Case Study: FLIR® EVS3™ Camera Covers

Posted in Food For Thought

River City Choppers (RCC) had the opportunity to be one of the first companies to test the new FLIR® EVS3™ thermal imaging camera. The camera is used as a pilot’s night vision enhancement. It aids pilots by enhancing the ability to see terrain and other aircraft at long ranges, even in total darkness, light fog, dust and smoke. For Lance Tanner, the proprietor of RCC, this was an exciting new product that would take a lot of the guess work out of flying in the dark. Thermal imaging for aircraft isn’t a new technology, but the appealing thing about the EVS3™ is it’s easy integration into an aircraft.

The only issue Lance had with the camera was that FLIR® did not design any mounting systems for it. They had only made it mountable with various threaded mounting points on the camera body. In order for Lance to test the imaging system on an aircraft, he would have to design a mounting system.

Lance decided that the Eurocopter AS 350 helicopter would be the first to receive a mounting system. Being an aircraft engineer, Lance knew where the camera could be mounted without disturbing the flight. He chose an area with an access panel under the pilot. There was enough room for the small camera if a new panel was made to act as a cover. We met with Lance and he explained the situation. He showed us a demo install of the imaging system on a different helicopter. Once we knew what were working with, Lance explained to us how he wanted to mount the system on the AS 350. We discussed how and where the mounting points would be, and what the cover needed to accomplish.

When we left the meeting, we took a spare access panel that the camera cover would be replacing. We also downloaded a spec sheet for the EVS3™ for dimensions. At this point we had all the measurements to create CAD drawings for the new camera cover. However, it was also at this point that we realized that CAD drawings weren’t what RCC needed. They needed camera covers. We decided that rather than spending a few hours creating drawings, we’d spend a few hours and create a prototype part. We created the preliminary tooling in only 3 hours. We were able to create the tooling so quickly because it was made by hand rather than programming it for CNC cutting. We then formed an ABS part over the tooling to create a prototype part. In the time it would have taken to create 2D drawings, we had a sample part in our hands.

At our next meeting with RCC, we surprised Lance with the prototype part. Lance was very pleased that within only a few days of our first meeting, we had a part to work with. We fit the cover to the AS 350, and took note of the few modifications needed for it to fit properly to the aircraft.

“I was extremely happy when they showed up with a prototype part rather than just drawings. We can do our own drawings in house, so it was nice to see Industrial Shape & Form take the initiative to just go ahead and create a part for us. It saved us a lot of time and unnecessary meetings”

– Lance Tanner, River City Choppers

After applying the modifications to the tooling, we formed a flight quality cover from polycarbonate. The new cover fit the AS 350 perfectly, and is now a part of the proposed mounting system for the FLIR® EVS3™ thermal imaging system on the Eurocopter AS 350 helicopter. The mounting system is currently awaiting certification from Transport Canada. Once approved, the FLIR® EVS3™ thermal imaging system will be ready for install on all Eurocopter AS 350 helicopters.