World’s first thermal imaging smartphone powered by FLIR infrared camera

FLIR Systems, Inc. has announced that Bullitt Group, a leading manufacturer of ruggedized smartphones, will integrate FLIR’s Lepton infrared camera in the new Cat S60 smartphone, creating the world’s first thermal imaging smartphone.

Part of the extensive Cat Phones lineup of ruggedized handsets, the Cat S60 is the latest consumer product to feature FLIR’s thermal imaging technology—in this case, the Lepton thermal imaging core. The Lepton features an 80 x 60 uncooled VOx microbolometer array with a pixel size of 17 µm The 8.5 x 8.5 x 5.9 mm fixed focus camera features a spectral range of 8 µm to 14 µm, 50° horizon field of view (FOV), and thermal sensitivity of <50 mK. Lepton utilizes wafer-level detector packaging, wafer-level micro-optics, and a custom integrated circuit that supports all camera functions on a single integrated low power chip.

With the ability to see in darkness and visualize heat that is invisible to the naked eye, the Cat S60 allows users to measure surface temperature from a distance, detect heat loss around doors and windows, spot moisture and missing insulation, making it suitable for use for building professionals, electricians, and first responders, to name a few.

Additionally, the smartphone—which is waterproof to depths of up to 5 meters for one hour—is equipped with a 13 MPixel underwater camera and a 5 MPixel front-facing camera. With FLIR’s MSX technology, details from visible imagery are embossed onto thermal images, offering users more detailed and higher quality thermal imagery.

"We're excited to partner with Bullitt to create the world's first smartphone with integrated thermal imaging," said Andy Teich, President and CEO of FLIR. "FLIR has pioneered significant reductions in size, weight, power, and cost of thermal cameras and the Cat S60 represents yet another application for our technology and offers it to new groups of users."

Peter Stephens, CEO Bullitt Group, global licensee for Caterpillar, also commented: "To stand out from the crowd in today's smartphone market requires true innovation and we are proud to partner with FLIR to announce what is truly a world's first," said he said. "The Cat S60 represents a milestone for smartphones. We are excited for thermal technology to be in the hands of Cat phones' customers and to discover the myriad of daily time and efficiency use cases it will present for them."

View more information on the Cat S60.
View more information on the FLIR Lepton.

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