Download the Manual

Version: 1.1

Last Update: 2022-10

Precaution

 

READ AND UNDERSTAND ALL PRECAUTION INFORMATION BEFORE USING THIS PRODUCT. Failure to follow these safety instructions may result in permanent damage to the product.

 

DO NOT point the thermal camera to strong energy sources, such as sun, laser beam, or lava. The observed object's temperature should not exceed 800℃, as the high energy radiation is harmful to the thermal camera.

 

DO NOT place the camera near any heat sources, such as fire, engines, heating, or inside the vehicle under prolonged sunlight exposure.

 

The ideal working temperature is -20℃ ~ 50℃.

 

DO NOT touch thermal camera lens with your fingers or any other object, as oil or other substance covering the lens leads to blurred images and inaccurate temperature detection.

 

DO NOT use alcohol or alkaline detergent to clean the camera lens, as it can erode the surface and coating on the lens. Instead, use a clean, dry, soft cloth to clean the lens.

DO NOT frequently power on/off the camera, as it might shorten the product lifespan. Wait for at least 1 min in between the power on/off.

 

DO NOT insert or unplug the microSD when the camera is on, as it might cause files loss or hardware issues.

 

ENSURE to press the rubber microSD card cover firmly in place to prevent water ingress in use.

 

DO NOT disassemble the camera. If you have any issues with the camera, contact SwellPro Support.

 

Product Overview

GC3-T/GC3-TE Waterproof 3-axis Gimbal Thermal Camera features both a high resolution thermal infrared camera and a full HD low-light camera with a dimmable LED flashlight, which can provide both infrared and visible light imaging simultaneously and allow for a quick switch between the two.

The thermal infrared camera features high resolution (640 x 512), high sensitivity (≤ 50mk@f/1.0), wide range (-20℃ to 150℃) infrared thermal imaging. Powerful enough for missions ranging from search & rescue, security detection, precision agriculture to various industrial inspections, such as routine power line inspection, roofing and solar panels maintenance, bridge defect detection, etc.

The low-light camera can capture full HD imaging in the dark environment when the regular camera cannot return any images. When operating in complete darkness, the dimmable LED flashlight still gives you the confidence to maintain the vision. With the low light camera, whenever you find the object of interest using the infrared thermal camera, you can always switch back to give a visual confirm of the object.

With the SwellPro waterproofing technology and the compatibility with the powerful SplashDrone 4 flight flatform, you will get excellent aerial thermal imaging in any harsh weather conditions.

 

In the Box

 

 

 

 

Product Diagram

 

 

 

1. Gimbal Mount	4. Gimbal Connector
2. Roll Motor	5. Pan Motor
3. Tilt Motor	6. microSD Card Slot
	7. Low light Camera
	8. Infrared Thermal Camera
	9. Dimmable LED Flashlight

 

Installation

Install the Gimbal

 

Install the SD Card

• The GC3-T/GC3-TE supports microSD cards with a maximum capacity of 128GB. Since the camera requires fast reading and writing of high-stream video data, please use microSD cards with Class 10 or UHS-1 or above to ensure proper functioning.
• Do not plug or unplug the microSD card during use, as files may be damaged or lost.
• Once you finish recording, stop recording and save the file. If you turn off the power directly before saving the files, the recording file might be damaged.

Camera Status Indicator

There is a camera status indicator on the back of the camera to indicate the camera's working status. It flashes green or red.

 

 

Control

 

Gimbal Control

Gimbal Button

There are two gimbal modes: Follow mode and Lock mode. The default mode is Follow mode. 

Follow mode keeps the gimbal direction to the head of the drone. 

Lock mode locks the gimbal position to a fixed angle instead of following the drone's direction.

 

Press the GIMBAL MODE button once to restore the central position. Fast press the GIMBAL MODE button 3 times to switch gimbal modes.

 

 

Camera Control

 

💡 When taking photos or videos, the camera will take both the thermal imaging files and the RGB files and store them together in the memory card.

Calibration

If there are any abnormal movements being observed or the camera is not level, you can recalibrate the gimbal camera to solve the problem.

Gimbal camera calibration is performed together with the aircraft gyroscope calibration. To calibrate the gimbal camera, you need to proceed with aircraft gyroscope calibration.

 

To calibrate the gimbal camera:

1. Place the drone on a level surface, power on the remote controller, then the drone. Wait for the aircraft to connect to the remote controller.   2. Hold the left joystick down to its lowest position, then quickly move the right joystick left to right, back and forth, until the front and rear status indicators flash alternately, or the remote controller screen prompts "WARNING aircraft Initializing, Please Wait." The drone will now perform gyroscope calibration. Now release the joysticks. This process will be completed in 20 seconds. Do not move the drone during this process.   3. When the front status indicators fast-flashing red, and the rear status indicators turn solid green, or "WARNING Aircraft Initializing, Please Wait" prompt disappears, power off and restart the drone. Gyroscope calibration is complete.

⚠ Do not calibrate the gimbal camera on a boat or other moving platforms.

 

SDFly App

Main Interface

1. Main Camera View

Main Camera View displaces the Livestream of the camera view. Tap the Camera View Thumbnail on the bottom right corner to switch the Main Camera View between the thermal camera and the low-light camera.

 

2. Temperature OSD

Temperature OSD contains the Max, Min, Avg, Center temperature information detects by the thermal camera.

Max: the maximum temperature that appears on the image.

Min: the minimum temperature that appears on the image.

Avg: average temperature across the whole image.

Center: the temperature at the center of the image.

 

3. Center Temperature

The temperature at the center of the image, same as the Center on the Temperature OSD.

 

4. Camera Setting

Change camera settings and adjust camera parameters for both the thermal camera and low-light camera.

 

5. Photo Taking Button

Tap to take photos. Both the thermal photo and RGB photo (from the low-light camera) are going to take simultaneously.

 

6. Video Record Button

Tap to record video, tap again to stop and save the video. Both the thermal video and RGB video (from the low-light camera) are going to save simultaneously.

 

7. Camera View Thumbnail

Camera View Thumbnail displaces the alternative camera view. Tap the thumbnail to change the main camera view between thermal camera view and low-light camera view.

 

8. Gallery

Gallery is where you can find the photos/videos been taken by the camera on the microSD card.

Thermal Camera Setting

 

Flip

Flip the image vertically or horizontally.

 

Palette

Select different color palettes in various conditions to better visualize the infrared thermal imaging.

 

Crosshair

Crosshair marks the frame on the viewfinder.

 

Contrast

Set the contrast to visualize the infrared thermal imagery better. Set the ratio of the parts which represent the hot and cool part of the imagery.

 

Brightness

Set the brightness to visualize the infrared thermal imagery better.

 

DDE (Digital Details Enhancement)

DDE (Digital Details Enhancement) enhance the high spatial frequencies (edges etc.) and appears as boosted lens modulation transfer function, or MTF. The DDE filter attenuates high amplitude signals, making more of the total dynamic range available to display faint objects and details.

 

Temperature OSD ON/OFF

Turn temperature OSD on or off.

 

Temperature Unit

Support temperatures displace in Celsius (℃), Fahrenheit (℉), and Kelvin (K).

 

Temperature Alarm

Temperature alarm allows for the detection of any temperatures that arise outside of the set temperature range. Temperature alarm has three options:

• High-Temperature Alarm
• Low-Temperature Alarm
• High & Low-Temperature Alarm\

 

Appendix

 

Specification

 

Version Information

SwellPro products are constantly improving, so are the product user guides. It is recommended to visit www.swellpro.com to check and download the latest user guide.

Version 

Beta 1.0         GC3-T User Guide Beta 1.0 Edition

1.1      GC3-T/GC3-TE User Guide 1.1 Edition

            - Change “GC3-T” to “GC3-T/GC3-TE”

            - Delete Notice section