Open Thermal Camera

Hi everyone.

To make the project complete with all the needed source files and components I went ahead and uploaded the missing design files for the enclosure.

The enclosure was designed in FreeCAD version 0.18

Check it out here: https://github.com/openthermalcamera/Housing

Thanks to PCBWay for reaching out and giving us an opportunity to try out their assembly service. We have order a small batch of 20 pieces. You can out their service here: https://www.pcbway.com/pcb-assembly.html

This is how PCBs turned out:

Looking good! The connectors were left unpopulated intentionally to be able to customize the USB version on demand.

Thanks again to PCBWay for sponsoring the assembly. We are very satisfied with their service.

The Maker Faire in Rome has started on 18th October. We'll be at the event the whole weekend.

Anyone who is visiting or is thinking about visiting this years faire in Rome, feel free to swing by our booth and try out the Open Thermal Camera for yourself!

We are presenting in Pavilion 7: Discover,  Booth - C4.

Looking forward to your visit!

We have created a Node.js module (otc) that supports all available interface calls. On top of that, a demo cross-platform desktop app is in the making! Electron uses node.js' runtime therefore we used the mentioned module to create a simple cross-platform app. It was tested with WIn10 and RPI3 (Raspberrian). OTC is connected to the computer/RPI with a USB 3.1 Type C Female To USB 3.0 Male Connector. The electron app is already available on github.

In the future we are planning to create a module for Python as well, which will support all interface calls.

Next stop: People counter!

Electron demo app run on RPI. On the image there's me, with a hand on my head.

Open Thermal Camera went through a slight redesign. The hardware is now unified for both Type-C and MicroUSB version. The housing can accept either of the PCB variants.

(Right: Type-C variant, Left: back view of MicroUSB variant)

With this step the hardware part is coming to an end and we'll start with improving the application side even further.

For easier assembly and consistent results with heat inserts, I took an evening to create a heat insert tool for use with a Ersa soldering iron.

It looks something like this

It's made for M2.5 inserts, which are used in housing for our project.

This helps with much nicer finish as tested on our prototype housing.

While preparing for the upcoming Mini Maker Faire in Italy, Trieste, we've build more prototypes for people to try out and give their opinion on it.

Also if you are around or you consider coming to Mini Maker Faire in Trieste this week 25th and 26th of May, do stop at our booth with number M-94 and give our project a try :)

On to the pictures:

More sensors came from DigiKey.

Our first microUSB PCB revision to be fully assembled.

MicroUSB and Type-C prototypes.

Yesterday (11-May-2019) we presented our Open Thermal Camera at Mini Maker Faire in Ljubljana. Many were impressed with the project and gave us some interesting use case ideas, such as home insulation inspection, water leakage detection, observation of wildlife etc.

- Out booth at MMF Ljubljana with the number M9

We had a few gadgets with distinct thermal contrast, such as:

• RaspberryPi 3B

• Soldering iron 

• Faulty PCB where one component was shorted

We had a great time presenting our project to other makers and DIY enthusiasts =)

Today I've created a repository for Android application on GitHub. There is quite some work to be done on application side but things are working well up to this point. In the following days we'll be working on a use case scenario of inspecting a PCB. Stay tuned!

Link to application repository: https://github.com/openthermalcamera/Android-Application