Gremsy Lynx dual-spectrum EO/IR camera payload

The Gremsy Lynx is an ultra-compact dual-spectrum EO/IR camera payload for small unmanned aircraft. It combines a 12.3 MP visible camera with a 640 × 512 radiometric thermal camera on a three-axis stabilized gimbal with a spherical housing, and it is designed for VTOL and fixed-wing platforms in public safety, drone-as-first-responder, inspection and surveillance missions. It is offered in two versions: the NDAA version weighs 190 g and uses a FLIR Boson 640 core, and the Standard version weighs 235 g.

The EO camera uses a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor with 4056 × 3040 pixels (1.55 µm pitch), a 5.4 mm lens at f/2.8 and a field of view of 60.4° horizontal, 32° vertical and 72.4° diagonal. Digital zoom runs from 1x to 10x, video is recorded at 3840 × 2160, and a minimum illumination of 0.001 lux supports low-light and night operation. The thermal channel is an uncooled VOx microbolometer with a spectral range of 8 to 14 µm, a thermal sensitivity (NETD) of 50 mK or better and 1x to 8x digital zoom. The NDAA version runs at 60 Hz with a 14 mm fixed-focus lens and about 32° horizontal field of view; the Standard version runs at 25 or 30 Hz.

The gimbal offers Off, Lock, Follow and Mapping modes, a mechanical range of ±170° pan, -140° to +50° tilt and ±50° roll, a maximum speed of 100°/s and an angular vibration range of ±0.01°. The payload provides EO object tracking, EO AI object detection (human and car by default), selectable EO, IR, EO/IR and IR/EO views, radiometric overlay, geotagging with GPS coordinates, gimbal orientation and zoom level, and raw thermal data streaming at up to 5 Hz.

Integration uses a mainboard supplied with the payload, with an input of 15 to 52 VDC. Typical operating power is 15 W for the NDAA version (18 W for Standard), with a 40 W peak at locked motor. Interfaces are UART and Ethernet for control and streaming (RTSP at 720p to 1080p, with 100 to 200 ms latency in H.264) and HDMI at 1080p, 60 fps. Recording goes to a MicroSD card of up to 128 GB or to 64 GB of internal flash. Control is available through MAVLink with Pixhawk, CubePilot and Skynode autopilots running ArduPilot or PX4, and through the Gremsy Payload SDK.

Mechanically, the payload measures 80 × 60 × 96 mm and mounts on the bottom of the airframe through a three-ball rubber damping system. The operating temperature range is -20 to 50 °C, and Gremsy lists an IP54 rating. Gremsy also publishes detection, recognition and identification ranges for people, trucks and UAVs for both sensors.