Welcome !

     

This website shows how to build your own cheap thermographic camera. With it you can analyse your house, electrical devices, etc. and identify for example thermal lacks.  In contrast to commercial FLIR cameras, the cheap-thermocam uses only one single infrared sensor which is moved by two servo motors. The advantage of this method is that it's obviously less expensive than normal IR cameras that cost many thousand dollar. It takes about one minute to create a thermographic picture, so you can "only" use it for static, non-moving objects.
This instruction requires a basic knowledge in electronics like soldering easy components and cutting/skinning wires.
Come back frequently to see stunning new updates and features !

New article on IEEE Spectrum magazine: http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/ir-eye

Youtube Video

Example images







If you made some thermographic pictures with my device, please sent them to me via email.

Partlist

From sparkfun.com
-> 2 x Servo - Small 8.95$
-> Pan Tilt Bracket 5.95$
-> Arduino Uno R3 29.95$  (or any other Arduino)
-> Laser Card Module 7.95$
-   optional: ProtoBoard - Square 1" Double Sided 2.50$

MLX90614ESF-DCI
-> futureelectronics.com 51.80$

From seedstudio.com
-> Harness for Arduino/Seeeduino kit 6.50$

Microsoft LifeCam VX-700
-> Amazon.com 12.50$

What you also need but most likely already have at home:
Cables, Soldering Iron, Wire Cutter, Heat Shrink Tube, Tape, USB Cable for Arduino.
All the parts in this list cost together around 150$ but if you already have an arduino or a webcam for example it's a lot cheaper.

How to build

1. Mount the Arduino onto the "Harness for Arduino kit" and fix the leg supports.
2. Use superglue or any other qualified glue to stick one of the small  servos on the empty space in front of the arduino.
3. Build the other small servo into the tilt bracket and put the whole construction onto the small servo (following the instructions of the pan/tilt kit will help you with this step). 
4. Now it comes to soldering/cutting the wires to connect the MLX90614 to the arduino. You need four wires for this, the length should be long enough that the sensor can be moved freely on the pan tilt head. Connect Ground to GND, Vin to 3.3V, SDA to analog pin 4 and SCL to analog pin 5.  Additionally, a 4.7KΩ resistor needs to be connected from SDA to 3.3V, and another one from SCL to 3.3V. For this you can use the the little proto board. Check out the image below for the pin connections.
5. The next step is to support the laser with power. Connect the red line to the 3.3V on the arduino (or now on the protoboard) and the white cable to GND.
6. Use tape to mount the Mlx90614 and the the laser next to each other on the pan/tilt panel.
7. Finally, the two servos are left. Connect their red cables to +5V (you can also use a line in the protoboard for this) and then solder both black cables (Ground) directly on the surface of the unisolated USB port on the arduino. This ensures that the servos later do not influence the sensor. The last point is to connect the up-down servo's signal pin to the arduino's digital pin 8, and the left-right servo to digital pin 9.
8. As we have finished the servo connection, the webcam needs to be attached on the bottom servo or any other place where it is stable and looks into the direction of the infrared sensor. If you have bought the VX-700, open the case and cut the USB cable on both sides were it comes out of the case. Now take the webcam itself out of it and solder the cables again together. The flat webcam can now be fixed on the servo with tape or glue.
9. Use black tape to safe the cables on the arduino from damage. If you find a bether solution, feel free to use that instead.

Here is the complete schematic as well as the image on how to solder the resistors and the sensor:

               

If you need help or want to give me a feedback, use the thread on the arduino forums: Here
For more information about the MLX90614-DCI infrared sensor and its functions, check out this datasheet.

Here are examples for possible constructions from various people who built the device:

     

If you have a picture of you device, please sent it to me via email.

Arduino Software

Get the configuration sketch and transfer it to the microcontroller using the software from www.arduino.cc:

Download Configuration Sketch  Version: 1.02
Then open the serial windows and input a key to change the sensor's EEPROM settings (only required for the first use - the sensor must be connected to the arduino !). After you have seen the "Finish" - message, unplug your arduino from the pc and connect it again.

Download the main sketch and pass it to the arduino like the configuration sketch before:
Download Main Sketch   Version: 10-04-2012    Thanks to George Rhoten who improved the sketch
This sketch must be on the arduino permanently, otherwise it will not work.

Computer Software

The software is written in JAVA and therefore relies on the Java Runtime Environement.
The program runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OSX in 32-bit & 64-bit mode. If you use windows under 64-bit, please install the 32-bit version of JAVA.

Download PC Software   Version:  10-04-2012    Thanks to George Rhoten who improves this software
If you can contribute language translations for the software, have improvements or found a bug, contact the software developer George Rhoten on his homepage.
Download the Source Code

Comparable Projects/Approaches

Central Nexus Thermal Camera Project
Poor Man's Thermographic Camera
Thermal Flashlight
Scanning Thermal Camera
DIY Thermal Imaging System for under $200
Thermoscanner
Arduino Thermal Camera (modification of my project with an ultrasonic sensor)

Awards

 Jugend forscht (German science competition)
- Regional winner
- Special price at federal state level
- Award "Jugend-forscht" ambassador Bavaria

Contact

If you have ideas/improvement, need help or found a bug in the software, write an email to:
mail@maxritter.net

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