|  Wealth
of new results from AKARI infrared sky-surveyor
Physorg.com, March 26, 2007
Japanese satellite success -- This composite image shows star formation revealed
by AKARI’s wide-area survey in the reflection nebula IC4954/4955. The nebula
is located in the constellation Vulpecula, around 6500 light years from us. The
Near- and Mid-infrared Camera (IRC) and the Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) instruments
onboard AKARI carried out observations of this region at seven different infrared
wavelengths and revealed a continuing cycle of star formation over three generations,
across enormous spatial scales (the actual scale of the picture is approximately
13x20 light years). more..
Officials
balance hunt with safety concerns
Daily Local News, March 24, 2007
Infrared Thermographic Services of North Carolina will conduct the survey and
provide a map of the township showing the number of deer and where they live.
-- EAST GOSHEN - The township’s deer management committee met again last
week while anxiously awaiting the results of a deer count. The committee adopted
its charter and began discussion of how to use hunting as a deer management strategy.
Committee members also heard from residents as they continued to discuss issues
related to controlling the township’s deer population. The deer count was
supposed to be conducted last week but was delayed by inclement weather. The study
will use infrared photography to locate deer while flying over the township at
night. more..
New
Lexus LS flagship car wins advanced safety award
Sligo Weekender, March 20, 2007
The new Lexus LS model has won the international Auto Bild Group’s innovation
award for the best new technical development of the year for its ‘Advanced
Pre-Crash Safety System’. The system will become available in Ireland on
all LS versions on the introduction of the LS 600h later this year. Elements of
the ‘Advanced’ system include a special infrared stereo camera for
early detection of dangers and an associated infrared face field recognition system
which can check whether the driver is looking ahead in critical situations. A
radar sensor at the rear which gives warning of imminent impact when a following
vehicle is approaching too fast. more..
EU
Consortium demonstrates power NDT tool for total detection coverage
EMSNow, March 20, 2007
An EU collaboration between EU companies and research organisations, known as
Microscan, has been working to produce a powerful tool in the total quality control
of Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assemblies. The consortium has just completed a
first demonstration of proof in principle at TWI Technology Centre (Port Talbot,
Wales)....Although some of the techniques are already used in industry, with the
exception of AOI, they are typically used offline and consequently can only be
used to conduct batch tests with limited defect detection capability. Additionally,
AOI is also currently limited to line-of-sight inspection and cannot be applied
to hidden joints and devices/features. Other defects, such as plastic encapsulated
delamination and heat plane delamination, can only be detected reliably with SAM
and active thermography. more..
RedShift
Systems and Imagize LLC Announce Strategic Partnership to Develop IR Fusion Solutions
Business Wire, March 20, 2007
BURLINGTON, Mass. - RedShift Systems, the world’s leading developer of optical
thermal imaging solutions, and Imagize LLC, a Berkeley, CA based provider of fusion
system-on-a-chip technology, today announced their collaborative effort to design
and build the world’s first truly affordable IR fusion camera solutions
for security and other markets. RedShift contributes its optical thermal imaging-based
Thermal Light ValveTM (TLV) technology and Imagize capitalizes on its unique technology
which intelligently fuses thermal and visible imagery on a pixel by pixel basis
in a small size, low power and light weight package. The companies will work together
in 2007 to deliver breakthrough IR fusion solutions for security and surveillance
applications where true 24/7 day/night situational awareness is desired. more..
  
Electrical Testing: Move cursor
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IR
inspection helps avoid catastrophe
Reliable Plant Magazine, March, 2007
On a routine quarterly infrared inspection of plant electrical power distribution
equipment, a high-voltage switch for a transformer was found arcing to the insulation
board. A quick and effective response to the dangerous condition avoided a catastrophe
at the plant. The environment at the plant is very humid and the physical assets
are 30 years old. The quarterly infrared inspections of electrical distribution
equipment routinely reveal significant problems that were not present in the previous
inspection. During one such infrared inspection over the summer, a 12,500-volt
disconnect switch for a transformer on the plant roof was found arcing from the
switch to an insulation board. more..
Drumbeat
Quickens for Safer Cars
Design News, March 19, 2007
Suppliers are developing a raft of new systems to prevent accidents -- GPS and
“infotainment” may grab the attention of consumers, but improved safety
systems may ultimately be the biggest payoffs from the unrelenting march of electronics
into the auto world. From chipmakers to first-tier suppliers, the companies that
develop new technology for automakers are offering new safety solutions unimaginable
even a generation ago: adaptive cruise control, lane departure systems, night
vision and much more.Such innovations, notes a new Strategy Analytics research
study, will help boost the annual semiconductor market for automotive from $18
billion in 2006 to $29 billion by 2013. more..
UA
Cassini Scientist Will Show New Views of Saturn March 27
UANews.org, March 19, 2007
Striking pictures taken in the infrared, which is light at wavelengths longer
than our eyes see, have uncovered phenomena never seen in the Saturn system before.
As Brown said, "When one studies planets, one needs to look under lots of
rocks, not just the obvious ones." -- When you look at wavelengths other
than the eye can see, you see a lot of things you never imagined were there. Scientists
on the international Cassini mission are getting views of Saturn they never could
have imagined from an instrument called the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer,
or VIMS...VIMS can identify the chemical composition of a surface, atmosphere
or Saturn's rings by measuring infrared as well as visible light. It is essentially
a color camera that takes pictures at 352 different wavelengths. See more about
VIMS on the Web at http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu.
more..
'Electric Eye' Identifies Car Thieves At 55 MPH
TheDenverChannel.com, March 16, 2007
AURORA, Colo. -- Thanks to new technology, Aurora police can see a stolen car
coming -- even when it's on the move and in a different lane. The infrared license
plate reader instantly scans multiple lanes of highway traffic, alerting officers
to stolen vehicles, and outstanding arrest warrants. Before the suspect even knows
it, the chase is on. But because police know exactly which car or truck they're
looking for instantly, they can radio ahead and stop the chase before it really
gets going. That was the case Thursday at about 4:30 p.m. on Interstate 225. Aurora
police got a hit on a stolen car, called other officers ahead between Colfax and
Sixth avenues, who then stopped southbound traffic, surrounded the suspect car
with multiple undercover units, and made a quick arrest. more..
Standards:
Infraspection's New Guideline for Pest Detection Thermal Imaging
Temperatures.com, March 12, 2007
Burlington NJ, USA --- Infraspection Institutehas announced a new applications
standard titled, Guideline for Infrared Inspections to Detect Pests and Pest Related
Damage. Developed by Infraspection and experts within the pest management industry,
this 10 page document outlines procedures for detecting pests and pest related
damage using a thermal imager. The Guideline applies to mammals, insects, and
wood destroying organisms such as mold and fungi. Jon Grossman, Guideline contributor
and President of Hi-Tech Inspection Services, adds, “Infraspection’s
new Guideline fills a need that has existed for quite some time within the Integrated
Pest Management profession. This document provides pest management professionals
with straightforward procedures that help ensure accuracy and enhance credibility.”
more..
Fast
IR camera selected to monitor strategic power generation components
Optics.org, March 12, 2007
Cedip Infrared Systems has announced that the French Electricity company (EDF)
has implemented several of its Silver 420M IR camera's to develop IR thermographic
conditional maintenance methods for a number of its production sites. Infrared
thermography has become an essential tool used to monitor and maintain key components
and structures in the production, transport and distribution of electricity. For
such measurements, the infrared cameras most often used are portable instruments,
powered by long-life batteries and operating at low speed of analysis (50Hz).
more..
NASA
Cassini Image: Murky World
SpaceRef Interactive, March 12, 2007
Straining to make out the surface of Titan through its murky atmosphere, the Cassini
spacecraft's wide angle camera manages to exploit one of the infrared spectral
windows where the particulate smog is transparent enough for a peek. The Senkyo
region is visible in the north, while Mezzoramia lies to the south in this view
of Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across). The image was taken with the
Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths
of infrared light centered at 939 nanometers. The image was taken on Jan. 29,
2007 at a distance of approximately 79,000 kilometers (49,000 miles) from Titan.
Image scale is 5 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel. more..
Rapid
Prediction of Soil Water Retention using Mid Infrared Spectroscopy
Soil Science Society of America, March 12, 2007
Soil-water properties vary widely with soil composition and texture, but measurements
are often time consuming and expensive to determine using traditional laboratory
methods. Mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy is sensitive to soil composition, allowing
multivariate calibrations to be derived between volumetric soil water retention
and MIR spectra. Mid-infrared partial least squares (PLS) models can be derived
from the spectra of soils and reference data, and can be used to predict the water
retention solely from the MIR spectra of unknown samples. Regressions between
laboratory-determined volumetric water retentions, {theta}v, at matric suctions
from 1 to 1500 kPa and values predicted by MIR PLS analysis are presented for
a broad variety of surface soils from southern Australia. more..
Roof Moisture Testing: Move
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The
Ultimate Reliability Machine
Reliable Plant Magazine, March, 2007
The base shift involves heavy doses of predictive maintenance: infrared thermography
and motor current monitoring lead the way -- The global chairman of the board
is a big proponent of effective plant maintenance. Plant production, engineering
and logistics workers say with a straight face, "I don't remember us having
any downtime in 2006" and "the equipment isn't a stumbling block for
us." Targets for overall equipment effectiveness exceed 90 percent (world
class is considered 85 percent). Plant leaders say the marks are achievable or
already have been surpassed. Uptime nears 100 percent in some mission-critical
areas. Maintenance attention is equally focused on the past, the present and the
future (up to seven years down the line). Reactive work in some areas comprises
less than 5 percent of the overall task load. Impossible? A pipe dream? A distant
goal? Nope. That is the current state of reliability at BMW Manufacturing Company's
plant in Spartanburg, S.C. more..
The
Heat Is On
PRWeb, March 7, 2007
Infrared themographic imaging, an advanced medical diagnostic tool, is now easily
available to horse and animal owners. -- Sundre, AB -- The heat is on all of our
horses says Lawrence Nault, President of Inside Out Diagnostics. "and we
can show you where." Advances in modern medical technology are occurring
at an incredible rate. The cost of these technologies often limits their availability
and usefulness to horse and animal owners though. Inside Out Diagnostic Imaging
is now making one of these incredible pieces of technology, infrared thermographic
imaging, available to the average horse owner. Working closely with the staff
of Shur Shod Horseshoeing School, an industry leader in training farriers, and
the North American Farriers Academy and Research Center, Inside Out has refined
the use of infrared technology in evaluating the health and condition of horses.
more..
Best
Practices Awards - Predictive
Plant Services, February 20, 2007
Thermal monitoring systems employing noncontact infrared (IR) sensors can measure
temperature just about anywhere on the factory floor. These versatile devices
measure and accumulate real-time data, and are well suited for environments with
moving targets, inaccessible objects and high temperatures. An IR thermometer
has no energy interference (thus, no energy is lost from the target), and no risk
of contamination or mechanical effect. IR sensors incorporating a miniature sensing
head and separate electronics can be located in confined spaces close to hazardous
process areas. more..
Photographer's
pictures look more like paintings
Alameda Times-Star, February 19, 2007
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHER Robert Hartman, 80, of Oakland magically transforms barren
California landscape into art (above) through the use of infrared film. Hartman
switched careers from abstract painter to aerial photographer with such success,
his photographs resemble paintings. Robert Hartman's art studio is the wild blue
yonder. His canvas is California landscape that appears flat, barren and boring
to the ordinary eye. That's before he transforms it into something creative and
unique. Hartman is an abstract painter turned aerial photographer. His application
of infrared on his camera shots of uninhabited Central California has produced,
perhaps, his finest abstract work. His process is so different, so magical, that
he has unintentionally merged his two worlds: His photographs resemble paintings.
more.. |
