“Teledyne FLIR is the Global Leader in Thermal Imaging for Camera Cores and Sensor Solutions!”

We catch up with Jared FARAUDO, Director, Product Management at Teledyne FLIR at EuroSatory 2024 to discuss their latest thermal imaging technology and products showcased at their booth as well as to discusses how they are overcoming challenges both in the industry and in the global market. 

Defence Turkey: Teledyne FLIR is the worldwide leader in thermal imaging. What can you tell us about Teledyne FLIR’s participation at EuroSatory? Did the Exhibition meet your expectations?

Jared FARAUDO: We're very excited to be at EuroSatory 2024. We are showing several different products this year. We're showing our new Hadron™ 640R+, our new Hadron 640+, our Boson®+, our Neutrino® cameras and our Prism™ AI capability.

Defence Turkey: Can you briefly introduce, your high performance, ITAR-free Neutrino series cameras to our readers. How do you see the strong points and how do you differ from the competitors in the market?

Jared FARAUDO: Neutrino is US made. It's ITAR free, so it's very accessible to not only in the US, but also NATO and European Union countries and others around the world. Neutrino is leading the industry in terms of SWaP in being very small, low-weight and power-optimized. We also have high performance Neutrino models for border security, ISR and other higher performance applications.  We have a full suite of product configurations in the Neutrino product family covering everything from unmanned and handheld systems to larger systems like border security that require longer range performance.

Defence Turkey: Jared let’s talk about the Boson+, which sets the standard for longwave infrared (LWIR) camera and Boson+ CZ 14-75, which combines Teledyne FLIR’s Boson+ world-class LWIR OEM camera module and 5x continuous zoom (CZ) lens that are currently being showcased at your booth. Which customers are those type of thermal cameras aimed at? How do they differ from competing LWIR cameras in the market?

Jared FARAUDO: Boson+ is our industry leading LWIR camera in terms of sensitivity and sharpness. It also leads the industry in manufacturing volume and performance in a SWaP-optimized package. In terms of the customers, they are using Boson in everything from unmanned, uncrewed type of systems, so drones or UAVs to handhelds to firefighting to automotive to security and maritime. Boson is used in several different industrial applications and multiple different defense markets. It's a mature and unique product, and it really serves a need with customers, because it is so small and also very reliable, and we build a very high volume every month because as the market leader. It's readily available with short lead times and a low-risk solution for integrators developing infrared systems.

Defence Turkey: In 1963 the first forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera was developed and went into production in 1966. A few years later, the FLIR Corporation in Portland, Oregon began doing business and has really pioneered useable applications for many different applications. Today Teledyne FLIR is clearly the world leader in this incredibly sophisticated and diverse imaging system for both government and the private sector. How much of Teledyne FLIR's thermal imaging business comes from government and how much of from private sales?

Jared FARAUDO: We have a healthy mix of industrial, commercial, and defense business. We have products that serve all those markets because we’re able to provide commercial off the shelf (COTS) configurations and quickly provide modified off the shelf (MOTS) products to meet a special mission or requirement.

Defence Turkey: What innovative technology areas will Teledyne FLIR focus on in the near term? Can you elaborate on your R&D activities?

Jared FARAUDO: Our history shows that we lead the market in terms of reducing SWaP; size, weight, and power. We're always focused on improving performance, but also making our cameras smaller, lighter weight and lower power. The other capability that we're showing here this week at EuroSatory is our AI capabilities. We have Prism AI, which is a perception software that allows for detection, classification and tracking using very low power processors to be able to run integrated with the camera on a platform like a drone. So, this brings AI capability and emerging technology to the edge for the everyday user. 

Defence Turkey: More and more, machine vision systems are making automated decisions based on variable conditions. How would you summarize Teledyne FLIR’s ongoing efforts to develop its existing capabilities in the fields of Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI)? What can you tell us about Prism AI? what are the peculiarities that distinguish it and how does AI support thermal imaging capability?

Jared FARAUDO: Our Prism AI models or networks are built on the world’s largest thermal image database of over 5 million thermal image annotations. With this database for model development, we’re the leader in AI for thermal camera-based systems.  And with new developer products like Prism AVP we’re also making it accessible and easy to integrate for customers.

Defence Turkey: How do you see the market developing over the short to medium term from the point of view of Teledyne FLIR’s products? What kind of new products and services do you see a demand for in the coming years? 

Jared FARAUDO: We continue to see healthy demand and interest in thermal and infrared. And there continue to be several applications for use in industrial and defense markets. We're seeing particular interest and increased demand from customers using UAS unmanned systems as those become more prolific, and we would expect to see more of that in the future. We also expect to see more adoption of the Prism AI capabilities that we've developed and recently released. This capability can be easily integrated with our Boson LWIR camera and our MWIR Neutrino camera portfolio.

Defence Turkey: Focusing on Türkiye now, can you elaborate on Teledyne FLIR’s footprint in Türkiye? What can you tell us about your ongoing activities in Türkiye?

Jared FARAUDO: We're actively working with a number of customers in Türkiye through our distributor GESA Elektronik and have other customers that we're continuing to talk with that are interested in the products. It's definitely a market where we see interest and opportunity for our Boson and Neutrino products. Our full product portfolio seems to be a good fit for the different applications and customers.

Defence Turkey: Would you like to add anything by way of a message our readers?

Jared FARAUDO: Teledyne FLIR is the global leader and a high-volume producer in thermal imaging for camera cores and sensor solutions. We offer several different products that are highly SWaP optimized and that enable very high performance. And we have a complete product portfolio of LWIR and MWIR infrared cameras available to customers for use in a wide range of applications. We'd welcome customers that are interested in learning more to reach out on our website, or via GESA Elektronik for more information