a factory set solution.

 

[Timothy Vedanayagam]

I can tell you this about the M2ED. I use mine to locate hogs and while i am fairly new with it I don’t think you will see a hog at much over 50’ distance. That’s early am around daylight summertime. You get very little clarity other than a small white area (using greyscale palette). I often hover over what looks like it may be a hog to see if it moves because you can’t tell for sure. In flat terrain it might work ok with a large animal but I’m not sure it’s what I am happy with yet. I’m hoping someone will put a better thermal on a dual so you’ll have a factory set solution.

Thank you for sharing your practical experience with the M2ED; as mentioned I will be using it to locate elephants but I will be flying from a 10 meter building and at a height of around 20~25 meters, with an effective AGL of around 35 meters (115 feet). I hope I can locate an elephant sized object at that altitude and at a distance of at least 100 meters away on flat fields with no tree cover. The only problem is that the M2ED will be brought to India and if the application is not effective, then I'm stuck with it.

 

[WDB]

Thank you for sharing your practical experience with the M2ED; as mentioned I will be using it to locate elephants but I will be flying from a 10 meter building and at a height of around 20~25 meters, with an effective AGL of around 35 meters (115 feet). I hope I can locate an elephant sized object at that altitude and at a distance of at least 100 meters away on flat fields with no tree cover. The only problem is that the M2ED will be brought to India and if the application is not effective, then I'm stuck with it.

One thing you might consider is to buy a little flir camera. They sell one that plugs in to an iphone that I think is the same or very similar as the one on the dual. It isn't too expensive. You could try it and see how it works. I'm learning more about my dual and have found I can see hogs from around 100' looking straight down by using the custom settings on isotherm. I'm at a disadvantage as I'm looking in a cotton field that provides some cover for the hogs to be under plus temperatures are pretty high right now.

 

[Timothy Vedanayagam]

One thing you might consider is to buy a little flir camera. They sell one that plugs in to an iphone that I think is the same or very similar as the one on the dual. It isn't too expensive. You could try it and see how it works. I'm learning more about my dual and have found I can see hogs from around 100' looking straight down by using the custom settings on isotherm. I'm at a disadvantage as I'm looking in a cotton field that provides some cover for the hogs to be under plus temperatures are pretty high right now.

I have a Android based Thermal camera called ThermApp and its with a 384 x 288, 17µ thermal detector and a 19 mm lens. With this I'm able to spot an elephant at 500~700 Meters. If you can spot a hog at 100' (around 25 Meters) looking straight down, I'm sure with the M2ED I'll catch be able to spot an elephant at 500~600'. Might have to wait a month for this to happen, will keep you posted.