MWC: Panasonic launches Toughpad FZ-M1 Thermal Imaging Solution

Panasonic has added a thermal imaging camera to its 7-inch 'fully rugged' Toughpad FZ-M1 Windows tablet. With a thermal camera on-board, field workers in industries such as automotive or building maintenance will be able to record, process and document temperature measurements on their main work device.

The integrated thermal camera comes courtesy of market leader FLIR, which announced its 'Thermal by FLIR' program and the first four partners -- ARSENZ, Casio, Panasonic and TinkerForge -- at CES in January.

The FLIR Lepton micro-thermal camera integrated into the Toughpad FZ-M1 delivers 160 by 120 thermal resolution and has an imaging temperature range of minus 20 degrees up to 400 degrees Celsius, plus or minus five degrees.

The thermal imaging application is designed by Panasonic and offers Standard and Pro options. Sandard mode supports thermal snapshots, changing the thermal pallette, a thermal pointer, and temperature in centigrade or fahrenheit. In Pro mode you can also pinpoint maximum and minimum temperature, record thermal video and add meta data such as QR codes to images.

The fanless Toughpad FZ-M1 tablet runs Windows 10 Pro on 6th-generation Intel Core or Atom Core processors. Its 3,200mAh battery is rated for 8-hours and can be hot swapped. The 1280-by-800 IPS touchscreen is sunlight readable and can be operated with a stylus and when wearing gloves.

Configuration options include a barcode reader, serial port, 4G connectivity and SmartCard. The fully rugged tablet can withstand drops from heights up to 1.8m and is IP65 rated for dust and water resistance.

The Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1 Thermal Imaging solution will be available from end of February. The thermal camera option will be available later in the year on other Panasonic products.

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