Thermal flashlight Blog



Can you share a link to project documentation?

by vwls | over 7 years ago | 1 | 0

What I want to do or know

Would you be willing to share links to hardware and software documentation?

Background story

I'm looking at a few approaches to DIY thermal imaging systems, especially those that use arduino or other microcontrollers and would love a link to project documentation if it's open source!

Thanks!

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Thermal Fishing Bob Development Workshop on Northeastern's Campus

by kgrevera | almost 9 years ago | 2 | 2

Thermal Fishing Bob Development Workshop

Open to the Public!

Background

I am working with Sara Wylie to further develop the thermal fishing bob. The thermal fishing bob is a tool of visualizing thermal pollution in real time. So, we are holding a workshop to brainstorm, test out, and develop new ideas. We want to come up with new ways to improve on the thermal fishing bob's design, make it more versatile, and more accessible to a wider range of people.

Goals for the Thermal Fishing Bob

  1. Devise and test out new ways to make a towable thermal fishing bob.
  2. Brainstorm and test new ideas for housing the thermal fishing bob to prevent water damage.
  3. Try to produce a thermal fishing bob that works sans Arduino, thus lowering the cost of building it and making the thermal fishing bob more accessible.
  4. Test out our ideas with our colleague Laura Perovich's novel rig designs.
  5. Brainstorm ideas to convert the thermal fishing bob into a conductivity fishing bob.

Agenda

Intro 2:00-2:30pm

4 Lightning Talks (3 minutes each)
Sara Wylie: background information on the thermal fishing bob and Public Lab
Maryann Cairns: using tampons to test for grey water pollution
Catherine D'Ignazio: riffle and water quality
Laura Perovich: design ideas for next steps in thermal fishing bob development

Thermal Fishing Bob Design and Brainstorming 2:30-3:10pm

10 minute break; Everyone get into working groups

Tentative working groups 3:20-5:20pm

Screen_Shot_2015-05-22_at_7.20.43_PM.png

  • Testing thermistors

    30 minute wrap-up

    • each group report back what they have learned

Where?

Northeastern University, Boston, MA 540 Holmes Hall (marked with an X on the map) Campus Map: Final_Campus_Map.png

When?

Thursday, June 11th starting at 2:00pm-6:00pm.

Why should you come?

To help develop the thermal fishing bob or even just to learn about them. Or just for the food. There will be food.

Please RSVP by June 8th

Talks

ThermalFishingBobWorkshop.pptx

ThermalFishingBobMITWorkshop_4_15_copy.pptx

babbling_brook_tidmarsh2015.pdf

openwaterpresentation.pdf

Continuing Work

Photos

Groupthink_Shot.JPG

Happy_Tampon_Testing.JPG

Presentation_Scene._Sara.JPG

Presentation_Scene.JPG

Setup_for_Tampon_Testing.JPG

Tampon testing equipment setup

Setup_Shot.JPG

Setup.JPG

Spec.JPG

Spectrometer results

Plain_Tampon.JPG

Plain tampon as a reference

Noglow_Tampon_2.JPG

Not glowing under the UV light, so no brighteners present

Noglow_Tampon.JPG

Not glowing

Glow_Tampon.JPG

Glowing in the presence of brighteners. This would indicate the presence of wastewater if this water sample had come from a lake or river.

Glow_Tampon_2.JPG

Glowing in the presence of brighteners

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Thermal Fishing Bob Development Workshop

by kgrevera | almost 9 years ago | 1 | 0

Thermal Fishing Bob Development Workshop

Background

I am working with Professor Sara Wylie to further develop the thermal fishing bob. So, we are holding a workshop to brainstorm, test out, and show off new ideas.

Goals for the Thermal Fishing Bob

  1. Devise and test out new ways to make a towable thermal fishing bob.
  2. Brainstorm and test new ideas for housing the thermal fishing bob to prevent water damage.
  3. Try to produce a thermal fishing bob that works sans Arduino, thus lowering the cost of building it and making the thermal fishing bob more accessible.
  4. Test out our ideas with our colleague Laura Perovich's novel rig designs.
  5. Brainstorm ideas to convert the thermal fishing bob into a conductivity fishing bob.

Discussion topic lineup will be posted in the next day or so, but should include towable rigs, conductivity fishing bobs, multiple thermistor and LED rigs, Arduino-less rigs, and more!

Where?

Northeastern University, Boston, MA 540 Holmes Hall

When?

Thursday, June 11th starting at 2:00pm. The workshop will run all afternoon and then we will break for dinner around 5 or 6. Afterwards we will reconvene to test out our projects in the water (ideally in Northeastern's pool).

Why should you come?

To help develop the thermal fishing bob or even just to learn about them. Or just for the food. There will be food.

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Thermal Flashlight with LCD keypad display and Neopixel LEDs

by thosetechpeople | about 9 years ago | 0 | 1

We added an LCD display with keypad and replaced the rgb LED with a 16 LED Neopixel ring. This will allow you to see a display of the temperature and control the temperature range for the LEDs. You can find more info on our project here http://silver.skiles.gatech.edu/~psilva6/thermalFlashlight/ .

To build this you will need the parts and instructions for the thermal flashlight that are posted here http://publiclab.org/notes/warren/12-12-2011/circuit-diagram-simple-thermal-flashlight. minus the LED and the 100 ohm and 180 ohm resistors. You will also need these parts: Neopixel ring http://www.adafruit.com/products/1463 LCD keypad shield http://www.amazon.com/ZITRADES-Keypad-Display-Arduino-Duemilanove/dp/B00BOMPW60/

You will start by connecting the LCD to your arduino.

The LCD has passthroughs for all of the connections that it is not using. There are no headers on the LCD, so you will want to solder your wires to the passthroughs.

Connect the sensor to the LCD following the instructions from publiclab above.

Connecting the Neopixel ring is even easier than the single rgb LED option. Simply connect the 5V power on the ring to the 5V power on the LCD. Connect the ground on the ring to the ground on the LCD. Finally, connect the data on the ring to digital 3 on the LCD. This is not labeled, but it should be the fourth passthrough from the edge of the PCB. If the LCD is lighting up and the ring isn't, make sure the libraries are installed. If the libraries check out, the data wire on the ring is probably connected to the wrong passthrough. We recommend only soldering this connection one you are certain you have the right passthrough.

You will need to install the libraries from here NeoPixel: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_NeoPixel Temp Sensor: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-MLX90614-Library

The right button should take you to the hot temp adjustment and the left button should take you to the cold temp adjustment. The up and down keys should adjust the temperature. The display will show the current temp by default at start up. The code you will need is posted below:

//Sample using LiquidCrystal library
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_MLX90614.h>
#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

/*******************************************************

This program will test the LCD panel and the buttons
Mark Bramwell, July 2010

********************************************************/

// select the pins used on the LCD panel
LiquidCrystal lcd(8, 9, 4, 5, 6, 7);

// define some values used by the panel and buttons
int lcd_key     = 0;
int adc_key_in  = 0;
#define btnRIGHT  0
#define btnUP     1
#define btnDOWN   2
#define btnLEFT   3
#define btnSELECT 4
#define btnNONE   5

// change these to adjust the range of temperatures you want to measure 
// (these are in Farenheit)
int COLDTEMP = 60;
int HOTTEMP  = 80;
int tempSwitch = 0;

#define NeoPixel 3 //Pin for NewPixel
Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(24, NeoPixel, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800); //Instance of    NeoPixel
Adafruit_MLX90614 mlx = Adafruit_MLX90614(); //Instance of temp sensor

// read the buttons
int read_LCD_buttons()
{
 adc_key_in = analogRead(0);      // read the value from the sensor 
 // my buttons when read are centered at these valies: 0, 144, 329, 504, 741
 // we add approx 50 to those values and check to see if we are close
 if (adc_key_in > 1000) return btnNONE; // We make this the 1st option for speed reasons since it will be the    most likely result
// For V1.1 us this threshold
// if (adc_key_in < 50)   return btnRIGHT;  
// if (adc_key_in < 250)  return btnUP; 
// if (adc_key_in < 450)  return btnDOWN; 
// if (adc_key_in < 650)  return btnLEFT; 
// if (adc_key_in < 850)  return btnSELECT;  

// For V1.0 comment the other threshold and use the one below:

 if (adc_key_in < 50)   return btnRIGHT;  
 if (adc_key_in < 195)  return btnUP; 
 if (adc_key_in < 380)  return btnDOWN; 
 if (adc_key_in < 555)  return btnLEFT; 
 if (adc_key_in < 790)  return btnSELECT;   

 return btnNONE;  // when all others fail, return this...
}

void updateColor() {
  uint8_t red, blue;
  float temp = mlx.readObjectTempF();

  if (temp < COLDTEMP) temp = COLDTEMP;
  if (temp > HOTTEMP) temp = HOTTEMP;

  // map temperature to red/blue color
  // hotter temp -> more red
  red = map(temp, COLDTEMP, HOTTEMP, 0, 255);  
  // hotter temp -> less blue
  blue = map(temp, COLDTEMP, HOTTEMP, 255, 0);  

  colorWipe(strip.Color(red, 0, blue), 0);

  delay(50); // can adjust this for faster/slower updates
}

void setup()
{
 lcd.begin(16, 2);              // start the library
 lcd.setCursor(0,0);
 lcd.print("Temperature:"); // print a simple message

 mlx.begin();  
 strip.begin();
 //strip.show(); // Initialize all pixels to 'off'
}

void loop()
{
  lcd.setCursor(9,1);            // move cursor to second line "1" and 9 spaces over
  lcd.setCursor(0,1);            // move to the begining of the second line
  lcd_key = read_LCD_buttons();  // read the buttons

 switch (lcd_key)               // depending on which button was pushed, we perform an action
 {
   case btnRIGHT:
     {
     lcd.print("Adjust Hot");
     tempSwitch = 0;
     break;
     }
   case btnLEFT:
     {
     lcd.print("Adjust Cold");
     tempSwitch = 1;
     break;
     }
   case btnUP:
     {
     lcd.print("COLDTEMP: " + COLDTEMP);
     if (!tempSwitch) {COLDTEMP--;}
     break;
     }
   case btnDOWN:
     {
     lcd.print("Adjust Hot  ");
     if (tempSwitch) {HOTTEMP--;}
     break;
     }
   case btnSELECT:
     {
     lcd.print("SELECT");
     break;
     }
     case btnNONE:
     {
     lcd.print(mlx.readObjectTempF());
     break;
     }
 }
  updateColor();
}

// Fill the dots one after the other with a color
void colorWipe(uint32_t c, uint8_t wait) {
  for(uint16_t i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
    strip.setPixelColor(i, c);
    strip.show();
    delay(wait);
  }
}

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Common-anode LED thermal flashlight casing and circuit diagram

by lmc6399group | about 9 years ago | 3 | 4

A redrawn circuit diagram of the thermal flashlight described here: http://www.publiclab.org/wiki/thermal-camera

If you follow their materials list under Build Your Own > parts list, you will be purchasing a mini-breadboard with no power rails which does not match up to their diagram. This diagram provides support for a breadboard with no power rails.

The 3 separate pieces connected only by wire (battery, breadboard, arduino) can be cumbersome to use as a flashlight. Our guide at the bottom of the page linked here provides instructions to build an external casing that holds everything together as a single unit with only the LED and thermometer exposed. The case still provides easy access to the circuitry if needed.

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dealing with patents: Black & Decker and the Thermal Flashlight

by mathew | about 9 years ago | 6 | 5

Update: actually, Black & Decker came up with this idea first and we just hadn't seen the thing :-(

The Thermal Flashlight concept has been kicking around for a while and a lot of people like it. Its a popular instructable. But as Hackaday pointed out a day ago, Its now a commercial product sold by Black & Decker.

In a way, I'm excited. We don't have access to the economies of scale to sell such a polished device for 30 bucks, so its nice that a commercial unit exists. But their patent application filed in October 18th 2011 really sucks. Public Lab started publishing about this tool in December 2010, so we would exist as prior art pre-empting their patent, except they give a "priority date" of 2008, so they claim to have thought up the idea first.

I'd like to challenge this patent application at the patent office with our prior art before it becomes a patent. I've never done this before. Any suggestions?

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