Freefly, a leading manufacturer of professional camera movement systems, has announced the integration of the Workswell Wiris Pro payload into their Astro ecosystem. This integration allows the Wiris Pro to be seamlessly attached to a Freefly Gimbal using the smart dovetail interface, providing enhanced thermal capabilities for first responders, firefighters, and aerial inspections.
The Wiris Pro payload features two sensors, a 10x optical zoom full HD camera, and a 640 by 512 radiometric thermal camera that captures 30 Hertz video and stills. Freefly offers the Wiris Pro payload as a standalone package for customers who already have existing mapping payloads, as well as a kit called Astro thermal, which includes the Wiris Pro payload integrated with Astro.
The user experience of the Wiris Pro payload offers various features and controls. Users can switch between video and photo modes, and adjust temperature exposure with three different modes: full auto, manual, and custom. The payload also provides a wide range of color palettes for thermal imaging, catering to different use cases and preferences. Notably, the payload includes isotherm capabilities, allowing users to set different colors to correspond with specific temperature ranges, making it suitable for search and rescue operations.
The Wiris Pro payload offers versatile recording options, including two types of thermal video and three types of thermal images. Thermal encoded video allows users to view thermal video directly from the camera in a DOT Avi format, while radiometric video captures temperature data for every pixel at 30 Hertz. In terms of photo modes, users can save images in JPEG or TIFF formats from the thermal sensor. Additionally, the payload offers an infrared super resolution mode that combines two thermal images to provide a higher resolution image.
On the RGB camera side, the Wiris Pro payload features a 10x optical zoom with full HD sensor capabilities. Freefly has integrated zoom rate scaling, which adjusts the controls to be less sensitive as users zoom in, enabling precise and controlled movements. The payload includes a 128-gigabyte SSD for saving images and videos, as well as the ability to save images to a USB drive in the Astro system. Geolocation data, including drone location and gimbal attitude, is automatically embedded in the images saved to the USB drive, facilitating geotagging for inspection purposes.
With a weight of approximately 930 grams, the Wiris Pro payload offers around 30 minutes of flight time, depending on flight conditions. Freefly has also designed a robust Pelican case with a foam insert to protect the payload during transportation. The payload connects seamlessly to the Astro system via the smart dovetail interface.
In addition to the Wiris Pro payload, Freefly provides other smart dovetail payloads, including the mapping payload for high-resolution imaging, the Pixi PE gimbal for custom payloads, and the smart dovetail connector kit for integrating custom sensors. Freefly is actively working with Sentera, incorporating their 6X multi-spectral camera into the Astro ecosystem, expanding the capabilities to include agricultural applications.
Freefly is excited to begin shipping the Wiris Pro payload in the coming weeks and anticipates future developments and collaborations with other payload manufacturers.
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