About

Drones and Smart Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with innovative payload sensors are the next big revolution in aerial technology promising to provide new opportunities and positive impacts in different applications. The usage of thermal cameras in UAVs as payload can find numerous real-life applications, like e.g., precision agriculture, wildlife monitoring, fire detection, and critical infrastructure protection (ports, airports, remote areas of interest, border security) among others. However, their adoption for usage by UAVs at mass scale is impeded by the weight, the cost, and the significant energy consumption of each unit. EIGHT BELLS, recognizing this market gap, designs, develops, and brings into the market a fully customizable, lightweight, thermal camera with important advantages against the competition. The solution is portable, it supports video analytics for day and night usage, and remains at an affordable price.

Solution & Product

Our product 8BUGM, designed and developed in-house, is an advanced gimbal-mounted thermal camera weighing 2.6kg, capturing the infrared thermal radiation emitted by objects and humans. It requires no ambient light and operates during day and night under any weather conditions at a range up 8.4km. The 8BUGM supports video analytics and is an ideal solution for UAV-enabled applications. Its unique features include image and video recording, multi-target tracking capabilities, uncooled thermal sensor for higher reliability, and high refresh rate up to 60Hz and 4x digital zoom. The thermal camera is mounted into a gimbal that has been also designed by the company, and it is coupled with a 10x zoom Full HD color camera and a Laser Range Finder (LRF). The gimbal that offers 2 axis stabilization is equipped with brushless motors that offer 360o smooth azimuth movement and -90 to +40 elevation degrees. The gimbal is configured for reduced air friction. A version for marine usage also exists.

Innovation & Scalability

EIGHT BELLS stands on the brink of innovation, by participating from its early existence in EU funded research and innovation technology projects and by designing high-end products that supports creativity and originality. Our in-house developed product 8BUGM is a highly customizable solution that cannot be matched easily by similar products from the competition. 8BUGM can change specifications and configurations according to the customer’s needs as regarding the use of a cooled or uncooled thermal core detector, the addition of Laser Range Finder (LRF) system, the addition of a Day Camera with zoom capabilities, onboard video analytics support, on top to the wide range of wired and wireless communication protocols that can be integrated in the platform. The unique value proposition that differentiates the 8BUGM from the competition, is a feature coming directly from the interactions of EIGHT BELLS with several key stakeholders and industrial players in the fields of security, of the protection of critical infrastructure, and of smart agriculture, among others. The camera has been designed to be mounted on a gimbal and to have very low weight and energy consumption. These features allow the 8BUGM to be carried by a UAV/drone more easily and for more air travel time. Further, its standard offer of an uncooled thermal sensor, allows for much greater resilience even in diverse and maybe extreme environmental conditions (e.g., high temperature, high levels of humidity, etc.)

Traction & achievements

The Greek Branch was established in 2020, following to the expansion of EIGHT BELLS LTD (Cyprus). It implements R&D contracts of 1.0 MEUR p.a. (https://bit.ly/3Nx5ePD) and in 2022 it employs 20 experts. The Branch is certified with ISO 9001:2015 for Quality Management and it is granted Facility Security Clearance by the Greek National Security Authorities up to and including the level NATIONAL/NATO/EU SECRET. The Branch is member in Association of Hellenic Manufacturers of Defense, 6G Smart Networks and Services Industry Association, Hellenic Photonics Cluster, Pleiades IoT Innovation Cluster and Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It is equipped with advanced infrastructure: Private Cloud, two 5G Base stations and Electronics and Manufacturing/3D Printing Laboratories where the thermal cameras have been developed. The marine version of the camera has been demonstrated in EUROSATORY 2022 in Paris with great success. The drone version will be presented in EURONAVAL 2022 (October).

Team & Why Us

The team of EIGHT BELLS GREEK BRANCH consists of dedicated engineers with creativity, experience and strong academic background. In the demanding field of developing and assembling in house thermal cameras for marine/drone usage, Dr Loukas Athanasekos has undertaken the System Specifications Study, the System Design was done by Dr Simos Simeonidis, and development of the electronics parts was conducted by Mr Nikolaos Sideras. The development of the firmware on board was made by Ms Despina Gkatzioura, and the Mechanical Design is done by Mr Konstantinos Kaltakis. The Overall System Integration towards a fully functional prototype was done by Dr George Avdikos and Mr Dimitrios Nodaros is in charge of administrative procedures, management and handling. Apart from the design and development of the prototype, the team possesses additional persons that support the production at bigger scales with advanced tools and quality procedures.

Funding Needs

Several types of funding needs apply in a cutting-edge technology company as EIGHT BELLS GREEK BRANCH. The primary product which has been designed and developed in-house, an exceptional gimbal-mounted thermal camera at affordable cost, has already reached the status of “system demonstration in operational environment”, but it is very important to evolve one step further so that it becomes a complete and fully qualified system. To that end, several types of certifications will prove to be very helpful. In addition, on the technical domain, the thermal engine will be evolved through new cooled modules, so that the sensor can provide thermal images to much higher distances than the current one. Apart from the technical scope, our company plans to participate in significant international expositions like the DEFEA in Athens, Greece, in order to showcase the sophisticated products in a very dedicated and targeted audience. Finally, at least one pre sales qualified and experienced engineer will be hired in order to promote our products in Greece and abroad.