Pioneering Thermal lab at The Engineering Design Show 2023

In this issue of Industrial Process News, we are delighted to announce that Thermal Vision Research is our Thermal Imaging Camera Company of the Year.

The Engineering Design Show has been running for eleven years and is the business and networking calendar event for the engineering design sector, showcasing the latest advanced innovations across the mechanical, electronics and embedded design sectors. This is where the future intersects the present, with the very best across the engineering design industry. As many in the industry will already know, the best way to showcase product innovation is through experiential workshops and practical demonstrations, not dissimilar to the best school STEM lessons, with flying rockets, marble runs to LEGO forts.

Thermal Vision Research (TVR): UK distributor for Teledyne FLIR’S IR thermography camera range, will be exhibiting at The Engineering Design Show and its director, Matthew Clavey is full of wonder and curiosity around thermal imaging cameras. With a passion for filming in his free time, he has taken sublime thermal video footage of drag racing at the famous Santa Pod Raceway in Podington, Bedfordshire. Using the iconic Teledyne FLIR T650sc, Matthew captured race car motion in sumptuous orange and purple hues, giving the effect of a cinematic art house movie. With his innate creativity and talent for visual merchandising, the exhibition stands for Thermal Vision Research (TVR) are always eye-catching and attract many visitors. Matthew explains the strategy for this year’s Engineering Design Show, “We are delighted to have a state-ofthe-art thermal lab at this year’s Engineering Design Show in Coventry. Think of all the best engineering/ science classes you ever had at school, we want people to get just as curious and excited about our technology and its true capabilities, across multipleapplications, from electronic component testing, EV battery testing to aircraft, defence or rail network research and many others.”

“The best way for engineers and designers to really get the feel for our technology is to see it in action. We’re not just exhibiting – we are showcasing spellbinding thermal imaging cameras, capable of next-level technology.”

We want visitors to ask us the big-How and What questions:

• How do you test for heat or temperature?

• How can you see if a battery is overheating?

• What does a bullet look like, travelling at high or slow speed?

“We will then answer utilising our advanced visible thermogram form technology, digitised with cutting-edge software processing,” challenged Matthew.

Established in 2017, Thermal Vision Research (TVR) by visionary Director Matthew and is based at Aztec West Business Park near Bristol, in South Gloucestershire.

Thermal Vision Research (TVR) is the UK distributor for Teledyne FLIR’S IR thermography camera range, designed for specialist R&D applications.

Matthew Clavey with be joined at the two-day event by the American FLIR Business Development Managers, to answer queries on technical camera specifications, “We will be showcasing the Teledyne FLIR infrared thermal camera range and introducing visitors to the new Teledyne FLIR Research Studio Professional Edition software.”

“This latest release encompasses a Professional Edition with FLIR Research Studio Playerprecision designed for R&D applications that are in need of sturdy data capture and analysis and an upgraded version of the FLIR Research Studio Standard Edition. Both versions offer a ‘Connect-View-Record-Analyse-Share’ workflow, designed to seamlessly identify key thermal data, to make critical decisions.”

“Our Bristol-based team can demonstrate the FLIR camera range, computers and tripods and the BDM’s can answer the technical questions from design engineers and academic heads of department,” adds Matthew.

The R&D possibilities of FLIR thermal cameras are boundless, offering razor-sharp images and measurements. Thermal Vision Research recently partnered with The Aircraft Research Association (ARA): a specialist, local UK aerodynamic research institute, to test the hybrid laminar flow control hypothesis. The Bristol-based company loaned its Teledyne FLIR T1K to locate accurate temperature changes in the high-speed transonic wind tunnel, with speeds up to Mach 1.4 (1,000mph.) As a result of the air turbulence generated from the high speeds, the precise point of transition for airflow changes by less than 1°. The Teledyne FLIR T1K provides a visualisation of the airflow in-situ, without effecting the aerodynamic variable. These meticulous point of transition results has allowed the Aircraft Research Association (ARA) to prove the hybrid laminar flow control hypothesis, within controlled test conditions.

The ARA are now at the early stages of marketing the pioneering FLIR T1K wind tunnel concept design to engineering companies. The over-arching research goal is to make long-haul flights more sustainable, especially as we edge towards the UK Government’s 2050 net-zero targets.

Here at Industrial Process News, we have previously awarded Thermal Vision Research as our Company of the Month, through its pioneering partnership with ARA and secondly an innovative collaboration with Northern Rail, using Teledyne FLIR camera technology.

This unique partnership has seen the trialling of an ‘intelligence train,’ installed with a FLIR A6750sc cooled thermal camera. The camera works with acoustic monitors, G-shock Bogie, AI camera, radar dome, LIDAR horizon-scanning cameras and precision-driven 180° thermal imaging software, providing precision-driven accuracy on track infrastructure problems.

As the train is naturally running at high-speeds, the camera needs to capture clear images in transit, but with pixels generating in sub-one milliseconds of particular track sections and full-frames of 125Hz, this camera is certainly up to the job. The cooled camera can register up to 100 metres ahead on the tracks and will automatically upload detailed track date to a SMART-cloud platform, which can be accessed by Northern Rail remotely The advantages of using a camera in this way are twofold:

• It allows the train company to keep the track open for regular train services, saving costly downtime.

• Thermal imagining pinpoints precise areas for track maintenance, earmarking for strategic future engineering maintenance.

This pioneering trial will continue throughout 2023, with the potential to expand to other rail networks around the country.

After a highly successful exhibition at EIS Instrumentation Analysis and Test Exhibition at Silverstone earlier in May, the Thermal Vision Research team is ready to ramp up a gear for the forthcoming Engineering Design Show.

One of the most hotly contested issues in the industry is overheated batteries, notably with the recent cargo ship fire off the Dutch coast. The ship was en-route from Germany to Egypt and was carrying 3,000 vehicles, with 25 electric vehicles at the time, when a deadly inferno broke out. The suspected cause is thought to be the EV batteries.

With the recent push towards EV batteries and the now associated cargo ship transportation safety concerns, the Teledyne FLIR high-speed thermal camera could provide extra test safety reassurance. This camera provides more accurate high-speed imaging results than previous thermocouples and general IR devices, pinpointing the exact location of short-circuits and subsequent heat spreading. This is key information for battery design engineers, helping them navigate round potential damage scenarios. The high-speed camera offers unprecedented slow thermal imaging captures at high temperatures of over 700°C and provides comprehensive details of the thermal management system, during the EV battery testing period.

TVR are happy visit businesses in person, to demonstrate the camera range capabilities on-site and offer camera hiring, lease and purchasing options.

Thermal Vision Research will be exhibiting at The Engineering Design Show at Coventry Building Society Arena from 12th-13th October 2023 at Stand G74.

For more information on TVR, please see the website below:
T 0333 200 4667
info@thermalvisionresearch.co.uk
www.thermalvisionresearch.co.uk
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-clavey-b8ab082a