This is the Open Source version of the E-by-J Infrared Camera. This is a complex DIY project that requires exact electronic components, wiring, and setup commands. Note that as of summer 2020, the increased demand for thermal cameras for Covid-19 screening has unfortunately caused the MLX90640 to be sold out pretty much everywhere.

PARTS LIST

To make a functioning IR cam using this design, the following components are required:

- Raspberry Pi 3B, 3B+, or 4, with micro SD with Raspbian installed
- Raspberry Pi NoIR v2 camera
- Pimoroni MLX90640 thermal camera breakout (note: the Adafruit breakout will NOT fit)
- Adafruit PiTFT 3.5" 480x320 capacitive touch screen (https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/adafruit-industries-llc/2441/1528-1348-ND/5356833)
- This specific USB battery pack: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1566
- 1000 μF capacitor
- This specific power switch: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/zf-electronics/PRK22J5DBBNN/CH865-ND/1083858
- Green 525nm LED, diffused (for example https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/kingbright/WP7083ZGD-G/754-1890-ND/3084179)
- 470 ohm resistor
- Adafruit long 40 pin header (not the extra long) https://www.adafruit.com/product/2223
- USB-A male DIY connector
- Jumper wires to connect to pins of various components
- Roscolux #15 gel filter https://www.pnta.com/expendables/gels/roscolux/roscolux-15-deep-straw/?yotpo_token=26ffdcbcb4b3160b1ec2ede2fc4a3cf8a3b78870
- 7x #4 self tapping screw x 1/2" https://www.grainger.com/product/FABORY-4-x-1-2-Zinc-Plated-Case-Hardened-1MA79
- 10x M2 machine screw x 12mm https://www.grainger.com/product/FABORY-M2-0-40mm-Machine-Screw-54FR48
- 10x M2 hex nut https://www.grainger.com/product/FABORY-M2-0-40-Hex-Nut-26KR83
- Cotton cording

ASSEMBLY

The touch screen screws into the rear panel. Install the 40 pin header on the touch screen. The power switch snaps into its designated hole. To avoid damaging the print, solder two wires to the switch before installing it. The camera may be plugged into the Pi at this time, but the Pi is not yet ready to connect to the header and touch screen.

Solder wires to the +V, Ground, SDA, and SDC contacts of the thermal camera. Connect the Pi as a standalone computer and use raspistill preview to adjust the focus on the NoIR camera, it should be set to focus at infinity. Install the NoIR camera, with ribbon cable attached, to the front panel. Before tightening the screws, cut 3 strips of the amber filter and place them in front of the camera lens so that they will be held in place by the tightening of the screws. By layering the filters 3 deep, you'll prevent blue/UV leakage that can mess up the colors of the photos it takes. Install the thermal camera next to the NoIR camera.

Wire the switch in series with the DIY USB connector. Ideally the ground (negative) pole of the USB should be always connected and the +5V pole should run through the switch. Cut two jumper wires in half (one red one black) and use two halves to connect the power to the 26 pin GPIO header on the back of the touch screen. Solder the capacitor across the power wires for the GPIO. Refer to the included diagram for wiring to the 26 pin header; you will be connecting the thermal camera this way, and the power LED via the 470 ohm resistor. The four connectors marked Flash are for an external flash unit; there is not yet a Thing for this but it is in the works.

With the Pi powered off, remove its micro SD card and plug it into a computer. Follow the instructions here for the HDMI fix: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34061 and the instructions here for the 400 KHz I2C speed: https://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2018/02/change-raspberry-pi-i2c-bus-speed/ Download this file and place it in the /home/pi folder: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aTaXAhY-iomMs18pvKgmBzfS45oNmYik/view?usp=sharing

When everything is ready, plug the touch screen's header onto the Pi's GPIO. Assemble the printed parts by snapping the front and back onto the top/sides piece, making sure that he LED goes into its little side hole, the Pi camera cable does not obscure the HDMI opening in the top, and the flash connector, if any, exits out the rectangular opening near the top left of the screen. Plug the USB DIY connector into the battery and slide it in, it will require a small amount of force to snap it into place. Then attach the base (may have to momentarily loosen the front and/or back) and screw everything together with the self tapping screws: 3 in the front, 4 in the back.

Optionally cut a length of cordage and run it through the loops on the top of the camera, tying knots in the ends to hold the cord in place.

SETUP

If necessary, charge the battery (check it by pressing the button on top and peering through the battery-shaped hole in the front. Four lights = fully charged). Connect the HDMI port to an HDMI monitor, and the USB ports to a keyboard and mouse, and power the device on. If you have not done so yet, go through the Pi first run setup and set the locale, wifi settings, password, etc. Set the device name to something unique to your wifi network. Disable overscan, pixel doubling, and screen blanking. If you have not enabled the camera interface, do so now. Enable SSH, VNC, SPI, I2C, Serial port. Optionally you can set the desktop preferences: uncheck wastebasket and mounted disks, and increase system font to about 24 pixels. In File Manager settings, select Open files with single click, Don't ask options on launch exec, and Don't show available options for removable media. Open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run the following command:

sudo chmod +775 ~/*.sh

Ensure that you have a working internet connection, and then run this command:

sudo rpi-update

Manually reboot the system. When it comes back up, open a terminal again and run:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install -y gedit rclone unclutter libgtk-3-dev libi2c-dev libjpeg-dev libpng-dev gpac

Once everything is finished, you can run ~/ircaminstall.sh. It will download the source files for the camera app and compile them into executables. It will prompt you for the PiTFT display setup; this is your touchscreen. When propmted, select option 4, then option 3, then wait, then answer N, Y, wait again, and answer Y. The unit will then reboot into camera mode. Once the camera app comes up, first make sure that there is a NoIR image shown and a thermal image overlaid on it. YOu can wave your hand in front of the unit to check the thermal sensor. If anything is not working, your wiring might be incorrect. If everything works, press the Esc key and open a terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T. Place the thermal sensor against something with a uniform temperature like the side of an empty cardboard or plastic box. (Don't rely on a wall to be thermally uniform, as there may be conduits or pipes inside.) Run the following command and wait about 5 minutes for it to finish:

~/ctrlr thc

This stands for Thermal Calibrate. It takes one thousand consecutive thermal snapshots, averages them out, and generates a text file that represents the necessary corrections for variances in the thermal sensor. After this, your thermal images will be calibrated, although you may have to adjust its alignment to a known object such as a distant tree against the sky: press the W, A, S, Z keys until the optical and thermal images align in the viewscreen. Pressing the view area takes a photo.

You can then delete the installer shell script and move the desktop icons around. You can now either reboot into the camera app, or in the terminal type ./ctrlr and press enter. Disconnect the monitor and keyboard/mouse, and enjoy your new infrared camera!

The User Manual is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13N0HF1H3yCP-lyx0upOR_FPntTJiehe-wWmnJNSEhBQ/edit?usp=sharing