

Light painting with temperature - cheap thermal imaging - maxjus
http://www.maxjusticz.com/light-painting-with-temperature/

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csense
There might be a startup opportunity here. If these devices have a real
economic use -- spotting heat leaks -- and the only available alternative is
orders of magnitude more expensive.

I don't do hardware (although this project looks simple), but it would be
interesting to own one of these and a lot of people like me might be willing
to part with a few bucks for the privilege of owning one (especially if it
helps spot leaks that are adding to the heating bill).

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veemjeem
It's basically an IR thermometer that outputs a color instead of a number
reading. Those "gadgets" are already pretty cheap, so not sure if replacing
the expensive passive display with a 15 cent rgb led would make anyone profit.

I use this one for checking the oil on my pan to see if it's hot enough for my
ribeye steak: [http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Non-Contact-Laser-
Thermometer-...](http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Non-Contact-Laser-Thermometer-
Display/dp/B008QUJILI)

If they used an rgb led instead of the read-out, you might be able to buy one
for $5.

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bobdvb
Previously I saw a project which used a scanning pan-tilt head to collect
data, but they used a narrow beam temperature sensor: MLX90614ESF-DCI which
includes a black metal barrel. <http://www.cheap-thermocam.tk/>

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tnorthcutt
Very clever! What would you say your cost of materials and time to assemble
was?

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maxjus
Thanks! Total cost of materials was ~$50 or so excluding the Arduino which I
already had. With most projects like this one I try switching to a barebones
ATMEGA328 (the microcontroller at the heart of the Arduino) if I can to save
money, but in this case I needed the Arduino's onboard 5V regulator. I
assembled the entire thing this evening.

~~~
veemjeem
why not just get an external regulator then? those things are dirt cheap,
around 20 cents for one.

~~~
maxjus
Great point, but at the time I didn't feel like running to the store to buy
one at 6:00 PM on New Year's Eve. I very well might still do exactly what you
are saying!

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fmilne
I bet this would look pretty cool outside mixed in with some other light
painting gear. Always a pain to get the background/environment the colours you
want.

