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34 T hermal imaging sensors have been proving their value in unmanned platforms for almost as long as the platforms themselves have been around. In addition to providing visual data in harsh weather, low light, or at night, thermal information can be processed to output actionable analyses for users in a wide range of sectors. A typical thermal camera core consists of three main parts. First, the lens observes and transmits infrared (IR) radiation to the next part, the focal plane array (or ‘detector’), which converts it into measurable signals. Third, the processor module generates imagery for users based on those signals, and processes commands from the user or autopilot to the camera. The design of each of these parts varies significantly from one camera to the next, and major advances in the technologies that underpin them have enabled important new mission applications over the past several years. Optics At wavelengths from 0.75 to 1000 μm – the IR band – traditional glasses and moulded plastics used in visible-light camera lenses will not work, as they are opaque to IR radiation. Instead, IR lenses use materials such as germanium, chalcogenides (such as germanium arsenic selenium and germanium antimony selenium), sapphire or silicon. By and large, these are shaped according to the same structural and refractory considerations Rory Jackson reports on the latest advances in infrared camera technology, spurring their use in a growing range of applications Warm reception February/March 2020 | Unmanned Systems Technology In addition to various aerial applications, thermal cameras are now being tested for enhancing automatic emergency braking systems in self-driving road vehicles (Courtesy of FLIR)