Why did FLIR catch on instead of just IR? Is it because it sounds cool to be military-like? Does anyone expect the IR to look any other direction than forward on a phone?
The maker of that sensor called FLIR.
Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera
251–260 of 343 posts
Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera
#252Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 diff…
> mAh is perfectly fine for a first-order comparison of two competing batteries And yet it’s still dumb, because the actual energy density would let you make the exact same comparison anyway, and it would allow for easier comparison with other battery types or contexts. > 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 It’s not, there’s a >10%…
Advertisers don’t care about useful. Many customers see mWh and mAh and think “that’s probably the same… and look! this one has thousands of em!”
Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera
#253Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can't take it out of country without an export license- Someone else will have to comment on the process of doing that so they can take their camera on vacation or something I've had to navigate that and make use of listed exemptions to that, for sending thermal cameras i bought from israel- BACK to israel for repair- because of ITAR. Other than that, you can do what you want in-country with a high quality therma…
Seems highly unlikely anyone would stop to check the camera when coming back into the US with a personal phone. They would need to be checking millions of phones for a tiny number of hits.
If you get caught you could lose your professional license. I would assume stiff fines and would not be surprised if some cases might be punishable by incarceration.
Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera
#254Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the US, it's yellowjackets (vespinae, minus the hornets) that are rather annoying. They are attracted to sugar and meat, and sting rather aggressively, which makes outdoor barbecues unpleasant (to put it mildly); paper-wasps (Polistinae) are indeed rather easy to live alongside, but they look quite similar so inherit the bad-rap that yellowjackets have.
The Central European wasp is a yellowjacket, Vespula germanica. It is very attracted to sweets and foods especially in the autumn. However, it does not usually sting unless there's a reason, such as you're trying to sit on it. I myself have had zero stings of any bee or wasp in my life so I prefer to gently coax them away from my plate. Some people are absolutely terrified about them though so "just let them be" rare…
> I prefer to gently coax them away from my plate
In my experience your hand is a minor annoyance that they'll fly around and continue eating. Only way to have peace is to lay traps around your eating area.
Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
> mAh is perfectly fine for a first-order comparison of two competing batteries And yet it’s still dumb, because the actual energy density would let you make the exact same comparison anyway, and it would allow for easier comparison with other battery types or contexts. > 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 It’s not, there’s a >10%…
Advertisers don’t care about useful. Many customers see mWh and mAh and think “that’s probably the same… and look! this one has thousands of em!”
Weirdly this doesn’t even hold, every battery is more than 1V so the Wh is always larger than the Ah. Makes no sense.
Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera
#256Earlier 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…
A silly question then: why there are no AA/AAA rechargeable batteries that are Li-Ion/Li-Poly/whatever chemistry is used in smartphone batteries? Seems like a no-brainer to me: use the apparently better, more advanced, more energy-dense chemistry, but in a standard AA/AAA format. Pack whatever control electronics you need for safety too. Not only my remote controls would have half a decade of battery life, an iPhone…
You’d need a buck converter for discharging the battery, and they aren’t much better than NiMH batteries at it. So it’s cheaper to just buy Eneloops if you want AA/AAA batteries
Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera
#257Earlier quoted context omitted.
Regular single-use alkaline AA batteries are more energy dense than comparable rechargeable lithium based ones (up to 3000mAh for a single AA vs 3200mAh for iPhone 14 Pro). They're also safer and have lower self-discharge.
That's 3000 mAh @1.5V vs. 3200mAh @...3.7V? That would give those alkaline AAs half of the energy density of a lithium one. And, that's single-use, which I'm not a fan of, because all the energy embodied in a heavy metal cylinder goes to waste.
The phone battery is bigger. For perspective, an 18650 battery is substantially bigger than a AA, but the best they can do is ~3500mAh. Iirc AA lithium batteries are barely more dense than alkaline or nickel, and are awkwardly high voltage so require a buck corcuit, further harming performance.
Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera
#258Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very ignorant! One can avoid wasps initially, or also later move them more peacefully. They are very important pollinators (we lack more&more) and even have more cool duties. Not sure about your wasps over there, the annoyance factor of the wasps in Germany is usually heavily overdramatized and human arrogance at its best.
In the US, it's yellowjackets (vespinae, minus the hornets) that are rather annoying. They are attracted to sugar and meat, and sting rather aggressively, which makes outdoor barbecues unpleasant (to put it mildly); paper-wasps (Polistinae) are indeed rather easy to live alongside, but they look quite similar so inherit the bad-rap that yellowjackets have.
Where I live paper wasps are aggressive and multiply quite rapidly. We went from one next to dozens in just a couple of years. I probably get stung at least once a year.
Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
sounds more like a repugnant fact to me
Very ignorant! One can avoid wasps initially, or also later move them more peacefully. They are very important pollinators (we lack more&more) and even have more cool duties. Not sure about your wasps over there, the annoyance factor of the wasps in Germany is usually heavily overdramatized and human arrogance at its best.
Avoid your own house or yard? Annoyance? Tell that to my wife, my brother in law, my uncle, my cousin, or my good friend. They all could literally die if stung, and have all been to the hospital at least once after a sting.
Re: Caterpillar offers phone with built-in FLIR camera
#260Earlier quoted context omitted.
The catch is that Li-Ion rechargeable batteries have much higher self-discharge rate than alkaline AA/AAAs, so you could not use them in remote controls anyway. For powering iPhones, you can buy a few 18650 with a type-C/lightning case from AliExpress, but most people will prefer just buying a powerbank.
> The catch is that Li-Ion rechargeable batteries have much higher self-discharge rate than alkaline AA/AAAs, so you could not use them in remote controls anyway. How does that compare with NiMh, or whichever is the current standard chemistry for rechargeable AA/AAAs? I may be misguided here, but I generally avoid regular single-use AA/AAAs, as it feels like a complete waste of energy - even if properly disposed of,…
NiMh is better but alkaline still lasts longer. For low drain devices like remotes where shelf life is a bigger concern than power draw, I’ve heard zinc is better still. These are often labeled “heavy duty.”