FLIR Photon Manual Book page 16

Chapter 2
image masking. This enables the user
to pre-select specific areas of interest
for analysis of temperature data. This
is illustrated in Figure 5, which shows
continuous monitoring of substation
hotspots that indicate problem areas.
A similar type of pattern recognition
software can be used for automated
inspection in metal soldering and
welding and in laser welding of
plastic parts. IR cameras can see heat
conducting through the finished parts
to check the temperature of the areas
where parts are joined together against
a stored value. In addition, the software
can learn a weld path to make sure this
path is correct, which is accomplished
by programming the specific pixels in
an image to be used by the software for
this purpose. Alternatively, the program
Figure 5. Masking functionality of the FLIR A320 IR camera, which is also available in some third
party software programs.
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developer can save an image of a
"perfect" part and then have the software
look for minimum, maximum, or delta
values that tells the equipment operator
if a part passes inspection. The car seat
heater inspection described in Chapter 1
can be an example of this, and the same
principle is used in the inspection of car
window heater elements by applying
power to them and looking at their
thermographic image.
Power over Ethernet. It should be noted
that a camera with Ethernet connectivity
can be powered from a variety of sources,
depending on its design. Typically, a
connection for an external DC supply is
used, or where available, the camera is
powered via PoE (Power over Ethernet).
PoE uses a power supply connected to
the network with spare signal leads not