Adding FLIR to 4Runner

[MikeYQM]

I do a lot of back highway driving in Canada where moose and deer are common. A vehicle mounted FLIR system interests me.

Has anyone mounted anything similar to what is below? At $250 and with 1000’ of range that gives over 10 seconds lead time at 60mph. As an added bonus, there’s no battery to charge.

https://www.thermal.com/compact-series.html

Thoughts or experiences?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SidKo]

Camera would have to be mounted outside the vehicle so that the sensors can detect the heat signature. The attached camera may not need a battery of its own, but it uses the battery on the phone and cameras like this uses up the phones battery fairly quick.

As for the 1000 ft range, not sure how accurate that is, especially when moving. The resolution on these cameras are fairly low and may need a second or two to calibrate/adjust itself when the surroundings is constantly changing.

I do a lot of back highway driving in Canada where moose and deer are common. A vehicle mounted FLIR system interests me.

Has anyone mounted anything similar to what is below? At $250 and with 1000’ of range that gives over 10 seconds lead time at 60mph. As an added bonus, there’s no battery to charge.

https://www.thermal.com/compact-series.html

Thoughts or experiences?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Agent_Outside]

Your looking at hugely expensive costs involved for any type of setup that will operate in any manner even remotely close to an OEM night vision.

 

[epjfsa]

I do a lot of back highway driving in Canada where moose and deer are common. A vehicle mounted FLIR system interests me.

Has anyone mounted anything similar to what is below? At $250 and with 1000’ of range that gives over 10 seconds lead time at 60mph. As an added bonus, there’s no battery to charge.

https://www.thermal.com/compact-series.html

Thoughts or experiences?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've done HID projector retrofits to two vehicles (FX35 projectors in my e36, Morimoto projectors in the '15 Tacoma that I replaced with the 4runner) and would highly recommend considering this route instead. FLIR sounds like it could be a distraction, especially if you're able to use high beams often.

My retrofit to the e36 is stellar, especially because the high beams were bi-xenon HIDs and factory 55w halogens at the same time. I worked 2nd shift most of the time back when the car was my DD driving many back farm roads, and it likely saved my butt and the car many times.

 

[wcjeep]

I have a different version of the linked Flir. I would never trust it at 1k ft in a moving vehicle. Among the many problems is the legality of having a cellphone screen turned on while driving. Even worse at night. Maybe 100ft for major temp changes? Some luxury brands have similar tech.


Add more light and slow down. You could add light and wire a light sensor into the control circuit. This would cut the auxiliary lighting for oncoming traffic. Make it part of the amp control for the relay.

 

[diodia]

there are systems pulled off wrecked cars like Cadillacs, and I've seen a few retrofits. But they werent easy.

^^^

I looked into this a little earlier this year, and it seemed that it is definitely not easy/viable/financially worthy option to do.

Some more info:
The cameras in the Cadillacs were a bit older version (the ones that seemed easier to make work) and have a fairly low resolution.
The cameras that some folks have used are from newer BMWs, but I have not seen them integrated outside the BMW. Apparently the module needs to communicate with a BMW ECU to work. It is also virtually the same as Flir Pathfindr (the original one), but due to the connectivity needs, it is not cross-compatible.

With that being said, if money is no obstacle, Flir Pathfindr is the standalone camera that can be rigged up in any vehicle. See it here. Great resolution, great depth of view, expensive for sure.

 

[AndrewTK]

I will second the thoughts that the seek thermal units would be ineffective while driving, and I’m not sure they would hold up well mounted externally. I think many of the OEMs use this or a variant of it:
https://www.flir.com/products/pathfindir-ii/
Edit - just saw someone else linked it above

Unfortunately they run about $2k but are designed to do what you want. I have long thought about adding one, but could never justify it.

 

[Swarty]

I do a lot of back highway driving in Canada where moose and deer are common. A vehicle mounted FLIR system interests me.

Has anyone mounted anything similar to what is below? At $250 and with 1000’ of range that gives over 10 seconds lead time at 60mph. As an added bonus, there’s no battery to charge.

https://www.thermal.com/compact-series.html

Thoughts or experiences?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So as an engineer who has built IR systems for this lanes that’s not going to work at all. The FLIR system you would need is the pathfindIR system. It’ll run 3k + install. And even then. Just wait if you want IR. The newest gen Augmented reality will be able to pull in and boresight IR feeds.

 

[fourwd1]

Kind of interesting.
Moving to Off Topic, others may be interested as well.