Lynred ATI320

The Lynred ATI320 is an uncooled thermal module from France with 320 × 240 pixels, intended for camera makers who build it into their own devices in high volumes. It suits small platforms of the small FPV class but is meant as a core building block, not as a finished drone camera.

The detector is an uncooled microbolometer for long-wave infrared with a 12 µm pixel pitch; small pixels allow compact optics. At 320 × 240 pixels, the resolution is a quarter of a 640 × 480 sensor, but the core module weighs only 7 g. As with any core, image quality and range depend on the lens the camera maker chooses.

Thermal modules above 9 Hz frame rate fall under the EU Dual-Use Regulation; with a core, the frame rate of the delivered version decides whether an export licence is needed. Images of people and property fall under data-protection law, and the operator of the aircraft must be registered.

Whoever builds in a core module takes on lens, housing, image processing and the calibration for temperature values; without these, the result is a thermal image but not a measuring instrument. For inspection with fine detail, higher resolutions make sense; for orientation at low weight, 320 × 240 suffices. Points to check are the lens mount, dust on the front lens, the connector and protection of the sensitive electronics from electrostatic discharge.