HemaVision: smart thermal imaging with computer vision - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: nitroxide
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2015, 02:48:26 pm
content: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ebeall/hemavision-smart-thermal-imaging-with-computer-vis/descriptionSome healthy competition for the likes of Flir and Seek Thermal entry-level thermal imaging devices

author: hl68fx
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 18, 2015, 12:19:51 pm
content: I see it as a complete different product. It is the first of these thermal imagers which i can use without my smartphone!Another big benefit is that you can "hack" the hardware and software.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2015, 05:09:44 am
content: I just checked for projects in this section over the last year for which info was posted with the thumbs up icon . They all failed. My opinion is this one will be no exception. Kids, do not give yourself thumbs up until your project ships out of the door.

author: hl68fx
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 20, 2015, 08:52:06 pm
content: Because others failed, that is no reason why this project should fail too! With your attitude and mindset we would all live in the Stone Age....Just my two cents.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2015, 11:59:24 pm
content: You may still save your two cents if you go back and check the posted timeline - it says shipping this September.It is almost May now and the guy has nothing, no hardware, no SDK, all he has is some phone jammed in a plastic box. No it is not an actual prototype, it is a cell phone in a box, playing some thermal video taken with some existing expensive thermal imager.

author: rthorntn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2015, 06:37:03 am
content: I've pulled out of this, it seems a bit too good to be true.

author: n1ck
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 05:48:52 am
content: I'd be cautious with this one. My main concerns are lack of details on the injection molded case development, hardware integration, and some ambitious claims for the software that aren't backed up with sufficient demonstrations. As it stands, I expect the project to be significantly late and possibly fail due to money running out. Check out myreviewfor my full thoughts.

author: ebeall
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 25, 2015, 08:48:41 pm
content: Hey guys, this was just pointed out to me, I can't believe I missed this post! First off, all images were acquired using the 82x62 array, inside the prototype shown in the video. I agree its not the best looking case, but yes this was mainly due to the costs involved. Our industrial designer does 3D printing and that will be part of the prototyping process, but I decided to hold off until after the Kickstarter was successful (it was painful last time when we ended). Unfortunately, we won't have a better looking case until mid-May.I realize I need to share more details on the injection molding. We spent last summer looking for injection molders and found a local shop that does good work (I've toured their shop, they make many injection molded products, including housings for another company I know in the area for the past six years) and has good equipment (including multiple CNC and EDM machines - they do their own tooling). For the Hema-Imager last fall, the plan was to produce 1000 cases and 4000 attachment patches, the quote for tooling plus the product was just under $10,000. For the HemaVision, the cost is double that (double-shot mold). We had funds prepared to invest in the tooling if we only got to 40 or 50,000 on Kickstarter, but we are now in good shape. It is true we haven't gone through the process yet, but they say they are able to complete the tooling in 12 weeks.The prototype hardware is a Raspberry Pi 2 with camera module and the 82x62. Our plan is to build our own board around a different SoC, but in principle you could build this now with a Raspberry Pi 2 (or Banana Pi or ODroid) off the shelf (with some rework). Mehrdad has done two boards with the TI Sitara, the development we want to do is of course harder, but we can do it. Also, Heimann Sensor is helping us with a really good price, they wanted to see if this market really has legs for them, and because of this, they are basically investing in us as well, via the price. At DSS this year (I couldn't go, last week of work for me and it just wasn't possible), Boston Electronics and Heimann were really happy to report that they had a lot of people asking about us, even one person asking if they made something "like what Hema Imaging has"!I think the computer vision applications will be very important in the future, and that is why I'm building it this way. If you think a regular wifi thermal camera would be desirable, please let me know, that kind of feedback is very useful to me. But also, thank you for your review, I know that if people don't leave these comments they can still be thinking them and I would never know. Please let me know what you think, I'd be happy to answer any other questions.Erik

author: frenky
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 21, 2016, 07:16:49 am
content: Are there any backers of this project here? I'm really interested in their latest update (which is for backers only).Latest comments suggest that HemaVision is history...QuoteQuoteQuoteQuote

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 21, 2016, 05:01:23 pm
content: Quote from: frenky on July 21, 2016, 07:16:49 amYeah, I'm a backer - but only at the $1 level because after the mu Thermal mess I decided to just buy a (hacked) FLIR E4.And I am now so glad of that!I'm not sure I should copy paste the whole update, but in summary (paraphrased):- both the SOM and thermopile array they designed around are no longer available- they've taken too long and spent almost 80% of the money, mostly on R&D, but also on IP protection, etc- they now can't afford to release a product that now wouldn't be competitive, because they'd need more funding to go to production which they'd only get via having something more commercially viable- they're offering to do partial refunds with the remaining funds "now", or full refunds at some unspecified future dateComments from backers mention that they over complicated what was supposed to be a simple product, and that the whole thing is just a repeat of my thermal. I'm not sure I agree with the latter. And I do understand the intentions of their R&D efforts, but it wasn't what many backers signed up for.

author: frenky
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 22, 2016, 06:26:53 am
content: Tnx for summary.

author: Frank_22
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 07:02:16 am
content: Looks nice, but how is it better than usual Flir/Fluke thermal cameras?

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 07:51:43 am
content: Quote from: Frank_22 on August 15, 2016, 07:02:16 amUmmm... well it was going to have some unique features, but the whole project appears to be dead due to ... feature creep!