science

Teledyne FLIR

Teledyne FLIR is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Teledyne FLIR rather than just read about it. In short: Teledyne FLIR LLC, formerly FLIR Systems Inc, (an acronym for "forward-looking infrared"), a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies since January 2021, specializes in the design and production of thermal imaging cameras and sensors. Its main customers are governments and in 2020, approximately 31% of its revenues were from the federal government of the United States and its agencies.

Key takeaways

Teledyne FLIR belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Teledyne FLIR to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Teledyne FLIR from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Teledyne FLIR LLC, formerly FLIR Systems Inc, (an acronym for "forward-looking infrared"), a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies since January 2021, specializes in the design and production of thermal imaging cameras and sensors. Its main customers are governments and in 2020, approximately 31% of its revenues were from the federal government of the United States and its agencies.

History The company was founded as FLIR Systems in 1978 to pioneer the development of high-performance, low-cost infrared (thermal) imaging systems for airborne uses. Originally based in Tigard, Oregon, the company relocated to Portland, Oregon, in the mid-1990s. In 1990, the company acquired the industrial infrared imaging group of Hughes Aircraft Company. The company became a public company via an initial public offering in June 1993, raising $12 million. In January 1998, the company acquired Agema Infrared System of Sweden for approximately $80 million. In January 1999, J. Kenneth Stringer III was named President and CEO of the company. The company acquired Inframetrics three months later. Stringer was fired by the board of directors due to errors in the company's accounting practices in 2000, and Earl Lewis replaced Stringer as President and CEO of the company. PricewaterhouseCoopers was dismissed as auditor. In January 2001, FLIR agreed to pay $6 million to settle class-action shareholder litigation and FLIR settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2002. Three executives were charged with fraudulent accounting. In 2004, the company acquired a building in Wilsonville, Oregon, from Mentor Graphics for $10.3 million for use as a new headquarters. That year, FLIR acquired Indigo Systems, a developer and supplier of infrared imaging products, including cooled and uncooled infrared detectors, camera cores, and finished cameras, for $190 million. In 2011, after losing a trade secrets claim against the founders of Indigo Systems, FLIR agreed to pay $39 million to settle a countersuit. Beginning in 2005, the company began supplying BMW with imaging technology for use on its vehicles. The company reported in 2007 that it would restate its financial statements for the period from 1995 to 2005 due to options backdating. FLIR had been sued by investors for options backdating, but the lawsuits were thrown out in November 2007. FLIR acquired Extech Instruments for $40 million the month prior. FLIR acquired Ifara Tecnologias of Spain for €7.0 million in 2008. The company sold off Extech Data Systems, a division of Extech which made portable printers, December 2009; at the same time, it acquired security hardware maker Directed Perception for $20 million. FLIR acquired the bankrupt electronics manufacturer Raymarine in May 2010 for $180 million. In December 2012, the company acquired Lorex Technology for $60 million. Lorex was sold to Dahua Technology in 2018 for $29 million. Andrew C. Teich was appointed President and CEO after the retirement of Earl Lewis in 2013. In April 2015, the company paid $9.5 million to settle allegations of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after it paid for a world tour for Saudi Arabian officials. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, FLIR earned more than $7 million in profits from sales influenced by the FCPA violations. The company acquired DVTEL, a provider of software and hardware technologies for advanced video surveillance, for approximately $92 million in cash the same year. In November 2016, FLIR acquired the Canadian company Point Grey Research, owner of the Brickstream brand of camera products, for $259 million. Point Grey Research also owns the Blackfly camera line, the Dragonfly camera line, and the Grasshopper camera line. The following month, FLIR acquired Prox Dynamics, the makers of the Black Hornet Nano, a nano-drone used by the military and law enforcement for surveillance and reconnaissance, for $134 million. In May 2017, Jim Cannon was appointed President and CEO of the company. That year, the company partnered with the WWF's Wildlife Crime Technology Project, an initiative supported by a $5 million grant from Google. FLIR cameras were deployed in several game preserves in Namibia, Kenya, South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe. The program's thermal cameras, along with drones, digital tracking systems and other technology, was used to prevent poaching. Two years later, in 2019, the company acquired Aeryon Labs for $200 million. FLIR then acquired Endeavor Robotics, the former iRobot division responsible for unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for the global military, public safety, and critical infrastructure markets, for $382 million in cash two months later. The company also opened a second headquarters in Arlington County, Virginia. In October, the company acquired from Aria Insights patents related to tethered drones, which are connected to the ground with a cable and can stay aloft much longer than drones powered by batteries. The company, formerly known as CyPhy Works, had failed earlier in the year. In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company released a thermal camera that can be used to identify elevated skin temperature. Demand for these products surged, putting stress on the company's supply chain. Teledyne Technologies announced in January of the following year that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the company for $8 billion, against FLIR's 2019 revenue of $1.9 billion. The acquisition was completed in May 2021, and FLIR Systems Inc. continued as Teledyne FLIR LLC. On October 25, 2022, the company was awarded $48.7 million (USD) to provide Maritime Forward Looking Infared (MARFLIR) II sensors and variants of the SeaFLIR 280-HD surveillance systems to the United States Coast Guard.

Products

FLIR produces devices for the following markets:

Surveillance and reconnaissance Force protection Border and maritime patrol Critical infrastructure protection Search and rescue Detection Targeting Airborne law enforcement Drug interdiction

FLIR One

The FLIR ONE camera is limited to nine frames per second due to United States regulatory concerns. The camera can be used to detect water and air leaks.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Teledyne FLIR

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Teledyne FLIR claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Teledyne FLIR before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Teledyne FLIR ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Teledyne FLIR

In research: Teledyne FLIR appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Teledyne FLIR in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Teledyne FLIR is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1978 establishments in Oregon, 1993 initial public offerings, 2021 mergers and acquisitions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Teledyne FLIR outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Teledyne FLIR in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Teledyne FLIR means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Teledyne FLIR out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Teledyne FLIR in simple terms?

Why does Teledyne FLIR matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Teledyne FLIR?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Teledyne FLIR.