this post was submitted on 16 May 2024
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251
Waveshare's Latest Sensor Adds a Thermal Camera to Your Raspberry Pi — or Any Device with a USB Port - Hackster.io (www.hackster.io)
submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
24 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Here's a $120usd FLIR - how does it compare with a cheap plug in USB phone module?

Guess it's just missing a mounting case?

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (4 children)

The [email protected] community would be a better fit for this post IMO

That said this looks interesting, and seems really competitively priced when compared to other similar thermal cameras like the Flir One Gen 3. This measures a very wide temperature range too, from -20°C to 400°C within ±2°C, whereas the Gen 3 tops out at 120°C.

The 80x62 resolution is OK for this application IMO, the Gen 3 is similar at 80x60.

I wouldn't go recommending one of these to a "casual" user though, it's very much a development product. Non-casual users could probably 3d print a case and get on just fine with the demo apps IMO, and for those users this would probably worth its weight in gold, given how expensive thermal imaging usually is.

Given how closely its priced to radar presence sensors like the Aqara FP2, and the inclusion of I2C for comms, I think this is going to have some appeal to DIY home automation enthusiasts too, especially if it gets supported by open source projects like ESPHome

Technical docs: https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/Thermal_Camera_HAT

Edit: I should also mention that there are much cheaper options on sites like AliExpress if you just want something cheap to use via usb-c - the advantages this sensor has are heavily dev focused IMO and might not make sense for most users (e.g. documentation, i2c comms, product integration support)

[–] [email protected] 37 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

I’d rather have this than yet another post about Twitter or elon’s shenanigans. I almost unsubscribe from this community daily because of that shit

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago

Agreed. And the electronics community suggested above has 2 posts in the last six months. So not really a better place to post imho.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yepp I agree lol, coverage about him/his companies gets old really fast...

Even worse when its stuff like laying off the one of his companies' most profitable business units over a childish disagreement 🤦‍♂️ just to reverse the decision after reporters start spamming his antics everywhere, leading to more spam.

Feel like he likes to see his name in the news or something, very tiring IMO

[–] [email protected] -1 points 5 months ago

Yeah, that combination of his own self-importance, and his fanbase's seeming need to slobber all over his knob seems to result in a never-ending circlejerk about such a trash person. Him and that rapist Taint.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Curious, what role would this play in home automation?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago (2 children)

IMO more accurate presence detection. Common sensors like PIR and cheaper doppler radar types can detect when there's motion, but not if a user is present but not moving in the detection area (e.g. sleeping or sitting). There's also open source projects that can track bluetooth wearables & phones to know who specifically is in a room, but these aren't able to detect people with no devices, say guests and kids.

The preferred approach at the moment is a combination of sensors to cover motion and person detection separately, which comes at a cost, both on your pocket and the time needed to get it working suitably for your needs, or maybe one of the more expensive radar sensors like the FP2 that can detect where in a space is occupied with higher accuracy than more affordable alternatives

The thermal cam is roughly in the same price range as the FP2 - however since it has I2C, something cheap like an ESP8266 can be used to turn it into a WiFi based presence detection sensor. Something like an ESP32 could be used to turn it into a presence detector and wearable tracker, negating the need for another separate sensor entirely.

Something like this would probably be quite close to plug and play for someone DIY focused, and wouldn't have the same problem as radar being able to see through walls to different areas, although this is somewhat solved by surrounding the rear of the sensor in foil with caveats.

I'm interested in how it performs outdoors in rain though, a lot of existing affordable sensors (except PIR) struggle a little in wet conditions, with doppler based ones not detecting anything

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Very interesting stuff, thank you for sharing!!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Tbh, it's going to be a lot cheaper and easier to use computer vision with regular 20$ webcams.

The only advantage I can see is for the elderly as a warning system, since certain changes in body temp are a precursor to health problems.

This is an awesome product outside of home automation though.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I've had a hobby project on the back burner for quite a while using some esp8266s and thermal cameras for presence detection. Got one working pretty well in a small room.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago

Ahhh ok cool thanks

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Are there any of the AliExpress models you'd recommend? I'm just looking for one to spot heat leaks in my house, but last time I browsed, they all looked too cheap to actually work.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

if you live near a home depot you can rent one. if you're patient you can just use a normal digital thermometer and take a ton of readings. or see where the smoke from a match blows.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Checkout SEEK thermal.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

The !electronics community would be a better fit for this post IMO

Seeing as how it's a dead community, no, it really wouldn't be a better fit.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

80x62 pixels, there are already other cheaper sensors in this range. FLIR is way more expensive but has much higher res.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Can you provide some links or something? I desire to own a thermal camera but they are just so expensive.

I don't need anything fancy but higher res would obviously be cooler.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Oh, that looks pretty dang good.

300 USD is probably a bit too much for me to spend on something that I have no real use for but its very neat.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

https://www.sparkfun.com/search/results?term=flir

Actually the flir lepton is not so high res either. Try digikey for higher res and higher priced modules.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Btw, why is that? It's not just a CCD in infrared wavelength? Or is it the thermal decoupling part?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

No they are not CCD, they use microbolometers whatever those are. CCD IR sensors are for near infrared only, not the much longer thermal wavelengths.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Ah, thanks.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I'm curious to see what the quality is like. If it's a similar case to the Enviro hat, and gives good reliable results for less, fantastic.
If it's like the other cheapie thermal sensors on alibaba, less so.