Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera • Hacker News Board

Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera

#181

Post by yetihehe » Wed, Dec 07, 2022, 8:24 AM UTC

hoseja wrote: post #169

romanovcode wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are wasps protected in Germany? I understand bees, but what good are wasps for?

I've come around on wasps. They just do their thing. You got stung? Don't tread on them.

Sometimes wasps have other ideas about "treading on them" like "You are near and made a sudden move, you are threat". It gets worse when you are allergic to wasps. I've worked near a place where transport company cleaned their syrup and milk carrying trailers, so we sometimes had a lot of wasps and one of coworkers had to constantly have adrenaline with him. If he got stung and couldn't do it himself, we were trained on how to jab him and call ambulance.

Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera

#182

Post by walterbell » Wed, Dec 07, 2022, 8:33 AM UTC

zo1 wrote: post #168

walterbell wrote: post #67

UNI-T UTi260M for Android: USB-C thermal camera with 25hz 256x192 sensor for $400, https://www.amazon.com/UNI-T-Resolution-Handheld-Durability-...

So annoyed at the market right now. Here is the same "UNI-T" camera from AliExpress under the name "InfiRay P2": https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004950256049.html So which effing company makes this, and why are we allowing this stupid white labeling to occur. Funny aside. Maybe Elon should buy Amazon and kick off all drop shippers, white label resellers, chinese sellers and all duplicate items by enforcing unique…

Looks like Infiray makes thermal sensors and consumer products, perhaps they have a similar business model as FLIR, https://www.infiray.com/products/tiny1-b-micro-lwir-thermal-... & https://www.infiray.com/products/thermal-camera-for-smartpho...

Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera

#183

Post by 867-5309 » Wed, Dec 07, 2022, 8:36 AM UTC

linmob wrote: post #154

mongol wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine a smartphone designed to use AAA batteries. That would be something. Would be cool to see.

My Newton MessagePad 2100 used 4 AA batteries, the Palm m105 used 2 AAA batteries, so this used to be possible with monochrome displays. But: Watt hours (Wh) are quite low for these NiMH rechargebles. I think what would be preferable would be a standardised size of phone-fitting Li-Ion batteries that manufacturers are required to use. (I highly doubt that this will ever happen, though.)

pretty sure >10 years ago I had an array of aftermarket Li-Ion batteries for the Samsung Galaxy S2, which were able to be quickly swapped in and out when needed. there were same sized ones with slightly higher capacity than the one the phone came with, then there were double thickness ones with double the capacity that came with their own replacement battery cover. think they went up to 5000mAh. there were the usual Chinese 'gold' and 'fire' brands, but you could also pay a bit more for Japanese. they all worked and never swelled or exploded. perhaps I was just lucky. those were the days..

Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera

#184

Post by dotancohen » Wed, Dec 07, 2022, 8:40 AM UTC

SideQuark wrote: post #89

Fatnino wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So sell compatible size higher density batteries. Actual disposable batteries (remember those?) have improved dramatically over the decades but you can still put a brand new AA battery loaded with the latest 2022 tech into a remote control from the 50s and expect it to work.

>Actual disposable batteries they have the same form factor, and they have not changed much over decades in capability and certainly not size. Phone batteries do not do this - they are designed to fit in a certain (few) phones, and market change on phone sizes mean there is no standard size. When phone batteries get higher density, then it's likely a readeoff between adding more other features and keeping the same ba…

> Phone batteries do not do this - they are designed to fit in a certain (few) phones, and market change on phone sizes mean there is no standard size.

But the voltage remains the same: 3.7 discharged and 4.2 volts fully charged.

I really don't care if the outer dimensions of the battery are sloppy by 5 mm or if the capacity is smaller (or larger) by a few hundred or even a thousand mAh - so long as I can replace the _absolutely dead_ battery already in the device. I'll pad out the rest with styrofoam or even just squeeze some tacky clay in there to prevent it from rattling.

Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera

#185

Post by dotancohen » Wed, Dec 07, 2022, 8:45 AM UTC

coder543 wrote: post #120

Nition wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An iPhone 14 Pro has a 3,200mAh battery. The Energiser rechargeable AAA I happen to have here is 800mAh. So exactly four standard rechargeable AAAs. Not bad really. Edit: As explained below, this is incorrect, as I didn't take voltage into account.

"mAh" is a useless measurement that should be banned from marketing to the public, period. It does not actually represent the energy stored in the batteries, and it can easily mislead people. I also get annoyed that no one uses Ah, when "thousands of thousandths" is a really annoying way to communicate. 3200mAh -> 3.2Ah. Why do no manufacturers understand this? And why don't manufacturers just use a proper unit that…

mAh is perfectly fine for a first-order comparison of two competing batteries, because those two batteries will only compete for a specific workload if they have the same voltage. If I need a phone with a large battery, and all phones are 3.8 volts (yes, I do mean 3.7-4.2) then comparing mAh is useful, (assuming background battery usage of the two devices is similar, which actually isn't often true, but that's a different issue).

Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera

#186

Post by llampx » Wed, Dec 07, 2022, 8:47 AM UTC

mongol wrote: post #91

Fatnino wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So sell compatible size higher density batteries. Actual disposable batteries (remember those?) have improved dramatically over the decades but you can still put a brand new AA battery loaded with the latest 2022 tech into a remote control from the 50s and expect it to work.

Imagine a smartphone designed to use AAA batteries. That would be something. Would be cool to see.

It would be easier to have a new standard of Li-Ion or Li-poly batteries optimized for newer devices, with flat rectangular (stackable?) packs. They would also be suitable for the current demands of current devices. (see what I did there?)

Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera

#187

Post by nicolas_t » Wed, Dec 07, 2022, 8:48 AM UTC

motohagiography wrote: post #64

The lack of a replacable battery is infuriating because it's planned obselescence of a FLIR device. I got one of the first CAT s60 phones when they came out and tolerated all the android spyware on it because I really liked having a properly ruggedized phone. Got about 4 years out of it. The flir camera I would say I used most often at night for finding my dogs poop to pick up on neighbours lawns in the dark, but I u…

I'm actually considering buying a IR camera for testing insulation (I have a contractor working in my apartment and due to various instance of clear fraud from him I have no confidence or trust in him anymore). Would a HTI HT-102 be enough or is it better to get a better sensor?

Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera

#188

Post by rlt » Wed, Dec 07, 2022, 8:50 AM UTC

KronisLV wrote: post #172

SideQuark wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Actual disposable batteries they have the same form factor, and they have not changed much over decades in capability and certainly not size. Phone batteries do not do this - they are designed to fit in a certain (few) phones, and market change on phone sizes mean there is no standard size. When phone batteries get higher density, then it's likely a readeoff between adding more other features and keeping the same ba…

> Phone batteries do not do this - they are designed to fit in a certain (few) phones, and market change on phone sizes mean there is no standard size. It would be nice if that wasn't the case. I've seen power tools from certain companies adopt the same battery type across multiple of their tools, so that they are interchangeable. I can imagine something like that happening industry-wide with a bit more lawmaking, li…

> with a bit more lawmaking

No thanks. Things like this almost always have unintended consequences.

Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera

#189

Post by TeMPOraL » Wed, Dec 07, 2022, 8:55 AM UTC

fijiaarone wrote: post #103

motohagiography wrote: post #64

The lack of a replacable battery is infuriating because it's planned obselescence of a FLIR device. I got one of the first CAT s60 phones when they came out and tolerated all the android spyware on it because I really liked having a properly ruggedized phone. Got about 4 years out of it. The flir camera I would say I used most often at night for finding my dogs poop to pick up on neighbours lawns in the dark, but I u…

It’s ok to have a camera that is not a telephone

It's ok, but it does drastically reduce its utility. Conversely, anything that can be put into smartphone becomes much more useful. It often makes a difference between just having a tool for some odd job vs. gaining a capability.

The reason is simple: you always have your phone on you, or near you. It's the most easily accessible piece of electronics, and - if you're storage limited - the last one you're likely to leave behind. There is a generic social acceptance of everyone having a phone on them (even if stashed in a pocket).

A FLIR camera as a separate device? I'm unlikely to carry it with me unless I have a specific reason, and people will look at me weird if I walk around with one. A smartphone-attachable FLIR camera? It's still a hassle to carry, there's a good chance I'll leave one behind (comparable to a bluetooth headset). A FLIR camera built into smartphone? On me all the time, everywhere, and always ready to use in random, unpredictable situations.

And yes, it's the same reason why regular smartphone cameras all but killed the compact camera as a product. Having a tool always on you expands possible use cases so much it offsets for suboptimal performance/form factor.

Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera

#190

Post by marginalia_nu » Wed, Dec 07, 2022, 9:03 AM UTC

shp0ngle wrote: post #137

I want to warn people that Cat phones are not “good phones” They are cheapo Chinese Android phones, with a gimmick. The gimmick can work for some people, sure. Didn’t work for me.

Depends what you want out of them I guess. I buy these because I want a phone that doesn't break easily. And CAT phones don't. It's slow, the camera is crap, the speaker is worse; but what sucks more is replacing the screen every couple of months because it breaks from a stiff breeze.

I will drop my phone. It'll fall out of my pocket. I will sit on it. Sometimes it will land on a hard surface. It'll get wet. It'll get muddy. It'll get unceremoniously tossed in my gym bag. All these things happen. With most phones, this means I have to replace the screen if not the phone. With a CAT, there's no noticeable effect at all.

I also really like how heavy and sturdy they are. Makes them easier to find. Battery life is also amazing. Mine is down to needing charging every two days now after a couple of years. My girlfriend's similar-aged flagship Samsung needs a filler-upper in the afternoon to make a full day.

Anyway CAT matches what I want in a phone. This isn't for everyone, but let's not pretend nobody wants a phone that is sturdy and basic. Because I really do.