Flir is proud to partner with MathWorks® to provide MATLAB software solutions for users of Flir R&D/Science-grade thermal cameras. There are many ways to integrate Flir’s thermal cameras with MATLAB’s powerful analytics, but we’ll start with two common applications. Through tech notes and videos, we demonstrate how to open Flir ATS movie files recorded in Research Studio or ResearchIR for advanced analysis and data processing and how to stream data from Flir GigE cameras directly into MATLAB. To help you get the most out of this integration, we’ve also included sample programs that showcase how to fully leverage Flir thermal cameras within MATLAB’s robust programming environment.

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Opening Flir ATS Files in MATLAB

With Flir’s free Science File SDK, MATLAB users can seamlessly open and analyze thermal images and movies captured from Flir cameras using Flir’s Research Studio or ResearchIR software. You simply need to acquire thermal data in Research Studio or ResearchIR, then leverage the Science File SDK and sample MEX code to import full thermal imagery along with parsed header data directly into your program. This streamlined process enables quick and efficient integration of Flir camera data into MATLAB for advanced analysis and processing.

Flir Science File SDK for MatLab - Getting started

Sample MATLAB Code using Flir’s R&D/Science Thermal Cameras

Flir has worked with MathWorks to develop a sample program using a Flir thermal camera and recorded images. The sample program demonstrate – through simple code – a few ways to leverage the power of MATLAB with Flir’s high performance R&D/Science thermal camera solutions.

Face Detection and Tracking

This sample program opens an infrared movie recorded in Flir’s R&D software, grabs the first frame and performs a face detection. It then uses that face detection and associated points to draw a region of interest around the face and track it in the subsequent frames within the movie. This sample code uses the Flir Science File SDK to open the file and MATLABs Face Detection and Tracking algorithms in their vision toolkits. It’s a great example of using high contrast thermal imagery to do target identification and tracking in movies, which could scale to live image streams as well.

Flir Thermal Face Detection and Tracking in MATLAB

Face Detection and Tracking - Sample Code

Using Flir Thermal Cameras in MATLAB

Flir’s R&D/Science grade thermal cameras integrate seamlessly into MATLAB. The cameras are fully GigE Vision and GeniCam compliant, which makes controlling the camera remotely and streaming fully temperature-calibrated thermal images into MATLAB very straightforward. There is no need for translation of vendor specific SDKs. Instead, the industry-standard interface allows you to quickly set up to stream high sensitivity thermal data from the Flir camera directly into MATLAB, so you can focus on developing your application.

Getting started with the MATLAB Image Acquisition Toolbox using infrared cameras

Acquire and Analyze Images from Flir A70 Thermal Infrared Camera