DETECTORS

DETECTORS

The HotShot uncooled imaging radiometer from Raytheon Amber (Goleta, CA) was designed for predictive maintenance, condition monitoring, and other industrial applications in a joint project with the Industrial Electronic Division of Nippon Avionics (Tokyo, Japan). The hand-held thermal imager weighs only 5.5 lb and incorporates an uncooled microbolometer 320 ¥ 240-pixel focal-plane array that senses in the 8- to 14-µm range. The camera handles much like a camcorder and has a flip-out 5-in. active matrix color display; its performance is unaffected by solar glare so it can be operated outdoors. The HotShot is controlled via a Windows interface and also incorporates a flash memory card and lithium battery, which reduce camera weight and size. A voice annotation feature allows the operator to kee¥track of where images were recorded by adding voice notes to image files.